HOYER: THE FAILED REPUBLICAN CONGRESS WAVES THE WHITE FLAG

WASHINGTON, DC – House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer joined Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Caucus Chairman Bob Menendez, and Assistant to the Democratic Leader John Spratt to denounce the failed Republican Congress which is expected to limp out of town today after failing on policy, politics and ethics:

“Today the Republican-controlled Congress will wave a white flag at the U.S. Capitol, surrendering to its own intransigence and admitting that it cannot finish the work the American people sent it here to complete.

“In 2004, the Republican Congress failed to enact a budget blueprint – the first time in 30 years that this has happened when the same party controls the House, Senate and White House.

“Republicans failed to enact 11 of the 13 annual spending bills.  These bills are not just important inside the Washington beltway, they keep the government working for the American people.

“They failed to enact Intelligence Reform, despite the urging of the bipartisan 9/11 Commission to finish this important legislation before leaving town to campaign for re-election.

“They failed to enact an energy plan, despite record high gas prices and energy dependence on the Middle East.

“They failed to enact a Transportation Bill, even though it would create hundreds of thousands of jobs while improving our nation’s roads and bridges.  Just today it was announced that job creation is still not even keeping up with population growth, let alone making up for the jobs lost under President Bush.

“They also failed to enact Welfare Reform, the Higher Education Bill and the Patients’ Bill of Rights.

“The only thing Republicans seem to be good at is exploding the national debt and creating a record deficit in 2004.

“The respected Congressional scholar Norman Ornstein uses just two words to describe this 108th Congress: ‘Pretty pathetic.’

“But it’s no wonder this Congress accomplished so little.  Our Republican friends hardly broke a sweat.  In 2004, House Republicans worked fewer days than any single Session of Congress since 1948.  President Harry Truman called that Republican Congress the ‘do-nothing Congress.’  Today, you might call this Republican Congress the ‘do-less-than-nothing Congress.’

“Democrats believe the American people deserve better.  Democrats will find and destroy terrorists wherever they exist.  We will fight for fiscally responsible economic policies that create jobs and make our tax system fairer and simpler.  And we will continue to honor and promote the values that steel the American character – faith, family, responsibility, honesty, hard work and love of country.

“Finally, Democrats pledge that we will not elect leaders who spend more time fending off ethics charges than they do tending to the people’s business.  In contrast, Republicans in the House rallied around their Leader, Tom DeLay of Texas, who was rebuked this week by the House Ethics Committee for the fourth time in just five years.

“That is not the kind of leadership the American people expect and deserve nor is it the kind of leadership that the Democrats will deliver when we take back the Majority in November.”

Please click here to see a report on the many failures of the 108th Republican Congress and the consequences.

Please click here to see a report on the unity and successes of House Demcrats in the 108th Congress.