WASHINGTON—Congressman Rob Bishop (UT-01) today voted in support of the National Security and Job Protection Act (H.R. 6365), which provides a clear roadmap to the repeal of sequestration.
Specifically, this legislation guarantees that the FY2013 sequester scheduled to occur on January 2, 2013 would be repealed upon the enactment of the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012 or similar legislation that offsets the amount of cuts created by an across-the-board 15% reduction in national defense and non-defense discretionary spending. In addition, the legislation requires that by October 15, 2012, President Obama submit a plan to replace the January 2, 2013 sequester with other savings.
“I voted against the Budget Control Act and against the establishment of the supercommittee because sequestration would be devastating to our country. Secretary Panetta himself has cautioned against letting sequestration occur, noting the detrimental impact it would have on our national defense capabilities. It must be stopped and the President’s inaction on this matter illustrates that he’s either incapable or unwilling to lead our country. It would behoove him to take a break from the campaign trail to sit down with military leaders, including Secretary Panetta, to get a clear understanding of why our nation cannot sustain sequestration. Our nation desperately needs stability, not more uncertainty. While this bill is by no means a panacea, it’s an important step in the right direction toward bringing the certainty we need. I will continue fighting in opposition against the sequester as I have done since this ill-conceived idea was unfortunately triggered by the supercommittee’s failure to reach an agreement,” said Congressman Bishop.
