Ranking Member Press

03.09.13

Sessions Delivers Weekly Republican Address

"We need to grow the economy-not the government… Government has never been bigger or more out of control. They say there is no problem with waste, fraud, and abuse; they say the problem is you; they say you are not sending them enough money; they say they have wisely spent every penny. So, you must just send them more. And, if you don't? Well, they won't stop spending, they'll just borrow more. These destructive policies cannot continue. We are at the breaking point." WASHINGTON, D.C.-In… Continue Reading


03.08.13

Sessions, Ryan Call For Halt On Taxpayer Funding For Risky High-Speed Rail Project

"We are deeply troubled by the prospects of subsidizing another costly, wasteful, and risky high-speed rail project, particularly when our nation is facing a debt crisis that threatens the well-being of the current and future generations of Americans… We would urge the Administration to reject the XpressWest loan application and to direct its available RRIF funds to more worthy transportation infrastructure projects that could truly provide a reasonable rate of return to the taxpayers of … Continue Reading


03.04.13

Sessions Comments On Nomination Of New OMB Director

"The Director must lead an effort to make government leaner and more efficient, and must be committed to providing honest and accurate information on the dangerous financial condition of our country." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding President Obama's nomination of Sylvia Burwell to head the Office of Management and Budget: "We will fairly and thoughtfully evaluate this nomination. Whoever h… Continue Reading


03.01.13

Sessions: Data In New State Dept. Letter Further Proves Immigrant Welfare Prohibition Being Ignored

WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding newly released data from the State Department demonstrating that only 0.0033 percent of net applications for admission to the United States were denied on "public charge" grounds in 2011, despite the federal law prohibiting admission of any individual deemed likely to be a public charge: "The data just provided by the State Department, like that recently provi… Continue Reading


03.01.13

Sessions: Fed Workers Should Have Opportunity To Find Budget Savings

"[Federal] workers know firsthand how much waste and inefficiency exists in the government. Our Budget Committee office will look for a way to solicit federal employees to send suggestions for how to save money in their departments, agencies, and divisions. What is better? To furlough someone or to empower them to make their office more efficient?" WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today as the sequester was… Continue Reading


02.28.13

Sessions Delivers Opening Remarks At Budget Committee Hearing On Government Spending

WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, delivered remarks today at a Budget Committee hearing scheduled by the majority to make the case for additional federal "investments." Sessions' remarks, as prepared, follow: "Thank you, Chairman Murray. This hearing deals with an important subject: Government spending and long term economic growth. It provides an important opportunity to address the economic harm caused by excessive federal spending and … Continue Reading


02.27.13

Sessions Delivers Closing Remarks On Lew Nomination

"This was the strategy: offer a plan that does nothing to alter our dangerous debt course while pretending the opposite. Then, once you've done that, attack anyone who dares to reduce the size of the bureaucracy. Attack anyone who suggests Washington is too powerful… It is time that we pointed out that the establishment they are shielding from cuts-the big-government apparatus they are defending-is hurting people every day. Their policies, their endless support of the bureaucracy, has cr… Continue Reading


02.27.13

Sessions Opens Debate On Opposition To Jack Lew Nomination

"Normally, and necessarily, the OMB director is the single office that drives efficiency and demands accountability on behalf of the President and the American people. In that aspect of his job, and in this time of surging debt, I rate Mr. Lew's performance as an F… [It] was decided [that] Mr. Lew would go before the American people and Congress and just declare that the budget did put the nation on a sound financial course… To anybody that has the slightest concern for the meani… Continue Reading


02.14.13

Sessions: DHS Letter Confirms Public Charge Immigration Law Not Being Enforced

WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued a statement today regarding the long-delayed response from the Department of Homeland Security about the Administration's apparent waiving of federal law with respect to welfare restrictions for immigrants. The response indicated that, in 2012, not a single immigrant was identified by the federal government as being a public charge: "The law that excludes immigrants from entry if they are likely to … Continue Reading


02.13.13

At Budget Hearing, Sessions Presents Moral Case For Welfare Reform

"Since President Johnson's Great Society, the federal government has spent $15 trillion dollars in the war on poverty. Yet the poverty rate has remained largely unchanged… Welfare is now the single largest item in the federal budget. It is larger than Medicare, larger than defense, larger than Social Security… Today, like in 1996, opponents of reform label any attempts to change the way these programs operate as cruel, uncaring, and dangerous. But what is actually cruel and uncarin… Continue Reading


02.12.13

Sessions Delivers Opening Statement At First Budget Hearing Of 2013

"It has been four years since the Democrat-led Senate has produced a budget as the law requires… I am glad that the Senate majority has relented and is going to do a budget this year, else I wonder what our Committee might find itself having to do-whether we would even need the Committee. So we look forward to meeting the Committee deadline of April 1st to publically produce a resolution and then April 15th on the Senate floor… While we talk of cuts and frugality, total spending i… Continue Reading


02.05.13

Sessions: White House Must End Its Violation Of Federal Medicare Law

WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the Committee's oversight of Jack Lew's role in the Administration's defiance of Medicare law, as well as other controversies surrounding his nomination: "Jack Lew must never be Treasury Secretary. As director of the Office of Management and Budget, he submitted to Congress two spend-and-debt budget plans which not only received zero votes but which would have… Continue Reading


02.04.13

Sessions Comments On Jack Lew’s Role In Violating Federal Law

"The Secretary of the Treasury is the premier financial post in government and our financial ambassador to the world. How can we place in that post a man who has consistently placed his own partisan interests above the financial well-being of our constituents?" WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today after Committee Republicans launched an inquiry into Jack Lew's role in violating the "Medicare trigger" law:… Continue Reading


02.04.13

Committee GOP Launches Inquiry On Jack Lew’s Complicity In Violating Federal Law

"We therefore request the following submissions be sent to Congress so that we may properly consider Mr. Lew's nomination: 1. A detailed legislative proposal responsive to the latest Medicare funding warning to bring the administration into compliance with federal law; 2. All documents, electronic or otherwise, received, reviewed or authored by Mr. Lew regarding responding to Medicare funding warnings during his most recent tenure at the Office of Management and Budget." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Je… Continue Reading


01.25.13

Sessions Confronts Democrat Leaders On Budget Games; Senate ‘Failing Miserably’ To Do Its Job

"Paul Ryan is leading. Speaker Boehner is leading. House Republicans are leading. But Senate Democrats, who control this chamber-who asked for this job-are refusing to allow a budget to move forward. They are refusing to share with the American people the contents of the plan they crafted behind closed doors-a plan they claim exists. "I look forward to the chance to support the House GOP budget… But let's look at the bigger picture this week. The planned series of votes are designed by … Continue Reading


01.23.13

Sessions Comments On Majority Relenting, Promising Senate Budget Mark-Up And Regular Order

"I have repeatedly and emphatically called for an end to the Senate Democrats' brazen legal defiance in this time of national fiscal emergency… To compel Senate action I have introduced legislation, blocked recess, and encouraged the use of the debt ceiling as leverage. Now, with their pay threatened, and long-simmering public anger growing, Senate Democrats have suddenly seen the light. Even just a few days ago, they were not willing to commit to doing a budget." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Je… Continue Reading


01.18.13

Sessions Comments On House Effort To Force Senate To Pass A Budget

"The House must be steadfast. It is unthinkable that Senator Reid and Chairman Murray would put the nation through turmoil because they refuse to do their moral and statutory duty to produce a budget… It will not be easy because the challenge is great-and has become greater each year as a result of inaction by the Senate… but a clear and responsible budget and smart legislation to end our nation's reckless debt path can restore confidence and secure the future for today and for t… Continue Reading


01.16.13

Budget Committee Republicans To Murray: Production Of Budget ‘Prerequisite’ Of Fiscal Reform

"The suggested schedule we offer below would result in regular meetings and a timeline that leads to the completion of a budget resolution in accordance with the statutory requirements… We believe that work on a Senate budget is an essential prerequisite of any fiscal reform that takes place this year." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, released a letter today from all Budget Committee Republican members to incoming Chairman Patty … Continue Reading


01.16.13

Sessions Comments On Projected 80 Percent Growth In Welfare Spending

"We must return to the moral principles of the 1996 reform... It is through that prism that we should consider reforms to our welfare programs, ensure resources are targeted to those in genuine need, and help more people transition from dependence to independence." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today concerning the projection, based on Congressional Research Service data, that welfare spending will increa… Continue Reading


01.10.13

Budget Cmte. Ranking Member Announces Opposition To Jack Lew Nomination

"Jack Lew must never be Secretary of the Treasury. His testimony before the Senate Budget Committee less than two years ago was so outrageous and false that it alone disqualifies… He is also the architect of two of the worst budgets in American history, both of which received zero votes in the Senate… For me, no mea culpa, no excuse, can erase the errors of Mr. Lew… We need a Secretary of Treasury that the American people, the Congress, and the world will know is up to the… Continue Reading

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