Today, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) issued the following statement in response to Secretary Chuck Hagel’s announcement that the Department of Defense will decrease the number of mandatory furloughs required for civilian employees from 11 days to six.

“This decision to cut furloughs nearly in half will help thousands of families around New Hampshire and across the country, but it’s only the first step,” Kuster said. “This is a good example of people working together for the good of the country. Now, Republicans and Democrats need to come together and finish the job by finding a balanced, bipartisan solution to the automatic spending cuts that continue to harm our families and undermine our economy.”

Since taking office, Kuster has repeatedly called on Congress to replace these mindless, across-the-board cuts with a balanced plan to reduce the deficit, grow the economy, and help create jobs. Earlier this year, Kuster wrote an op-ed highlighting the damaging impacts the cuts would have on families and businesses in New Hampshire. She has spoken out against the cuts during recent visits to the Nashua Airport Tower and the Windham Senior Center, among others, and she has cosponsored common sense, bipartisan legislation like the Government Waste Reduction Act that would cut wasteful spending and help reduce the deficit while protecting seniors and middle class families.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that these automatic spending cuts will reduce economic growth by half in 2013 and cost up to 1.4 million jobs nationwide. A study by George Mason University estimated that New Hampshire would lose more than 6,300 jobs.

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