A total of 186 House Democrats wrote an open letter to President Barack Obama dated Wednesday supporting his call for a “clean extension of the debt ceiling” to avert a default on the government’s obligations.
The letter was drafted by Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) and was signed by the senior-most House Democratic leaders. It comes as Republican leaders are insisting on attaching fiscal reforms to a debt limit increase, which Obama has repeatedly rejected.
Read the full letter, via his office:
Dear Mr. President:
Congress will soon be faced with the question of whether we raise the debt ceiling to ensure America pays its bills for expenses already incurred or whether we plunge the country into default for the first time in our history. We appreciate your strong leadership on this issue and share your view that defaulting on our obligations would cause immediate and irreparable harm to America’s economy. We will support a clean extension of the debt ceiling when the House takes up this issue.
Sincerely,
Current Signers (186): Welch, Pelosi, Hoyer, Clyburn, Becerra, Crowley, Israel, Van Hollen, Wasserman Schultz, Price, Blumenauer, Sewell, Edwards, Ellison, Doggett, Meeks, Yarmuth, Lee, R. Kelly, Capps, A. Hastings, Kennedy, Conyers, Cicilline, Linda Sanchez, Waxman, Huffman, Doyle, McCollum, Cartwright, Connolly, McGovern, Deutch, Lewis, Levin, Schakowsky, Shea-Porter, Jackson Lee, B. Scott, McDermott, Moore, Slaughter, Rangel, Lowey, Brown, Moran, Rush, Cummings, Vargas, G. Miller, DeLauro, Speier, C. Maloney, Tonko, Farr, Matsui, Langevin, Butterfield, Tsongas, Schwartz, Cohen, Dingell, Norton, Larsen, Jeffries, Honda, Lowenthal, Loretta Sanchez, Esty, DeFazio, Bordallo, Christensen, M. Thompson, Eshoo, Hahn, Perlmutter, Holt, Beatty, Lujan, Fudge, Costa, Pocan, Pierluisi, O’Rourke, Schiff, Nadler, Kildee, Kuster, Roybal-Allard, Waters, Delaney, Larson, D. Davis, Hanabusa, Adam Smith, Tierney,Garamendi, Grijalva, Clay, Carson, Lofgren, Pascrell, Andrews, T. Ryan, Neal, Watt, Sherman, Cleaver, Negrete McLeod, Brownley, DelBene, Pallone, G. Green, DeGette, Pingree, Engel, Bass, Kirkpatrick, Titus, Cuellar, Kaptur, Schrader, Cooper, Rahall, Himes, F. Wilson, Bustos, Lujan Grisham, T. Bishop, Veasey, Sablan, Sarbanes, Gutierrez, Cardenas, Higgins, Kilmer, Meng, Loebsack, Courtney, H. Johnson, Polis, Frankel, Walz, Swalwell, Quigley, Heck, Ruppersberger, Velazquez, Sires, McCarthy, Richmond, Hinojosa, Enyart, Nolan, Takano, Foster, S. Bishop, Chu, Horsford, E.B. Johnson, Keating, Castro, B. Thompson, Bonamici, Gabbard, A. Green, Lynch, Serrano, R. Brady, Payne, Clarke, Schneider, Carney, Michaud, Fattah, McNerney, Napolitano, D. Scott, Faleomavaega, Duckworth, Castor, Visclosky, S. Davis, Bera, S. Peters, Capuano
