Date: 2011-07-19
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I have a new name for the bill. the bill which tap dances around the question of revenue and lifting the debt ceiling. which was done 60plus times over Americas lifetime with Reagan. Carter. President Bush and President Bush. and Clinton. So its the "Tap Dance. Losers Club and Bust the benefits bill." The losers are seniors and young people and those who need Social Security and those who are disabled. Then. finally. instead of the balanced budget amendment. it is the bust the benefits of those who are in need and of the young people who are looking forward to a prosperous future and expanded opportunities in this Nation. What do we need?-not the Cut. Cap. and Balance. It in no way invests in America. It in no way ends the tax loopholes that are part of our increasing debt. It will block the United States Congress from closing the loopholes of those who make billions of dollars every 3 months. We need innovation. infrastructure and education. That equals jobs. Parents. I dont want to see the end of your childrens opportunities by closing elementary and high schools and by disallowing them from going to college. That is what this bill isnot to cut. not to cap. not to balance. Its the "Tap Dance. Losers Club. and Bust the Benefits of the American People bill." Let me suggest to you that these are the losers of this bill. Dont support a bill that will cause the American people to lose the American Dream. I rise today in opposition to H.R. 2560. the "Cut. Cap. and Balance Act of 2011." which attempts to resolve our budget ceiling crisis by authorizing an increase in the debt limit while implementing spending cuts. caps on future spending. and requiring an amendment to the Constitution. While I support bipartisan efforts to increase the debt limit. I cannot support a bill that is a clear attempt to enact the policies embedded in the Republican budget resolution and to then enshrine the Republican budget in our Nations Constitution. This bill should be called the "Tap Dance. Loser Club. and Bust Bill." It tap dances around raising our debt ceiling and acting in a responsible manner to pay our Nations debt obligations. Our Nation will be joining the losers club by threatening to eliminate important social programs such as Medicaid. Medicare. Social Security. and Pell grants. There has been a theme this Congress of focusing on cutting programs for the most at need and ignoring the need to focus on job creation. This bill busts the hopes and dreams of our children. seniors. and military families. It busts the hopes to grow our Nation in the future. H.R. 2560 has earned the name the "Tap Dance. Loser Club. and Bust Bill." I will call it that from this point forward. because that is what it is . . . when something walks like a duck. quacks like a duck and looks like a duck . . . Call it a duck!!!! This bill is wasting a tremendous amount of time when we should be focused on paying our Nations bills and resolving our differences! I stand here today to state firmly that increasing the debt ceiling is the responsible thing to do. Congress has already debated and approved the debt that an increased ceiling makes room for. However. my Republican colleagues have chosen to use this as an opportunity to hold the American people hostage to their extreme agenda. They know that the "Tap Dance Loser Club. and Bust Bill" is not a realistic proposal. The fact that Congress. a body that typically has its fair share of political battles. has never played political chicken when it came to raising the debt ceiling should give us all pause. and is a testament to the seriousness with which we must approach this issue. However. this time around. my Republican colleagues have created an impasse based upon an ideological commitment to spending cuts. While I understand and share the concern of my Republican colleagues with respect to deficit spending. and will continue to work with them in order to find reductions. now is not the time to put ideology over pragmatism. The reality is that. on August 3rd. the United States will begin to default on its debt obligations if the debt ceiling is not raised. This detour into a spending debate is as unnecessary as it is perilous. as increasing the debt ceiling does not obligate the undertaking of any new spending by the Federal Government. Rather. raising the debt limit simply allows the government to pay existing legal obligations promised to debt holders that were already agreed to by Presidents and Congresses. both past and present. Moreover. the impending crisis would have already occurred were it not for the extraordinary measures taken by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. including the suspension of the investment in securities to finance the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. as well as the redemption of a portion of those securities already held by that fund. If the United States defaults on its obligations on August 3rd. the stock market will react violently to the news that for the first time in history. America is unable to keep its promises to pay. Not once in American history has the countrys full faith and credit been called into question. Once America defaults. investors who purchase U.S. bonds and finance our government will be less likely to lend to America in the future. Just as a person who defaults on a loan will find it harder to convince banks to lend them money in the future. a country that defaults on its debt obligations will find it harder to convince investors to lend money to a government that did not pay. Showing the world that the United States does not pay its debts makes the purchasing of that debt less desirable because it requires the assumption of more risk on the part of the investors. Furthermore. any investors that do continue to purchase U.S. Treasury bonds will demand much higher interest rates in order to cover the increased risk. Once a default occurs. investors figure that the chance of the United States defaulting again is much greater. and will require the government to pay higher rates of interest in order to make the loan worth the risk for investors to take on. Imagine the impact on our stock market if we do not pay our debts. As we have seen throughout the recent financial crisis. a bad stock market hurts not only big businesses and large investors on Wall Street. but small businesses and small investors as well. Families with investments tied to the stock market. such as 401(k)s. pension plans. and savings. will once again see the value of their investments drop. The American people are tired of the uncertainty of the value of their retirement accounts. We must not allow another wild fluctuation to occur due to default and add to the uncertainty still lingering in the minds of citizens. As if another stock market crisis were not enough. the housing market would take another hit if America defaulted. Higher mortgage rates in a housing market already weakened by default and foreclosures would cause a further depression of home values. destroying whatever equity families might have left in their homes after the housing crisis. Moreover. the longterm effects would reduce spending and investment in the housing market. Republicans are attempting to place into our constitution the requirement that we balance the budget every year. In reality. achieving a balanced budget is not something that should automatically be required every year. For example. during economic downturns. the government can stimulate growth by cutting taxes and increasing spending. A constitutional amendment requiring us to cut spending to match revenue every year would limit our ability to respond to changing fiscal conditions and would dramatically impede federal responses to high unemployment as well as federal guarantees for food and medical assistance. As it stands. H.J. Res. 1 requires spending cuts even deeper than those in this bill. in fact. it requires that spending be cut to the levels in the Republican Study Committee budget. levels that were so extreme that fewer than half of House Republicans voted for that budget. Finally. requiring a twothirds vote to approve revenue increases creates a barrier to fixing inequities in our tax code by protecting more than $1 trillion in spending through the tax codespending that often benefits special interests. like owners of corporate jetsand welltodo Americans. H.R. 2560 cuts $111 billion in FY 2012. places firm caps on future spending. and is contingent upon House and Senate passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment. H.R. 2560. is yet another attempt to enact the policies that Republicans approved with their budget resolution this springto end the Medicare guarantee while continuing tax breaks for special interests and the wealthy. It requires immediate and steep spending cuts starting this October that will put more Americans out of work while the country is still recovering from the worst recession since the Great Depression. It caps total spendingincluding mandatory spending programs. such as unemployment benefits. that are designed to grow when the economy is badfor fiscal years 20132021 at lower percentages of the economy (Gross Domestic Product. or GDP). While it is clear that the country cannot continue on an unsustainable fiscal path. the bill limits spending to a percentage of GDP that the country has rarely achieved in the past. For example. the bill limits total outlays to 19.7 percent of GDP in 2018. outlays were at or below that level in only 12 of the last 43 years (from 1997 through 2004. and from 1969 through 1972). Enforces the Republican budget resolution by limiting total federal outlaysincluding Social Security and Medicareat the Republican budgets percentage of GDP in fiscal years 2013 through 2021. Automatic sequestration again would occur if the levels are breached. More immediately. H.R. 2560 requires passage of a specific type of a socalled "balanced budget" constitutional amendment by both the House and the Senate before the debt limit can be increased. This new hurdle makes it even harder for Congress to increase the debt limit by August 2. which it must do to avoid fiscal calamity and higher interest costs for consumers and the government alike. H.R. 2560 limits fiscal year 2012 discretionary and entitlement spending to the levels in the Republican budget. If spending exceeds these limits there would be an automatic sequestration that makes an acrosstheboard cut to most programs to bring down spending. Spending in 2012 is to be cut by a net total of $111 billion below current services. Discretionary CapThe bills authors say they intend to cut nonsecurity discretionary spending for next year by $76 billion (a roughly one quarter reduction in budget authority). to below the 2008 level. and increase security spending. matching the Presidents request. However. the bill does not provide separate discretionary caps except for war funding. so Congress could cut where it chooses. Entitlement CapThe bill exempts veterans benefits. Medicare. Social Security. and net interest from its entitlement (or direct spending) cap. These programs comprise roughly twothirds of all entitlement spending. The bill cuts the remaining direct spending by $51 billion (7 percent) in 2012. down to the levels in the Republican budget. The cuts will fall on programs like school lunches. student loans. food stamps (SNAP). Medicaid. and unemployment insurancesome of the very programs designed to automatically increase when the economy is down in order to lessen the impact of job losses and associated economic hardship. As with the discretionary cap. there would be an automatic sequestration if direct spending is not sufficiently cut. Past sequestration provisions exempted specific programs. including lowincome programs. but this bill repeals the broad list that has been the basis for sequestration in the past. Instead the bill exempts a smaller range of programs (but comprising about half of the budget): military personnel accounts. TRICARE for Life. military retirement. veterans benefits. Medicare. Social Security. and net interest.