[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11039]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         DOD CIVILIAN FURLOUGHS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Turner) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, yesterday over 14,000 civilian Department of 
Defense employees at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in my community 
were furloughed as a result of sequestration. For 11 days, over the 
next few months, these hardworking members of my community will see 
their pay cut by 20 percent.
  I voted against this mess. I knew the effects of sequestration on our 
national security and our community and its citizens would be 
significant and for many devastating. These vital members of our 
national security structure have essentially been told they are 
expendable. Morale at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and DOD 
facilities around the United States is suffering because of this.
  I've spoken to not just these civilian employees, but to car dealers, 
restaurant owners, small businesses, all of who feel the pain and 
frustration because of inaction here in Washington. It doesn't have to 
be this way. The House has passed an act to avert sequestration. The 
Senate has failed to pass a single bill to avert sequestration. The 
President, who promised the American people that this would not happen, 
has done nothing. Meanwhile, families and businesses, not only in Ohio 
but across the country, are suffering. It's time for the President to 
keep his promise that he made during his election campaign and to work 
to set aside sequestration.
  Mr. Speaker, I voted against sequestration. The House has passed 
legislation to halt it, and it's time that the Senate and the President 
come to the table and work to find a way to avert these furloughs and 
their devastating impact on the lives and businesses of hardworking 
Americans and its impact upon our national security.

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