Full Faith and Credit Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague from Michigan. I strongly oppose this bill which, as our colleagues have said, says we should pay the government of China before we pay our troops, before we pay our veterans, and before we pay other bills here in the United States.
Of all the bad ideas that have come to the floor of this House, this one is one of the worst. It's a reckless, irresponsible proposal that says the United States of America is not going to pay all the bills that are due and owing. That will have a terrible impact on our creditworthiness, it will undermine the full faith and credit of the United States, and it would wreak havoc in the economy.
Look, Madam Speaker, our constituents don't have the luxury of waking up one morning and saying: Do you know what? I'm only going to make my mortgage payment. I'm not going to make my car payment, and I'm not going to make my credit card payments.
If they did that, what would happen? They would lose their creditworthiness. For the United States of America to say we're going to pay some bills but not all would have hugely damaging impacts on the economy.
And it gets worse, because when they say, We've got to pay some, but not all, you've got to decide whom you're going to pay first. And what they decide here is they're going to pay China first, and they have to decide who is not a priority. In this bill, our veterans are not a priority, and our troops risking their lives in Afghanistan are not a priority. China is a priority; they're not.
Now, Madam Speaker, what will happen here is that people will lose faith in whether or not the country pays its bills. People need to understand very clearly that this is not about expanding the debt ceiling in order to take on new obligations. This is about paying our existing obligations. And if we announce to the world that we're planning on not paying our obligations, whether they're to bondholders or to our troops, guess what happens? People will lose faith in the United States Government, and the economy will get hit hard.
Let's vote against this bill that says China comes before our troops and our veterans.
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