Turner urges Congress to address the national debt ceiling to 'avoid widespread economic crisis'

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and the African American Mayors Association recently called on Congress to address the debt ceiling or risk a huge economic fallout. 

"Earlier this week, @OurMayors joined a growing list of community organizations, state and local officials, and private sector leaders to implore Congress to take timely, bipartisan action to address the debt limit 'to avoid widespread economic crisis,'" Turner wrote in a Sept. 29 Twitter post.

On Sept. 29, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure to suspend the debt ceiling, but GOP members are like to kill the bill in the Senate, according to CNBC News.

Democrats are advocating for the measure to avoid a government shutdown and the first-ever U.S. default, but Republicans have expressed their opposition to raising or suspending the ceiling and want Democrats to address overspending and the national debt.

ABC News reports that if the country were to go into default, millions of Americans would be impacted, especially those with stock market investments and recipients of Social Security and Medicaid. 

"It would be disastrous for the American economy, for global financial markets and for millions of families and workers whose financial security would be jeopardized by delayed payments," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned, according to ABC News.

The consequences of a default is not completely known because the U.S. has never before defaulted on its credit, but experts warn that the economic impact of a default could be potentially catastrophic and cause suspensions of numerous government programs.

"Many more parties are not paid in a default," the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said, according to ABC News. "Without enough money to pay its bills, any of the payments are at risk, including all government spending, mandatory payments, interest on our debt and payments to U.S. bondholders. While a government shutdown would be disruptive, a government default could be disastrous."

The U.S. debt ceiling system was established in 1971 and Congress has never voted to not raise the debt ceiling.

If the bill fails in the Senate as predicted, it remains uncertain how Democrats will act to avoid a default.