WASHINGTON -- Taking aim at the "elites" of his party, U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions outlined a “pro-worker agenda” for the Republican Party on Thursday night during an anniversary celebration of the tea party movement in the nation’s capital.

“I think that the elites are failing America,” said Sessions, who was the keynote speaker at the Tea Party Patriots five year anniversary celebration on Capitol Hill. “They’re failing the people of America. I think they’ve really forgotten what’s important.”

“They’ve lost contact with the way it’s like to be a single mom or a working guy trying to raise a family and take a vacation,” Sessions continued. “My party, the Republican Party needs to sever itself from this elite consensus. We need a break.”

In a speech that lasted nearly about 45 minutes, Sessions laid out specific things the Republican Party should stand for. He called for more American energy. He said the tax code should be streamlined. He said excessive regulations on businesses should be eliminated. He said Obamacare should be repealed. He called for an “immigration policy that serves the national interest.” He said welfare rolls should be “converted” to a job training center. He said government should be leaner and more productive. He said the federal budget should be balanced.

“We’re going to be representing everyday Americans by the millions,” Sessions said. “That’s who we’re responsible for. That’s who we’re going to defend.”

That Sessions, R-Mobile, was chosen to headline the anniversary dinner indicates his increasing popularity with the conservative grassroots outside Alabama.

“He talks about facts,” said Stephen Bannon, a conservative activist who introduced Sessions before his speech. “He doesn’t talk about emotions.”

Initially, Fox News host Sean Hannity -- another tea party favorite - had been scheduled to give the keynote. But when Hannity dropped out of the event this week, Sessions was asked to step in.

“I feel like that the movement you spawned and participated in is right on every major issue,” Sessions told the tea party activists.

During his speech, Sessions pushed back on critics who call the tea party “extreme.”

“They say you’re extreme...But I say extreme is running up 17 trillion dollars in debt,” Sessions said. “Extreme is a 2,700-page health care bill that nobody could understand is doing great damage to America. Extreme is a president who won’t enforce laws on the books and then enforces laws not on the books. Extreme is embracing an immigration policy that validates illegality and triples the number of people that would be brought into our country at a time of high unemployment and weak growth.”

Other well-known conservatives who spoke at the daylong anniversary event on Thursday included Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann.

Hundreds attended the Tea Party Patriots celebration including lawmakers, activists, and tea party leadership from across the country. The purpose of the event, according to organizers, was to reflect on its founding while planning ahead for the 2014 elections.