Ranking Member Press

05.23.12

Thune, Sessions Demand Transparent Plan From Obama Administration For Implementing Sequestration Cuts

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Senator John Thune (R-SD), Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference and a member of the Senate Budget Committee, today was joined by Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-AL) in introducing the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012, a bill requiring the Obama Administration to provide Congress with its plan for implementing the required budget sequestration cuts for fiscal year 2013. "The Democrat-led Senate's failure to produce a budget year after year h… Continue Reading


05.22.12

Stunning Discovery: Senate Majority Fixed Discretionary Outlays For FY13 At Obama Budget Level, $14 Billion Above Debt-Deal Agreement

"The outlay levels for the appropriations bills have been inflated by $14 billion to meet the levels in the President's budget… It is unthinkable that we would not only spend more than Congress agreed to, but would institute instead the numbers derived from President Obama's budget which this chamber unanimously rejected… I'm afraid that this is another example of the sleight-of-hand tactics that have been used in Congress for too long. We have Members of Congress that take it as… Continue Reading


05.21.12

Sessions, Grassley: Lavish 9th Circuit Judicial Conference In Maui Could Cost Taxpayers More Than $1 Million

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, released a letter today to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski concerning a planned judicial conference in Maui, Hawaii. In their letter, the Senators note that the taxpayer-funded conference, scheduled for August 13-16, features opportunities for numerous recreational activities not related to any of… Continue Reading


05.17.12

Sessions: Senate Majority Backs Reid, Supports Leader’s View That Having A Budget Is ‘Foolish’

WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today after every member of the Democrat Conference voted to reject every budget the Senate considered, including President Obama's: "Today, before the whole nation, the majority party running the Senate effectively declared that as long as they're in charge this country will not have a budget. Their message is simple: Send Washington more money. Don't ask us what we'll do … Continue Reading


05.15.12

Sessions: By Refusing To Offer Budget Plan, Senate Majority Endorses Nation’s Current Dangerous Financial Direction

"The party running the Senate has neither written nor offered a budget plan for our nation's financial future… The budget votes expected this week will once again bring into crystal focus that the party running the Senate is refusing to meet its financial obligations… Through its continued unwillingness to advance a sound plan for the future, the Senate majority is endorsing the unsustainable course we are on now." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the … Continue Reading


04.27.12

Sessions: Exactly Three Years Since Senate Majority Last Adopted A Budget

WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today about April 29th, the three-year anniversary of the last time the Democrat-led Senate passed a budget resolution: "This Sunday marks exactly three years since the last time the Senate's Democrat majority adopted a budget. For three years, in the midst of fiscal crisis, the party running the Senate refused to even attempt to produce their financial plan in willful and kn… Continue Reading


04.24.12

Sessions Comments On Senate Waiving Budget Rules To Increase Debt

"This is not a debate about the merits of the postal bill. It's a debate about paying for it… A vote to waive the point of order was a vote to waive the debt deal agreement… yet every Democrat Senator voted to break the budget. Today's vote is more evidence that their Senate majority-which, as of this Sunday, will have refused to pass a budget since exactly three years ago-is determined to avoid any semblance of financial accountability." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL),… Continue Reading


04.23.12

Sessions To Raise Point Of Order Against Postal Bill For Spending Billions More Than Debt Limit Agreement Allowed

"Spending and debt under the postal bill violates the debt limit agreement reached just last summer… This is particularly odd since the President and the Senate Majority Leader have accused the House of breaking the budget agreement by trying to save extra money for taxpayers. This argument, of course, is not sound… Not one word in that law requires you to max out the cap… Only in Washington does spending underneath a cap get you accused of breaking a deal while spending mo… Continue Reading


04.20.12

Sessions Says President Must Impose Disciplined Management On Dysfunctional Government

"Right now, the President needs a Solyndra rule, not a Buffett Rule: instead of focusing on extracting more money from the American people, he must focus on ending the abuse of taxpayer dollars and restoring faith in the operation of the federal government." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding scandals in the executive branch and waste of taxpayer dollars. He also called on the President to dem… Continue Reading


04.18.12

Sessions Issues Opening Statement At Budget Committee ‘Mark-Up’

"The effective cancellation of this mark-up puts in crystal focus that the Senate's Democrat leadership is determined to go to November without ever bringing a budget to the floor… They have proven themselves unable to meet the defining challenge of our time. But if Republicans are honored with a Senate majority next year, we will conduct a real mark-up and we will pass an honest budget. And it will change the debt course of America." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking M… Continue Reading


04.17.12

Sessions Responds To Last-Minute Cancellation Of Planned Senate Budget Mark-Up And Votes

"Chairman Conrad's stunning announcement, forced on him by his party, is a defining moment in 2012 and a national embarrassment for a Senate majority that is unable to meet the great challenge of our time." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today in response to Chairman Kent Conrad's announcement about the Committee's planned budget mark-up: "Chairman Conrad's stunning announcement, forced on him by his par… Continue Reading


04.13.12

Sessions Issues Statement On Conrad’s Planned Mark-Up, Reid’s Decision To Block Budget From Floor

"I am glad that the Chairman is moving forward with this mandatory process despite the apparent wishes of his leadership. But the great question before us now is whether Majority Leader Reid will reverse his unconscionable stance that no budget-even his Chairman's-should receive consideration on the Senate floor. If that stance does not change, then the whole purpose of the mark-up is undermined and the American people will have been denied the open, public process they deserve… I hope Ch… Continue Reading


04.03.12

Sessions Responds To President’s Budget Speech, $17 Trillion In New Health Law Obligations

"President Obama might have more credibility on these matters were his plan not rejected 0-414 in the House and, the year before, 0-97 in the Senate. President Obama would also enjoy more fiscal credibility if he spent less time assailing the House and more time encouraging the Senate's Democrat Majority to comply with the law requiring them to write a budget and pass it on the floor-something they've refused to do for three straight years… The American people-Democrat and Republican-are… Continue Reading


03.29.12

Sessions: Health Law’s Unfunded Obligations More Than Double That Of Social Security

"Part of my responsibility as the Ranking Member is to look at the long-term costs of legislation… I was floored by what we discovered. At a time when we should be trying to shore up Medicare and Social Security, this health law adds an entirely new obligation-one we cannot pay for-and puts the entire financing of the United States government in jeopardy. We don't have the money. We don't have another $17 trillion in unfunded liabilities that we can add to our account." WASHINGTON-U.S. S… Continue Reading


03.29.12

Sessions Contrasts House, Senate Budget Action; Says Reid ‘Determined To Avoid’ Votes On Health Law

"As President Obama once said, a budget serves as 'an economic blueprint for this nation's future.' Where is the blueprint from the party given the high honor of leading this Chamber?" WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today as the House of Representatives prepared to hold a vote on its budget plan, while the Democrat-led Senate continues to both insist that a budget is not needed and to ignore the April 1st… Continue Reading


03.23.12

Sessions Issues Statement On 2nd Anniversary Of President’s Health Law

"This bill is unpopular, unaffordable, and unconstitutional. It must be repealed." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today to mark the second anniversary of the signing of President Obama's health spending law: "Two years ago, the president signed his 2,000-page health bill into law after it was forced through Congress over the outcry of the American people. The law represents an unprecedented expansion of … Continue Reading


03.21.12

Sessions: A Senate Republican Majority Would Pass A Budget

"[The House] presented an honest plan to control wasteful Washington spending, restore Medicare to safety, and grow the middle class-not the government… The Senate's Democrat majority [is going] three straight years without offering a budget… In so doing, Senate Democrats forfeited their claim on leadership. Should voters give Republicans the privilege of a majority in the Senate next year, we will work with our colleagues in the House to finally pass a congressional budget plan. I… Continue Reading


03.20.12

Sessions’ Remarks At House Press Conference Unveiling Their FY13 Budget Plan

"House Republicans… have courageously, intelligently, and responsibly laid out a new plan for America's future… [Senate Democrats] have refused to offer a budget for now three straight years now… The Senate's Democratic majority has forfeited their claim to leadership for America. If the voters give Republicans in the Senate the honor of having the majority next year, we will work with the House to pass a congressional budget… It will change the debt course of America… Continue Reading


03.16.12

Sessions Calls Out Schumer, Dem Leaders For Brazen Political Ploys

"Washington Democrats must think themselves very clever… they have shamelessly shifted the conversation from… very real dangers to the phantom controversies that exist only in their imagination. They are desperate to distract from a record that they cannot defend." WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the attempts of Democrat leaders in Washington to deflect attention their record … Continue Reading


03.14.12

Sessions Comments On CBO Revelation Of Growing Price Tag For President’s Health Law

WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued a statement today following yesterday's updated baseline from the Congressional Budget Office, which revealed that projections of the gross costs associated with President Obama's health law had increased, as did the number of people who would be dropped from their employer-sponsored coverage: "President Obama told the American people his health law would cost around $900 billion over 10 years, but … Continue Reading

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