1. Navy League of the United States
Sequestration 101
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

2. Navy League of the United States
Our Mission:
Educate the men and women in our local communities, our community leaders, and elected officials about the importance of our maritime forces to defend the United States and to protect global trade and our local economies
Support the men and women of the sea services and their families
Foster the education and development of our youth through the Naval Sea Cadet Corps and junior ROTC programs
Introduce the Navy League to the community group. It’s important for them to know about the services the Navy League provides to the community and to know that we share an interest in protecting the needs of the community and the nation
The Navy League needs your help to save the sea services—and more
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

3. Navy League of the United States
Sequestration in Every Zipcode
How many of you have heard of sequestration?
How many of you think sequestration will impact you?
General overview: Ask how many have heard of sequestration. Then ask how many think it will impact them. Everyone should be raising their hands: sequestration will impact everyone. Even though most of the talk about sequestration has focused on the impacts to defense, it will impact every American. If people say, “well, defense spending is way too high!” Respond with: “Whether defense spending is too high is a discussion for another time. But even those analysts and politicians that think sequestration is a bad way to cut the budget, and we’ll talk about why later. Today we’re focusing on how it will impact you.” You should also mention that the Navy League has been fighting sequestration because of concerns about how this will impact the sea services, but as time is running out to stop it, we decided we need to make sure everyone is aware of how it will impact them, beyond national security concerns. We want everyone outraged enough to call their Congressman!
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

4. Navy League of the United States
Sequestration in Every Zip Code
Everyone will be impacted by sequestration.
Every voter
Every child
Every teacher
Every parent
Every grandparent
EVERYONE!
General overview: Ask how many have heard of sequestration. Then ask how many think it will impact them. Everyone should be raising their hands: sequestration will impact everyone. Even though most of the talk about sequestration has focused on the impacts to defense, it will impact every American. If people say, “well, defense spending is way too high!” Respond with: “Whether defense spending is too high is a discussion for another time. But even those analysts and politicians that think sequestration is a bad way to cut the budget, and we’ll talk about why later. Today we’re focusing on how it will impact you.” You should also mention that the Navy League has been fighting sequestration because of concerns about how this will impact the sea services, but as time is running out to stop it, we decided we need to make sure everyone is aware of how it will impact them, beyond national security concerns. We want everyone outraged enough to call their Congressman!
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

5. Citizens in Support of the Sea Services
What is Sequestration?
“An enforcement mechanism by which the President orders the cancellation of budgetary resources in amounts sufficient to eliminate a deficit.” – CBO
Budget Control Act of 2011(BCA):
Increased the debt ceiling & imposed ~$1 trillion budget cuts
$487 billion cut from Defense
$500 billion cut from the rest of the budget
Created Congressional “Super-Committee” to reduce deficit by an additional $1.2 trillion over ten years…or face sequestration
Broad Scope - - entitlements, revenue, discretionary spending
No agreement reached – sequestration is now the law
Across the board cuts begin January 2, 2013
Severe consequences for U.S. economy, national security, and domestic programs
Go through this slide quickly; it explains how sequestration happened. Medicare and Social Security and Military Personnel are the only exemptions to the cuts. Basically: in order to allow more government borrowing and prevent a government shutdown, Congress had to find $1.2T in savings over ten years. If they didn’t find it, then the $1.2T would automatically come from the budget—every account, every line, gets the same percentage cut to find the $1.2T in savings. There’s no room to prioritize; good programs will be cut just as much as wasteful programs. IT WAS NEVER INTENDED TO HAPPEN: the sequestration budget cuts were meant to be so terrible Congress would find the $1.2T in savings, but they were unable to find a bipartisan compromise and now all of America will suffer for it.
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

6. Sequestration Mechanics
Forces deficit reduction of $1.2T through FY 2021
Sequestration results in $984B reduction over 9 years (slightly less than $1.2T due to interest savings)
Effective 2013 through 2021 (begins in Jan 2013)
A bipartisan deal avoided cuts for FY14 and 15
Separate categories for “Defense” and “Non-Defense”
For the military, needed funds over the spending caps were placed in the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account which are not subject to sequestration. This is not a sustainable strategy for funding our security needs. Discretionary spending for other departments does not have similar accounts that are not subject to the Budget Control Act. Overall, the budget ends up determining our nation’s priorities which is the opposite of what it should be- our budget should be set by needs.
This also does not solve the underlying issue that mandatory spending cuts when the budget is already tight is bad policy- remind them that sequestration was intended to be bad policy!
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

7. Navy League of the United States
What Sequestration Means:
Spending caps will automatically come back into effect on October 1st, 2015
Government agencies are not currently planning for the cuts
Government bureaucrats will decide how to implement the cuts, Congress will cede control of the purse
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

8. Navy League of the United States
How will this impact me?
National Security
Smallest ground force since 1940
Smallest fleet since fewer than 230 ships
Smallest tactical fighter force in history of Air Force
American Pride
Scientific research and exploration like space exploration will be cut
Research on cures for diseases will slow or stop entirely
Programs like the Special Olympics depending on federal funding and will suffer
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

9. Navy League of the United States
How will this impact me?
Jobs:
Companies cutting investments, slowing operations, and laying off workers
Political and economic uncertainty
Sequestration is just one part of coming fiscal changes that are impacting companies
Federal workers and contracts put on furlough
Jobs and the Economy
Loss of over 1,000,000 private sector jobs (Deloitte/AIA study)
Increase unemployment by 0.6% (AIA study/Dr. Robert Fuller)
Cut projected GDP growth by 25% (AIA study/Dr. Robert Fuller)
and for reports
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

10. Navy League of the United States
Current Status
Congress still has not produced bipartisan legislation to stop sequestration
The bipartisan deal of 2013 only avoided cuts for two years-which are ending
Proposed legislation offers solutions not palatable to the other side; compromise is needed to pass a bill
Industry is planning for the worst-case scenario and will be forced to lay off thousands of workers—up to one million jobs
We must tell Congress to ACT NOW!
The House Republicans passed a bill that place needed defense funding into OCO, which is not sustainable and doesn’t remove the core problem- that the Budget Control Act forces the budget to drive our national priorities rather than the budget being set by what is needed.
Based on studies by Deloitte and George Mason University for AIA , up to one million jobs across the country could be lost. For more information, go to
Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 requires most employers with 100 or more employees to provide 60 calendar-day advance notification of plant closings and mass layoffs
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

11. How the Navy League Can Help Navy League of the United States
The only way to stop sequestration is through legislation in Congress
We must tell Congress to compromise on a bipartisan solution NOW!
You should call, , write, or fax their Congressman and Senators—call and write often!
Letters to the editor and op-eds in the local paper will help get Congress’ attention
Please call NLUS HQ if you have trouble locating your Congressman and Senator’s contact information
Navy League of the United States
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

12. Navy League of the United States
Message for Congress
Now that you have your Congressman’s attention, what do you say?
Let them know sequestration is a voting issue
Tell them you know it will impact you and others in the district
These cuts will impact national security, public safety and health, economic prosperity, and jobs
Navy League of the United States
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

13. Navy League of the United States
In closing:
Everyone will feel the impacts of these cuts
The only way this can be stopped is through Congressional action and compromise
Presidential election campaigns are beginning: you must contact your Congressman and Senators and tell them to find a bipartisan solution to stop sequestration
Call, write, , visit, fax your Congressman and Senators!
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services

14. Navy League of the United States
Contact
Navy League Headquarters
Sara Fuentes:
Chris Bennett:
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services