Bill Archer: “Mr. Speaker, this is a responsible thing for us to do. It not only prevents the possibility of default on the national…”

“Mr. Speaker, this is a responsible thing for us to do. It not only prevents the possibility of default on the national debt, but it also assures that all of the funds that rightly belong in the trust funds, including the Social Security trust fund, will be invested in a timely fashion, so that those trust funds may benefit by the income generated by the investment. I would also say that we must stop the process in this Congress of simply rubber-stamping increases in debt by saying, ``Oh, let's simply have a clean debt ceiling.'' Let us recognize that Leon Panetta was right in March 1993 when he said, ``It is appropriate to put a discipline on any increase in the debt ceiling so that we reduce the need for a further increase in the future.'' That is what we should be about, and that is what we will ultimately do, to assure that at the time we increase the debt ceiling, we at least are assuring our children and their children that there will be less debt and less interest on that debt to pay in the future. Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of the resolution.”