[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 31 (Tuesday, March 5, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H968-H969]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         RETHINK THE SEQUESTER

  (Mr. BUTTERFIELD asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Madam Speaker, we are merely 5 days into the 
sequester, this totally engineered crisis that did not need to happen. 
We're already beginning to feel the impacts of sequestration.

[[Page H969]]

  My home State of North Carolina hosts the third largest military 
population in the country. Coast Guard Station Elizabeth City, Seymour 
Johnson Air Force Base, and Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station are 
integral parts of their local communities and also help to form the 
backbone of our national defense.
  The sequester has already impacted the Coast Guard, with air 
operations being cut by 11 percent and maritime operations cut by 24 
percent. These cuts have reduced maritime safety and security in the 
waters off of our coastline.
  Furlough notices have already gone out to thousands of civilian 
employees at Fleet Readiness Center, where maintenance is conducted on 
Navy and Marine Corps aircraft. The furlough amounts to a loss of $81 
million.
  The 848 employees at Butner Federal Correctional Center, located in 
my district, received furlough notices and will lose up to 10 percent 
of their salaries because of sequestration.
  The impacts of the sequester are already being felt in Martin County, 
where the public school system has lost $400,000. This means that 
teachers are stretched even thinner and are forced to do more with 
significantly less.
  Madam Speaker, we need to rethink the sequester.

                          ____________________