Press Conference - The Past Year in Congress

Statement

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REP. HOYER: Right.

I am pleased to be here with the speaker and with the leader and with my colleagues from the Senate and the House.

America is in a better place today than it was in November of '06, but it is not in the place where it should be or where we want it to be.

We are safer than we were because of the implementation of the 9/11 commission report. We are helping millions have an equal shot at the American dream by increasing the minimum wage and reducing the cost of college. And we have restored accountability and fiscal responsibility to our government by enacting the most sweeping ethics reforms package since Watergate and adhering to the pay-as-you-go principles that helped usher budget surplus in the 1990s.

We didn't adhere to it today for one reason and one reason only: Because the Republicans continued to pursue their fiscally irresponsible, deficit-causing and debt-producing policies. And the Senate was unable to overcome that because of the filibuster. While the American people made clear in the last election that they wanted a new direction, Republicans did not get the message.

President Bush, who vetoed only one bill in six years, now acts like a grinch by vetoing health care for low-income children twice, adequate funding for education, medical research and our veterans. The do-nothing Republican Party spent the year blocking bipartisan policies broadly supported by the American people -- 60 percent, 70 percent, 80 percent support in the American people for the policies that we pursued and passed in the House and sent to the Senate. But the Republicans said no to the majority of the American people, not to Democrats but to the majority of the American people.

The action on the floor this week illustrates this point. Republicans tied up critical legislation until they successfully charged to our grandchildren another $50 billion, the Alternative Minimum Tax. Every Democrat in the Senate and almost every Democrat in the -- as a matter of fact, I think, every Democrat in the House voted for a fiscally responsible Alternative Minimum Tax, so that 23 million people were not adversely affected. But the Republicans said no.

Let's be clear. Democrats are fighting for the priorities not of our party but of the American people, while the measure of Republican success is not fulfilling promises to the people but in thwarting the policies of this Congress. Democrats will continue to fight for the American people's priorities in 2008. And in the spirit of the season, we remain hopeful that Republicans will see the light, that Republicans will join the American people -- not us, the American people -- in our efforts.

In closing, let me congratulate the speaker of the House of Representatives, who has, through her extraordinary energy, laser-like focus, and deep courage and commitment to the children of America and to the families of America and to the people of America and to the environment of our country and of the globe, led the House in one of the most successful sessions in which I have served in 26 years.

And to Harry Reid, our leader in the Senate, who has through his patience but also his perseverance and knowledge and commitment to principle led the Senate, not in victory, because the numbers were not with him, but led it in principle, as he will in the future.

Thank you very much. Now let me introduce my colleague the Democratic whip of the House of Representatives, Jim Clyburn of South Carolina.

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REP. HOYER: Can I make a comment?

The only reason I want to make a comment -- I want to focus on what the reality is. The reality is, the Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives has a broad reach and represents all of the philosophies, we think, of mainstream America.

And that caucus has been united on passing legislation urging the president of the United States, with the American people, change course in Iraq. That's what you ought to focus on. I think that's the reality.

Whatever this vote may be, the reality is Democrats came to Congress, have passed three pieces of legislation for the last -- major pieces of legislation, one we got to the president and he vetoed. We couldn't override the veto. The Senate and House agree, Democrats, we want to change course in Iraq. That's the reality. That's what I think the focus of the American people is.

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