Saturday, July 30, 2011

Isakson to Congress: ‘It’s Time We Started Finding Common Ground’
Urges Leaders To Reach Agreement on Final Three Points of Disagreement on Debt Crisis Before Deadline

WASHINGTON – With only three days left before the federal government risks defaulting on its debt, U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., told his colleagues today that it’s time to stop bickering and to start finding common ground on the three remaining issues over which they disagree.

Congress faces an August 2 deadline to increase the federal government’s borrowing authority, known as the “debt ceiling,” or risk defaulting on our national debt. Republicans and Democrats from the House and Senate have been meeting for weeks with President Obama to find a way to avoid defaulting on the debt while also making cuts in federal spending, but both parties so far have rejected plans put forth by the other party.

“We are paralyzed by analyzing our differences and failing to look at what we’ve reached common ground on already,” Isakson said on the Senate floor during a rare Saturday session. “I have been worried about a default on our debt for some time but right now, I am worried about Congress defaulting on our country. Failure should not be an option for us.”

Isakson said he believes the two parties could agree generally to approve cuts in federal spending of about $1 trillion now while also appointing a bipartisan committee of lawmakers to come up with approximately $1.8 trillion more in spending cuts by the end of the year. He also said a majority of both parties likely could agree to avoid defaulting on our debt by raising the debt ceiling.

Isakson said there are three main areas of disagreement:

• Whether to increase the debt ceiling for a short time period or a longer period to get past the 2012 election
• Whether to allow a vote in the House and Senate on a Balanced Budget Amendment
• Whether to impose an enforcement mechanism on the bipartisan committee of lawmakers if they fail to agree on the additional spending cuts

“We are not that far apart,” Isakson said. “There’s irreparable harm that can come from a failure to act. It doesn’t harm me as a politician. It harms my kids and grandkids. It harms those people who are on Social Security and Medicare. It harms those who are standing right now on a firing line somewhere in Afghanistan realizing today could be their last day on this earth so America can live to see another day. That’s how serious the consequences are.”

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