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Ross Calls for Targeted Cuts that Eliminate Waste, Fraud, and Abuse
WASHINGTON,
Feb 12 -
U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross (FL-15) spoke on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives regarding the looming sequester and called for targeted cuts. His floor speech is below:
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
“I rise today to address that issue which will have a significant fiscal impact on the economic well being of this country in just 16 days. That is the issue of sequestration. And I have to agree with the Minority Whip from Maryland who earlier spoke today that it’s time to stop the blame game.
“There’s no need to blame any more about this terrible fiscal policy which we’re about to sustain.
“You see, across-the-board cuts that the looming sequester will implement in a couple of weeks are bad policy and are as a result of bad politics.
“I believe that we must cut spending and I rise here in support of careful, targeted cuts.
“It is a shame that 850 jobs will be lost in Florida's schools, while we build a $750,000 soccer field in Guantanamo Bay for terrorists.
“It is a shame that more than 26,000 special education students will see cuts to their education in Florida, while government agencies are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on conferences in Las Vegas, Nev.
“And it is a shame that more than 35,000 health care workers in Florida are projected to lose their jobs, while more than $115 billion was lost in improper payments from this government in just one year.
“We must ask ourselves, for every one dollar that we are going to spend, is it worth mortgaging and borrowing our children’s and our grandchildren’s future for 41 cents of every one of those dollars?
“I submit to you that it is not.
“Let's rectify this situation. I urge the Senate to take up the House-passed legislation which would make targeted cuts to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse so that important, essential government programs will not lose their funding.
“The American people not only demand and deserve transparency in the appropriations process, but they also demand and deserve that we be prudent and fiscally responsible in making sure we operate and appropriate within our means.”
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