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Floor Speech

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Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, now, my colleague from South Carolina began his remarks with two of my very favorite subjects: supporting America's senior citizens and playing in the NBA, a lifetime dream of mine.

But the fact is, this unanimous consent request from my colleague is essentially a different way to do the same thing as the Kennedy request. And, colleagues, it is wrong for exactly the same reason.

The prospect of default is not simply a matter of the two sides squaring off over who has got the best talking points. The fact is, default would just be an economic disaster.

I just laid out what it would mean for our small businesses and our folks who depend on keeping interest rates from shooting into the stratosphere, and the military would have difficulty getting paid. That is not what America wants.

Colleagues, I was just home this weekend. I got around my State, and what people said overwhelmingly is--they said: ``Hey, I heard you guys just got together''--I say to my friend from South Carolina--``and you guys got an agreement on keeping the government open. Heard that wasn't going to happen.''

And then they said: ``Ron, what you have always tried to do since those Gray Panther days''--and my colleague from South Carolina knows I always try to be bipartisan.

They said: ``Keep it going. Keep going with that bipartisan effort.''

Now, they are listening to a debate about my colleagues trying to bust up an agreement between the Democratic leader, Senator Schumer, and the Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, to make sure we pay the bills for costs that have been incurred.

So my colleague from South Carolina has asked for consent, and I think it would be a mistake for this country and be a mistake particularly for our country's senior citizens that I have devoted so much time to.

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