10.27.11

This Has Always Been A Debate About Spending—And The American People Get It

“Not only are Democrat leaders resisting change, they are attacking—even savaging—the good and decent people who are calling for change… This has never been a debate about ‘riders.’ It has always been a debate about spending. And that debate is just getting started. We are going to fight to cut spending and strengthen our country every day, week, and month… We will keep fighting until we have secured this nation’s legacy for the next generation.”

   WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today as negotiations continued over government funding in order to prevent a shutdown. Sessions sharply criticized Democrat leaders for their disparaging comments about Americans pushing for spending cuts, and emphasized that the current spending fight is only the beginning of a larger fight to curb spending and spur prosperity:

“Uncontrolled spending threatens our whole economy. But not only are Democrat leaders resisting change, they are attacking—even savaging—the good and decent people who are calling for change. They are labeling the millions of Americans who took to the streets in the last election—many for the first time in their lives—as extremists, as radicals, as blind ideologues with no common sense.

I am here to say enough. These men and women—whether the millions in the Tea Party, or the millions more who share their concerns—are good and decent people whose only offense was fearing for their country in the face of a grave economic danger. Overwhelmingly, the American people believe that we must substantially reduce our swollen federal budget.

The reason we are now having this needed national dialogue about cutting spending is because everyday Americans stood up and demanded action. They should be praised, not condemned. They understand our fiscal reality far better than the Democrat leaders in Washington. Their sense of urgency is shared by the experts appearing before our Budget Committee every single week.

The American people get it. Democrat leaders in Washington don’t.

This has never been a debate about ‘riders.’ It has always been a debate about spending. And that debate is just getting started. We are going to fight to cut spending and strengthen our country every day, week, and month. We are going to keep fighting—as the American people have asked us to do—until we have confronted and defeated the economic threat we face. We will keep fighting until we have secured this nation’s legacy for the next generation.”