Date: 2011-06-01
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. its important to be able to discuss with my colleagues just what were doing in this House and what is considered important and urgent and what is the impact on what were doing. As my friends. the Republicans on the other side of the aisle. are now spending time with the President. I hope they will have visions of President Ronald Reagan. because in 1983 Ronald Reagan begged and asked the Congress at that time to raise the debt limit. This is not a 2011. 21st century phenomenon never to be heard of in the history of this country. Raising the debt limit. my friends. is not evil or sin. It is an actuality that requires us to be responsible adults. I want you to eye this picture and to continue to keep your eyes on it continuously as I explain to you what we are doing when we ask for the debt limit to be raised. Does anyone care about our men and women on the front lines? Do we care about their families? Do we care about veterans? Oh. we wave the flag. and many of us emotionally were drawn to commemorate and honor those who had fallen this past Monday. We interrelated with families. some of whom came up to me and asked me why veterans are discriminated against and cant get work or disabled veterans are chastised by their employer. And I made a commitment to them that we will work to have jobs and end the discrimination. and that the soldiers who are coming back to 10 percent unemploymentdo you realize that. that there is a 10 percent unemployment among Iraq and Afghanistan returning soldiers. soldiers who are in their twenties and thirties or maybe forties. soldiers who may be disabled. who may have come back from a catastrophic injury but they want to work and support their families? These very men and women. do you know what the debt limit not being lifted will do? And so. yes. this was put on the floor of the House to make a mockery and a joke. but I came here to be a serious legislator and I voted "yes" because it was a serious statement on behalf of my constituents and the American people. and I could not. within 24 hours of being around military families. abandon them with the frivolity and the foolishness of putting something up on the floor just to put it in the eye of the President. Let me tell you why it partly was done as trickery. Listen to the words of a bond dealer: "I didnt even know they had a vote tonight. to be honest with you." a senior government bond strategist at CRT Capital Group in Stamford. Connecticut said. "The only real event that the market is focused on is the point at which they run out of money and have to shut down the government." Well. let me tell you the reason why this was just a joke. since those of us who voted "yes" didnt take it as a joke. Because the Secretary of the Treasury has extended the time to August 2. But if we do not raise the debt limit. like Ronald Reagan asked and other Republican Presidents asked with no fanfare. let me tell you what will happen to our soldiers. It will be 20 percent unemployment. What will happen to Medicare? We wont be making it solvent. Well just end it and implode it like the Ryan budget wants to do. We will eliminate Medicare for disabled persons and children and seniors in nursing homes. No. we wont have any veterans benefits. but our cities that now are grappling with disaster. that funding will dry up as well. And we are the rainy day umbrella for the American people. But you know what else? Summer jobs for our young people who are struggling to get themselves back in school in the fall. In the city of Houston. howI dont knowunthinking can you be when you close down city pools. the meager opportunity for recreation that a child has in the inner city area or maybe a rural area. Summer pools totally closed down. And parks. So what are they supposed to do besides having one person that can monitor the pool? You just have them running the streets. What sense does that make? Or the school districts in the State of Texas now losing $4 billion. HISD. the Houston Independent School District. one of the largest in the Nation. $200 million. or AISD. $30 million. Its time to wake up and understand that we must recognize the responsibility we have. Mr. Speaker. We can end the war in Afghanistan. bring them home from Iraq. and we can do our job and raise the debt ceiling. This is ridiculous. but Im not going to be part of it.