Pelosi And Hoyer Meet With Young Girls With Pre-Existing Conditions

By Laura Smith, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Rep. Mark Schauer (D-Mich.) and Jim Williams, the CEO of Easter Seals, a non-profit that helps disabled youth, held a briefing today to talk about the importance of health care reform for children with pre-existing conditions.

"Every family in America is one phone call, one accident, one diagnosis away from needing what we have in our bill," Pelosi said.

A mother, Roxanne, and her daughter, Shannon, who has cerebral palsy, were also present at the meeting.

Roxanne said that Shannon has dreams and that she's been fortunate to have had Medicaid almost all of her life, and she's progressed very well with having Medicaid. Shannon she had a surgery recently and also needed therapy to fully recovery, and Medicaid will not pay for it.

"These aren't just the services she needs now, this is services she needs all her life. Cerebral palsy doesn't just go away," Roxanne said.

She said she really wanted her daughter to get the therapy she needs so she can live a very full and independent life, like her.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the health care bill is about making sure no American is left without the health care they need. He also said the health care bill is about "whether or not the nation can say 'yes we can' today.'"

Hoyer also introduced a young woman named Jessica, who at 21 months old was in a horrible car accident with her mother. She made a recovery, but her insurance company saw the accident as a pre-existing condition.

He mentioned how she was planning on getting married this month, but when she does, she will have to find different health insurance that she can afford and that will also accept her pre-existing condition.

"She ought not have to choose between her health insurance and getting married," Hoyer said.

Jessica said the organization Easter Seals has always been there for her. She said that her insurance wouldn't pay for her Easter Seals when she turned 21, and that one of her biggest expenses is a dietary supplement that she's paying for out of her pocket.

Pelosi said, "These girls demonstrate so clearly that, in our society, we must respect people for what they can do, rather than judge them for what they can not do."

Hoyer Blames GOP For Afghanistan Problems, Senate For Short Work Weeks

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) responded to the apparent impatience shown by Congressional Republicans over the adoption of an Afghanistan war strategy, explaining that under GOP leadership, Afghanistan was woefully under-resourced.

“We have more people [there] than [House Minority Leader John] Boehner and his party put in Afghanistan over the last five or six years,” said Hoyer during a pen and pad session withe reporters. “We’re doing much more than they did.”

While the Majority Leader has been hesitant to tell reporters where he stands on Afghanistan, he did credit the surge in Iraq as a successful maneuver, a possible hint to the final position Hoyer will push for.

The Majority Leader also touched upon recent concerns that the House has been meeting for shorter hours, a sentiment that Hoyer sympathized with. However, Hoyer explained that the House’s slim work-weeks are a result of inactivity in the Senate.

“We have sent a lot of work to the ... Senate,” said Hoyer. “We’re waiting for them to get back.

“This is not a criticism of Harry Reid,” Hoyer added. “Senator Reid has the most frustrating job in government.”

Hoyer Doubts House Will Vote On Health Care By Early November

By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

While the approval of the America’s Healthy Future Act in the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday seemed to hasten the pace of health care reform, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) does not believe the House will be prepared to bring similar legislation to the floor by early November.

“I think it would be very doubtful that we would get a vote prior to the first week of November,” Hoyer said during a pen and pad session with reporters.

There has been some concern that the proximity of the ongoing debate over health care reform to two crucial gubernatorial campaigns in Virginia and New Jersey could sway the manner in which Congress shapes the legislation, a notion that Hoyer flatly rejected.

“Frankly, I think these gubernatorial elections...pretty much stand on their own,” the Majority Leader said. “They will have minimum effect on the health care deliberation.”

Hoyer stated that he believes the House will hold its vote by Christmas, but stressed that he could not guarantee it.

Initially, both Hoyer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sought to hold a vote prior to the August recess, a deadline originally pitched by the White House.

Hoyer: We Took Our Eye Off The Ball In Afghanistan

By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

Prior to the White House’s scheduled meeting Tuesday afternoon with Congressional leadership, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) declined to tell reporters if he would support sending more U.S. forces to Afghanistan.

“I intend to give my advice and counsel to the president first,” said Hoyer during a pen and pad session. “I have some views and I’ll probably express them sometime in the future after I meet with the president.”

However, the Majority Leader did offer his explanation for the origin of the troubled military situation in Afghanistan.

“This is an effort that ... we should have succeeded on years ago. We took our eye off the ball. We under-resourced the effort that had almost unanimous support,” Hoyer said.

The Majority Leader refused to speculate over whether Congress would be behind a troop increase, stating that while there is support for the action in the House, he was not sure if it is the majority’s opinion.

Hoyer: We’re Not Talking About Dropping The Public Option

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) stated Tuesday that House Democrats have no intention of striking the public option from the final draft of the health care reform legislation.

“We’re not talking about dropping the public option,” Hoyer said during a pen and pad session with reporters. “One way you bring down costs substantially is to have a public option that provides competition.”

Hoyer’s statement comes after a noticeable divide has opened up between the Majority Leader and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) over how committed Congress should be to a public option, with the latter taking a much more aggressive stance in favor of the provision.

The Majority Leader announced that he will be speaking with congressional Republicans in an attempt to find common ground on health care reform, noting that a few Republicans have stated they are behind 80 percent of the proposed health care bills.

“I want to find out what that 80 percent is. If we have 80 percent, then we ought to work very strongly on the remaining 20 percent. It will be my intention to invite them to do so.”

Hoyer also touched upon Medicare’s sustainable growth rate, a formula that determines the level at which medicare physicians are paid. While there was initially going to be a 21 percent decrease in payments made to physicians, the Senate Finance Committee provided a one-year fix that would instead offer a .5 percent increase in payment. While the Majority Leader backs the committee’s fix, he also expressed his desire to see a more permanent solution.

Hoyer said that he would back Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, in passing regulatory reform. The Majority leader added that existing regulatory measures should be bolstered in addition to creating new oversight methods.

The Majority Leader also responded to calls from congressional Republicans to have General Stanley McChrystal, who commands U.S. forces in Afghanistan, testify before Congress. The Majority Leader said his testimony would be “useful.”