Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-5) released the following statement today after voting against a bill that would allow the Department of Transportation to shift funds to the FAA's operations account, offsetting some of the cuts from the sequester instead of ending the entire policy altogether:
"Today, I voted against a piecemeal effort to address sequestration because it only turned off one unpopular effect of this irrational process, rather than ending the entire sequester. The bill considered today did not address the broad impact that sequestration could have on Marylanders. It did nothing to prevent thousands of federal employees at Pax River, Indian Head, Joint Base Andrews, and other defense and non-defense federal facilities from being furloughed. It did nothing for the 800 children in our state at risk of being kicked out of Head Start, nor for the over 9,000 Marylanders at risk of losing the job training and placement services that will help them get back to work. And it did nothing to prevent our law enforcement community in Maryland from losing grants that support crime prevention and drug treatment and enforcement.
"We should take action to end the FAA furloughs that have caused flight delays for Marylanders and others throughout the country, but taking a piecemeal approach is not the answer. We ought to address the entire impact of the sequester by replacing it with a balanced mix of targeted spending cuts and additional revenues. I will continue to urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to reach such a solution and end the uncertainty Maryland families and businesses are facing."