*Sequestration

“I continue to believe that we need a big and balanced solution to our deficits, which is what we should be working on rather than partisan gimmicks like the bill on the House Floor today. I voted for an amendment to that bill by Reps. Schrader, Wolf, Cooper, and Gibson, which reiterated the importance of a balanced framework for deficit reduction that includes both revenues and spending cuts, like the one put forward by the Bowles-Simpson commission. While I do not support every item proposed by that commission, I firmly support the need for deficit reduction that is balanced, and does not occur on the backs of the most vulnerable.”