CLAIM: We need to act quickly to avoid the sequester the president proposed and insisted on.

• “In 2011, Congress passed a law saying that if both parties couldn’t agree on a plan to reach our deficit goal, about a trillion dollars’ worth of budget cuts would automatically go into effect this year. ... That’s why Democrats, Republicans, business leaders, and economists have already said that these cuts, known here in Washington as “the sequester,” are a really bad idea.” (President Obama, State of the Union Address, February 12, 2013)

FACT: House Republicans are the only ones who have addressed the president’s sequester, and have passed two bills replacing it with responsible cuts and reforms.

• The sequester was the Obama administration’s idea – as Bob Woodward has explained, the White House proposed it and insisted it be included in the 2011 debt limit agreement. See page 326 of his book where he makes that clear.
• The House passed the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act (HR. 5652) in May 2012 and the Spending Reduction Act (H.R. 6684) in December. Learn more about them both here.
• Senate Democrats never passed legislation replacing the president’s sequester. It took the GOP-led No Budget, No Pay Act to get them to even consider passing a budget for the first time in four years.
• President Obama doesn’t have a replacement plan either. He hasn’t even said when we’ll see his budget -- which is late, again, and which could have addressed his sequester.
• CLICK HERE FOR A HIGH-RES VERSION OF THE GRAPHIC ABOVE

BOEHNER QUOTE: “Republicans have twice voted to replace these arbitrary cuts with common-sense cuts and reforms that protect our national defense. … The president’s sequester should be replaced with spending cuts and reforms that will start us on the path to balancing the budget in 10 years.” (Speaker Boehner Statement on the President’s Sequester, 2/5/13)

* * * * * Stay tuned for Republican Address to the Nation by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL),  LIVE on GOP.gov/SOTU, immediately following the State of the Union message. * * * * *