On March 16, 2006, Senate Republicans voted to raise the debt ceiling, with Senate Democrats largely voting against the statutory limit of the country’s debt.
Then-Sen. Biden voted in lock step with Senate Democrats against this bill, which would raise the debt ceiling from $8.184 trillion to $8.965 trillion.
During his Senate floor speech explaining his vote against the debt ceiling increase, Biden lashed into then-President Bush, claiming Bush did not do enough to balance the budget or pay down the debt.