Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Connecticut for yielding, and I want to congratulate her for the job that she has done not in only passing 9 of the 12 appropriation bills that are over in the Senate, which, unfortunately, have not been considered, and the other three bills I know she is working very hard on, which would obviate the need for another CR. But we have not done that yet, so we must pass this bill.

There is no job, Mr. Speaker, more critical for Congress to perform each year than to fund the government.

Again, I want to thank Chairwoman DeLauro and the members and staff of the Appropriations Committee and the ranking member for their work earlier this year to ensure that the House pass 9 of the 12 appropriation bills.

As we continue to work with the Senate to finish that work, it is imperative that we adopt this continuing resolution to keep the government open and serving the American people during these challenging times.

The continuing resolution also includes much-needed emergency funding for disaster relief. Communities along the Gulf Coast were hard hit by Hurricane Ida, and western States are continuing to deal with the devastating wildfires.

At the same time, Mr. Speaker, this legislation also includes additional funding to facilitate the resettlement of our Afghan allies and their families.

It is also essential that we suspend the debt limit to prevent a default that would trigger an economic catastrophe not only here but around the world. And this continuing resolution includes such a suspension.

In my career over the 40 years that I have spent here, Republican and Democratic Secretaries of the Treasury and administrations have urged us not to allow the credit and faith of the United States of America to fail.

In years past, Democrats and Republicans came together to address the debt limit because we all know how dangerous it would be for America not to pay the bills it has already incurred. This is not for additional spending, this is for what we have already spent either by spending it on objectives or cutting revenues.

Let me remind everyone what we are talking about. This is about paying for what we have already bought. A family can't just decide not to pay its credit card bill for purchases already made. Their credit would suffer--rightfully so--making them a risky bet for lenders, who would be justified in charging higher payments.

Now, we played chicken with the debt some years ago. It was in the early 2010s. The credit of the United States for the first time in 100 years was put down a notch--the credit of the United States of America. In much the same way, our country will suffer greatly if we do not act now to stave off this unnecessary and preventable crisis.

During the previous administration, every time the President asked Congress to take this same vote, Democrats did the right thing and joined with Senator McConnell, Leader McCarthy, and other Republicans to suspend the debt limit. We did it three times under a Republican President, the previous President.

Now Congress is being asked to make that responsible choice again, but there is a Democratic President. Notwithstanding Senator McConnell's observation that it would be unwise not to extend the credit of the United States, there apparently is a commitment on the other side of the Capitol not to vote for a debt limit extension.

I hope Republicans will be consistent and will do as they did before: vote to prevent a default and spare the American people from yet another damaging economic crisis right as we are coming out of a pandemic.

Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members, Republican and Democrat-- this is not a Democratic debt; it is not a Republican debt. It is our debt. It is the debt of the United States of America. We don't welch on our debts. We pay our debts. That is all this bill does.

The debt limit is an absolutely phony issue. There is less than a handful of countries that have a debt limit, and none who come to a crisis of not paying their debt or extending that debt limit.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in voting for the continuing resolution to keep government open--probably our primary responsibility--and prevent an economic disaster.

Mr. Speaker, now, I heard the remarks of the gentlewoman, and she will be happy to hear that it is my intention to bring to this floor a suspension bill before the end of this week that will fund fully Iron Dome. I was for that. I am still for it. We ought to do it.

I talked to the Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Lapid, just 2 hours ago and assured him that that bill was going to pass this House. I hope that my colleague on that side of the aisle would join with me.

I thank Chair DeLauro, with whom we just talked. She indicated she wanted that to be done. I intend to bring it to the floor, and it will be done. It is absolutely essential.

There were 4,400 rockets in 10 days that rained down on Israel, one of our closest allies and friends. Luckily--no, not luckily. Because they had Iron Dome, very few lives were lost and very little property was lost. Too much, but nevertheless, Iron Dome saved lives and property and held Israel secure.

The President wants this bill passed. Mr. Schumer wants this bill passed. The Speaker wants this bill passed. The chair of the Committee on Appropriations wants this bill passed. I want it passed. And I believe scores of others on both sides of the aisle want to make sure that Israel is secure and that she can replenish the assets of Iron Dome, which are defensive only--not offensive weapons, defensive only-- so that if somebody sends a rocket toward either people or places in Israel, they will be able to intercept that rocket and save lives and save property.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chair for her leadership. I thank the Members of this body who are going to stand up, in my view, and are going to vote not only to keep government funded but to ensure that the United States of America does not fail to pay its debts.

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