[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 1166-1167]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             THE BLAME GAME

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, tonight, the President will once again walk 
into this Chamber and lay out a vision for how to strengthen America in 
the years ahead. Properly, part of that vision will include the need to 
solve our deficit challenge and address the looming sequester. That 
dangerous set of automatic and indiscriminate spending cuts is due to 
take effect in just under 3 weeks. But instead of working with 
Democrats to avert the sequester through a big and balanced solution--
or, frankly, even a short-term balanced proposal--a growing number of 
House Republicans are, instead, engaged in a dangerous blame game.
  Majority Leader Cantor joined in that this weekend, claiming that the 
President is the one who proposed the sequester in the first place. 
What he didn't say was, of course, the Republicans offered a piece of 
legislation called Cut, Cap, and Balance. The sequester was an integral 
part of their policy proposal. In fact, the sequester was part of a 
bipartisan agreement instigated by Republicans, which we supported. Let 
us not forget, Mr. Speaker, that it was Republican hostage taking of 
the debt limit in 2011 that brought about the Budget Control Act, which 
created the sequester.
  Speaker Boehner himself, after the deal creating the sequester was 
struck, said about the Budget Control Act, which included the sequester 
which faces us at the end of this month:

       When you look at this final agreement that we came to with 
     the White House, I got 98 percent of what I wanted.

  Now, let me again stress that many of us voted for this. For the past 
2 years, however, the Republican majority in this House has had our 
country lurching from one fiscal crisis to another. Repeatedly, they 
have threatened to default on our obligations, shut down government 
operations, and to slash spending in an irrational, meat-ax way.
  They have shaken the confidence of our people and of all those 
throughout the world who look to America for security and stability. 
They have undermined, in my view, the growth of economy and jobs--and 
that's the view of CBO as well--and have put in question our commitment 
to investing in our defense and in job creation.
  In short, the Republican majority, Mr. Speaker, in my opinion, in 
this House has given us the most chaotic

[[Page 1167]]

and confidence-destroying leadership I have seen in my 32 years of 
service in this House. And now, many of them suggest the sequester that 
is scheduled to occur on March 1 is an acceptable way forward. Mr. 
Speaker, I will not take the time to quote the number of Republicans 
who have said that, but I believe all of them are profoundly wrong.
  Sequestration will have a devastating impact on both domestic 
programs and on our national security. If the sequestration were to 
take effect, it would mean 70,000 children dropped from the Head Start 
program; loan guarantees to small businesses would be cut by as much as 
$540 million; and just as we are engaged in a national discussion about 
how to address mental health, up to 373,000 people suffering from 
mental illness could go untreated.

                              {time}  1220

  That is not the President's vision for America, nor is it the vision 
of Democrats in this House. Now, here we are at the 11th hour once 
again.
  First, House Republicans walked way from the Simpson-Bowles 
recommendation to adopt a balanced way forward; then they refused to 
compromise on a balanced alternative to the sequester, starting the 
clock of sequestration. Then we came down to the wire on the fiscal 
cliff and delayed sequestration for 2 months, and here we are, once 
again, with Republicans continuing to cast blame on others.
  Mr. Speaker, the blame game must end by us and by our Republican 
colleagues. The issue is not who is at fault. As the previous speaker 
indicated, we're all at fault; we're all responsible; we all serve in 
this House. Many of us voted for policies that spend money. Some of us 
voted for policies to pay for what we bought. Others voted against 
policies for paying for what we bought. Here we are, once again, on the 
brink of a fiscal meltdown.
  It's a game that has no winners, only losers, like the 14,000 
teachers, teacher assistants, and other education staff who would lose 
their jobs; or the 125,000 families who would be at risk of losing 
their homes when our rental assistance program is cut; or the thousands 
of civilian defense personnel, in my district alone, and throughout 
this country who would be furloughed for up to 22 days during the year; 
and the hundreds of thousands around the country across every service 
branch, not to mention the tens of thousands of defense contractors 
critical to our national security, who would be at risk of losing their 
jobs.
  Instead, Mr. Speaker, we need to get serious and work together to 
avert a sequester that could stop our recovery in its tracks and defeat 
our common goal of helping America's economy grow and its businesses 
create jobs.
  Reducing spending in a rational way is important for us to do, let 
there be no mistake. Considering additional revenues will be 
essential--every bipartisan group has said that--if we are to get on a 
sustainable financial footing. The sequester, however, Mr. Speaker, is 
dangerous and unacceptable. We must stop simply fiddling while the 
sequester's flames threaten to burn our economy, our national security, 
and our people.
  Mr. Speaker, we have no time to waste. I would urge the majority 
leader to bring a bill to the floor today that would comply with what 
Mr. Lankford, who chairs the Republican Study Committee, said that we 
ought to pass things that we think the Senate can pass, not just 
messages, not just political spin, but we ought to pass things that can 
actually be passed through the United States Senate and signed by the 
President.
  Senator Lindsey Graham has said:

       We have our fingerprints as Republicans on this proposal, 
     on this sequestration idea. It was the President's idea, 
     according to Bob Woodward's book. But we as the Republican 
     Party agreed to it.

  Let's make law and make policy so that America has the confidence 
that its Congress can work. It must work. America needs it to work.

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