Dear Honorable Trustees: We strongly reject the notion that the spending reductions from and the payroll tax increases to the Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) trust fund enacted in the new health care law (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or PPACA) can both improve the government’s ability to pay future Medicare benefits and finance […]
“America’s strength is measured not by the size of our government but by the scope of our freedoms. Endless spending, taxing, and borrowing is a certain path to decline.” WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered remarks on the Senate floor today explaining that Republicans stand behind a strong, […]
WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today after all 47 Republican Senators joined to introduce a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution: “In the Budget Committee we have heard countless warnings from expert after expert and witness after witness. We are on a dangerous […]
WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today upon the release of a new Budget Committee analysis about the concrete effects of the sequester on both defense and non-defense spending. In light of the supercommittee’s failure to reach a deficit reduction agreement, the disproportionate nature of […]
“Had the president made clear he wanted an agreement, a deal would have been achieved. It seems clear he wanted a campaign issue instead. Rather than confronting the great threat of our time—our $15 trillion debt—the commander-in-chief fled the battlefield.” WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following […]
“It is strange and bizarre that we have tasked a committee of 12 to achieve deficit reduction at the same time that Congress is working to increase the deficit with bills such as this… With the president at the helm, Washington is continuing to steer the ship of state towards financial disaster. I therefore oppose […]
“[Under the Budget Control Act,] we’re supposed to spend $1,043 billion, down $7 billion from $1,050 billion in discretionary spending last year. Unfortunately, this is just one more empty Washington promise. Because the bill was rushed to passage in the 59th minute of the 11th hour, nobody knew the gimmick at the time… The truth […]
“These ‘masters of the universe,’ as I sometimes call them, are quick to make confident predictions and even quicker to explain why the failure of their last prediction should not count against the one they have just made. They say the mammoth stimulus failed because it just wasn’t mammoth enough… What we need is a […]
“Pushing for tax hikes, instead of seeking common ground to reduce wasteful spending, threatens to collapse the entire effort… Bailing out banks with tax dollars makes them less accountable—it’s the same thing with Washington’s big spenders… Is a 3 percent cut really too much to ask?” WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the […]
“Like welfare reform in the 1990’s, smart reforms to the food stamp program will improve outcomes and help more Americans achieve financial independence. Unmonitored welfare programs, over time, can hurt the very people we are seeking to help. A thoughtful reform of funding will not only improve the outlook for our indebted Treasury, but for […]
WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, sent a letter to Energy Secretary Chu today requesting detailed information on how the Energy Department calculates the risk factor for the Department’s efforts to subsidize certain energy corporations. Sessions asked whether the calculation was revised after the Solyndra incident, and expressed concern […]
“Hardworking Americans have every right to be upset. They watch as major corporations with connections to the White House get bailouts, handouts, and taxpayer-funded loans while they’re asked to bear an ever heavier burden.” WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today after another bipartisan Senate […]
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 […]
“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 […]
“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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
“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 […]
“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 […]
“[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 […]
“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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
“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… […]
“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 […]
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 […]