[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 71 (Monday, May 20, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H2778]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SEQUESTRATION EFFECTS

  (Mr. COURTNEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, last week, the Secretary of Defense, Chuck 
Hagel, announced that the furloughs of civilian DOD employees will be 
11 days for the balance of this fiscal year. This decision, driven by 
sequestration, is damaging and degrading the military readiness of our 
country. These are individuals who provide critical services for the 
men and women in uniform who serve all across America and all across 
the world.
  Sequestration is acting like a slow-acting poison, which is now 
affecting the economy. Moody's Investor Services announced last week 
that it will take a full point off of GDP growth this year and will 
result in, over time, the loss of 700,000 jobs.
  It is time for this institution to focus on this self-inflicted 
damage that Congress caused by not turning off sequester as previous 
Congresses back in the eighties and nineties did when sequestration was 
in effect.
  We should stop wasting our time on repeal debates for health care--37 
times as of last week--and focus on what's really important in the 
immediate future. It's to turn off sequester. It is time for the 
leadership of this House to stop wasting our time and get focused on 
the issue that matters the most to the American people.

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