Speaker Emerita Pelosi Floor Speech on the Default on America Act

Washington, D.C. – Today, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks on the Floor of the House of Representatives in opposition to H.R. 2811, the Default on America Act.  Below are the Speaker Emerita's remarks.

Speaker Emerita Pelosi.  Thank you, Mr. Speaker. 

I thank the gentleman for yielding.  I thank him – Mr. Boyle and Mr. Richie Neal for their leadership in bringing our side of the story to this.  

And what is that?  I thank the Republicans for the clarity with which they have put forth their Default on America Act, because their Default on America Act will do just this.

When you vote for this bill, you will vote to put veterans' health care at risk – eliminating up to 30 million health care visits for our veterans.  Slash Pell grants for tens of thousands of students.  Rip away food assistance for Women, Infants and Children – a million of them.  A million seniors off of Meals on Wheels.

When you vote for this, you will vote to pollute the planet by overturning what we did to save the planet with green tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act.  

What is amazing: a vote to cut $8 billion in law enforcement from state, local and federal law enforcement – pulling cops off the street.  And leads up to 700,000 fewer jobs to be created.  

Certainly, we negotiate over the Appropriations bills.  I'm an Appropriator – and for 20 years, I’ve been in 19 engagements of the debt ceiling kind.  Whether we lift the debt ceiling is a question of whether we honor the Constitution that says our full faith and credit of America shall not be in doubt.  

When you use that as a wedge – as President Trump admonished you not to – you are placing in doubt our credit rating and what that means to the American people, on their credit card bills and at the kitchen table.  

You are playing with fire.  We have been down this road before.  When the former president was president, three times we lifted the debt ceiling – never placing in doubt the full faith and credit of the United States of America.  

I urge a ‘no’ vote and yield back the balance of my time.