Dingell: The Clock is Ticking on Sequestration Cuts

With a deadline of midnight tonight before the Office of Management and Budget must propose a plan for agencies to administer pending sequestration cuts, Congressman John Dingell—who serves Trenton and Grosse Ile—released a statement urging Congress to take action:

Congress needs to avert this sequester, and it must be done immediately. This will hurt our economy at a time where we cannot afford another self-inflicted wound from Washington. Under these reckless, across-the-board cuts, hardworking American families and small businesses will suffer. Our national security will suffer. Federal investment in vital programs across Michigan will suffer—including funding to keep teachers in classrooms, police on the beat, and our men and women in uniform protected.

The clock is ticking, and the American people are calling for an end to the very Washington gamesmanship that created this avoidable scenario. The decision to include these harmful automatic cuts in the Budget Control Act was made in order to force compromise from our leaders. It was agreed that these cuts were too painful for the American people and the threat of implementing them would hold our feet to the fire and force Congress to address deficit reduction honestly. Yet, inaction and a lack of good faith negotiations have kept Congressional leaders from doing the very job they owe the American people. I hope this can be resolved immediately before any further man-made uncertainty leaves our economy in even more dire straits.

In the end, this deadlock will harm our Nation’s standing in the world. It is up to Congress to fix this, and I believe there must be immediate action. I call on leaders from both parties to come to a resolution and avoid this reckless plan that will surely push this country off its road to recovery. The American people demand more—and, most importantly, deserve more—from their government.

More: How will sequestration cuts affect Dearborn and Michigan?