WASHINGTON, DC – House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (MD) spoke on the House Floor today for his final “Magic Minute” as Majority Leader. During his remarks, Leader Hoyer reflected on his tenure in elected leadership, all that House Democrats have accomplished together, and the importance of the psychology of consensus. Below is a transcript of his remarks and a link to the video:
   
"Madam Speaker, as Majority Leader there has been no benefit of this job that I have appreciated more than my  ‘magic [one] minute.’  My friends on both sides may be glad to know that this is the last time I will be perhaps able to avail myself of that privilege. I intend to use this extended minute to reflect on what we achieved together during recent years and on a principle that I am eager for us to continue to apply in the years ahead. As Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman and Chairman, as Co-Chair of the Democratic Steering Committee, as Democratic Whip, and as Majority Leader, I approached my work in leadership with one principle in mind: the ‘psychology of consensus.’
 
“What is the psychology of consensus?  It means having a greater sense of us being in this work together than apart. It means waking up and saying, ‘I’m on the team.’ The American team, privileged as citizens to serve in this body. It means setting out with the intention to make progress – not block it.  And it means focusing on what unites us as Americans. Democrats have put this ethos into practice to hold the party line when we needed every vote or nearly every vote.  Our Members remind one another: ‘consider how you can be with us before deciding whether you have to vote the other way.’
 
“Let me share some examples of its success.  In 2008, President Bush asked us to take emergency action to prevent a financial catastrophe.  Sadly, in our first effort, less than one third of the President’s party were initially willing to take that action. We needed to ensure we had enough Democratic votes to work with President Bush and the Senate to enact that legislation.  And we did.  Not long after, in 2009, our economy was in free fall, the American people were struggling, and Congress was divided on how to respond.  Despite that challenge, Democrats came together to pass the American Rescue and Recovery Act.  That legislation set our economy on a path to recovery, saved and created millions of American jobs, and restored confidence in the American Dream. 
 
“The psychology of consensus also helped Democrats deliver a major victory For the People in 2010: the Affordable Care Act.  Although there were disagreements on the specifics of how best to reform our health-care system to make it more accessible and affordable, we all recognized the urgent need to take action.  We worked together in good faith to secure the votes for that landmark law, which made affordable health coverage attainable for 35 million more Americans, banned discriminatory practices, and dramatically slowed the growth of health-care costs.  Interestingly,  the model for that was a bill signed by [Mitt] Romney, then Governor of Massachusetts, now the Senator from Utah. Seven years later, consensus among Democrats also proved essential as we defended the Affordable Care Act against a president and Congressional Republicans determined to repeal it. 
 
“The psychology of consensus benefits not only our Democratic Caucus but the entire Congress.  If we focus on what unites us as Americans who serve in the People’s House, we can better carry out the people’s work. 

“Surely, we will not achieve consensus on every issue.  If we search for common ground before running to our respective corners, however, compromise and progress become far more likely.  I learned this lesson early – not only as President of the Maryland State Senate but also working together with Democratic and Republican House colleagues to achieve bipartisan victories. 
 
"The Americans with Disabilities Act, one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in our lifetimes, shines for me as an example of that working together. In 1990, I joined Tom Harkin, Bob Dole, Ted Kennedy, Steve Bartlett, Tony Coelho, and others as then-President George H.W. Bush signed our bipartisan bill into law.  As a result, those with disabilities must now receive reasonable accommodation, have greater access to opportunity, and are treated with greater dignity.  We achieved that by asking ourselves how we could get to ‘yes’ on legislation that would benefit millions of Americans.  We did it again after the 2000 election revealed serious problems with our voting infrastructure.  Colleagues from both parties – skilled legislators like Bob Ney, Chris Dodd, my good friend Roy Blunt, and others – sat down together, and we ultimately secured the Help America Vote Act of 2002.  The psychology of consensus made it possible.

“It has also led many of us to cooperate to promote freedom and human rights around the world.  As a former Co-Chair of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, I’ve been honored to meet with those who risk everything to promote freedom and democracy in their countries.  Democrats and Republicans have worked together successfully to support them in that effort and to ensure that America remains a bright beacon to all those living in darkness.  As part of that commitment to democracy and human rights, I have been proud to be a leader of the broad, bipartisan coalition supporting the U.S.-Israel relationship and Israel’s pursuit of security and peace in the region.  That effort exemplifies how to build and sustain consensus in this House.  This bipartisan approach must continue, and I will keep working next Congress to ensure that both parties stand firmly with Israel. 
 
“Recently, the pivotal 117th Congress gave us example after example of how this philosophy helps cultivate bipartisanship.  We came into office facing a cratering economy, a deadly pandemic, and grave threats to American democracy.  Halfway through, we also had to respond to the most serious threat to global security since the Second World War: Vladimir Putin’s criminal, unjustified, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.  The margin of our Majority was slim – 222 to 213.  Many predicted the math would make our efforts to govern unworkable.  Two weeks after the election in 2020, the Republican Leader told reporters: ‘We might not be able to schedule the Floor, but we are going to run the Floor.’
 
“Democrats’ psychology of consensus, however, made this one of the most productive Congresses in recent history.  Not only by striving for consensus among our Caucus, which proved the naysayers wrong, but by reaching across the aisle to Republicans when we needed their help to deliver results.  Indeed, we ran the Floor.  

"Coordinating with the Senate and the Biden Administration, our House Majority enacted major legislation even against unified Republican opposition.  Our Members stuck together on very tough votes.  The American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act were the result.  These new laws arrested our economic free-fall, deployed hundreds of millions of life-saving vaccine doses, reopened businesses and schools, created a historic number of new jobs, and set us up to tackle the climate crisis head-on while enabling American workers and entrepreneurs to Make It In America.  Much of our success in the 117th Congress, however, resulted from bipartisanship.  We encouraged Republican colleagues to ask themselves how they could get to ‘yes.’  And enough did that we enacted the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the Respect for Marriage Act, and other crucial legislation. 
 
“We also resoundingly expressed Americans’ support for the people of Ukraine by providing critical military and humanitarian aid during their hour of danger.  Last night, we welcomed and cheered Ukraine’s courageous president, who guards the front door of freedom, international order, and a peaceful global community based on the rule of law.  We must continue to support the Ukrainian people for however long it takes to ensure that they remain democratic, free, and sovereign.  John Kennedy, a great hero of mine, an inspiration for my entering [Congress] said at an inaugural address that goes down in history as one of the greatest: ‘we will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.'
 

“That psychology of consensus made the 117th Congress a success.  This same ethos ought to characterize the next Congress too, and I will look toward that aim with my Republican colleagues. Our Majority will soon come to an end – or, as I believe, a two-year hiatus.  The time has come – as President Kennedy said to my generation when we were ready to step up and serve – for the torch to be passed.  I will not be in the elected leadership of my party next Congress.  I will, however, remain here, serving this country and this institution I love. 

"Our Majority will soon come to an end – or, as I believe, a two-year hiatus.  The time has come – as President Kennedy said to my generation when we were ready to step up and serve – for the torch to be passed.  I will not be in the elected leadership of my party next Congress.  I will, however, remain here, serving this country and this institution that I love.   

"I will keep urging bipartisanship wherever possible and work to unite Democrats in opposition whenever circumstances demand.  I offer Mr. Jeffries, Ms. Clark, and Mr. Aguilar my strongest support, the counsel of my experience, and whatever assistance they may seek.  I am excited for them to take the helm. I know they are ready to lead us back to the Majority and help our Members deliver For the People.
  
"My colleagues will still see me on this Floor regularly as I speak – albeit more briefly, sadly – on behalf of the people I proudly represent in Maryland’s Fifth District.  It is because of their support, their encouragement, and their allowance that I have been able to serve in leadership since 1989 and served in this body for over four decades.  I am so thankful to them and look forward to continuing our work to make Maryland’s communities safer, stronger, and more prosperous; and to make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous; and to make our alliance with the rest of the world's freedom-loving people's safer, stronger, and more prosperous.   
 
"We still have much more to do on projects that will benefit our district and state, and I look forward to returning to the Appropriations Committee as a senior Members to advance those efforts.  My work in the House will continue with the same energy and enthusiasm as I hope I've demonstrated over the past forty-two years. 
 
"I also want to thank my Democratic colleagues, who have supported me in leadership.  I hope I have kept the faith you had in me all these years. I hope that I have done as they would have hoped. I hope they believe that I have represented Congress, this institution, America, and, yes, my party as they would have expected.
 
"And I want to say how proud I have been to serve with the first woman to be Speaker of this House, the indefatigable Nancy D’Alessandro Pelosi.  Our journey of service together began as interns more than five decades ago, after we heeded President Kennedy’s call.  We sat together in a small office in the Russell building, working for Maryland Senator Daniel Brewster.  As we end two decades of partnership in leading House Democrats, along with our good friend Jim Clyburn – who I have known for fifty years – I salute Speaker Pelosi and her trailblazing tenure.  We, my colleagues, have had the great privilege of serving with two historic Members of this House – John Lewis and Nancy Pelosi. 
 
"Throughout my years in House leadership, I have had the honor of employing the finest, most capable, and most professional staff on Capitol Hill.  Nancy said the same of her staff.  America - we yes, but America - is blessed by the extraordinary patriots that serve as staff of this institution and of its individual members. They are extraordinarily able people, and they are great patriots.   Whether with me for two decades or just a few months, they have displayed unrivaled dedication, ability, and integrity.  I thank each and every one of them. They have my gratitude and deep affection.
 
"If I sang the praises individually of each member of my team, my ‘magic minute’ would turn into a magic day.  Suffice it to say, any praise earned by me belongs equally to them.  A number of them were here in the Capitol on January 6, 2021, a day like December 7, 1941, will live as a day of infamy in the history of this nation. They were housed in a small, insular office in my office, terrified by those without and within our hallways calling for the death of the Speaker and the Vice President of the United States of America.  They are an extraordinary group of public servants.  Notwithstanding that terror, they came back the next day to do America's work. I thank them for who they are and for what they’ve done. 
 
"Another group of individuals whom I have come to know well and who have been at my side deserve recognition.  The men and women of the U.S. Capitol Police who have served on my protective detail are among the finest law-enforcement professionals in our country.  They are my friends.  They are part of my family.  I will love them always. I’ve been privileged to get to know them and their families well.  They are dear, dear friends and, like so many, great patriots.  
 
"They are part of a department that has faced enormous strain over the past two years.  We must never waver in our support for the U.S. Capitol Police officers who, every day, protect all who work in and visit the Capitol Complex.  They are the front-line defenders of our legislative branch. They are frontline defenders of our great democracy.  We owe them more than our gratitude; we owe them support.

"Most of all, I want to thank my family: my wife Judy, who died much too soon; my daughters Anne, Susan, and Stefany; my son-in-law Loren; my grandchildren Judy, James, and Alexa, along with Judy's husband Chris Gray - they are the parents of my four great-grandchildren Ava, Braedon, Brooklyn, and Savannah.  Your love and support have sustained me throughout these years.   
 
"I hope that the lessons of my time in leadership and the victories we achieved together – Republicans and Democrats, Members of Congress, 435 people sent here by their neighbors and friends to represent them on issues directly affecting them, their families, and their country – I hope those lessons we achieved together under our Democratic Majority will guide the House in meeting the challenges still ahead.  The psychology of consensus provides us with a blueprint for success.  We in this House, after all, are all Americans whose common heritage should drive us to a common purpose. 
 
"In two weeks, there will be a new Majority.  It will be, like ours, a very narrow one – indeed, the same margin we have had: 222 to 213.  The challenge it poses to both our parties and to each of us and to the next Speaker, Majority Leader, and Majority Whip is all too familiar.  Democrats overcame it through the psychology of consensus.  All of us, all 435 of us ought to overcome it with that same kind of psychology.  One nation, under God, indivisible. Guided by a dynamic new leadership team of shared vision and experience, House Democrats will approach our brief time in the Minority the same way, ready to continue standing up for our principles, for our ideals, and for America with a united front.  Hopefully not just a partisan united front, but a united front. Indivisible. 
 
"Republicans would be wise to take that same approach and seek common ground with Democrats. Did we do it often enough? Maybe not. Did we do it successfully? Not always. But together, we must achieve consensus. Democrats may not schedule the Floor next year, but I hope that the successful approach we modeled will continue to run the Floor.   
 
"Madam Speaker, as we close this 117th Congress, let us look ahead with determination and dedication to the cause that brought each of us to this Capitol.  To serve our constituents, our communities, and our country.  To preserve and defend our Constitution and our democracy.  To keep faith with those who protect our nation and the allies who stand alongside us.  To represent the American people, to effect their will, to reflect their generous spirit and deep sense of justice to the best of our ability. In short, to work together to create a more perfect union. 
 
"With great reluctance and even greater hesitation for this special privilege I am about to lose – though with great hope that in the future, I'll at least be able to talk, but for all your sakes, not as long – I yield back the balance of my time."