Rep. Hoyer: Debt ceiling fight 'like taking your child hostage'

At a press conference on Thursday, House Democratic Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) compared Republicans to a hostage taker who threatened to shoot his own child.

The Democratic congressman was responding to a question about raising the federal debt ceiling, which Republicans plan to use as leverage to demand spending cuts from Obama.

Hoyer said the Republican majority in the House of Representatives was willing to take the country "to the brink of default," which resulted in the United States having its credit rating downgraded last year by Standard & Poor's. He noted that the federal debt limit allowed the United States to "pay its bills" and said the issue shouldn't be used as leverage in partisan budget fights.

"It's somewhat like taking your child hostage and saying to somebody else, 'I'm going to shoot my child if you don't do what I want done.' You don't want to shoot your child. There's no Republican leader that wants to default on our debt -- that I've talked to -- so that ought to be non-partisan," Hoyer said.

The United States will reach the debt ceiling by December 31, according to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Watch video, courtesy of CSPAN, below: