Press Release

In wake of the Rana Plaza building collapse, which killed more than 1,100 people, House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) signed onto a letter to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina strongly urging the Bangladeshi authorities to join in a comprehensive, concrete, and coordinated plan to ensure workers' rights and safety in Bangladesh.

Today, House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) joined Congresswoman Linda Sánchez and 137 House Democrats in urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to confirm Tom Perez as the next Secretary of Labor.

“I support the actions announced by President Obama tonight. The actions taken by the IRS were unacceptable, and it is appropriate and necessary for the responsible parties to be held accountable.

“The sequestration is an irrational, stupid policy that's having an adverse effect on our economy and on our national security.

"Because of Congress's failure to reach a balanced agreement on deficits, hundreds of thousands of our nation's civilian defense employees will be furloughed for up to eleven days this year, resulting in an unmerited pay cut to those who are hard at work keeping our country safe and making sure our troops have the tools they need to carry out their missions.

“Pretending that you are going to take hostage the credit worthiness of the United States of America to get your deal done is irresponsible, not realistic, and we are not going to deal on the debt

“With the manufacturing sector’s strong potential to lead job growth for our economy, the Obama Administration’s announcement today of a competition to fund three more manufacturing innovation institutes is an important step toward greater competitiveness and the creation of high-skill, high-wage jobs for our middle class.

"Jobs was clearly on the President's mind and his focus.