Floor Statements

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Scott of South Carolina.

Mr. President, I just wanted to add another word for Pastor Bernard before he leaves.

He is such an extraordinary leader to so many, not just the thousands who are--tens of thousands who are members of his church, Christian Cultural Center, but for the Nation.

And he has been a great spiritual guidance for me during times of difficulty. We have shared our joys and our sorrows together--but for the whole country.

He has done an amazing thing, as CCC, Christian Cultural Center, has been a beacon for so many different congregations throughout the country, as a way to lead, as a way to combine the temporal and the secular.

He has done an amazing, amazing job. So I just wanted to, again, thank him for being here but, more importantly, thank him for all he is doing.

Pastor Bernard is a blessing--a blessing to CCC, a blessing to our borough of Brooklyn, to our city, our State, our Nation, and our world.

May God give him strength to continue in his ministry.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, first, before I get to my remarks and housekeeping, I understand there are three bills at the desk due for a second reading, en bloc.

Mr. President, in order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceedings, en bloc.

Mr. President, if the 118th Congress is going to do its job and raise the debt ceiling later this year, there is one very big, very important question that all of us need to answer: Republicans, where is your plan? It is the first question that must be asked, so let me ask it again. Republicans, where is your plan?

For weeks, we have heard lots of howling at the Moon from House Republicans on the MAGA fringe about sabotaging the credit of the United States but little in the way of actual solutions. Republicans in the House, especially the MAGA ones, seem disturbingly at ease with taking our economy hostage in exchange for gutting vital programs, but when asked to explain to the American people what kind of cuts they want, suddenly these Republicans seem stumped.

This is reckless. Few issues require more bipartisanship, more cooperation, and more serious-mindedness than protecting the full faith and credit of the United States. We have never failed to pay our debts on time, and the debt ceiling has consistently been a bipartisan endeavor. The radical MAGA crowd running the show in the House seems unable to grasp this truth.

So let me try it again. House Republicans, where is your plan? You want to gut Federal spending, so show us what that means. Show us what it means to the average American family in specific detail. It is your responsibility on such a weighty issue to do just that.

Speaker McCarthy. Speaker McCarthy has an obligation--an obligation-- to explain to the American people what Republicans actually plan to do about raising the debt ceiling. Until we get a clear answer from House Republicans about what their plan is, there is no point in speculating about anything else, because if Republicans really want to starve the American people of vital services, the American people have a right to know what that will mean for their daily lives. Otherwise, the American people will be left with only questions and no answers.

Republicans say they want cuts. Do Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare? Do Republicans want to cut military funding? Do they want to cut aid to veterans? Do they want to cut funding to police and firefighters and first responders? Do they want to cut education, public health, science and research?

Saber-rattling about the debt and grandiose statements without any specifics are not going to cut it. They have been doing that for a while. It doesn't work. Lay out the plan. Show us your plan. Republicans need to show us the math. They need to level with the American people. They need to show us their plan.

Now, here in the Senate, some Members from the MAGA faction-- particularly Senator Rick Scott--have taken it upon themselves to fill the void that House Republicans have created. The bad news is, the plan they came up with is about as unhinged as they come.

Yesterday, the junior Senator from Florida--the very same Senator who thought that tax hikes on middle-class families was a winning formula for Republicans last November--released a proposal that would put the interests of the Chinese Communist Party before the needs of American families. Senator Scott calls it the Full Faith and Credit Act, but it is legislation that does not even deserve partial credit.

Bondholders in Beijing would get their money, while Floridians, Alabamians, Wisconsinites, and so many other American citizens would be left out to dry. Does he want to pay China before he pays schoolteachers? Does he want to pay the Chinese Communist Party before he pays our police officers? There is no end to the negative impacts of this piece of legislation, and it is no substitute for real action to avoid default. Worse yet, reports suggest that Speaker McCarthy has promised MAGA radicals in the House that he will hold a vote on a similar proposal to this one.

Seriously, Mr. President, just when we thought we had seen the limits of MAGA extremism, Senator Scott has swooped in and reminded us that when it comes to MAGA insanity, there is no bottom. And who--who--is going to pay the price? The American people.

Now on the national sales tax--I mean, you can't make this stuff up, but it goes on and on and on, these really ludicrous, way out of line, way over to the extreme Republican plans. They keep coming at us. Another one they put out is a national sales tax.

While Republicans refuse to show what they plan to do about the debt ceiling, they spend a lot of time talking up one of the worst policy proposals in existence--a 30-percent national sales tax on all consumer goods. The House Republicans just can't seem to get out of their own way. House Republicans call it the Fair Tax Act, but let's call it what it really is--a disaster for middle-class families.

There is nothing fair about a tax that punishes average families for buying essential goods while giving the rich another chance to lower their tax burdens. That is what is behind most of these Republican plans--a desire to help the very wealthy. And if it comes out on the middle class and most Americans, they don't give a hoot. They don't give a hoot.

The Fair Tax Act is truly foul stuff. The Republican tax plan would raise the cost of buying a house by $125,000. It would raise the cost of buying a car by $10,000. It would raise your average

grocery bill by $3,500 a year at a time when people are already worried about the high price of groceries. How can they do this? Things like eggs are already too expensive, but Republicans want to slap another $1.50 on that price. The plan would make a gallon of milk cost another $1.70 more.

The shock waves go way beyond trips to the grocery store, as painful as those have been. The Republican tax would erode the value of retirement plans, Social Security, pensions and 401(k)s by nearly one- third, an insulting way--insulting--to treat people who have spent their entire lives saving up in order to retire with some degree of dignity.

In all my years in office--in all my years in office--I have rarely seen such an extreme proposal be taken seriously by a governing majority. It is another reminder of how radical, how out of touch, how unserious MAGA Republicans are about governing. All they want to do is help their very ultrarich friends. And the fact that the House leadership is catering to the delusional whims of MAGA extremism should send a shiver down every one of our spines.

Mr. President, now finally on guns, it is another tragic week of mass shootings, but gun manufacturers continue to stoop to disgusting and morally bankrupt new lows. I am talking about a weapon currently for sale that is actually being marketed by one gunmaker to children. It has a disgusting, horrifying name: the JR-15. The JR-15. You heard me right. That is what they call it. The JR-15 is a spinoff, a child-sized version of an AR-15, which, according to the company marketing it, ``functions like a modern sporting rifle'' but is ``geared to smaller enthusiasts.'' Smaller enthusiasts? That is a code for ``young children.''

Look at what just happened a few weeks ago in Virginia, where a 6- year-old student shot his teacher at school. We are talking about a kid in the first grade who looked at his teacher and pulled the trigger. When weapons are marketed to children, it makes horrors like what happened in Virginia more likely. Even if the weapons are marketed to adults to give to their children, it creates these terrible, terrible, terrible situations.

So later today, I and a group of my colleagues will ask the FTC to investigate the company that makes and advertises the JR-15. I want to be clear that this probe is not intended to be a cure-all for gun violence. We have a lot more to do in that regard. But we must shed more light on the prevalence of guns in our society, and regulators must take stronger steps to keep guns out of the hands of children. I hope it will pave the way for future action in Congress.

I can't believe I have to say this: The last thing we need to be doing is reducing in size deadly weapons of war and marketing them to young children. Every parent in America, every citizen in America should be outraged and demand the FTC to take action.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, before I get into my remarks, there is just some floor business.

Mr. President, I understand there are four measures at the desk that are due for a second reading en bloc.

In order to place the measures on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to their further proceeding en bloc.

Mr. President, first, I believe this is the first time our new Senator from Vermont is sitting in the Chair.

Congratulations. There will be many more opportunities just like this.

Mr. President, as the debate over raising the debt ceiling continues, Leader McConnell said something yesterday that, I think, is right on the mark. He said that when it comes to moving a debt ceiling proposal through Congress, the House should go first. He is correct. Not only should the House go first, but they must quickly show the American people what their plan actually is for avoiding a first-ever default on the national debt. So far, we haven't heard anything beyond vague and troubling talking points about the need to cut Federal spending. That is not going to fly when you are in the majority, as Speaker McCarthy, of course, is. The substance and details make all the difference. The debt ceiling is not some political game, and Speaker McCarthy has an obligation to level with the American people on what precisely the new House plans to do in order to avoid a default.

President Biden and the Speaker have reportedly agreed to sit down in the near future on this topic, and the Speaker is apparently heralding this development as some sort of big win or concession. But look, Speaker McCarthy sitting down without a clear plan is no win. Sitting down to talk about the debt ceiling without a plan is like coming to the table with no cards. President Biden, meanwhile, has a plan. He has cards. He has been clear that there must be no brinksmanship and no default on the debt ceiling.

Speaker McCarthy, what about you? The House GOP is threatening spending cuts. Well, what are they? why the evasion? Why is your conference hiding from the American people?

House Republicans, where are your cards?

Again, I want to be clear that the debt ceiling is a subject of the highest consequence, and using it as a bargaining chip--using it as brinksmanship, as hostage-taking--as Republicans are trying to do, is exceedingly dangerous because if the House of Representatives continues on their current course and allows the United States to default on its debt obligations, every single American is going to pay a terrible and expensive price.

The consequences of default are not some theoretical abstraction. If default happens, Americans will see the consequences in their daily lives. Interest rates will go soaring on everything from credit cards and student loans to cars, mortgages, and more. That is thousands of dollars for each American going right out the door. That will happen and through no fault of their own.

Retirement plans, like 401(k)s, would lose their value, robbing people of their hard-earned livelihoods. For millions

of Americans who one day dream of owning a home--their own piece of the rock--a default would add $130,000 to the lifetime cost of a new home. Imagine spending years putting a little bit of your paycheck aside every month in order to buy a house, only to find out that suddenly that dream is entirely out of reach because radical politicians in Washington bumbled their way into a financial catastrophe. That is precisely the danger we approach, thanks to the House GOP's reckless approach to the debt ceiling.

None of this need be inevitable or even likely if only House Republicans would quit their radical posturing and work with Democrats in a serious way to raise the debt ceiling together, and we should do it soon, not months from now when America finds itself staring straight into the abyss of a financial catastrophe.

I would remind my Republican colleagues they did it before, when Trump was President, three times, with no Democratic obstruction or hostage-taking, and we did it once together when Biden was President. Much of this debt comes from spending when Trump was President, voted on by a Republican House and a Republican Senate. So it is a bit of hypocrisy now to say that they can't do it again and are holding it hostage and are playing a dangerous form of brinksmanship. It shouldn't matter who is President. These are still bills we already incurred that must be paid for the good of all Americans.

Mr. President, on the Republican national sales tax, the House Republicans keep churning this stuff out. It is unbelievable. In the 118th Congress, it is already a tale of two parties: Democrats united on one side, Republicans in chaos on the other.

While Democrats are laser-focused on making life better for everyday families, Republicans are making it clear they want to help the very, very wealthy--the ultrarich. While Democrats want to embrace collaboration and bipartisanship wherever possible, Republicans seem to be trapped by MAGA extremism. That is the contrast in a nutshell: Democratic unity versus Republican chaos, Democratic unity versus Republican chaos.

Yesterday, I joined with President Biden, the Vice President, Leader Jeffries, and Democratic colleagues from both Chambers to talk about how we Democrats can maintain our unity and turn it into action in order to help the American people.

Later today, I will join with Leader Jeffries to further highlight the contrast between Democrats' ``people first'' agenda and Republicans' radical plans--radical plans--for a national sales tax.

Multiple extreme-right Republicans say that Speaker McCarthy has promised them a vote on their national sales tax bill, which they guilefully refer to as the ``FairTax Act.'' Nothing could be less fair to the American people. In a universe of bad ideas, a Republican national sales tax reigns supreme. This proposal, pushed by the MAGA fringe, who now controls the House Republican conference, would impose a 30-percent tax on every single purchase Americans make just as inflation is beginning to drop. This so-called FairTax is truly foul legislation for American families.

For young families who want to buy a home, well, the Republican tax plan would add nearly $125,000 extra on top of the price you pay for your house--an impossible sum for many young people struggling to get their start in life.

And what about Americans out there thinking of buying a car? Under the Republican tax plan, the average American would pay $10,000 more on that single purchase alone.

What about seniors getting ready for retirement? A Republican national sales tax means people's life savings would suddenly lose 30 percent of their value. Imagine working your entire life, playing by the rules, paying your taxes, saving a little of each paycheck only to have Republicans swoop in and erase nearly a third--a third--of what you have saved up.

And it doesn't end there.

Under the Republican tax plan, a mere trip to the grocery store would be torture. Eggs are high enough right now at $4.25 a dozen. They would be $5.50 under the Republican plan. Milk, right now, is $4.40. It would cost $5.70 under the Republican plan. The same holds true for everything else: bread, produce, canned goods, cleaning supplies, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, diapers--you name it. All of it would go up by a third for millions of families--millions, tens of millions, probably hundreds of millions. It would be a devastating blow.

But do you know who wouldn't mind a Republican national sales tax? The ultrarich, the ultrawealthy. The top 1 percent of our earners wouldn't notice much change in expenses. That is who would win under the Republicans' proposal--the very, very rich--because their taxes would be greatly reduced even further, even worse than under the Trump tax cuts. No wonder, then, that even Grover Norquist--no friend of the Democrats--calls this bill a ``terrible idea'' and an ``assault on your retirement savings.''

Look, if Republicans want to start their majority with a debate on their national sales tax bill, Democrats would welcome it. Let the American people see which party is fighting for everyday folks and which party is trying to rig the game in favor of the ultrarich. It is a debate the American people need to see.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Now, Mr. President, just a few moments before you assumed the Chair, Senator Murray opened the Senate as President pro tempore for the first time. Kudos, congratulations.

She is a great, great Member. She is the chair of Appropriations and now PPT, and it was a wonderful thing to see her open up the Senate for the first time as PPT. So congratulations to Senator Murray and to all of us for having such a good President pro tempore.

Mr. President, now on to business, in no time at all, the House Republicans are off to the rockiest start of any new majority in recent memory. Have you ever seen anything like this? We aren't even a month into the new Congress, and already the House GOP has shown the American people they have been consumed by chaos, paralyzed by division, and held captive by the most extreme elements of their conference.

On their first day of voting--the very first day--House Republicans decided their first order of business as the new majority was to pass legislation making it easier for ultrarich tax cheats to escape accountability. Amazing. That is their first thing. At the same time, as they did that, they would blow a hole--a $100 billion hole--in the deficit because according to CBO, the amount of money brought into the Federal Treasury by closing some of these loopholes against tax cheats--very wealthy tax cheats--would far exceed the expenditure made for the new IRS agents. The deficit would come down if we passed this legislation. For all the talk on the other side about we have got to bring down the deficit--not when it comes to closing loopholes of the ultrarich and corporations that pay a smaller percentage than most Americans, uh-uh. Wow. Apparently, cutting taxes for megacorporations and the 1 percent was not enough for Republicans 5 years ago. They did that in the Trump tax bill. Now they want to make things even easier for tax cheats.

Then, a few days later, the House Republicans doubled down on their war on women by passing measures that will undermine women's freedom of choice.

Make no mistake, these bills will never see the light of day in the Senate. But again, the extreme--the extreme--MAGA fringe element of the Republican Party seems to be controlling the whole entity. We hope that doesn't last for long.

We in the Senate will serve as an inextinguishable firewall and stop the anti-woman, anti-health, anti-choice bills in their tracks. So, right off the bat, the House Republicans are showing us exactly whose corner they are

in: the ultrarich and the fringe elements of their party.

Now, make no mistake, Democrats want to work with a competent and capable Republican Party wherever possible to make life better for average Americans. Democrats are united in this commitment because we all saw firsthand how bipartisanship was the key to so many of last year's successes. Later today, in fact, I will join President Biden, Leader Jeffries, and a number of Senate and House colleagues precisely to talk about how we can turn our unity into action to help the American people.

House Republicans, meanwhile, seem trapped in a cycle of extremism so powerful that now they are even giving proposals like a national sales tax--a national sales tax--serious consideration. According to some House Republicans, House leadership has agreed to give GOP radicals a vote on a 30-percent national sales tax on all goods across the board. That means, right now, with inflation finally beginning to drop, Republicans are looking to make Americans pay 30 percent more for everything they buy.

Look, if Republicans want to have a debate with Democrats on their national sales tax bill, we will be happy to have it. We would love to hear Republicans explain to the American people why it is a good idea to send prices skyrocketing on everything from cars to groceries, to diapers, and everything in between. We would love to hear Republicans tell seniors why their expenses would go up by a third after they have spent a lifetime for retirement. And we would love to hear Republicans explain to middle-class families why their taxes would increase by thousands of dollars a year while the ultrarich see their taxes go down. If Republicans want to push this terrible proposal, they are welcome to make their case. Make our day.

I think many within the Republicans own ranks recognize that a national sales tax is an especially dimwitted idea. Even Grover Norquist, whose ideas on tax are far away from most Americans--and he is one of the most conservative voices out there--called it ``a terrible idea.''

Even Steve Forbes said this would make the average new home in this country cost $100,000 more.

Young families, do you want to buy a home? Some of our Republican friends want to add $100,000 to the cost of buying that home, and of course it would raise bills by thousands more. And yet--yet--despite the insanity of this idea, the House Republican leadership is bent to the MAGA wing of the Republican Party and have promised a vote.

If this is how House Republicans want to spend their time--taxing middle-class families, attacking women's freedom of choice, giving cover to tax cheats--be our guest.

Once again, this is the central quandary of the new Republican majority. By bending to the demands of the MAGA hard right, Speaker McCarthy has guaranteed that Republicans will have to constantly cater to the whims of the MAGA wing at the expense of the American people.

Now, we will be a firewall against all of these things, and I am sure the American people are glad that we have a Democratic majority in the Senate to stop some of these rather insane proposals because when extremists run the show, as seems to be happening in the House, it makes it nearly impossible to have serious-minded, constructive conversations on the big issues that matter.

No issue, of course, will matter more in the coming months than raising the debt ceiling. Over the next few months, we are going to hear more about the debt ceiling in Congress, maybe more than any other issue. But the matter is very simple. If the United States is allowed to default on its debt for the first time, the consequences will be severe and every single American will pay the price.

A default means interest rates will spike on everything from car loans to credit cards, to mortgages. It means that Americans will have to pay thousands of dollars more on regular expenses. Homes will lose their value. Homes, the average middle-class person's piece of the rock that they struggled and saved for so that they could own a home and so they don't have to pay rent and can pay a mortgage where they get equity--those homes will lose their value if we default, God forbid, on the debt because mortgage interest rates will soar. That means people will have less money to pay for a home and supply and demand just sits. The price goes down. The value goes down.

Meanwhile, the millions of Americans who have saved for retirement will see their retirement plans, like 401(k)s, lose their value, robbing retirees of their hard-earned livelihoods.

So the dangers of default are not abstract. Oh, no, this is not some academic argument up there in the clouds. This affects every American family, and we are going to make sure that they hear all about it. The consequences are as real as they get, and the entire world is watching what we do here in Congress.

But, rather than work with Democrats in a productive, constructive way to raise the debt ceiling, the House GOP has immediately resorted to brinksmanship and hostage-taking. They say they will not raise the debt ceiling unless we give in to their demands for draconian spending cuts that would impact just about every American--again, in a very bad way.

Well, I say to my Republican colleagues, if you want to talk about deep cuts, then you have an obligation--an obligation--to show the American people precisely what kind of cuts you are talking about.

Are Republicans going to hold Social Security hostage in exchange for the debt ceiling or pay raises for our troops or support for veterans or funding for police and fire and first responders or Medicare funding that millions of seniors rely on?

Republicans, you owe the American people answers on what you mean by spending cuts.

Remember, the House rules that the GOP approved are clear. They need to bring a debt ceiling bill to the floor, let the entirety of the House debate it and vote on it, and let the American people see and assess the cuts for themselves.

So, once again, to my House GOP colleagues, if you are serious about spending cuts, show us the math. Show us why you think it is worth risking a global financial crisis just to pass an extremist agenda, because, inevitably, what you are saying are cuts are vital to so many Americans--so many Americans. Being in the majority means that it won't be enough to hide behind time-worn rhetoric about wasteful spending. When it comes to the debt ceiling, the substance counts; the details count; and the consequences are very, very real.

Unless the Republicans can resolve their own chaos and beat back their own extremism, I fear that every day that passes without action on the debt ceiling will increase the risk of default and risk the great harm it will do to the American people. And, should that happen, Americans will see that the fault lies entirely in the hands of the radical GOP.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, today the thoughts of the Senate are with the people of Monterey Park, CA, as they heal from this weekend's tragic and terrible shooting. What should have been a weekend of joy and celebration within the AAPI community as they celebrate the Lunar New Year, turned into another occasion of grief and mourning.

I spoke yesterday with the sheriff of Los Angeles County and assured him that the Federal Government is ready to provide whatever assistance they need right now. While first responders are still investigating the causes of this incident, it is clear that the prevalence of guns in our country have made tragedies like this one too frequent. While the Senate passed bipartisan gun safety legislation last year--and that was a very welcome move--more should be done.

My thoughts are with all the families and the loved ones of the victims of this insidious attack. I thank all the first responders and even the private citizens who responded quickly to stop the shooter and prevent even more lives from tragically being cut short.

118th Congress

Madam President, I want to also welcome our new colleague from Nebraska and wish him the best.

Now, this week, for the first time in the 118th Congress, both Chambers gavel into session to begin anew the work of serving the American people. It is a new era here in Congress, an era of divided government where both parties will have to demonstrate they can work together to solve our Nation's problems. Democrats begin the 118th Congress with an open hand of cooperation, and I urge my Republican colleagues to respond in kind so we can hit the ground running.

We have a lot of difficult and important work ahead of us, perhaps none more important than working together to raise the debt ceiling and protecting the full faith and credit of the United States. In America, when it is time to pay the bills, we have followed through on our obligations without any exception.

In the months to come, I expect we are going to hear a lot from our Republican colleagues about the debt ceiling. So let me begin by making a few things perfectly clear at the onset.

First, few issues require more bipartisanship, cooperation, and serious-mindedness than making sure that America is able to pay its debts on time. At stake is the health of our economy and the very stability of the global financial system. Should the U.S. default on its debt, the consequences could be severe, and it is going to affect just about every average American family. This is not some esoteric issue that is just abstract and way up there in the clouds. It is going to affect all of us.

Listen to what could happen if we default: Interest rates will go up on mortgages, on car loans, on credit cards; pensions, the money people have put aside, will lose billions, so will IRAs and 401Ks, in all likelihood. Home values will decline because when mortgage interest rates go up people are willing to pay less for homes. That is a lot of money for lots of people. For many people, their home is their rock. It is all they have. By playing brinksmanship, some of the MAGA Republicans on the other side of the aisle, on the other side in the House, are risking just that.

So, again, this is not an abstract issue. Real Americans will see real dollars from so much of what they own disappear from their pensions, their IRAs, their home value. Merely approaching a default could raise costs on everything from mortgages and car loans to credit card interest rates.

So it is going to hurt average families. This is not an abstract argument. And as the months go on, and as we get closer and closer to the day that we have to act, the American people will see this, and we are going to make sure of that.

Second, raising the debt ceiling has consistently been a bipartisan responsibility for decades. Neither party has played brinksmanship. Since 1960, the debt ceiling has been raised approximately 80 times under both Republican and Democratic administrations, under both unified and divided government. I will note once again that while President Trump was in office and Republicans had the House and Senate, Democrats voted to raise the debt ceiling. We did it not once, not twice, but three times, including twice under Republican majorities in the House and Senate. Of course, we could have done what some MAGA Republicans want, threatening to block debt ceiling extensions unless we got our way. But we knew how badly it would hurt the American people, and we didn't do it. This time should be no different. Brinksmanship, hostage-taking, default on the debt should be off the table. Both parties should work together to ensure we can continue to pay our debt on time, and we Democrats are ready to move quickly in order to make that happen. Indeed, we are ready to move well in advance of default, because even brinksmanship over the debt ceiling can cause serious damage to the economy and to individual American families.

Unfortunately, Madam President--unfortunately, House Republicans have kicked off their new majority by saying yes to brinksmanship, yes to hostage-taking, and yes even to risking default, all because of draconian spending cuts pushed by the hard right. House Republicans' approach to the debt ceiling is dangerous, destabilizing, and the only thing it accomplishes is making a bipartisan solution less likely. If Republicans want to show that they can govern effectively, they are off to a pretty poor start.

If House Republicans are serious about taking the debt limit hostage in exchange for spending cuts, the new rules that they adopted require them to bring a proposal to the floor of the House and show the American people precisely what kind of cuts they want to make. It is not enough to hide behind the old GOP talking points about wasteful spending. When you are in the majority, substance counts. If Republicans are talking about draconian cuts, they have an obligation to show Americans what those cuts are and let the public react. And let's let them do it now, not 6 months from now when the danger of default is much closer.

House Republicans: You voted for rules that require regular order for bringing bills to the floor. So put your proposals for debt ceiling on the floor, let the entirety of the House debate it and vote on it, and let the American people see and assess these cuts for themselves. Otherwise, Americans are going to be left with some pretty big questions.

Republicans say they want spending cuts. Well, does that mean cuts to Social Security or Medicare or childcare or Pell grants or our military or pay raises for our troops or funding police and law enforcement?

Many House Republicans are serious about cutting national defense in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. I hope they are not but many seem to be--or maybe they are pushing cuts to public health and nurses and hospitals. Whatever the case may be, Americans deserve to know what kind of cuts Republicans want to make and why they think it is worth forcing an unnecessary crisis that will hurt most American families.

Frankly, I expect the House Republicans themselves will struggle to come up with a serious answer, because deep down, they know that no matter what they propose, their cuts are likely to be deeply unpopular with the American people.

This is the central quandary of the new majority. By yielding so much to the whims of the MAGA hard right,

House Republicans have boxed themselves in and now have to choose between serving the American people or pleasing the extremists within their ranks. We are already seeing this play out when it comes to the debt ceiling.

I yield the floor.