[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 27, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H669]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                             SEQUESTRATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Arizona (Mrs. Kirkpatrick) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. KIRKPATRICK. Madam Speaker, the voters sent us to Congress 
because they want solutions, but reckless, across-the-board cuts are 
not solutions. We are just 2 days away from the start of these cuts 
known as sequestration, 2 days away from hurting, rather than helping, 
the people who elected us.
  Let me share with you some examples.
  I represent Arizona's District One. This is a vast, beautiful, mostly 
rural district. It's larger than the State of Pennsylvania. My district 
includes one of the greatest natural resources of the world, the Grand 
Canyon, and many other national parks. The Grand Canyon is not only an 
environmental treasure; it is an economic driver. It brings $700 
million to our economy and creates 12,000 jobs annually.
  If our national parks are forced to cut operating hours, cut services 
or even close facilities, we will be hurting the economy, not helping 
it. Thousands of jobs and small businesses are connected to the 
national parks in my district and across our Nation. Hurting our 
national parks is not a solution.
  I'm also concerned about how sequestration will hurt education. 
Thousands of low-income students in Arizona would no longer receive aid 
to help cover the cost of college. Work study jobs would be eliminated, 
and Arizona is the largest recipient of impact aid funding in the 
Nation. Impact aid compensates local school districts for revenue they 
lost due to the presence of federally owned and, therefore, tax-exempt 
property.

                              {time}  1050

  It compensates local school districts for costs incurred due to 
federally connected students.
  What are federally connected students?
  These are students who are Native American, who have a parent in the 
military, or who live on Federal property.
  In my district in 2012, for example, the Chinle Unified School 
District received more than $22 million in impact aid. Sequestration 
cuts would deeply affect a district like Chinle's. It would hurt its 
capacity for everything from transportation to staffing and from 
construction to classroom size. Hurting our schools and our students is 
not a solution.
  Madam Speaker, what about our tribal communities?
  My district has 12 Native American tribes; 25 percent of my district 
is Native American. These are residents of some of our most remote and 
rural communities. The median household income is $7,000 a year. These 
folks often struggle with access to the most basic medical care and 
resources. If sequestration takes effect, their primary source of 
health care, the Indian Health Service, will take a major hit. Other 
Federal programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid and veterans benefits, are 
exempt from sequestration cuts. The Indian Health Service is not 
exempt. IHS may be cut by over $200 million.
  What does a cut like that mean to tribal communities in my district?
  It would mean losing hundreds of jobs. It would mean cuts in primary 
health care. Nationwide, it's estimated that 3,000 fewer people would 
be admitted for inpatient care and that 800,000 fewer Native Americans 
would be able to receive outpatient visits.
  Hurting our tribal communities is not a solution. The consequences of 
these cuts are not TV sound bites. They are real, and they hurt my 
district and our Nation. It will take both parties working together to 
find a responsible, thoughtful solution to our budget challenges. It 
will take both parties working together to put a stop to these reckless 
cuts of sequestration.
  So let's work together, and let's show the American people that we 
are a Congress that can find solutions.

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