[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12185]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   THE DARK SPECTER OF SEQUESTRATION

  (Mr. WEST asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. WEST. I spent 22 years of Active Duty service in the United 
States Army. One of the things that seriously concerns me is this dark 
specter that hangs over our country right now that is called 
``sequestration.''
  It would mean that we will hollow out our military force: that we 
would have the smallest ground force since 1940, the smallest Navy 
since 1915, the smallest number of fighter aircraft that we've ever had 
since the creation of the modern United States Air Force.
  This morning, at the Army Aviation Caucus breakfast, I sat between 
two distinguished fliers. One was the commander of the 160th Special 
Operations Aviation Regiment. Another was Chief Warrant Officer Ford. 
Between the two of them, they had almost 40 deployments into combat 
zones. Also at that breakfast this morning was a former cadet of mine, 
now Lieutenant Colonel Dave Almquist, a distinguished master aviator in 
the United States military.
  Our men and women are watching us--the men and women who are the best 
and the brightest that this country can produce. But as well, our 
enemies are watching us to see what we will do to our United States 
military. Let us learn the lessons from post-World War I, post-World 
War II, and post-Korean War. Let's not gut our United States military. 
Let's own up to our responsibilities in article I, section 8.

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