Congressman Mike Turner, Chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, cited the President for failing to lead on the sequestration crisis he created. The President will miss a key deadline of the Sequestration Transparency Act (H.R. 5872), a bill he signed into law. The legislation allowed the President 30 days to outline how he would implement the defense cuts that he insisted upon in the Budget Control Act passed last year. Despite the devastating impacts, the Administration has repeatedly ignored requests from Congress on how these cuts would be enacted on January 2, 2013.
“I voted against these cuts and the attached debt limit increase because I knew we’d be right where we are today - over $16 trillion in debt, $417 billion away from the debt limit, and zero leadership from our Commander in Chief. As a result of his inaction, uncertainty is spreading throughout the Pentagon and back in Ohio amongst Wright-Patt and the supporting defense business community,” said Turner.
Turner has joined the House in passing legislation to stave off these cuts and according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office would reduce the deficit by an additional $242.8 billion. The bill would replace the draconian cuts to our national security structure with common-sense spending reductions and reform. Specifically, the reforms include eliminating government slush funds, stopping waste, fraud, and abuse in federal programs, and reducing waste and duplication in government agencies.
“If the President and the Senate would come to the table we could stop these cuts today. Jobs and livelihoods are on the line throughout the country and Ohio. A study by George Mason University shows that sequestration would result in Ohio losing over 21,000 jobs. At a time of anemic economic growth and stagnant unemployment numbers, the last thing Ohioans and businesses need is more uncertainty and avoidable doom on the horizon” added Turner.
This past month, Turner hosted a Community Forum on Sequestration at Sinclair Community College in Dayton. The event brought together local and state elected officials to hear directly from business leaders and area trade groups focused on promoting the defense community. At the forum, the concern surrounding these looming cuts was palpable: “We are drowning in a sea of uncertainty,” said Sam Greenwood of the Greentree Group in his opening statement.
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