Steny Hoyer

Congressman Hoyer knows that, for far too long, Black Americans have been denied equal and fair opportunities in our country and access to a better quality of life. He has continued to be a champion for fairness and equality for all. Having begun his public-service career advocating for fair housing for Black residents in Maryland, throughout his time in office Congressman Hoyer has worked closely with his colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus to advance legislation that ensures minority populations are fully enfranchised in Maryland and across our country while receiving equal treatment and equitable access to opportunities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the urgent need for addressing our country’s long-standing racial inequities, particularly in the economy and in public health. In addition to ensuring passage and enactment of critical COVID-19 emergency legislation to address these disparities, Congressman Hoyer has continued to advocate for an equitable response to this pandemic. He urged that data be collected so policymakers can fully understand how this pandemic has impacted African Americans and Latinos. When vaccines were distributed, Congressman Hoyer led the charge to secure the FEMA mass vaccination site at the Greenbelt Metro Station, ensuring that Prince George’s County residents, who statistically had lower vaccination rates, could access vaccines equitably and easily.

Congressman Hoyer has also been a leader on the national level to stamp out hatred and bigotry. Following demands for police accountability, Congressman Hoyer helped bring the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to the House Floor and twice secured its passage, affirming that Black Lives Matter. He has also worked to eliminate symbols of hate and bigotry in our United States Capitol and joined the fight to make lynching a federal hate crime. In the face of rising violence against Asian Americans, Congressman Hoyer helped secure passage of a resolution to denounce hate crimes specifically targeting these communities.

As we continue to rebuild and grow our economy following the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, Congressman Hoyer understands that we have to remain focused on job creation, support for our small businesses, and investments in the future. He will work with his colleagues in Congress to ensure that Marylanders have all the tools necessary to access opportunities that provide real economic security to families.

Congressman Hoyer continues to fight for expanded contracting opportunities for disadvantaged communities, minorities, and women, as well as shared economic growth and job creation throughout Maryland.

Congressman Hoyer understands that small businesses are the job-creating engine that will help rebuild our economy. With the COVID-19 legislation enacted by Congress, Congressman Hoyer successfully secured billions of dollars for small businesses, including the smallest businesses and minority-owned businesses in Maryland.

Congressman Hoyer believes it is shameful that many women still earn less pay than men for the same work – and he is deeply alarmed by the departure of so many women from the workforce as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the pay gap in Maryland's Fifth District is closing, Congressman Hoyer is focused on taking additional steps to ensure equal pay for equal work and set more women on a path of economic success beyond COVID-19. Congressman Hoyer helped pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to protect women against pay discrimination and help close the gender gap in wages.  It was the first piece of legislation former President Obama signed into law, and Congressman Hoyer is committed to building on this progress. He was pleased to bring the Paycheck Fairness Act to the House Floor earlier this year to close the gender pay gap and ensure that equal pay means equal work. With more women than ever as primary breadwinners, Congressman Hoyer is committed to the fight for equal pay, and he'll keep fighting because Maryland women and their families deserve it.

Congressman Hoyer has worked to create or save nearly 23,000 jobs across the Fifth District, including jobs at Patuxent River Naval Air Station; St. Inigoes; the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head; and Goddard Space Flight Center.

Congressman Hoyer has also been a champion for a cost-of-living-adjustment for federal employees in Congress. He has worked hard to make sure federal employees have the benefits they’ve earned to support themselves and their families. On behalf of the over 60,000 federal employees in Congressman Hoyer’s district, he has consistently advocated and fought for a fairly compensating the federal civilian workforce for their service to Americans.

Congressman Hoyer is committed to public education and believes that we must continue to invest in Maryland schools so they remain among the best in the nation.

Congressman Hoyer is focused on ensuring Maryland students have the education and skills they need for the jobs of today and tomorrow. That’s why he has made education and skills training a core component of the Make It In America plan, a legislative agenda he leads in Congress to promote economic competitiveness, job creation, and opportunity. The Make It In America plan aims to promote pathways to careers, encourage entrepreneurship, and create jobs by repairing and rebuilding our aging infrastructure. With the pandemic exacerbating educational inequities, Congressman Hoyer has been determined to close the achievement gap for students by supporting initiatives like providing HBCUs and minority-serving institutions with the resources they need to meet the needs of students and set them up for success.

Congressman Hoyer is also an advocate for Full-Service Community Schools, modeled after the highly successful Judy Centers throughout Maryland, which coordinate educational and social-service programs through collaborative partnerships with school districts and community-based organizations.  By co-locating services like health care and career assistance under one roof, Congressman Hoyer believes schools can more effectively and efficiently provide entire families with access to supports they might not easily access otherwise.

Congressman Hoyer also helped prevent 300,000 educator layoffs across our nation during the Great Recession. Additionally, he helped to enact the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which made critical investments in higher education by significantly increasing funding for Pell Grants, making loan repayment more affordable by expanding the Income-Based Repayment program, and providing $2 billion to strengthen community colleges. Congressman Hoyer believes that, in order to attract the best and brightest teachers, we must ensure they are paid fairly.

Finally, he continues to support investments in education for disadvantaged students and students with disabilities, funding for teacher professional development, and increasing Pell Grant awards for students pursuing higher education.

Congressman Hoyer knows that climate change is the existential threat facing current and future generations. He believes that we must take bold steps to address the worsening climate crisis, which is a threat to our environment, including the Chesapeake Bay; to public health; to our economy; and to our national security. He is focused on reducing carbon pollution, advancing renewable energy technologies, and improving energy efficiency, all of which will help families and businesses save money, spur innovation, create good-paying jobs, and improve public health.

Recent enactment of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will mean substantial investments in tackling the climate crisis and a cleaner, more sustainable environment for Marylanders. The infrastructure bill includes historic investments in transit and intercity passenger rail, the largest single investment in water infrastructure, and $238 million dollars to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.  Complementing it, the Build Back Better Act includes $555 billion, and it would be the largest investment by any nation, in order to address the climate crisis. That legislation passed the House in November, and it is awaiting action by the U.S. Senate.

Congressman Hoyer introduced legislation that would curb carbon emissions from deforestation while helping the global community meet the goals of the Paris Climate Accord. H.R. 5830, the America Mitigating and Achieving Zero-emissions Originating from Nature for the 21st Century Act, or AMAZON21, will help end deforestation by 2030 around the world, support reforestation efforts in developing countries, protect the rights of women and indigenous peoples, and take additional steps to save our planet’s critical carbon sinks.

Congressman Hoyer strongly supports environmental standards that keep our land, air, and water clean. He has supported every major environmental bill since he was elected to Congress. He has also secured federal dollars to clean up the Chesapeake Bay and the Patuxent, Potomac, Anacostia, and St. Mary's Rivers, and he has worked to replenish the oyster population of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. In addition, Congressman Hoyer has been an advocate for the clean up of toxic PFAS chemicals in the Fifth District and brought H.R. 2467, the PFAS Action Act, to the House Floor to address these ‘forever chemicals’ in communities in Maryland and across the country.

Congressman Hoyer has also worked to protect Maryland’s open spaces and secured federal funds to add 8,000 acres to the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge, to expand and protect Piscataway Park, and to help acquire 6,000 acres in Charles County for the Douglas Point Project.

For Congressman Hoyer, ensuring that more Marylanders have access to affordable, quality health insurance coverage is a top priority. For the past decade, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has helped bring coverage to millions more Americans, significantly slowed the growth in costs, and brought an end to discriminatory practices that left many suddenly without coverage or access to care when they needed it most. That law, which Congressman Hoyer brought to the Floor as Majority Leader in 2010, ended the practice of denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions and banned annual and lifetime limits on health coverage benefits. 

The COVID-19 pandemic made it clear why measures like the Affordable Care Act’s reforms are so critical to preserve and expand. Congressman Hoyer has fought vigorously to lower the cost of prescription drugs and strengthen the Affordable Care Act in Congress. He is focused on working with his colleagues and the Biden-Harris Administration to expand access to affordable health care to all Marylanders with the Build Back Better Act. This legislation will lower the cost of health care for Marylanders. It will make sure that no Marylander pays more than $35 a month for insulin and bring down the costs of prescription drugs by allowing Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs.

Addressing the Fifth District’s transportation needs remains a top priority for Congressman Hoyer. The Fifth District is one of the fastest growing areas in the State of Maryland, and Congressman Hoyer has worked very closely with state and local officials to ensure that our transportation infrastructure is prepared to meet the needs of Fifth District residents, businesses, and federal facilities. With the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Congressman Hoyer helped deliver funding to support transformative investments in Maryland’s infrastructure. In addition to the many investments it makes in internet access, water infrastructure, and addressing the climate crisis, the law secures over $7 billion for Maryland and includes important initiatives like repairing highways, roads, bridges; This legislation represents the largest investment in public transit ever made, and it contains historic investments in intercity rail, including Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor serving the district. Further, it will expand Maryland’s electric-vehicle charging network as we move away from fossil fuels that harm our planet.

Over the years, Congressman Hoyer has also helped secure the reconstruction of the Baltimore/Washington Parkway, the dualization and restoration of Suitland Parkway, the expansion of Metro’s Green Line in Prince George’s County, and the Southern Maryland Commuter Bus Initiative. Recently, he worked on a bipartisan basis with the Washington Area Congressional Delegation to secure $1.5 billion in dedicated funding to help address Metro’s capital backlog and improve the safety and reliability of the system for Fifth District commuters.