Political Quotes

“I thank the Senator from Alabama very much. We have been very much involved--not just myself but the Senator from Alabama and others--in this whole sequestration thing. The longer we have these hearings on this, the more we come to the realization we are not sure a lot of the things we are doing in these cuts are actually going to have the effect of cutting. If they did, our concern would be the fact that defense, which consumes 18 percent of the budget, would be getting 50 percent of the cuts, and that is over and above what this President has already done, projecting out in 10 more years at $487 billion in cuts. This sequestration is projected to be--the way it was drafted in the Obama sequestration--an additional $\1/2\ trillion. I remember when the previous Secretary of Defense was there and he used the word ``devastating.'' It was devastating. One thing that has not been observed is the possibility that some of the things that are on there and are designed to be done will actually cost more money. Let me share, if I may, some quotes by some of the military. First of all, Department of Defense Comptroller Hale said--and this is very significant: We would also be forced to disrupt as many as 2,500 investment programs, driving up costs at the very same time we are trying to hold them down. In other words, he says that particular part of this could actually cost more than the cuts.…”