Bush may tap retirement funds to avoid hitting debt ceiling
Quietly, Bush Signs Bill Raising Debt Ceiling
The Boston Globe
By Associated Press
May 28, 2003
ASHINGTON -- Without comment or ceremony, President Bush yesterday signed a bill allowing a record $984 billion increase in the amount the federal government can borrow, to a record $7.4 trillion.
The increased federal borrowing will enable the government to pay for the $350 billion economic stimulus package that the GOP-led Congress passed last week at Bush's behest.
Bush will hold a signing ceremony at the White House today to celebrate passage of that legislation, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. The package includes $330 billion in tax cuts and $20 billion in aid for states.
Passage of the bill raising the nation's debt ceiling came Friday, hours after the tax-cut bill was approved. Congressional Democrats had sought to spotlight the burgeoning debt.
But Republican leaders maneuvered to pass the debt-ceiling measure quickly and with little fanfare.
The House had avoided a direct vote on the debt limit by reviving a rule that made its approval of a borrowing increase automatic when Congress finished its annual budget last month.
After running annual surpluses during the last four years of the Clinton administration, the US government has returned to deficit spending. This year's deficit is expected to exceed $300 billion, a record, and huge future shortfalls are expected.
Bush's signing of the bill -- announced in a statement with a single sentence -- will enable the government to borrow money until sometime next year.
The current $6.4 trillion limit was breached earlier this year.
Failure to extend the borrowing limit could have led to a first-ever federal default -- something neither party wants to explain.
This story ran on page A6 of the Boston Globe on 5/28/2003.