[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 31 (Tuesday, March 5, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H958]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               SEQUESTER

  (Mr. TAKANO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, the bill before us is a joke. It is only a 
few sentences, and all it does is ask the President to include in his 
budget a simple equation that divides the projected deficit by the 
number of taxpayers. It doesn't take a bill to do this; it just takes a 
calculator.
  If the House Republican Conference wants us to do a math problem for 
the American people, I can save everyone some time and money. $845 
billion, which is the estimated deficit projected by the CBO, divided 
by 158 million, which is the number of taxpayers, equals $5,300. Done.
  Can't they do this arithmetic problem on their own? Why are we 
wasting taxpayers' money to operate this institution as we speak when 
we can solve this very simple math problem by just doing it. This is 
all an exercise in political theater.
  I shouldn't have to come to the floor to do this. Any of my 
Republican friends could have called me, and I would have gladly walked 
them through that simple equation.
  Mr. Speaker, my constituents in California's 41st District face an 
unemployment rate of 11 percent--higher than the national average. They 
need leadership from Congress to help them find jobs, not gimmicks 
disguised as legislation.
  Our Founders didn't envision Congress assigning math homework. This 
is not elementary school. If my friends on the other side of the aisle 
want to talk about numbers, I would be happy to.
  Zero, Mr. Speaker: that's the number of jobs this bill creates. Zero: 
the number or jobs bills the House Republican leadership has brought to 
the floor in the last 2 months. 750,000: the number of potential job 
losses if the Republicans refuse to stop the sequester.

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