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Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I just would like to speak about the vote we had--the first vote.

I am really pleased that this Chamber just passed legislation setting up a fast-track process with debt ceiling legislation--no brinksmanship, no default on the debt, no risk of another recession. Responsible governing won the day. This is now headed to the President's desk.

I want to be clear. This is about paying debt accumulated by both parties. So I am pleased we were able to facilitate a process with the support of Members from both parties that avoids a needless and catastrophic default and cuts to Medicare.

This was a bipartisan process, and I hope there can be more. And I want to thank Leader McConnell for working with us in good faith to get to this point.

We started this month with a daunting to-do list, but we have made significant progress and are on track to get the work done. To repeat, we did this with no brinksmanship, no default on debt, no risk of another recession. It was responsible governing that won the day, and now the bill is headed to the President's desk.

I expect--after this legislation is signed, I expect new legislation will be introduced to increase the debt limit, and we intend to pass it by December 15. The American people can breathe easy and rest assured there will not be a default.

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