Oversight
‘The Public Deserves Better’: Sessions Appeals For Honest Budgeting In Voting Against Spending Bill
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued a statement today following the passage of H.R. 2112, the appropriations "minibus" in the Democrat-led Senate that would see spending increase rather than decrease over last year's level: "This bill represents much of what is wrong with Washington. It promises spending cuts but delivers spending increases. It uses accounting gimmicks to conceal its true cost. And it puts us on a path to spend … Continue Reading
11.01.11
Sessions Outlines Spending Increases And Gimmicks In Appropriations Package
"The majority party [contends] that this bill-this minibus-spends $128 billion, which is $1 billion below the $129 billion spent last year-a reduction of less than 1 percent. They are very proud of this… [but] the overall spending compared to last year went up by $10 billion…" But it gets worse. This bill also contains a number of Washington accounting tricks to sweep new spending under the rug. It's full of the typical gimmicks used to shove more spending into a bill that's alre… Continue Reading
11.01.11
Sessions: Latest Solyndra-Style Bankruptcy ‘Heightens Concerns About Corporate Favoritism’
"Increasingly, we are moving away from our capitalist heritage and towards a system where most Americans play by the rules while some are able to rig the game in their favor." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement in response to Beacon Power's filing for bankruptcy after the company received a $43 million taxpayer-funded loan guarantee: "The revelation that another corporation receiving a loan from the Obama a… Continue Reading
10.27.11
Call on Sebelius to Provide Key CLASS Act Documents
WASHINGTON, D.C.-U.S. Senator John Thune (R-S.D.), Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, today sent a letter to Secretary Kathleen Sebelius calling on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide key documents regarding the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act that were drafted prior to the passage of the new health care law. Secretary Sebelius agreed to provide any premium, participation, or actuarial models to Congressional leaders at a Sena… Continue Reading
10.27.11
Are Experts Who Call On U.S. To Curb Rising Debt ‘Extreme’ Too?
"Is the debate over spending just another Republican and Democrat squabble? Is it just an attempt to gain political advantage? Sound and fury signifying nothing? The answer is a resounding 'no.' We are spending money we don't have in amounts dramatically greater than in any time in our history… If we act decisively now to end our wasteful spending habits, we can be confident of growth and progress." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Bu… Continue Reading
10.27.11
Sessions Applauds House Republican Budget, Reprimands Irresponsibility Of Democrat Leaders
"The contrast between [the House Republican] plan, and the failure of the Democrats who run the Senate and White House, is extraordinary." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, made the following statement today after House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan released the FY 2012 House Budget Resolution: "There are three bodies in government that are required to submit a budget proposal every year: the White House, the Sena… Continue Reading
10.27.11
Sessions Calls On President To Withdraw Controversial Budget Nominee
"I must oppose this nomination and renew my call for the president to stop obstructing the efforts to prevent our looming debt crisis and start leading-beginning with the withdrawal of Ms. Higginbottom and the appointment of a qualified nominee." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, made the following comments today after the Budget Committee approved the nomination of Heather Higginbottom to be Deputy OMB Director on a narrow… Continue Reading
10.27.11
Sessions Responds To Latest Developments On Spending Negotiations, Potential Shutdown
"[The House's] reductions in spending are a crucial first step towards getting our fiscal house in order. But President Obama and the Democrat-led Senate have so far refused to take even this first step towards fiscal sanity… Instead, Democrat leaders have resorted to exaggerated, dishonest doomsday predictions about what would happen if we cut government spending by even 2 percent… Years from now people will look back at this year's spending fight as a turning point or a lost oppo… Continue Reading
10.27.11
This Has Always Been A Debate About Spending—And The American People Get It
"Not only are Democrat leaders resisting change, they are attacking-even savaging-the good and decent people who are calling for change… This has never been a debate about 'riders.' It has always been a debate about spending. And that debate is just getting started. We are going to fight to cut spending and strengthen our country every day, week, and month… We will keep fighting until we have secured this nation's legacy for the next generation." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessi… Continue Reading
10.27.11
Sessions Calls on President to Submit New, Concrete Budget Plan to Congress
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today following the announcement that the President will deliver a speech this week on deficit reduction: "The President recently submitted a budget to Congress that was the most irresponsible spending plan any President has ever put forward. Today's announcement that the President will deliver an address this week on deficit reduction is an apparent recognition that the budg… Continue Reading
10.27.11
Sessions Responds to President’s Speech: ‘Vision’ Presented Was Big Government
"We are told the president was presenting a 'vision.' But the Budget Act requires the submission of a budget, not a vision. If the president wishes to alter his previous budget then he should submit a plan to Congress that can be scored, reviewed, and analyzed... My fear is that the president's 'vision' is to make as few cuts and as little change as possible so that he can protect and sustain big government. But that is not the vision that has made America great and that will keep it so." WA… Continue Reading
10.27.11
Casting Vote For Spending Cut, Sessions Says It’s ‘Beginning Of Beginning’ Of Budget Fight
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, made the following comments today after voting in support of a bill to fund the government for the rest of the year while reducing spending by $38.5 billion: "This is just the beginning of the beginning of the fight. The nearly $40 billion dollars we are cutting today from this year's budget is a small but important step towards the significant and substantial spending reductions our economy desperately ne… Continue Reading
10.27.11
Budget Committee Republicans Ask Obama To Submit New Budget By May 15
WASHINGTON-All 11 Republicans on the U.S. Senate Budget Committee sent a letter to President Obama asking that, in light of his Wednesday speech on deficit reduction, he submit a new, revised budget to Congress as part of the statutorily mandated Mid-Session Review. Upon the letter's release, Ranking Member Sessions made the following comment: "The president's speech on Wednesday is an apparent acknowledgement that the budget he submitted to Congress fails to address the dangerously rising deb… Continue Reading
10.27.11
Sessions: ‘Not Everyone In Washington Living In Same Reality’
WASHINGTON-In the wake of yesterday's report that credit rating agency Standard & Poor's was assigning a negative outlook to the U.S. rating, and in the face of growing domestic and international calls for the United States to address its long-term deficits, U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement: "Not everyone in Washington is living in the same reality. We are spending and borrowing our way into an economic crisis and … Continue Reading
10.27.11
Sessions Reacts To Forecast That China’s Economy Will Soon Top That Of U.S.
WASHINGTON- U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today following the forecast from the International Monetary Fund that in 2016 China's economy will surpass that of the United States as the world's largest: "The IMF forecast that in five years China will surpass America as the world's leading economic power is a call to action. It's time to get our economy in fighting shape. Our enormous surging debt may already be costing… Continue Reading
10.27.11
Committee Republicans Ask Chairman Conrad To Hold Open Mark-Up Of Budget, Post Resolution Online
"It is our belief that the most important budget we will have ever worked on deserves the most open process we have ever had… The American people do not, and should not, trust Washington with their tax dollars-for years it has frittered away those tax dollars and brought our nation to the brink of insolvency… Only by holding an open and thorough review of the budget in committee can we directly engage the American people in a process that, by right, belongs to them." … Continue Reading
10.27.11
Sessions Anticipates Senate Vote On President’s Budget
"Given their heated rhetoric opposing spending discipline, I assume Senate Democrat leaders will happily call the president's budget to a vote to demonstrate their support for a plan that dramatically grows our deficits and our taxes-making us less prosperous and less competitive as a result." WASHINGTON-Commenting on announced Senate votes on the House-passed budget resolution and the president's budget, U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Commit… Continue Reading
10.26.11
Spending Cuts And Economic Growth: What Does The Cross-Country Empirical Evidence Show?
U.S. Senate Budget Committee Republican staff analysis IntroductionThe federal debt held by the public has doubled, in nominal terms, in less than four years. It now stands at over 62 percent of GDP, the highest level since 1951. What costs does this place on our economy? With our fragile economy still suffering high unemployment, can we risk attempting to slow the accumulation of more debt by reducing government spending? This paper examines these questions by surveying the available literatur… Continue Reading
10.21.11
Sessions Comments After Senate Democrats Oppose Food Stamp Fix To Save Billions In Mishandled Funds
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement tonight after Senate Democrats voted to reject the amendment, offered by Sessions, to the appropriations package that would have fixed a provision in the quadrupling food stamp budget to prevent billions in funds from being mishandled: "The agriculture bill we are considering this week-part of three appropriations bills being irresponsibly crammed together-would result in a … Continue Reading
10.20.11
Sessions To Oppose Cloture On Combined Spending Bills
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement tonight announcing his opposition to shutting off debate on the appropriations package, which combined three separate spending bills: "The package of spending bills before the Senate this week is proof positive that Washington spending remains out of control. Total spending in these three bills will be four percent higher-or $9.4 billion-than last year. We have to have real s… Continue Reading
