Newsroom

Hoyer Floor Statement on President’s Budget Proposal: The Great Pretender
February 3, 2004 — Press Item
House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) made the following statement on the House Floor today regarding President Bush’s budget proposal (as prepared for delivery).
Bush Budget Cuts a Variety of Programs
February 4, 2004 — Press Item
ASHINGTON, Feb. 3 — The White House on Tuesday released a list of 128 government programs that it plans to cut back or eliminate, including money for drug treatment centers and secondary school counselors and modernization of the air traffic system...
Pelosi: 'Bush Budget an Indictment of GOP’s Distorted Priorities'
February 4, 2004 — Press Item
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi joined Senate Democratic Leader Daschle at a news conference today on President Bush’s fiscal year 2005 budget:
White House Rebuffed VA's Pleas for More Money, Principi Testifies
February 4, 2004 — Press Item
The Department of Veterans Affairs received $1.2 billion less than it requested from the White House...
BUSH TRIMS $17 BILLION FROM PLAN TO COVER UNINSURED
February 3, 2004 — Press Item
While Democratic presidential candidates showcase their plans to widen coverage of the uninsured...
Education Programs Face the Ax
February 3, 2004 — Press Item
More than half the 65 federal programs that President Bush wants to kill next year are related to education, a move that could further inflame Democratic detractors who for the last year have been questioning his commitment to education...
Plan Omits Costs in Iraq and Afghanistan
February 3, 2004 — Press Item
Bush administration officials said on Monday that the cost of United States military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan had been omitted from President Bush's budget request for 2005...
Near-Sighted Deficit Plan Ignores Problems Down the Road, Skeptics Say
February 3, 2004 — Press Item
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 — In offering a plan to cut the federal deficit in half by 2009, President Bush ignored more than $1.5 trillion in tax cuts and spending commitments that come due shortly afterward...
Budget avoids tough steps to deflate bloated deficit
February 3, 2004 — Press Item
When the Bush administration released its $2.4 trillion budget plan for 2005 Monday, it admitted that the ballooning federal deficit for this year would be even larger than previously feared: a record $521 billion. That means the government would have to borrow 22 cents of every dollar it spends...
Bush budget calls for cuts in rural development
February 3, 2004 — Press Item
President Bush's proposed budget for next year includes cuts in rural development assistance and clean water projects, two areas that could affect communities in Wisconsin...
Defense: Bush's $401.7 Billion Budget Omits War Expenses
February 2, 2004 — Press Item
President Bush's $401.7 billion defense budget for fiscal 2005 is long on proposals to boost warfighting techniques, but nearly mute about the cost of the ongoing war in Iraq and Afghanistan...
Federal Agencies Face Cuts
February 3, 2004 — Press Item
President Bush's budget proposes discretionary spending authority of $19.1 billion for the Department of Agriculture, a decrease of 8.1 percent...
Bush May Seek More for Iraq, Afghanistan
February 2, 2004 — Press Item
The Bush administration will ask Congress in coming months for up to $50 billion more for ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the White House budget director said Monday...
Bush Budget Has Tax Incentives for Saving
February 2, 2004 — Press Item
Tax incentives for saving and retirement form the core of tax programs in the president's proposed budget, which also asks lawmakers to make recently passed tax cuts permanent reductions...
Education: Special Education, Low-Income Schools Win Rare Increases
February 2, 2004 — Press Item
In a rare departure from his clampdown on domestic spending, President Bush has proposed a 2.9 percent increase for the Education Department's discretionary budget in fiscal 2005...
Homeland Security: First-Responder Grants Would Be Cut as Other Funding Grows
February 2, 2004 — Press Item
While many Cabinet agencies brace for a tight budget year, the Department of Homeland Security would receive a 9 percent increase under President Bush's proposal, as the administration continues to pour money into anti-terrorism efforts...
Hoyer: Bush Budget Lacks Credibility
February 2, 2004 — Press Item
House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today regarding President Bush’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget:
HOYER: NOW IS THE TIME TO FINISH THE JOB ON ELECTION REFORM
February 2, 2004 — Press Item
House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD), a lead sponsor of landmark, bipartisan election reform legislation in 2002 (the “Help America Vote Act”), today expressed extreme disappointment in the President’s FY05 budget request for election reform and urged Members on both sides of the aisle to support full funding for the Act:
Pelosi: 'President’s Reckless Budget Spells Out Priorities in Black and White and Too Much Red'
February 2, 2004 — Press Item
Washington, D.C. -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on President Bush’s fiscal year 2005 budget: "The President’s reckless budget spells out his priorities in black and white and too much red...
Spratt Statement on the President’s 2005 Budget
February 2, 2004 — Press Item
“Today the President released a budget that deepens the deficits that his policies have helped to create. These huge deficits are not just an accounting problem. They are a moral problem because our children and grandchildren will be forced to repay the record amounts of debt we are borrowing today. The Administration has dismissed these deficits as ‘manageable,’ but chronic deficits threaten our economic strength by crowding out private investment, driving up interest rates, and slowing economic growth...
Bush Unveils $2.4 Trillion Fiscal 2005 Budget
February 2, 2004 — Press Item
President Bush said this morning he is "confident" the government can halve the $521 billion deficit during the next few years...
Hoyer: Civilian Federal Employees Deserve Pay Parity with Military
February 2, 2004 — Press Item
House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today regarding the civilian federal pay adjustment proposed by President Bush in his Fiscal Year 2005 Budget:
Hoyer Leads Bipartisan Washington, DC Delegation in Introducing Budget Resolution on Pay Parity
January 30, 2004 — Press Item
The bipartisan Washington, DC regional delegation, led by House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD), will introduce a resolution next week that would put Congress on record in support of the bipartisan principle of pay parity in its upcoming fiscal year 2005 budget proposal.
Inquiry Sought in House Vote on Drug Plan for Medicare
February 2, 2004 — Press Item
In a Jan. 20 letter to the speaker, Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the Democratic whip, said an investigation by the House ethics committee was needed to protect the reputation of the House after Representative Nick Smith, Republican of Michigan, said groups and lawmakers had offered support for his son's Congressional campaign if Mr. Smith backed the measure, which passed 220 to 215.
REP. RANGEL CRITICIZES BUSH ‘05 BUDGET AS “ONE OF THE MOST IRRESPONSIBLE BUDGETS IN AMERICAN HISTORY”
February 2, 2004 — Press Item
This indeed is Groundhog Day. The Bush Administration is once again proposing more tax breaks for the rich just as they did last year and the year before. Instead of getting a budget that acknowledges that, in time of war, there is a need for shared sacrifice, we are repeating the same day over and over again even though tax cuts for the wealthy have not led to more jobs, improved schools, helped the uninsured get health care, or made the country safer.