Ranking Member Smith Continues to Call for End to Sequestration

Statement

Congressman Adam Smith, Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, has introduced legislation to end sequestration and its damage to our economy:

"Over the past three years, sequestration and its drastic and across-the-board cuts have negatively impacted our economy, disrupted our government, and harmed our nation. As Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, I have long called for ending the sequester. This week, I introduced the Relief from Sequestration Act of 2016 (H.R. 4512) to repeal the sequestration mechanism in its entirety. My bill would end the threat of future government shutdowns and looming draconian cuts to important national priorities.

"H.R. 4512 would end years of harmful and indiscriminate cuts to discretionary programs by eliminating the $1.2 trillion of discretionary reductions that are required by the Budget Control Act of 2011 and that will again take effect in 2018. My bill does not deny the fact that we need a comprehensive, long-term deficit reduction deal. We absolutely do. This legislation recognizes that discretionary spending accounts, and the economy, should no longer be held hostage by the threat of sequestration while Congress debates and acts on the larger budget changes that are fundamentally necessary. We have a deficit problem that must be addressed, but we should not continue to damage our economy and undermine national security in the process.

"The President's Fiscal Year 2017 Budget, released earlier this week, eliminates the sequester after 2018 and recognizes that sequestration was never intended to be implemented, but was instead meant to force Congress to have an honest conversation about the budget. The sequestration mechanism is not necessary to reduce our deficits. The Bipartisan Budget Agreement signed into law last October began to address our budget challenges in a more balanced way, but the looming threat of sequestration continues to limit the ability of government to plan in the long term. With the threat of sequestration eliminated, Democrats and Republicans in Congress can finally come together and focus on crafting and implementing a stable and responsible budget that reflects our nation's priorities without a looming budget threat."

Source