Congressman Steny Hoyer (D: MD-5th) and United States Senator Ben Cardin (D: MD) visited a foreclosure prevention workshop at the College of Southern Maryland’s La Plata campus on Saturday. They stressed the importance of knowledge, and spoke about what President Barack Obama (D) has done to help those underwater.

While the embarrassing debacle of the 2000 election may seem like a distant memory to some, the unfortunate reality is an encore may be on our doorstep.

Maryland Army National guardsmen have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, where they flew unmanned aircraft that helped them outwit their enemies.

“Making it in America means making it on Main Street … in your community,” Hoyer said.

Behind Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.), the lawmakers have attached a handful of proposals — some old, some new — to their years-old "Make it in America" package, which is designed to create jobs and promote exports by strengthening trade enforcement, hiking infrastructure spending and eliminating tax benefits for companies that move jobs overseas.

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. The Maryland Democrat’s legislative prescription for expanding manufacturing growth included some bills that have drawn bipartisan support and touched on themes House Republicans plan to advance this month — including reducing tax and regulatory complexity.

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.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced earlier this month that Charlotte Hall Veterans Home will receive a federal grant totaling $3,765,184 for assistance toward the cost of expanding the facility’s emergency power capacity.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) spent Monday morning at the Calvert Career and Technology Academy, or CTA, on Monday morning where he met students and staff.

With a decline in America’s number of skilled workers and manufacturers, public school systems throughout the nation are trying to prepare students to do the necessary hands-on work.

By John Fritze, The Baltimore Sun 4:29 p.m. EST, December 18, 2011 Maryland officials are working behind the scenes to lure the FBI's headquarters to the state from its longtime home base in downtown Washington as the agency seeks an updated building to carry out its expanded counterterrorism and cyber crime missions. If successful, the effort would land nearly 12,000 jobs and a 2.1 million square-foot office complex in Prince George's County, making it one of the largest economic development coups in years. Its impact would rival the immense footprint in the state of the Social Security Administration, which has its headquarters in Woodlawn. The effort has been almost as covert as the agency itself but became more public recently when Sen. Ben Cardin steered a resolution through the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee this month that sets broad parameters for the location — an early step in the process. Officials in Virginia and Washington also are likely to compete for the new headquarters, which the agency estimates would cost $1.2 billion. A new office complex — wherever it is located — would not be completed until 2020 at the earliest, but Cardin said site selection could begin as soon as next year. "I'm very bullish on this being located in Maryland," said Cardin, a Democrat. "Maryland is well-situated." The Federal Bureau of Investigation has struggled for years with its 37-year-old headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover Building. Its crumbling concrete façade was found to be a risk to pedestrians. Its basement is prone to flooding. A 2009 study found the building needs $80.5 million in repairs and upgrades. A more pressing problem, agency officials have said, is that the FBI's burgeoning workforce is scattered over 22 annex buildings throughout the Washington region. That can present security challenges in dealing with sensitive information, a Nov. 8 Government Accountability Office audit found. "The FBI is working very hard because they believe, from a security standpoint, it is necessary," Rep. Steny Hoyer, a Southern Maryland Democrat and House Minority Whip, said of the agency's efforts to find a new home. For Maryland, Hoyer said, the project would be a "tremendous economic benefit" at a time when "jobs are very important." Indeed, the number of employees associated with a new FBI headquarters — which officials estimate at 11,600 — would be similar to other large federal agencies in Maryland. The Food and Drug Administration, which is based in Silver Spring, has nearly 11,000 workers in the state, according to the Office of Personnel Management. The Social Security Administration employs nearly 13,000 in Maryland. Prince George's County officials are gearing up to pitch the state to the agency by identifying properties that would meet its requirements. On the federal level, Cardin said he has had conversations with officials at the General Services Administration, which oversees federal buildings. "It's an outstanding opportunity," said Jayson Knott, deputy director of Maryland's Department of Business and Economic Development, which also is involved in the effort. The precise timeline is unclear, but Knott and other officials said approval of the congressional resolution would lead to a solicitation to developers as soon as next year. Knott said he expects site selection would take place as part of that competitive process. The resolution also must be approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Knott would not say which Maryland properties are in play, but the resolution requires the facility to be located within two miles of a Metro station and within two-and-half miles of the Washington Beltway. That offers many possibilities, such as in Suitland, where the U.S. Census Bureau is based, or Greenbelt. Discussion of a new FBI headquarters comes as the General Services Administration is working to steer large-scale federal agency developments to Metro stations around Washington. In those cases, the Metro transit agency would lease land it owns near stations to the federal government. Adam Elkington, a General Services Administration spokesman, declined to discuss the project. A spokeswoman for the FBI referred The Baltimore Sun to a June 11 letter signed by T.J. Harrington, an associate deputy director. The letter described a new headquarters as "urgently needed," but it did not address the site selection process. Talk of potential sites in Virginia may focus on Loudoun County, where Metro is building a new rail line to Dulles International Airport. Steve Hargan, an economic development official for Loudoun County, said leaders there would be "very interested in pursuing that opportunity," though he said he believes the decision is "still a long way off." In Maryland, Prince George's County officials said they would make a strong case because of the amount of undeveloped, federally owned property available there. They also argue that the county is long overdue for such a project. The county lost its bid to lure about 3,000 Department of Health and Human Services workers away from neighboring Montgomery County earlier this year. David Iannucci, an economic development aide to County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, said that 25 percent of the region's federal employees live in Prince George's County but that it is home to only 4 percent of the federal government's office space. That means many Marylanders are commuting to federal jobs, adding to already clogged highways, he said. "If you look around the Beltway, you'll find that there are not many 55-acre sites," Iannucci said, referring to the lot size cited in the congressional resolution. "We are essentially the last guy standing when it comes to having large acreages at a Metro station." But the broader question may be whether a fiscally conservative Congress would pay for such a project, particularly given recent scrutiny of the size of the federal government. Supporters of a new headquarters say some of those concerns may be alleviated by a provision in the resolution that requires a private developer to build the headquarters and lease it back to the government. That could minimize upfront costs. The FBI estimates that with a new headquarters, it could cut nearly $60 million from its budget annually that it spends on existing annexes. In addition, Cardin said that development rights for those annexes could be sold to help pay for the headquarters. With those efforts combined, Cardin said he believes the project could be funded within the current budget. "There's creative thinking that can help get this project moving," he said. "We think what they need, Maryland is well-suited to deliver."

The House plans to vote Tuesday afternoon on tax relief legislation that would extend the federal pay freeze and require government workers to contribute more to their pensions.

U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer visited the College of Southern Maryland’s Center for Trades and Energy Training and said the center’s efforts prove that many in the area are working hard to make it in America.

Congressman Steny Hoyer (D: MD 5th – House Minority Whip) hosted a town hall meeting at Westlake High School on Monday night to discuss jobs and other issues.

All of these Laurel natives, who achieved their college degrees with financial assistance from the federal Pell Grant Program, participated in a round-table discussion on the program with House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer at the Laurel Library Sept. 26.

Federal employee unions lashed out at President Barack Obama's proposal Monday to make civilian federal workers contribute more of their pay to their retirement plans as part of a proposal to trim budget deficits.

Life is back to normal for most Charles County residents following a week of unprecedented rainfall that flooded many basements and closed dozens of roads, prompting the local government and school system to shut down for two days.

Olympians are a rare breed. But an entire soccer team of them is native to St. Mary’s County.

When Kathleen Thompson learned this week that her Forest Glen engineering firm would not receive payment from its biggest client, the Federal Aviation Administration, the decision she had been dreading suddenly became inevitable: She told employees that some will be furloughed.

Labor unions and the Chamber of Commerce don't often see eye-to-eye on anything, but both are saying it would be devastating for Congress to let the country default on its debt.

Rep. Steny Hoyer, the second-highest ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, sent a letter Friday to members of the House Appropriations Committee asking them to reconsider the decision to strip funding for the James Webb Space Telescope at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt.

With congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama emphasizing American manufacturing as key to the nation's economic recovery, two Maryland lawmakers met with Baltimore business leaders Tuesday to discuss what role Washington should take to help the industry.

American manufacturing helped make this the most prosperous country on earth—and it helped build a strong middle class. As we continue to focus on job creation and economic growth, I believe a key part of that effort must be rebuilding our manufacturing strength.

Nearly two years after the Red Line crash that killed nine people, one of Metro’s sharpest critics said she believes the agency is on the right track toward improving safety.

It is not often that kids go to school and are allowed, let alone encouraged, to play video games. Yet that is exactly what the sixth-grade class at Milton M. Somers Middle School found itself doing Friday morning.

Peter F. O’Malley III, a Prince George’s County lawyer and Democratic Party power broker who served as consigliere to real estate and sports mogul Abe Pollin and was also a force in local education, health care and sports, died May 28 at a hospital in Rehoboth Beach, Del., after a heart attack. He was 72.

As a politician, U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer knows the value of making connections.

During the month of March alone, there were more than 900 home foreclosures in Prince George's County. A very large and disproportionate segment of that total—the tally rates among the highest in the land—is made up of Hispanic households.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D.-Md., is pushing for colleges in his district to provide information about health care reform.

A high-tech U.S. Navy surveillance system, whose data will be shared with law enforcement and federal and state agencies, was dedicated and activated Wednesday at Dominion Cove Point Liquefied Natural Gas Plant.

Maryland leaders praised the U.S. raid in Pakistan that led to the death of Osama bin Laden, but members of the state's congressional delegation and other local officials on Monday tempered their optimism by cautioning that the war on terror is not over.

U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-5th) on Wednesday officially activated a new marine surveillance system at the Dominion Cove Point LNG facility in Lusby.

At a memorial service that celebrated both his landscape-altering legacy and his big-hearted if crusty-shelled persona, the William Donald Schaefer nation gathered one last time on Wednesday — friends and one-time foes alike, Maryland politicos past and present, Baltimoreans who shared his undying love for the city.

Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Mechanicsville, called for Republicans to compromise on the looming budget challenges Tuesday during a press briefing.

A year ago this week, President Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act, or the ACA. The ACA gave families — not insurance companies — the freedom to control their own health care choices.

Now the sole owners of UniStar Nuclear Energy, Electricite de France met with Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) and U.S. House of Representatives Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) on Monday to discuss plans for the third nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant.

Led by Democrats from Maryland’s congressional delegation, hundreds of riled federal workers from across the nation rallied Wednesday on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol in support of public employees’ unions.

Students will have healthier options for school breakfasts and lunches through a national push aimed at addressing childhood obesity, school and federal officials said this week.

As Senate Republicans were preparing Tuesday morning to push for a vote to repeal the landmark health care reform bill passed by Democrats last year, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) was in Leonardtown, selling the merits of the bill.

The Social Security Administration plans to open a field office in Charlotte Hall sometime in April. Residents will be able to file for Social Security, disability benefits and Medicare at the office.

Top Maryland Democrats on Tuesday forecast a difficult 90-day legislative session in dealing with a $1.6 billion budget shortfall and a $33 billion long-term pension deficit, but vowed to make necessary decisions to ensure the state's fiscal health.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer appears to be solidifying his position as the Democratic leader whom Republicans can deal with and trust next year.

Seven of the eight Maryland representatives in Congress voted Thursday to make the tax cuts to the middle class permanent, with Republican Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett voting against the bill, which passed 234 to 188.

Home prices in the Washington region are rising thanks to government employment while the national market weakened during the third quarter, according to a new report.

Maryland’s employers added 5,900 jobs last month, but the state’s unemployment rate held steady at a seasonally adjusted 7.4 percent.

House Democrats elected current Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer as their whip Wednesday, ensuring he will remain in the one of the party's highest posts when it assumes the minority in January.

Maryland students fare well against other states in proving advanced at math, but fall short against international competition.

Foreclosure filings across the U.S. were down 4 percent last month from September’s figures, the online marketing group RealtyTrac has reported.

Maryland moved one step closer to a possible wind farm off Ocean City with a federal agency's announcement Monday that it is looking for companies interested in erecting and operating turbines on the outer Continental Shelf, along the state's slice of the Atlantic Coast.

In an effort to attract more businesses and people to the city's downtown district, the Laurel City Council is fielding applications for $30,000 in grant funding.

While Maryland scores relatively poorly in some categories on taxes, it does well enough on numerous other criteria to rank as the 14th most attractive state nationally for businesses, according to a bank economist.

Constellation Energy settled its dispute with French utility giant Electricite de France on Tuesday, selling its half of a joint venture to develop new nuclear power plants and dropping its threat to exercise an option to force EDF to buy a dozen aging fossil fuel plants.

Many hands have been wrung over the outsourcing of manufacturing and service jobs to foreign workers, but on Wednesday House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) stopped by an industrial park in White Plains to highlight a local manufacturing success story.

THE LONG-TERM unemployment rate is at a record level. So is the federal deficit. Both of these are serious concerns. But it is possible -- in theory, anyway -- for Congress to be both compassionate and prudent. In the short term, lawmakers should resolve the logjam that has allowed federal benefits to lapse for more than 900,000 unemployed. In the longer term, they should heed the example of House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), who gave a brave speech this week not only setting out the fiscal challenge but offering specific, credible suggestions for savings.

Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) and Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards (D-Md.) and staff from the office of Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) met last week with Prince George’s and Montgomery County officials leading the development of the Prince George’s-Montgomery County Gang Initiative.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) stopped by the CalvART Gallery in Prince Frederick on Friday for a first-ever recognition reception.

On this Memorial Day, we continue to be engaged in hostilities in Iraq and Afghanistan, and young men and women will pay the ultimate price while wearing the uniform of our nation.  Let us honor the memory of the 4,400 Americans who have died in Iraq and more than 1,000 who have died in Afghanistan.  We also honor the sacrifices of our wounded:  nearly 32,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and 5,700 in Afghanistan.

After losing three-quarters of a million jobs per month, on average, during the last three months of the last administration, our economy is creating jobs again. It was announced this week that the economy added 290,000 jobs in April – 231,000 in the private sector - which is good news for our recovery from recession and shows that employers and workers are starting to have some confidence in the economy.

U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer met with senior citizens at the Richard R. Clark Senior Center in La Plata on Friday to explain how Medicare benefits will be impacted by the recently passed health care reform bill and to answer questions.U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer met with concerned senior citizens in La Plata on Friday to explain how the health care reform bill will impact their Medicare insurance coverage.

As governments and consumers continue to push businesses for more environmentally friendly products and practices, manufacturers are trying to respond by balancing the benefits and challenges of going green.

In 1919, Lieutenant Colonel Dwight Eisenhower took part in the Army’s first coast-to-coast truck convoy. The trip from Washington, D.C., to the Pacific, on a still-primitive system of roads, took 62 jarring, muddy days; and the young officer sputtered into San Francisco convinced that America deserved better.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, right, answers questions from area farmers and agricultural interest groups Thursday at a meeting with Maryland Department of Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance, left, and U.S. House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, not shown, at the Prince George's County Soil Conservation District office in Upper Marlboro.

The grand opening of the College of Southern Maryland’s new clinical simulation lab was held Wednesday, March 31. The lab is designed to enhance training for nursing students and professionals in the southern Maryland Region. The lab provides a “real life” experience where students receive both direct instruction and simulated situations to which they respond and receive instructor feedback.

U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-5th) held a roundtable discussion with Bowie State University students March 30 to discuss how the recently passed health care and student aid laws will affect college students and their families.

Entering its 23rd decade, the U.S. Census is the longest-running national census in the world. Every ten years, as long as we have been a nation under the Constitution, the United States has taken a census of everyone who lives here. The Founding Fathers ordered regular census-taking because they understood that, in order to govern ourselves fairly, we have to know how many people live here, and where.

Each March, we remember and celebrate the enormous contributions made throughout America’s history by the women of this nation.  I was pleased to join my colleagues in Congress in 1987 to proclaim the first annual “Women’s History Month.”  In the 23 years since, American women of all races, classes, and ethnic backgrounds have continued to build on this legacy of achievement, pushing past obstacles to a future of even greater equality, opportunity, and success.

In his State of the Union Address last week, President Obama spoke about the reality of the hard times that facing our country, as well as the determination and optimism that have helped America overcome hardship in the past--the same qualities that are essential to our recovery today.

As we observe the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I hope that Americans will use this opportunity to recommit themselves to service in their communities, in honor of a man who gave his life to service.

Millions of Americans have felt the effects of the near-meltdown that jeopardized our economy last fall. But while those results are all too concrete, the causes are almost vanishingly abstract, expressed in a jargon that few Americans ever imagined had such power over their lives: phrases like “credit default swap” or “unregulated over-the-counter derivatives.”

The House passed the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act (H.R. 3961) to permanently reform Medicare’s physician payment system and place it on more sustainable footing for physicians and beneficiaries.

The most common question I hear in discussions about health insurance reform is what impact it will have on individuals and their families. The answer is – whether you currently have health insurance or not – the reforms in the Affordable Health Care for America Act which passed the House last week will benefit you in a number of ways.

As we look back on the Recovery Act's first eight months, its success in averting catastrophe is clear. We are not out of the woods yet and much more work remains to create good jobs and lower unemployment, but there are positive signs that the recession is over, and that the economic policies pursued are starting to work.

In addition to the standard measures we take every year to prepare for and prevent the spread of seasonal influenza, we face a unique flu challenge this year with the H1N1 virus.

Health insurance reform is essential for our families, our businesses, and our country. Our families are being strained by skyrocketing premiums. If we do nothing, the average Maryland family can expect to spend nearly $25,000 per year on health care premiums by 2016, up from $12,000 now.

Last week, I took tour of an oyster sanctuary in the Patuxent River to see how efforts are working to restore the population of this critical shellfish in our waters. I was also present when the sanctuary was laid five years ago, and I must report that I was very impressed with the progress we are making and give great credit to the Oyster Recovery Partnership for coordinating this important effort in our state.

The First of July marked the 43rd anniversary of one of the greatest domestic policy achievements in America since World War II: the enactment of Medicare. Today, when Medicare is such an integral part of so many lives, it is hard to imagine how bitterly it was opposed.

The 111th Congress had a strong start and accomplished a great deal in the first five months. In a recent op-ed in Roll Call, Congressional scholar Norman Ornstein wrote: "This Congress has been as active and productive as any I can remember. The number of major bills passed and enacted into law, the serious, sustained activity in areas of broad, complex and critical importance, all are truly impressive."

This is a transformative time for America's energy policy. That's not because the problems are new-in fact, they date back decades, decades during which we ignored the carbon content of our energy sources. We have put our environment at risk and deepened our dependence on foreign fuel sources. What makes this moment transformative is a window of political opportunity.

In 1970, an ad was published in The New York Times to publicize the first Earth Day. It stated, "Earth Day is a commitment to make life better, not just bigger and faster; to provide real rather than rhetorical solutions. It is a day to re-examine the ethic of individual progress at mankind's expense.

It’s the principle behind every clearance sale: The less a product is in demand, the less it sells for. It’s why you can find the cheapest winter coats in March and the cheapest new cars at the end of a model year. So why can’t we extend the same principle to the most basic commodity of all—electricity?

This week, Congress debates President Obama’s plan to restore our economy and stop the hemorrhaging of American jobs that has pushed national unemployment to its highest level in 16 years. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, more than three and a half million American jobs have been lost, half of those coming in the last three months. Last month alone, the economy lost almost 600,000 jobs – that’s the equivalent of losing one out of every four jobs in the State of Maryland.

Out economy is not stable. Working families are suffering. We have lost millions of homes to foreclosures. Unemployment is at its highest level in years. Small businesses and individuals are having trouble accessing credit. Retirement accounts have been chipped away.

Around this time of year, millions of prospective college students around the country are busy with reading brochures, filling out applications and making important decisions about where to go to school.

Nearly 40 years ago, an assassin’s bullet prematurely ended the life of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, when the civil rights leader was only 39 years old. Today, his dream lives on; and as we, as a nation, remember his birthday, we must reinvigorate our efforts to become the unified America he envisioned nearly four decades ago.

January is National Blood Donor Month and serves as an opportunity to remind the millions of eligible donors across the country, and particularly those in Southern Maryland, that the need for blood donations is always present and that giving blood is an easy way to make a significant contribution and even save a life.

For many, this time of year reminds us of what is truly important in our lives – the health of our friends, the well-being of our neighbors and the love of all those we hold dear. It is a special time of year, and it is encouraging to hear stories of the tremendous goodwill exhibited by our community. Unfortunately, the holiday season also brings increased risk for families both in terms of fire and theft, but it is also one of the deadliest times of year on America's highways, as the number of drunk drivers rises at a particularly disturbing rate.

With increasing energy prices burdening more Maryland families and our dependence on foreign oil undermining our national and economic security, it is long past time that we have a bold new energy policy for America.

Last week, the House passed a major tax bill to provide immediate relief for 23 million Americans at risk of paying the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) – a tax originally designed to ensure fairness in our tax system, but which every year threatens to hit more taxpayers who were never intended to pay the tax.

This week, the House passed two major measures aimed at helping American workers and small businesses: the Small Business Contracting Program Improvements Act (H.R. 3867) and the Trade and Globalization Assistance Act (H.R. 3920).

Thirty-five years ago, our Nation codified an enhanced commitment to protecting and improving the quality of water in our lakes, rivers, streams, estuaries and wetlands by enacting the Clean Water Act. That 1972 legislation spelled out ambitious programs for water quality improvement that have since been expanded and are implemented today by industries and municipalities.

This Sunday, I had the honor of speaking at the 26th National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service to pay tribute to those firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty. On this occasion, we memorialized 91 fallen firemen and women, their deaths a grave testament to the dangerous and sometimes fatal nature of the fire service.

Have you flown recently and been frustrated by flight delays, cancellations or simply a lack of information? Maybe a better question is when have you flown and not been frustrated?

On this, the sixth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks, our nation pauses once again to remember the innocent men, women and children who senselessly perished that dark day.

Each August, we have the opportunity to mark the greatest expansion of democratic rights in our nation’s history – the day American women were afforded the right to vote. August 26, 1920, observed as Women’s Equality Day, marks was a milestone in human progress – and one that marked neither beginning nor end in a struggle that is far older than United States itself.

From making historic investments in the Chesapeake Bay to ensuring that more children in Maryland receive the high-quality education they deserve, the 110th Congress has been working non-stop over the past seven months making progress for the American people on the toughest challenges we face.

Seventeen years ago - on July 26, 1990 - the first President Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law, hailing it as "the world's first comprehensive declaration of equality for people with disabilities." That day was one of my proudest in public service, and I know others who helped lead the fight on the ADA feel the same way.

In 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the GI Bill into law, launching the greatest government led initiative in our nation’s history to invest in higher or continuing education. The original law enabled 7.8 million veterans of World War II to participate in education or job training programs and is credited for its redeeming impact on the post-war national economy and in building a sustained American middle-class.

Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) today announced the inclusion of $57.7 million for the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) consolidation project at White Oak, Maryland in the FY08 Financial Services Appropriations bill which passed the House of Representatives today.

In January of this year, new rules went into effect requiring United States airline passengers traveling to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda to show a passport upon their re-entry into the country.

Forty-four years ago, President John Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act and called it the first step in addressing “the unconscionable practice of paying female employees less wages than male employees for the same job.” At that time, women earned 59 cents for each dollar earned by a man.

Though they have fallen, they will never be forgotten, and on this Memorial Day we honor them as well as all the servicemen and women, throughout our history, who have given their lives serving others before serving themselves.

Mothers’ Day is a time for sons, daughters, husbands and grandchildren to reflect upon and celebrate all the wonderful contributions our mothers have made. This holiday also calls us to ensure that mothers are provided with the tools and resources that will help them raise healthy children.

In almost every public poll that asks Americans what domestic issue most concerns them, health care is almost always listed among in the top three. As a matter of public policy, health care dominates the debate, both in the state of Maryland and in Washington.

President Kennedy stirred the imagination of our nation and inspired a generation to "ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." One of the great sons of Maryland, Sargent Shriver, took Kennedy's words, and answered that clarion call to a life in public service and has become one of the greatest public servants in the history of our nation.

Concerned about increasing environmental degradation and the political indifference to act, United States Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin called for an “Environmental Teach-in” to be held on April 22, 1970.

Imagine what it would be like to lose a child on account of a toothache because your insurance coverage lapsed and you didn’t have access to the basic health services that may have saved his life. It’s hard to imagine such a scenario could happen in the 21st Century in the most prosperous and resource-rich nation on the planet - but it did. Furthermore, it happened right here in Maryland.

With spring just around the corner, you may be preparing to get out the broom and sweep away the dust and cobwebs that accumulated in your house over the winter. For Democrats in Congress, we have just begun the housekeeping necessary to attend to unfinished business and important priorities left unaddressed by the previous Congress.

Thirty years ago, during an unprecedented national energy crisis, President Carter said: “With the exception of preventing war, this is the greatest challenge our country will face during our lifetimes.” Because our nation has too often failed to make the hard decisions needed to move toward energy independence, President Carter’s admonition is as relevant today as it was back then. We simply cannot ignore our addiction to foreign sources of oil any longer.

The first woman Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, a mother and grandmother, convened the 110th Congress by announcing: “For all of America’s children, the House will be in order.” Both the Speaker’s words and the image of her surrounded by children that day represent the new Congress’s promise and commitment to protect and provide for all of our nation’s children.

U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) was presented Oct. 27 with the Javits Wagner O’Day Champion award for his efforts to aid the employment of people with disabilities.

Democrats of the 110th Congress elected Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Dist. 5) as their new majority leader despite attempts by newly-elected House speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to strong-arm party members to support her top pick, Rep John Murtha (D-Pa.).

St. Mary's County, in far Southern Maryland, has all of the ingredients for a Republican stronghold: farms, outer suburbs, affluent retirees and a strong military presence. It has consistently supported Republicans for president and governor in recent elections.

Only in Washington could a $248 billion budget deficit be touted as good news. But that is exactly what President Bush and Republicans did last week. The Grand Old Party is clearly in a state of denial on the deficit...

This week, Americans celebrated the 23rd anniversary of American Business Women’s Day. In the 1940’s, working women were making new inroads to the business world by changing the face of industry and providing positive economic impact...

In 1882, the first Labor Day festivities celebrated the creation of the labor movement and the social and economic achievements of the American worker.

With traffic on the minds of voters, some of Southern Maryland's elected officials gathered Tuesday to announce federal funding for several road and parking projects.

Monday marked the 71st anniversary of the Social Security program’s inception. For the last 71 years, Social Security has provided dignity, safety, and security to millions of retiring Americans, as well as to disabled Americans and children whose families experience devastating tragedies. This program has been one of the most popular and successful in American history. Preventing the privatization of Social Security that President Bush and Congressional Republicans have been advocating is one of the key elements of Democrats’ plan to lead America in a new direction.

U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer recently met with 5th Congressional District student Cassie Wilson, who was his nominee for the 2006 Summer Congressional Page program.

Nearly two months after Maryland seniors were forced to enroll in Medicare Part D or face a lifetime penalty, news about the failures of this confusing law continues to pour in.

In a move that many consider to be long overdue, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) announced today that he will shortly introduce the PROGRESS Act.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has sponsored a resolution that would allow about 60 underage, unlicensed drivers to cruise down Constitution Avenue Northwest at speeds exceeding the legal speed limit in unregistered, driver-constructed vehicles.

Like an afternoon tent revival, people crowded onto a small Broomes Island beach to hear the teachings and preachings at what some would call the church of Bernie Fowler.

Prince George’s County could face significant setbacks in replacing its outdated radio system if the federal Department of Homeland Security sticks with its plan to reduce the National Capital Region’s grant money by 40 percent.

An effort by Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) to clean up the Anacostia River took a step forward last week when the House passed an appropriations bill that includes $400,000 designated for restoration efforts.

On Monday, I hosted a town hall meeting in Waldorf to discuss the looming prescription drug deadline. My Democratic colleagues and I have requested that the Bush Administration extend the penalty-free enrollment deadline for the new Medicare prescription drug law from tomorrow to January 1, 2007, so that seniors can have more time to navigate this confusing and complicated law.

Reps. Steny H. Hoyer and Benjamin L. Cardin met this week with seniors at Victoria Park Apartments in Waldorf to discuss the Medicare prescription drug program and the looming Monday deadline to sign up for the benefit.

This week we pay tribute to some of the most important individuals in our nation: our educators. Teachers hold the future of America in their hands. They teach our children to read, to write, to calculate, to sing, to paint, to listen, to question, to work with others, and to think for themselves. Most of us owe our teachers a great debt, not only for our education in the classroom, but for inspiring and encouraging us to be and do better. I hope Marylanders will join me in honoring our teachers and recognizing the lasting contributions they make to our communities.

While driving the roads of Southern Maryland, you will inevitably notice the recent spike in gas prices. They are high and rising, squeezing the pocketbooks of the average Maryland family. This week families are paying $3.00 a gallon on average for regular gasoline -- double the cost when President Bush took office, and up nearly 70 cents a gallon in the last seven weeks.

President George W. Bush’s plan to suspend the introduction of ethanol-laced gasoline is ‘‘too little, too late,’’ said one petroleum industry official.

On April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day, 25 million people joined around the country to demand a safer, cleaner and healthier world. The impact of that first Earth Day was astonishing. In rapid succession, and with large, bipartisan majorities, Congress passed the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and the Superfund Act.

WASHINGTON -- Volunteers spread over 241 sites in Maryland, Washington, Virginia and West Virginia collected more than 131 tons of garbage Saturday during the annual cleanup of typical and unusual trash from the Potomac River watershed.

It wasn’t a Harley-Davidson, but National Park Service Ranger Wayne Phillips and his colleagues managed to put together a motorcycle.

The staff of Zekiah Technologies Inc. gave U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer a glimpse of its defense contracting work when he visited the firm’s La Plata headquarters March 10.

Carol Rice's reaction to the cost of 50 pills of Lipitor to help lower her cholesterol nearly induced another health problem, she said.

Funding math and science teacher recruitment and training programs at the earliest education levels is imperative for keeping America competitive, the Maryland state superintendent of schools told House lawmakers Thursday.

President George W. Bush’s 2007 budget proposal includes more than $9 million in budget cuts to the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC), including the closure of two BARC labs.

Things that have been found floating in the Potomac River: a vintage Chevy. A giant plastic hot dog. A tombstone from 1878. A $50 check to the Internal Revenue Service.

The tobacco barns that have come to be the primary symbol of Southern Maryland's agricultural heritage -- and that have descended into varying states of vine-covered, weather-beaten degradation -- now may be restored with the help of $200,000 in federal grant money.

With an infusion of $250,000 announced by Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-MD) Nov. 18, the Renaissance Square project in Hyattsville can now make a major step forward.

Ask Rep. Steny H. Hoyer what Democrats need to do to win back control of the House next year, and his first response is a barely suppressed chuckle.

A "brainstorming" document mistakenly made public last week on Capitol Hill included a proposal to sell one of Charles County's historical gems: the Thomas Stone National Historic Site...

The federal deficit is an issue that seems remote and removed from the everyday lives of most Americans. However, the cost of the recovery effort in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is bringing the deficit out of the halls of Congress and into the pocketbooks of American families...

The commission charged with trimming and consolidating the nation’s military bases expected to submit its final report to the White House today, with Maryland likely to gain a significant job boost...

While most Americans understand taxes to be a basic obligation of citizenship, many are left feeling frustrated, angry or even cheated after filing th

This week, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a revised estimate for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 budget deficit – and it ought to concern all Americans...

On May 24, the House of Representatives passed the Fiscal Year 2006 Energy and Water funding bill which included $1 million for the Oyster Recovery Project, which is coordinating the revival of oysters in the bay.

Father’s Day is a wonderful time for many fathers and families all across the nation to celebrate father’s and the role they play in shaping the lives of their children.

The release of the BRAC recommendations on Friday was the crescendo of a multiyear, multifaceted effort by Rep. Steny Hoyer and Del. John Bohanan to preserve Southern Maryland’s military installations and the thousands of jobs that fuel the regions economy.

NASA's decision to delay launch of the shuttle Discovery by two months may have given the Hubble Space Telescope a new lease on life - delighting the telescope's boosters.

Calvert County officials formally dedicated Huntingtown High School during a ceremony Saturday, seven months after the school opened its doors for the first time last fall.

Laurel College Center received a symbolic check Monday for $198,400 to support its nursing and allied health students programs.

Military communities nationwide are bracing for the Department of Defense to release the list of defense facilities it wants to consolidate with other bases or close completely, a process known as base realignment and closure, or BRAC.

From nearly the moment that the Arlington County portion of Interstate 66 opened in 1982, various planners and officials have fought to widen it based on the simple argument that more lanes are needed to alleviate daily traffic jams.

ANNAPOLIS -- Top Democrats are pushing a plan to move up next year's primaries by three months to June 2006 to avoid leaving the party's Senate and gubernatorial nominees battered and broke with just two months before the November general election.

Southern Maryland's farming leadership assembled in Charlotte Hall this week to share concerns with Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) about the loss of estate tax exemptions, the high price of fuel and, like elderly residents in other fields, the fate of Social Security.

Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer called on NASA Tuesday to go ahead with plans to send a robot to service the Hubble Space Telescope while officials from the space agency said such a mission likely won't happen due to proposed budget cuts.

Last week the House of Representatives passed the Fiscal Year 2006 House Republican budget, which contains harmful cuts to federal investments in Maryland that the state would be forced to absorb.

Portions of the $3.38 billion that the state of Maryland could receive from a new federal transportation bill will go to much-needed construction and improvements on roads in Prince George's County.

Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes, the studious liberal who became Maryland's longest-serving senator and who acted as quiet counsel to Democratic leaders through times of impeachment and scandal, announced yesterday that he will not run for reelection when his fifth term ends in January 2007.

County fire departments coping with aging equipment and staff shortages will get some much-needed relief with more than a half million dollars in federal fire grants announced Tuesday.

It is increasingly clear that the proposal by President Bush to privatize Social Security – the most successful government program in American history – is opposed by a solid majority of the American people. And, as I discuss below, Americans are opposing privatization for good reason.

This week the Peace Corps celebrates its birthday and has designated Peace Corps Week as an opportunity for former Volunteers to share their knowledge and experiences with their communities in the United States. Volunteers take this opportunity to educate Americans back home about the people with whom they lived and worked.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and 46 co-sponsors are pushing a bill that would increase the amount of money the federal government pays toward employee health insurance premiums.

CHARLOTTE HALL -- Steny H. Hoyer understands completely the political calculus that has Maryland Democrats yearning for him.

On Monday, January 17, we will commemorate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a minister, a civil rights leader, a father, a Nobel Laureate. Dr. King led the fight to reform America’s ideas of equality and civil rights – and to dispel the notion that the American dream was only limited to Americans of a certain color or background.