history has chosen to hold our economy hostage in order to enact the radical, ideological agenda far out of step with the majority of americans. if nothing else, these months have shown the american people who puts our country's welfare first and would who would rather have ideological purity at all costs. i am voting for this bill. not because i like this bill, although it does do sol things that i think need -- some things that i think need to be done. we need to bring down the deficit, we need to address the debt, we need to return to fiscal responsibility. but default for the united states is not an option. this would affect all of the people that i represent d all of the people of this country if we defaulted. at the very least this bill averts that outcome. by paying our bills through 2013, which will bring certainty

a struggling economy that badly needs it. this bill cuts spending by $1.2 trillion and also establishes a process to arrive at additional spending cuts. the second set of deficit reductions will be entrusted to a bipartisan committee. hopefully that committee will accurately reflect the prioriti of this nation. we are here because we missed, as i said, a great opportunity. may i have one additional minute? mr. mcgovern: i yield to the gentleman from maryland. mr. hoyer: the chance to pass a truly balanced agreement that relies on both spending cuts and revenue. we're not there. but i have said many times during the course of this debate , to govern is to compromise. not to sell out, as some people think on this floor that voting for a compromise is somehow a sellout. we cannot run america on that theory and that is not what

democracy is all about. i urge my colleagues to ensure that america in fact pays its bills. that america -- mr. dreier: i yield my friend additional time if he'd like. mr. hoyer: i'd be glad to yield. mr. dreier: i thank my friend for yielding. i don't know if he hearder. i closed the rule debate by talking about the connecticut compromise which established a bicameral legislature july 16, 1787, in high closing remarks here, it was called the great compromise and my friend is absolutely right. we're at thapoint today in dealing with an issue not of that magnitude but clearly a very important one and i'm happy to yield my friend an additional 10 seconds. 15. mr. hoyer: one minute. i yielded to you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from massachusetts' time has expired. mr. dreier: oh, i yield 45 seconds to my friend. mr. hoyer: ladies and gentlemen, i have said numerous times during the course of this debate

about whetheamerica was going to pay its bills, that we need to vote not as republicans or democrats but as americans. americans concerned about the fiscal posture of their country, concerned about the confidence that people around the world have in the american dollar which is, after all the, the standard of the world -- after all, the standard of the world. that's what i ink this vote is about. it should not be about partisan politics and very frankly it should not be about ideological extremes. it ought to be about responsibility. it ought to be understanding our oath of office is to preserve and protect the united states of america. this bill does that, vote yes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california has two minutes remaining. the gentleman is recognizesed. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i feel very honored to follow my good friend and classmate, the distinguished democratic whip,

as we talk about this compromise and where we are. now, mr. speaker, saving social security and medicare is a priority that i believe both political parties share. contry to much of what has been put out there, this is something that is addressed in this measure. we're going to be able to save social security and medicare. again, working together in a bipartisan way. creating jobs, democrats and republicans alike talk about that. how is it that we're going to be able to do that? getting our fiscal house in order. it's a very, very important ep in our quest to ensure that the people who are hurting and looking for jobs will have an opportunity to get them. sending a positive signal to the global market that we are the world's economic military and geopolitical leader by increasing the debt ceilinger with sending a positive signal that we are going to continue meeting our obligations and our responsibility. but at the same time dramatically reducing spending,

the problem that has gotten us to this point is what we're doing for the first time ever, after 75 times increasing the debt ceiling, we're finally getting to the root cause and the problem is, as has been said over and over again, is our debt and we're going to turn the corner on that in a thoughtful and balanced way. mr. speaker, i want to compliment the president of the united states, i want to compliment both leaders of the united states senate, harry reid and mitch mcconnell, and i want to congratulate spear john boehner who has done an absolutely phenomenal job in ensuring that we wouldn't continue business as usual and i also want to congratulate minority leader pelosi for her efort that she's put in to getting us to the point where we are today. and so, mr. speaker, i urge my colleagu, i urge my colleagues to support this measure and with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the ntleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now recognizes members from the committee on ways and means, chairman, mr. camp from

michigan, and ranking minority member mr. levin from michigan. the gentleman from michin. mr. camp: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. camp: mr. speaker, if the congress does not act and act now, america will default and that would wreak havoc on our economy and make it harder for americans to find and keep a job in an already weak economy. default cannot be an option and i am pleased that the bill before us ensures that will not occur. just as default would threaten the economic health of this country, so would increasing taxes. raising taxes on families and job creators would hinder investment, incolleague the cost of doing business and -- increase the cost of doing business and result in even less hiring and fewer jobs. that's the wrong direction when we're struggling with an unemployment rate of 9.2% and 14 millioamericans looking for work. the good news is that the legislation before us recognizes these basic facts, it avoi as

default, it makes sure that the government pays our bills and it does not increase taxes. and though some have argued the new joint select commiee on deficit reduction could pave the way for tax increases, that is not going to happen. the committee structure, the baseline it ll work off of and the fact that republicans are in the majority in the house virtually guarantees that tax rates will not go up. furthermore, this legislation finally forces washington to make serious changes to the way it spends taxpayer dollars. there are real budget reforms, there is a path to a balanced budget amendment and there are automatic spending cuts if congress does not rein in spending on its own. i applaud the efforts of all those who helped craft this agreement, espiay speaker boehner and leader cantor. i urge my colleagues to recognize this opportunity to fix what is broken in washingt and use this occasion to significantly cut runaway spending. mr. speaker, i urge a yes vote and i reserve the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: thank you. i now yield two minutes to my friend, a most distinguished member of the ways and means committee for a long time, mr. charles range of new yor the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york voiced for two minutes. mr. rangel: thank you, mr. speaker. while i stand on this floor as an american and a person that loves this congress so much and i'm embarrassed also as a member that a president of e united states would have his domestic and foreign policy actually held hostage because with him and only him and no other president have we decided that we would almost put in jeopardy the faith and fiscal responsibility of this country paying its dels debts. you know, a lot of people have said that we got to a $14.4 trillion debt because we got drunk and spent money like a

drunken say lore. if that is so -- sailor. if that is so the people have in "the hgover" certainly aren't the wealthy people in this country. and this decision was decided without any consideration of the people tt are longing for jobs in our great country. if the republicans had to hold had the president hostage, whichish wish that they would have held him hostage on the questions that my constituents wake up in the morning and ask, not whether or not the debt ceiling has been risen, but how can i get a job, how can i really get back my dignity, how can i put food on the table? these are issues that you certainly don't resolve by cutting spending, causing people to lose their jobs and to lose their hope. so, indeed i'm glad that we're not going to default but the days a head we ought to be spending some -- days ahead we ought to be spending some time talking about what most americans want and that's a fair

tasystem where the wealthy who have gained so much during this spree that we've had and not allowed a hangover to be with the people that are jobless. we still have time to close this responsibility that we have, to close the debt that we have, not by laying off people, not by just cutting programs during the recession, but by thinking how question train people, how we can research and how we can get our people back to work. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from michigan. mr. camp: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to a distinguished member of the ways and means committee, the gentleman from new york, mr. reed. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for two minutes. mr. reed: thank you, mr. speaker. $14.4 trillion. $1.6 trillion every year added on to that national debt. the people in november, 2010, spoke loudly. we are listening. it is time that we in this

chamber accept the fact that d.c. has to and will change. because the american people have spoken loudly. they want us to get our fiscal house in order, they want us to bring certainty to the american markets so that we can invest in this greatountry again and put people back to work, not only for this generion but for genetions to come. i rise in support of this legislation. it is not the cure-all, it is not the one battle that will win this war on our national debt, but it opens us up on a path to where we need to be firmly dedicated and dess minutesed to carry on -- and disciplined to carry on this battle and bates to come. so isk all my colleagues, let us govern responsibly, let us avoid default, but continue on this battle and continue on we

will as the new class, as a freshmen member ofhis great chamber. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. levin: i now yield a minute and a half to another distinguished member of our committee, mr. kind of wisconsin. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. mr. kind: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in suort of this agreement. this is the wrong way to rebuild our great country. i support it because the alternative is unacceptable. defaulting on our nation's obligations for the first-time in our nation's history, doing so would be the greatest unforced error ever committed in the history of our cotry. and it's all political. the performance of our congress the last couple of months has a lot to be desired. if king solomon were alive today i think his metaphorical solution to all of this would be to kill both women and spare the child. if we are to achieve two fiscal solvency for our country, there e three things i think needs

to half. we need to invest in our future. you do that in investing in job creation and scientific research and the infrastructure upgrade our nation needs in brought to you by expansion. that's not happening -- needs in broadband expension. that's not happening. we need to look for smart savings in the budget start by changing how we pay for health care based on the quality and not quantity. stop appropriating for the military. it's ending taxpayer subsidies going to large agri businesses with mailing addresses in new york, chicago and san francisco. not even the working families. and finally, we need tax rrm. to simplify a code that acts like an anchor of job creation but fair. asking the most wealthy to contribute their fair share as

well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. r. kind: i support the agreement. i ask my colleagues to do so. i yield back. mr. mcgovern: -- mr. caffer: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: i yield to the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. cohen: i have voted twice to raise the debt ceiling. in may. i voted this past weekend for leader reid's program which had cuts. but i can't vote for this program because the first series of cuts we know the second series of cuts we don't know. i fear it's a trojan horse. if you look inside that trojan horse it's the whirlpools and the shoals and that's an odyssey in journey this country should not traverse. this country has been taken by a group of ideologues that don't want to reduce it. want to hurt employment figures

to hurt the president of the united states, mr. speaker, and i don't want to hurt him. one justice said the greatest danger is to by men of zeal. well-meaning b without understanding. justice brandaise is with us today. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from micgan. mr. camp: i yield two minutes to a distinguished member of the ways and means commiee, the gentleman from texas, mr. brady. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. mr. brady: mr. speaker, it's important we know as we try to change this government that we're actually making changes in the direction we're going. without the budget control act our govementill be over 23% of the size of our economy by the end of this decade. the budget control act changes that. by the end of the decade it will be about 21.5% of the size of our economy. it is comparable, come close to

the shrinkage of the economy under president reagan in his first in his eight years in the white house. truth of the matter is this doesn't go far enough for conservatives. you can't cut far enough or soon enough for members of congress like myself because we just believe this country is so deep, so dangerously deep in debt. but with this vote today, tonight we cut out the same amount of spending the president put in this government in that ill-fated failed stimulus bill. and later this year we get a chance to vote another cut in this government equivalent to the size of obamacare. we start with two strong cuts reversing and strengthening the size of government. in this bill we achieve 2/3 of the discretionary cuts included in the ryan budget in the past prosperity that the republicans

, the house members believe in. someone goes, the senate passed a budget and agreed to 2/3 of your cuts. in discretionary we would have celebrated. we're not celebrating today because we know there's so much work to be done. we know also this holds -- this cuts spending today. it puts controls on future congresses in the way they spend. that's important. and holds congress and the white house more accountable for getting the size of this government back in control. without increasing taxes on families like you, on our job creators back home on main street. mr. ca: i yield an additional 30 second. mr. brady: thank you, chairman. thank you, speaker. it does so today. i support this bill as a first step, anxious to get to more spending and savings and getting this wasteful, bloated government down to size, and i know, too, any vote, my principle is tax cuts and spending cuts, if i can change

the direction of this country with bigger spending cuts, my vote will be a yes. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan, mr. levin. mr. levin: mr. camp, i just want to ask my colleague from michigan, are you ready to close? camp camp yes, i'm prepared to close. mr. levin: i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has three minutes remaining. mr. levin: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: oh, without objection. mr. levin: thank you. the republicans in this house have taken this nation to a dangerous and unnecessary brink . i definitely do not want our nation to default on its full faith in credit, but i also don't want our nation to default on our solemn

obligations as a nation, as a community to all of our citizens. that's why we need a balanced approach, to keep us on an even keel as we move ahead. this means savings and revenues . i repeat, this means savings and revenues. so as i vote today, as the ranking member on the ways and means committee, i will keep in mind how we must not let down our citizens who need progms. one exame, unemployment insurance. it's set to expire at the end of this year. as millions desperately look for work and i just now have received a report that this

year's extension, next year's extension would cost $45 billion. we need to get those resources. if we're not on a balanced path, we will not be ableo address critical needs of our fellow and sister citizens, such as unemployment insurance. we need balance to be true to ourselves. i now yield the balance of my time to the budget committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from michigan. mr. camp: thank you, mr. speaker. as a member of the -- mr. levin: mr. camp, i think it takes unanimous consent to do that. i'm sorry, mr. camp. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman from michigan.

mr. camp: thank you, mr. speaker. as a member of the national commission on fiscal responsibility, our debt commission, we received testimony from experts in economic policy research. and they said that when debt loads of a count reach above or at 90% of their economy or g.d.p. that results in the reduction in economic grth in that country by about one percentage point. and using the administration's economic model, that one percentage point increase in our g.d.p. or decrease in our g.d.p. costs about one million jobs. that's why this debate is so important. it is so important to get us on a path to fiscal responsibility. to begin to bring down our national debt. the plan before us today does that. it does that witspending reductions. it does it with the sort of structural reforms in terms of spending caps that are there. it also does it with an

automatic reduction in spending. if for some reason congress, the select committee that's set up in this bill, fails to come to some sort of agreement on how to reduce spending that automatic reduction, i think, is an important backstop so the select committee will take its work seriously and do everything to come to a bipartisan solution. also, there's a path forward on a balanced budget amendment in this legislation. that is absolutely critical, i think, for not just today because we know it has been possible to bind future congresses but to put in place a structure and mechanism well into the future so we don't find ourselves continuing to deal with the fundamentals of this problem that we begin to deal with the problem, we make progress on the problem, and that progress will mean job creation and obviously that's something we're all looking for. i thank the speaker and urge a yes vote on this legislation. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired.

the chair now recognizes the members of the budget committee, the gentlem from wisconsin, mr. ryan, and the gentleman from maryland, mr. van hollen. mr. ryan: mr. speaker, may i ask how much time is remaining on both sides? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from wisconsin has 7 1/2 minutes. the gentleman from maryland has 8 1/2 minutes. mr. ryan: at this time, mr. speaker, i yield 3 1/2 minutes to a member of the budget committee, the gentleman fm oklahoma, mr. lankford. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized for 3 1/2 minutes. mr. lankford: thank you, mr. speaker. i say i'd love for people to come to oklahoma city anytime they have the opportunity to do that. but to be able to talk to the great folks in my district, i can tell you one thing that comes up again and again, they are really frustrated and they're looking for things to really be able to change here in washington. they see how broken our system is. they see the way we interact.

they're really legitimately frustrated. i can tell you they have lost trust in how we're doing and what we're doing. as a federal government we're trying to do too many things and we can't afford all the things we're doing. so in some very simple way this whole process has uted the nation to be able to look simply at $14.3 trillion in debt and to say as a nation, we have a problem. that is a good first step. now, for the conversation that's been happening around congress over the past serviceable months now, it's now dealing with how do we resolve the problem and what is the core of the problem. is the problem the debt ceiling vote? is the problem tomorrow or is the problem $14 trillion in debt? i feel like sometimewe've be trying to either figure out how to get past tomorrow or how to get past solving this issue of $14.3 trillion in debt. that has created seven months f debate and seven months of conversation that i fear has made an unrealistic expectation

of how much we can really do in one piece of legislation. quite frankly, no piece of legislation can solve $14.3 trillion in debt all in one moment. no piece of legislation can be a perfect solution. theris no perfect ideal piece of legislation that's going to solve it all. are there major issues i think are in every piece of legislation? i'm sure there are in every one of them. this one i would say it's not perfect but it takes us down that first step to start getting out of this. if there's a perception that we can solve it all in one piece, i think everyone's underestimated the size and the scope of what it really means to deal with this large of a debt and this large of a deficit. it is a single step on a very long journey. it doesn't solve all the problems. does it cure cancer? no. does it get us out of all the wars? no. does it locate amelia earhart's body? no. it doesn't solve everything

we'd like to do with it, but it does begin to put a framework around the federal government for the next 10 years to set spending caps in place to say we're going to stop the growth of government. we've grown very quickly very fast. we got to first stop that growth of government and put some boundaries around it. it's a good first step on that. it puts a square focused on a balanced budget amendment to the constitution which 80% of the american people say they want some version of the balanced budget amendment. quite frankly, this creates a moment for republicans and democrats to be able to have an honest conversation about what should that text be for a balanced budget amendment, how can we work together. the constitution is not owned by one party. it is owned by the people of the united states of america. so that is both parties coming together to have a very frank conversation if we're going to have a balanced budget amendment to the constitution, how do we get it done, what is the text for that and how do we do best for our nation? but the key piece of this legislation today is focused on not just getting us past

tomorrow but starts us down a process, that single first step of starting us down a process that in the days ahead our children will not live in the shadow of this kind of debt, of this kind of deficit and we as a nation can get bacto doing the things we love to do rather than worry about what creditor we're going to pay and which one we're not. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland. mr. van hollen: thank you, mr. speaker. we should never have gotten to the point where our troops in afghanistan had to ask whether they were going to be paid. that's a scandal. and it's scandalous that our republican colleagues would threaten for the first time in american history to torpedo america's credit worthiness and american jobs unless they succeeded in enacting a budget plan to end the medicare guarantee, slash medicaid and slash critical investments in education in our future.

that was the plan. they wanted to do that now and they wanted to have this whole debate again six months from now. why? not to ruce the deficit. if the goal is to reduce the deficit why refuse to end taxpayer subsidies for the oil companies? if reducing the deficit was the purpose, why refuse to end special breaks for corporate jets and the folks at the very high end of the income scale? that wasn't the plan. the plan was to use this moment to threaten the economy, to try and slash the social safety net and those critical investments in education innovation in our future. and guess what? they failed. they failed to do that. they failed to e the medicare guarantee. they failed to slash medicaid. they failed to slash education. in this measure we succeeded in protecting medicare and social

security beneficiaries. we succeeded to protect seniors in nursing homes, individuals with disabilities and poor kid who depend on medicaid for their health care. and we succeeded in providing room for critical investments in education and america's future. don't get me wrong, mr. speaker, there's much in plan i don't like. we did not succeed in shutting down special interest tax loopholes that add hundreds of billions of dollars to our deficits. our republican colleagues refused to cut those subsidies for big oil companies, they refused to cut the others and now we're going to have a great debate, we're going to have a great debate about how to grow the economy and reduce our long-term deficit. it will be a debate about our national priorities. i hope we will support the balanced approach that the president has called for. i have very limited time, i'm soy.