Ash Carter

Secretary Panetta and I have been using the word 'devastating' for 16 months.

I would certainly use the red line. That makes perfect sense to me.

We are hoping... to work our way towards what we all need, which is a comprehensive solution to this.

There is a real cost to having that uncertainty.

Rebalancing toward the Asia-Pacific region is a whole-of-government approach for the United States and a key pillar of the defense strategy.

The only good solution is to detrigger sequestration and pass appropriations bills.

Wounded Warriors are a priority for the Department and will be protected above all else.

It is part of our strategy to maintain what we call, exactly as you said, light footprint presence in many parts of the world.

Sequestration will have devastating effects for national defense.

We need to deal very quickly and broadly with our deficit problems in a balanced way that the President can support and Congress can support.

We will provide that information.

The cloud of uncertainty hanging over our Nation's defense affairs is already having lasting and irreversible effects.

Allies, partners, friends, and potential foes the world over need to know that we have the political will to implement the defense strategy we have put forward.

Requires us to subtract from our budget for the remainder of fiscal year 2013 $46 billion.

The consequences of sequestration if it was to occur. Now the wolf is at the door.

The mechanism of sequester which makes us cut everything in proportion is dumb from any kind of managerial point of view.

We need to detrigger sequestration.

What I would like us to do is spend the time trying to make sure that we stop this thing that just about everybody agrees is bad policy from happening.

We know how much is going to be cut; roughly, we know what it is going to be cut from.

I think revenue has to be part of that equation.

It is fair because it is the right thing to do by our troops in a time of war.

Sequestration, if it is allowed to happen, would have a devastating effect on defense.

Our new defense strategy calls for exactly that.

The design of the Budget Control Act actually incorporated the Gramm-Rudman Sequestration 1985 Act, which is sort of the basic structure of how sequestration would take place.

The continuation of the program is essential to national security and there are no alternatives to the program which will provide acceptable capability to meet the joint military requirement at less cost.