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The Democrat is worried about the impact the cuts will have on the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.
Speaking on the House floor, Higgins says the sequester will result in the Air Force delaying construction of a 6-million dollar flight simulator at the base -- considered critical to securing ongoing operations.
"There would also be an impact on jobs. Twenty-three hundred Air Force civilians in New York will be furloughed, causing $17.7 million in lost wages across the state," Higgins said.
Higgins also called sequestration "the ransom the Tea Party demanded when it held the American economy hostage over the debt limit."
Higgins' full statement is listed below.
Mr. Speaker,
Sequestration will have serious consequences for the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, which is tremendously important to the economy of Western New York.
If Congress does not repeal the sequester, the Air Force will delay the construction of a $6.1 million flight simulator at the base, a project that is crucial to securing the base’s continued operation.
There would also be an impact on jobs. Twenty-three hundred Air Force civilians in New York will be furloughed, causing $17.7 million in lost wages across the state.
Mr. Speaker, sequestration was the ransom the Tea Party demanded when it held the American economy hostage over the debt limit. But with 750,000 American jobs at stake, this process will inflict real and permanent damage on the American economy.
Congress created the sequester. Congress can and should repeal it.
For the Niagara Falls Air Reserve base and for the American economy, I urge the House to do just that.