John,

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has willfully forced the United States to stare down the barrel of impending default to leverage passage of the Freedom Caucus’s dead-on-arrival wish list of conservative policies. It’s reckless and a move that has vast global consequences for our nation — at home and abroad.

That’s why just Wednesday I joined a number of my fellow lawmakers to force a vote on raising the debt ceiling without McCarthy’s backing. Even if all Democrats in the House sign on — we’d be short of the 218 votes needed to take this action. But this is an issue that should transcend party lines.

That’s where you come in, John: I need 500 of my constituents to sign my petition in support of raising the debt ceiling to show all members of the House that Americans are sick of these political games. Will you add yours?

McCarthy and his Freedom Caucus friends are proposing to raise taxes on farmers, homeowners and manufacturers while gutting critical programs, including rail safety, food safety, veterans’ benefits, job training and Pell Grants — just to start.

But a clean debt ceiling bill — which has been passed 78 times since 1960, including three times under former President Donald Trump — is not a partisan issue. The United States needs to pay its bills and remain a stable, trusted global partner to the rest of the world.

Add your name to my petition calling on Congress to bring a sensible, bipartisan bill to vote that protects working families. We have no time to lose — we must raise the debt limit with a clean bill now.

Thanks for your support on this critical issue,

Joe