On the recordFebruary 28, 2013
I will when I am finished. We know we are going to have to tell them they are only going to be able to work 4 days out of the week. It is mindless to stand on the Senate floor and say we can cut $1 billion out of the Department of Transportation and no one will feel it. Come on. Get real. We have 7 months left in this year. These agencies are trying to come up with the savings, and the only places they can turn are very limited. Ashton Carter, Deputy Secretary of Defense, just went through with what they are facing. These are not easy because the sequestration was never meant to be easy. It is hard. Please don't sugarcoat it and say there is a magic wand out there to find $1 billion in the Department of Transportation and that if the President would just look closely, I am sure we can do it. It is not that simple. The Senator has been involved in the supercommittee, and he has been involved in looking at this budget. He knows that on a bipartisan basis we can find savings. There is money to be saved in every single agency of government, but you don't do it with a heavy-handed sequester approach. Please don't suggest we are favoring the idea of air traffic control being limited in America. I want it expanded. Unfortunately, the sequestration is going to limit it in the State of Illinois and in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I will yield for the Senator's question.
