[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 27, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H667-H668]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SEQUESTRATION AND WEST POINT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, earlier this 
week, I was home in the Hudson Valley at the United States Military 
Academy at West Point talking to the cadets there to better understand 
these arbitrary cuts to that legendary American institution that will 
happen if we fail to act.
  West Point has been educating and training our Nation's next 
generation of military leaders since 1802. It is as old as the Nation 
itself. Each year, over 1,000 young men and women from all across our 
country step into the long gray line where two American Presidents, 18 
astronauts, 74 Medal of Honor recipients, 70 Rhodes Scholars, and three 
Heisman Trophy winners have stood before them.
  These kids take the hard road. They give up the easy life to serve us 
and our country. For many of them, their time

[[Page H668]]

at the Point is just the beginning of a lifetime of selfless service. 
Indeed, scores of West Point graduates--recent West Point graduates--
have made the ultimate sacrifice serving us in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  While I was there, I had the opportunity, in fact, to walk among the 
graves of the heroes buried there on that beautiful plain high above 
the Hudson River. Many are buried by year with the classmates with whom 
they went to school.
  Tomorrow, General Norman Schwarzkopf will be laid to rest in this 
cemetery; and in that very hour, we will be here facing a choice of 
whether we will ask more of those who love and serve West Point or 
whether we will look elsewhere.

                              {time}  1040

  If we do nothing, sequestration will clobber West Point with $92 
million in arbitrary cuts. In fact, West Point is taking the biggest 
cut of any Army institution in New York. Sequestration means that our 
cadets will continue to live and train in outdated facilities that are 
over 40 years old. It means that furloughs will happen for 1,300 
employees working there.
  The men and women who feed, instruct, and protect our Nation's next 
generation of military leaders shouldn't lose their jobs because this 
Congress can't do ours. Sequestration is a terrible idea. It is the 
dead hand of the last Congress reaching out to strangle economic 
activity. We are 2 days away from the deadline, and there are people 
here who actually think it's a good idea to let it happen.
  I believe we need to cut spending. I believe we need to bring down 
our debt and start balancing our deficit. But we have choices: we can 
end lavish tax breaks to private jet owners before we ask the kids at 
West Point to do with less; we can stop giving tax breaks to companies 
that ship our jobs overseas before we weaken the Long Grey Line; and we 
can end massive tax cuts for oil companies before we weaken a great 
American institution like West Point.
  This Congress has a clear choice. And for those colleagues who choose 
to do nothing, I ask you to head home to your district and explain to 
the kids whom you nominated to West Point that these are good ideas and 
necessary sacrifices, that it's better for them to sacrifice than for 
private jet owners, for big oil companies, or for companies that ship 
our jobs overseas.
  The Army's motto is ``This we'll defend.'' West Point is something 
that we should defend because the cadets there will continue to 
honorably serve all of us and our country.
  Congress doing nothing is not a choice. It's not good for our cadets, 
and it's not good for our country. Let's stop this series of self-
inflicted crises and work together to reach a balanced compromise to 
replace these across-the-board cuts with a smart, balanced approach 
that will address our fiscal challenges.

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