Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012

Floor Speech

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Mr. YOUNG of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, there is broad bipartisan agreement in this House that the looming defense sequestration cuts are bad policy for the U.S. military and our national defense.

Our Defense Secretary has testified to me and to other members of the Armed Services Committee that such cuts would hollow out the military, and our constituents are rightly concerned about our ability to provide necessary equipment to troops in the field, troops who are often our sons, daughters, brothers, or sisters.

The original goal of this legislation that gave us the sequester was to find deficit reduction in the Federal budget in a careful, deliberative manner. Despite their best efforts, the small group that was charged with finding these cuts failed in the end. That's why we have passed legislation in the full House to replace the defense cuts with deficit reduction elsewhere, but the Senate has, once again, failed to act. As for the administration, it has failed to specify how these cuts will be distributed and what kind of impact they will inevitably have on our Nation's security.

Military spending decisions should not be made in a vacuum. We shouldn't merely try to manage down to some predetermined, arbitrary spending level. Ultimately, strategy should guide these sorts of decisions. Missions we are asking our men and women in uniform to perform to keep our country safe should be our measuring stick, and we should ensure that full funding exists to carry out each of these missions.

The bottom line is this: It is the responsibility of this administration to inform Congress and the American public of its plans to implement the sequester and to provide clarification on its scope and severity.

With that, I strongly urge my colleagues to support this blessedly bipartisan legislation, the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012.

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