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Quigley Moves to End Dangerous Sequester

June 27, 2013

WASHINGTON — This week, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05) moved to end the short-sighted fiscal policies of the sequester and protect critical investments in clean and renewable energy, education and infrastructure that drive economic growth.

During yesterday's Appropriations Committee markup of the FY 2014 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, Rep. Quigley introduced an amendment that would replace sequestration with a balanced mix of policies that cut spending and increase revenues.

"We continue to make deep and damaging cuts to domestic programs in order to increase defense spending, well above levels the Pentagon requested. We continue to spend billions on thousands of nuclear weapons to fight a Cold War that doesn't exist anymore," said Rep. Quigley. "Our infrastructure was graded a D, our schools continue to slide down the international ranks, and millions of jobs are unfilled because people don't have the needed skills. If we want to make America strong, safe and fiscally sound, we should be investing in education, infrastructure, and research. I hope everyone will join me in supporting this amendment, replacing sequestration, and getting back to the difficult and necessary work of appropriating our precious tax dollars."

SPEECH TRANSCRIPT

"My amendment today would replace the sequester with a balanced mix of policies that cut spending and increase revenues. This is the topic we have done before in previous hearings.

"And on the topic of sequestration, from what I hear the Chairman say, we largely agree. We agree that deep and indiscriminate cuts to our discretionary budget will not solve our long-term deficit. We understand that sequestration is a self-inflicted wound, and we know that the real drivers of our deficit are not the energy research programs in today's bill. Rather, it is the hundreds of billions in off-budget tax expenditures, our outsized defense spending, and our unsustainable entitlement spending that are the real issues we must address.

"I joined this committee because of its reputation for compromise and its ability to make tough decisions about where to spend our tax dollars. I fear the day this committee no longer plays a vital role in determining our future investments, and instead cedes its influence to party leaderships or the Administration.

"What troubles me, in this bill particularly, as well as in the larger FY 2014 appropriations process, is that we continue to make deep and damaging cuts to domestic programs in order to increase defense spending, well above levels the Pentagon requested.

"For example, this bill increases funding for nuclear weapons and cuts renewable energy programs by 50 percent. Specifically, the B61 nuclear bomb, which former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Cartwright noted in a report has a military value, quote, ‘a military utility of practically nil.' It is funded at $23.7 million above what the Administration requested. We continue to spend billions on thousands of nuclear weapons to fight a Cold War that doesn't exist anymore.

"We have limited funds, which means we have to make choices. As General Eisenhower said ‘Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who are hungry and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.' Let me be clear, this is not about redistribution, but this is about prioritization.

"Our infrastructure was graded a D, our schools continue to slide down the international ranks, and millions of jobs are unfilled because people don't have the needed skills. If we want to make America strong, safe, and fiscally sound, we should be investing in education, infrastructure, and research. This bill does not do that.

"I hope everyone will join me in supporting this amendment, replacing sequestration, and getting back to the difficult and necessary work of appropriating our precious tax dollars."