mr. hoyer: thank you, madam speaker. i thank the gentleman from new york for yielding. i spoke yesterday on this issue. my good friend, mr. goodlatte, and i have talked a number of times about this. in 1995 as i said yesterday i voted for an amendment very similar to this, almost exactly alike. and i had a confidence at that point in time that in an emergency 3/5 of us would come together and vote to do that which the country needed to keep it stable and safe. regrettably over the 16 years i have lost that confidence. i have lost that confidence this year. where, frankly, on the majority side of the aisle we would not have passed a c.r. to keep the government opened once. we wouldn't have passed it a second time. and very frankly had we had to rely on the votes solely of the majority side, as we have in the past on my side, we would not -- we would have defaulted on our debt. that is not a good context in which to adopt an amendment that puts the country at risk if 3/5 are not available. to act

mr. hoyer: thank you, madam speaker. i thank the gentleman from new york for yielding. i spoke yesterday on this issue. my good friend, mr. goodlatte, and i have talked a number of times about this. in 1995 as i said yesterday i voted for an amendment very similar to this, almost exactly alike. and i had a confidence at that point in time that in an emergency 3/5 of us would come together and vote to do that which the country needed to keep it stable and safe. regrettably over the 16 years i have lost that confidence. i have lost that confidence this year. where, frankly, on the majority side of the aisle we would not have passed a c.r. to keep the government opened once. we wouldn't have passed it a second time. and very frankly had we had to rely on the votes solely of the majority side, as we have in the past on my side, we would not -- we would have defaulted on our debt. that is not a good context in which to adopt an amendmenthat puts the country at risk if 3/5 are not available. to act i

mr. hoyer: i thank the chairman for yielding. mr. speaker, in 1995 i spoke on the floor in support of a balanced budget amendment. that was 16 years ago. there's a lot of water over the bridge since that time. i said then and i quote, i do so because i believe that this country confronts a critical threat caused by the continuation of large annual deficits. i believe that then. and i believe it now. and i voted against tax cuts that weren't paid for. i voted against social security benefits that weren't paid for. and i voted against other items that weren't paid for. i stand by my 1995 statement today. however, as i have said, events in the last 16 years lead me to oppose today's bill -- balanced budget amendment. only months after we had that debate, my republican colleagues shut down the government. in 1997 we passed an amendment with bipartisan agreement reaffirming the 1990 agreement that we would have a pay-go process in place. and without having passed a balanced budget amendment, we did

mr. hoyer: i thank the chairman for yielding. mr. speaker, in 1995 i spoke on the floor in support of a balanced budget amendment. that was 16 years ago. there's a lot of water over the bridge since that time. i said then and i quote, i do so because i believe that this country confronts a critical threat caused by the continuation of large annual deficits. i believe that then. and i believe it now. and i voted against tax cuts that weren't paid for. i voted against social security benefits that weren't paid for. and i voted against other items that weren't paid for. i stand by my 1995 statement today. however, as i have said, events in the last 16 years lead me to oppose today's bill -- balanced budget amendment. only months after we had that debate, my republican colleagues shut down the government. in 1997 we passed an amendment with bipartisan agreement reaffirming the 1990 agreement that we would have a pay-go process in place. and without having passed a balanced budget amendment, we did

mr. hoyer an important role in all this. in the senate, the minority has more power. in the house, not so much. you need the centrists to come

mr. hoyer an important role in all this. in the senate, the minority has more power. in the house, not so much. you need the centrists to come together on the super committee deals. you may get some defections if there are tax increases. especially the moderate democrats and the minority whip, they have significant roles to play. >> that letter is much less than meets the eye. when you see 40 republicans say, i am ready to raise this rate or this tax. then you have something. there is no time for the super committee to do that. it was a move to set, i am or something. >> are you optimistic that this will come through? >> i do not have a crystal ball. >> thanks for both of you for coming -- to both of you for coming. >> if you miss any of this week's "newsmakers," we will re-air it did today at 6:00 p.m. on c-span. >> it is good to see what can be done wrong so that you can avoid it.

mr. hoyer, i yield mr. hoyer four minutes.aker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for four minutes. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding and i congratulate him for his leadership on this effort. i thank my friends, chairman bachus, for his facilitating the passage of this legislation. community banks, mr. speaker, are the lifeblood of our local economies. they are locally owned and operated. they know their local businesses and residents intimately and lend to them not just because it's sound business decision, but also because it benefits the greater community. with a credit and lending crisis we have experienced over the past couple of years, the small banks that operate our local communities, in our local communities, face numerous challenges just to stay afloat. these are the banks we need to see lending, to small businesses and homeowners. but they are ham strung in their attempt to raise capital by outdated s.e.c. registration requirements. this one is over half a century hold. under the near

mr. hoyer: thank you, madam speaker. i thank the gentleman from new york for yielding. i spoke yesterday on this issue. my good friend, mr. goodlatte, and i have talked a number of times about this. in 1995 as i said yesterday i voted for an amendment very similar to this, almost exactly alike. and i had a confidence at that point in time that in an emergency 3/5 of us would come together and vote to do that which the country needed to keep it stable and safe. regrettably over the 16 years i have lost that confidence. i have lost that confidence this year. where, frankly, on the majority side of the aisle we would not have passed a c.r. to keep the government opened once. we wouldn't have passed it a second time. and very frankly had we had to rely on the votes solely of the majority side, as we have in the past on my side, we would not -- we would have defaulted on our debt. that is not a good context in which to adopt an amendment that puts the country at risk if 3/5 are not available. to act

here is mr. hoyer. >> i voted for an amendment similar to this, almost exactly like it and i had confidence at that point in time that in an emergency, three fifths of us would come together and vote to do that which the country needed to keep it stable and safe. >>reporter: the point if you approve the balanced budget amendment you need 60 percent voting for, making exceptions in case of emergency and hoyer says he does not believe his colleagues would do that if this were passed today. another person who was a "no" vote today was house republican budget chair paul ryan, explaining the no vote as being he was worried about spending controls saying with a balanced budget amendment the fear is washington would keep spending, government would keep growing and, essentially, we would raise taxes through the roof to pay for it, so, he was also an interesting "no." trace? >>trace: and, mike, everyone is watching the deficit super committee, the deadline is wednesday night, and any signs of progress there? >>

former house majority leader, mr. hoyer. he does not appear to be ready or willing to give up his day job and even accused governor perry to pandering to the tea party. to tell me how serious it is, presidential candidate, the governor of the great state of texas, governor rick perry. welcome back. >> sean, it's great to be with you again. thank you very much. >> i kind of like the idea. i'm figuring if they aren't there that often they can't do as much damage. i think we will be better off the more vacation they get. maybe even let them keep their pay and we will end up financially a lot better off. >> you think about it, i think stenny hoyer or someone of his elk said that was a radical idea. well, it's not a radical idea. you think about how many state legislatures meet part-time. i just left new hampshire a couple hours ago. they meet part-time and they get their work done. my home state we meet for 140 days every other year. texas would be the 13th largest economy in the world if it were a stand alone entity and we are

invite him to make it in america working meeting hosted by the white house and our democratic whip, mr. hoyer, tomorrow. mr. speaker, mark's experience demonstrates why we need to strengthen our trade laws and pass the china currency reform bill. in the meantime, i would like to salute mark andall for his commitment to the american worker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: are there any other requests for one-minutes? the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leaves of absence requested for mr. carson of indiana for today, mr. ruppersberger of maryland for today and the bam of the week. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the requests are granted. under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, the gentleman from california, mr. garamendi, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. garamendi: mr. speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity to take this hour together with my colleagues to discuss jobs in america. i think we know from our recent visits back to our district that ther

mr. hoyer: i thank my friend, debbie wasserman schultz, one of gabby giffords' closest friends. acknowledge the presence of her extraordinary staffer, gabby giffords' leader on her staff. who herself lost a valued member of her staff and gabby's staff. madam speaker, all of us who serve in this house know that we could not do the work we do without the help of our extraordinarily able and highly motivated staff. they work long hours. with pay below their counterparts in the executive branch and the private sector. many are young. in their 20's and 30's. with an energy and passion for public service that give us all great hope for the future. gabe zimmerman was one of those passionate and dedicated staffers. who loved his job, who loved his fellow staffers, and who loved his congresswoman. he was working for a beloved friend and colleague of all of ours, congresswoman gabby giffords. gabe zimmerman was a bridge between the congresswoman and individuals and constituent groups in her district. fostering and expanding each day the most important relationships a member of congress ma

now we would have the whip, the gentleman from maryland, mr. hoyer, congressman hoyer is taking the lead on this as well. so we thank you for being here tonight. mr. hoyer: i thank congresswoman fudge. i'm honored to be on the floor with john lewis. who came close to losing his life to make sure that americans could vote, could register and could vote. mr. speaker, we're a year away from an election. one that will shape the course of our nation for years ahead. the choice we make will be pivotal and in order to make certain that it reflects the direction our people want to take, we ought to do everything we can to ensure that all who have the right to cast a ballot can do so. equal access to the ballot is the most fundamental right we have as americans. it is what preserves our democracy and instills confidence in our system of government. some of our greatest national struggles have been over suffrage, from votes for african-americans and women to votes for the young people who risked their lives for us in uniform. the right to vote, however, is tod

mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition to this misnamed bill which would promote neither democracy nor fairness in the workplace. now, i have just been on this floor a few minutes but it's ironic that i've heard speaker after speaker in favor of this bill but who vote consistently against working men and women's right to organize and bargain collectively. ironic perhaps. the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively for better and fairer conditions has been protected by our laws since the era of the new deal. which was opposed by so many. this legislation is part of an agenda frankly that the republican party continues to pursue which no economist believes creates jobs in the coming year. this bill before us won't do anything to help the economy or create jobs, period. and it places obstacles in front of workers seeking to exercise their right to organize. now i want to point out to my friends that interestingly enough in terms of trying to protect elections, there's all abo

mr. hoyer's office a couple weeks ago. in attacking a voter i.d. law, as for example is permitted use t aa gun license, bu tnot no college i.d. could you use that disparity as evidence of invidious intent or invidious discrimination on the grounds that the proof necessary for a college i.d. is at least as necessary is that you need to get a gun license, in fact more so, and if the legislature says that the more difficult to get i.d. is not sufficient, because we do not like college students voting, but the more easily i.d. gun licenses because we like the voters voting, could use that as a constitutional wedge? >> i think so. >> barbara, do you have any? >> one of the biggest problems we have, of course, is that this current supreme court has cost -- as constituted has been a very deferential to states about their collection systems. that is one of the consequences we have had an attacking a lot of the voter disenfranchisement laws. so it is not very clear, but i think the case should be made, should be brought and should be pursued. i also wanted

who has been so eloquent, john larson, on jobs, to the whip that talks about make it in america, mr. hoyer, and of course our vice chair and of course our assistant leader, mr. clyburn, and our vice chair, mr. becertificatea. all of these folks, if i've not -- becerra. all of these folks, if i've not left out anyone, have talked about make it in america, but more importantly, we are not broke. we can insist on letting our small businesses and our manufacturers get a leg up and we stop giving giveaways to those who are the beneficiaries of the bush tax cuts and begin some new concepts in funding. i think we can make it. i want to close by simply saying to my friends in the private sector, you complain when we talk about pass the jobs bill. i frankly think it's a commonsense approach. pay a little tax relief, hiring the chronically unemployed, putting to work teachers so that class sizes can go down, educating your next work force, firefighters, police, etc. it is well documented that our large companies have a very flush cash flow. it is well documented that our major banks are multinationa

mr. hoyer: thank you very much, speaker simpson. ladies and gentlemen, mike simpson's from idaho. former speaker of the idaho house. he and i had a relationship because i was president of the maryland senate. we started a relationship early in his career, not in mine because i had been here some time. this is the kind of comment that undermines cooperation in the congress of the united states. mike simson's been my partner along with heath shuler and others and peter welch and others and mark warner, chambliss happens to be my fraternity brother. the public doesn't believe we have good friends across the aisle. that's not accurate. nor do they believe we can work across the aisle. we are here today to say, we must work across the aisle in both houses to get this country on the right track. let years then chairman of the joint chiefs, admiral mike mullen, said that, and i quote, our national debt is our biggest national security threat. that is why we all stand here on this podium. republicans, democrats, house members, senate members. we must do something to start paying down the

community and on the judiciary committee for many, many years, the honorable steny hoyer, for his comments. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. and i'm going to speak on behalf, i think, of the minority leader and myself as the minority whip. but i thank you for holding this hearing. this is a very -- that's all right. i thank you for that. but i want to say how pleased i am to join my colleagues, emanuel cleaver and congresswoman fudge, at this hearing, as well as chairman conyers who's been such a giant on behalf of the rights of all americans in our country, throughout the extraordinary career in the congress of the united states. i want to thank you, mr. chairman, for holding this important hearing. with the federal election just under a year away, the committee is right to look into possible voter suppression taking place. and i say possible. we know that voter suppression has been taking place, is being taken place and is planned. the right to vote, of course, is fundamental to our entire system of government and the ability of every american to have his or her voice heard in washington and their state house

hoyer said his expectations for the success of the committee are now low. in fact, just yesterday former clinton white house chief of staff. >> i would sty mr. bowles and everybody else, there is a chance to fail but also a chance to succeed. and tim eternal optimism. i believe as my state's motto, as i breathe, i hope. i believe that we are going to get to where we need to be with time to spare. >> nbc news capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell joins us. so is he one of the few that believes thing are looking optimistic right now? >> reporter: he is always bringing a cheerful spirit to capitol hill and everybody appreciates that. what you do get is a sign today of some movement. there were more than 100 members of congress in both parties who signed a letter encouraging this super committee, a group of 12, to go big, as they say. to go for bigger cuts. many interpret that as a positive sign. at the same time, there is a certain malaise that has taken hold here with doubts about what the super committee can really accomplish as the deadline gets closer. and even a sense that democrats are telling us they've done all they can do. they wa

the judiciary committee -- i will introduce our friend from maryland, steny hoyer, for his comments. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. and i will speak on behalf of the minority leader and myself as the minority whip. i thank you for holding this hearing. i'm happy to join my colleagues at this hearing, including congressman conyers, who has been a giant for the rights for some many of our citizens. i want to thank you for holding this important hearing. with a federal election under your way, it is right to look into possible voter suppression taking place. and i said possible. we know that the other suppression has been taking place, is taking place, and is planned. the right to vote is fundamental to our entire system of government. and the ability of every american to have his or her voice heard in washington, in the state house, and in their local communities is absolutely essential. that right is under threat. nationwide state legislatures have recognized that inhibiting eligible voters from casting ballots -- there is some sunlight. the voters of ohio have had decided that that was not what they tho