Lloyd Bentsen: “I have become quite alarmed as a new Member of this 104th Congress to see that once again the majority leader and the…”

“I have become quite alarmed as a new Member of this 104th Congress to see that once again the majority leader and the majority party are advocating that we should default on our national debt. That is something that the United States, unlike many countries, has never done. Mr. Speaker, it is something, if we were to default on the Treasury debt, that would preclude us from making payments to Social Security recipients, would preclude us from making payments to veterans benefits, but perhaps even more alarming is it would cause a dramatic rise in interest rates across the United States, affecting homeowners, people who are trying to buy their first home, families, people who are trying to take out loans to buy a car, kids who are trying to take out loans to go to college. Quite frankly, it would probably drive this country into a recession, hardly a wise economic policy of the new majority.”