Senate Proceeding on Sep 23rd, 2009 :: 3:30:30 to 3:46:00
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3:30:30 to 3:30:51( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: spending for the appropriations in fiscal year 2010 is unprecedented. we know we have the biggest deficits we've had in -- ever in the history of the republic, and now we're passing more appropriations bill that will take place next year that have unprecedented spending levels.

3:30:30 to 3:46:00( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Jeff Sessions

3:30:52 to 3:31:14( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: for bill, i've always tried to support agriculture appropriations in this senate. i've not always been able to do so. but it had an increase of 14.5%. at that rate agriculture will double in five years. the average increase in

3:31:15 to 3:31:38( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: agriculture spending compounded over the past seven years, 2003 through 2009, was just 2.1%. so we've got 14%. e.p.a. funding, their increases this year in the

3:31:39 to 3:32:00( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: us today, it's 16.6%. and what's inflation? 2% or less? 16% spending increase, one year. and at this rate spending for interior e.p.a. would double every four to five years.

3:32:01 to 3:32:23( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: and increase for the environmental protection agency is 33%. i guess that would double in two to three years. since e.p.a. was added to the interior difficult to compare -- or at least prior to that -- however

3:32:24 to 3:32:46( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: we've added the e.p.a. funding to ierior funding just to get a comparison over previous years and so the numbers would be comparable. the avege annual increase i interior e.p.a. appropriations from 2001 to 2009 is

3:32:47 to 3:33:08( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: but this year 16.6%. when deficit the history of the republic this year. and when we passed a stimulus bill, i'll mention in a minute, that is huge in terms o additional being counted in the figures making -- i'm making reference to today.

3:33:09 to 3:33:32( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: we also trsportation h.u.d. bill, commonly called looking at it in this configuration for the past three years, we're able to conclude how that developed. from 1995 through 2009, we've

3:33:33 to 3:33:53( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: seen a 5.5% increase in highway and h.u.d. funding. 5.5% over the last eight years. this year, what do you think? 23%. at 23% rate spending for highways in america would double in three years -- three to four years.

3:33:54 to 3:34:14( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: why is this important? well, let me back up one more time and mention the stimulus package. we passed this yr -- earlier this year insisting -- the president insisted on and he was able to force it through, a an $800 billion stimulus package. it was supposed to be to fix our

3:34:15 to 3:34:37( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: crumbling infrastructure, our highways and bridges. did you know only 4% or less of that $800 billion went t highways and bridges? so that was a flimflam. and the number i'm talking about for the basic highway budget that we passed, i guess, a few

3:34:38 to 3:35:01( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: weeks ago, that -- that bill is a 23% increase in addition to the money that got out of the stimulus package. and to show you how large $800 billion is, stimulus package, by spending only 4% on highways, increased the federal highway funding by

3:35:02 to 3:35:24( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: about 40%. now, maybe now, you say, well, you know, jeff, the economy's not doing well. we need to spend more money. well, i submit we're spending money to a degree that it's putting a cloud over the future of our nation and people who are involved in finance and

3:35:25 to 3:35:45( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: investment and business worried not about what's going to happen in the next year, they're worrying about what's going to happen in the out years, in the next five, 10 years, how c something that's unsustainable? the administration has said this cannot be sustained. democratic senators have said it. and, certainly, i've said it.

3:35:46 to 3:36:07( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: in 2008, the entire national debt from the beginning founding of our nation through 2008 wa was $5.8 trillion. according to our congressional budget office, which believe is a fair and nonpartisan group, they took the president's budget and they calculated what it would mean to the deficit and

3:36:08 to 3:36:29( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: they concluded in five years -- when the president submitted a 10-year budget -- within five years that would double t to $1.8 trillion. that which we took over 200 years to accumulate accumulate, $5.8 billion would be doubled in five years. and by 2019, 10 years from now,

3:36:30 to 3:36:54( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: it would triple to 17.3 - -- $17.3 trillion in debt. so the road wre on today will triple the national debt. i'm n making these numbers up. this is the congressional budget office numbers. and it's stunning. and, in fact, it's based on the assumption that unemployment

3:36:55 to 3:37:19( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: would top out at moving to 10% now. we have a unemployment rate. it suggested a bigger economic growth next year, look like we're going to so those numbers, the results could be worse than we appear -- than appears here because the economy isn't coming back as

3:37:20 to 3:37:42( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: rapidly as we'd like it to. now, you say, well, it's hard to figure this. this -- i'm unable to understand this, sessions. how much money is this? $1 trillion doesn't mean much to me. i can't accumulate we spend less than $100 billion a year on education now.

3:37:43 to 3:38:05( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: we spend about $40 billion on highways. you know how much we spend on interest on the debt? people think you can just print the money. that's really not what happens. we borrow the money. we sell t treasury notes. people buy them, we have to pay them interest. right now the interest rates are pretty low. it's expected those interest rates are going to increase from -- from the financial sector on

3:38:06 to 3:38:26( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: wall street to the c.b.o. who calculates these numbers, everybody assumes the low interest rates are going to go up some. how much? we don't know. they took a moderate increase in interest rates. well, in 2009, this year, it's expected that the interest on our debt would be $170 billion. that's this figure right here.

3:38:27 to 3:38:47( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: $170 billion. that is going to go up every year. why? because the deficit this year is going to be about $1.8 trillion. we've never had a deficit like that before in the history of the republic. two years -- last year we had a $450 b

3:38:48 to 3:39:08( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: largest deficit in the history of the republic. $450 billion. and this year it will b be $1,800,000,000,000. and what does that mean? so we have to borrow that money. and, in fact, over the 10-year

3:39:09 to 3:39:30( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: budget -- 10-year budget window, as assumed by the c.b.o., the deficits will never fall belo below $600 billion. in fact, it will average almost -- over $900 billion, almost $1 trillion a year. that's how you get t to $17 trillion after 10 years.

3:39:31 to 3:39:51( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: and so we have to borrow that money and the world countries like china have bought huge amounts of our treasury, we pay them interest on the money they've loaned to us. what does this mean over the 10 years? i think this can help the american people understand how how sizable this debt is. so we spend, as i

3:39:52 to 3:40:13( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: noted, $100 billion on education, federally. we spen spend $40 biion, $60 billion on transportation. this year, 2009, we spent $179 on interest. $219, under the red line here

3:40:14 to 3:40:36( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: here, $779 billion. $800 billion, money that we used to be in a position to spend, to buy things, to do build schools, build roads, do things that the nation needs is now going to have to be spent every year, $800 billion, to pay interest. this is why alan greenspan, why wall street experts, why

3:40:37 to 3:40:58( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: mr. bernanke and others have said, this is unsustainable. we cannot continue this course. and what do we get here from the appropriations committee and the senate leadership? we get an increases funding 16.6%.

3:40:59 to 3:41:20( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: now, that's just not acceptable. that is simply too spending. and as i indicated, a lot of money is being pumped into interiornd environmental appropriations from the 00 billion stimulus. -- $800 billion stimulus. i'm not counting that.

3:41:21 to 3:41:41( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: this is baseline spending. so next year if somebody in this congress were to have an an epiphany and become frugal and we don't increase it a bit, what would be the average increase

3:41:42 to 3:42:02( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: totally unacceptable. the last three years spending for interior and environment, 2007, had a 5.6% increase. 2008, a 3.7% increase. and so you're averaging far less than that.

3:42:03 to 3:42:23( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: this is a thunder russ increase in spending in this appropriations bill. i can't support it. there are a lot of good things in this legislation. i'd like to support it. i'm not going to vote for a bill that increases discretionary spending by 16%. have anybody been in a town hall lately and talked to their

3:42:24 to 3:42:46( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: constituents? how concerned are they? they think we've lost our minds up h and have we not? is the message not getting through? look at this highway bl.

3:42:47 to 3:43:07( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: a 23% increase. -- a 23%ncrease in h.u.d. and highway 23%. and t stimulus money, which amounts to ab that. this is baseline spending pt and when you put it in -- put it --

3:43:08 to 3:43:28( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: and when you put it in the baseline and not make it emergency or stimulus spending, then you've created momentum for continuing increases in the future. how many people think we're going to cut spending for next year? how many people think we'll have spending for h.u.d. transportation that will be below or equal to the inflation

3:43:29 to 3:43:49( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: rate? unless the american people's voices get heard here in a hurry, we'll have next year with a big increase. certainly it can't be 23% i would be flabbergasted. we have never seen those kind of

3:43:50 to 3:44:12( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: baseline expenditures before. madam president, i don't want to go on anymore at any length. i don't want to vote against these bills. i'd like to vote for all of they've got some good things in it. but we've got to simply recognize that what we're doing is unacceptable. the american people are furious with us. they and we neeto get our act

3:44:13 to 3:44:34( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: together. and -- when we had a shortage -- one of the most significant votes that i recall we took, it was so irresponsible, was senator vitter, from louisna, offered an amendment that said the shortage in -- in gas tax revenue that we find with the highway bill, that should be

3:44:35 to 3:44:56( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: made up by taking money from the stimulus package that had been unspent, $800 billion. it would take $20 billion or something like that. that's what the bill was supposed to be for from the beginning, infrastructure, crumbling infrastructure. he proposed that. he was voted down. why? because they didn't want to take a dime out of the $800 billion

3:44:57 to 3:45:17( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: stimulus bill, even if spent. they wanted to fill that gap with more debt. since we're already in deficit, to find another $20 billion or so to complete the higay bill over the next year or two, you've just got to increase the debt. so that's what we've been doing. it's an unsustainable course. i urge my colleagues to begin to

3:45:18 to 3:45:42( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: say no. let's vote no on this legislation. let's start spending the american people a message that we hear their concerns. we know their concerns are legitimate and right. and it is time for us to be responsible. i thank the chair and yield the

3:45:43 to 3:45:54( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Sessions: floor. mr. alexander: mr. president, i note t absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.