Political Quotes

On the recordMay 31, 2011
I'm looking forward to seeing how many of your folks are going to say, yes, we need to pay our bills, America. We need to be a good debtor as well as a good creditor. We're going to see how many of your folks vote. I've got just a sneaking suspicion it's not going to be very many, if any. It's a good demagogue vote, frankly, ladies and gentlemen. And if we vote for it, guess what? Oh, you're for raising the debt limit without any fiscal discipline. Well, when we were in charge, when the President of the United States wouldn't let you do some of the things you wanted to do, Bill Clinton was there to veto things, we had a surplus for 4 years in a row, and we didn't increase the debt once. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Said by
Steny Hoyer
Democratic · Maryland
Source
govinfo.gov
May 31, 2011

Share

More from Steny Hoyer

Jul 20, 2026

That is a grave mistake and absolutely the wrong approach and a dangerous signal at a time when we ought to show unwavering support for Ukraine's defense of its homeland.

hoyer.house.gov
Jul 23, 2026

But I really say that as we did under Ronald Reagan – I was here all eight years he was president – and George Bush, we rarely shut down the government. Under Joe Biden with a Republican Congress, we didn't shut down the government at all…

hoyer.house.gov
Aug 14, 2026

“We must ensure that Ukrainians have every tool needed to see this war to victory. In doing so, we keep the faith with Ukraine and with international law.

hoyer.house.gov
Jul 19, 2026

The proposed Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance represents a threat to every one of those efforts to better American lives, strengthen our economy, and keep our country competitive.

hoyer.house.gov

Other voices in this conversation