WASHINGTON --U.S. Reps. Bill Johnson and Mike Kelly voted against the one-year extension of the nation’s borrowing authority that passed the U.S. House of Representatives on a 221-201 vote, with all but 28 of the votes in favor of passage coming from Democrats.
“Only 28 House Republicans voted to assure that our nation pays its bills. They are simply unable to govern,” U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-13 Howland, posted on Facebook.
Among the Republicans voting in favor of the increase in the debt limit was House Speaker John Boehner, who represents a Cincinnati district. It is rare for the speaker of the House to cast a vote on legislation.
According to The New York Times, the 28 Republicans who supported the bill were assembled from Republican leadership, moderates and retiring members. Notable among House Republican leaders who voted against the measure where Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, the No. 4 House Republican, and Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, the party’s 2012 vice-presidential nominee.
The legislation, if approved by the U.S. Senate and signed into law by President Obama, would extend the nation’s debt limit until March 2015.
Boehner, according to various reports, abandoned efforts to attach initiatives that would make the legislation more palatable to House Republicans and conservative organizations when it became apparent such proposals didn’t have the support of the GOP caucus.
Johnson, R-6 Ohio, and Kelly, R-3 Pa., issued statements citing their concerns.
“I was unable to support the House vote to extend the debt ceiling because this legislation fails to address the main driver of our debt -- Washington’s out-of-control government spending,” Johnson said. He called on President Obama and Senate Democrats to “come to the table and work with the House to address the very real fiscal challenges our nation faces.”
Said Kelly, “Our historic debt and deficits are merely the symptom; over-spending of the American people’s money is the disease.Responsible leadership demands that elected leaders stop our nation’s decent toward bankruptcy, and treat our spending crisis as the threat to our economy, our security, and our future that it truly is. This especially holds true for those of us charged with bearing the power of the purse in the ‘People’s House.’”
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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