Welch Calls for Action to Avoid Catastrophic Default on U.S. Debt

In a Tuesday floor speech, Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) laid out the catastrophic economic effects of defaulting on our national debt, after House Republicans made clear they are willing to risk default to force substantial cuts to programs that create jobs, support working families, and increase revenue for the federal government. Senator Welch, who has represented Vermonters in Washington since 2006 and was a Member of the House of Representatives during the 2011 debt-ceiling crisis, called on Republicans to stop using the debt ceiling as a political pawn and pass a clean bill to allow the United States to pay its bills and avoid default. An excerpt of the Senator’s remarks is included below.  

“This notion of defaulting on our debt—or using that as a tactic to get something completely unrelated to what we all know is an obligation to pay our bills—is a disaster for the economy and has long-term devastating implications for everyday Americans, as well as our reputation and strength as a country,” said Senator Welch. “That we would put that in jeopardy and even threaten not to pay our bills is something that has never, ever happened before in this country and should never happen. We pay our bills in full, on time. That’s what the United States of America has always done. That’s what the United States of America must always do.”