Pete Sessions

I do have some remarks, and we will be having some speakers, who I think are on the way.

All right, fair enough. I yield the floor. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Washington.

I am pleased to yield up to 10 minutes to Senator Cruz of Texas. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Texas.

Well, reclaiming the floor, I ask unanimous consent that the vote start at 8:12, and I will be happy, and we will make it all happen. Senator Hatch can have 1 minute.

One more question, then. Do you still stand by the promotional material that went with the budget--and in the budget document itself--that you have reduced the deficit over current law by $1.85 trillion or isn't it a fact that eliminating…

Well, your staff indicated that you could not double- count that money, and if you eliminated the $1.2 trillion in sequester limit and allowed $1.2 trillion more to be spent, you would not save $1.85 trillion but approximately $700 billion…

Well, I wouldn't misconstrue it. So it does eliminate the sequester. So then the next question would be, did you score the allowed increase in spending of $1.2 trillion in your budget as increased spending?

I would like to say this to my chairman: I am willing to concede the point if the chair would agree to amend the two reserve funds so that they cannot be used to advance tax increases, and I would cease making that argument and accept the…

For the information of my colleagues--and I guess this will not be in concrete--I will recognize Senator Enzi for 10 minutes, Senator Alexander for 10 minutes, and Senators Blunt and Ayotte for 5 minutes each. Senator Enzi, I know, has…

Senator Portman is such a valuable member of the Budget Committee. He served as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. He knows how this situation works. But that dotted line on the chart, it is just spending, isn't it? It is…

I call up the motion. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the motion. The assistant legislative clerk read as follows: The Senator from Alabama [Mr. Sessions] moves to recommit Senate Concurrent Resolution 8 back to the…

The first question would be how much time is left on my half of that hour. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The motion has not yet been offered.

I thank the Senator for sharing that and thank him for sharing his thoughts with us tonight.

If we reduce by 1 percent, one penny out of every dollar of spending for 3 years, the budget would balance in 3 years, 4 years?

It is. It lists here on page 51 specific examples. The Senator mentioned duplication. This one is employment of people with disabilities--a very good goal. This is something we would like to see if we can facilitate and help them work. It…

Here is the GAO report I think the Senator referred to, the 2012 annual report: ``Opportunities to Reduce Duplication, Overlap and Fragmentation, Achieve Savings, and Enhance Revenue.'' I think my constituents would say this is exactly…

The Senator mentioned--which it does seem to me we are doing here by this budget--if it were to pass, we don't have any plans to change what we are doing. The problem is that you haven't sent us enough money. As the Senator indicated, send…

So I guess the President here has said: Well, so you know my goal is not to chase a balanced budget just for the sake of balance. But when our colleagues talk about a balanced approach and they have a budget that does not actually…

I thank Senator Enzi. Senator Enzi is an accountant, a businessman. I do not believe any Member of this body has traveled his State more on the ground than he in the last number of years. As a matter of fact, I will say with certainty that…

I thank the distinguished ranking member of the Finance Committee. That was a very fine presentation. I believe he is absolutely accurate. It is easy to say we are going to close loopholes and we are going to raise a trillion dollars-plus…

And I think if Louise, if she wanted to put hers in, it would allow you later, as you go back over and make tough choices, to remember us being here today and what we were trying to impart to you.

Costs that could be born more effectively by the Rules Committee will instead be shifted to the House and other legislative branch agencies at a much higher cost.

I will tell you that some of the things we do is to talk people into or out of things they wish to do.

I think what Mrs. Slaughter has said, I agree with.

I would submit to this committee, we have already taken that cut, and that we believe that any review and analysis of that would say that if we did take a cut, we would be putting ourselves at risk for the entire House of Representatives.