Pelosi Statement on Treasury Secretary Letter to Congress on Debt Limit

Contact: Drew Hammill/Evangeline George, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on the letterTreasury Secretary Jack Lew sent to Members of Congress today, announcing that the federal government will exhaust its authority to borrow money to pay for its operations on November 5:

"The Treasury Secretary's letter is a stark warning of the stakes of Republicans' Calendar of Chaos. Failure to protect the full faith and credit of the United States would have a devastating impact on hard-working families across the country – including tumbling retirement savings and rising interest rates for student loans, mortgages, credit cards and car payments.

"The Republican Congress must take the prospect of a catastrophic default off of the table. The credit rating of the United States is not a hostage to serve Republicans' toxic special interest ideology. Yet time and again, the crisis-addicted Republican majority has threatened to shatter the foundation of our economy to advance their destructive partisan agenda.

"As we have seen in the past, even the threat of refusal to honor the full faith and credit of our nation has serious consequences. For Republicans to prolong uncertainty on this matter is to willfully poison our economy. House Republicans need to stop creating chaos and come together with House Democrats to invest in America and meet the needs of hard-working families."

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