Durbin: Senate Must Quickly Pass Bipartisan Debt Ceiling Agreement To Avoid First Ever Default On Our Nation's Debt
Floor Speech
"This is an historic day in the annals of the United States Senate because we are faced with a critical vote as to whether we can pass the bipartisan compromise on spending or default on our debt for the first time in history--whether we will fail as a nation for the first time ever, ever to pay our bills. There was a ferocious negotiation that went on for weeks. It was precipitated by the threat of one person on Capitol Hill, Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who said I'm willing to risk defaulting on America's debt We would pay a price for that for generations to come. The reputation of the United States, the value of the United States dollar, would be in danger because of such a careless and reckless act. So negotiation was under way for the last few weeks. An agreement was reached to Speaker McCarthy's satisfaction, and it passed the United States House of Representatives yesterday.
Now it's our turn in the Senate. We've taken a look at this agreement. First, let me say the premise is this: Defaulting on our national debt is unacceptable, unthinkable. We cannot let it occur. So as painful as some of the decisions [are] that will come from this agreement they are virtually, at this point, inevitable to avoid default on our debt.
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There is one that I want to zero in on because it means so much to everyone in this nation, and most people don't realize that it's been part of the debate and negotiation in this compromise. And that is the question of America's commitment to medical research. The National Institutes of Health is the preeminent medical research institution in the world. When it comes to discovering cures for diseases, new medications, it's the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration which are charged with that responsibility, and we lead the world in research.
So here's what we face with the budget agreement that passed the House, now headed to the Senate We're going to see a cut in NIH spending for the first time in ten years. For ten years, we have consistently increased research funds, and they paid off. Finding that vaccine for COVID as quickly as we did was no accident. It was planned through medical research, and it saved so many thousands of lives here in the United States and beyond. So here we face for the first time in ten years a cut in the budget of the National Institutes of Health. How much of a cut? At least $500 million. And I stepped back and I thought to myself, you mean we're going to cut medical research? That was Speaker McCarthy's idea of fiscal conservatism? That to me is mindless."
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