Congressman Derek Kilmer is calling on House Speaker John Boehner to replace what he calls "mindless across the board cuts to military spending in Washington state.
Kilmer talked technical terms with KBKW on Saturday "These across the board cuts are really stupid, that's a technical term. You know if you think about your family budget, if you were facing financial troubles you wouldn't cut your housing budget and your food budget by the same percentage as you'd cut your magazine subscription and your gym membership budget."
In a letter sent yesterday to Boehner, Kilmer and other Representatives from Washington state explained the potential damage these cuts will cause. Kilmer spoke with KBKW about the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton "The implications for the shipyard are very negative. The ten-thousand civilian employees there are facing about a day-a-week furlough. You know that's a %20 pay cut, that's very damaging not just to those families but to local businesses and to our miliitary readiness."
Boehner last week expressed his own disappointment in the way that the Obama administration has chosen to respond to the sequester. A statement on the House Speaker's website said “As additional cuts loom, time is running short for President Obama to change course and show some real leadership to replace the sequester – which makes indiscriminate cuts to military and defense, and was first proposed by the White House during debt ceiling talks in 2011.
They write, “We do not accept the status quo that Washington is broken. We urge you to come to the table to work with us on this. We came here to solve problems for our constituents and we will work with you day and night until we find a balanced, long-term solution to replace these mindless cuts.”
From day one, Representative Kilmer has called on Congress to stop the across-the-board cuts and replace them with a balanced, long-term solution to our economic problems. In addition to speaking about this on the House floor, Representative Kilmer has also published an op-ed in the Kitsap Sun and held roundtable meetings with those who could be affected by the cuts. The morning the cuts took effect, Representative Kilmer stood outside the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard gate to speak with shipyard workers who may be furloughed because of these cuts.
