Statement by Speaker Boehner on the President Signing the Sequester Transparency Act

August 7, 2012

WASHINGTON, DC - House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement after President Obama signed the Sequester Transparency Act into law:

“Now that this common-sense measure has been signed into law, it’s time for President Obama to explain how he plans to cut troop and defense funding by more than half a trillion dollars.  The president insisted on these irresponsible cuts, promising to work in a bipartisan way so that they would never, ever threaten our national security.

“Republicans have challenged President Obama and Senate Democrats to come up with their own plan to solve this problem, and to act on it, but they have failed to do so.  Only Republicans have addressed the threat to our national security by passing responsible legislation to replace these defense cuts with responsible savings and reforms.  President Obama has failed to demonstrate the leadership necessary to solve the looming threat to our national defense, and instead spent his time campaigning for higher taxes on small business owners at a time when our economy continues to struggle.  Americans deserve a president who will lead when it comes to addressing the big challenges facing our country, not shrink from them.”

NOTE:  In May, the House passed the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act (H.R. 5652) to replace the scheduled sequestration cuts aimed at the Department of Defense and non-defense spending with responsible spending cuts and reforms.  The bill will produce savings of $243 billion over 10 years.