[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 39 (Monday, March 18, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E321-E322]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  SEQUESTRATION CUTS HARMING AMERICANS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOHN LEWIS

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 18, 2013

  Mr. LEWIS. Mr. Speaker, the people of this Nation are looking to this 
Congress for help. My constituents and the constituents of every 
elected representative here sent us to Congress to take action on their 
behalf.
  They are worried about how they will keep a roof over their heads, 
food on their plates, the lights turned on, and get back and forth from 
work. They are holding out some hope that we might actually do what 
they sent us here to accomplish. They have told us they want Social 
Security and Medicare to continue. They want to keep their health 
benefits and hope to hear that this Nation's resources will be used to 
restore our infrastructure, create jobs and educational opportunities, 
strengthen our economy and restore confidence in our leadership as a 
nation.
  They expect elected officials to build, and not to tear down. They 
want to unify this Nation and not divide it into two camps of the 
super-rich and the struggling poor. They have told us this in so many 
ways, especially during the last election. But instead, they are 
witnessing what seems to be a full-scale assault at every level of 
government on American life as we know it. From the U.S. Capitol to 
State capitols even in Georgia, extremists seem determined to reverse 
our climb toward recovery and drive this Nation into a ditch.
  Our first priority should be trying to improve the lives of the 
middle class, the working class, and low-income Americans, not 
negotiating lay-offs, freezing salaries, scapegoating government 
employees, eliminating civil rights protections and collective 
bargaining. Public servants at every level of government are under 
constant attack, and in these urgent times we are reducing service to 
communities and teetering on the edge of economic instability. At the 
same time that we are reducing

[[Page E322]]

the number of livable-wage jobs, we are gutting re-training and 
reemployment opportunities. These policies will pull the rug out from 
under people's lives in the name of some kind of pseudo-fiscal 
discipline that legislators declare will do this Nation some good.
  For yet another week, the Republican-led Congress has turned its back 
on the number one issue in this country--jobs. Instead of brainstorming 
a way to fix the massive problems sequestration presents, the House is 
considering legislation which guts 40 years of bipartisan engagement in 
Workforce Investment Act (WIA) programs. This bill would consolidate or 
eliminate successful initiatives like YouthBuild, the Disabled Veterans 
Outreach Program, Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional 
Occupations, and Community-Based Job Training Grants.
  Last week, House Republicans also passed H.R. 890, the partisan 
welfare bill that would overturn the Obama Administration proposal to 
allow States the flexibility to move more Americans from welfare to 
work.
  Looking forward to the week ahead, this Congress will move closer to 
making massive sequestration cuts permanent for millions of Americans. 
Instead of alleviating suffering, these bills will add to the woes of 
my constituents and Americans across the country.
  We need to come together to find a way to help the people in this 
country keep their jobs and become gainfully employed, not slashing and 
cutting when there is no emergency that really warrants these measures. 
We must not balance the budget on the backs of the poorest and most 
vulnerable Americans, especially when closing common-sense loopholes 
could easily raise the revenue we need.
  Every day, millions of Americans go to bed hungry because they have 
fallen into poverty. They were evicted from their homes and have lost 
their jobs. This Congress has turned a blind eye to their suffering and 
seems to be determined to pile on more. When will we do the work of 
policy and put aside partisan politics? How can we look our 
constituents in the eye, knowing these changes will do them harm?
  We are here to help solve the problems of America, not create more 
problems for this country. Legislators can do better; we must do 
better.

                          ____________________