[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 23 (Wednesday, February 13, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H464]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REPEAL AND REPLACE DANGEROUS SEQUESTER
(Mr. CARTWRIGHT asked and was given permission to address the House
for 1 minute.)
Mr. CARTWRIGHT. Madam Speaker, we have before us this question of
allowing indiscriminate and harmful cuts to our armed services and
other vital national governmental works.
I agree we must address the debt and the deficit, but it's not a new
problem, and we have fixed it before. Right now, our national debt
stands at about 105 percent of GDP, gross domestic product. In 1946, it
was close to 122 percent, and we fixed it--not by austerity, not by
slash and burn; we fixed it by investing in America. We built our
national highway system. We made our armed services the envy of the
world. We even rebuilt Europe and Japan. We went to the Moon, for
heaven's sake.
By the 1960s, our economic growth was so great that it was impossible
for anyone to complain about the Roosevelt debt with a straight face.
That's what we need to do now. We need to believe in ourselves. We need
to invest in the great engines of our economic recovery, our
infrastructure, and our middle class.
So, Mr. Speaker, I urge the Members, be bullish on America and repeal
and replace this dangerous sequester.
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