Frank Lautenberg: “the sequestration spending cuts that are scheduled to begin tomorrow would cause pain and hardship across our country.…”

“the sequestration spending cuts that are scheduled to begin tomorrow would cause pain and hardship across our country. These cuts will be devastating to workers, small businesses, middle class families, and children. The list of essential programs and services that will be affected by sequestration is long. So today, I would like to focus on just a few of the more than 50 agencies funded by the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee, which I chair. My subcommittee helps small businesses get the loans they need. It keeps Wall Street watchdogs on the job. And it funds the agencies that stand up for consumers and stand guard against unfair and deceptive business practices. But the largest single appropriation in my subcommittee goes to our Nation's tax collector--the IRS. At about $12 billion, the IRS budget is a major expense. But cutting the IRS budget is short-sighted instead of reducing our deficit, shrinking the IRS makes our deficit larger. That's because short-changing the IRS makes it easier for tax cheats to avoid paying what they owe. Last year alone, about $400 billion in taxes owed were never paid. Mr. President, I was a CEO for many years. If there is one thing I learned in my time at ADP, it is that you can't run a company without revenues. And you surely can't run a country without revenues. The sequestration plan Republicans insisted on will slash the IRS and sacrifice revenues.…”