Oversight
Sessions Asks Agencies To Provide Data On Costly Alternative Fuel Vehicle Acquisitions
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, released a letter today sent to Department of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell regarding her agency's procurement of alternative fuel vehicles (AFV) in an effort to meet legal mandates and presidential directives. Identical copies of the letter were sent to agency heads at the Departments of the Air Force, Homeland Security, Agriculture, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The full text of Sessions' let… Continue Reading
10.23.13
Sessions Investigates Grant Process, Questionable Use Of Funds At National Humanities Endowment
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, released a letter today sent to National Endowment for the Humanities Acting Chairman Carol Watson regarding the grant process at her agency, as well as the expenditure of public funds to distribute books related to Islam to 900 libraries across the country. The full text of Sessions' letter is below, and a PDF version may be found here: "Dear Chairman Watson: The National Endowment for the Humanities (N… Continue Reading
10.23.13
U.S. Has Spent $3.7 Trillion On Welfare Over Past 5 Years
We have just concluded the 5th fiscal year since President Obama took office. During those five years, the federal government has spent a total $3.7 trillion on approximately 80 different means-tested poverty and welfare programs. The common feature of means-tested assistance programs is that they are graduated based on a person's income and, in contrast to programs like Social Security or Medicare, they are a free benefit and not paid into by the recipient. The enormous sum spent on means-test… Continue Reading
10.22.13
Sessions Comments On September Jobs Report
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding this morning's Bureau of Labor Statistics report that the economy added just 148,000 jobs during the month of September: "Today's jobs report underscores the real problem in today's labor market: growing joblessness among working-age adults despite modest monthly gains in total employment. Nearly 2 million fewer Americans are working today than in 2007. But t… Continue Reading
10.17.13
Sessions Delivers 2nd Address In Series On American Workers, Calls On Both Parties To Reject Special Interests
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered the following speech today as the second in a series of addresses analyzing the state of the American economy: "Last Thursday I delivered the first in a series of speeches looking at the state of our economy. I have directed my staff on the Budget Committee to specifically analyze the conditions facing working Americans so that I could share those findings directly with this chamber. Both part… Continue Reading
10.17.13
Ranking Member Sessions Responds To Secretary Sebelius’ False Claim On Part-Time Work
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today in response to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' claim that there has not been an increase in part-time work: "I was astounded to learn that Secretary Sebelius-a top member of the President's cabinet and the individual tasked with implementing the new health law-would declare on national TV that 'economists, not anecdotal folks, but ec… Continue Reading
10.17.13
Sessions Issues Statement On Yellen Nomination To Chair Federal Reserve
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the selection of Janet Yellen to chair the Federal Reserve and on the need for an era of "humility": "I intend to fairly but rigorously scrutinize this nominee. What we need in the Fed is a policy of humility that recognizes its limitations and the risk of continued easing. The idea that the Fed has the insight to micromanage the economy, taming bubbles with… Continue Reading
10.17.13
Sessions Issues Statement After Voting Against Debt Hike, Spending Bill
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement tonight after voting against legislation to increase the debt limit and to adopt a "continuing resolution" without reforms: "In the last five years, Washington spent more than $15 trillion and added more than $6 trillion to the debt. Never has so great a sum been spent for so little in return. Despite this huge stimulus spending, wages are lower than in 1999 and nearly 60 mil… Continue Reading
09.26.13
Sessions Catalogs Destructive Impacts Of Obamacare
"The President's health care law will worsen, not improve, our fiscal outlook. It's hurting our economy, it's harming millions of Americans, and it's growing the size and scope of government. Congress must permanently repeal this unworkable law." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered the following speech on the Senate floor today to highlight some of the many pervasive problems with President Obama's health law: "Mr. President, I r… Continue Reading
09.24.13
Sessions Opening Statement: Washington’s Policies Limiting Economic Growth And Opportunity
"We are quietly downsizing the American Dream. The 'new normal' really refers to the increasingly modest dreams hardworking families allow themselves. Maybe education after high school, maybe retirement, maybe a paid-up home and car when you stop working… but [these things are] increasingly not certain and perhaps not even likely… Let's take this [time] to debate the spending priorities and set some much-needed reforms in motion that will actually deal with the problem of economic… Continue Reading
09.19.13
Sessions Gives First In Series Of Addresses On U.S. Economy: Deteriorating Conditions For Working Households
"I have directed my staff on the Budget Committee to conduct a detailed analysis of the economic conditions facing working Americans: their wages, their employment, their household finances. I will give a series of talks over the coming weeks looking at their financial condition and the state of our nation economically… It's not just the unemployment rate, which remains too high at 7.3 percent… It's the number of people we all know who are working well below their potential becaus… Continue Reading
09.17.13
Sessions Comments On New CBO Long-Term Budget Outlook
"The report demolishes any argument that the decline in the size of our deficits provides any basis for the country to relax. Annual deficits and debt are certain to rise relentlessly and without end unless we take action… Reforms to [America's trillion-dollar welfare budget is] necessary to ensure not only that taxpayer dollars are being wisely spent, but that we are fulfilling our moral obligation to help more Americans become financially independent." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessio… Continue Reading
09.17.13
Long-Term Budget Outlook Shows Urgent Need For Spending Restraint
The Congressional Budget Office's updated Long-Term Budget Outlook projects a relentless rise in federal debt held by the public after a shallow decline for the next few years. Debt held by the public (which ignores debt borrowed from and owed by the government to trust funds such as Social Security) will increase from 73 percent of GDP today to 100 percent in 25 years, and 245 percent of GDP at the end of the 75 years covered in the report. According to CBO, debt at these levels would reduce na… Continue Reading
09.13.13
Sessions: Zients The Wrong Man For The Job—And For The Country
"The President has appointed a loyalist whose main contribution to the economic debate has been to mislead the public about the effects of the President's budget plans. What we desperately need is economic leadership that is willing to look the American people in the eye and tell them the truth about the disastrous conditions facing working Americans... I would respectfully urge the President to reconsider this appointment and to search the nation for someone with the caliber and stature necess… Continue Reading
09.06.13
Sessions Comments On August Jobs Report
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding this morning's Bureau of Labor Statistics report that the economy added just 169,000 jobs during the month of August: "Today's alarming jobs report should give policymakers in Washington pause. Several of the most worrisome trends in our economy are not only persisting, but getting worse. Labor force participation continues to fall, and is now at its lowest le… Continue Reading
08.15.13
Sessions Presses FCC Over Loopholes And Abuse In ‘Obamaphone’ Program
"The failure to check applicants' eligibility might be one of the reasons the Lifeline program has more than doubled in recent years-from $822 million in 2008 to over $2 billion in the latest annual report… [A recent] news article suggests serious flaws in this program. These public concerns must be addressed." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, sent a letter today to Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clybur… Continue Reading
08.02.13
Sessions Comments On July Jobs Report
"We need to refocus our economic policy in Washington to deal with the economic realities of our time. Instead, Washington continues to centralize power-helping the well-connected while punishing the average citizen." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the new employment figures for the month of July: "This morning's jobs number of 162,000 demonstrates that we still aren't adding enough jobs t… Continue Reading
08.01.13
Immigration Policy As Corporate Welfare: Sessions Hits White House For Immigration Report That Shills For CEOs
"In its report today the White House embraced [a historic surge in immigration] as its central economic argument: what our economy needs most is a large increase in the number of low-skill workers. Perhaps we can finally have this debate out in the open-and dispense once and for all with the idea that the CEOs bankrolling the immigration push are concerned with anything other than reducing the cost of labor. It's not about 'reform'-it's about profit… Immigration reform has become synonym… Continue Reading
07.23.13
Sessions Delivers Opening Statement At Hearing On Defense Spending And Sequestration
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered the following opening statement today at a hearing on the impact of sequestration on the nation's defense: "Thank you, Chairman Murray. I join you in welcoming our distinguished panel to discuss the impact of sequestration on national security. In August of 2011, Congress and the Administration came to an agreement that $2.1 trillion needed to be cut from our projected growth in spending, and I … Continue Reading
07.10.13
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
