INDIANAPOLIS — A majority of Indiana's congressional delegation bucked the trend and voted against emergency legislation to raise the nation's debt ceiling, drawing praise from a tea party official.
Indiana's representatives in the House voted 5-4 against the bill, while the state's two senators split their votes. That means the overall delegation went 6-5 against raising the debt ceiling.
The House passed the bill 269-161 Monday, while the Senate approved it 74-26 Tuesday.
In the Senate. Republican Richard Lugar voted for the bill while fellow Republican Dan Coats voted no. Lugar called the bill a "victory for conservatives," but Coats said it didn't go as far as it should have.
"The bill falls significantly short of what is needed to address the severity of the financial crisis," Coats said in a statement. But he acknowledged that "progress has been made in this debate. The culture of Washington is changing from 'what can we spend' to 'where can we cut.' This is a step in the right direction and I am optimistic that we can carry this momentum in the months ahead."
The vote in the House didn't follow party lines. Indiana's Democrats in the House split 2-1 against the bill, while House Republicans from Indiana split 3-3.
Democrats Andre Carson and Pete Visclosky voted against the bill.
Carson said the bill clearly favored the rich at the expense of the working class. "Under this approach, oil companies earning billions and companies exporting American jobs sacrifice nothing," he said. "Millionaires, whose low tax rates have not led to job creation, sacrifice nothing."
Democrat Joe Donnelly said the deal was "far from perfect" but was better than default. "The possibility of defaulting on our nation's obligations, causing catastrophic harm to our already fragile economy, is not an option for me," he said.
Republicans Dan Burton, Todd Rokita and Marlin Stutzman voted no, while Mike Pence, Larry Bucshon and Todd Young voted in favor of the bill.
"People thought it was time to get something done," Pence told WISH-TV during a visit to Indianapolis on Tuesday.
Monica Boyer, co-founder of Kosciusko County Silent No More, praised those who voted against raising the debt ceiling but said she was disappointed in Pence. Still, she said she would support Pence in his run for Indiana governor next year.
"We congratulate those congressmen and Senator Coats for holding the line. That takes a lot of courage. We are really grateful to them for doing that," she said.
But she said she understood the pressure that congressmen had been under to pass the bill and avoid default.
"I believe this was a no-win situation for all of them," she said.
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