Politics & Government

Congressman Frank Wolf: Reforming Entitlements Key to Fixing Debt Woes

In WTOP interview Wednesday morning, Virginia's 10th district representative says sequestration likely won't be stopped before March 1.

With sequestration looming, Virginia Republican Congressman Frank Wolf (R-10th) said on WTOP Wednesday while there is a sense of urgency on Capitol Hill, he does not expect to see any action to stop sequestration by this Friday, the March 1 deadline for sequestration to take effect.

"I think it will be stopped, but before Friday? No...but shortly thereafter," he told WTOP in an interview Wednesday morning.

Sequestration will have a big impact around the Washington area "on home sales, jobs, many small businesses, particularly on contractors — they don't have certainty," but it will also have an impact on the whole economy across the country," Wolf said.

Find out what's happening in Chantillywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Wolf has urged his colleagues to embrace legislation he co-sponsored four weeks ago, with recommendations from the Simpson-Bowles commission (named for former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming and Democrat Erskine Bowles, chief of staff to then-President Bill Clinton) that gradually raises the retirement age.

"That's the way to to do it," Wolf said. "It raises revenue by closing loopholes, for every three dollars of revenue, there is a dollar of savings." He called it the "best roadmap to stop the crisis. If we reform entitlements, we can solve this."

Find out what's happening in Chantillywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"If we don't do something soon, this nation is going to go into decline," Wolf predicted.

Wolf seemed to point a finger at President Obama and Speaker John Boehner. "If President Reagan were president now, this would not be happening," he said. "He and [then Speaker] Tip O'Neill came together. It can be stopped before there's serious damage. I'm not going to get into the blame game...it'd have to be a five-hour show."

Wolf said what is happening "is dysfunctional. We should not go through this fruitless posturing...It can't be my way or the highway," Wolf said. "I go into high schools, [I saw] 150 seniors on Monday, and they raise the same issue, there seems to be a crisis every other month," he said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Chantilly