Today, Secretary Lew sent the following
letter to Congress
regarding the debt limit:
***
March 6, 2015
The Honorable John A. Boehner
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Mr. Speaker:
As you know, in February 2014, Congress passed the Temporary
Debt Limit Extension Act, suspending the statutory debt limit through March 15,
2015. Beginning on Monday, March 16, the
outstanding debt of the United States will be at the statutory limit.
Absent an increase in the debt limit, the Treasury
Department will have to take extraordinary measures to continue to finance the
government on a temporary basis. On
Friday, March 13, Treasury will suspend, until further notice, the issuance of
State and Local Government Series (SLGS) securities. SLGS are special-purpose Treasury securities
issued to states and municipalities to assist them in conforming to certain tax
rules. When Treasury issues SLGS, they
count against the debt limit.
Increasing the debt limit does not authorize new spending
commitments. It simply allows the
government to pay for expenditures Congress has already approved, thereby
protecting the full faith and credit of the United States. Only
Congress is empowered to increase the nation’s borrowing authority, and I hope
that Congress will address this matter without controversy or brinksmanship.
Accordingly, I respectfully ask Congress to raise the debt
limit as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Jacob J. Lew
Identical letter sent to:
The
Honorable Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic Leader
The
Honorable Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader
The
Honorable Harry Reid, Senate Democratic Leader
cc:
The
Honorable Paul Ryan, Chairman, House Committee on Ways and Means
The
Honorable Sander M. Levin, Ranking Member, House Committee on Ways and Means
The
Honorable Orrin G. Hatch, Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance
The
Honorable Ron Wyden, Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Finance
All other
Members of the 114th Congress