Oversight
Sessions Delivers Opening Statement At First Budget Hearing Of 2013
"It has been four years since the Democrat-led Senate has produced a budget as the law requires… I am glad that the Senate majority has relented and is going to do a budget this year, else I wonder what our Committee might find itself having to do-whether we would even need the Committee. So we look forward to meeting the Committee deadline of April 1st to publically produce a resolution and then April 15th on the Senate floor… While we talk of cuts and frugality, total spending i… Continue Reading
02.05.13
CBO’s Budget And Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2013 To 2023
CBO's latest baseline budget projections show that the nation has a severe spending problem that needs to be addressed. After deficits are projected to fall for three years, they begin a relentless rise again to almost $1 trillion in 2023-clearly an unsustainable path. Without a course correction, out-of-control spending will fuel a $9 trillion increase in the gross debt, further slowing the economy and limiting opportunity for millions of Americans. Cumulative interest payments alone will amoun… Continue Reading
02.05.13
Sessions: White House Must End Its Violation Of Federal Medicare Law
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the Committee's oversight of Jack Lew's role in the Administration's defiance of Medicare law, as well as other controversies surrounding his nomination: "Jack Lew must never be Treasury Secretary. As director of the Office of Management and Budget, he submitted to Congress two spend-and-debt budget plans which not only received zero votes but which would have… Continue Reading
02.04.13
Jack Lew: Architect Of Two Failed Budgets And A Campaign To Mislead The Country
As Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Jack Lew was the chief architect of two failed budgets which garnered zero votes in the Senate and represented the most irresponsible financial plans ever brought before Congress. But not only did Mr. Lew develop two inexcusable plans during a time of grave fiscal emergency, he made a series of outrageously false statements about these plans to Congress and the American people. Mr. Lew's budgets, and his egregious disregard for the truth, … Continue Reading
02.04.13
Sessions Comments On Jack Lew’s Role In Violating Federal Law
"The Secretary of the Treasury is the premier financial post in government and our financial ambassador to the world. How can we place in that post a man who has consistently placed his own partisan interests above the financial well-being of our constituents?" WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today after Committee Republicans launched an inquiry into Jack Lew's role in violating the "Medicare trigger" law:… Continue Reading
02.04.13
Committee GOP Launches Inquiry On Jack Lew’s Complicity In Violating Federal Law
"We therefore request the following submissions be sent to Congress so that we may properly consider Mr. Lew's nomination: 1. A detailed legislative proposal responsive to the latest Medicare funding warning to bring the administration into compliance with federal law; 2. All documents, electronic or otherwise, received, reviewed or authored by Mr. Lew regarding responding to Medicare funding warnings during his most recent tenure at the Office of Management and Budget." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Je… Continue Reading
02.01.13
Murray’s Deficit Reduction Goal Flawed And Dangerous
In a recent letter to the Democrat Conference, the new Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Senator Patty Murray, released a memo assessing the nation's fiscal situation. The memo asserted that over the last two years, Congress reduced deficits by $2.4 trillion, including "almost $1.5 trillion" in 2011 alone. These figures echoed claims made by President Obama at a press conference 10 days earlier: "We've made progress towards that goal [of reducing deficits by $4 trillion]. Over the past tw… Continue Reading
02.01.13
Immigration And The Welfare State
It is an explicit and unambiguous tenet in federal law that those granted entry into the U.S. must be able to support themselves financially. But the Obama Administration has aggressively defied this strict federal statute. What are new promises worth when existing law is unilaterally waived? Last year, the Ranking Members of Budget, Finance, Judiciary, and Agriculture Committees wrote an oversight letter to Secretaries Napolitano and Clinton that said in part: "The [Immigration and Natio… Continue Reading
01.25.13
Sessions Confronts Democrat Leaders On Budget Games; Senate ‘Failing Miserably’ To Do Its Job
"Paul Ryan is leading. Speaker Boehner is leading. House Republicans are leading. But Senate Democrats, who control this chamber-who asked for this job-are refusing to allow a budget to move forward. They are refusing to share with the American people the contents of the plan they crafted behind closed doors-a plan they claim exists. "I look forward to the chance to support the House GOP budget… But let's look at the bigger picture this week. The planned series of votes are designed by … Continue Reading
01.24.13
Issue 1: Sequestration After The Fiscal Cliff
01.23.13
Sessions Comments On Majority Relenting, Promising Senate Budget Mark-Up And Regular Order
"I have repeatedly and emphatically called for an end to the Senate Democrats' brazen legal defiance in this time of national fiscal emergency… To compel Senate action I have introduced legislation, blocked recess, and encouraged the use of the debt ceiling as leverage. Now, with their pay threatened, and long-simmering public anger growing, Senate Democrats have suddenly seen the light. Even just a few days ago, they were not willing to commit to doing a budget." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Je… Continue Reading
01.18.13
Sessions Comments On House Effort To Force Senate To Pass A Budget
"The House must be steadfast. It is unthinkable that Senator Reid and Chairman Murray would put the nation through turmoil because they refuse to do their moral and statutory duty to produce a budget… It will not be easy because the challenge is great-and has become greater each year as a result of inaction by the Senate… but a clear and responsible budget and smart legislation to end our nation's reckless debt path can restore confidence and secure the future for today and for t… Continue Reading
01.16.13
Budget Committee Republicans To Murray: Production Of Budget ‘Prerequisite’ Of Fiscal Reform
"The suggested schedule we offer below would result in regular meetings and a timeline that leads to the completion of a budget resolution in accordance with the statutory requirements… We believe that work on a Senate budget is an essential prerequisite of any fiscal reform that takes place this year." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, released a letter today from all Budget Committee Republican members to incoming Chairman Patty … Continue Reading
01.16.13
Sessions Comments On Projected 80 Percent Growth In Welfare Spending
"We must return to the moral principles of the 1996 reform... It is through that prism that we should consider reforms to our welfare programs, ensure resources are targeted to those in genuine need, and help more people transition from dependence to independence." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today concerning the projection, based on Congressional Research Service data, that welfare spending will increa… Continue Reading
01.15.13
Federal Welfare Spending To Grow Almost 80% Over The Next 10 Years
This chart displays projected federal spending on federal welfare programs over the next ten years, based on data from the Congressional Research Service and Congressional Budget Office. These figures do not count state contributions to federal welfare programs (primarily on low-income health assistance) which brought total welfare spending in FY2011 to more than $1 trillion-dwarfing any other budget item including Medicare and Social Security, and totaling enough to mail every household in pove… Continue Reading
01.10.13
Budget Cmte. Ranking Member Announces Opposition To Jack Lew Nomination
"Jack Lew must never be Secretary of the Treasury. His testimony before the Senate Budget Committee less than two years ago was so outrageous and false that it alone disqualifies… He is also the architect of two of the worst budgets in American history, both of which received zero votes in the Senate… For me, no mea culpa, no excuse, can erase the errors of Mr. Lew… We need a Secretary of Treasury that the American people, the Congress, and the world will know is up to the… Continue Reading
01.03.13
Sessions Welcomes New Members To Budget Committee
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today as committee assignments were announced for the 113th Congress: "I am thrilled with the strong Republican membership we have on the Budget Committee and grateful for their support. I look forward to working with my colleagues to tackle our nation's most pressing problem: the rapid accumulation of debt driven by massive government spending. Only by reforming government a… Continue Reading
01.01.13
Sessions Comments On Voting To Avoid Fiscal Cliff, Prevent Tax Increases
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement tonight about the vote on legislation to prevent the fiscal cliff by avoiding large tax increases as well as making permanent the temporary tax relief passed in 2001 and 2003: "This legislation is necessary to prevent a large and painful tax increase from falling on the vast majority of Americans. Its enactment will end a long period of uncertainty that would weaken or even r… Continue Reading
12.30.12
Sessions Comments On Status Of Fiscal Cliff Negotiations
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement tonight about the status of negotiations to resolve the fiscal cliff: "No deal has been produced and no agreement has yet been reached that Congress could vote on, much less one that could be scored by CBO or scrutinized by the American people. The biggest obstacle we face is that President Obama and Majority Leader Reid continue to insist on new taxes that will be used to f… Continue Reading
12.20.12
