Ranking Member Press
Senate And House Committee Republican Leaders Seek CBO Cost Estimate Of Obamacare Train Wreck
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, joined with Republican committee leaders in asking the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to analyze the budgetary effects of delaying Obamacare's employer mandate and reporting requirements. Last week, the Obama Administration decided to ignore specific requirements in the health care law as mandated by Congress, conceding their signature legislative achievement is unworkable. This action will alter previo… Continue Reading
07.08.13
Sessions Comments On OMB Mid-Session Budget Review
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today after the administration provided the annual budget update known as the Mid-Session Review: "Today's updated budget report from the White House confirms that the president's budget plan leaves us on an unsustainable fiscal path: despite a $1.1 trillion tax hike, the president's budget grows the total federal debt by $8.7 trillion over the next ten years. Spending increa… Continue Reading
06.24.13
Sessions Writes Colleagues Ahead Of Tonight’s Vote On How 1,200-Page Substitute Will Reduce Wages
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the following letter sent today to his Senate colleagues in both parties discussing how the doubling of guest workers and large increase in low-skill future immigration will adversely impact wages, particularly for lower-income Americans: "Dear Colleague, Wages for working Americans have been falling since 1999. 21 million of our citizens who want work are unable to find full-time employment. Nea… Continue Reading
06.19.13
Sessions: CBO Immigration Report Shows On-Budget Deficits Going Up, Not Down
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today correcting an erroneous characterization of the Congressional Budget Office score of S.744, the Gang of Eight immigration bill: "The CBO report unequivocally finds that even over the first 10 years of the bill (a period when many welfare benefits are denied to RPIs), the 'on-budget' deficit will increase by $14.2 billion. The report then shows that the deficits in the … Continue Reading
06.18.13
Ranking Member Sessions Comments On CBO Score Of Immigration Bill
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the Congressional Budget Office's new estimate of the deficit impact of S. 744, the Gang of Eight immigration bill: "The bill's drafters relied on the same scoring gimmicks used by the Obamacare drafters to conceal its true cost from taxpayers and to manipulate the CBO score. There is a reason why eligibility for the most expensive federal benefits was delayed… Continue Reading
06.10.13
Sessions Calls For Welfare Reform Ahead Of Senate Vote On Food Stamp Legislation
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the Senate farm bill, of which 80 percent goes to the food stamp program: "A shocking 80 percent of the farm bill's spending now goes to food stamps. This has been the fastest growing major federal program in recent years. It has expanded fourfold since just 2001, and even as the economy slowly improves, enrollment is projected to remain permanently elevated a… Continue Reading
06.05.13
Ranking Member Sessions Welcomes New Staff Director
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today welcoming the Committee's new minority staff director: "We are all sad to see Marcus Peacock leave the Budget Committee and wish him the best of luck in his next adventure. Marcus joined up with us from my first day as Ranking Member, and he has been a source of wise counsel and leadership ever since. His keen judgment proved indispensable during the many high-stakes bu… Continue Reading
05.22.13
Sessions Delivers Opening Remarks At Committee Hearing On Economic Growth
"In my view, the key to stronger economic growth starts with removing burdens we impose on work, savings, and investment." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered an opening statement today at a Committee hearing on supporting broad-based economic growth and fiscal responsibility through tax reform. His remarks, as prepared, follow: "Chairman Murray, thank you for holding this hearing today. We all agree that public policies need to s… Continue Reading
05.17.13
Sessions Comments On CBO’s Analysis Of President’s FY14 Budget
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the Congressional Budget Office's re-estimate of President Obama's FY 2014 budget submission: "The new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office confirms, once again, that President Obama's financial vision of the country is dangerously unsustainable. According to CBO his plan would add $7.6 trillion to the debt, despite increasing taxes by $972 billion. I… Continue Reading
05.14.13
Sessions Comments On CBO’s Updated Budget Projections
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the May baseline update from the Congressional Budget Office: "CBO's baseline update, while providing some favorable change in deficit estimates, shows that the nation still faces a serious long-term problem. After temporary improvement, deficits begin a relentless rise after 2015. Revenues increase by 46 percent over the following 8 years, but spending surges… Continue Reading
05.06.13
Sessions Comments On New Heritage Foundation Analysis Of Gang Of Eight Plan
"At a time when our nation's major entitlements are already nearing bankruptcy, we cannot afford to add another $6.3 trillion in long-term net costs to already over-burdened state, local, and federal governments… This bill may be good for the special interests who helped write it. But it's bad for workers, bad for taxpayers, and fails to serve the national interest." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement … Continue Reading
04.30.13
Ranking Member Sessions: Gang Of Eight Loopholes Mean Swift Access To Public Aid For Illegal Immigrants
"I hope the Gang's members will propose or support amendments to address the legislation's enormous federal costs and to ensure that illegal immigrants will not become dependent on already-burdened state and local benefit programs." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding a number of identified loopholes in the Gang of Eight bill that will allow illegal immigrants to access public benefits far soon… Continue Reading
04.17.13
Ranking Member Sessions Asks CBO To Provide Estimate Of Long-Term Cost Of Immigration Bill
"The legislation would enable millions of illegal immigrants to access federal and state welfare and entitlement programs, with the most significant costs occurring outside the 10-year budget window when they would be eligible for green cards and ultimately citizenship. No lawmaker should vote on this legislation until we have a complete and thorough estimation of the long-term cost." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, sent a letter today … Continue Reading
04.10.13
Senate Committees Sound Alarm Over Cost Concerns With Gang Immigration Proposal
"It is essential that we have answers to these questions before any legislation is unveiled so that the public can be informed and provide input… As we discovered through several oversight requests from the Agriculture, Budget, and Judiciary Committees, existing federal immigration law designed to protect taxpayers is not enforced by this administration. One of the biggest challenges facing any reform of our nation's immigration laws is the refusal of this administration to enforce the la… Continue Reading
04.10.13
Sessions: President’s Budget ‘Not Merely Reckless; It Is Unthinkable’
"This proposal goes to extraordinary lengths to shield the federal bureaucracy from any reform, even as millions of Americans are trapped in failed government programs. It grows the government at the expense of the economy. It enriches the bureaucracy at the expense of the people. And it threatens to permanently depress the American economy under a never-ending avalanche of debt." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following sta… Continue Reading
04.01.13
Sessions Delivers Opening Remarks As Senate Begins Debate On First Budget In Four Years
"If the American people take nothing else away from this debate, it should be that the party running this Senate, spending your dollars, refuses to ever balance the federal budget… [Their plan's] surging debt and taxes will crush American workers, close American factories, and depress American wages… This budget effectively shows no concern for Americans living in poverty, struggling to find work, trapped in a stale bureaucratic welfare state… This budget perpetuates the mi… Continue Reading
03.23.13
Sessions Comments On Passage Of Senate Majority’s First Budget In Four Years
"Now that the Senate majority has written a plan we can finally begin this conversation: Do we balance the budget and grow the economy for all Americans? Or do we continue to enrich the bureaucracy at the expense of the people?" WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement tonight after the budget plan authored by Chairman Patty Murray and the Senate Democrats failed to garner majority support, but was approved by a vot… Continue Reading
03.23.13
Senate Democrats Vote To Give Free Healthcare And Obamacare To Illegal Immigrants As Part Of Immigration Reform
"This will dramatically accelerate the insolvency of our entitlement programs and is unfair to American workers and taxpayers." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued a statement tonight following a 43-56 vote on his amendment to ensure that illegal immigrants cannot access free and taxpayer-funded health care if they are granted legal status as part of any immigration bill: "The core legal and economic principle of immigration is that… Continue Reading
03.21.13
Sessions Comments After Senate Democrats Stunningly Oppose Balancing The Budget Through Any Means Whatsoever
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued a statement after Senate Democrats voted against his motion to recommit the Murray budget to committee with instructions to find a way to balance the budget in 10 years. Only Sen. Joe Manchin joined with Republicans in support of balancing the federal budget. Sessions' comment follows: "Tonight the American people witnessed a remarkable and alarming event: the Senate's Democrat majority declared the… Continue Reading
03.18.13
Sessions Replies To Vilsack On Foreign SNAP Promotions, Seeks Cost Info Ahead Of Budget Votes
"As you may know, the Senate [is scheduled to] vote on the budget resolution. To assist Senators in their work on the budget, and as well as work on future government funding measures, it would be helpful to have certain additional details about the food stamp program as well as the 14 other nutrition-support programs administered by USDA… According to the standards you referenced, immigrants can access 85 percent of the welfare state and still not be deemed public charges. You may also b… Continue Reading
