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Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, 7 of the last 10 debt limit increases were attached to bipartisan government spending deals. All three of the debt limit increases from 2017 through 2020 were attached to bipartisan government spending deals.

So there is no reason why our country should be drifting toward crisis. The solution is clear; it has been clear for months. President Biden needs to negotiate on spending with Speaker McCarthy.

The Speaker has been at the table since February. House Republicans are the only people in town who have passed any bill that prevents default. President Biden has been MIA.

House and Senate Democrats have no plan, no proposal. They have no bill to raise the debt ceiling that could pass either in the House or the Senate, let alone both.

So the choice is President Biden's: Either he drives the country into default or he comes to the table.

Four years ago, in 2019, the roles were reversed. Republicans held the White House. Democrats held the White House. I was the majority leader. And my advice to the President then was the same as my advice to the President now: raise the debt limit by negotiating spending levels with the Speaker.

That administration listened. They sent Secretary Mnuchin to hammer out a debt deal with Speaker Pelosi. They struck a compromise. Spending levels were set, and the debt limit was raised.

That is what a responsible Senate majority leader would be telling the Biden White House today: Sit down with the Speaker and strike a deal.

Any compromise flushed out by the Republican House and the Democratic White House will pass the Senate easily. So President Biden's actions will either prevent default or guarantee default.

It is just that simple. It is up to the President.

Either President Biden causes an economic disaster of his own creation or he picks up the 2019 playbook and negotiates with Speaker McCarthy.

Everybody knows this is on President Biden. Rank-and-file House and Senate Democrats have publicly called on the White House to negotiate.

The Washington Post--the Washington Post--ran an entire editorial entitled, ``It's time for Biden to call McCarthy!''

Last week, an entire news story detailed how the White House is garnering no support from nonpartisan leaders or experts for their bizarre strategy of sleepwalking into disaster.

The people around President Biden, including the Senate Democratic leader, seem to think they can wish away the results of the midterm election. They want to pretend the American people didn't flip the House.

That is not how it works. In divided government, you negotiate. The President and the Speaker need to talk, just like in 2019. We need a bipartisan spending agreement, just like 7 of the previous 10 debt limit deals. I will be joining the White House meeting later today, and I will continue to support the Speaker.

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