[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 29 (Thursday, February 28, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E226]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           STOP THE SEQUESTER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ELIZABETH H. ESTY

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 28, 2013

  Ms. ESTY. Mr. Speaker, in Connecticut last week, I heard a lot of 
different fears from people in my district about sequestration. Almost 
everyone is worried about the economy. Small business owners and 
manufacturers in Torrington and Waterbury are worried about staying 
above water. Parents in Danbury are worried about their children's 
education. Social service providers in New Britain and Meriden are 
worried about losing funding to help seniors who need meal assistance 
and to help families who need housing assistance. People everywhere are 
worried about keeping their jobs.
  And there's a question in common. With this imminent, self-inflicted 
threat to people's jobs and people's livelihoods, why isn't Congress 
doing anything about it? Why, at the very least, are we not voting on a 
balanced alternative?
  Our constituents deserve more than an answer to that question, they 
deserve action. There is no reason businesses and families in 
Connecticut, or in any state, should be facing this catastrophe. It is 
entirely of our own doing but it's the folks back home that suffer the 
consequences.
  I ask unanimous consent that the House now take up H.R. 699, the Stop 
the Sequester Job Loss Now Act, introduced by Mr. Van Hollen to replace 
the sequestration with commonsense, cost-cutting policies--repealing 
subsidies for big oil and big gas, refocusing subsidies for big 
agriculture, and enacting a ``Buffet Rule'' so that the wealthiest are 
paying their fair share.
  We should be allowed to vote on this bill, and we should vote to 
remove this threat to the well-being of folks in all of our districts 
who have worked so hard to get by and to bring our country back from 
recession.

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