On the recordAugust 1, 2011
While I stand on this floor as an American and a person that loves this Congress so much, I'm embarrassed also as a Member that a President of the United States would have his domestic and foreign policy actually held hostage, because with him and only him and no other President have we decided that we would almost put in jeopardy the faith and the fiscal responsibility of this country paying its debts. You know, a lot of people have said that we got to a $14.4 trillion debt because we got drunk and spent money like a drunken sailor. If that is so, the people having the hangover certainly aren't the wealthy people in this country. And this decision was decided without any consideration of the people that are longing for jobs in our great country. If the Republicans had to hold the President hostage, I wish that they would have held him hostage on the questions that my constituents wake up in the morning and ask, not whether or not the debt ceiling has risen, but how can I get a job? How can I really get back my dignity? How can I put food on the table? These are issues that you certainly don't resolve by cutting spending, causing people to lose their jobs and to lose their hope.…
