BANKING COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN TIM JOHNSON CALLS ON CONGRESS TO RAISE THE DEBT CEILING TO AVOID AN ECONOMIC DISASTER

WASHINGTON – In response to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s announcement that the government reached the debt ceiling today, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD) issued the following statement calling on Congress to act quickly to raise the debt ceiling to avoid unnecessary economic damage.  

 

“Failure to extend the debt ceiling promptly is irresponsible and will cause serious and unnecessary economic harm to our country. The federal government will be forced to default on interest payments on U.S. debt, or Social Security recipients, veterans, or someone else will go unpaid.  No matter which obligations go unpaid, the consequences will badly damage the economic recovery at a moment when millions of Americans are out of work.  Using economic disaster as a bargaining chip, as Republican legislators are doing, shows total disregard for the well being of our citizens.” 

 

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