Hoyer vows new era of bipartisan cooperation in House

Warns of tough times facing country in future

Friday, Nov. 21, 2008

As Congress reconvened this week for a rare lame-duck session to address the faltering automobile industry, Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) told a roomful of reporters at the National Press Club on Tuesday that the majority will look to convert its electoral successes into substantive and politically balanced policy changes.

"Now our work is to turn from promise to progress, from speeches to statute," he said. "We will take counsel from every part of our party, from our Republican colleagues and from the White House — and we will then work to make concrete the change that American has chosen."

Mending the ailing economy tops Democrats' agenda, followed closely by a focus on national security and a comprehensive energy policy.

To do so, Hoyer said Democrats must be united and reach across the aisle to forge consensus.

"... Governing as a national majority does not mean simply setting modest, middling goals," he said. "It means ambitious goals, pursued thoughtfully, with time taken to win arguments and build the agreement that has so far eluded us."

As Democrats put their agenda and that of President-elect Barack Obama into place, Republicans should resist being obstructionists, Hoyer said.

"In the immediate future, with no governing responsibility and with the moderate Republican virtually extinct, the other party is likely to move towards a narrow agenda, even further away from the centrist and independent voters who sustained its majorities," he said.

"But that would not simply be damaging to the future of the Republican Party, in my opinion, it would be dangerous for our country. Our country needs a loyal opposition to work constructively on legislation, to challenge Democratic arguments and hold us accountable."

At the same time, Democrats must not veer too far to the left and enact liberal policies that displease middle America, Hoyer said. Congress must therefore chart a course in the coming weeks to restore the country's fiscal health by investing in infrastructure improvements that will create jobs, temporarily extending food stamp benefits and increasing federal Medicaid assistance for unemployed and uninsured workers.

In so doing, the federal government must not sink deeper into debt and leave future generations footing the bill.

Although gas prices have drastically dropped in recent weeks, Congress must embrace new technologies to ensure prices do not balloon again and to promote new generation and transmission lines to sustain sufficient supply in the long term.

"If we fail to match 21st-century energy technology with 21st-century distribution capability, we will waste energy and money every day," he said.

National security also will remain a top priority for the incoming Congress. Rebuilding a military depleted by years of war and augmenting defense capabilities are essential for the county's long-term safety.

Social Security reform and health care expansion also remain urgent topics, particularly as businesses are saddled by high costs during down economic times, Hoyer said.

Solving those complex topics all require a cooperative approach, even from Democrats eager to enact sweeping, but perhaps unpopular, reform.

"We must remember where our majority came from," he said. "We did not just make a full-blown ideological conversion of the other half of the country. What we did do, and this in itself was a huge accomplishment, was convince majority-making independents, whether they be Democrats, Republican or actual independents, that we will govern responsibly and effectively at this time of national crisis."

abrody@somdnews.com