Last week, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., unveiled a plan to cut federal spending. Today, President Barack Obama presents his goals for long-term deficit reduction. Next up is a bipartisan plan to reduce the nation’s $14 trillion debt, led by Sens. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., one of the Senate’s most conservative members, and Mark Warner, D-Va., a former governor of Virginia.

Chambliss and Warner spoke to the AJC editorial board Monday and their comments are excerpted here:

Sen. Chambliss:“The issue that we are dealing with is the issue of this age, the $14 trillion debt and the mounting deficit we are looking at.”

Sen. Warner:“The conventional wisdom in Washington is, well, none of this is going to be dealt with until after the presidential election. You know we may have that much time, but are we really willing to roll the dice on not just the American economy but the world economy with kind of a debt crisis we’ve seen now [in] three countries in Europe and probably more before it’s over?