For Immediate Release: May 29, 2023

Contact: Matt Spence  202-728-6014

IBEW Statement on the Debt Ceiling Agreement

IBEW International President Kenneth W. Cooper issued the following statement on the debt ceiling deal:

“On behalf of the IBEW, I fully support the recent deal between the Biden-Harris administration and Congressional leaders now called the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. The negotiated framework ensures our nation's continued economic health, job growth and stability after a once-in-a-century pandemic, preserves the integrity of the U.S. Treasury and averts a global financial crisis.

“Importantly, this agreement maintains the Inflation Reduction Act’s climate and clean energy provisions. It also codifies essential reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act that will boost the predictability of the federal permitting reform process while maintaining the scope of this bedrock law. Modernizing the federal permitting process, particularly accelerating the construction of electric transmission lines, is critical to meeting the nation’s infrastructure and energy goals. We hope Congress will continue its work on perfecting the federal permitting process after the enactment of this agreement to realize the full promise of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act and create tens of thousands of IBEW jobs. 

“On behalf of the 775,000 members of the IBEW, I call on Congress to swiftly pass the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 and allow the administration to put this manufactured crisis in the rearview mirror. The country’s challenges are too important to allow the extremism of a few to take us to the brink of disaster; these high-stakes fiscal standoffs only serve to spook financial markets and sow doubt worldwide about the stability of the United States.”

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The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) represents approximately 775,000 members and retirees who work in a wide variety of fields, including construction, utilities, manufacturing, telecommunications, broadcasting, railroads and government.