LEADER JEFFRIES: "HOUSE DEMOCRATS WILL CONTINUE TO FIGHT FOR EVERYDAY AMERICANS TO AVOID A DEFAULT"
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries joined a Democratic effort on the House Floor to emphasize that while extreme MAGA Republicans are engineering a default, House Democrats remain committed to protecting our economy and the American people.
LEADER JEFFRIES: Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to the extreme MAGA Republican effort to default on our debt, crash the economy and trigger a job-killing recession. From the very beginning of this Congress, House Democrats have been focused on putting People Over Politics, lower cost, better-paying jobs, safer communities, fighting for reproductive freedom, defending democracy, ensuring an economy that works for everyday Americans. People Over Politics. And we've made clear from the very beginning that we're willing to find common ground with the other side of the aisle, for the good of the American people, whenever and wherever possible. But we've also made clear that we will fight extremism whenever necessary. And so we are here on the Floor today, because this default crisis is before the American people as a result of extreme MAGA Republicans making the political calculation that they will benefit in 2024 if they crash the economy, if America defaults, if we fail to pay our bills, if millions of people are made to suffer. Not our words, those are the words of former President Donald Trump, the words of the Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, the words of extreme MAGA Republicans at the very far right of their conference.
A political calculation that we're going to take hostages - the American people, the economy - and threaten to crash the economy, hurt these hostages, if necessary, or extract painful cuts, painful cuts to our veterans, to disabled children on Medicaid, to people who rely on nutrition assistance, including our veterans, to children, to teachers, to public safety and, of course, to our military families. These are the stakes that are before the American people. That's why House Democrats are here on the Floor fighting. How do we know that the other side of the aisle has made the determination that they are willing to default on our debt, to crash the economy? It's because this default crisis is before the American people. On June 1st, America may run out of the ability to pay our bills and extreme MAGA Republicans have chosen to get out of town before sundown, to flee Washington, D.C., to risk a dangerous default in a crisis that they've created.
And these Republicans, they're going to say that Joe Biden refused to sit down with them. That's a fake narrative that they've continued to try to put into the public domain. They said that President Biden refused to talk for 97 days. A fake, false, fraudulent narrative. How do we know? The timeline is pretty clear. On February 1st, President Biden sat down with the Speaker of the House. They had a conversation in the Oval Office and President Biden said that we will produce our budget on March 9th so that the American people know our values, know the types of investments that should be made for their health, their safety and their economic well-being and challenged the extreme MAGA Republicans to do the same thing. And on March 9th, President Biden produced his budget, a budget that will strengthen and protect Social Security, a budget that will build an economy from the middle out and the ground up, a budget that will cut the deficit by an additional $3 trillion on top of the $1.7 trillion that has already been cut by the Biden Administration over the last two years.
And then we waited for Republicans to produce their budget. Early March, no budget. Mid-March, no budget. Late March, no budget. Early April, no Republican budget. Mid-April, no Republican budget. And then on April 25th, they didn't produce a budget, they produced the Default on America Act. Not a budget, a ransom note, threatening to hurt the well-being of the American people with draconian cuts. They introduced it on April 25th. On April 26th, they voted on it and they passed it simply because George Santos, a serial fraudster, provided the deciding vote. This is who they are. And then on April 27th, they got out of town. Some of them were overseas. For ten days. And then as soon as they got back into town Tuesday, May 9th, President Biden, first opportunity he had, reconvened all of us in the Oval Office. That's the timeline.
From the very beginning, Democrats have been willing to do two things. One, that America must pay our bills, period, full stop in a manner consistent with what has been done under Democratic presidents and Republican presidents, including by House Democrats, making sure we avoided a default three times under the previous administration. Notwithstanding the fact we had strong policy disagreements with what Republicans were doing at the time, including passing the 2017 GOP tax scam, where 83% of the benefits went to the wealthiest 1%, sticking us with an additional $2 trillion worth of debt. Why? To subsidize the lifestyles of the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected.
We had strong policy disagreements with what was going on in the Trump administration. But we never threatened to default on our debt. That's the patriotic thing to do. And so we helped make sure we avoided a default three times, notwithstanding the fact that in our country's 247-year history, 25% of the nation's debt was racked up under the four years of the Trump administration. How dare you lecture America about fiscal responsibility with that shameful record? Notwithstanding the fact that you've racked up unprecedented amounts of debt. To subsidize the rich, the richest amongst us and big corporations. We never threatened to default. But yet here we are, few days from America being unable to pay our bills because you've made a political calculation that you will be successful in 2024 if you crash the economy. That's wrong. That's cruel. That's un-American, because you'll be hurting veterans, hurting children, hurting seniors, hurting young people, hurting everyday Americans. And that's why Democrats are here, today in Washington, fighting hard against this unreasonable manufactured default crisis. This is a default crisis that is manufactured MAGA madness. It is repugnant, reckless and reprehensible. It's unacceptable, it's unconscionable and it's un-American.
And that's why House Democrats have remained on the House Floor fighting hard for everyday Americans. That's why we are here and we will continue to fight for working families, continue to fight for middle-class folks, continue to fight for all those who aspire to be part of the middle-class, continue to fight for young people, continue to fight for older Americans, continue to fight for veterans, continue to fight for military families, continue to fight for people in urban America, in rural America and suburban America and small-town America and the heartland of America continue to fight for the people in Appalachia. Continue to fight for the poor, the sick and the afflicted. Continue to fight for the least, the lost and the left behind. House Democrats will continue to fight for everyday Americans to avoid a default. And we will not rest until victory is won.
Full speech can be watched here.