Charles Rangel: “Mr. Speaker, there is no need to debate this bill. I do not see where there is any need to debate what is going on here…”

“Mr. Speaker, there is no need to debate this bill. I do not see where there is any need to debate what is going on here when the whole world knows exactly what it is. This has nothing to do with protecting the full faith and credit of the United States of America. The majority party has seen fit to select who they want to protect, so this week it is the Social Security beneficiaries. Who knows, three weeks from now it may be the widows, those that are left behind from our veterans or those that are disabled. Who knows how they want to issue their compassion? The only question we should have to vote on is whether this Congress is prepared to pass a clean long-term debt ceiling bill. The majority, without consultation, without compromise, have decided themselves that the only thing they want to do is to extend it for a couple of weeks to protect the Social Security beneficiaries. I hope, Mr. Speaker, and Members of the other side, that over this so-called break when we should be here working that you might decide that you want to extend that compassion to each and every American who deserves not only their check but deserves to know that the full faith and credit of the United States of America will stand tall, notwithstanding the fact that there is a serious disagreement between both sides of the aisle on what our policy should be. This should be clean.”