Watson Coleman Votes To Raise Debt Ceiling, Calls For Eliminating ‘Archaic’ Process

PRINCETON, NJ – Congresswoman Watson Coleman (NJ-12) voted in favor of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, that would increase the national debt limit. Although she did not agree with certain aspects of the bill, she voted for it to avoid “economic devastation,” the Congresswoman said.

The bill passed the house by a 314-117 vote on Wednesday, even thought many liberal Democrats and hardline conservative Republicans opposed it.

The bill will make some federal spending cuts, restart federal student loan payments, and expand work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.

Watson Coleman said that over the past several days her office received input from constituents, worried about the country defaulting while also voicing their concerns about the recent process of the debt ceiling.

She called for eliminating the “archaic” process, as it includes cutting aid for the poor.

Watson Coleman said voting to raise the debt ceiling should be a bipartisan measure to pay the debts which are already accrued by the federal government.

Since 1960, Congress has raised or temporarily extended the debt limit 78 times – 49 times under Republican presidents and 29 times under Democratic presidents.

“In recent years Republicans have insisted on a dine-and-dash policy. It’s a policy in which they run up debts on the things they want, like tax cuts and giveaways for the ultra-rich, and then refuse to pay the bill, demanding we cut essential services designed to help people, even their own constituents, whom they don’t seem to care for,” Watson Coleman said.

“This year, in return for not forcing a default, Republicans demanded cuts to federal programs that support millions of Americans with the ultimate aim of taking food out of the mouths of those struggling to make ends meet. If they didn’t get the cuts they want, they warned, they’d crash the global economy – harming all but the most wealthy Americans.”

Watson Coleman said she worried about the precedent set by these negotiations, as it demanded cutting aid for the poor but allowed speeding up fossil fuel.

“These are topics to be discussed and debated in Congress. Speaker McCarthy and his allies only forced them into this discussion because they could not get enough support to pass them through Congress,” Watson Coleman said.

“The Republican wish list is wildly unpopular with everyday Americans, and so, they used the archaic debt ceiling process to hold the nation hostage until they got their way.”

On Thursday, the bill cleared the Senate, sending the bill to the desk of President Joe Biden.

The bill makes some of the biggest changes to work requirements for federal food aid. It offers exceptions for homeless people, veterans and recent foster youth.

The Republicans also proposed an across-the-board 22 percent cut to discretionary spending, but negotiators managed to fight it off.

The congresswoman added that after President Joe Biden signs the bill – which he is expected to do immediately – the nation need to have a conversation about eliminating the debt ceiling once and for all.

“After this process is complete, our country must have a conversation about eliminating the debt ceiling. It is a process that does not exist in other countries. It was put in place during the height of World War I to assist President Woodrow Wilson in making funding decisions necessary to fund the war that had been declared by Congress,” Watson Coleman said.

“I call on all my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, to consider joining me in supporting Representative Bill Foster's End the Threat of Default Act to repeal the debt ceiling.”

"It is preposterous to continue to be beholden by a 106-year-old war funding mechanism conceived of at a time in which Members of Congress could not easily be recalled to Washington in the event of an emergency. We should eliminate the debt ceiling process and reach a state in which no one needs to worry if the United States will pay its bills.”

All New Jersey House members cast a “yes” vote with Jeff Van Drew casting the lone “no” vote.

WHAT IS THE ‘DEBT CEILING?’

According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the federal debt limit is the total amount of money that the United States government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest on the national debt, tax refunds, and other payments.

The debt limit does not authorize new spending commitments. It simply allows the government to finance existing legal obligations that Congresses and presidents of both parties have made in the past.

“Failing to increase the debt limit would have catastrophic economic consequences,” the Treasury Department says. “It would cause the government to default on its legal obligations – an unprecedented event in American history. That would precipitate another financial crisis and threaten the jobs and savings of everyday Americans – putting the United States right back in a deep economic hole, just as the country is recovering from the recent recession.”

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