Articles & Op-Eds

September 20, 2012
With Congress set to go home this week to focus on the upcoming election, Republicans in control of the House are leaving behind a long list of unfinished business. After two years in charge, House Republicans have not taken action on comprehensive jobs legislation to get Americans back to work, they have not prevented a tax increase on middle-class families, they have not worked to enact a big and balanced plan to reduce the deficit and turn off the sequester, and they have not passed major legislation, including a farm bill, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, or postal reform. Having racked up a dismal record as the “Do Nothing Republican Congress,” their failure even to try addressing the serious challenges we face as a nation has been strikingly disappointing.
September 18, 2012
Wanted to make sure you saw today's op-ed by Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) and Ranking Member of the House Administration Committee Robert Brady (PA) in the Huffington Post about the importance of the Election Assistance Commission.  To read the op-ed, click here or see below:
August 20, 2012
Wanted to make sure you saw today's op-ed by Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) in the Huffington Post about how innovation is a key part of House Democrats' Make It In America plan.  To read the op-ed, click here or see below:
July 12, 2012
House Democrats this week upped their pressure on GOP leaders to lend a boost to U.S. manufacturing.
July 12, 2012
Democrats introduced a comprehensive jobs plan two years ago to get more Americans back to work by creating the right conditions for manufacturing businesses to invest, expand and hire. Our plan, called “Make It in America,” aims to revitalize our manufacturing sector in order to increase economic competitiveness and create jobs that won’t be shipped overseas.
July 10, 2012
Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.) this week is unveiling his next step in the battle over voting rights in the form of a pop-up Web application that informs people where to vote and how to register.
July 9, 2012
House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer on Monday called on Congress to take quick action on pending legislation that could spur U.S. manufacturing growth.
June 27, 2012
Etched into the base of Google’s new wireless home media player that was introduced on Wednesday is its most intriguing feature. On the underside there is a simple laser-etched inscription: “Designed and Manufactured in the U.S.A.”
May 25, 2012
Throughout our history, the most fundamental safeguard of liberty, equality and opportunity has always been the right to vote. Whenever that right was denied, Americans banded together to demand full inclusion in our democracy, from the rousing addresses of Maryland’s own Frederick Douglass to the marches for women’s suffrage, culminating with the Freedom Rides of the 1960s. Today, with a pivotal election just six months away, the right to vote is once again under threat from Republican-controlled state legislatures seeking to restrict access to the ballot.
May 16, 2012
Wanted to be sure you saw this USA Today editorial highlighting growth in the manufacturing sector and investments government can make to build on this momentum, such as the Export-Import Bank and workforce development. These investments are part of Democrats’ Make It In America jobs plan – a plan to strengthen manufacturing and grow our economy by cultivating an encouraging environment for businesses to innovate and make products here in the U.S.
April 26, 2012
For federal employees and their families enduring years of frozen pay, a new proposal to cut their pay could not come at a worse time. Those who serve at federal agencies are middle-class workers who never see salaries or bonuses like those on Wall Street. Federal employees have been hurt by the recession just like the rest of America's middle class. They work hard each day in jobs that are frequently high in stress and responsibility but low in pay and benefits. But they know they are making a difference and serving their country.
April 14, 2012
Taxes are never popular, especially in April of an election year. But the Republicans’ latest effort to tilt the tax code in favor of the wealthy, and starve the government of needed revenue, is particularly cynical.
April 9, 2012
Hundreds of thousands of unemployed people are desperate for new skills to pull them back into the job market, but when they visit a job-training center, they are often turned away. As Motoko Rich reported in The Times on Monday, Seattle’s seven centers had money to train only 5 percent of the 120,000 people who came in last year seeking new skills, and the numbers are similar elsewhere.
April 9, 2012
Hundreds of thousands of unemployed people are desperate for new skills to pull them back into the job market, but when they visit a job-training center, they are often turned away. As Motoko Rich reported in The Times on Monday, Seattle’s seven centers had money to train only 5 percent of the 120,000 people who came in last year seeking new skills, and the numbers are similar elsewhere.
March 30, 2012
This week, the House Ways and Means Committee reported H.R. 9, the Small Business Tax Cut Act, which would give every business in the United States with fewer than 500 employees a deduction equal to 20 percent of its gross receipts.
March 30, 2012
This week the House voted on budget proposals for Fiscal Year 2013. The Republican budget, put forward by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, was presented as "a choice between two futures" that would show a stark contrast between their priorities and those of Democrats.
February 28, 2012
The primacy of calls for major deficit reduction have all but stagnated, but House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer is trying to revive an urgency in Washington, D.C., around his signature issue.
February 27, 2012
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland this morning called on Congress to replace $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts mandated by law at the end of the year with a balanced package of deficit reduction akin to the grand bargain President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner negotiated unsuccessfully last summer.
February 19, 2012
Unemployment hovers above 9 percent. Foreign competition has thrown many out of work. It is a platitude that this industrial hub, like the country itself, needs more manufacturing work.
February 2, 2012
As an early educator, my wife Judy devoted her career to helping provide children with the opportunities, care, and support they deserve. Before she passed away in 1997, Judy had already impacted the lives of so many children in Prince George's County, Maryland, where she oversaw the county's early education programs.
February 1, 2012
The manufacturing sector grew at its fastest rate since last summer as new orders picked up pace, contributing to the economy's strong start this year. 
January 5, 2012
For the first time in many years, manufacturing stands out as an area of strength in the American economy.
January 4, 2012
U.S. manufacturing grew at its fastest pace in six months in December, and producers appeared poised to keep boosting output to replenish empty shelves in coming months.
December 21, 2011
It was rather remarkable this morning to watch the proceedings on the House floor. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) wanted to try again to bring up the Senate’s bipartisan payroll-tax-break compromise, and instead of debating, Republicans literally walked away from the fight.