[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12740]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     THREATENING CONGRESS DOES NOT SOLVE THE ISSUE OF SEQUESTRATION

  (Mr. WILSON of South Carolina asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, in a recent opinion piece 
submitted to Politico, Jeffrey Zients, the Acting Director for the 
Office of Management and Budget, wrote:

       As President Barack Obama has said many times, the 
     sequester wasn't meant to be implemented. It was designed to 
     cut so deep that just threatening them would force Congress 
     to meet and agree on a big, balanced package of deficit 
     reduction.

  If the President actually believed the Budget Control Act would 
destroy jobs and threaten our national security, why did he sign the 
legislation into law? Additionally, if he believed the proposed cuts 
would frighten Members of Congress, why has he remained silent on this 
issue?
  House Republicans have acted and passed bipartisan legislation 
several times replacing the sequester with responsible reforms as well 
as calling for more government transparency to stop the destruction of 
200,000 jobs in Virginia alone.
  I urge the President to support this bill in order to promote peace 
through strength.
  In conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never forget 
September the 11th in the global war on terrorism.

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