Jeff Fortenberry: “I would like to speak today about the sequestration and fiscal affairs facing our country. Earlier this month, I was…”

“I would like to speak today about the sequestration and fiscal affairs facing our country. Earlier this month, I was back home in Lincoln, and I went to one of the local diners and saw my friend Norm, and Norm asked me a question. He said: Jeff, what are they doing about that word they keep using in Washington? Well, Norm was referring to ``sequestration,'' which took effect March 1. ``Sequestration'' is that inside-the-Beltway term for automatic spending reductions to the Federal budget. These reductions will be $85 billion in the first year, with roughly half applied to military programs and half applied basically to everything else the government does, with the exception of retirement, health care, and other income support programs. Mr. Speaker, I think it might help everyone if we had a little bit of history to clarify how we got to this moment. A year-and-a-half ago, there were negotiations in Washington over what we call the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling must be lifted by us in Congress if the Federal Government cannot pay its bills and we must borrow more. We give that authority to the administration.…”