Post by bot on Sept 26, 2015 19:59:36 GMT -5
Hoyer Discusses the Possibility of a Government Shutdown and the Pope's Visit on
MSNBC's "Live with Thomas Roberts"
WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) appeared on MSNBC's "Live with Thomas Roberts" this afternoon to discuss the possibility of another Republican-led government shutdown and the Pope's visit to DC. Below are excerpts from the interview.
On Threats of Another Republican-led Government Shutdown
“A number of Republicans in the Senate have said, look, shutting down the government makes no sense. Shutting down Planned Parenthood doesn't have the votes [and] won't be signed by the president. It is a cul-de-sac or a dead end to go down. Let's move on. Let's fund government. Let's reach a temporary agreement that makes sense, that both parties can agree on and then, given the time as we keep government operating as the way the American public want it to operate, we then have further time to discuss how we get rid of this sequester. The sequester has been referred to by the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, a Republican conservative, as unreasonable and ill-advised and it's unworkable, as well. I think our Republican friends know that. Democratic friends know that. We need to come to agreement, but in the short term we need to keep government open at a reasonable rate of dollars so that they can service the American people.”
On the Pope’s Visit
“Tomorrow will be an exciting day. The historic presence of Pope [Francis] who is a Pope who has reached out far beyond the Catholic Church to all mankind, really, and urge us to become reconciled with one another, open to one another, tolerant of one another, to take care of our global village, and make sure we understand that we are our brother's keeper. It's a moving opportunity here for the American people to see the Pope up close and personal. ”
“I think [during his address to Congress tomorrow] the Pope is going to talk a little bit about what he talked about this morning, and clearly, what he's been talking about during the course of his reign as Pope. He's going to be talking about, as I said, reaching out to one another, reconciliation. He referenced, although didn't mention Cuba by name, but international reconciliation. He mentioned taking care of immigrants. I expect him to talk about that, and he was very powerful on what we would call global warming and what he would call taking care of our global village. So I expect those to be the themes of his talk to Congress tomorrow. It's certainly not going to be a political speech. I think it will be a speech about the values and the humanity that he hopes that all of us will pursue... I hope that [Members will] all sit there very respectfully and listen to what the Pope has to say and digest that and try to figure out how do we apply that to our public policy.”