Oversight
Unveiling Food Stamp Amendments, Sessions Outlines Moral Case For 21st Century Welfare Reform
"I have filed a modest package of food stamp reforms to the farm bill that will achieve several important goals: Save taxpayer dollars; reduce the deficit; achieve greater accountability in how the program is administered; confront widespread waste; direct food stamps to those truly in need; and help more Americans achieve financial independence… It is time to re-engage the national discussion over how the receipt of welfare benefits can become damaging, not merely to the Treasury but al… Continue Reading
06.06.12
Sessions Writes Conrad Concerning $14 Billion Increase In Senate Allocations Above BCA Levels
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, sent the following letter today to Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad about the outlay levels filed as required by the Budget Control Act. Although that law directs outlay aggregates be set at the CBO March 2012 baseline level, Conrad used figures apparently derived from President Obama's unanimously rejected budget, which will result in $14 billion higher spending and debt in fiscal year 2013. Text of … Continue Reading
06.06.12
Issue 1: The Budget Control Act - Update
05.29.12
Sessions, Issa Press DOI To Stop Stonewalling, Provide Requested Info On Corporate Energy Loans
"It is suggestive and troubling that more than half a year has passed without DOI providing the requested documents and information. Our concern is heightened given the serious nature of the questions raised and the government's pattern of indiscretion in providing government assistance to politically connected green energy companies such as Solyndra." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, and U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the Ho… Continue Reading
05.23.12
Thune, Sessions Demand Transparent Plan From Obama Administration For Implementing Sequestration Cuts
WASHINGTON, D.C.-Senator John Thune (R-SD), Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference and a member of the Senate Budget Committee, today was joined by Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-AL) in introducing the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012, a bill requiring the Obama Administration to provide Congress with its plan for implementing the required budget sequestration cuts for fiscal year 2013. "The Democrat-led Senate's failure to produce a budget year after year h… Continue Reading
05.22.12
Stunning Discovery: Senate Majority Fixed Discretionary Outlays For FY13 At Obama Budget Level, $14 Billion Above Debt-Deal Agreement
"The outlay levels for the appropriations bills have been inflated by $14 billion to meet the levels in the President's budget… It is unthinkable that we would not only spend more than Congress agreed to, but would institute instead the numbers derived from President Obama's budget which this chamber unanimously rejected… I'm afraid that this is another example of the sleight-of-hand tactics that have been used in Congress for too long. We have Members of Congress that take it as… Continue Reading
05.21.12
Sessions, Grassley: Lavish 9th Circuit Judicial Conference In Maui Could Cost Taxpayers More Than $1 Million
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, and U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released a letter today to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski concerning a planned judicial conference in Maui, Hawaii. In their letter, the Senators note that the taxpayer-funded conference, scheduled for August 13-16, features opportunities for numerous recreational activities not related to any of… Continue Reading
05.17.12
Sessions: Senate Majority Backs Reid, Supports Leader’s View That Having A Budget Is ‘Foolish’
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today after every member of the Democrat Conference voted to reject every budget the Senate considered, including President Obama's: "Today, before the whole nation, the majority party running the Senate effectively declared that as long as they're in charge this country will not have a budget. Their message is simple: Send Washington more money. Don't ask us what we'll do … Continue Reading
05.16.12
Timeline Of Senate Democrats’ Refusal To Make Budget Plans Public
April 29, 2009 - The last time the Democrat-led Senate adopted a budget resolution. Also the last time the Majority brought a budget plan to the floor. April 22, 2010 - The Budget Committee completes action on a mark-up and reports a budget out of committee, but the Democrat majority chooses to keep its own plan from being offered on the Senate floor. This is the last time the Majority conducted a legally required markup. May 17, 2011 - Despite missing the statutory deadline for a budget to be… Continue Reading
05.15.12
Sessions: By Refusing To Offer Budget Plan, Senate Majority Endorses Nation’s Current Dangerous Financial Direction
"The party running the Senate has neither written nor offered a budget plan for our nation's financial future… The budget votes expected this week will once again bring into crystal focus that the party running the Senate is refusing to meet its financial obligations… Through its continued unwillingness to advance a sound plan for the future, the Senate majority is endorsing the unsustainable course we are on now." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the … Continue Reading
04.27.12
By The Numbers: Three Full Years Since Senate Democrats Last Adopted A Budget
"This Sunday, April 29, we will have gone 3 full years since the last time the Senate Democrats have brought a budget to the floor of the Senate… They are unable to unite behind a financial vision for this country that they are willing to go to the American people and advocate for and publicly defend." - Ranking Member Sessions, floor speech, April 26, 2012 1096 .................... Days since the Senate majority last passed a budget $10.4 trillion .......... Total federal spending sin… Continue Reading
04.27.12
Sessions: Exactly Three Years Since Senate Majority Last Adopted A Budget
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today about April 29th, the three-year anniversary of the last time the Democrat-led Senate passed a budget resolution: "This Sunday marks exactly three years since the last time the Senate's Democrat majority adopted a budget. For three years, in the midst of fiscal crisis, the party running the Senate refused to even attempt to produce their financial plan in willful and kn… Continue Reading
04.24.12
Sessions Comments On Senate Waiving Budget Rules To Increase Debt
"This is not a debate about the merits of the postal bill. It's a debate about paying for it… A vote to waive the point of order was a vote to waive the debt deal agreement… yet every Democrat Senator voted to break the budget. Today's vote is more evidence that their Senate majority-which, as of this Sunday, will have refused to pass a budget since exactly three years ago-is determined to avoid any semblance of financial accountability." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL),… Continue Reading
04.24.12
Action Alert: Decisive Procedural Vote—Postal Bill Violates Debt Deal
Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Sessions announced today that he will be raising a PAYGO budget point of order against S. 1789, the postal reform bill. The Congressional Budget Office has scored the bill as adding $34 billion to the debt by 2022, spending more than the levels derived from the Budget Control Act-levels set in law as a condition for the $2.1 trillion debt limit increase. The point of order has a 60-vote threshold to waive. The postal bill violates the debt limit deal … Continue Reading
04.24.12
Why Senate Democrats Cancelled The Budget Mark-Up
"The fact is what we don't have is a longer term plan. What we need, I believe, is at least a 10-year plan. That's why I'm going to mark up the first week that we're back in session." - Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, interview on "Fox News Sunday," April 8, 2012 After not adopting a concurrent budget resolution since April 29, 2009-1,086 days ago-the Senate's Democrat majority appeared set this week to hold a mark-up in the Budget Committee. But the mark-up was cancelled at the last mi… Continue Reading
04.23.12
Sessions To Raise Point Of Order Against Postal Bill For Spending Billions More Than Debt Limit Agreement Allowed
"Spending and debt under the postal bill violates the debt limit agreement reached just last summer… This is particularly odd since the President and the Senate Majority Leader have accused the House of breaking the budget agreement by trying to save extra money for taxpayers. This argument, of course, is not sound… Not one word in that law requires you to max out the cap… Only in Washington does spending underneath a cap get you accused of breaking a deal while spending mo… Continue Reading
04.20.12
Sessions Says President Must Impose Disciplined Management On Dysfunctional Government
"Right now, the President needs a Solyndra rule, not a Buffett Rule: instead of focusing on extracting more money from the American people, he must focus on ending the abuse of taxpayer dollars and restoring faith in the operation of the federal government." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding scandals in the executive branch and waste of taxpayer dollars. He also called on the President to dem… Continue Reading
04.18.12
Sessions Issues Opening Statement At Budget Committee ‘Mark-Up’
"The effective cancellation of this mark-up puts in crystal focus that the Senate's Democrat leadership is determined to go to November without ever bringing a budget to the floor… They have proven themselves unable to meet the defining challenge of our time. But if Republicans are honored with a Senate majority next year, we will conduct a real mark-up and we will pass an honest budget. And it will change the debt course of America." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking M… Continue Reading
04.18.12
Chairman Conrad’s Budget Proposal: More Taxes Than President’s Budget, No Spending Cuts, No Structural Reform
All of the deficit reduction in Senator Conrad's budget comes from tax increases. The proposal will increase taxes by $2.6 trillion and provides no net change in spending relative to the current policy baseline after enactment of the Budget Control Act. Taxes in 2022 would be double the 2012 level. Over the 10-year period, the tax increases in the Chairman's proposal exceed those proposed by the President by $600 billion. The Chairman misses the opportunity to reduce spending. Over the 10 years… Continue Reading
04.17.12
Sessions Responds To Last-Minute Cancellation Of Planned Senate Budget Mark-Up And Votes
"Chairman Conrad's stunning announcement, forced on him by his party, is a defining moment in 2012 and a national embarrassment for a Senate majority that is unable to meet the great challenge of our time." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today in response to Chairman Kent Conrad's announcement about the Committee's planned budget mark-up: "Chairman Conrad's stunning announcement, forced on him by his par… Continue Reading
