House Republicans Introduce Extreme Budget, Pass Partisan, Anti-Immigrant Resolution

MESSAGE FROM THE DEMOCRATIC WHIP  

This week, House Republicans introduced their budget resolution for Fiscal Year 2017, and the Budget Committee passed it on Wednesday. Their budget disinvests in our nation’s future and breaks the bipartisan budget agreement Congress passed last year. Despite extreme spending cuts to programs that encourage job growth and economic opportunity for more Americans, many of the most conservative Members of the Republican conference feel the budget isn't severe enough. With Republicans deeply divided over the budget, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said yesterday that there are no plans to bring the proposal to the Floor for a vote. Rather than move further to the right to placate his Members, I urge Speaker Paul Ryan to abandon this budget proposal and work with Democrats on a budget that honors the agreement we made last October and invests in our nation’s future.

I was also disappointed that House Republicans passed a resolution this week opposing the President’s executive action on immigration. Democrats stood united against this partisan, anti-immigrant resolution. While Republicans continue to attack the President’s actions, those actions were a direct result of the Republican-led House’s failure to address our nation’s broken immigration system. President Obama acted within his full legal authority when he implemented DAPA and expanded DACA to keep immigrant families together, and I am confident the Supreme Court will reach that same conclusion.

Finally, earlier this year Speaker Ryan promised to address Puerto Rico’s debt crisis by March 31. With the House in session only three days next week, it is clear that the House will not meet the deadline set by the Speaker. Puerto Rico is an integral part of the United States and its citizens are citizens of the United States. Congress ought to act soon to provide Puerto Rico with broad authority to restructure its debt, and I urge Republicans to work with House Democrats to do so quickly. 

Sincerely yours,

Steny H. Hoyer

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 DEMOCRATIC NEWS UPDATE  

On the Budget:

• Hoyer Statement on Republican Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2017
• Hoyer, Lee Statement on House Republican Budget Proposal
• FACT SHEET: House and Senate GOP Struggle with Deep Divisions Over Their Budget
• FACT SHEET: Questions for the House Republican Task Force on Poverty

Hoyer Remarks on the Need to Address the Debt Crisis in Puerto Rico

Hoyer Remarks on Republican Efforts to Undo President Obama’s Executive Action on Immigration

Hoyer Statement on President Obama's Nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court