On the recordJuly 31, 2011
as the clock ticks down to August 2, I want to remind everyone within the sound of my voice what is at stake. At this very moment, millions of seniors across this great country worry that their next Social Security check might not come to them on Wednesday. Middle-class families wonder whether their retirement accounts will be wiped out by an economic collapse brought about by default on this Nation's debt. Active military personnel, including many who are risking their lives for our great Nation, worry whether they will receive their paychecks. The Associated Press reported that ADM Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited with troops serving in Afghanistan yesterday. The soldiers Admiral Mullen talked with were not asking about military strategy or how our troop drawdown in Afghanistan would affect them. No, they asked whether they would be paid if Republicans forced the U.S. Government to stop paying its bills. In a region that has been rocked by violence and plagued by suicide bombers this month, they wondered how they would take care of their families if their checks stopped coming next month. Let me read a little bit of that United Press story that came out yesterday: A half a world away from Capitol Hill deadlock, the economy and debt crisis are weighing heavily on U.S. troops in Afghanistan. And the top question on their minds Saturday even as bombing rocked the city around them, was one the top U.S. military officer couldn't answer.…
