Promoting Physical Activity for Americans Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee for yielding. As you can tell, he is a good friend of mine, and he uses hyperbole in introducing me. I appreciate that.

The ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee just made a comment. I don't think anybody has clean hands on this issue. I tell the ranking member, I don't think anybody has clean hands. I don't know the exact voting pattern of the ranking member. I think he probably has been on both sides of this issue himself. I think I have been.

But I will tell the ranking member, if I am here when there is a Republican President--and I do not wish for that end, of course. But if I am here, I want to guarantee you that I will vote to lift the debt limit--guarantee you.

I said 3 years ago, I would never vote against raising the debt limit and keeping America's creditworthy status, never. In my view, it is intellectually dishonest to do so.

This is a phony issue, and anybody who is intellectually honest with themselves knows it is a phony issue because it has no relationship to what the debt is. The debt relates to when we cut revenues or spend money, not some arbitrary limit that we theoretically put on our debt. We ought to be honest with the American public because too many people demagogue about this issue.

Madam Speaker, on Monday, Senate Republicans voted against keeping the government open and paying the bills that our Nation has already incurred. That was not a reflection of responsible opposition in a democracy.

We talk about the loyal opposition. The loyal opposition ought not to be loyal to the majority, but they ought to be loyal to the country. Instead, their vote is a reckless and irrational action that signaled very clearly to the American people, the financial markets, and the international community that Republicans would choose to precipitate an economic catastrophe for American businesses and families to score political points against President Biden and Democrats. That is what is happening here today.

Three times over the past 4 years, House and Senate Republicans voted to suspend the debt limit when President Trump asked them to do so. I have no idea what President Trump is asking people to do at this point in time, but my experience is it is not the responsible thing.

Madam Speaker, when they asked Democrats for our help taking that needed step in order to prevent a catastrophic default, we joined with them to vote for it.

When Speaker Boehner could only get 78 of his colleagues to vote with him to maintain fiscal responsibility in this country, only 78--I guess 77 because he was the 78th--would follow. And how did those bills carry? Because we, in the minority, joined with Speaker Boehner.

When Speaker Ryan did the same thing, couldn't get the majority of his own colleagues to back him, we gave the necessary votes to pursue and to ensure fiscal responsibility. Why? Because it was the right thing to do, because it was the necessary and responsible thing to do.

Treasury Secretary Yellen told us yesterday that we will run out of extraordinary measures to forestall a default on October 18. That is fewer than 20 days from today.

Yet, we talk about partisanship, and we accuse others of not doing it one time or not doing it another time. This is the one time. This is our time. This is the time that the vote presents itself to us to keep America's creditworthy status and to prohibit a national and international crisis.

There is an urgency to our action, and we twiddle our partisan thumbs.

Leader McConnell, I am sure, has been quoted frequently. I haven't heard all the debate, but frequently. ``Let me make it perfectly clear. The country must never default. The debt ceiling will need to be raised.'' That is his quote.

Now, what he didn't add was: But I am not going to help. But I am going to ask my party to be irresponsible. But I am going to ask my party not to do what I say should never happen and allow the country to default.

I don't know how you rationalize that. I don't know how anybody with intellectual honesty rationalizes that, Madam Speaker, that you think we must never default, but by the way, I won't vote for it.

What does that mean? What kind of language is that? What kind of lack of principle is that?

In order to give him and his fellow Republicans one last opportunity to prevent a default at a time when our recovery from the pandemic is not yet complete and still quite fragile, today, we are considering a clean debt limit suspension, not a number, just a date, which is, by the way, what both Republicans and Democrats have used in the past.

The bill before us simply says the United States of America will pay its bills on time. What a radical proposition.

Yet, our Republican friends cannot summon the intention to do just that. If Senate Republicans still cannot be consistent with their own votes from the past 4 years, they can stand aside and, as Leader McConnell has suggested, vote for cloture to allow Democrats to pass the bill with 51 votes. At least do that. At least have the courage to allow others to display the courage of standing up and voting for what they know is absolutely essential and what they have said is absolutely essential.

But if you believe that the full faith and credit of our country is worth safeguarding, that our businesses and working families deserve to be spared unnecessary economic pain, then vote ``yes'' on both sides of the aisle.

This is not a partisan vote. This is an American vote. This is for our country. This is for our fiscal responsibility. This is for fiscal stability. This is for families.

Don't twiddle your thumbs and say it is a partisan vote. It is not.

A ``yes'' vote on this bill is not a victory for Democrats or for the President. It is the responsible thing to do and a victory for our country. Although we ought never to get to this place, we get to it all time, because we play these silly, partisan, pedantic, weak, meritless arguments.

Everybody knows we have to do this. To sit there and say, ``Well, I am not going to do it'' is not fulfilling the oath to defend and protect this great Nation and this great democracy.

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