Congress Must Address the Debt Ceiling

Floor Speech

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Mr. LEVIN of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address a looming crisis facing our country. This one is a man-made crisis, one born out of cruel political calculations.

Mr. Speaker, I am referring to the threat of some of our Republican colleagues to refuse to raise the debt ceiling next year, unless their most extreme demands are met, and they have made clear what those demands are.

They believe this threat is how they can finally force cuts to the Social Security benefits that millions of Americans have earned. This threat is how they are going try to raise the retirement age. This is how they want to force cuts to Medicare.

They are prepared to force a default and create catastrophic consequences for our economy and America's standing in the world, so they can slash Social Security and Medicare.

We can't let that happen. We must address the debt ceiling. The consequences if we don't act are too grave.

To all of my colleagues, we must not hold Social Security and Medicare hostage. We must address the debt ceiling as soon as possible.

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