Pelosi, Welch, and House Democrats Send Letter to President Obama Supporting Clean Increase in Debt Ceiling

Contact: Drew Hammill (Pelosi), 202-226-7616

Ryan Nickel (Welch), 202-225-4115

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi along with 185 Members of the House Democratic Caucus, led by Chief Deputy Whip Peter Welch, sent a letter to President Barack Obama stating their support for a clean debt ceiling increase that ensures the full faith and credit of the United States of America and avoids a Republican default. Below is the full text of the letter:

September 25, 2013

The Honorable Barack H. Obama

President of the United States

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

Congress will soon be faced with the question of whether we raise the debt ceiling to ensure America pays its bills for expenses already incurred or whether we plunge the country into default for the first time in our history. We appreciate your strong leadership on this issue and share your view that defaulting on our obligations would cause immediate and irreparable harm to America’s economy. We will support a clean extension of the debt ceiling when the House takes up this issue.

Sincerely,

Democratic Caucus Chief Deputy Peter Welch (VT-AL)

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi

Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer

Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn

Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra

Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman Joseph Crowley

Robert E. Andrews (NJ-1)

Karen Bass (CA-37)

Joyce Beatty (OH-3)

Ami Bera (CA-7)

Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-2)

Timothy H. Bishop (NY-1)

Earl Blumenauer (OR-3)

Suzanne Bonamici (OR-2)

Madeleine Z. Bordallo (GU-DL)

Robert A. Brady (PA-1)

Corrine Brown (FL-5)

Julia Brownley (CA-26)

Cheri Bustos (IL-17)

G.K. Butterfield (NC-1)

Lois Capps (CA-24)

Michael E. Capuano (MA-7)

Tony Cardenas (CA-29)

John C. Carney, Jr. (DE-AL)

Andre Carson (IN-7)

Matthew A. Cartwright (PA-17)

Kathy Castor (FL-14)

Joaquin Castro (TX-20)

Donna M. Christensen (VI-DL)

Judy Chu (CA-27)

David N. Cicilline (RI-1)

Yvette D. Clarke (NY-9)

WM. Lacy Clay (MO-1)

Emanuel Cleaver, II (MO-5)

Steve Cohen (TN-9)

Gerald E. Connolly (VA-11)

John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13)

Jim Cooper (TN-5)

Jim Costa (CA-16)

Joe Courtney (CT-2)

Henry Cuellar (TX-28)

Elijah E. Cummings (MD-7)

Danny K. Davis (IL-7)

Susan A. Davis (CA-53)

Peter DeFazio (OR-4)

Diana DeGette (CO-1)

John K. Delaney (MD-6)

Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3)

Suzan K. DelBene (CO-1)

Ted Deutch (FL-21)

John Dingell (MI-12)

Lloyd Doggett (TX-35)

Michael F. Doyle (PA-14)

Tammy Duckworth (IL-8)

Donna F. Edwards (MD-4)

Keith Ellison (MN-5)

Eliot L. Engel (NY-16)

William L. Enyart (IL-12)

Anna G. Eshoo (CA-18)

Elizabeth H. Esty (CT-5)

Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (AS-DL)

Sam Farr (CA-20)

Chaka Fattah (PA-2)

Bill Foster (IL-11)

Lois Frankel (FL-22)

Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11)

Tulsi Gabbard (HI-2)

John Garamendi (CA-3)

Al Green (TX-9)

Gene Green (TX-29)

Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-3)

Luis V. Gutierrez (IL-4)

Janice Hahn (CA-44)

Colleen W. Hanabusa (HI-1)

Alcee Hastings (FL-20)

Denny Heck (WA-10)

Brian Higgins (NY-26)

James A. Himes (CT-4)

Rubén Hinojosa (TX-15)

Rush Holt (NJ-12)

Michael M. Honda (CA-17)

Steven A. Horsford (NV-4)

Jared Huffman (CA-2)

Steve Israel (NY-3)

Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18)

Hakeem S. Jeffries (NY-8)

Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30)

Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (GA-4)

Marcy Kaptur (OH-9)

Bill Keating (MA-9)

Robin Kelly (IL-2)

Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. (MA-4)

Daniel T. Kildee (MI-5)

Derek Kilmer (WA-6)

Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-1)

Ann M. Kuster (NH-2)

James R. Langevin (RI-2)

Rick Larsen (WA-2)

John B. Larson (CT-1)

Barbara Lee (CA-13)

Sander M. Levin (MI-9)

John Lewis (GA-5)

Dave Loebsack (IA-2)

Zoe Lofgren (CA-19)

Alan S. Lowenthal (CA-47)

Nita M. Lowey (NY-17)

Ben Ray Luján (NM-3)

Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-1)

Stephen F. Lynch (MA-8)

Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12)

Doris O. Matsui (CA-6)

Carolyn McCarthy (NY-4)

Betty McCollum (MN-4)

Jim McDermott (WA-7)

James P. McGovern (MA-2)

Jerry McNerney (CA-9)

Gregory W. Meeks (NY-5)

Grace Meng (NY-6)

Michael H. Michaud (ME-2)

George Miller (CA-11)

Gwen Moore (WI-4)

James P. Moran (VA-8)

Jerrold Nadler (NY-10)

Grace F. Napolitano (CA-32)

Richard Neal (MA-5)

Gloria Negrete McLeod (CA-35)

Rick Nolan (MN-8)

Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-DL)

Beto O’Rourke (TX-16)

Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-6)

Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-9)

Donald J. Payne, Jr. (NJ-10)

Ed Perlmutter (CO-7)

Scott H. Peters (CA-52)

Pedro R. Piersluisi (PR-DL)

Chellie Pingree (ME-1)

Mark Pocan (WI-2)

Jared Polis (CO-2)

David E. Price (NC-4)

Mike Quigley (IL-5)

Nick Rahall (WV-3)

Charlie B. Rangel (NY-13)

Cedric L. Richmond (LA-2)

Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40)

Bobby L. Rush (IL-5)

C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-2)

Tim Ryan (OH-13)

Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (MP-DL)

Linda Sánchez (CA-38)

Loretta Sanchez (CA-46)

John P. Sarbanes (MD-3)

Janice D. Schakowsky (IL-9)

Adam B. Schiff (CA-28)

Brad Schneider (IL-10)

Kurt Schrader (OR-5)

Allyson Y. Schwartz (PA-13)

David Scott (GA-13)

Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-3)

José E. Serrano (NY-15)

Terri A. Sewell (AL-7)

Carol Shea-Porter (NH-1)

Brad Sherman (CA-30)

Albio Sires (NJ-8)

Louise McIntosh Slaughter (NY-25)

Adam Smith (WA-9)

Jackie Speier (CA-14)

Eric Swalwell (CA-15)

Mark Takano (CA-41)

Bennie G. Thompson (MS-2)

Mike Thompson (CA-5)

John F. Tierney (MA-6)

Dina Titus (NV-1)

Paul D. Tonko (NY-20)

Niki Tsongas (MA-3)

Chris Van Hollen (MD-8)

Juan Vargas (CA-51)

Marc A. Veasey (TX-33)

Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-7)

Peter J. Visclosky (IN-1)

Timothy J. Walz (MN-1)

Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (FL-23)

Maxine Waters (CA-43)

Melvin L. Watt (NC-12)

Henry A. Waxman (CA-33)

Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24)

John A. Yarmuth (KY-3)