news

New York Congressman Paul Tonko, a Member of the House Budget Committee, took to the House floor recently to discuss the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations. Video of the remarks is available here and the text of the comments is below.

“We’re here today, at long last, to vote on the Republican default plan. After 200 days with no  jobs agenda. After 200 days of saying that those hardest hit by the recession should bear the burden of unbalanced cuts. After 200 days of rhetoric and walking away, my Republican colleagues have finally brought their Top Secret default plan to the floor for a public debate and a vote.

“So, what did they offer up? Courageous leadership? A grand bargain? Sadly, no. And when you walk out of negotiations and spend more time talking to the press than to the President, I’m not sure we expected more.

“We have before us the same tired policies that got us into this mess. Cut taxes for millionaires. Give kickbacks to special interests. Pay for it all with cuts to the Middle Class. And never forget the central tenets of the conservative agenda: End Medicare and privatize Social Security.

“My colleagues on the other side of the aisle will no doubt come to the floor to say their bill explicitly protects Medicare and Social Security from cuts. That claim is blatantly false. It’s a desperate campaign speech to counter the backlash that comes when the American people read the bill, like they read the Ryan Budget.

“So I would ask my colleagues to take another careful look at the bill before us. It is only 57 pages long. There is even a summary available online through the Rules Committee website.

“After that careful examination, I would ask you to come to me, my constituents, and the American people, and promise them with a straight face that you have no intention of using this legislation to dismantle Medicare and cut Social Security in the next 12 months. You can’t.

“I don’t support these policies, and I cannot support a plan that puts us back in the same bitter, vilifying debate in January. It may be good politics, but it’s not good government. I’m tired of it. My constituents are tired of it. Anyone who’s watched the nightly news for the last 6 months is tired of it.

“Washington loves to kick the can down the road. That’s how we got here in the first place. This is our moment. We need a plan, not another Republican manifesto. And there are better plans out there. Let us vote on them. I ask my colleagues to oppose this bill and get back to work.

“I yield back the remainder of my time.”

###