Legislative Program

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for his information, and I would say with respect to the bills that he will be offering, we have, as the gentleman knows, considered four of those bills on the floor. They passed overwhelmingly. I think they're good bills, and I look forward to supporting them again.

There are two bills which are new. One of the bills was considered when it was sponsored by Mr. Himes. It was a good bill then, and it's a good bill now. I believe our side certainly is going to join in supporting these bills, which we think will have some positive effect on small business entrepreneurs, business formation, and capital formation. I have had the opportunity of talking to Mr. Steve Case, a good friend, and I want to thank Steve Case, as I know you do, for his role working with the White House and working with us on moving these bills forward. I think they are a positive contribution, and as the gentleman knows, four of the bills received over 400 votes when they were first passed on the House floor not too long ago. We think those are positive steps.

So, I look forward to next week being a week in which we can vote together on something. I'm sure America does as well. Again, I want to congratulate Steve Case for the work that he has done with respect to this package.

I do want to, however, say that we do look forward to additional legislation dealing with jobs creation. We've talked about the President's jobs bill or other jobs bills that might be offered. We would look forward to those coming forward, as well.

Let me ask the gentleman: one of the jobs-related bills that we're talking about, of course, is infrastructure, in this case, the highway bill, the infrastructure bill. The gentleman did not mention that for next week. And I know he's concerned about it. We're all concerned about the March 31 date on which the highway program will run out of authorization. As the gentleman knows, there is a severe funding shortage, and it is our fear, our concern, that literally hundreds of thousands of people will lose their jobs if we do not act.

Can the gentleman tell me when he thinks we might be acting on either a big bill or an extension? I'll yield to my friend.

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Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for that information. I want to assure him that our side of the aisle looks forward to working with his side of the aisle towards hopefully coming together with a bipartisan bill which will certainly keep the program going. But from our perspective, it is more than an investment in infrastructure, which this country needs to remain competitive, but it is also an investment in job creation, which we think this bill will do as well.

The Export-Import Bank authorization, as the gentleman also knows, will be coming to a close, and Financial Services has shared jurisdiction with that. Can the gentleman tell me what the status of the Export-Import Bank is? As the gentleman knows, I think we have a joint agenda, because I think a lot of things on there are supported by both sides of the aisle, what we call a Make It in America agenda. We believe this is very important for Make It in America--encouraging manufacturing and job creation here in America. Can the gentleman tell me the status of the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank? I yield to my friend.

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Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for those comments, and we look forward to continuing to work together.

The next question I would like to ask is, clearly, we're coming up on March 15 in the not-too-distant future. It's my understanding from Chris Van Hollen, who is the ranking member of the Budget Committee, that he believes that the committee will markup a budget on the 19th with the possibility of reporting a budget to the floor on the 26th of this month.

Can the gentleman tell me, is that a schedule that he contemplates, and is that information accurate? I yield to my friend.

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Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for his comments, and as he observes, House Members have participated in this.

There is a wonderful organization known as Faith & Politics. We believe strongly in the separation of church and State, but as I tell people, we do not believe in the separation of the values our faiths teach and the policies that we pursue. There is that discussion, and multifaiths are represented in those discussions.

As the majority leader and I are of different faiths, we are of one mind with respect to ensuring that the values of our respective faiths are realized in our public policies.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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