[House Document 113-16]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



113th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 113-16


 
                SEQUESTRATION ORDER FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013

                               __________

                             COMMUNICATION

                                  from

        THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR, THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET

                              transmitting

 SEQUESTRATION ORDER FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013 PURSUANT TO SECTION 251A OF 
   THE BALANCED BUDGET AND EMERGENCY DEFICIT CONTROL ACT, AS AMENDED




 March 25, 2013.--Referred to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed
                 Executive Office of the President,
                           Office of Management and Budget,
                                     Washington, DC, March 1, 2013.
Hon. John A. Boehner,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Speaker: Enclosed please find the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) Report to the Congress on the 
sequestration for fiscal year (FY) 2013 required by section 
251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, 
as amended (the ``Joint Committee sequestration''). This report 
provides calculations of the amounts and percentages by which 
various budgetary resources are required to be reduced, and a 
listing of the reductions required for each non-exempt budget 
account.
    In August 2011, as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011 
(BCA), bipartisan majorities in both the House of 
Representatives and Senate voted for sequestration as a 
mechanism to compel the Congress to act on deficit reduction. 
The threat of destructive across-the-board cuts under the BCA 
was intended to drive both sides to compromise. Yet, a year and 
a half has passed, and the Congress still has failed to enact 
balanced deficit reduction legislation that avoids 
sequestration.
    As a result of the Congress's failure to act, the law 
requires the President to issue a sequestration order today 
canceling $85 billion in budgetary resources across the Federal 
Government for FY 2013. Specifically, OMB calculates that, over 
the course of the fiscal year, the sequestration requires a 7.8 
percent reduction in non-exempt defense discretionary funding 
and a 5.0 percent reduction in non-exempt nondefense 
discretionary funding. The sequestration also requires 
reductions of 2.0 percent to Medicare, 5.1 percent to other 
non-exempt nondefense mandatory programs, and 7.9 percent to 
non-exempt defense mandatory programs.
    Because these cuts must be achieved over only seven months 
instead of 12, the effective percentage reductions will be 
approximately 13 percent for non-exempt defense programs and 9 
percent for non-exempt nondefense programs.
    The cuts required by sequestration will be deeply 
destructive to national security, domestic investments, and 
core Government functions. While the Department of Defense will 
shift funds where possible to minimize the impact on war-
fighting capabilities and critical military readiness, 
sequestration will result in a reduction in readiness of many 
non-deployed units, delays in investments in new equipment, 
cutbacks in equipment repairs and needed facilities 
maintenance, disruptions in military research and development 
efforts, significant reductions in weapons programs, and 
furloughs of most civilian employees for a significant amount 
of time. Sequestration will also undermine nondefense 
investments vital to economic growth, threaten the safety and 
security of the American people, and cause severe harm to 
programs that benefit the middle class, seniors, and children. 
According to analysis by outside experts, sequestration would 
reduce real GDP growth for 2013 by 0.5 to 0.7 percentage points 
were it to continue for the rest of the calendar year.
    The Joint Committee sequestration is a blunt and 
indiscriminate instrument. It was never intended to be 
implemented and does not represent a responsible way for our 
Nation to achieve deficit reduction.
    On multiple occasions, the President has proposed 
comprehensive and balanced deficit reduction plans to avoid 
sequestration. The President and Congress, working together, 
have already reduced the deficit by $2.5 trillion. The 
President has been clear that he is willing to make tough 
choices to reach an agreement on further deficit reduction. The 
Administration continues to stand ready to work with the 
Congress to enact balanced deficit reduction legislation that 
replaces sequestration and puts the Nation on a sound long-term 
fiscal path.
            Sincerely,
                                         Jeffrey D. Zients,
                                    Deputy Director for Management.
    Enclosure.

    Identical Letter Sent to the President of the Senate.
 Sequestration Order for Fiscal Year 2013 Pursuant to Section 251A of 
   the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as Amended

    By the authority vested in me as President by the laws of 
the United States of America, and in accordance with section 
251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, 
as amended (the ``Act''), 2 U.S.C. 901a, I hereby order that 
budgetary resources in each non-exempt budget account be 
reduced by the amount calculated by the Office of Management 
and Budget in its report to the Congress of March 1, 2013.
    Pursuant to sections 250(c)(6), 251A, and 255(e) of the 
Act, budgetary resources subject to sequestration shall be new 
budget authority, unobligated balances of defense function 
accounts carried over from prior fiscal years, direct spending 
authority, and obligation limitations.
    All sequestrations shall be made in strict accordance with 
the requirements of section 251A of the Act and the 
specifications of the Office of Management and Budget's report 
of March 1, 2013, prepared pursuant to section 251A(11) of the 
Act.
                                                      Barack Obama.
    The White House, March 1, 2013.

    
    
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