11.15.12

Ranking Member Sessions Congratulates Murray On Chairmanship; Calls For Action On Budget

“I hope to work with Senator Murray to find common ground… The Senate is supposed to be the world’s great deliberative body… Enough secret meetings and last-minute backroom deals. The Budget Committee should do its job, as the law requires, in the full, open, and public light of day. I hope Senator Murray will make that commitment.”

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today about the announcement by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) that she intends to take over as Chairman of the Budget Committee in the 113th Congress: 

“I am eager to work with our new Chairman and congratulate her on taking the gavel. I hope to work with Senator Murray to find common ground. The Budget Committee has one central purpose and the Chair has one central legal obligation: the drafting, amending, and adoption of a budget plan. Why would Senator Reid even assign members to the Committee if they have no intention of producing a plan? The Senate majority shirked this legal duty for three straight years and it is unthinkable that it would go a fourth straight year without offering a proposal as the law requires. The majority’s refusal to do any budget work has brought us to the edge of a fiscal cliff and deepened the threat of a future debt crisis. The Senate is supposed to be the world’s great deliberative body and, when it comes to our finances, the Budget Committee is where that process begins. Enough secret meetings and last-minute backroom deals. The Budget Committee should do its job, as the law requires, in the full, open, and public light of day. I hope Senator Murray will make that commitment.”