Hoyer: It's Time For A Balanced Alternative To The Sequester

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-5) spoke on the House Floor this morning about the need to finish the budget and stop the sequester. Below are excerpts of his remarks and a link to the video:

Click here to watch the video.

“Mr. Speaker, tomorrow the Majority party is set to recess this House for a week, leaving in place the economy-stifling and irrational policy of sequester.”

“…It also erodes our military readiness, with 1/3 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, quote: ‘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, and I quote: ‘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 not just a personal concern to me – it's a concern to their families. But more broadly than that, it's of 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 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.”

“Our Ranking Member on the Budget Committee, the Democrat, Chris Van Hollen, has tried seven times to bring to this Floor legislation to exactly modify this policy so 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 – seven times we have asked this House leadership to give us the opportunity to work our will. The best way to achieve a balanced alternative to the sequester and put America's fiscal house in order would be through a bipartisan agreement on a budget.”

“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 this House work its will, Mr. Speaker... 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.”