Local woman tells Senate committee furloughs could 'make a beggar out of me'

SEATTLE -- Mandatory furloughs for Defense Department employees could send a Tacoma single mother below the poverty line, Jennifer-Cari Green told U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday.

Green, a secretary at Madigan Army Medical Center, was one of several people called to speak before a Senate Budget Committee about how forced federal budget cuts known as sequestration are hurting family budgets and national security, The Tacoma News Tribune reported.

"It feels punitive and I worry that it will make a beggar out of me," Green told the committee.

Green is one of about 650,000 Defense Department employees taking 11 unpaid days off this summer because of the cuts. That includes about 10,000 workers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Read the full story on Green from the Tribune here.