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FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. U.S. Rep. Jim Himes and more than 100 other members of Congress have sent a letter to President Barack Obama supporting his threat to veto legislation that would overturn scheduled defense cuts.
The letter was prompted by legislation, introduced by a group of senators led Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., which would begin repealing the cuts.
Cuts will always be difficult, but weve already agreed to these, Himes said. A deal is a deal, and any serious effort to reduce the deficit absolutely mathematically must include cuts to defense. Himes, a Democrat, serves the 4th District, which includes lower Fairfield County.
Automatic cuts to defense and domestic programs, scheduled to take effect in 2013, were signed into law as part of the agreement last summer to raise the federal debt ceiling. McCains legislation would partially roll back the defense cuts only.
The letter says: With the failure of the Super Committee to reach a deficit reduction agreement, we write in full support of your view that the sequester scheduled to take effect on January 2, 2013, should not be repealed or amended absent an agreement to reduce deficits that meets or exceeds the amount to be sequestered. The failure of Congress to act must have consequences. We stand ready to work with you over the next year to put America back on a firm financial footing and will vote to sustain your veto of any effort to repeal all or part of the scheduled sequester.
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