WASHINGTON, D.C.--Senator John Thune today called on President Barack Obama to address his party's failure to pass a formal budget in the Senate during his State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 24th, the 1,000th day since the Democrat-led Senate last passed a budget.

"I hope President Obama will show some leadership during his State of the Union address tomorrow and demand that Senate Democrats pass a budget. The Democrat-led Senate, for 1,000 days, has failed to fulfill its most fundamental and basic responsibility to taxpayers, which is passing a budget. The president likes to talk about runaway federal spending and debt, but has been unwilling to call on his Democrat colleagues in the Senate to introduce and pass a budget. Until the Democrat-led Senate gets serious about balancing the government's books by passing a budget, dangerous levels of debt will continue to be pushed onto future generations of Americans."

During the 1,000 days since Senate Democrats last passed a budget through regular order, Congress has added $1.3 trillion or more to the nation's debt each year. The national debt is now over $15 trillion.

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