We Must Avoid the Sequester

Floor Speech

Mr. HORSFORD. Mr. Speaker, we now have only a matter of days to prevent serious damage to the U.S. economy by the so-called ``sequester.''

These mindless, across-the-board cuts will hurt the country and my home State of Nevada. There has been a lot of talk that these cuts won't be that bad, but let me tell you about just one school in my district that I visited last week, the Matt Kelly Elementary Empowerment School.

In terms of funding, over 50 percent of its school allocation is title I funding. It is a high-achieving, five-star school, where teachers are doing the best that they can with the little money that they receive, but the sequester would hit them hard. They would have to cut back on full-day kindergarten, fire teachers' aides, eliminate reading and math intervention programs for struggling students, reduce meals to hungry kids, and defund their family community center.

This is a model school that is working hard to improve our students' academic achievement. Now, as their reward, because some in this body can't come to agreement, Congress will take a sledgehammer to their budget.

The sequester is not fair to the children and families in my district. It is not about trimming fat. It is about the children, and that's who we should focus on today in this House.

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