Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd, agrees with public opinion when it comes to Congress: it isn’t doing its job.
Courtney, a Vernon resident who has represented the eastern half of Connecticut since 2007, said he can understand why Congress has a nine percent approval rating, an all-time low.
“I am with the 91 percent,” he said.
Despite his low assessment, Courtney said he is still an optimist that Congress can pass legislation.
He said the Supercommittee charged with cutting $1.2 trillion from the federal budget by Thanksgiving can succeed.
“I personally feel that that’s a manageable task,” Courtney told a luncheon hosted by the New England Council and the MetroHartford Alliance.
He said the U.S. is not facing the same challenges as European countries. “We’re not Greece.”
Courtney said it is plausible that the committee might fail to come up with a solution, or it could come up with a partial solution and deal with tax reform later because it will require more time to reach a compromise on that issue.
If the committee fails, government-wide spending cuts will automatically happen through a process called sequestration, which Courtney compared to a chainsaw.
He said those cuts will begin to take effect in 2013 after two important intervening events: the 2012 election and the expiration of the Bush tax cuts.
Courtney said Congress reached agreements twice this year in April and August to “avoid having the whole system seize up” and he thinks an agreement can be reached again.
He said defense cuts – $450 billion already enacted and $600 to $700 billion if the committee fails to reach an agreement – should cause “great, intense concern.”
Courtney said Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and the service chiefs told Congress it “can’t let this happen.”
He said because of the strong resistance, he doesn’t think the Supercommittee will fail.
Courtney said, even with the additional cuts, the Navy should be able to continue buying two submarines a year.
The subs are built by Electric Boat, located in Courtney’s district, which has about 12,000 employees. “We crawled over broken glass” to get to two subs a year, he said.
He said he Mohegan Tribe gave him the name “Two Iron Fish” in honor of his lobbying for submarine construction.
Courtney said three submarines, the Providence, the Scranton and the Florida, “kicked the door down” in Libya.
“All three of those vessels will be gone in 10 years time,” he said.
According to Courtney, defense spending decisions will be guided by a strategic review he expects to be public in December.
“You shouldn’t let a number define your security position,” he said.
Courtney said with the withdrawal from Iraq this year and Afghanistan by 2014 will reduce the need to invest in the Army and Marines. He said concerns in Asia and the Pacific will lead to increased priority on the Air Force and Navy.
A failure by the Supercommittee will have other effects on Connecticut, according to Courtney.
He said the F-35 engine built by Pratt & Whitney is already under pressure that will “grow exponentially” with the committee’s failure.
He said it is likely military bases will also be closed.
“It almost inevitably would drive another BRAC round,” Courtney said, referring to the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission.