Hoyer Discusses President Trump’s Harmful Trade Actions and the Discharge Petition to Force Consideration of DACA Legislation on MSNBC
Press Types
Press Release
For Immediate Release:
June 6, 2018
Contact Info:
Mariel Saez 202-225-3130
WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) joined Kasie Hunt on MSNBC this afternoon to discuss President Trump's harmful trade actions and the discharge petition to consider legislation to address the DACA crisis created by President Trump. Below are excerpts from the interview and a link to the video:
On President Trump's Harmful Trade Actions
"…This is a complicated issue not subject to the sort of a meat-ax approach, which we think the President has taken and an issue that could, in fact, start a trade war, which will be bad for consumers, bad for employees, and bad for employers. So we think that the President's actions were not consistent with our economic best interests. We certainly agree that we need to deal with China's malevolent activity, not only in terms of dumping goods… but also in stealing our intellectual property and pursuing unfair trade practices. Clearly, we need to confront that, but Canada is not the enemy and Europe is not our enemy. In fact, they are our friends, and they are our trading partners, and so I think that Democrats are going to look carefully at what proposals can be made and what constraints can be put on the President so that we do not precipitate a trade war."
"I'm a proponent of an agenda that's called Make It In America. I want to create incentives for manufacturers to make things in our country. But the way the President is going about it, I think, will be harmful to, as I said, consumers, employers, and employees."
On the Discharge Petition to Force Consideration of DACA Legislation
"[W]e have 215 Members… who have signed a discharge petition to bring four alternatives to the Floor, one of which would be an alternative that the Speaker could present to the Floor of whatever he deems to be an appropriate compromise. He can do that, but he also ought to bring the bills to the Floor and the rule to the Floor which allows for the DREAM Act, which is essentially looked at as a Democratic bill; the Goodlatte bill, which is essentially a Republican bill; and the Hurd-Aguilar bill, which is a bipartisan bill worked on very hard by Mr. Hurd, a Republican, and Mr. Aguilar, a Democrat… I would hope that they would bring that to the Floor, let this be considered. The Speaker, when he was elected Speaker, said he was going to take the tough issues head on… What the Speaker ought to do is let the House work its will. Let the Representatives of the American people make a decision based upon a majority vote."
On President Trump's Harmful Trade Actions
"…This is a complicated issue not subject to the sort of a meat-ax approach, which we think the President has taken and an issue that could, in fact, start a trade war, which will be bad for consumers, bad for employees, and bad for employers. So we think that the President's actions were not consistent with our economic best interests. We certainly agree that we need to deal with China's malevolent activity, not only in terms of dumping goods… but also in stealing our intellectual property and pursuing unfair trade practices. Clearly, we need to confront that, but Canada is not the enemy and Europe is not our enemy. In fact, they are our friends, and they are our trading partners, and so I think that Democrats are going to look carefully at what proposals can be made and what constraints can be put on the President so that we do not precipitate a trade war."
"I'm a proponent of an agenda that's called Make It In America. I want to create incentives for manufacturers to make things in our country. But the way the President is going about it, I think, will be harmful to, as I said, consumers, employers, and employees."
On the Discharge Petition to Force Consideration of DACA Legislation
"[W]e have 215 Members… who have signed a discharge petition to bring four alternatives to the Floor, one of which would be an alternative that the Speaker could present to the Floor of whatever he deems to be an appropriate compromise. He can do that, but he also ought to bring the bills to the Floor and the rule to the Floor which allows for the DREAM Act, which is essentially looked at as a Democratic bill; the Goodlatte bill, which is essentially a Republican bill; and the Hurd-Aguilar bill, which is a bipartisan bill worked on very hard by Mr. Hurd, a Republican, and Mr. Aguilar, a Democrat… I would hope that they would bring that to the Floor, let this be considered. The Speaker, when he was elected Speaker, said he was going to take the tough issues head on… What the Speaker ought to do is let the House work its will. Let the Representatives of the American people make a decision based upon a majority vote."