By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Senator Sessions issued a statement following Senator Conrad’s, (D) from North Dakota, announcement that the Senate Budget Committee would not be allowed to vote on or amend the budget that he, the Chairman, brought to the Committee. Senator Jeff Sessions (R) from Alabama is the ranking member of the minority on the Senate Budget Committee.
Sen. Sessions said, “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.”
Sen. Sessions continued, “Chairman Conrad, I am sorry that your conference has prevented you from conducting a genuine budget committee mark-up. Votes and amendments have been cancelled, which lie at the heart of what a mark-up is all about. Republicans on the Committee were working to draft crucial amendments and offer our ideas for public votes right up until the moment of your announcement. It is clear to me that your fellow Senate Democrats protested and wished to avoid this public accountability. It is not easy, for sure, to step out and declare a position on the tough issues like these.”
Sen. Sessions said, “I know you have fought within your party to fulfill the duties of this committee, but your leadership in the Senate has been explicit in saying they will not pass a budget and they will not allow their party to offer a plan. Thus, 2012 will be the third straight year this body’s Democrat majority has refused to bring before the full Senate its vision for the financial future of our Republic. And let me remind those listening today that the adoption of a budget resolution is not optional—it is required by law.“
Sen. Sessions warned, “All of this at a time our nation has never faced a more severe, systemic financial threat. Our nation’s total debt is larger than the combined debt of the entire Eurozone and the United Kingdom combined—even though the size of our economy and population are smaller. Our per-person debt is worse than even Greece.”
“The Senate’s Democrat leaders are unwilling to bring a budget plan to the floor because their conference is unable to agree on any plan at all. This stands in stark contrast to the Republican House, which admirably met its duty and put forward a plan to not only avert debt disaster but create a long term path to prosperity,” Sen. Sessions said. “Any financial plan that includes the President’s health law is inherently unsound. The promised price tag was $900 billion, but the true cost will be $2.6 trillion for the first full ten years of implementation.” “The long-term unfunded obligation imposed by the health law is $17 trillion—more than double the $7 trillion in unfunded liability of Social Security. We planned to make an effort to try and strip the fiscally ruinous health law from the Chairman’s mark. The President’s health law is so financially unsound that it cannot remain the law of the United States.”
“Tax dollars are being thrown away at lavish parties for the GSA in Las Vegas, luxury trips to Hawaii, and loans to companies like Solyndra. Stimulus money was even used to buy a new engine for a city yacht in Los Angeles.” Sen. Sessions said, “The tax-and-spend government promoted by big spenders will not produce the compassionate result its architects claim. Uncontrolled government spending turns the social safety net into a restraining harness that too often places the dream of financial independence out of reach. It slows growth, destroys jobs, and diminishes opportunity.” “As government grows, the middle class shrinks. And the more power centralizes in Washington, the more those with Washington clout and connections are able to rig the game in their favor—while everyday Americans are bound-up in an endless maze of bureaucratic red tape. The pursuit of big government is bankrupting our Treasury. If we stay on this current path we will find out exactly what unsustainable means.”
Sen. Sessions concluded, “In the history of our nation, we have never faced a more severe financial threat and never needed a budget more than now. “
To read Sen. Sessions remarks in their entirety:
