Patriot Sunsets Extension Act of 2011

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Mr. JOHNSON of Wisconsin. Mr. President, I come to the Senate floor for the second time because I am highly concerned.

For the last 31 years, I have been running a manufacturing business in Oshkosh, WI. During all of that time, I have been a very careful observer about what has been happening here in Washington. I have been watching how broken and unworkable our government has become. I have been here now for 4 1/2 months. Nothing I have seen has changed my mind. Our political process here in Washington is broken.

So here is my specific concern: There seems to be a growing assumption in this town that eventually--probably at the very last minute--some kind of grand bargain is going to be struck and we will actually increase the debt ceiling limit. That would be great. It will be absolutely great if that would happen--if the administration would get serious and work with Republicans to actually address the serious fiscal issues that face this Nation. But I am not so sure we can count on that.

The fact is the Democrat-controlled Senate has not passed a budget for 754 days. I don't believe we need any further evidence that our budget process in this Chamber is broken. So, in my mind, not raising the debt ceiling is a very real possibility. I am afraid this administration is totally ignoring that possibility. It appears it has absolutely no plan B. It has no contingency plan.

As I mentioned, I have been running a business for the last 31 years. When you run a business, things often do not go according to plan. Every day, millions of American businessmen and businesswomen try to anticipate the problems on the horizon. They develop contingency plans in case those problems arise. That is what responsible leaders do. Government should be no different.

But instead of being responsible, this administration seems to be making a concerted effort to scare the American public and scare the markets in a very transparent attempt to force Republicans in Congress to increase the debt ceiling without enacting the structural budget and spending reforms we need to make to prevent this Nation from going bankrupt. Instead of scaring the markets, the administration should be seeking to calm the markets by developing a contingency plan just in case the debt ceiling is not increased in time. That would be the prudent thing to do. That would be the responsible thing to do.

So, today, I am calling on President Obama to begin planning ahead so that failure to raise the debt ceiling does not immediately turn into a totally unnecessary crisis.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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