The cuts would be both too deep and too arbitrary.

I don't see how you can't also take the position that 50 percent of that spending has to come from defense.

A majority in this body, Mr. Chairman, on the Budget Control Act, voted to make sure that the programs like food and nutrition programs for the most vulnerable were not subject to these deep cuts.

more of the same meaning cutting important investments, shredding the social safety net, and again protecting tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans and for special interests.

The President has put forward a plan to get rid of that over 10 years and replace it with a balanced approach.

Now, that is not a balanced approach. Not one penny from big agribusiness, not one penny from ag subsidies.

You leave defense exposed for the remaining 9 years.

Unfortunately, our Republican colleagues decided it was more important to protect some of those special interest tax loopholes than it was to protect the defense portion of the spending.

The sequester was included in the legislation as a last resort to encourage, to pressure the Congress to develop a bipartisan alternative.

I hope we will all take the same balanced approach to reducing the deficit as has been recommended by bipartisan commissions.

What we are seeing out of this process is a totally unbalanced approach.

Why would you enter into an agreement where our Republican colleagues can come back and say well, hey, we can spend $1 billion on all the operations of the U.S. Government?

I think the bigger issue, Senator Reed, is that, as I said, 14 programs plus the Administration is pushing for principal write-downs.

My theme was the joint effect.

I agree with you 100 percent. That is, in fact, what I was saying.

I have to reread my testimony because that is not what I said.

I want to thank my friend from Massachusetts for the time today and for her leadership on these issues. Mr. Speaker, the Cibola National Forest provides a stunning backdrop to the city of Albuquerque and much of central New Mexico…

Minnesota is a model for delivering quality health care and I applaud our doctors, nurses, hospitals, and health care professionals and policymakers for their partnership that works better than anywhere else.