03.29.12

Sessions Contrasts House, Senate Budget Action; Says Reid ‘Determined To Avoid’ Votes On Health Law

“As President Obama once said, a budget serves as ‘an economic blueprint for this nation’s future.’ Where is the blueprint from the party given the high honor of leading this Chamber?” 

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today as the House of Representatives prepared to hold a vote on its budget plan, while the Democrat-led Senate continues to both insist that a budget is not needed and to ignore the April 1st statutory deadline:

“The Senate is required to report a budget out of committee by April 1st and adopt it by April 15th. The House has completed an open, public markup of a budget in committee and will soon hold a vote on the House floor. By contrast, with the April 1st legal deadline this Sunday—and the Senate about to enter a two-week recess—Senate Democrats have yet to even put forward a budget in committee.

In a time of fiscal crisis, the Senate’s Democrat majority has not written a budget for two consecutive years and has not brought a budget resolution to the floor for three consecutive years. Majority Leader Reid said it would be ‘foolish’ to do a budget.

A major reason for Senate Democrat leaders’ desperation to avoid passing a budget is to avoid casting votes on the president’s health law—a law that will cost $2.6 trillion for ten years of implementation, not the promised $900 billion. If they passed a motion to proceed to a budget, it would open fifty hours of public amendment and debate. This is a prospect they are determined to avoid.

As President Obama once said, a budget serves as ‘an economic blueprint for this nation’s future.’ Where is the blueprint from the party given the high honor of leading this Chamber?”