Ms. CHU. Here we are just days away from the catastrophe that we've known about for months, just days away from a self-inflicted wound to our economy, our credibility, and the American people.
The sequester, these automatic budget cuts, will literally take food out of the mouths of hungry mothers and children--600,000 of them. Air traffic controllers will take a huge hit, increasing wait times by 50 percent. Security lines at LAX could take 4 hours during peak traffic times, as if waits aren't already bad enough. It will eliminate more than 2,000 food inspector jobs. I don't know about you, but I like knowing that I won't get salmonella when I open a can of tuna.
The American people will suffer. And for what? It's not like we couldn't see this coming from a mile away. We did see this coming from a mile away. Enough is enough. It's time for Republicans to join Democrats in a solution, a balanced approach that can avert this freight train.