[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 27, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H674]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             SEQUESTRATION

  (Mr. VARGAS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. VARGAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to 
sequestration.
  The word ``sequester'' derives from the Latin word ``sequi.'' It 
meant to follow. In late Latin, it devolved into ``sequestrar,'' which 
meant to surrender into the hands of a trustee. By the early 1500s, 
sequestrar grew to mean ``to seize, to confiscate.''
  In Spanish, the word ``secuestro'' means to kidnap, to hostage, to 
ransom. And really, that is what the majority party is doing here 
today. They're holding the American people hostage, holding them ransom 
for these draconian spending cuts. House Republicans don't care about 
the harm it will cause to our working families, our seniors, our 
children, our military--especially our military.
  We have heard now from our military leaders that military 
preparedness will suffer and will suffer greatly. We've already heard 
that an aircraft carrier has been stalled in port and is not able to be 
deployed to the Middle East. But there is a solution. Democrats, 
through the efforts of the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen), 
have proposed a fair and balanced plan that would replace these 
destructive and unwarranted cuts.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 699, a balanced 
bill to replace the sequester with spending cuts and revenues.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. As the Chair previously advised, that 
request cannot be entertained without the appropriate clearance.

                          ____________________