Establishing the Commission on Freedom of Information Act Processing Delays

Floor Speech

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Madam President, the tea party Members in the House have achieved a remarkable feat. As the New York Times put today:

The scope of their victory in reshaping the debt ceiling bill to reflect the fiscal hawkishness of the most conservative House Members cannot be overstated.

In other words, despite Democratic control over the White House, despite Democratic control over the Senate, despite overwhelming opposition from the American people, a small minority of the Members of the Republican-controlled House have successfully pushed an extreme rightwing agenda onto the American political landscape. This rightwing ideology is a set of beliefs which represents the interests of the wealthiest people in this country and the largest corporations. It is an ideology which ultimately wants to destroy Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and make devastating cuts in education, Head Start, environmental protection, nutrition, infrastructure, and every other program which protects the interests of working families and the middle class.

It is an ideology which believes that despite the fact that the rich are getting richer, the middle class is shrinking, and poverty is increasing, all of the burden for deficit reduction should rest on working people, despite the fact that in the last 25 years the top 1 percent has achieved 80 percent of all new income. But this rightwing ideology says we have got to cut back on education, we have got to cut back on health care, we have got to cut back on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and every other program a middle class and a working class, hurting desperately in the midst of this recession, depend upon.

In my view, this is an ideology which is grotesquely immoral and it is also bad economic policy. It has failed time after time, most recently during the Bush administration when, during his 8 years in office, we lost 500,000 private sector jobs, the worst job performance record in modern American history. It is an ideology which, in poll after poll, has been rejected by the American people.

For example, a few days ago a Washington Post poll came out, and 72 percent of the American people--and this is similar to every other poll I have seen--said that if we are going to be effective in dealing with deficit reduction, the most preferred way is to ask those people making more than $250,000 a year to pay more in taxes--72 percent of the American people.

The Republicans, on the other hand, have fought time and time again to say that the wealthy and the largest corporations, some of which make billions in profit, pay nothing in taxes. They are not to be asked for 1 cent of sacrifice in deficit reduction; just working families, just children, just the elderly, just the sick.

It seems to me in this very late date of this debate we face four options, none of which is particularly good.

The first option is what some of the rightwing extremists have wanted all along: Let us default. It is not a problem. So what if millions of Social Security recipients don't get their check. So what if veterans don't get the check they were promised.

So what, if sick people who were dependent upon Medicare and Medicaid cannot get the medical help they need? No problem, let's default. Clearly, most of us understand that scenario would be a disaster for this country, for our economy, and, in fact, for the entire global economy.

The second option we are looking at is a bill that was passed Friday in the Republican House, the so-called Boehner bill. This bill would require massive cuts right now to a wide variety of programs and, most importantly, it would bring this congressional circus back into action immediately because within 6 months we would have to go over this debate once again. That is an absurd proposal. And included in that proposal, because they want huge amounts of cuts 6 months from now, no question, massive cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid--that is what the Boehner proposal is about.

The third option is the Reid bill. This bill, while by no means as destructive as the Boehner bill, is also bad news for working families. Because of the Republican commitment to the wealthiest people in this country and the largest corporations, it also would make heavy cuts on working families and not one penny of revenue coming from the rich and large corporations.

Let me discuss the one remaining option that seems to me to make at least some sense. It is not a great option but the best available. That has already been spoken about by my good friend Tom Harkin. It seems to me that the least onerous option available to us today is for the President of the United States to exercise his authority under the 14th amendment to the Constitution to pay the debts incurred by the United States. The Constitution is very clear in saying that the debts of the United States ``shall not be questioned.''

The President swears an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, and many constitutional scholars believe the 14th amendment gives the President the authority and responsibility to pay our debts regardless of the dysfunctionality of the U.S. Congress. I think that is just what he should do if he is left with no other way to protect the full faith and credit of the United States.

I believe former President Bill Clinton is absolutely right in saying that if he were still in the White House, that is what he would do. Clinton said, and I agree with him:

I think the Constitution is clear and I think this idea that the Congress gets to vote twice on whether to pay for expenditures it has appropriated is crazy.

Let me be clear about what exactly this means and why it is so important that the President use this amendment now, at this particular moment in history. Let's remember that the debt ceiling was raised 18 times under Ronald Reagan and 7 times under George W. Bush, when the national debt increased by some $5 trillion. If we concede to the rightwing Republicans and if we make all of these cuts right now because they refuse to raise the debt ceiling, this sets a horrendous precedent for the future of congressional action. What this would mean is that no matter what legislation and appropriations were passed by the future Congress, the new Congress could simply say: We refuse to pay those bills. This would cause massive uncertainty in the financial market, drive interest rates up, and cloud the entire legislative process of the U.S. Congress. That is wrong and must not happen.

I understand there are those who disagree with this option, and I respect that. But I think we have an obligation to our senior citizens and our veterans to say: Yes, you are going to get the Social Security checks and the other benefits you have been promised. We have an obligation to our children and to the sick that, yes, you are going to get the Medicare and Medicaid benefits you have been promised. Incredibly, we have an obligation to the men and women in our Armed Forces who are putting their lives on the line. We have an obligation to them to make sure they get paid.

If Republican recalcitrance prevents us from reaching an agreement, then the President of the United States must do what is best for our people and for the future of this country. He must use his constitutional authority under the 14th amendment to pay our debts.

I yield the floor.

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