Hoyer Remarks at Press Conference on President Obama Meeting With House Demcratic Caucus
WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) delivered remarks today at a press conference with House Democratic Leadership following President Obama's meeting with the House Democratic Caucus. Below is a transcript of his remarks:
“Well I agree with the Leader and with Chairman Becerra – the President was optimistic, the President was positive, the President was obviously pleased with the meetings that he’s had both with the House Republicans and the Senate Republicans, as well as Senate Democrats and now House Democrats.
“The President indicated, as has been referenced, and I would submit – the election is over. We’ve had our election, we had a vigorous debate, and the American people have made a choice. We have a Democratic President, a Democratic Senate and a Republican House. He observed, and I agree, and I think all of us agree, that the sequester that has been adopted should not go forward, should not stay in place. We ought to do that in a more rational, balanced way, that we need to move forward in setting our country on an even more successful path than we are on.
“Good job numbers last month, 236,000 jobs. Stock market at historic highs. But in order to continue that and to grow more jobs the President made it very clear that he understands he needs to reach out to Republicans and to work with his Democratic colleagues in the House and the Senate to make sure that we reach a balanced resolution – a resolution to move this country forward. And if we do so, he’s very optimistic about the fact that we’re going to do very, very well as a country, create the kinds of jobs we need and be competitive in world markets to grow our economy.
“So it was a very positive meeting. I know all of our members were pleased the President joined us and he is positive about the meetings he’s had with our Republican colleagues and we look forward to working with him in the coming days and months.”
Visit http://www.democraticwhip.gov/ for more press, floor and member resources.