Oversight
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
10.20.11
Sessions Announces Opposition To Controversial Budget Nominee
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today in opposition to the nomination of Heather Higginbottom to be Deputy Director at the Office of Management and Budget: "Ms. Higginbottom has no real budget experience. She would be the least qualified nominee to hold this post in decades. During her hearing she struggled to defend the administration's indefensible claim that the president's debt-doubling budget would no… Continue Reading
10.18.11
Sessions Unveils Amendments Combat Billions In Waste, Gimmicks As He Challenges President To Do The Same
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, spoke on the Senate floor today as he announced the filing of the following three amendments to the pending "mini-bus" appropriations package: No CHiMPs that don't save money-This amendment would create a 60-vote point of order against any appropriations bill if it includes CHiMPs that do not reduce outlays over the ten-year window. The current bill includes $7.5 billion in phony CHiMPs savings. Since 20… Continue Reading
10.17.11
SBC White Paper On Education In America: It’s Not About The Money
"Money does not necessarily correlate with student achievement… in this country in the last 30 years, we have more than doubled the amount of money we are spending per child… and the results have gotten worse, not better." - Michelle Rhee, former D.C. Public Schools Chancellor, February 9, 2011 As the United States concludes its third consecutive year of deficits over $1 trillion, mounting more debt on future generations, the Obama Administration continues to call for increase… Continue Reading
10.14.11
Sessions On CLASS Act Termination: ‘Very Troubling Questions Remain’
"Very troubling questions remain about why this crucial information was not disclosed prior to the bill's passage and I continue to believe that the Senate Budget Committee's majority should hold a hearing with Secretary Sibelius at once." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the notification from the Obama Administration that it was dismantling the controversial CLASS Act program, the sustainabi… Continue Reading
10.14.11
Bipartisan Senate Budget Committee Leaders Submit Recommendations On Process Reform To Deficit Reduction Joint Committee
WASHINGTON-Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) today submitted bipartisan recommendations to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. The two Budget Committee leaders urged the panel to strengthen the congressional budget process and to switch to a two-year, or biennial, budget cycle. Upon release of the letter, the text of which is pasted below, Sessions issued the following statement: "I'm pleased that Chairman Conrad and I have… Continue Reading
10.14.11
Sessions, Ryan: 900 Days Since Senate Democrats Offered Budget Plan Is ‘National Disgrace’
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Chairman of the House Budget Committee, issued the following joint statement today to mark the 900th day since Senate Democrats last adopted a formal budget plan as required by the Congressional Budget Act: "America is greatly in need of strong, competent leadership. Our nation's total debt is now larger than our entire economy. Unemployment is painfully high and growth is … Continue Reading
10.12.11
2011 Medicare/Social Security Trustees’ Report Analysis
[To read Ranking Member Hatch's press statement click here]. Today the Social Security and Medicare Trustees issued their annual reports on the financial status of the two programs. The following are the major highlights from the 2011 Trustees' reports: Social Security Social Security is now permanently cash negative. Absent intra-governmental payments to the Trust Fund, Social Security is unable to pay benefits funded solely by the payroll tax. The Social Security Trust Fund 75-year unf… Continue Reading
10.12.11
By The Numbers: Dem Leaders’ Failure To Confront Fiscal Danger Brings Us To Edge Of Shutdown
Experts warn that our uncontrolled spending threatens our whole economy. But as House Republicans have put forward bills to both fund the government responsibly in the short term and confront our fiscal challenges in the long term, Democrat leaders in Washington have not put forward a single serious proposal to cut spending. Instead, they have offered only excuses, objections, and resistance every step of the way. Asked in an interview on FOX News last night why Democrats did not pass a budget… Continue Reading
10.12.11
Action Alert: Controversial Budget Nominee Headed For Vote Today
STUNNINGLY INEXPERIENCED NOMINEE UP FOR KEYBUDGET POST; DEMONSTRATED TROUBLING LACK OF CANDOR AND KNOWLEDGE IN TESTIMONY A critical position at a critical agency at a critical time: This afternoon, the Senate Budget Committee is scheduled to vote on the controversial nomination of Heather Higginbottom to be President Obama's deputy budget director at the Office of Management and Budget. Ms. Higginbottom would assume this key post at a time when our nation faces a historic financial threat. Th… Continue Reading
