[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 27, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H676-H677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             SEQUESTRATION

  (Mr. RUPPERSBERGER asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RUPPERSBERGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to voice strong opposition to 
the sequester, which was designed to be so severe and so catastrophic 
that we would be compelled to make the necessary compromises to avoid 
it, and yet we have done nothing.
  The Second District is the home to Fort Meade, NSA, Aberdeen Proving 
Ground, the Port of Baltimore, and hundreds of contractors reliant on 
these institutions. We're neighbors to the Social Security 
Administration, the National Institute for Health, and BWI Airport.
  Nearly 140,000 workers at these facilities would be furloughed. 
Maryland will lose about $14.4 million in funding education, putting 
the jobs of 200 teachers at risk. We'll lose nearly $50 million in 
funding for medical research, which supports thousands of jobs in 
Maryland.
  Maryland can't afford this approach to deficit reduction and neither 
can any of the other States in this Nation. We have to put forward 
serious alternatives to avert sequestration, and I encourage leadership 
to either allow a vote on one of these alternatives or to propose one 
for themselves.
  We are in this most ridiculous situation and we must resolve this 
problem now.
  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 has previously advised, that 
request cannot be entertained without appropriate clearance.

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