Peter Visclosky: “I would like to begin by expressing my appreciation to my good friend, Chairman Frelinghuysen, and to congratulate him…”

“I would like to begin by expressing my appreciation to my good friend, Chairman Frelinghuysen, and to congratulate him on the collegial and the transparent manner in which he has crafted this legislation. I also want to express my sincere appreciation for the efforts of Chairman Hal Rogers, Ranking Member Nita Lowey, and of all the members of the Defense Subcommittee. This bill, obviously, could not have been written without the dedication, long hours, discerning judgment, and thoughtful input of our committee staff and personal staffs. I thank them very much. The chairman has fully and fairly described the bill we are considering today. I believe he has accurately described the very dangerous and unpredictable world in which we live. As such, I will enter my detailed comments on the bill for the Record. Instead, I want to use my time during general debate to discuss the albatross around Congress' neck--the Budget Control Act of 2011. Despite near universal disdain and plenty of buyer's remorse from the 187 current House Members who voted in favor of the Budget Control Act, it has proven to be an extremely resilient--yet utterly ineffective-- piece of law. We have seen short postponements of sequestration. We have seen 2-year alleviations of the budget caps. Yet we find ourselves nearly 5 years since its enactment far from the consensus needed to repeal the law.…”