[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 99 (Thursday, July 11, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H4374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE IMPACT OF FURLOUGHS AND SEQUESTRATION

  (Mrs. BUSTOS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mrs. BUSTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak out once again 
against the sequestration-caused furloughs that are punishing workers 
whom I represent in Illinois.
  Sequestration cuts were designed to be so painful and terrible that 
they would never even take place, but this week they will begin 
unnecessarily hurting working families across the country. I have 
repeatedly called on the Defense Department to use the flexibility that 
Congress gave it, without resorting to furloughs.
  As I travel around my district of Illinois, I hear story after story 
of families who are impacted by these cuts: people like Tom and 
Michelle Vetter, who both work at the Rock Island Arsenal, and will see 
a 30 percent cut in their expected income. They now fear being able to 
pay their mortgage and even sending their son to college;
  And people like Darlene Nimmers, who has worked at the Rock Island 
Arsenal for more than three decades, who now worries about having to 
put off her well-deserved retirement.
  We need to get our fiscal house in order; there's no doubt about 
that. But it should not be at the expense and the jobs of our 
hardworking citizens and their ability to support their families.
  Please let's come together to cut spending without harming our 
Nation's economy and our workers.

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