WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a Senate Budget Committee hearing today to evaluate the impact of sequestration on national security and the economy, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) criticized Congress’s inability to pass a budget that replaces sequestration, citing that failure as the most serious threat to United States national security.

“I haven’t yet heard anybody say a good word about the sequester in this building for the past six months, but we still have it. It’s like we’re all standing out in a rainstorm and everybody’s looking at each other and saying, ‘Have you noticed it’s raining?’ Why yes it’s raining, but nobody puts their umbrella up or goes inside,” Senator King said. “I would slightly disagree with the Chair, but I think, and Leon Panetta said this at one of our hearings: the most serious threat to national security today is the United States Congress because of our inability to pass a rational budget.”

“We are paying a national security price, and what bothers me is this institution is pretty good about laying the blame when something goes wrong. Well, when something goes wrong in national security and we haven’t adequately funded our defense, we should look at ourselves,” Senator King added. “It just seems to me, and I want to echo Senator Kaine’s remarks, there’s got to be a solution here.”

“This is the most complex and dangerous world that any of our experts in the intelligence community and military have seen in their careers, and at the same time, we are gutting out military and hollowing out our readiness. I think it is a tragedy.”

Sequestration has already resulted in a $37 billion cut in defense spending for Fiscal Year 2013.  In Fiscal Year 2014 the Department of Defense is projected to face a $52 billion budget cut due to sequestration, and many high ranking officials, including Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, have stated that the shortfall will severely compromise national security by reducing military readiness and limiting the capacity to respond to crises.

Senator King, a member of both the Budget and Armed Services Committees, worked with his colleagues earlier this year to develop and pass a FY 2014 Budget Resolution that would not only replace sequestration, but would also pave a credible path toward fiscal stability by promoting economic growth and job creation while responsibly addressing the country’s debt and deficits. Specifically, the plan reduces the projected deficit by more than 4 trillion dollars over the next ten years, which exceeds the target set by the major non-partisan deficit reduction commissions and represents a significant step toward fiscal stability. Sixty-four percent of this deficit reduction is due to cuts in expenditures, while 36 percent is derived from revenues.

Republican objections have stalled the budget process, however, by preventing the appointment of members to a Conference Committee that would be tasked with reconciling the Senate budget with that passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. On May 8th, Senator King called on his colleagues to proceed with the Federal budget process. 122 days have passed the Senate passed its budget.

A complete video of Senator King’s remarks can be viewed below and a broadcast-quality version is available for download here.

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