Hoyer release

Hoyer Statement Recognizing Black History Month

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, February 02, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) released the following statement today to commemorate Black History Month, which is observed during February:

“This month, America observes Black History Month to honor the contributions of the African-Americans whose work has shaped our nation in every area of endeavor. While the lives and legacies of African-Americans were once systematically excluded from our history, today we celebrate the central role these citizens have played in our nation’s story for more than 400 years.

“And the creation of Black History Month-along with the pioneering work of African-American historians like Carter G. Woodson, the month’s founder-have been central to that realization. I hope that all Americans will take the time this month to reflect on the promise of equality, the brave men and women who have called on America to live up to it, and the work that remains before we can say that the promise has been fully kept for all of our citizens.”

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Steny Hoyer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 01, 2010

CONTACT:
Katie Grant
Stephanie Lundberg
(202) 225 – 3130
Majority Leader Hoyer Statement on President Obama’s Budget
WASHINGTON, DC – House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (MD) issued the following statement today after President Obama released his budget request for fiscal year 2011:

“I look forward to reviewing President Obama’s budget in detail in the days to come, but I am happy to see that it combines job-creating incentives with a serious commitment to reducing our deficit. The President entered the White House with the country on the verge of another Depression, but Democratic policies have started to turn things around: job losses are down 90% from the end of the previous administration, and our economy grew by 5.7% in the last quarter of 2009. Today’s proposed budget would further our recovery by providing tax credits to small businesses that hire new employees, investing in job-creating infrastructure projects, and committing to innovation in energy technology.

“Last year, President Obama also faced a fiscal mess, brought about by the economic downturn and the previous administration’s borrowing. On this front, as well, Democrats have made real progress: the House is close to final passage of statutory pay-as-you-go (paygo) legislation to keep the deficit from growing. In addition, nearly 60% of the discretionary spending cuts proposed in the president’s last budget were enacted by Congress, and Congress intends to build on that success. The proposed freeze in non-security discretionary spending will force Congress to wisely prioritize and eliminate waste. Overall, the budget proposed today would cut our deficit by more than half, from 10.6% of GDP in 2010 to 4.2% of GDP in 2013.

“But deficit reduction will take much more hard work. The paygo requirement must be rigorously enforced for all non-emergency legislation. President Obama has also taken a constructive step by proposing a Fiscal Crisis Responsibility Fee for the big banks on Wall Street that benefitted from taxpayer assistance in their hour of need.

“However, I agree with the president that, even if these steps were taken, the deficit would remain too high. So it is essential that we work with a bipartisan fiscal commission to make the hard choices necessary to balance the budget, excluding interest costs, by 2015. And Congress must address the single largest contributor to our deficit, the exploding cost of health care. Because our country’s fiscal condition poses a shared danger, I am hopeful that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will give this budget’s fiscal responsibility agenda the serious consideration it deserves.”

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Hoyer release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2010

CONTACT:
Katie Grant
Stephanie Lundberg
(202) 225 – 3130
Hoyer Statement on Passing of Former Senator Charles ‘Mac’ Mathias
WASHINGTON, DC – House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today on the passing of former Senator Charles “Mac” Mathias of Maryland:

“It was with real sadness that I learned today of the death of Senator Charles ‘Mac’ Mathias. Senator Mathias served our state and his nation well, in a long and distinguished career. He was a man of principle, moderation, judgment, and compassion. His support of protecting the environment and supporting the needs of working people were hallmarks of his career and life. His example of integrity and service is one we should all emulate. His constructive and positive approach to facing the issues confronting our country is too often missed today. He will be greatly missed and long remembered.”

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WashTimes

Internal U.S. Capitol Police documents marked as “law enforcement sensitive” containing maps from near where a congressional leader lives to a relative’s house were found near a curb recently in front of a 7-Eleven convenience store in Washington.

The 10 pages of U.S. Capitol Police dignitary protection unit papers also include information on the security systems in place at a hospital along the mapped route in Maryland.

The documents, which contain the name of a relative of House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, were dated Nov. 19 and appear to detail Mr. Hoyer’s travels two days later. The papers were found near a curb on Maryland Avenue and Eighth Street in Northeast Washington by an employee of The Washington Times.

[...]

“We have determined that there was no security breach, nor was there ever any danger to the member [of Congress],” said Capitol Police spokesman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider.

“The potential for this to occur exists with every agency,” she said.

But Gary Poole, director of security for the Shore Health System in Easton, Md., called the information release troubling and said he planned to call for an explanation from Capitol Police officials.

The documents found on the roadside included information on the hospital’s internal systems that Mr. Poole said would not be released to the public.

[...]

Mr. Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, declined to comment through a spokeswoman.

Experts who reviewed the papers at the request of The Times said the documents did not pose security risks but said the information wouldn’t have been considered public.

[...]

“Our documents are composed to purposely safeguard against an inadvertent release of information and do not contain information that would associate it with the member,” [Schneider] said.

Still, The Times was able to identify one of the people named in the document as a relative of Mr. Hoyer’s through a simple Internet search of that person’s name.

I posted the other day about a new congressional expense report released for the 3rd Quarter of 2009. The complete report is here. I also have the numbers from the Maryland delegation below. The funding source is taxpayer dollars. Based on the Maryland delegation, Lockheed Martin Desktop Solutions and The Accurate Word LLC are really raking in the cash from all the members of Congress from the whole country.

The left column of figures is year to date (YTD) while the right column is for the 3rd Quarter. You can click on the thumbnails to get the full-sized image. I provided commentary on specific items below the general numbers. The commentary is just based on what looks unusual to me.

Frank Kratovil, Jr. (MD-01)

Kratovil spent approximately $15K in district office rent for the quarter. One large expenditure was over $18K in June to American Direct Mail. You can go to the PDF of the full report here to look at the itemized expenses yourself.

C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02)

Ruppersberger is paying Onstar memberships in his expenses as well as a significant amount  (over $26K for just one quarter) of rent to COPT. There is also a new purchase of nearly $6700 in furniture for the quarter. You can go to the PDF of the full report here to look at the itemized expenses yourself.

John P. Sarbanes (MD-03)

District office rent payments to the H. Adams Limited Partnership are approaching $16K for the quarter. There is one large printing bill totaling over $25,000. There are home security system expenses itemized as well. One curious thing is a payment for web and email services to Liberty Concepts. As far as I know, the House has its own email servers and its own web servers for members to use. I’m curious what the $2,000 to them for this quarter actually went for. You can go to the PDF of the full report here to look at the itemized expenses yourself.

Donna Edwards (MD-04)

Edwards has probably the longest itemized list so it would take further research to find any patterns or trends. You can go to the PDF of the full report here to look at the itemized expenses yourself.

Steny Hoyer (MD-05)

Reports from earlier this week indicated Hoyer spent $1,561 on bottled water alone this quarter. Cities across the country have been banning purchases of bottled water since the U.S. Council of Mayors endorsed such measures in 2007 as away to limit the environmental impact the plastic bottles have. Maryland bans on bottled water include Takoma Park and the University of Maryland. I seem to remember a proposed ban in Baltimore City and/or Annapolis as well.

There are also over $25K in district office rental expenses for the quarter.

One example of where the money goes is in an August event. Hoyer spent $5379.66 on food and beverage expenses just to Middleton Hall. There was also $400 in space rentals paid to Middleton Hall. On August 28, Hoyer hosted a Women’s Equality Day Luncheon at the hall. The featured speaker was HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The number of attendees is not listed anywhere and other expenses itemized on the report are likely also associated with this event. The banquest menu for the venue indicates a basic price of $22.99 a person (not including taxes or gratuities.)

You can go to the PDF of the full report here to look at the itemized expenses yourself.

Roscoe Bartlett (MD-06)

Bartlett spent an estimated $16K+ in district office rent for the quarter. His office also used Fireside21 for web and internet services in addition to the in-house services provided on the Hill. You can go to the PDF of the full report here to look at the itemized expenses yourself.

Elijah Cummings (MD-07)

Cummings broke the $1 million mark for the year in just 3 quarters. Cummings spent just over $20K in the 3rd Quarter alone on district office rent. His largest food and beverage expense for 3rd quarter was approximately $3900 spent at Morgan State in June.

You can go to the PDF of the full report here to look at the itemized expenses yourself.

Chris Van Hollen (MD-08)

Van Hollen spent just under $22K in district office rent for the quarter. Fireside21 also has been paid by Van Hollen.You can go to the PDF of the full report here to look at the itemized expenses yourself.

UPDATE

Bryan Sears wrote on this topic and received a reply from Sarbanes’ office:

Makeda Scott, communications director for Rep. John Sarbanes called at 4:30 p.m. to explain the “home security expenses” referenced on Insidecharmcity.com.

“It’s actually for security for the front door of the district office in Towson,” Scott said.