The Honorable Kevin McCarthy
Speaker of the House
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
The Honorable Charles Schumer
Senate Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries
House Minority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Senate Minority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Speaker McCarthy, Leader Jeffries, Leader Schumer, and Leader McConnell,
We, the undersigned organizations, write today to urge you in the strongest possible terms to swiftly pass a clean debt limit bill — freestanding legislation, without any other provisions.
We’re at the precipice of an economic calamity. In fact, Secretary Yellen, who’s already taking extraordinary measures to avert a default, warned that not raising the debt ceiling “would undoubtedly cause a recession in the U.S. economy and could cause a global financial crisis.”
There are real disagreements among elected officials about the role of government, budgetary matters, and tax policy. We understand that and welcome a robust debate and seeing where the American people stand. There’s a time and place for that debate. This is not that time. The entire economy and the financial security of every working family is at stake.
At this year’s State of the Union, everyone stood up and clapped in agreement with President Joe Biden, signifying that they stand up for seniors and working people who rely on Social Security and Medicare. Only a clean debt limit bill is standing up for seniors and working families. Certainly, cutting Social Security or Medicare as a condition for raising the debt ceiling, is not standing up for seniors. Nor is cutting Medicaid, SNAP, housing assistance, energy assistance, or any of the other myriad domestic programs that our families, retirees, and communities depend on to make ends meet. More fundamentally, risking an economic recession and threatening the financial security of every working family in this country would be a failure of Congress to fulfill its duty.
Congress raised the debt limit repeatedly without conditions during President Trump’s four years in office. It should take that same step now, without delay. This should not be political. Rather, it is simply part of the job that everyone in Congress chose to seek.
Respectfully,
AFL-CIO
Alliance for Retired Americans
Ameinu
American Federation of Government Employees
American Geriatrics Society
Americans for Tax Fairness
APWU Retirees Department
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
California Alliance for Retired Americans Campaign for America’s Future
Demand Progress
Global Policy Solutions
Groundwork Collaborative
Health Care Awareness Month
Indivisible
Justice in Aging
MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger MoveOn
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
National Employment Law Project
National Women’s Law Center
Our Revolution
P Street
People’s Action
Social Security Works California
Social Security Works
Strengthen Social Security Coalition
Student Borrower Protection Center
The Gerontological Society of America
United We Dream Network