Ranking Member Hoyer Opening Remarks at FSGG Hearing on President Biden's Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request
WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05), Ranking Member of the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Subcommittee, delivered opening remarks today at FSGG's Budget and Oversight Hearing on President Biden's Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request and Economic Outlook. Below is a transcript of his remarks and a link to the video:
Click here for a link to the video.
“Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate your comments. I may not agree with them, but I appreciate them, and I appreciate the way in which we are able to work together, notwithstanding differences, to come to a conclusion on behalf of the country.
“This hearing occurs the same week that we finish our Fiscal Year 2024 — we hope –– appropriations, some six months after the fiscal year started. [It] is a testament to how broken our appropriations process is.
“I know many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, including Chairman Womack, share that view.
“I’m pleased that we are close to seeing final legislative text on a sensible, bipartisan funding deal.
“It shouldn’t have taken this long, however. Had my Republican colleagues honored the deal that 314 members of the House came to last summer, we would have finished these appropriations months ago. We must avoid these same mistakes as we start our work on appropriations for Fiscal Year 2025.
“I believe my friend, the Chairman, shares my hope that we can pursue that mission in a more collaborative fashion.
“That includes working with the Biden-Harris administration to ensure that our federal agencies receive the resources they need to enforce the law, build a more resilient economy, and help the American people get ahead.
“President Biden’s budget proposal is a great template for how we can continue Investing in America.
“I must say Mr. Chairman, as an aside, I’m looking forward with great anticipation to the actions your party proposes with respect to the mandatory spending in which you speak. We’ll have some discussions about that I’m sure.
“By supporting the policies included in the Inflation Reduction Act and the other historic laws we passed last Congress, the President’s budget would help lower Americans’ costs. That includes essentials like health care premiums, prescription drugs, energy, insulin, and high-speed internet.
“As Chair of the Regional Leadership Council, I’m eager to hear from Secretary Yellen about the progress we’ve made to implement those laws in every corner of the country.
“I also look forward to hearing Director Young’s insights on the other ways this budget Invests in America and in Americans – whether it’s expanding access to childcare or ensuring the integrity of our elections.
“Crucially, the budget accomplishes all of this while also reducing our deficit by $3.2 trillion over the next decade. Now we can argue back and forth, but there is no doubt that the Chairman is correct. We need to address the fiscal crisis confronting our country in terms of our debt and we need to do that across the aisle - and it will be tough, but we need to do it.
“I’m a big believer in fiscal responsibility, as are many of my friends across the aisle.
“Fiscal responsibility, however, means looking not only at spending but also at revenue.
“That ought to include providing much needed funding to the IRS to enforce existing tax laws. I was not pleased this year at the figure that we’ve come because IRS – under both parties by the way – has been underfunded.
“While the Inflation Reduction Act’s funding for the IRS has greatly improved the agency’s tax-payer services, we must do more through the appropriations process to support its enforcement efforts.
“Every dollar we give to the IRS to collect legally owed taxes – not increase in taxes, legally owed taxes – from high earners yields $12 in return. So that every $1 we cut from enforcement, one could extrapolate, costs us $12 in collections.
“If we’re serious about reducing the deficit, we cannot afford to ignore revenue owed under laws already on the books.
“This is another strong budget, but I’m disappointed that for the first time it doesn’t maintain pay parity for military and civilian federal employees. I’ve expressed that disappointment to my dear friend, the OMB Director.
“Instead, it includes a 2% cost of living adjustment for federal civilian workers and a 4.5% COLA for members of the military.
“Now, let me explain what that means. You have the military guy – maybe he's a sergeant, three striper, four striper. He's sitting, he's running a machine. You have a civilian sitting right next to him, running the same machine, doing the same thing with the same responsibility, and getting a disparate pay – both living in the Washington, D.C. area. I hope our guests can shed some light on that discrepancy and on what we can do to resolve it.
“I know Secretary Yellen, Director Young, and Chair Bernstein are here to discuss Fiscal Year ‘25 appropriations.
“Many of us, however, would also like to hear their perspective on one of the most pressing issues facing our Congress today and that is securing supplemental aid for our Ukrainian and Israeli friends.
“I've spoken three days in a row on money for Ukraine. We're going to go for a two-week vacation - we call it a District Work Period and we all work – so it's not a vacation at all. The young men and women on the frontlines in Ukraine are going to have no two weeks off.
“The young people flying their planes, which are not many, are going to have no time off. The people backing them up are going to have no time off.
“We need to pass Ukraine supplemental now, and it's a damn shame that we haven't done that already.
“So I thank our guests for doing their part to support that effort, and I hope Congress will follow suit.
“Again, I want to count myself very, very fortunate to be the Ranking Member of a committee chaired by Steve Womack, who in my view, is one of the most straightforward, honest, and effective leaders in this Congress. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.”