In a speech on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon, Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) blasted the fiscal irresponsibility of congressional Republicans’ refusal to raise the debt ceiling without precondition. He outlined the dangerous consequences—both domestic and global—of a U.S. fiscal default, highlighting the perilous position a default would create from a national security perspective and the harm it would inflict on the value of the dollar. Senator Welch implored Speaker McCarthy to take default off the table and raised the need to consider 14th Amendment in order to meet our financial obligations.
“I am willing, as I believe the vast majority of my colleagues are, to engage in serious budget discussions to bring down America’s debt. What I am not willing to do, now or ever, is abandon America’s historic commitment to paying its bills. I am not willing to inflict the damage to our economy and the pain on our people a catastrophic default would impose,” said Sen. Welch. “We cannot do this. We must not do this. We must, as America has always done, pay our bills, in full and on time.”
To view the speech, please click here or subscribe to the Senator’s YouTube channel.
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