[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12847]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             SEQUESTRATION

  (Mr. FORBES asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, we're now in the 4th week of the civilian 
furloughs at the Department of Defense that are wreaking havoc on our 
national security and the lives of patriotic men and women across this 
country. Mr. Speaker, I've said repeatedly the decisions that led us 
here were not the result of strategic analysis but yet another 
consequence of misguided cuts to our national defense.
  Just a few moments ago, we were in a hearing in the Armed Services 
Committee and a high-ranking member of the Pentagon said that the 
suggestion that we now know the President made for sequestration was a 
dumb idea. It was certainly a wrong idea. It was wrong when the 
President signed it into law, but what is worse is the current position 
of the White House, that even if the House and the Senate can reach an 
agreement to fix sequestration and stop these furloughs, that they will 
not agree to it unless we give the President all the spending he wants 
in every area of government and increases in taxes in all the areas of 
government he wants.
  Mr. Speaker, this is wrong. We need to address sequestration now for 
national defense and stop it before it's too late.

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