Lois Capps: “Sequester furloughs have recently begun for hundreds of thousands of civilian Department of Defense employees. We know…”

“Sequester furloughs have recently begun for hundreds of thousands of civilian Department of Defense employees. We know budget sequestration is a bad policy. It's an ax where we need a scalpel. It's hurting families and workers across the country, and it's threatening public safety. For example, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in my congressional district, firefighters are being furloughed and budget cuts may lead to the elimination of its elite Hot Shot crew. Vandenberg Air Force Base is a high-risk fire area, and this year's fire season started early, is expected to be worse than previous years, and has already produced the deadliest single incident for firefighters since 9/11. We should not be furloughing firefighters in the middle of fire season. We should not be compromising public safety. I urge my colleagues to put aside our differences and get to work to find an alternative to these furloughs and end sequestration at every level once and for all. ____________________”