Providing for a plan to alleviate the effects of sequestration.

Providing for a plan to alleviate the effects of sequestration. Whereas there is strong bipartisan agreement that the Federal spending mechanism known as sequestration Whereas there is strong bipartisan agreement that the cuts now in effect as a result of sequestration are severe, and will cause even greater harm if allowed to continue into fiscal year 2016; Whereas there is strong bipartisan agreement that the harm sequestration is doing to national defense, in particular, is grave and unacceptable, especially given that external threats are increasing worldwide; Whereas sequestration is a result of the failure of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, established by the Budget Control Act, to reach a principled compromise; Whereas sequestration will continue to distort the budget process into fiscal year 2016 unless legislation is passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama that would restore allocation levels; Whereas the Budget Control Act was signed into law on August 2, 2011, and sequestration went into effect on March 1, 2013; Whereas the Ryan-Murray agreement provided a short-term increase of the budget caps through September 30, 2015; Whereas only 12 legislative days for the House of Representatives and 15 legislative days for the Senate are tentatively scheduled in September, prior to the end of fiscal year 2015; Whereas Congress has not considered any proposals during the 114th Congress that would alter or replace the statutory caps required by sequestration; and Whereas our system of governance does not function without a willingness of a majority of Members of the House of Representatives and Senators to vote for a principled compromise based on sound policy, empirical data, and fact-driven projections: Now, therefore, be it That Congress— (1) must meet its constitutional obligation to provide for the common defense of the United States by restoring cuts mandated by sequestration; (2) acknowledges and reaffirms that providing for the common defense of the United States is a shared duty, which eclipses partisanship and party affiliation; (3) will have as its first legislative priority the enactment of legislation which restores no less than 75 percent of the pre-sequester levels established by the Budget Control Act of 2011; (4) will, simultaneously with the reversal of the cuts, enact legislation which fully offsets the increases in discretionary spending through a combination of reductions to mandatory spending and increases in revenue; (5) will reform mandatory spending by including in the legislation a Chained Consumer Price Index for Social Security and further means testing for Medicare; and (6) will increase revenues by including in the legislation the closure of tax loopholes and a cap on deductions for high-income households.

Summary: Resolves that Congress must meet its constitutional obligation to provide for the common defense of the United States by restoring spending cuts required by sequestration. (Sequestration is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals.) Resolves that Congress should enact legislation that: restores no less than 75% of the pre-sequester levels established by the Budget Control Act of 2011, offsets the increases in discretionary spending through a combination of reductions to mandatory spending and increases in revenue, includes a Chained Consumer Price Index for Social Security and further means testing for Medicare, and increases revenue by closing tax loopholes and capping deductions for high-income households.