Date: 2015-10-21
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the ranking member. Madam Speaker. I rise to oppose H.R. 692. for we should pay our debts. This bill is called the Pay China First Act. Madam Speaker. I rise in strong opposition to speak on H.R. 692. the socalled Default Prevention Act of 2015." which would result in the Congress refusing to pay the financial obligations it has already incurred. This bill. which ought to be called the "Pay China First Act." is virtuallyidentical to the one House Republicans brought to the floor in May 2013. which House Democrats unanimously opposed and which wasted time and taxpayer money on its consideration before pushing the nation to the brink of default just a few months later. American families do not get to choose which bills to pay and which ones to ignore. neither can the United States Congress without putting the nation into default for the first time in its history. In 1789. Alexander Hamilton. the nations first and greatest Treasury Secretary. understood that the path to American prosperity and greatness lay in its creditworthiness which provided the affordable access to capital needed to fund internal improvements and economic growth. The nations creditworthiness was one of its most important national assets and according to Hamilton: "the proper funding of the present debt. will render it a national blessing." But to maintain this blessing. or to "render public credit immortal." Hamilton understood that it was necessary that: "the creation of debt should always be accompanied with the means of extinguishment." In other words. to retain and enjoy the prosperity that flows from good credit. it is necessary for a nation to pay its bills. H.R. 692 threatens the full faith and credit of the United States. costs American jobs. hurt businesses of all sizes. and does irreparable damage to the economy. It is important to note that under the economic stewardship of the Obama Administration. the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 17.000 for the first time ever. and unemployment has fallen to 5.1 percent. the lowest since the Clinton Administration. Madam Speaker. obligations not guaranteed by H.R. 692. and therefore in danger of not being paid on a daily basis. include pay for activeduty military. veterans benefits. Medicare and Medicaid payments. and payments to small businesses. In short. H.R. 692 is simply default by another name. Americans want a clean debt limit increase. which Congress has been done numerous times and was the normal process until 2011 when the House Republicans hijacked the process in a futile and quixotic effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. H.R. 692 reflects a House Republican governing philosophy that puts ideology over progress and partisan showmanship over commonsense legislating. Madam Speaker. we cannot continue to hold our nation hostage. punishing the recipients of Social Security. Medicaid. and Medicare who depend upon their benefits for economic survival. That is why I support a longterm increase in the debt limit that would provide economic stability to consumers. businesses. and financial organizations and certainty to capital markets. In contrast. the bill before us. H.R. 692. is merely a shortterm measure with unnecessary complications. needlessly perpetuating uncertainty in the nations fiscal system. and favors the Chinese government over Americans. My colleagues want to buy time so that they can figure out how to squeeze the American taxpayer even more by devising bonecrunching cuts and slashes to entitlement programs as opposed to sifting down and working with Democrats to come up with reasonable budget reforms which do not hurt seniors or the . disadvantaged. Madam Speaker. Social Security is currently the only source of income for nearly twothirds of older American households receiving benefits. and roughly onethird of those households depend on Social Security for nearly all of their income. Half of those 65 and older have annual incomes below $18.500. and many older Americans have experienced recent and significant losses in retirement savings. pensions. and home values. Today. every dollar of the average Social Security retirement benefit of about $14.800 is absolutely critical to the typical beneficiary. Contrary to some claims. Social Security is not the cause of our nations deficit problem. Not only does the program operate independently. but it is prohibited from borrowing. Social Security must pay all benefits from its own trust fund. If there are insufficient funds to pay out full benefits. benefits are automatically reduced to the level supported by the programs own revenues. Instead of shortterm management of selfinflicted fiscal crises. it is incumbent upon us on both sides of the aisle to find the common ground needed to put the nation on a sounder fiscal path. If President Obama has made clear that he remains willing to work with both parties in Congress to budget responsibly and to achieve additional deficit reduction consistent with the principles of balance. shared growth. and shared opportunity. But. as of today Madam Speaker. Congress has only two optionsraise the debt ceiling to allow the Treasury to pay the nations bills. or refuse to do so and have the nation default for the first time in history. I urge my colleagues to join me in voting against H.R. 692.