[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 10582-10583]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               SEQUESTER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HOYER. I know that I--before I get to my remarks--join all the 
House in saying thank you to your father and to the Greatest 
Generation, who not only fought the terrorists of their time but came 
home and built the greatest economy the world has ever seen and gave us 
all opportunities of our generation. I'm older than you are, but of our 
generation. So I thank you for your comments. I know that your father 
is extraordinarily proud of you and extraordinarily proud of the 
remarks you just made showing how proud you are of him.
  Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, the majority party is set to recess this House 
for a week, leaving in place their economy-stifling and irrational 
policy of sequester.
  We talked about the Greatest Generation. I fear that this generation 
is going to be the greediest generation, who are not going to leave our 
children the great economy that was left to us but will leave an 
economy that is limping because of the policies that we pursued and the 
debt that we have incurred.
  When sequester took effect 17 weeks ago, it was the culmination of an 
effort by the extreme wing of the majority party to impose severe and 
senseless cuts across the Federal Government without regard for the 
real consequences to our economy, our national security, and our most 
vulnerable citizens.
  Let me review just some of its many consequences.
  Head Start and title I:
  We will lose between 70,000 and 130,000 seats in Head Start for some 
of the most vulnerable children in America; 10,000 teachers' jobs will 
be at risk in title I to teach some of our most vulnerable children.
  Social Security Administration:
  Furloughs will cause delays in processing retirement and disability 
claims.
  Nutrition for vulnerable populations:
  Four million fewer Meals on Wheels for our seniors who rely on them 
for a daily nutritional meal.
  Housing:
  125,000 housing vouchers, perhaps more, will be eliminated for people 
who need housing.
  Unemployment insurance:
  Emergency unemployment insurance past 26 weeks will be cut 11 percent 
for people who cannot find a job, in part because there has been no 
jobs legislation put on this floor since we've been here this year.
  FDA:
  2,100 fewer food safety inspections, an 18 percent reduction in 
making sure that the food we eat is safe and healthy.

[[Page 10583]]

  On top of these, it also erodes our military readiness, with one-
third of our combat aircraft on the ground, not being flown, training 
not being done.
  As the Washington Post columnist David Ignatius pointed out last 
Friday, sequestration is forcing the military to cut back on training 
programs vital to our defense readiness, and yet we fiddle while Rome 
is burning.
  David Ignatius writes:

       The Army is sharply cutting training above the basic squad 
     and platoon level. All but one of the combat training center 
     rotations scheduled for brigades this fiscal year have been 
     canceled. Depot maintenance has been halted for the rest of 
     the fiscal year. The Army will cut 37,000 flying hours from 
     its aviation training.

  The list goes on and on, Mr. Speaker.
  In February, Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno told Congress:

       Should a contingency arise, there may not be enough time to 
     avoid sending forces into harm's way unprepared.

  On July 12, Mr. Speaker, civilian defense personnel at the Pax River 
Naval Air Station, which I represent, are scheduled to begin furloughs 
as a result of the sequester. That's a personal concern to me, it's a 
concern to their families, but more broadly than that it's a concern to 
the national security of every American citizen. Those folks are among 
the hundreds of thousands of civilian defense workers in Maryland and 
across the country who are set to be furloughed next month unless--
unless--Congress acts. Congress can end these arbitrary and irrational 
cuts by replacing the sequester in its entirety as part of a big and 
balanced solution to deficits.
  We had a deal. It was called the Budget Control Act. OMB now 
estimates it cut $1.4 trillion. It's not as if we've ignored the 
deficit--$1.4 trillion. But we didn't get all the way to where the 
Speaker said we needed to be and, therefore, we adopted the sequester, 
which irrationally cuts across the board the highest priority and the 
lowest priority.

                              {time}  1020

  Our ranking member on the Budget Committee, Democrat Chris Van 
Hollen, has tried seven times to bring to this floor legislation to 
exactly modify this policy so that we have a rational, national 
security protecting, vulnerable citizens-protecting alternative while 
saving and getting to the same budget deficit reducing number--the 
same. However, our Republican colleagues have refused the opportunity 
to consider that on this floor.
  We hear a lot about the Speaker saying, Let the House work its will. 
Seven times we have asked this House leadership to give us the 
opportunity to work our will. The best way to achieve the balanced 
alternative to the sequester and put America's fiscal house in order 
would be through a bipartisan agreement on a budget. Leader Pelosi is 
going to name our conferees in just a few minutes. This Saturday will 
be the 100th day since the House passed its budget and after we 
demanded that the Senate pass a budget, Mr. Speaker. Still, 100 days 
later, no action on this floor by the majority party to go to 
conference--to sit down and try to come to an agreement. That's what 
democracy is about, coming to an agreement. This House should not be 
going into recess without first appointing conferees.
  Ten percent of Americans think we're worth anything. I need to talk 
to them because they're not sure what's going on here, apparently.
  I believe there is a bipartisan majority of Members--I hope that's 
the case--who will support a balanced approach that restores fiscal 
discipline and ends this irrational, commonsense-defying sequester. Let 
the House work its will, Mr. Speaker. It's time to appoint budget 
conferees. It's time for a balanced alternative to the sequester. As 
the sequester continues, there is no time to waste; and we ought to 
stay here and get the job done. Regular order, regular order, regular 
order--I hear it all the time. The problem is we are not following 
regular order--to the detriment of our country and our citizens.

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