Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Neal for his extraordinary leadership and continuing to work to elevate values that benefit everyday Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the extreme MAGA Republican default on America Act.

This reckless Republican effort to lead us down the road of a dangerous default will hurt working families, hurt the middle class, hurt all those Americans who aspire to be part of the middle class, hurt young people, hurt seniors, hurt veterans, hurt the poor, the sick, and the afflicted.

This will hurt people in urban America, rural America, exurban America, small-town America, in Appalachia, and in the heartland of America. It will hurt the least, the lost, and the left behind. The extreme MAGA Republican default on America act will hurt everyday Americans.

Why? Because you want to jam your reckless, extreme ideology down the throats of the American people in a hostage-taking situation. Instead of producing a budget, which is what President Biden has done, you have produced a ransom note.

The default on America act is a ransom note because effectively what you are saying is: Pass our extreme MAGA Republican bill or else America is going to default.

Now, we have a responsibility here in the United States Congress to uphold the full faith and credit of the United States of America to make sure that, as a country, we pay our bills, bills that have already been incurred, and not default. That is what our responsibility is, not as Democrats or as Republicans, but as Americans.

That is why, in the previous administration, Democrats three times worked with the Trump administration to avoid a default--no gamesmanship, no brinkmanship, no partisanship. We worked with the previous administration, with which we disagreed often, to make sure that America paid its bills, notwithstanding the fact that in our 247- year history, 25 percent of America's debt was accumulated during the 4 years of the Trump administration.

We did our patriotic responsibility to make sure that America would not default on our debt.

Now, with a different President in office, you want to play games. You want to flirt with a default and take us down this dangerous path.

You claim it is all about fiscal responsibility. Give me a break. That is rhetoric. That is not what the record shows, as Mr. Neal articulated. This is not about fiscal responsibility. That is rhetoric.

What the record shows is that Democrats are the party of job creation and fiscal responsibility, and Republicans have been the party of tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, the well-connected, and exploding deficits.

Bill Clinton inherited deficits from the previous two administrations. Twenty million good-paying jobs were created during the 8 years of the Clinton Presidency, and he eliminated the deficit. In fact, he created a budget surplus.

President Barack Obama inherited the Great Recession, fiscal irresponsibility. Fourteen million good-paying, private-sector jobs were created during the Presidency of Barack Obama, and he reduced the deficit by $1 trillion. He took it from $1.5 trillion to $500 billion.

Democrats are the party of job creation and fiscal responsibility.

Joe Biden inherited a mess. What did he do? In 2 years, more than 10 million jobs were created. Now that number is over 12 million. He reduced the deficit by $1.7 trillion.

What is the Republican record? Why do you lecture us and lecture America about fiscal responsibility?

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Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, what is the Republican record?

President Reagan came into office, and the first thing that he did was massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well- connected, and explodes the deficit.

President George W. Bush came into office, and in 2001 and 2003, massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected; two failed wars; a deep recession; and explodes the deficit.

President Trump came into office. The first thing he did in 2017 was massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected; the GOP tax scam with 83 percent of the benefits going to the wealthiest 1 percent in America; and explodes the deficits.

How dare you lecture America about fiscal responsibility when the record shows that Democrats are the party of job creation and reducing deficits, and Republicans are the party of tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, the well-connected, and exploding the deficits.

We are not going to stand here and allow you to lecture us about fiscal responsibility. What this is is an effort to try to extract deep, painful cuts on everyday Americans.

There is a process for America to pay its bills. It should be seamless. Then there is a budget process and an appropriations process. That is where we can have a conversation about future spending, future investments, and what the priorities should be.

President Joe Biden produced a budget. His budget will actually protect and strengthen Social Security, build an economy that works for everyday Americans, and cut the deficit by $3 trillion.

We have been asking for a Republican budget. Instead of giving us a budget, you have given us a ransom note. That is what the default on America act is, threatening a dangerous default. Pass it or else.

That is not statesmanship. That is brinkmanship. It will cause grave harm to everyday Americans.

The reckless extreme MAGA Republican dangerous default effort risks triggering a painful recession that will cost millions of good-paying jobs.

This reckless Republican effort, this effort to lead us down a dangerous default, will risk crashing the stock market and put in jeopardy the retirement security of millions of older Americans.

This reckless Republican effort to lead us down a dangerous default risks exploding costs for everyday Americans. That is what is in front of us right now.

That is why we oppose this reckless effort to default on America. This bill is unacceptable; it is unreasonable; it is unworkable; it is unconscionable; and it is un-American. That is why we oppose it. That is why we are urging a ``no'' vote, and that is why we are asking you to come together not as Republicans but as Americans to do what has always been done and make sure America pays bills that have already been incurred and avoid a dangerous default.

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