Ranking Member Press

07.19.12

Sessions Urges USDA To Swiftly Produce Requested Docs On Mexico SNAP Partnership

"In this time of fiscal crisis, and at a moment when the Obama Administration is scaling back the work requirements that were a centerpiece of welfare reform, the nation needs to review all of the nearly 80 welfare programs now administered by the federal government. We must build on the sound principles of the 1996 reform-not abandon them." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today about the need for USDA to … Continue Reading


07.19.12

Sessions Asks USDA To Furnish Docs, Info On SNAP Recruitment Campaign With Mexico

"My Budget Committee staff recently asked USDA's Food and Nutrition Service to furnish materials relating to this partnership and the expenditure of taxpayer dollars, such as SNAP literature that is being distributed through Mexican consular offices. Despite these requests, that material has not been provided… It is a sound principle of immigration policy that those who come to America be able to take care of themselves financially. This 'partnership' and related consulate activity … Continue Reading


07.18.12

Thune, Sessions Praise Bipartisan House Passage Of Sequestration Transparency Act

WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-SD), Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, and U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, today praised the House of Representatives' passage of the Sequestration Transparency Act (H.R.5872) in a nearly unanimous bipartisan vote of 414 to 2. The Sequestration Transparency Act would require the Obama Administration to provide taxpayers and Congress with its plan for implementing the required sequestration cuts for defe… Continue Reading


07.17.12

Sessions To Push Vote On Majority’s Stealth $14 Billion Increase In FY13 Spending Limits

"Chairman Conrad, to his credit, does not dispute… [that] the outlay total he filed is $14 billion higher… He simply asserts that it is within his discretion to unilaterally set a higher total… Remember, outlays are the spending figure which directly registers on the debt. $14 billion in higher outlays in 2013 means $14 billion more added to the debt in 2013. It's just that simple… This is a matter that ought to be considered by the full Senate and so I plan to purs… Continue Reading


07.16.12

CBO Issues Sessions-Requested Report On Dramatic Surge In Americans Receiving Disability Insurance

"It is clear there is a great need to distinguish between proper and improper disability claims, and to better incentivize and find acceptable work for those who are able… The administration of this program must be improved to avoid sinking our country deeper into debt, to ensure the program remains viable for those with disabilities, and to protect Social Security itself." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following stat… Continue Reading


07.16.12

Sessions Reproaches Admin For Withholding Legally Mandated Budget Update

"This makes a more significant statement than the President's recent speeches and interviews professing his vigilant stewardship of the nation. Combined with $5 trillion in debt accrued since 2009, and the refusal of his Senate Majority to produce a budget for three years in the midst of crisis, it reveals a troubling detachment from the financial future of our Republic." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement … Continue Reading


07.16.12

Sessions, Grassley Heighten Criticism Of Ninth Circuit’s Lavish Retreat

"While there can be value in judicial conferences, that value is substantially eroded when judges and employees are distracted with extracurricular activities unrelated to the matters of the court. There is no indication that attendees are required to attend even one official event while on the Island… In our initial letter, we requested specific documents pertaining to the total cost of the Conference but were given vague excuses instead… Perhaps not tracking spending is the reaso… Continue Reading


07.13.12

As USDA Nixes Controversial Food Stamp Ads, Sessions Demands Top-Down Review Of Program's Administration

"I have concluded these ads are only the symptom of a wider culture in USDA, apparent throughout their enrollment literature, which seeks maximum registration as the ultimate goal, regardless of need… The evidence is mounting that USDA [is] pushing, even intimidating, people who do not wish to receive assistance, including non-citizen immigrants, into enrolling for benefits they claim they do not need or wish to receive." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the … Continue Reading


07.13.12

Sessions: President Set To Ignore Law By Not Providing Congress With Budget Update

"President Obama indicated recently that the biggest mistake of his first term was not spending more time delivering his message. Respectfully, I think a much bigger mistake was adding $5 trillion to the debt and then producing a budget plan this year that would add another $11 trillion to the debt through 2022. Making matters worse, the law requires the President to submit a budget update to Congress-known as the Mid-Session Review-before July 16th. It appears the deadline will be breached&hell… Continue Reading


07.12.12

Sessions Calls USDA’s Food Stamp Tactics Into Question

WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today in response to the continued emergence of reports that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has undertaken an aggressive outreach campaign to swell the food stamp rolls even when an individual does not need or wish to receive financial assistance: "It has become increasingly clear that, in recent years, the mission of the food stamp program has been converted from targete… Continue Reading


06.28.12

Sessions: Health Law ‘Financially Devastating To Our Republic’; Must Be Repealed

"The health care law is utterly unaffordable-[adding] $17 trillion in unfunded long-term obligations… It is unthinkable our nation would add this new, colossal debt burden at a time when we are already borrowing forty cents out of every dollar we spend. This 2,700-page health law… will be financially devastating to our Republic… If it is not repealed, it will cause Americans' personal health costs-and our nation's debt-to rise disastrously. It will massively expand the power… Continue Reading


06.21.12

Following Farm Bill’s Senate Passage, Sessions Reiterates Need For Welfare Reform

"Under this proposal, food stamp spending will average $77 billion each year for the next ten years. The average in the seven years prior to the recession was $28 billion. Is it the official view of the White House, and the Senate majority, that our economy will experience no improvement for a decade? … "Those supporting these record increases voted down an amendment that would have simply ensured food stamps are provided only to those who meet the program's existing eligibility requirem… Continue Reading


06.19.12

Sessions Comments On Senate Majority’s Rejection Of Modest Reforms To $800 Billion Food Stamp Budget

"Those administering the program seem determined to place the largest number of people possible on welfare support. Is not a better goal to see how many Americans we can help achieve financial independence?" WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued a statement today following votes on two of his food stamp reform amendments: "It is disappointing that the Senate majority rejected modest attempts to reform the single largest growing major … Continue Reading


06.19.12

Sessions, Thune Urge Conrad To Schedule Mark-Up Of Sequestration Transparency Act

"Having information about how the sequester would be implemented, and the specific items of spending that would be reduced, is critical to Congress in evaluating the impact of the sequester. Congress has tried repeatedly to obtain this information from the Office on Management and Budget, and it has not been provided. As a result, this legislation is needed for Congress to do its job with full information." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee… Continue Reading


06.18.12

Sessions, Grassley Criticize ‘Unapologetic’ Response From Ninth Circuit About Maui Judicial Conference

WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, and U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement today in response to a letter from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals defending the planned million-dollar judicial conference at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa in the Hawaiian tropics: "We have received a reply from the Ninth Circuit regarding its fourth planned Hawaii conference … Continue Reading


06.14.12

Sessions Responds To President's False Claim That His Budget Pays Down The Debt

WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today in response to President Obama's comments on the debt: "I was stunned that President Obama said his plan will pay down the national debt. His budget would add $11 trillion to the debt in ten years and was rejected unanimously in the United States Senate. He has refused to call upon his Senate Majority to produce a budget plan for the first time in three years. Most… Continue Reading


06.08.12

Sessions Comments On President’s Economic Address

WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today after President Obama held a news conference on the state of the economy: "It is astounding that, only days after the Congressional Budget Office issued its chilling debt outlook, President Obama once again failed to seriously address the single greatest threat facing our economy. America's total debt-which is greater than that of the entire Eurozone and UK combined-is … Continue Reading


06.07.12

Unveiling Food Stamp Amendments, Sessions Outlines Moral Case For 21st Century Welfare Reform

"I have filed a modest package of food stamp reforms to the farm bill that will achieve several important goals: Save taxpayer dollars; reduce the deficit; achieve greater accountability in how the program is administered; confront widespread waste; direct food stamps to those truly in need; and help more Americans achieve financial independence… It is time to re-engage the national discussion over how the receipt of welfare benefits can become damaging, not merely to the Treasury but al… Continue Reading


06.06.12

Sessions Writes Conrad Concerning $14 Billion Increase In Senate Allocations Above BCA Levels

WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, sent the following letter today to Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad about the outlay levels filed as required by the Budget Control Act. Although that law directs outlay aggregates be set at the CBO March 2012 baseline level, Conrad used figures apparently derived from President Obama's unanimously rejected budget, which will result in $14 billion higher spending and debt in fiscal year 2013. Text of … Continue Reading


05.29.12

Sessions, Issa Press DOI To Stop Stonewalling, Provide Requested Info On Corporate Energy Loans

"It is suggestive and troubling that more than half a year has passed without DOI providing the requested documents and information. Our concern is heightened given the serious nature of the questions raised and the government's pattern of indiscretion in providing government assistance to politically connected green energy companies such as Solyndra." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, and U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the Ho… Continue Reading

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