FLASHBACK: Stocks Plunged During GOP Debt Ceiling Brinksmanship

The following press release was published by the U.S. Congress Committee on Ways and Means on Oct. 9, 2013. It is reproduced in full below.

The last time congressional Republicans threatened to default on the nation’s debt obligations - in July and August of 2011 - investors began a massive sell-off that resulted in a nearly 20 percent drop in the S&P 500. House Republicans at the time made it clear they were planning for default, a factor that ratings agency Standard & Poor’s said figured significantly in its unprecedented downgrade on Aug. 5 - a downgrade that only exacerbated the sell-off.

Source: U.S. Congress Committee on Ways and Means