National Public Radio "All Things Considered" - Transcript

Interview

MS. BLOCK: We're joined now by the House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland.

Congressman Hoyer, welcome to the program.

REP. HOYER: Thank you very much. Glad to be with you.

MS. BLOCK: As we just heard, Democrats did have to drop some of the things they wanted to get this deal -- increases in food stamps, extension of unemployment benefits -- do you think you sacrificed too much?

REP. HOYER: Well, I think we didn't get what we wanted. But very frankly, the need to move quickly -- if we're going to have a stimulative effect -- was thought by all of us to dictate that we have a compromise that all sides could support -- that's the definition of compromise. And although we have not achieved an extension in the unemployment insurance or an increase in the payments made or on food stamps -- which economists tell us will get into the economy very quickly and would in fact be a stimulus -- and for that matter, giving some additional assistance on the Medicaid side for states who are going to be so overstretched -- we didn't get that.

As Speaker Pelosi said earlier in the comments she made, that does not mean they're off the table, we're not focused on them. They're not in this particular package, however. The proposal that has been made, though, we think makes some great strides towards the objectives that we were fighting for on the Democratic side of the aisle.

MS. BLOCK: But when you say they're not in this particular package are you saying --

REP. HOYER: -- broad inclusion --

MS. BLOCK: Excuse me.

REP. HOYER: -- of people in this program. And as you indicated earlier, some 35 million who are not covered under the president's proposal will be covered under the proposal that is going to be presented to the House.

MS. BLOCK: But when you say --

REP. HOYER: So from that standpoint, we made a very, very substantial step forward, we think, in making sure those working Americans who are the hardest hit and under the greatest stress will get significant relief.

MS. BLOCK: When you say they're not in this particular package, are you implying that this will undergo some pretty radical revisions before it becomes law?

REP. HOYER: No, no, no. But we hope that this will stimulate the economy, turn the downturn around and that unemployment will again drop, and that the economy will start to regenerate itself.

But if it does not and it continues its downward slide, we have been very critical of this administration's economic programs, which we believe haven't produced the kind of economy, for instance, that we had in the '90s. Having said that, this package, we think, is a package which can pass quickly, which is focused on working people who need money and who will spend it quickly to stimulate the economy; and, as you know, it's temporary.

So I'm hopeful that the Senate will take this package and pass it quickly. I know that the senators are looking at other alternatives, as we did. We fought very hard for unemployment insurance and food stamps in particular. The Republicans were simply not going to support that kind of program. But they did come back and did come to a point where at our urging -- and we indicated, in order for us to support a program, it was going to have to help those at the lower end of the economic spectrum, just as it was helping those at the higher end in business. And we support that business stimuli to try to spur investment and expensing by small businesses being substantially increased as a tax deduction.

MS. BLOCK: Excuse me. Congressman, you just heard Senator --

REP. HOYER: That and the housing --

MS. BLOCK: You just heard Senators Harry Reid and Charles Schumer --

REP. HOYER: -- this program. Could we have done more? We wanted to do more, but this is a compromise and we think it's a compromise that we can support.

MS. BLOCK: Congressman Hoyer, thanks for being with us.

REP. HOYER: You bet. Thank you.

MS. BLOCK: That's Steny Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland. He's the House majority leader.

END.

Source