The Office of Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer - Tax and Appropriations

Hoyer Statement on Speaker Boehner's 'Plan B'

aott — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 18:04:34 +0000

For Immediate Release:

December 18, 2012

Hoyer, Johnson Op-Ed: Deficit Solution Must Preserve the American Dream

aott — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 20:45:03 +0000

For Immediate Release:

December 17, 2012

Hoyer Discusses the Fiscal Cliff on Fox News' "Your World with Neil Cavuto"

aott — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 22:45:35 +0000

For Immediate Release:

December 13, 2012

Hoyer Discusses the Fiscal Cliff on Fox News' "Your World with Neil Cavuto"

aott — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 22:44:34 +0000

For Immediate Release:

December 13, 2012

Thu, 2012-12-13

Transcript:

“It think it's a positive sign once again that the President and [Speaker] John Boehner are sitting down. I've talked to both of them. They both want to get to an agreement. ... Nobody's walking away from the table. The stakes are very high here, the hopes of America are keen on us getting to success, and failure is going to have real consequences, so I'm very hopeful that [Speaker] John Boehner and President Obama … are talking [about] a way to get us to an agreement that Congress can consider and hopefully pass so that America will have the confidence that we have placed ourselves on a fiscally-sustainable, credible path for the long-term. I think that's what America wants.”

“But certainly I believe and I know Leader Pelosi believes, that going over the cliff, so to speak, will have adverse consequences for our economy and confidence the world has in us and we shouldn't do that. [Democrats] want to get to an agreement. I’m not one of those advocating as a strategy going over the cliff.”

“I know this: that frankly we ought to stop talking about the politics or the ideology …. We have a math problem in my opinion. … You could pick your target … then just work the math backwards and if you’re going to get there, what can you agree on that has that math work. ... If we get to an agreement, America is going to be a happy country.”

Hoyer Discusses the Fiscal Cliff on WUSA Channel 9

aott — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 16:35:54 +0000

For Immediate Release:

December 13, 2012

Hoyer Discusses the Fiscal Cliff on WUSA Channel 9

Thu, 2012-12-13

Hoyer: Give Us The Opportunity To Say ‘Yes’ To The American Middle Class

aott — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:44:59 +0000

For Immediate Release:

December 12, 2012

Hoyer: Give Us The Opportunity To Say ‘Yes’ To The American Middle Class

aott — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:34:39 +0000

For Immediate Release:

December 12, 2012

Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. I thank my friend for yielding. I want to thank the Chairman of the Rules Committee for his efforts as well. Ladies and gentlemen of this House, we talk a lot, correctly, about creating certainty, alleviating uncertainty – alleviating angst among our people and among our economy. We have an opportunity to bring certainty to a large segment of America that they will not receive a tax increase on January 1.

Wed, 2012-12-12

Transcript:

“Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. I thank my friend for yielding. I want to thank the Chairman of the Rules Committee for his efforts as well. Ladies and gentlemen of this House, we talk a lot, correctly, about creating certainty, alleviating uncertainty – alleviating angst among our people and among our economy. We have an opportunity to bring certainty to a large segment of America that they will not receive a tax increase on January 1.

“We have that ability because the United States Senate has acted on a bill which will allow us to do that. And even if we don't take their bill up - we could take a bill that Tim Walz has introduced - Congressman Walz has introduced a bill which will say to the 98% that we've talked about: you won't get a tax increase. I think that we have agreement on that, as the Gentleman from Texas [Rep. Pete Sessions] indicated. We have agreement on that.

“I think there's not anybody here or very, very few at least, on either side of the aisle who doesn't say that those who are making $250,000 or less as families or $200,000 as individuals or less, shouldn't get a tax increase. Now there are some who say that those above should not get a tax increase either, I understand that, but we have disagreement on that.

“The American people are frustrated by the fact that, even that on which we have agreement, we can't move. That's their frustration. They understand we have policy differences. But they're hopeful that when at least we have agreement on an issue we can move it. And if we did so, think of the confidence, and [Rep. Tom] Cole – he had your job as Chairman of the [National Republican Congressional] Campaign Committee – said let's pass this. Let's give the middle class, the working people of America a Christmas present. A sense of certainty, a sense of self-confidence, a sense of well being - that would be good for our economy but certainly good for them individually and as families as well. So I would urge my colleagues on the Republican side and my colleagues on the Democratic side: vote against the previous question.

“Now, that's somewhat esoteric, Mr. Speaker, and those watching [are] probably [asking] ‘what does that mean, ‘vote against the previous question?’ That's some political jargon they use in Washington.’ What it means is, if we vote against the previous question, we will be empowered to bring forward the middle class tax cut bill. And we'll put it on the Floor, and Mr. Walz will be our leader on this because he's put it in the hopper. We'll put that on the Floor and every member of this House, all 433 of us here – [out of] 435 members – will have the opportunity to say to the American people: ‘yes.’ Yes, on December 12, we're going to tell you that, on January 1, your taxes will not go up. Give us that opportunity. Give us that opportunity to say ‘yes’ to the American middle class. Give us the opportunity to say ‘yes’ to certainty in our economy. Give us the opportunity to say ‘yes,’ we agree on something, and aren't you proud of the fact that when we agree, your Congress can act. Let's say ‘yes.’

“Vote ‘no’ on the previous question and then vote ‘yes’ for the middle class. I yield back the balance of my time.”

Hoyer Discusses the Fiscal Cliff on MSNBC's "NOW With Alex Wagner"

aott — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:47:45 +0000

For Immediate Release:

December 12, 2012