On Wednesday, Congresswoman Terri Sewell joined nearly 200 of her colleagues from across the House Democratic Caucus in a letter to Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy calling on Republicans to protect the full faith and credit of the United States by lifting the debt ceiling “without any extraneous policies attached.”
“It is a sad day when House Republicans shamefully hold our economy hostage and threaten to default on our debt unless Congress makes deep cuts to programs that Alabamians rely on,” said Rep. Sewell. “We in Congress should never play politics with the full faith and credit of the United States of America. Republicans must join us to raise the debt ceiling—just as they did three times under the previous administration—and avoid economic collapse.”
“I am a strong believer in balancing our budget,” continued Sewell. “Despite Republicans’ 2017 tax giveaway to the wealthy—which added $2 trillion to our deficit—I am proud of the historic deficit reduction that we have achieved under President [Joe] Biden. If Republicans want to address our national debt, they should start by making the wealthy pay their fair share instead of targeting veteran benefits, food assistance, and other programs that hard-working Alabama families rely on.”
On Twitter, Sewell wrote, “I was serving in this very body in 2017 when Republicans added $2 trillion to our deficit to fund tax breaks for the wealthy. I will not support their plan to cut veterans benefits, food assistance, and programs families rely on. Working families should not pay the price!”
Democrats on the House Budget Committee claim that the House Republicans’ debt ceiling proposal would:
· Threaten access to food assistance for 17,000 people aged 50-55 in Alabama.
· Eliminate preschool and childcare for at least 5,600 children in Alabama.
· Increase housing costs for at least 8,800 people in Alabama.
· Make college more expensive for at least 98,900 students in Alabama.
· Eliminate at least three air traffic control towers in Alabama.
· Cut at least 150 rail safety inspection days in Alabama.
· Repeal investments in cleaner, cheaper energy.
They warn that if the U.S. were to default on the debt, it would unleash global economic catastrophe and put vital government services at risk. The Democrats’ report claims that a default would cost about 6,000 jobs in Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District alone. Nationally a default could kill more than 7 million jobs.
While Sewell opposed the Republicans’ spending plan, Congressman Barry Moore voted for the Limit, Save, Grow Act, the House Republican plan. According to sponsors, this legislation returns total discretionary spending to fiscal year 2022 levels and eliminates $4.8 trillion in “woke, weaponized, and wasteful” spending over a decade. This legislation also rescinds unspent COVID-19 funding and defunds Biden’s 87,000-strong army of IRS agents. The Limit, Save, Grow Act is sponsored by Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (Texas).
“Biden and the Democrats are spending us into bankruptcy to fund their bloated bureaucracy and acting like cutting spending will bring on the apocalypse,” said Moore in a press release. “The truth is, the Limit, Save, Grow Act saves us $4.8 trillion over ten years, and if we don’t do something to begin tackling our $31 trillion national debt, which mostly belongs to China, the livelihoods of our children and grandchildren are at risk.”
The U.S. national debt is $31.7 trillion. The federal government is spending $1.42 trillion a year more than it takes in even though the U.S. is not fighting a war and unemployment is at record lows.
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