[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 27 (Tuesday, February 26, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H638-H639]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1100
                             SEQUESTRATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Connecticut (Ms. Esty) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. ESTY. Last week, I organized leaders from across Connecticut in 
small business, labor, government, health care, and social services to 
hear from them about the impact of sequestration. My constituents were 
pleased to also brief our House Democratic whip, Steny Hoyer, at a 
roundtable in Farmington. The consequences of across-the-board cuts are 
frightening to say the least. People are scared, and people are 
extremely frustrated with Congress--and justifiably so.
  In central and northwest Connecticut--and I know the same holds true 
across the country--manufacturers, small businesses, and working- and 
middle class families are doing things right. Having struggled through 
a tough economy, manufacturers like Ward Leonard in Thomaston and 
Marion Manufacturing in my hometown of Cheshire have been innovating 
and making strides.
  Mr. Speaker, people are hopeful that we are finally on the verge of 
better days, but somehow Congress has missed every opportunity to avoid 
this very avoidable sequester, which would not only squander 
opportunities but would outright devastate our economy and hurt small 
businesses and families across the country.
  At our roundtable, JoAnn Ryan, president of northwest Connecticut's 
Chamber of Commerce, said that local small business owners see 
``pockets of opportunity,'' but they have ``no confidence whatsoever 
because of the inability of government to cooperate.'' My friend John 
Harrity, president of the Connecticut State Council of Machinists, put 
it perfectly when he said that, after all the progress our 
manufacturers have made, ``to lose all that momentum just defies common 
sense.''
  That's not to mention what I heard from folks across the district 
about the devastating and reckless impact sequestration would have on 
social services, our seniors, and our children's education at every 
level. Let's not forget that folks in Connecticut and across the 
Northeast are still recovering from Hurricane Sandy and recent winter 
storms. Our constituents have had to wait far too long for emergency 
recovery funds, and they're still recovering and are trying to rebuild 
their lives, to rebuild their homes and their businesses.
  Mr. Speaker, according to George Mason University Center for Regional 
Analysis, sequestration will directly and indirectly cost Connecticut 
almost 42,000 jobs. We need to remember that this isn't just a number. 
It's people's livelihoods, and it's their lives.
  Letting the sequester happen will hurt Head Start students and their 
teachers in Danbury and New Britain, seniors in Meriden who rely on 
Meals on Wheels for their daily nutrition, manufacturers like Ansonia 
Copper & Brass in Waterbury, and small businesses throughout Torrington 
and the northwest corner, and employees and owners who are working hard 
to achieve the American Dream for themselves and to bring back the 
American economy.
  What's maybe most troubling is that there is no reason businesses and 
families in Connecticut, or in any State, should be facing this 
catastrophe. It is entirely self-inflicted and avoidable if our 
colleagues would let us vote on an alternative. It's the result of a 
reckless game of chicken. Avoiding it is actually very simple, and the 
lack of urgency the House GOP leadership has shown in addressing this 
impending deadline is astounding.
  Mr. Speaker, we can and should vote to remove this self-inflicted 
threat. We can and should remove the sequester. We already have a 
balanced replacement. Representative Van Hollen's Stop the Sequester 
Job Loss Now Act would replace the sequester with commonsense, cost-
cutting policies--repealing subsidies for Big Oil and Big Gas, 
refocusing subsidies for Big Agriculture and enacting a Buffett rule so 
that the wealthiest are paying their fair share. We should be allowed 
to vote on this bill.
  Folks in Connecticut and across the country can't afford this 
gamesmanship. They need us to act. They need us to do our jobs so that 
they can keep doing theirs.

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