Biden's Debt Default

Floor Speech

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Mr. ROSE. Mr. Speaker, House Republicans are the only ones that have done their job to pass legislation that raises the debt ceiling in a reasonable, responsible, and sensible way.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen tells us that the United States may run out of funds to pay our bills in just 8 days. Yet, the Democratic- controlled Senate has yet to put forward a proposal or even hold a single vote.

Unfortunately, the President has wasted valuable time refusing to negotiate. In fact, it has taken more than 100 days for him to even come to the negotiating table, despite Speaker McCarthy's repeated calls to the White House to just have a meeting--President Biden declined at each and every turn until recently--inching our Nation toward a Democrat-induced default.

With only 8 days left until our Nation potentially drives off the fiscal cliff, thanks to Democrats' wasteful and out-of-control spending, you would expect the President would be at the negotiating table each and every day, around the clock, until we get a deal done to avoid the disastrous default. Instead, he spent the weekend traveling overseas.

To me and many of the Tennesseans I represent, the President seems to be neglecting his duties during these most critical moments. Republicans have done everything we can to avoid this scenario. Like I mentioned, the House is the only body to pass legislation that responsibly raises the debt ceiling and does so while also saving American taxpayers trillions of dollars.

President Biden's actions remind me of a child who doesn't get their way. Unfortunately, the President's temper tantrum will have much more dire consequences than that of a toddler.

There is an easy solution to this problem. If the President were serious about avoiding default, he could instruct his counterparts in the Senate to pass our bill, the House-passed Limit, Save, Grow Act, which raises the debt ceiling in a reasonable, responsible, and sensible manner.

Sure, maybe the President and Senate Democrats didn't get their homework done by the due date, but they are more than welcome to copy ours and turn it in for full credit.

Mr. Speaker, if a Democrat President delays negotiations, and if a Democrat-controlled Senate doesn't pass anything, what do you get? You get the United States' first-ever default that will lie squarely on Democrats' shoulders--a Democrat default.

It is a shame that after all of these years the President spent in the Senate, a body known for its bipartisanship and ability to compromise, the President has brought us this close to default.

Mr. Speaker, make no mistake, the Democrats' default will have catastrophic impacts on the U.S. economy. Let's hope it doesn't come to that and that we can come together to save our country from fiscal insanity by limiting Washington's out-of-control spending.

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