By Meagan Wiseley – University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-M.D.) told reporters Tuesday that the investigation into Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan’s attack on the Fort Hood Army Base November 5th should be investigated in a bipartisan manner by Congress.

“I don’t think this is a partisan issue, all of us share extraordinary sorrow that this [tragedy] took the lives of our military,” Hoyer said.

Hoyer said that making this a partisan issue does not serve best interest of the American people or of the country.

He added, “what does serve those interests is to look at this matter and see if there are ways and means to prevent such tragedies in the future.”

The House Intelligence Committee was briefed on classified elements of the investigation Tuesday.

Hoyer also expressed his approval for the Department of Justice’s decision to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in U.S. Federal Court.

He referenced the support of Grover Norquist, David Keene and Bob Barr, all known conservatives, for the decision, saying that it proves there is bipartisan support for the issue.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) claimed during the unveiling ceremony for the Affordable Health Care For America Act that the drafting of the bill was the most transparent process he had seen in his twenty-nine year career. (0:15)

 

 Standard Podcast [0:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

By Laura Smith, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Rep. Mark Schauer (D-Mich.) and Jim Williams, the CEO of Easter Seals, a non-profit that helps disabled youth, held a briefing today to talk about the importance of health care reform for children with pre-existing conditions.

“Every family in America is one phone call, one accident, one diagnosis away from needing what we have in our bill,” Pelosi said.

A mother, Roxanne, and her daughter, Shannon, who has cerebral palsy, were also present at the meeting.

Roxanne said that Shannon has dreams and that she’s been fortunate to have had Medicaid almost all of her life, and she’s progressed very well with having Medicaid. Shannon she had a surgery recently and also needed therapy to fully recovery, and Medicaid will not pay for it.

“These aren’t just the services she needs now, this is services she needs all her life. Cerebral palsy doesn’t just go away,” Roxanne said.

She said she really wanted her daughter to get the therapy she needs so she can live a very full and independent life, like her.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the health care bill is about making sure no American is left without the health care they need. He also said the health care bill is about “whether or not the nation can say ‘yes we can’ today.’”

Hoyer also introduced a young woman named Jessica, who at 21 months old was in a horrible car accident with her mother. She made a recovery, but her insurance company saw the accident as a pre-existing condition.

He mentioned how she was planning on getting married this month, but when she does, she will have to find different health insurance that she can afford and that will also accept her pre-existing condition.

“She ought not have to choose between her health insurance and getting married,” Hoyer said.

Jessica said the organization Easter Seals has always been there for her. She said that her insurance wouldn’t pay for her Easter Seals when she turned 21, and that one of her biggest expenses is a dietary supplement that she’s paying for out of her pocket.

Pelosi said, “These girls demonstrate so clearly that, in our society, we must respect people for what they can do, rather than judge them for what they can not do.”

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) responded to the apparent impatience shown by Congressional Republicans over the adoption of an Afghanistan war strategy, explaining that under GOP leadership, Afghanistan was woefully under-resourced.

“We have more people [there] than [House Minority Leader John] Boehner and his party put in Afghanistan over the last five or six years,” said Hoyer during a pen and pad session withe reporters. “We’re doing much more than they did.”

While the Majority Leader has been hesitant to tell reporters where he stands on Afghanistan, he did credit the surge in Iraq as a successful maneuver, a possible hint to the final position Hoyer will push for.

The Majority Leader also touched upon recent concerns that the House has been meeting for shorter hours, a sentiment that Hoyer sympathized with. However, Hoyer explained that the House’s slim work-weeks are a result of inactivity in the Senate.

“We have sent a lot of work to the … Senate,” said Hoyer. “We’re waiting for them to get back.

“This is not a criticism of Harry Reid,” Hoyer added. “Senator Reid has the most frustrating job in government.”

By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

While the approval of the America’s Healthy Future Act in the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday seemed to hasten the pace of health care reform, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) does not believe the House will be prepared to bring similar legislation to the floor by early November.

“I think it would be very doubtful that we would get a vote prior to the first week of November,” Hoyer said during a pen and pad session with reporters.

There has been some concern that the proximity of the ongoing debate over health care reform to two crucial gubernatorial campaigns in Virginia and New Jersey could sway the manner in which Congress shapes the legislation, a notion that Hoyer flatly rejected.

“Frankly, I think these gubernatorial elections…pretty much stand on their own,” the Majority Leader said. “They will have minimum effect on the health care deliberation.”

Hoyer stated that he believes the House will hold its vote by Christmas, but stressed that he could not guarantee it.

Initially, both Hoyer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sought to hold a vote prior to the August recess, a deadline originally pitched by the White House.

By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

Prior to the White House’s scheduled meeting Tuesday afternoon with Congressional leadership, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) declined to tell reporters if he would support sending more U.S. forces to Afghanistan.

“I intend to give my advice and counsel to the president first,” said Hoyer during a pen and pad session. “I have some views and I’ll probably express them sometime in the future after I meet with the president.”

However, the Majority Leader did offer his explanation for the origin of the troubled military situation in Afghanistan.

“This is an effort that … we should have succeeded on years ago. We took our eye off the ball. We under-resourced the effort that had almost unanimous support,” Hoyer said.

The Majority Leader refused to speculate over whether Congress would be behind a troop increase, stating that while there is support for the action in the House, he was not sure if it is the majority’s opinion.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) stated Tuesday that House Democrats have no intention of striking the public option from the final draft of the health care reform legislation.

“We’re not talking about dropping the public option,” Hoyer said during a pen and pad session with reporters. “One way you bring down costs substantially is to have a public option that provides competition.”

Hoyer’s statement comes after a noticeable divide has opened up between the Majority Leader and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) over how committed Congress should be to a public option, with the latter taking a much more aggressive stance in favor of the provision.

The Majority Leader announced that he will be speaking with congressional Republicans in an attempt to find common ground on health care reform, noting that a few Republicans have stated they are behind 80 percent of the proposed health care bills.

“I want to find out what that 80 percent is. If we have 80 percent, then we ought to work very strongly on the remaining 20 percent. It will be my intention to invite them to do so.”

Hoyer also touched upon Medicare’s sustainable growth rate, a formula that determines the level at which medicare physicians are paid. While there was initially going to be a 21 percent decrease in payments made to physicians, the Senate Finance Committee provided a one-year fix that would instead offer a .5 percent increase in payment. While the Majority Leader backs the committee’s fix, he also expressed his desire to see a more permanent solution.

Hoyer said that he would back Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, in passing regulatory reform. The Majority leader added that existing regulatory measures should be bolstered in addition to creating new oversight methods.

The Majority Leader also responded to calls from congressional Republicans to have General Stanley McChrystal, who commands U.S. forces in Afghanistan, testify before Congress. The Majority Leader said his testimony would be “useful.”

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) implied Tuesday that health care reform legislation can pass through Congress without the inclusion of the public option.

“Do I think [the public option] is a condition of passing the bill? My position has been: I’m for the public option, I want to see us adopt the public option, but I think there is a lot in the bill that is very good in addition to the public option,” Hoyer said during a pen and pad session with reporters. “I think a bill can pass the House that the majority of the House believes enhances…the providing of access to affordable, quality health care.”

Hoyer’s statement stands in contrast with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who last Thursday stressed that any attempt at health care reform without the public option will not receive the required votes.

The Majority Leader added that he will not establish a time table for bringing the legislation to the House floor, referring to his previous desire to pass legislation by August as “a learning experience.”

By Laura Woodhead – Talk Radio News Service

Congress’ upcoming August recess will not significantly stall health care reform, the House Democratic Leadership promised Friday.

Speaking at a press conference to review the 111th congresses legislative achievements, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) said that during the August recess “there will be a positive drumbeat across America” from members of congress “to dispell the myths being put out there” about the proposed health care bill. Pelosi said that this disinformation was not only coming from Republican opposition but also the health insurance industry, which she described as the “biggest opponents” to reform.

“This is a shock and awe carpet bombing by the health insurance industry to perpetuate the status quo” the Speaker said. “Make no mistake, facts mean nothing to them, mythology is their game, misrepresentation is the currency of the realm and we intend to set the record straight.”

Pelosi said she confident that the American people would be able to see through the Republicans’ message and support health care reform.

“I am so confident in the wisdom of the American people and the fairness of the press that our message will come through.”

Democratic Caucus Vice-Chair Xavier Becerra (D-Calif). credited the achievements of the 111th Congress to President Obama’s leadership.

“When we get to the point where we can say we have energy policy that changes America, when we have health care policy that changes American and when we get Americans back to work, it will be because under the President’s instruction. This House of Representatives has been active and engaged,” he said. “We are a ‘do a lot’ Congress.”

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) said that Congress’ most significant achievement, the passage of health care reform, was yet to come. Clyburn added that the health reform message would not falter over the recess.

“As we leave, 256 of us will go out to tour communities and we will be talking to our constituents about what this bill mean to them,” Clyburn said. “I believe that when we come back this September, this congress will be prepared to make history.”

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D- MD) praised the achievements of the Congress but warned that the U.S was still not “where we want to be.”

“As long as as there is a single foreclosure, as long as we are not getting loans made as quickly as possible, as long as people can not sell homes when they want to sell them or buy them when they want to buy them, we havn’t gotten to where we want to be. But we have made very substantial progress,” said the Leader.

By Justin Duckham – Talk Radio News Service

While House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) stands by his belief that a public option is an important aspect of health care reform, he appears unfazed by recent reports indicating that the Senate Finance Committee will likely drop the program from its draft of the legislation.

“The Senate is going to go its way,” said Hoyer during a pen and pad session with reporters Tuesday. “I wouldn’t say I’m concerned, if you mean worried…I don’t think there’s any specific item that’s absolutely substantial to reform.”

The Majority Leader said that he was unsure if Congress would pursue the creation of nonprofit insurance cooperatives as an alternative to the public option.

“We’ll have to see what the Senate does on Co-op and see how it’s formulated…after all, a co-op will be a competitor.”

On previous occasions, Hoyer had stated his desire to have the House pass legislation prior to the August recess. However, he announced on Tuesday that the vote will not get to the floor by Friday, the House’s last day in session.

“I think it’s unfortunate that we didn’t meet our timelines, but I don’t think it’s a failure by any stretch of the imagination,” Hoyer said.