McKeon Statement on Passage of Sequestration Transparency Act
July 18, 2012 -
Washington - Congressman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, released the following statement on the House passage of H.R. 5872, The Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012, on Wednesday:
“Passage of the Sequestration Transparency Act is an important step towards our ultimate goal of resolving these catastrophic cuts. By requiring the Administration to tell the American people exactly how they intend to implement sequestration, we will hopefully incentivize all stakeholders to find a solution as soon as possible. Republicans in the House and Senate have already put forward their solutions. The House has passed legislation that makes sensible cuts and avoids the devastating impacts of sequestration on American national security. Unfortunately, the Senate continues to block all of these solutions.”
Earlier today, McKeon chaired a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee where defense industry leaders testified on the damage and uncertainty created by sequestration. Robert Stevens, the CEO of Lockheed Martin said in HIS testimony, "From an industry perspective, because of the specter of sequestration, the near-term horizon is completely obscured by a fog of uncertainty. With just 167 days remaining until it is triggered, we have little insight as to how sequestration will be implemented … no insight into which programs will be curtailed, which sites will be closed, which technologies will be discontinued, or which contracts will be reformed.”
California looks to be one of the hardest hit states should the sequestration cuts occur. The Center for Security Policy estimates that under sequestration California faces:
• 126,000 private sector jobs lost
• Almost 20,000 military active-duty jobs lost
• Over 15,000 civilian DOD jobs lost
• A $11 billion decrease in state GDP
• California small businesses would lose more than $400 million in revenue
• Kern County would lose over $20 million in contract revenue
• Los Angeles County would lose almost $2 billion in contract revenue
• San Bernadino Country would lose over $64 million in contract revenue
