Congressman Says Furloughs of 8,423 Defense Civilians Costing Arizona $28 Million is Unacceptable and the Wrong Approach

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Ron Barber today issued the following statement on the impact of furloughs ordered by the Department of Defense.

The Pentagon announced two weeks ago that most civilian employees in the department will be furloughed for 11 days. The furloughs will affect almost 619,000 employees nationwide.

Barber, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, has been a harsh critic of sequestration, the automatic, across-the-board budget cuts that are forcing the Department of Defense to furlough its employees.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said that virtually all civilian employees in his department will have to take off one unpaid day per week for 11 consecutive weeks beginning July 8.

The furloughs will affect three military installations in Southern Arizona -- Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Fort Huachuca and the 162nd Fighter Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard.

Today, figures were released on the impact of those furloughs. Barber's statement:

"Because of the indiscriminate across-the-board sequestration budget cuts, 8,423 Arizonans who are civilians working for the Department of Defense will be furloughed beginning in July. This will cost our state's economy almost $28 million.

"I call on my colleagues in Congress to take immediate bipartisan action to reverse sequestration cuts and instead do the hard work of going through the federal budget to identify and cut programs that are ineffective, wasteful or unnecessary."

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