Rep. Derek Kilmer Fighting Against Sequestration Cuts

In his first speech on the House floor, Congressman Derek Kilmer talked about how much his district would suffer if lawmakers allow across-the-board federal spending cuts to take effect March 1.

Speaking last week in Washington D.C., the Democrat from Gig Harbor said allowing $85 billion in cuts would throw the fragile economy back into a recession.

"By doing nothing," the freshman representative said, "we hurt the men and women who spend their days protecting our nation and providing essential services to the American people."

The men and women he was referring to are members of the military and their families. Puget Sound Naval Shipyard is located in Bremerton in the 6th District, and many residents from Gig Harbor, Port Orchard and other areas of his district have direct ties to Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Earlier this month, the representive of Kilmer's neighboring district, Denny Heck, said he's briefing with budget workers put the South Sound at risk of losing approximately half a billion dollars a year through sequestration cuts.

A report from McClatchy Newspapers stated that Washington could lose $118 million less in federal grants per year. Washington state receives roughly 2 percent of all U.S. military spending, with military personnel accounting for about 1 percent of the state’s population.

One obstacle facing Kilmer and others fighting sequestration is time. Lawmakers didn't call off their President's Day holiday break, and Congress has a few days left to act before the March 1 cuts are triggered.

For Kilmer, a rookie Congressman whose first fight might be one of his biggest, there's no vacation in site.

"We were elected to this body to help people," he said during last week's speech. "Stopping these damaging, nonstrategic, across-the-board cuts to avoid undermining our economy should be our top priority – we should be working day and night until we have a solution."