Joe Morelle: “Today, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 852, providing for consideration of S.J. Res. 33, a…”

“Today, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 852, providing for consideration of S.J. Res. 33, a joint resolution relating to increasing the debt limit, under a closed rule. The rule provides for 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the Committee on Ways and Means, or their designees, and provides one motion to commit. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to adopt the rule and support lifting the Nation's debt ceiling. Failing to lift the debt ceiling and defaulting on our debt is not an option. If we do not act, a default could result in the loss of millions of jobs and $15 trillion in household wealth, according to nonpartisan Moody's Analytics economist Mark Zandi. Mr. Zandi has characterized a default as ``financial Armageddon,'' and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has gone even further, stating that a default ``could cause an immediate, literally cascading catastrophe of unbelievable proportions and damage America for 100 years.'' Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of former Treasury Secretaries wrote to Congress arguing that protecting U.S. creditworthiness is a ``sacrosanct responsibility.'' I couldn't agree more. Let's be clear about what we are talking about here today.…”