On the recordJanuary 23, 2013
I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, the legislation before us today solves no problems. In fact, it just maintains the great uncertainty hanging over the U.S. and the global economy--whether or not we're going to jeopardize the full faith and credit of the United States of America and default on our Nation's financial obligations for the first time in our Nation's history. I do not for the life of me understand why anyone would jeopardize that safe haven that's been established in this country. But we all know what needs to be done to get our fiscal house in order. Both parties are going to have to lock arms and jump into the icy water and make difficult decisions together. Every bipartisan commission that has been formed to address this issue has come up with the same conclusion. There's going to have to be some additional revenue, and there's going to have to be major spending reforms in our budget to make this work. But my friends on the other side have not been exactly up front with the American people. They've finished two national campaigns promising to restore $700 billion to the Medicare program and increase defense spending by over $2 trillion over the next 10 years. That's $2.7 trillion additional dollars in the two largest spending programs. So we do need an honest conversation about this.
