The potential impact of sequestration in the Tennessee Valley is becoming more apparent.
Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle wrote a two-page letter to the media Thursday night, detailing what he learned while visiting Congressional offices in Washington D.C. this week.
Mayor Battle, Madison County Commission Chairman Dale Strong and Enterprise Mayor Kenneth Boswell traveled to Capitol Hill to discuss the effects of sequestration in Alabama. They met with seven U.S. House and Senate offices on Thursday.
The letter laid out a gamut of possible impacts the looming spending cuts would have on Huntsville-area schools, businesses and the defense industry.
Congress has until March 1 to avoid budget cuts that total more than $1 trillion. If no deal is reached, defense and domestic discretionary spending would see drastic reductions.
The repercussions on schools, the military and federal employees are significant, according to the letter.
It said Huntsville City Schools could stand to lose $1.7 million. The city of Enterprise's school system may see similar cuts of about $1.5 million.
Mayor Battle also stated that active duty rosters in the U.S. Army could see reductions by 2014.
The mayor urged the public to provide feedback to their representatives on preventing sequestration.
"There is a lot of noise about gun control and immigration, but no public outcry about sequestration. If anything is going to happen, the public has to get involved and they need to speak up quickly," Battle wrote.
He said the overall feeling in Congress was that lawmakers will allow sequestration to take effect.
?Copyright 2013 WAFF and AP. All rights reserved.
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