Default Prevention Act of 2013 - Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, at 12 o'clock noon we will vote on the motion to proceed to S. 1569. It is barely 1 page, but it is of more significance than anyone can imagine. It basically is an opportunity for us to start the debate--not to end the debate but to start the debate--on whether the United States of America will default on its debt for the first time in the history of this Nation. Other nations have defaulted: Argentina, Venezuela, Cameroon. We have never defaulted.

As a result, the U.S. dollar is the soundest currency in the world. Think about it for a second. Where else would you turn? The U.S. dollar is the soundest currency. Buying the debt of the United States is considered to be the single safest investment any person, business, or country can make.

We didn't just inherit this. We earned this, because every year the United States has been a nation, we have paid our bills, and now this is being brought into question.

Today at noon on the floor of the Senate there is going to be a vote on whether we proceed with the debate over paying our bills. Sadly, we are told not a single Republican Senator will join us in allowing the debate on paying our bills. That is a sad commentary. When we think about it, it is taking the events of the past week or two to the extreme.

It was bad enough to shut down the United States. When Republicans decided that shutting down the government was a great political move, the American people said: Are you out of your mind? Eight hundred thousand people are going to be furloughed, and we are going to stop the services of our government?

For the last 12 days we have seen every single day another indicator, another piece of news, about how this government shutdown is hurting ordinary people across America, whether it is those who were denied clinical trials at the National Institutes of Health outside of Washington, DC--clinical trials that were literally life-and-death decisions; whether we are talking about food inspection, reading the newspaper about salmonella poisoning and realizing the Republican government shutdown is reducing the number of food inspectors. The list goes on and on and on.

But I will tell you this: As sad and unfair as it is for the Republican shutdown of the government to result in 800,000 furloughed Federal employees, the hardships on their families and the hardships on all Americans who count on their jobs and on the basic services of the Federal Government is worse.

This is worse. The Republican shutdown has reached a new level of recklessness, a new level of irresponsibility if we default on America's debt. Sadly, it will mean the victims will not just be Federal employees and their families. No, not even just those who count on government services. The victims will be virtually every person and every family in America.

Is that an exaggeration? Is it just another politician reaching extreme rhetoric here on the floor? Let me quote a few people who do this for a living--the people we trust. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in a Finance Committee hearing on October 13 said:

Failing to raise the debt ceiling will impact everyday Americans beyond its impact on financial markets. Between October 17 and November 1, we have large payments to Medicare providers, Social Security beneficiaries, and veterans, as well as salaries for Active-Duty members of the military. A failure to raise the debt limit could put timely payment of all of these at risk.

Of course, he is a government employee, an appointee of the administration. One might say: Well, let's discount that. He is just putting the President's political spin on this. Let's go to Frank Keating, no friend of the administration. He is the head of the American Bankers Association. Before a banking committee hearing on October 10, he said:

Ordinary Americans will bear the brunt of the damage if our leaders do not prevent the United States from defaulting on its debt for the first time in history.

He went on to say:

It would ..... raise the cost of borrowing for businesses, meaning job losses and price increases ..... be a blow to retirement funds, leaving fewer resources available for retirees. For banks, which hold $3 trillion in Treasury, agency and mortgage-backed securities, the sharp decline in value of these securities would translate into fewer resources available for mortgages, business, auto, credit card and student loans.

To put it in layman's terms, Mr. Keating, the head of the American Bankers Association, is saying if the Congress fails to extend the debt ceiling, as we are proposing to do today, interest rates will go up--interest rates on ordinary Americans, ordinary families, and ordinary businesses.

This is entirely preventable. Let me just lay the cards on the table. I have been in the House and in the Senate. Nobody wants to vote for this because most people don't understand it. They think: Oh, so you want us to go further in debt, Senator? That is why you voted for it.

But that is not the case. The debt limit is paying off the bills we have already incurred. It is like going to a fancy restaurant and ordering the best meal on the menu, eating the meal, and when they come to ask you to pay the check you say: No, I am not paying the check. You see, I am a fiscal conservative. I just don't believe in extravagant eating. But you just ate the meal, and now you are not going to pay the check?

That is what this is about. We have incurred these bills, and now the question is whether we will pay these bills. That is what it comes down to. This is basic and fundamental.

At noon there will be a vote on the floor of the Senate which will have a direct impact on everyone in this country. The question is whether the Republicans, fresh from the failure of their government shutdown, are going to dig a deeper hole, not just for their party--forget that completely--but for this Nation; whether they are going to create a new group of victims beyond Federal employees that includes every person, every family, and every business in America. That is what is at stake.

Madam President, I am not exaggerating. I think this may be the single most irresponsible thing I have seen in the time I have served in Washington. To let this happen is not good for this Nation, and it is not fair to the people of this Nation.

The majority leader said the markets are closed on Monday. It turns out, I am told, that the bond market is closed, but the stock market is open. That stock market, incidentally, is where mutual funds live, where the stocks people own for their savings and retirement live, and where their savings live. This irresponsible action, sadly, is likely to create a decline in the value of their hard-earned savings.

But it can be avoided. What would it take? Six Republicans. That is what it takes. The Democrats are prepared to move forward and extend the debt ceiling. We need six moderate Republicans to step up and join us. If they will, we will move forward. We will accept the responsibility of ultimately voting for whatever bill there is to extend the debt ceiling. We are asking six Republicans to give us a chance to vote. If they say no at noon today, the consequences could be awful for this great Nation.

I yield the floor.

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