Hoyer: It's Time for Democrats and Republicans to Work Together in a Bipartisan Way to Rise to Our Budget Challenges

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-5) spoke on the House Floor this morning about the need for both parties to replace the sequester with a balanced approach to deficit reduction. Below are his remarks and a link to the video:

Click here to watch the video.

"Mr. Speaker, as we proceed with the fifteenth week of the Republican policy of sequester, this House continues to avoid taking the steps it ought to be taking to replace the entire sequester with a balanced alternative. Instead, House Republicans have fully embraced the sequester's draconian cuts, which slash funding from our highest and lowest priorities equally and put our economic recovery and national security at risk."

"By insisting on budget numbers that not only include the sequester but cut even further into domestic priorities, in clear violation of the Budget Control Act and the agreement that we reached between the two parties, Republicans are torpedoing any chances of reaching a big and balanced solution to deficits. The longer we wait, Mr. Speaker, to forge a compromise that can replace the entire sequester with a balanced alternative, the more pain will be felt across our economy, and the greater the risk will be to our national security. Just ask the Joint Chiefs, not us."

"There is, however, Mr. Speaker, an alternative. There is a balanced bill that will replace the sequester entirely. The Ranking Member of the Budget Committee, Mr. Van Hollen, has put forward a proposal that deserves a vote. The Speaker so often says, ‘let the House work its will.' In fact, he's asked for a vote on it six times – Van Hollen has – and will ask for a seventh time at the Rules Committee today, but Speaker Boehner and Republican Leader Cantor have so far said no. The House cannot work its will. The House cannot consider this option."

"The American people deserve to see where their representatives stand on a balanced alternative to the sequester, and they deserve a Congress where real compromise proves stronger than partisan maneuvering. If the Van Hollen alternative were to come to the Floor for a vote, I would hope that a majority of members would vote for it. The majority of Democrats certainly would, and I believe a substantial number of Republicans who are concerned about our fiscal future. Hal Rogers, in fact, the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, has opined how much pain the sequester would be causing and how much dysfunction it would be causing."

"It's exactly the kind of compromise approach we need, the Van Hollen alternative. All we're asking to do in the immediate term is for Speaker Boehner to let the House work its will and have a vote on Mr. Van Hollen's alternative and to follow regular order and agree to go to conference. That's what they said they wanted to do. That's what they said they would do. But they're not doing it."

"It's time for Democrats and Republicans to work together in a bipartisan way to rise to our budget challenges and set our country back on a sound fiscal path. Let us have regular order. Let us have a vote, and let us restore sanity to this House and replace the sequester with a balanced solution."