Barrow: Sequestration Will Be Devastating to National Security

Press Release

U.S. Congressman John Barrow (GA-12) today supported the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012 which calls for the Obama Administration to submit to Congress a full report on the cuts that will be made to defense spending as a result of sequestration.

"The effects of sequestration will be devastating to our national security," said Congressman Barrow. "Under sequestration, vital military programs, like Fort Gordon, are treated the same as programs the federal government doesn't need and can't afford. Folks in Georgia need to understand how these cuts will affect them, and Congress needs to evaluate the impact of sequestration to better replace it with the responsible, significant spending cuts we need."

The Budget Control Act of 2011, which was signed into law in August of 2011, called for $1.2 trillion in spending cuts as recommended by the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, or super-committee. Since the super-committee failed to agree on the spending cuts, an automatic across-the-board cut, or sequestration, of $98 billion to discretionary spending, including defense spending, is set to take effect on January 2, 2013, unless Congress replaces those cuts with other cuts in discretionary spending. To date, the Administration has provided no information on where sequestration cuts will be made, or how it will affect our military services.

Source