[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 27 (Tuesday, February 26, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H651]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             SEQUESTRATION

  (Mr. GALLEGO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. GALLEGO. I rise today to speak out against this manufactured 
monster that we know as sequestration--across-the-board cuts that hurt 
our economy and jeopardize our families.
  In small-town west Texas, when there is a fire, everyone works 
together to put the fire out, and no one focuses on how the fire 
started or who started the fire until after the fire is out. Here and 
now in Washington, many folks are more focused on who is to blame for 
the sequester than in trying to do anything about it or, worse, they 
use inflammatory rhetoric to add fuel to the fire.
  Meanwhile, here is what Texas is facing: 159,000 jobs lost; more than 
16,000 Air Force personnel furloughed, hurting Laughlin Air Force Base 
in Del Rio and Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio; 11,000 civilian 
employees at Fort Bliss, who could be furloughed in El Paso--and the 
biggest single threat to border security, that would be sequestration.
  I represent the district with the largest border--Del Rio, Eagle 
Pass, Presidio, Fabens. Here, Border Patrol overtime is canceled, and 
workers are being furloughed. If you thought the lines of the border 
were long before, just wait.
  Mr. Speaker, not having a vote this week is a decision by some in 
Congress for decreased border security, job loss and furloughs; and it 
devastates local communities and the State of Texas.

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