WASHINGTON, DC - Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) today issued a statement in response to a letter from the U.S. Treasury Department that the U.S. government is projected to exhaust its extraordinary measures to continue financing the government on or about November 5, 2015:
“This letter makes clear what many of us have been saying for some time - Congress must act now to raise the debt limit and eliminate the risk of a catastrophic default on the full faith and credit of the United States. The lower-than-expected receipts serve as a reminder of the uncertainty inherent in projections and the danger of going to the brink - as my Republican colleagues seem to want to do. Previous stand-offs cost us jobs and roiled our credit markets. In 2011, our credit rating was downgraded for the first time in U.S. history. Republicans need to get their act together - they should not be playing chicken with our country’s full faith and credit."