Qualche giorno fa ho scritto una lettera ad uno dei nostri senatori (ce ne sono 2 per ogni stato), di nome lo conoscerete di sicuro, perche' e' stato il candidato repubblicano per la presidenza nel 2008 (quando ha perso contro Obama).
Oggi mi e' arrivata la sua risposta. Niente di che, in effetti, ma continuo a sperare che davvero in qualche modo questo congresso fallimentare riesca a raggiungere un accordo, anche se per lui la paura principale e' la sicurezza nazionale, e per noi e' come arrivare a fine mese.
Dear Mrs. S.:
Thank you for writing to me to share your views on the serious issues surrounding the federal budget deficit and federal debt. Many of you have written to me with your very personal stories about how Sequestration will impact your family, friends, and neighbors. I appreciate hearing from you.
As you know, on August 2, 2011, the Senate voted to raise the debt ceiling by $2.1 trillion in order to cover the projected borrowing needs of the United States government through 2013. The bipartisan agreement reached in the bill called for a formation of a select committee made up of Members of Congress from both Houses and both parties to determine how the federal budget can be reduced by $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years. The select committee, unfortunately, failed to reach an agreement on a plan for the $1.2 billion in cuts. I am disappointed that they were unable to agree to a bipartisan solution, something which was critically needed when we are facing crushing debt of over $16 trillion dollars and tough economic times.
This failure has now triggered automatic spending cuts of $85 billion in FY 2013 across the federal government including the defense department. In order to comply with these mandated cuts, many agencies have notified their employees that they will be making the largest cuts to personnel costs, including using furloughs to reduce payroll. I regret that Federal employees, including thousands of hard working Arizonans, are being punished for the failures of Congress, and I am continuing to work to avoid these destructive cuts. I also fear that these cuts, because they have not been carefully vetted, may be harmful to our national security.
Again, I thank you for your valued input. Please feel free to contact me in the future regarding this or any other issue of concern.
Sincerely,
John McCain
United States Senator
JM/js
