Pete Sessions: “I want to share in some remarks Senator Ayotte had relative to the amendment she submitted that would pay for the…”

“I want to share in some remarks Senator Ayotte had relative to the amendment she submitted that would pay for the unemployment insurance extension and veteran pensions benefits. I will just say her pay-for is an issue that I have had some experience with. I offered several years ago an amendment to fix the same problem, and I was disappointed when the majority leader, Senator Reid, objected to that amendment. Senator Ayotte's amendment would pay for the jobless benefits of unemployed Americans and restore veterans' pensions by cutting off fraudulent tax payments to illegal aliens. This is a very simple concept. There is a clear abuse going on here that needs to be fixed, and it should have been fixed a long time ago. The amendment contains an offset of $20 billion--$20 billion--by closing this loophole and ending this abuse of American tax dollars. Remember, the veterans' retirement benefit reductions in their retirement plans that were voted on recently in this body--part of the Ryan-Murray budget agreement--only saved $6 billion over 10 years by altering the retirement benefits of veterans. So this amendment-- closing the tax loophole--would save $20 billion over 10 years. In 2011--this is when the matter first came to my attention by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Each Department has an inspector general.…”