Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon took to the House Floor today, fighting to resolve the budget crisis that faces America’s military.  Because the “Super Committee” was unable to reach an agreement, men and women in uniform face a $500 billion cut next year.  Only immediate action by Congress and the President can avert that cut.

House Republicans today approved a plan to resolve sequestration by replacing the first year’s cuts with reforms to dysfunctional mandatory spending programs through H.R. 5652, the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act of 2012. H.R. 5652 will avert across-the-board cuts to our armed forces and key priorities while reducing the deficit. H.R. 5652 will replace the “sequester” with sensible reductions in out-of-control government spending and would result in net deficit reduction of $242.8 billion according to the Congressional Budget Office.

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In particular, this legislation would stop the abuse of public-assistance programs, restrain the bureaucracy’s growth, and eliminate wasteful and duplicative spending. The reforms passed today would reduce the deficit by more than 400 percent of the arbitrary sequester cuts they replace.

“America is facing a budget and debt crisis, but we can’t solve our nation’s fiscal problems on the backs of our military and national security.  Even after ten years at war our military only makes up 20% of the federal budget,” McKeon said.  “But they have paid for 50% of all the cuts we’ve made.  That gets us past the waste and threatens the warfighter.  That isn’t something I am willing to stand for.  As our heroes return from dangerous deployments abroad, they won’t be met with tickertape, they’ll be handed pink slips.  This bill reforms the real drivers of our debt and honors the defenders of our freedom.

“Too many of my colleagues across the aisle see the sequester as ‘balanced’.  There is no balance in sending our navy into decline while competitor nations are on the rise.  There is no balance in closing shipyards and assembly lines while our enemies build long range missiles and nuclear weapons.  There is no balance in raising fees on veterans and military families while you pour money into dysfunctional programs.

I am proud that the House acted today to avert cuts the Administration has called ‘catastrophic’ and the Secretary of Defense has compared to ‘shooting ourselves in the head’.  Now the Senate must act.  I urge them to do so.  Immediately.”

You can watch Congressman McKeon’s floor speech here: http://www.mckeon.house.gov/Multimedia/?VideoID=YoBLBXaS9WA