WASHINGTON, DC— Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4) released the following statement today as the federal government reached the debt limit. The U.S. government has officially exhausted its borrowing authority, and the Treasury Department must now resort to “extraordinary measures” to prevent a default on the debt.
“Once again, political posturing has prevented Congress from acting on a common-sense measure that has broad bipartisan support. We have known for months that the Treasury would hit the debt limit in February, but the Tea Party extremists in the House are once again holding our nation’s full faith and credit hostage to a yet-to-be determined demand. It’s disappointing to see the bipartisan progress we have made this year squandered, especially just as we’ve reached a five-year low in unemployment claims. I urge House leadership to allow an up or down vote on a clean debt limit increase when we return to session next week.”