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Floor Speech
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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, it may have taken a while, but it looks like the White House may finally be coming to the debt ceiling negotiating table in a more serious way.
The President has now appointed members of his staff to negotiate directly with Speaker McCarthy's team--a logical and overdue step since the passage of debt ceiling legislation depends on an agreement between the President and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
I was also encouraged by the White House's statement after Tuesday's debt ceiling meeting, which noted that the President is ``optimistic that there is a path to a responsible, bipartisan budget agreement if both sides negotiate in good faith and recognize that neither side will get everything it wants.''
``[A]nd recognize that neither side will get everything it wants''-- that part is very important because previously the Democrats' and the President's position was that Democrats should get everything they want and that Republicans should get nothing--an extremely unrealistic position and one that suggested Democrats did not understand the nature of divided government.
So I am grateful that the President seems to be taking a more realistic view of what is necessary for an agreement. It is unfortunate that it has taken the White House this long. Speaker McCarthy has been ready to negotiate for months, and the President should have engaged seriously months ago, but better late than never.
I hope that over the next few days, the two sides will be able to swiftly reach an agreement. A good place to start would be with a good, long look at the policies in the House Republicans' Limit, Save, Grow Act, which pairs a debt ceiling increase with commonsense spending reforms, things like reclaiming unspent COVID money; modestly strengthening work requirements in Federal entitlement programs for able-bodied Americans--a move, I might add, supported by more than 60 percent of the American public--in order to help individuals move from welfare to work; capping discretionary spending for next year at the fiscal year 2022 discretionary spending level--the same level we were successfully operating at mere months ago; repealing the green energy subsidies in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, whose estimated cost has ballooned since the bill was passed; passing permitting reform--a bipartisan priority--to help get both conventional and green energy projects off the ground more quickly, which could help grow our economy; repealing the President's reckless student loan giveaway, which could otherwise end up costing American taxpayers close to $1 trillion; and other commonsense measures.
The provisions of the Limit, Save, Grow Act have been the subject of a lot of fearmongering from Democrats, who have been set against including any spending reforms as part of a debt ceiling package, but these are responsible ideas worthy of consideration as part of a debt ceiling agreement or, for that matter, in any other context.
Our Nation has a massive national debt--$31 trillion and counting-- and a serious spending problem, and the Limit, Save, Grow Act is a reasonable and responsible attempt to get our Nation back on a more fiscally sustainable path, saving on the order of $4.5 trillion over the next 10 years.
While, as the President pointed out, neither side will get everything it wants in negotiations, I hope ideas from the Limit, Save, Grow Act will make it into a final debt ceiling agreement.
Despite the President's attempts to claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility, the truth is that spending under the Biden administration has reached staggering levels compared to prepandemic Federal budgets, and if we don't get spending under control, we are going to be facing some very serious economic consequences.
So, as I said, I am pleased that the President seems to be taking negotiations a little more seriously. I hope he will not allow himself to be distracted by extreme members of his own party, like the individuals who are suggesting that the President attempt to raise the debt ceiling on his own, using a dubious interpretation of the 14th Amendment, if Democrats don't like the debt ceiling agreement.
Debt ceiling increases have a long history of being paired with deficit reduction measures or other budgetary policy changes. In fact, 7 of the last 10 debt ceiling increases have been accompanied by budgetary reforms and policy changes.
It is time for all members of the Democratic Party to recognize what the President appears now to be recognizing, and that is that in divided government, both parties have to compromise to reach an agreement, so credit to the President for acknowledging this fact. I hope--I hope--that over the next few days, we will see a deal emerge that not only raises the debt ceiling but also puts us on a more sustainable fiscal path moving forward.
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