To decrease the statutory limit on the public debt.

Madam Speaker, this debt ceiling is starting to feel like deja vu.

If you think back to 1990, President George Herbert Walker Bush agreed to $2 in spending cuts for every dollar in tax hikes. He agreed to this with the congressional Democrats, but that's not what ended up happening. All of the Democrats' tax hikes went into effect, but the promised spending cuts never materialized. We cannot fall for this trick again, and that's the same trick that we see from the people on the other side, my Democratic colleagues and the President.

Higher taxes do not lead to more government revenue. We have seen proof of this in years past. Instead of raising taxes, let's leave money in the hands of small businesses, the job creators, so that they can create jobs. More jobs means more revenue and less deficit.

Higher taxes means more people out of work and higher debt. In fact, President Obama admitted in 2009 that ``the last thing you want to do in the middle of a recession is raise taxes.''

And, in the past, liberals in Congress have adamantly spoken out in opposition to debt ceiling increases. Then-Senator Obama said in 2006 that a debt limit increase was ``a sign of leadership failure.''

I could not agree more. It's a time for lawmakers to stop talking out of both sides of their mouths and do what is best for the economy, for our Nation, and the American people.

Over the last 10 years we have raised the debt ceiling 16 times. It hasn't worked, and now we are at the end of that road.

We need to try something new so that we can get started actually paying down our enormous debt. We must get our country on an economically viable course and create jobs in the private sector. That's why I have introduced H.R. 2409, the Debt Ceiling Reduction Act, which would lower the debt ceiling to $13 trillion, and that would force politicians in Washington to make the cuts to our budget that our economy so desperately needs and start figuring out how to pay off this unsustainable debt that we have created.

Madam Speaker, I hope that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will cosponsor and support this legislation. It's a great way to both create jobs and to create a stronger economy.

Mr. Speaker, we have overspent and we are overextended. Now we have to get out of debt.

For the last 20 years, we have been increasing the debt ceiling and allowing Washington to spend more and more of the taxpayers' money. This method of madness hasn't worked, and today, our economy is suffering because of it.

Yesterday, I introduced a unique bill that would lower the debt ceiling to $13 trillion. This proposal would force Washington to make the spending cuts that we so desperately need to pay down the debt.

State and local governments, businesses and families understand, when you've maxed out your credit card, you can't just give yourself a credit increase. Instead, you have to cut spending and pay down your bills. The Federal Government is the only entity that does not understand this.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2409, the Debt Ceiling Reduction Act, because we need to turn this country in a completely different direction.