Press Releases

This evening, House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) welcomed his State of the Union guests to the U.S. Capitol.

At this year’s issues conference, House Democrats discussed the challenges facing our economy, how to reduce gun violence, the need for comprehensive immigration reform, and ways to protect Americans’ voting rights.

“In the 113th Congress, we will continue to have an outstanding Whip team that, thanks to these new members, is more diverse than ever before," stated Democratic Whip Hoyer. "They reflect the diversity of our Caucus, bringing a wide range of views and perspectives to the table. Over the past two years, our Whip team has helped maintain unity in our Caucus on a number of votes important to protecting our middle class and creating opportunities that lead to good jobs and a higher quality of life for all Americans.  I look forward to working closely with the new and returning Chief Deputy Whips to bring Democrats from different segments of our Caucus together as we pursue our shared goal of helping grow America’s middle class and moving our country forward.” 

“With the swearing-in of the 113th Congress today, I am hopeful that the House can refocus on the issues that matter to our constituents: creating middle-class jobs, reducing deficits, and keeping Americans safe.  After two years of the least-productive Congress in modern history, with little progress made on our most pressing national challenges, the 113th Congress must do better.  This means doing more to help our businesses compete, expand, and create well paying jobs through House Democrats’ Make It In America plan.  It also means getting serious about restoring fiscal discipline to Washington in a way that ends uncertainty for businesses and families by ceasing to lurch from one crisis to the next without significant progress.  We can and must do better, and a spirit of bipartisanship ought to guide us forward to achieve real results for the American people.   

For residents of areas affected by Hurricane Sandy, additional assistance to continue recovery efforts cannot come soon enough. The emergency aid package requested today by the Obama Administration will help communities in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and neighboring states get back on their feet.

I am deeply honored to have been elected by the Democratic Members of the 113th Congress to serve another term as our party’s Whip. Our Caucus’s strength comes both from its diversity and from our unity as we stand up for the values of fairness and equality we share as Democrats. 

I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former Senator Warren Rudman this week. Our nation has lost an extraordinary man of integrity who often worked across the aisle in order to address our country’s most pressing challenges. Throughout his career, he was committed to fiscal responsibility and worked with both parties to make the tough choices necessary to bring down our deficits and balance the budget. As we work to restore fiscal responsibility, Rudman’s legacy serves as an important reminder of what we can accomplish when we put country before party and work together to confront our budget challenges. I join in mourning his passing, and my thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time.

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) and the House Democratic Caucuses announced jointly today that they have launched a new resume bank at democraticwhip.gov/resumes where members of the public can submit resumes that will be viewable by all new and existing House Democratic offices. For the large freshman class of Democrats that will be joining the 113th Congress, this will be a useful tool as they set up their offices and hire staff members.

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today after the Committee on House Administration issued a report detailing the nearly $1.5 million in taxpayer-funded legal bills accumulated over the past 15 months to pay an outside law firm to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA):

“I thank the Leader for yielding and I want to simply say that once again we have this morning a demonstration of Republicans walking out on the American people – not on us.

"What we are seeing this week is a convulsing end to a dismal Congress. Two distinguished political scientists [Tom Mann and Norman Ornstein] in our country said this: 'The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.'

“I’m pleased that the District of Columbia’s statue of Frederick Douglass will now be on display in the U.S. Capitol. Douglass, who was born in the state of Maryland, spent his entire life fighting injustice and demanding equality for all in our democracy.  This statue will join the halls of the Capitol building as the third statue or bust of an African American, and is a wonderful tribute to a great Marylander and civil rights hero.”