Treasury secretary: We spent 224 years building our credit. Only Congress can act to protect it.

Source: Washington Post

Jack Lew, the Treasury secretary, is testifying before the Senate Finance Committee Thursday morning attempting to persuade them that raising the debt ceiling is something the U.S. government must do to meet its financial obligations. Read the whole prepared testimony below. One key conclusion he reaches: "We have spent 224 years building the nation’s credit as the strongest in the world, and only Congress can act to protect it. A default for the first time in our history could pose serious risks to our global standing."

-snip-

A great democracy does not lurch from one self-inflicted crisis to another. The time for discussions around the fiscal choices we need to make should not take place after we shut down the government or in the last seconds before a default. The time for these discussions is during the normal budget process. This is a stand that Democratic and Republican Presidents must take to make clear that under no circumstances will the United States fail to pay our bills.

I will close by noting that as we meet today, finance ministers from all over the world are gathered in Washington for the IMF and World Bank annual meetings, and it’s worth taking a moment to recognize that our country has special role in global financial markets. The United States is the anchor of the international financial system. It is the world’s largest economy with the deepest and most liquid financial markets. When risk rises, the flight to safety and to quality brings investors to U.S. markets. Other countries look to us for how to govern and how to maintain economic vitality. The United States cannot take this hard-earned reputation for granted. We have spent 224 years building the nation’s credit as the strongest in the world, and only Congress can act to protect it. A default for the first time in our history could pose serious risks to our global standing.

The simple truth is Congress must get this done. The time to do it is now before any more damage is done to the U.S. economy.