[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 27, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S882]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             THE SEQUESTER

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, this week, Speaker Boehner made some harsh 
accusations. I will not repeat them here on the Senate floor. Suffice 
it to say he thinks the Senate isn't moving quickly enough to avert the 
sequester--the across-the-board-cuts that will cost 750,000 Americans 
their jobs unless Congress acts and acts quickly.
  The Speaker's charge is really weak sauce, considering that House 
Republicans spent 2 months refining the art of doing nothing. The 
allegation is stranger still given the Speaker doesn't even have his 
own proposal to prevent the deep cuts that will strike within 2 days. 
In fact, the House Republicans' entire strategy for the Congress is to 
sit on the sidelines.
  And Republicans won't work with Democrats. The Republicans have 
failed to make their own proposals and refuse to compromise on a 
balanced plan to avoid harsh austerity measures. Democrats, on the 
other hand, have proposed a balanced solution to this sequester--a 
proposal to reduce the deficit by making smart spending cuts, closing 
wasteful tax loopholes, and asking multimillionaires to pay a little 
bit more.
  We will vote this week on our plan--a plan supported by three-
quarters of Americans and almost 60 percent of Republicans. But once 
again, Republicans are too busy fighting amongst themselves to unite 
behind a course of action. They are, instead, doing nothing--zero.
  Benjamin Franklin once said:

       The man who achieves makes many mistakes, but he never 
     makes the biggest mistake of all--doing nothing.

  Republicans appear poised to make the biggest mistake of all. They 
are prepared to let the sequester's painful arbitrary cuts take effect.
  Across the country, meat inspectors, air traffic controllers, FBI 
agents, and Border Patrol agents will be furloughed and 70,000 boys and 
girls will be kicked out of Head Start.
  These cuts will not be felt in the next few days, but they will start 
quickly, Lord knows. The notices that go out in 90 days will cut off 
all contractual payments to whoever gets a warning notice. So within a 
matter of weeks, we are going to feel these cuts and feel them really 
painfully.
  As I said, 70,000 boys and girls will be kicked out of Head Start, 
thousands of researchers working to cure diseases such as cancer, 
Alzheimer's, and other dread diseases will be laid off, hundreds of 
thousands of Defense Department employees will take forced furloughs, 
creating hardship for their families and threatening national security.
  To make sure everyone understands, this is not President Obama's 
sequester, because 174 House Republicans voted for this and 28 
Republican Senators voted for this. That is 60 percent of Republican 
Senators and 75 percent of the House Republicans Members who voted for 
this. Congress has the power to avoid these self-inflicted wounds, but 
Democrats can't do it alone. Republicans must do their part. Compromise 
is never easy, but surely it is better than doing nothing at all.

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