Congressman Walden Stands Idly By as Defense Workers Receive Furlough Notices

“Congressman Walden and his fellow House Republicans are so dysfunctional that they won’t even stop the tremendously unpopular furloughs that are a result of sequestration,” - Emily Bittner of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

Congressman Greg Walden

(WASHINGTON DC) - While three-quarters of a million defense workers received furlough notices this week, Congressman Greg Walden continued to ignore hardworking Americans in favor of his rigid political ideology. Congressman Walden could have spent the past several weeks working with Democrats to avoid the defense furloughs, but instead he voted against halting the sequester furloughs in order to protect tax breaks for millionaires and corporate special interests.

Final furlough notices are expected to be distributed today and defense workers will begin the work stoppage July 8. Defense workers will face a significant cut in pay over the 11 weeks of the furlough, losing a day of pay for each furlough day. Across the country, hardworking defense employees will lose $1.8 billion in salary that would have been spent in the local economy, all because of sequestration which Congressman Walden supported.

“Congressman Walden and his fellow House Republicans are so dysfunctional that they won’t even stop the tremendously unpopular furloughs that are a result of sequestration,” said Emily Bittner of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “It’s obvious that Congressman Walden supports sequestration and these furloughs that will devastate some of the most patriotic people in this country – the men and women who work for the military helping to keep us safe every day. Congressman Walden clearly has the wrong priorities for our country and won’t even come to the table to stop these needless and harmful furloughs from going into effect.”

BACKGROUND

Oregon Facts on Defense Furloughs due to Sequestration:

·         $8,269,000 dollars in salary will be lost

·         1,898 Army employees will be affected

·         551 Air Force employees will be affected

·         28 Navy employees will be affected

·         21 Defense civilian employees will be affected

[Department of the Army, "Department of the Army Furlough Impact," 5/23/13; U.S. Air Force, "U.S. Air Force Furlough Summary," 5/23/13; Department of the Navy, "Department of the Navy Furlough Impact," 5/23/13; Department of Defense, "Defense Agencies and Activities Civilian Population and Furlough Exceptions," May 2013]

Washington Post: 750,000 DOD Employees To Be Furloughed. According to the Washington Post, “Some 750,000 Defense employees face up to 11 days of furlough beginning July 8 owing to automatic budget cuts mandated by sequestration.” [Washington Post, 5/29/2013

Furloughs Will Cut $1.8 Billion. According to Bloomberg, “The furloughs will save $1.8 billion, according to two defense officials who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the plans.” [Bloomberg, 5/30/13

CBO: Sequester Will Halve U.S. Growth in 2013. According to the Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch, “Fiscal tightening including the automatic budget cuts known as the sequester would cut U.S. growth in half in 2013 if allowed to go into effect, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday in a new budget and economic outlook. … CBO said Tuesday that growth would be about 1.5 percentage points faster in 2013 if not for fiscal tightening including the sequester.” [MarketWatch, 2/05/13]

Source: DCCC Press