Lake County Gazette

I hope you had a nice holiday weekend and a meaningful Memorial Day. I know we are all happy to welcome the unofficial start to summer!

I was honored to have the opportunity to mark the holiday and honor those who laid their lives on the line in service of our country at two special events: the first at Fort Sheridan National Cemetery on Sunday; and then, as I have for now more than a decade, in Grayslake for their annual Memorial Day Ceremony. 

Of course the big news of the weekend was the announced agreement between President Biden and House Speaker McCarthy to prevent a first ever default on the nation’s debt.  Congress comes back into session tonight to begin the process of passing the compromise legislation and sending it to the President’s desk before the projected June 5th “X Date” when Treasury would no longer be able to pay our obligations.

Had it been up to me, we would have responsibly addressed this issue months ago and avoided the unnecessary costs and anxieties caused by the political brinkmanship of the most extreme Republicans.  There is no question we need to find bipartisan ways to bring down our deficits and lower the debt burden we are passing to the next generations.  But I do not believe it wise nor productive to threaten the good faith and credit of the United States. Rather, we should be working through “regular order,” reaching across the aisle to develop fully considered, truly sustainable solutions.

Nevertheless, President Biden fought hard to protect the many achievements realized in the last Congress, including the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Chips and Science Act and the PACT Act. The agreement he negotiated protects several key priorities that the Republican majority initially tried to take away. The bill protects veterans’ health care, including increasing funding for the PACT Act.  It protects Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security, and avoids the most devastating changes sought to SNAP and TANF. Most importantly, the agreement keeps America moving forward to meet the challenges ahead of us.

Compromise requires give and take and both sides made difficult concessions to achieve this agreement. I wish we had a better option. I wish we didn’t have to go through the absurd process in the first place. But my choice this week is between supporting this legislation or letting our country default on its obligations.  I will vote “Yes” for the bill. 

Original source can be found here.