[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5940-5941]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      SEQUESTRATION AND THE BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Waters) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the impacts that 
sequestration is having on our country. Although I did not support the 
decisions that led to sequestration, I remain committed to protecting 
the American people from the most harmful and potentially dangerous 
outcomes related to sequestration.
  Sequestration simply means budget cuts, extraordinary budget cuts. 
Every moment we spend here in Washington should be spent working to 
improve the lives and opportunities for the American people. To that 
end, we should be focused on legislation to avert sequestration and 
improve our economy.
  As our minority whip said here this morning, we've passed a budget 
off the floor of the House. It's the Ryan budget, and it protects 
sequestration. It wants all of the cuts to take place. On the Senate 
side, they've passed a budget that does away with the onerous 
sequestration budget cuts. Now we need a conference committee, simply 
meaning, we need both sides to come together and resolve their 
differences and move on with having a budget for this country. But the 
Republicans are saying ``no.''
  And as it was mentioned by our minority whip, we're here in 
Washington, D.C., fiddling while Rome burns. We're not taking care of 
any real business. They will not bring a conference committee together 
to resolve these differences.
  The simplest way to describe the sequester is to say that this was an 
avoidable, self-inflicted wound. A vocal Republican opposition over the 
budget led to an agreement, which ultimately resulted in this 
sequestration decision.
  Republican leadership has failed to bring to the floor this week 
measures to build our economy. We should be focused on salient measures 
designed to grow our economy and create jobs.
  Republican leadership has also failed to fully address the issues 
arising from sequestration; although, it is clear that these cuts are 
arbitrary, indiscriminate, and far too blunt.
  The American people may be aware of the obvious impacts of 
sequestration, such as the closing of national parks and the 
elimination of tours at the White House; however, Americans might not 
be aware of how sequestration can impact important parts of their lives 
and this economy.
  Let's take air travel. Some of you have heard about what is going on 
in our airports. Imagine that you're trying to get to the airport to 
catch a flight to attend your daughter's wedding or graduation or to 
see about a sick relative, or you're a business traveler trying to meet 
a potential client for the first time. Well, sequestration could soon 
impact all of your travel plans.
  Due to sequestration, the Federal Aviation Administration addressed 
the shortage in their funding by furloughing 47,200 employees and are 
expected to close certain airports. As a result, we're witnessing 
airplanes remaining on the tarmac for hours. The traveling public is 
expecting flight delays and cancellations at airports all across the 
country. The impact of sequestration is being felt by the thousands of 
travelers who utilize our airways every day. And, ladies and gentlemen, 
it's going to get worse.
  Along with flight delays, airline travelers can expect increased wait 
times in airport security lines because the Transportation Security 
Administration has also had to furlough screening agents in response to 
sequestration.
  I represent Los Angeles International Airport, which is the sixth 
busiest airport in the world and the third busiest airport in the 
United States. I understand the impact that flight delays will have, 
not only on those traveling for leisure, but also on the airline 
industry and business travelers.
  These furloughs are problematic for airports of any size. The 
importance of the air traffic controllers at LAX and across the country 
cannot be understated. God forbid that there should be an accident that 
could have been averted. No explanation could possibly make amends for 
the resulting loss of life. This is simply unacceptable.
  Ladies and gentlemen, I could talk about a lot more, national 
security, housing, health care, all of that, but the fact of the matter 
is this is unnecessary. I'm absolutely disappointed. I want this 
Congress to get on with the business of getting a budget and 
representing the people that sent them here to represent them.


                           national security

  Last week, we were all horrified to watch the bombings at the 117th 
Boston Marathon. We all applauded the valiant and successful efforts of 
law enforcement. Even so, the intelligence community who diligently 
worked with local law enforcement to ultimately capture a bombing 
suspect is not immune from the impacts of sequestration.
  As a direct result of sequestration the National Intelligence 
Community could receive 4 billion dollars in cuts. Consider a recent 
statement from National Intelligence Director James Clapper. He stated 
``sequestration forces the intelligence community to decrease all 
intelligence actions and functions without regard to the impact on our 
mission. It is my judgment, as our nation's senior intelligence 
officer, that sequestration jeopardizes our nation's safety and 
security, and this jeopardy will increase over time.''
  We all watched on television as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 
FBI, Hostage Rescue Team bravely apprehended the surviving Boston 
bombing suspect. It is at these moments the American public can witness 
the training and skill of FBI agents. Yet, even the FBI is not 
protected from sequestration.
  Last month, FBI Director Robert Muller estimated that sequestration 
would decrease the FBI's budget by $550 million for this fiscal year. 
As 60 percent of the FBI's budget pays for personnel, Director Muller 
anticipates that he will have to plan for the possibility of furloughs 
in the FBI.
  According to Director Muller ``any furlough would pose a risk to FBI 
operations particularly in the areas of counter terrorism and cyber.''
  I believe the American people understand the importance of protecting 
our national security, especially at a time when our nation faces 
threats both foreign and domestic. But again, due to sequestration the 
FBI and other members of the national intelligence community who play a 
vital role in protecting our nation may be given shorter hours or 
furloughed. These are the sort of insidious impacts that unfortunately, 
may not get anyone's attention until something tragic happens. There 
are real life consequences if the sequester is not lifted.


                             Public Health

  The effect on public health could be equally devastating. 
Sequestration could cut $3.7 billion from funding for the Department of 
Health and Human Services. A myriad of programs will be negatively 
impacted by these cuts. For example, cuts to Community Health Centers 
could leave one million low-income and uninsured patients without basic 
health services.
  If we do not act to end the effects of sequestration, there could be 
45,000 fewer breast and cervical cancer screenings for low-income 
women. Further, nearly 485,000 seniors could lose access to disease 
prevention programs.

[[Page 5941]]

  Even the gains we have made in HIV/AIDS awareness, screening, and 
care may also be hampered by sequestration. The anticipated cuts to HIV 
screening could result in 424,000 fewer HIV tests. Further, cuts to the 
AIDS Drug Assistance Program could leave 7,400 HIV/AIDS patients in 
need of treatment without life-saving AIDS medications. Finally, the 
National Institutes of Health would be cut by $1.6 billion. That's $1.6 
billion less money available for cutting-edge research by scientists 
seeking cures for diseases like cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's 
disease. These are only a handful of the unintended consequences of 
blind sequestration required cuts.


                                housing

  When it comes to housing--according to the Center on Budget and 
Policy Priorities, these cuts come at a time when the number of low-
income families in need of housing assistance has been rising 
substantially. Currently, there are long waiting lists for vouchers in 
almost every community, and homelessness remains a persistent problem.
  The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development 
estimates that about 125,000 individuals and families, including 
elderly and disabled individuals, may lose assistance and be at risk of 
becoming homeless. These effects, while not immediate, would be 
devastating to the millions of low-income families who depend on these 
federal programs for shelter, a basic life necessity.
  Sequestration cuts would also result in more than 100,000 formerly 
homeless people, including veterans, being removed from their current 
housing or emergency shelter programs, putting them at substantial risk 
of becoming homeless.


                           wic and head start

  The sequester could also have a negative impact on federally funded 
programs that provide services to women and children. Essential 
programs like Head Start and Early Head Start may have to turn away up 
to 70,000 children and families. These families rely on their services 
for quality childcare and parenting education initiatives.
  Even Women, Infants and Children, WIC, that provides nutritious food, 
counseling on healthy eating, and health care referrals to low-income 
pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children under age 5 who 
are at nutritional risk faces cut. Secretary Tom Vilsack at the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture warned back in February that as a result of 
the sequester WIC will only be able to provide services for 600,000 of 
the 9 million low-income families currently served.


                               conclusion

  Mr. Speaker, sequestration has already taken a toll on families, 
businesses, and communities across the country. At a time when we are 
working to rebuild our economy, sequestration will cost American 
workers millions of dollars in lost wages and businesses billions of 
dollars in lost revenue.
  Sequestration will have impacts that we might not consider here 
today. It will impact our national security efforts. It will impact our 
air travel and it will even impact the food we eat. We must work to 
avert these thoughtless cuts.
  It is time for Republicans to stop refusing to move forward in our 
work to pass a budget that reflects our nation's values. It is time to 
do the right thing for the American people and lift the sequester.

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