[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2517]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             SEQUESTRATION

  (Mr. VEASEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today about the recent sequestration 
cuts to important Federal programs, cuts that are harmful to our 
national security, education system, transportation and infrastructure, 
and economy.
  Congressional Democrats have worked for months in this very Chamber 
in order to avoid the harmful cuts, but the House majority has so 
politicized the budget process that it has prevented any resolution or 
compromise. The Republican majority has three times blocked the 
consideration of a Democratic bill to end sequestration, has refused to 
bring any bill of its own to the House floor to end the sequester and, 
instead, with partisan attacks, has tried to blame President Obama.
  The sequester has already taken effect with an immediate $85 billion 
across-the-board spending cut; and while the worst of these impacts is 
yet to come, Americans will see more teachers laid off, indiscriminate 
cuts to special education, a loss of 4 million meals for seniors, and 
debilitating health care cuts for our military families.
  In my home State of Texas, the sequester puts close to 1,000 teaching 
jobs at risk. Over 80,000 workers will lose access to job training, 
over 50,000 civilian defense employees will be furloughed, and 9,700 
fewer children will get vaccines for diseases like measles and the 
whooping cough.

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