Ranking Member Press
Sessions Insists That Obama Budget Chief Answer Straightforward Question
"I will ask again as I did at the hearing… does the president propose to increase or decrease spending levels from those agreed to under the Budget Control Act in August? … I was shocked when you-the president's budget chief-strenuously resisted answering this fundamental question. Eventually, you responded that the president's budget did, in fact, contain net spending cuts. This response is not only factually incorrect but represents, in my view, a continuing and deliberate obfusc… Continue Reading
02.16.12
Sessions: Budget Misrepresentations ‘Deal A Severe Blow To President Obama’s Credibility’
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued a statement today following Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's testimony before the Committee: "The Administration continues to persist in the duplicity that this budget cuts spending when it increases spending by $1.5 trillion over the levels in current law. Even giving them credit for reducing war costs-all of which were borrowed-does not change the mathematical fact that spending is going… Continue Reading
02.16.12
Sessions Delivers Opening Statement At Budget Hearing With Treasury Secretary Geithner
"Secretary Geithner… you are a capable and loyal member of the administration. But, more fundamentally, you are a servant of the American people. You have an opportunity today to help us understand both the dangerous unsustainability of our fiscal path, and the depth of change needed to right our course… History will judge our conversation today. Do you believe that the president's budget provides the solution to our fiscal problems? Do you believe that $11.2 trillion in new fede… Continue Reading
02.14.12
Sessions To WH Budget Chief: You Work For The American People, Not The Obama Campaign
"Given the gravity of our fiscal crisis-and Mr. Zeints' obligation to present honest facts to the public-I asked him whether, if he was shown to be wrong, he would resign. I will soon be sending him a letter expressing my concerns from today's hearing and pressing for a straightforward answer to a straightforward question. Mr. Zeints must remember-he works for the American people, not the Obama campaign. And the American people have a right to know the truth." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessio… Continue Reading
02.13.12
Sessions On President’s Budget: ‘One Of Most Spectacular Fiscal Cover-Ups In American History’
"The White House claims they have introduced a plan to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction… But these assertions rely on a calculated series of budget gimmicks. An honest analysis proves that the president's plan achieves only $273 billion in total deficit reduction over ten years… Under this plan, we will accumulate $11 trillion in new gross debt… The vision the president has laid out today leads to a bigger government, a smaller middle class, and a painful debt crisis… Continue Reading
02.07.12
Sessions Delivers Opening Remarks At Bernanke Hearing
"I am glad Chairman Conrad will be marking-up a budget in committee. But the mark-up will be a doomed exercise if your own majority leader decrees that the budget process will be shut down. Majority Leader Reid has effectively declared both a Senate Democrat budget - and the President's budget - dead on arrival." "While we can't predict the day a debt crisis will erupt - or what unknown event might set it off - we do know we are on a collision course…Yet Majority Leader Reid has closed t… Continue Reading
02.03.12
Sessions Responds To Reid’s Breaking Announcement On Democrat Budget Plan
"By refusing to lay out a budget plan for public examination-a fact no one can deny-the Democrat Senate has forfeited the high privilege to lead this chamber." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today as Majority Leader Reid announced that, for the third year in a row, he would not bring a budget plan up for public debate and amendment on the Senate floor: "It's been more than 1,000 days since Senate Dem… Continue Reading
02.01.12
Sessions, Snowe Explain Need For Honest Budget Act: ‘Washington Uses A Different Set Of Rules’
"Americans have a right to expect honesty, transparency, and accountability from their elected officials. They have a right to know that a cut is a cut, an increase is an increase, and that a price tag is accurate." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, and U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, issued the following joint statement today regarding the Honest Budget Act: … Continue Reading
01.31.12
Sessions On Baseline: Spending To Increase Fifty-Three Percent, Debt By $11.4 Trillion
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the release of the latest CBO Budget and Economic Outlook and the Committee's estimation that our nation's actual debt path would produce $5.7 trillion in debt above the CBO baseline: "An honest analysis tells us that spending is set to increase by 53 percent over the next ten years, producing an estimated $11.4 trillion in new gross debt. This is dangerously … Continue Reading
01.26.12
Sessions On President’s Debt Increase: Policies Growing Gov’t, Shrinking Middle Class
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today ahead of the vote on the resolution of disapproval on President Obama's requested debt limit increase: "The president's request to borrow another $1.2 trillion dollars-all of which will be spent and gone within the next twelve months-brings America closer to what his fiscal commission co-chairs called 'the most predictable economic crisis in its history.' After last … Continue Reading
01.26.12
Sessions Delivers Opening Statement At First Budget Hearing Of 2012
"The president says he wants an 'America built to last.' But we can't do that with borrowed money. Debt is not an asset, spending is not a virtue, and borrowing is not a future." 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 the U.S. economic outlook. Sessions' remarks, as prepared, follow: "We are now entering the budget season for Fiscal Year 2013. Producing a budget for public… Continue Reading
01.24.12
Sessions Responds To State Of The Union Address
WASHINGTON-In response to President Obama's State of the Union address, U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement tonight: "It was stunning how thoroughly and deliberately the president ignored the ominous threat hanging over this country-our surging $15 trillion debt. I stand ready, eager, and willing to work with the president on a real, honest agenda of government reform, but unfortunately, tonight's speech was more campaign… Continue Reading
01.23.12
Sessions And Ryan Ahead Of Day 1,000: Senate Democrats ‘Abandoned Their Duty’
"Senate Democrats abandoned their official duty to prioritize Americans' hard-earned tax dollars and tackle our nation's most pressing economic challenges-dealing a painful blow to fiscal progress that may be felt for some time." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Chairman of the House Budget Committee, released the following joint statement today ahead of the 1,000th day since Senate Democrats have last offered a… Continue Reading
01.18.12
Sessions Comments On President’s Rejection Of Keystone Pipeline
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today in response to reports that President Obama has decided to reject the permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a plan that has been estimated to immediately result in the creation of 20,000 new jobs: "This is a stunning decision at a time when the need for economic growth and job creation could not be greater. It is a huge lost opportunity to create good-paying jobs fo… Continue Reading
01.09.12
Sessions Raises Questions Regarding White House Staff Changes
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the following statement today about the selection of current OMB Director Jack Lew to be the new White House chief of staff, and the resulting vacancy at the Office of Management and Budget: "I wish Jack Lew the best fortune in his new post. However, the president's decision to elevate Mr. Lew to White House Chief of Staff-after Lew and the White House attempted to mislead the country into believi… Continue Reading
01.09.12
Sessions Asks Administration To Make Good On New Promise Of Food Stamp Oversight
"At $89 billion, the annual food stamp budget is… the second-largest of nearly eighty federal welfare programs that cost taxpayers around $900 billion a year… the USDA recently [announced] 'new tactics to combat fraud and enhance SNAP program integrity'… I would therefore ask that the Committee be immediately provided with a thorough explanation of all oversight actions your Department is taking, as well as a list of recommended federal reforms… I would further ask fo… Continue Reading
12.17.11
Sessions To Oppose 11th Hour ‘Omnibus’; Cites Billions In Gimmicks
"House Republicans have worked vigilantly all year to change our debt course, and produced a budget to do exactly that. The great shame is that they never had willing partners in President Obama and his Democrat-led Senate." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today prior to a vote on the 'omnibus' package containing nine appropriations bills for fiscal year 2012: "Once again, we find ourselves racing tow… Continue Reading
12.16.11
Sessions: Keystone Underscores How President Is Harming Middle Class
"[The Keystone Pipeline] is precisely, precisely the kind of thing that this Congress should take action on… because it will create jobs, lots of jobs, create wealth, make us more secure as a nation, and help bring down the cost of energy… yet the president has blocked the pipeline construction for some time, deferring a decision now until after the next election… There's a lot of things that we can do that will not cost this Treasury a dime… It's time, indeed, for a… Continue Reading
12.14.11
Sessions Supports Strong Balanced Budget Amendment
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today in support of S.J. Res. 10, the Republican balanced budget proposal, and expressing concern over provisions in the Democrat counter-measure (S.J. Res. 24): "Washington has both a moral and economic responsibility to balance the budget. Morally, we have a duty to spend taxpayer dollars wisely and to protect, for our children, the integrity of the United States Treasury. … Continue Reading
12.13.11
Sessions On Fox: President’s Policies Threaten The Middle Class
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, appeared on FOX News' "America's News HQ" today to discuss how President Obama's policies are hurting hardworking taxpayers, including on the issues of debt, energy, trade, and illegal immigration. Excerpts from the interview follow: On the lack of honest leadership:"I felt this president has a duty to lead selflessly. He needs to tell the American people the truth, [that] the greatest threat to the mid… Continue Reading
