By: Anthony Reyes
8/28/2013
Yesterday, Secretary Lew appeared on CNBC to speak about the need for Congress to meet its responsibility to the nation by extending Treasury’s borrowing authority as soon as possible.
Speaking to CNBC's John Harwood, Secretary Lew emphasized that raising the nation’s debt limit does not authorize new spending, it simply pays for the obligations that Congress has already approved. Calling an impasse over raising the debt limit “another self-inflicted wound,” Secretary Lew urged Congress to act ahead of the mid-October time frame he laid out in a recent letter to Congress. “We don’t need another crisis at the last minute. Congress should come back and they should act."
During the interview, Secretary Lew recalled the harmful consequences of a prolonged dispute over raising the debt limit in 2011. "In 2011, we actually saw the specter of default raised to something that was an affirmative position that some were saying was better than the alternative. That was dangerous and it was bad for the economy and we cannot go back there."
Watch Secretary Lew's full interview on CNBC below and get more information about the debt limit here.
Anthony Reyes is the New Media Specialist at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.