Tucson Standard

WASHINGTON, DC – Since 1960, Congress has acted 78 separate times to permanently raise, temporarily extend, or revise the definition of the debt limit – 49 times under Republican presidents and 29 times under Democratic presidents. On May 31, Representative Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07) announced he will vote against House Republicans’ reckless hostage taking:  

  

“I credit President Biden with negotiating the necessary survival of our economy and appreciate his work and effort. While we must avoid an unnecessary Republican-induced economic crisis, I do not see this debt limit legislation as a moment of triumph for the American people. On principle, I cannot support this dangerous precedent and childish behavior by the extreme Republican majority.” 

“Instead of working to pass a budget that helps American families, Speaker McCarthy and MAGA Republicans took our nation hostage. House Republicans raised the debt ceiling with no preconditions three times under the Trump administration, and yet, Speaker McCarthy, at the urging of his extremist members, manufactured an economic crisis and threatened default to impose a partisan agenda. The hypocrisy reeks.” 

“The proposed deal is a slap in the face to Arizonans and people across the nation. It’s an extreme and extortionate Republican wish list that forces working people to foot the bill rather than cut the deficit by making the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share. With this legislation, House Republicans are imposing additional paperwork requirements for programs that help working Americans while slashing enforcement on wealthy tax cheats. It continues bloated defense spending, guts the ability to extend the student loan moratorium, rescinds funds that protect our nation from future pandemics, rolls back key protections under our bedrock environmental laws, and threatens our climate goals by mandating approval of the disastrous Mountain Valley Pipeline.” 

  

“I’m voting against Republicans’ reckless hostage taking because working people shouldn’t be forced to bear the impacts of Republicans’ chaos and cruelty. We shouldn’t have to choose between economic catastrophe or a healthy planet. We shouldn’t compromise on protecting our most vulnerable and disproportionately impacted communities. I’m drawing a red line in the sand against devastating cuts that impact the health and wellbeing of my constituents and the communities I represent. It’s time House Republicans stopped the gamesmanship. The American people deserve better.” 

Original source can be found here.