Our economy has made remarkable progress since the Great Recession. American businesses have created 13.2 million jobs since early 2010, jobless claims are at 40-year lows, consumer confidence remains healthy and small businesses are planning further increases in their payrolls. We are on track for further economic growth — yet with eight days, as of Monday, until Treasury runs out of borrowing authority on Nov. 3, some in Congress are endangering this progress by once again manufacturing a crisis for our country. By waiting to the last minute to act on the debt limit, Congress could cause a terrible accident. This is not an abstraction; failure to raise the debt limit would mean devastating impacts for taxpayers, consumers and businesses.

In 2011 and 2013, Congress pushed our country to the brink of potential economic catastrophe. After reaching our country's borrowing limit, some in Congress seriously considered what should be unthinkable: choosing to default on our obligations.