Hoyer Remarks at AFGE 2025 Save The Civil Service Rally on Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) joined Members of Congress, members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), and labor allies at the AFGE 2025 Save The Civil Service Rally on Capitol Hill in protest of the Trump Administration's efforts to politicize and privatize the work career of civil servants. Below is a transcript of his remarks:
“Why am I speaking after Hakeem Jeffries? That’s what I want to know.
"The Fifth District is in the House. The Fifth District is in the Senate. The Fifth District is standing before me. It is cold out here, but they need to know, no matter how cold it gets, how wet it gets, how troubling it gets, we are going to be here because we believe in the American people. We believe in the laws of our country. We believe in the Constitution of our country, and we know they cannot do what they're trying to do. Hear me now.
“Some years ago, a man stood in front of the White House, and he said, ‘I want you to go up to Capitol Hill. I want you to stop the steal, and I want you to fight like hell.’ And they did so violently, illegally, criminally. And now, we're having a stealth fighting like hell. And they want to make sure that you're gone. But the problem with your being gone, if you're gone, America is going to be gone. We need to raise every sign; we need to raise every voice. We need to raise hell. We need to make sure that we won't take it, and we are not going back.
“We're not going back to a civil service that was filled with political hacks who cared about their own interests, not America's interests, not the interests of Americans. You do that work every day. We talk up here and we send paper out. We say, you know – but frankly, we don't get the work done. We don't tend to the people in the hospital. We don't tend to the people who have a fire. We don't tend to people who [have] people breaking in their homes and they need us to come. You do that! You make a difference every day in the lives of every American!
“And that's why you're out here. That's why my fellow Members are out here in the cold, because we're not too cold to fight back. We're not too cold to take a walk somewhere. We're not too cold not to know what's being done to America and Americans, not just to you, but to Americans that you serve every day of your working day.
“Hakeem Jeffries speaks for all of us. We're not putting up with this. You remember the name Don Devine? That was patty cake compared to Russell Vought. Russell Vought who wants you to be seen as villains. Villains! Villains! My friends, you're not villains, you're heroes for America. You do what people need being done so that their lives are better. That's what you are: heroes for America. You keep on keeping on, and I will tell you, every Member who speaks here is going to keep on keeping on with you. With you, and every – and by the way, if you haven’t paid your dues, if you haven't joined up, by the way, if you're listening, you pay your dues, you join up, and you have your voices heard.
“I had a good speech here. You would’ve loved it. These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this hour, shrink from the service of their country. But they who stand it now deserve the praise of men, and women, and our country. God bless you. Go do the job that America wants you to do. We're going to fight, and we're going to win. We're going to win! We're going to win! We're going to win! We're going to win! We're going to win! Go get ‘em!”