[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 27 (Tuesday, February 26, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S819-S820]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HAGEL NOMINATION AND SEQUESTRATION

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I just indicated the Senate will vote today 
for a second time to move forward on the nomination of Senator Chuck 
Hagel, a Republican, serving as Secretary of Defense. Twelve days ago, 
the Republicans mounted a first-of-its-kind filibuster of Senator 
Hagel's confirmation. Senator Hagel is the first nominee for Secretary 
of Defense in the history of our country to have been filibustered. And 
what has the filibuster gained my Republican colleagues 12 days later? 
Nothing. Nothing has changed. Twelve days later Senator Hagel's 
exemplary record of service to his country remains untarnished.
  I can still remember going to visit Senator Hagel in his office. I 
don't remember what we were to discuss, but it was something dealing 
with Senate business. As I walked into his office, I saw a picture of 
two young men on a mechanized vehicle in Vietnam. I asked what that 
was, and his staff indicated those were the Hagel brothers and their 
time together serving in Vietnam. They had both been wounded--Senator 
Chuck Hagel more than once--and Chuck Hagel was also credited with 
saving his brother's life in Vietnam. And this is the person who is 
going to be our next Secretary of Defense.
  I repeat: His record of service to his country is untarnished. And 12 
days later President Obama's support for this qualified nominee is 
still strong. Twelve days later a majority of Senators still supports 
his confirmation.
  Senate Republicans have delayed for the better part of 2 weeks for 
one reason: partisanship. At a time when our Nation faces threats 
abroad--and that is an understatement--the President's nominee for 
Secretary of Defense deserves a fair and constructive confirmation 
process. Politically motivated delays send a terrible signal to our 
allies around the world and they send a terrible signal to the tens of 
thousands of Americans serving in Afghanistan, other parts of the 
world, and those valiant people who are serving here in the United 
States. For the sake of national security, it is time to set aside this 
partisanship.

  In 3 days, across-the-board cuts to the Defense Department are 
scheduled to take effect. The Pentagon needs a seasoned leader to 
implement these cuts. Democrats are working hard to avert the worst of 
these arbitrary cuts--cuts for which an overwhelming majority of 
Republicans in Congress voted. The so-called sequester was supported by 
174 Republicans in the House of Representatives and 28 Republicans here 
in the Senate--60 percent and 75 percent of the two Republican bodies 
in this Congress.
  We have a balanced proposal to replace those across-the-board cuts 
for this year with smart spending reductions, which must continue; 
measures

[[Page S820]]

that would close corporate tax loopholes and wasteful subsidies; and 
revenue from the very wealthiest among us--Americans making millions of 
dollars each year.
  It is critical Republicans and Democrats come together to find a 
balanced way to avert these drastic cuts. The consequence of the so-
called sequester cuts is real, not only for our national defense but 
for millions of American families and businesses alike. Three-quarters 
of a million jobs--750,000 jobs--are at stake. Across the country, tens 
of thousands of teachers, including thousands who work with disabled 
children, would be laid off; 70,000 children would be dropped from Head 
Start; 373,000 adults living with serious mental illnesses and children 
dealing with severe emotional problems will go untreated.
  Airports could close due to a shortage of air traffic controllers and 
other essential personnel. And lines at airports that do stay open will 
stretch out the door, as TSA workers are furloughed.
  At McCarran Airport in Las Vegas last year more than 40 million 
people used that airport in coming to visit the bright lights of Las 
Vegas, the Las Vegas strip and downtown Las Vegas. Those lines are 
going to get longer, waiting to take off from Las Vegas. That is too 
bad.
  From coast to coast hundreds of thousands of civilian employees from 
the Department of Defense will face furloughs that will devastate their 
families and devastate our economy. These cuts will take place.
  On Friday, when this kicks in, not everyone is going to see these 
cuts on Saturday, but they are going to kick in for the people who run 
these agencies, the people who run the Pentagon. I met with the 
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff before we left for our break. 
These cuts are going to take place. They are going to be felt in 
Defense more quickly because the civilian agencies have not rehired the 
people they could have, and they have done other things because of the 
essential nature of what the military does. They haven't done that, so 
the cuts in the military are going to kick in more quickly. The other 
cuts are not going to come immediately, but as the weeks move on, we 
will see more and more people who have been hurt in the nondefense 
fields. The effects are cumulative and they are going to hurt and hurt 
badly.
  We want to work with the Republicans to come to a balanced, 
responsible way to reduce the impact of this sequester, but my 
Republican colleagues are standing in the way of a solution. They only 
want cuts and more cuts. They are willing to sacrifice 750,000 American 
jobs rather than ask multimillionaires to pay a penny more.
  Mr. President, 56 percent--almost 60 percent--of the Republicans 
around the country support this balanced approach we have. Republicans, 
I repeat, around the country support this, in addition to the 
Independents and the Democrats. The only Republicans in America who 
don't support this balanced approach are the Republicans who serve here 
in Congress--in the Senate and in the House.
  Three-quarters of Americans, I repeat, including almost 60 percent of 
Republicans, are crying out for a balanced approach. With only 3 days 
left to protect American families and our economic recovery from this 
latest crisis, it is time for Republicans to work toward a solution 
instead of being part of the problem.

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