[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 70 (Wednesday, April 26, 2023)] [House] [Pages H1979-H2039] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Date: 2023-04-26
Chamber: HOUSE
Mr. NEAL: I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the default on America act. The chairman just mentioned something that is noteworthy. He said, We are seeing a Republican plan, and for the next hour, we intend to make sure America gets a chance to see the Republican plan. A reminder for those who might be paying attention to this debate today as to how we traveled on this road which, by the way, is eminently manageable through negotiation after a clean debt ceiling vote might take place. So our Republican colleagues, I think--and I might be mistaken. You know what? I am sure. They voted for more defense spending. $800 billion we are now at with defense spending. They voted for pandemic relief. They voted for aid to Ukraine. How about the million and a half new veterans that we have in America in the aftermath of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan? They deserve our care, and our Republican colleagues voted for that aid. Republican Members, some of whom voted for the infrastructure bill, some of them who voted for the legislation on the Inflation Reduction Act, and some of them who voted for the CHIPS Act--that is what is in front of us at this moment. Here is the real ringer, Mr. Speaker. In December of 2017--and I hope everybody pays attention to this argument--they voted to borrow $2.3 trillion over 10 years for the purpose of giving a tax cut to the wealthiest among us with, by the way, modest to limited economic growth. Why is that important? Because there has been $10 trillion worth of tax cuts over the last 25 years. Do you want me to recite it?  President Bush's tax cut in 2001, $1.3 trillion. They came back in 2003, another trillion, and subsequently presided over the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, which we should note the cost of which are in the trillions of dollars today. They want us to believe that this problem that we have in front of us--which I mentioned is manageable--they want us to believe that this is the Democratic position on spending after they embraced the tax cuts that I have just described. This is about America's credit. What ever happened to the Republican Party that talked about probity as it related to financial stability? Whatever happened to the Republican Party that talked about the importance of investment?  These arguments that they make now are largely vacuous because it is inconsistent with the Republican Party I knew when I came to Congress. They could borrow money for the Iraq war month after month to keep it off budget so nobody would see what it was really about. They could borrow money repeatedly, and the moment a Democrat gets to the White House they are blamed for inflation. I don't think Joe Biden should be blamed for inflation in the United Kingdom. How about Germany? That is how empty these arguments are that they are making. There is a chance for us to do what we used to do here--and by the way, Democrats responsibly voted for raising the debt ceiling three times under the former President because we thought it was the responsible thing to do. Speaker McCarthy got himself into this by the promises that he made along the way. The suggestion here is very simple, Mr. Speaker. Pass a clean debt ceiling and then let's get on with negotiating. Bill Clinton, on January 19, 2001, had balanced the budget four times, projected surpluses in the trillions of dollars and 22 million new jobs. The Republican Party gave it away through tax cuts to wealthy people. They are asking us today the following--they get to set the fire and then call the fire department because that is what this argument is about. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.