Today, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) joined Democrats and Republicans to adopt must-pass legislation that prevents the United States from defaulting on the federal debt. The legislation is not related to currently proposed spending and programs recently passed by Congress. Rather, it addresses federal debt primarily accumulated during previous presidential administrations.
“This vote protects the full faith and credit of this country. This is not about future spending but meeting the obligations we already have. This includes our obligations to the American people who rely on Social Security and our commitment to our military veterans,” said Congressman Bishop. “Now, more than ever, Congress needs to assure fiscal stability as we recover from the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.”
Protecting the full faith and credit of the United States is an imperative that is written into the Constitution: The Fourteenth Amendment, Section Four states: “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law… shall not be questioned.” Congress has raised the debt limit nearly 80 times since 1960 — 30 times with a Democrat in the White House and 49 times under a Republican president.
“Over the last decade, every time the debt ceiling needed to be raised in order to pay America’s obligations both sides of the aisle came together to discharge this responsibility and avoid a catastrophic default. Today we do so again,” added Congressman Bishop.
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