Oversight
Sessions Responds To Debt Talk Rift, Warns Against 11th Hour Deal
"It will be unacceptable for the White House talks, or any talks, to produce a controversial decision at the 11th hour and for its passage to then be demanded in panic… Additionally, raising the debt ceiling should not be accompanied by tax hikes. A punishing tax increase would not only threaten needed growth, it would also give a free pass to the egregious overspending in Washington… Ultimately, $2 trillion is just the beginning of what we can and must cut to get our country back … Continue Reading
06.22.11
Sessions On CBO Outlook: Threat Of ‘Greece-Like Calamity,’ But No Budget Or Hearing From Senate Democrats
"The CBO data also reaffirms that our surging debt is being spurred by excessive spending and insufficient growth-not because Washington isn't taxing enough-and that excessive government borrowing is already slowing economic growth… If CBO's long-term projections come to pass, America as we know it will be in peril." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, commented today on the 2011 Long-Term Budget Outlook released by the Congressional … Continue Reading
06.14.11
Sessions & Ryan Demand President Uphold Obligation To Law And To Seniors
Top Republicans on Senate and House Budget Committees call upon President to respond to Medicare trigger WASHINGTON-Earlier today, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, and Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, Chairman of the House Budget Committee, sent a letter to President Obama following his Administration's failure to submit a proposal, as required by law, to address Medicare's financial insolvency. Ranking Member Sessions stated: "Faced with an appro… Continue Reading
06.13.11
Sessions On President’s Budget: ‘Unserious Response To Serious Situation’
"Our crushing debt undermines confidence in our economy, weakens our standing in the world, and results in devastating job loss for Americans… Nearly every expert that has testified before this committee has sounded the warning call. So too has the IMF, Moody's, our own Federal Reserve-all have cautioned us to turn back from the abyss of runaway spending and debt. And yet the President submitted a budget yesterday that fails to change course. It was a very unserious response to a v… Continue Reading
06.13.11
Senate Fails Crucial Test, Sessions Says, After Democrats Block Spending Cuts
"The president and his party leaders still don't get it. If they think we can now proceed to some meager compromise, they are gravely mistaken. This Congress must deliver whatthe situation demands… One way or another, we are going to reduce spending andrestore prosperity. The fight goes on." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, made the following comments today after the Senate failed to pass a bill to lower discretionary spending for … Continue Reading
06.13.11
Devil In The Details: Sessions Criticizes Mystery Funding In Obama Transportation Plan
06.13.11
Spending Doesn’t Equal Investment, Sessions Tells Obama’s Energy Secretary
March 2, 2011 Contact: Stephen Miller, 202.224.0642 "Just because you call something an 'investment' doesn't make it so… The president's plan worsens a desperate fiscal circumstance and fails to invest-by any honest measure-in our nation's energy future. America has vast, proven energy reserves and yet the president continues to lock those away in the pursuit of a failed green jobs stimulus that has produced neither the promised energy nor the promised jobs. Instead, the president's pla… Continue Reading
06.13.11
Sessions On CR: Reductions In Spending Must Be Sustained
"We will fight every day, week, and month to make the government leaner and the economy more prosperous." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, made the following comments today following the passage of a continuing resolution that funds the government over the next two weeks at approximately $4 billion less than current levels: "Washington tried the big-government approach for the last two years. It failed. All that was achieved through the … Continue Reading
06.13.11
Sessions Questions WH Rhetoric After Report Detailing Government Waste
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, made the following comment today following the release of a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that highlighted redundancy in federal programs: "Today's GAO report proves that for all the president's rhetoric about tough cuts, he has failed to make some of the easiest: leaving untouched countless programs that are wasteful, duplicative, and unnecessary-helping speed the country to his p… Continue Reading
06.13.11
Sessions To Obama Education Sec.: Can’t Win Future For Our Children With Borrowed Money
"Interest on our debt was $196 billion last year-three times as large as the total education budget this year. In 10 years, under the president's plan, the annual interest payment will be $844 billion, 10 times the size of the budget's call for education spending... You cannot win the future for our children with borrowed money." "What we need is leadership that focuses on why our education system is not meeting our expectations. This funding crisis is an opportunity to challenge the education … Continue Reading
06.13.11
The Spending Binge Continues: GAO Exposes Billions In Waste, Duplication
Today, GAO identified massive duplication, fragmentation, and other inefficiencies that cost taxpayers billions of dollars every year in waste and degraded service-all while President Obama's budget surges federal spending across the board and adds $13 trillion to the debt. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued its first annual report on government duplication today. The report identifies 34 broad areas of duplication as well as 47 additional areas of potential savings. In all, GAO … Continue Reading
06.13.11
On Two-Year Anniversary, Sessions Comments On Failed Stimulus
WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, today commented on the second anniversary of the enactment of President Obama's stimulus package, which spent nearly $1 trillion in a failed effort to revive the economy and bring down unemployment. Sessions made his remarks at a hearing with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, where he also addressed the president's threat to veto Republican proposals to reduce spending this year: "Let's remember: those … Continue Reading
06.13.11
Sessions to Geithner: Grow the Economy, Not the Government
"We need to stop growing the government and start growing the economy. That means reducing spending now. The situation is too urgent-and the need for a new direction too great-for us to delay action any longer." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered an opening statement today at a hearing with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to examine President Obama's budget proposal. Sessions' remarks, as prepared, follow: "Thank you, S… Continue Reading
06.13.11
Obama's FY2012 Budget: A Failure of Leadership
A Detailed Summary and Analysis of President Obama's FY 2012 Budget… Continue Reading
06.13.11
HBC & SBC Republican Summary of President's FY2012 Budget
THE PRESIDENT'S BUDGET SPENDS, TAXES, AND BORROWS TOO MUCH - STIFLING JOB GROWTH TODAY AND THREATENING OUR ECONOMIC FUTURE In challenging times, a chief executive must lead. But President Obama has failed to confront the fiscal and economic challenges before us. Instead, he continues down the same unsustainable path: growing the government, weakening the economy, and increasing the burden of debt on each and every American. Spends Too Much: $8.7 Trillion In New Spending Despite this year's $1… Continue Reading
06.13.11
Sessions: President's Budget 'A Blueprint For Losing The Future'
"The president has spoken in recent days about winning the future. But his budget reads more like a blueprint for losing the future." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the following statement today in response to President Obama's Fiscal Year 2012 budget proposal, which was submitted to Congress this morning: "Our national debt will soon be larger than our entire economy. We borrow 40 cents of every dollar we spend. This crushing… Continue Reading
06.13.11
As Economic Challenges Grow, Sessions Looks Back At Reagan Legacy On Role Of Government
"[President Reagan] lowered taxes dramatically, including a reduction in the top rate from seventy percent to less than thirty. And he reined in a runaway bureaucracy that had trapped innovation and productivity in a labyrinth of regulation and red tape… We would be wise to remember the lessons of that era. Peace through strength; prosperity through freedom." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, today commemorated the 100th anniversary… Continue Reading
06.13.11
Under President Obama’s Spending “Freeze,” Debt Will Grow $4 Trillion In 5 Years
• The president's "freeze" would continue dramatically increased spending levels at a time when we have a $1.5 trillion deficit, producing an estimated $3.8 trillion in accumulated deficits over the next 5 years.[1] It maintains inflated levels of non-defense discretionary spending while allowing for ongoing increases in the rest of the budget. • The "freeze" pushes us down the path to a total debt[2] of $21.2 trillion by 2016-well over 100 percent of GDP. • The levels locked in… Continue Reading
06.13.11
Experts And The Public Agree: Democrat Health Care Plan Adds To Deficit
"Health reform is part of deficit reform." President Barack Obama, Remarks to the Families USA Conference (January 27, 2011) ***** "How, then, does the ACA magically convert $1 trillion in new spending into painless deficit reduction? It's all about budget gimmicks, deceptive accounting, and implausible assumptions used to create the false impression of fiscal discipline." Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Joseph Antos, and James C. Capretta, "Health Care Repeal Won't Add to the Deficit" (January 19, 2011)… Continue Reading
06.13.11
Sessions: With Budget Proposal, President’s Deficit Credibility At Stake
"In two weeks, on February 14th, the president will submit a new budget to Congress. This may be his last chance to get this right. For the president to be a credible voice in this debate he must put forward a budget with significantly lower spending levels. He cannot present Congress with the same unserious plan he presented at the State of the Union." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered remarks today addressing the U.S.' rising d… Continue Reading
