more will follow on my dear friend, bruce sundlin. so to the matter at hand, less than two weeks from now, our nation is going to hit its statutory borrowing limit and it may begin for the first time in its history defaulting on its obligations. unless we act very soon, the treasury of the united states of america, long the issuer of the safest and the most conservative securities in the world, will simply run out of money. social security checks, as the president has already said, would be at risk. millions of american families would suddenly lose their household income. the treasury would have to suddenly stop paying more than $4 out of every $10 federal dollars, choking off all the economic activity supported by those funds. and private-sector projects across the country that depend on federal dollars or federal permits or federal regulatory approvals, all would grind to a halt. catastrophic triple whammy on our economic activity. in addition, an increase in interest rates would likely freeze investments and cause the financial mar