10.27.11

Casting Vote For Spending Cut, Sessions Says It’s ‘Beginning Of Beginning’ Of Budget Fight

   WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, made the following comments today after voting in support of a bill to fund the government for the rest of the year while reducing spending by $38.5 billion:

“This is just the beginning of the beginning of the fight. The nearly $40 billion dollars we are cutting today from this year’s budget is a small but important step towards the significant and substantial spending reductions our economy desperately needs. Though certainly not as large as I would have liked, it is a meaningful cut that will save $315 billion over the next ten years. And the simple fact remains we would have been able to trim far more waste from the budget if Democrat leaders did not block them. In fact, Democrat leaders made clear their view that cuts of this size were ‘draconian’ and that they preferred to cut nothing at all.

I remain frustrated that the president and the Democrat-led Senate continue to resist spending cuts at every turn—ignoring both the clear will of the voters and the dire warnings of economists. I am also frustrated at the attacks leveled against the Tea Party and the millions of Americans who are demanding spending discipline in Washington. It is because of them that the conversation has changed from how much Washington will increase spending to how much it will decrease spending. Politicians will now be judged not by how much they hand out but by how much they save.”