January 31, 2013

Manchin Statement on Debt Ceiling Vote

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) issued the following statement after the Senate voted to raise the nation’s debt ceiling:

“I cannot understand why Congress refuses to confront our financial challenges. Pretending that we aren’t accumulating more debt by the minute is irresponsible, reckless and unethical. We must deal with our out of control debt right here, right now. That is why I have voted against suspending the debt ceiling.

Our failure to pass a budget is unacceptable to West Virginians, the American people and me. That is why I cosponsored ‘No Budget, No Pay.’ If we are unable or unwilling to work in a bipartisan manner to pass a budget, we should not get paid. It’s as simple as that. We need to start taking responsibility for our failures. Unfortunately, the House bill combines ‘No Budget, No Pay,’ with an irresponsible provision that would allow us to continue spending recklessly for the next three months and still pay us at the end of the 113th Congress.

Our country will never be able to move forward until we fix the broken ways of Washington. We need to find a commonsense pathway toward fixing our long-term spending and debt problems, and I am committed to fixing our long-term finances so we don’t cripple our next generation.”

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