CONYERS REINTRODUCES THE ONE-SENTENCE BILL TO CANCEL THE SEQUESTER

WASHINGTON– Today, Representative John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13) introduced the “Cancel the Sequester Act of 2015.”  This one-sentence bill would repeal the across-the-board-cuts that are scheduled to go into effect once again this fall. 

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

“Six years after the onset of the financial crisis, there are still millions of Americans seeking full-time employment and a livable wage.  The misguided budget cuts known as ‘the Sequester’ would make life significantly harder for these hard-working people and the families they struggle to support,” said Conyers.  “These across-the-board budget cuts are unique among American public policies for a simple reason: They were purposefully designed to be a bad idea.  During the debt ceiling standoff of 2011, the Sequester was designed as a default option so revolting to both Democrats and Republicans that it would force the bipartisan “Super Committee” to form a workable budget plan.  While that committee failed at this objective, the American people have been left to pay the price.”

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Sequester, if fully implemented, would put hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk—including many associated with small businesses.  Macroeconomic Advisers, an independent consulting firm, estimated that the first round of sequestration and the related budget battles of the 112^th and 113^th Congresses have cost the United States roughly $700 billion in economic activity.

“A new round of sequestration this fall would undermine educational quality, research output, and military readiness while leaving us with longer airport security lines, more untreated mental illnesses, more hunger, more homelessness, and fewer federal criminal prosecutions.  We have an obligation to act.  This legislation would repeal the section of the Budget Control Act of 2011 that created these job-killing budget cuts.”  

Original Congressional co-sponsors of the Cancel the Sequester Act of 2015 include: Reps. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Juan Vargas (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) , Gwen Moore (D-WI), James McGovern (D-MA), Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM), Frederica Wilson (D-FL), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Mark Pocan (D-WI), and Raul Grijalva (D-AZ).

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