This information came to me directly from Congressman Scott. The Budget Control Act of 2011 was signed into law on August 2, 2011. It included a mechanism to increase the nation's debt ceiling and also set annual caps on discretionary spending over the next decade. This would have produced approximately $1 trillion in savings and established the Joint Select Committee of Deficit Reduction. It would have established a “Super Committee” for Deficit Reduction. This committee would have been tasked with finding an additional $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction.
The “Super Committee” was supposed to submit a plan by November 2011, and they failed to submit said plan. In the case that a plan was not submitted, then automatic across the board spending cuts that totaled approximately $1 trillion would occur over the next decade, through a process known as “sequestration”. This “sequestration” was to begin on January 2, 2013. Since the “Super Committee” failed to submit a plan it triggered the “sequestration” process, unless Congress canceled or delayed the sequester.
On January 1, 2013, Congress passed HR 8, which is the American Taxpayer Relief Act, which delayed the “sequestration” until March 1, 2013. However, Congress has not taken any further action to delay or cancel sequestration, and as a result the spending cuts are now being implemented.
With a very few exceptions, “sequestration” affects every federal department, agency and program. These include the Department of Defense, NASA, job training programs, Head Start, the FBI, the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, FEMA and funding for Embassy Security. In addition, Federal employees are facing unpaid furloughs throughout the rest of the 2013 Fiscal Year. This will severely disrupt the work they do on behalf of the nation.
Congressman Scott states that; “he voted against the Budget Control Act because he was concerned about the impact spending cuts of this size would have on the nations. In addition, he voted against the American Taxpayer Relief Act because it added $3.9 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, and it failed to cancel “sequestration”.”
Congressman Scott also states that; “he remains committed to urging his colleagues to revisit these ill advised policies to that we can responsibly reduce our budget deficit without cutting investments in our nation's future, or dismantle the social safety net.”
Thank you Congressman Scott.
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