Steny Hoyer
Encyclopedia
Steny Hamilton Hoyer (ˈstɛni ˈhɔɪ.ər; born June 14, 1939) is the U.S. Representative
for , serving since 1981. The district includes a large swath of rural and suburban territory southeast of Washington, D.C.
. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
He was first elected in 1980 and served as the House Majority Leader
from 2007 to 2011. He had previously served as House Minority Whip from 2003 to 2007, and was reelected to that post in 2011. These positions make him the second-ranking figure in the House Democratic Leadership hierarchy.
but grew up in Mitchellville, Maryland
. His mother, Jean (née Baldwin), was American, and his father, Steen Theilgaard Høyer, was Danish
and a native of Copenhagen
; "Steny" is a variant of his father's name, "Steen", and Hoyer is an anglicized form of the fairly common Danish surname "Høyer". He graduated from Suitland High School in Suitland, Maryland.
In 1963, he graduated magna cum laude from the University of Maryland, College Park
, where he also became a member of the Sigma Chi
Fraternity. He earned his J.D.
from Georgetown University Law Center
in Washington, D.C.
, in 1966.
(D-Maryland
); also on Senator Brewster's staff at that time was Nancy Pelosi
, who would later become a leadership colleague of Hoyer as she served as Minority Leader and Speaker of the House.
In 1966, Hoyer won a seat in the Maryland State Senate
, representing Prince George's County
-based 26th Senate District. In 1975, Hoyer was elected President of the Maryland State Senate
, the youngest in state history.
In 1978, Hoyer sought the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Maryland
but lost out to Samuel Bogley 37%-34%. In the same year, Hoyer was appointed to the Maryland Board of Higher Education, a position he served in until 1981.
of Maryland's 5th congressional district
was removed from office due to illness. Hoyer won the Democratic primary with a plurality of 30% of the vote. In the general/special election of 1981, Hoyer defeated Republican nominee Audrey Scott 56%-44%. In the 1982 general election, Hoyer won re-election to his first full term with 80% of the vote. His lowest winning percentage performance was his 1992 bid when he defeated Lawrence Hogan, Jr. with just 53% of the vote. His second worst performance was his 1996 bid against Republican State Delagate John Morgan
, when he won re-election with 57% of the vote.
In June 2010, Hoyer brought up the idea that Congress would extend only temporarily middle-class tax cuts that were set to expire at the end of the year, suggesting that making them permanent would cost too much. President Obama wants to extend them permanently for individuals making less than $200,000 a year and families making less than $250,000.
Domestic issues
Foreign issues
Fundraising
Hoyer is a prolific fundraiser for House Democrats. He has been the top giver to fellow party members in the House. In the 2008 election cycle, he contributed more than $1 million to the party and individual candidates as of July 14, 2008.
In March 2007, the Center for Public Integrity
reported that Hoyer's political action committee "raised nearly $1 million for congressional candidates [in the 2006 election cycle] by exploiting what experts call a legal loophole." The Center reported the following:
The only media to cover the report, the Capital News Service, quickly pointed out how common and legal the practice is:
Fifth District Congresswoman Gladys Spellman
fell into a coma
three days before the 1980 election. She was reelected, but it soon became apparent that she would never regain consciousness, and Congress declared her seat vacant by resolution in February 1981. Hoyer narrowly won a crowded seven-way Democratic primary
, beating Spellman's husband Reuben by only 1,600 votes. He then defeated a better funded Republican candidate in the May 19 special election, earning himself the nickname of "boy wonder". He won the seat for a full term in 1982 and has been reelected 14 times with no substantive opposition, and is the longest-serving House member from southern Maryland ever.
Hoyer has served as chair of the Democratic Caucus
, the fourth-ranking position among House of Representatives
Democrats, from 1989 to 1994; the former co-chair (and a current member) of the Democratic Steering Committee; and as the chief candidate recruiter for House Democrats from 1995 to 2000. He also served as Deputy Majority Whip
from 1987 to 1989.
When David E. Bonior
resigned as Minority Whip in early 2002, Hoyer ran but lost to Nancy Pelosi
. After the 2002 midterm elections, Pelosi ran to succeed Dick Gephardt
as Minority Leader, leaving the Minority Whip post open again. On November 14, 2002, Hoyer was unanimously elected by his colleagues in the Democratic Caucus to serve as the Minority Whip, the second-highest-ranking position among House Democrats.
Pelosi became the Speaker of the House
in January 2007. Hoyer was elected by his colleagues to be House Majority Leader for the 110th Congress, defeating John Murtha
of Pennsylvania
by a vote of 149-86 within the caucus, despite Pelosi endorsing Murtha. Hoyer is the first Marylander to become Majority Leader. and became the highest-ranking federal lawmaker in Maryland history. In this post, Hoyer is the floor leader of the House Democrats and ranks second in the leadership after the Speaker who is the actual head of the party in the house.
The day after the 2010 midterms elections in which the Democrats lost control of the House, Hoyer had a private conversation with Pelosi and stated that he would not challenge her bid for Minority Leader (for Pelosi to remain Democratic House Leader). He ran for minority whip, but was challenged by outgoing Majority Whip Jim Clyburn
(the top House Democrats want to remain in the leadership, but the minority party in the House has one less position). Hoyer is moderate while Pelosi and Clyburn are more liberal, and a significant number of Hoyer's would-be supporters in the House who were moderate and conservative Democrats had been defeated for re-election. The Congressional Black Caucus
backed Clyburn, while 30 House Democrats have supported Hoyer, and Hoyer has also raised money and campaigned for many candidates. Hoyer received further support from outgoing Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard L. Berman, Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank
, and outgoing Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman Pelosi intervened in the contest by supporting Hoyer as Minority Whip, while creating an "Assistant Leader" position for Clyburn which would keep him as the third-ranking Democrat in the House behind Pelosi and Hoyer (the existing "Assistant to the Leader" post currently held by Chris Van Hollen
is not officially part of the House leadership and was directly appointed by the Minority Leader).
, and child development learning centers in Maryland have been named in her honor ("Judy Centers"). She also suffered from epilepsy
, and the Epilepsy Foundation of America sponsors an annual public lecture in her name. Hoyer, too, has been an advocate for research in this area, and the Epilepsy Foundation presented him in 2002 with their Congressional Leadership Award.
Hoyer serves on the Board of Trustees for St. Mary's College of Maryland
and is a member of the board of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems
, a nonprofit that supports international elections.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for , serving since 1981. The district includes a large swath of rural and suburban territory southeast of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
He was first elected in 1980 and served as the House Majority Leader
Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives
Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives are elected by their respective parties in a closed-door caucus by secret ballot and are also known as floor leaders. The U.S. House of Representatives does not officially use the term "Minority Leader", although the media frequently does...
from 2007 to 2011. He had previously served as House Minority Whip from 2003 to 2007, and was reelected to that post in 2011. These positions make him the second-ranking figure in the House Democratic Leadership hierarchy.
Early life and education
Hoyer was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
but grew up in Mitchellville, Maryland
Mitchellville, Maryland
Mitchellville is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 9,611 at the 2000 census. It is home to the Six Flags America theme park, Country Club at Woodmore, and Freeway Airport. The Capital Centre was located in...
. His mother, Jean (née Baldwin), was American, and his father, Steen Theilgaard Høyer, was Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and a native of Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
; "Steny" is a variant of his father's name, "Steen", and Hoyer is an anglicized form of the fairly common Danish surname "Høyer". He graduated from Suitland High School in Suitland, Maryland.
In 1963, he graduated magna cum laude from the University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
, where he also became a member of the Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi is the largest and one of the oldest college Greek-letter secret and social fraternities in North America with 244 active chapters and more than . Sigma Chi was founded on June 28, 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio when members split from Delta Kappa Epsilon...
Fraternity. He earned his J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center is the law school of Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C.. Established in 1870, the Law Center offers J.D., LL.M., and S.J.D. degrees in law...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, in 1966.
Early political career
For four years, from 1962 to 1966, Hoyer was a member of the staff of United States Senator Daniel BrewsterDaniel Brewster
Daniel Baugh Brewster was a Democratic member of the United States Senate, representing the State of Maryland from 1963 until 1969...
(D-Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
); also on Senator Brewster's staff at that time was Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...
, who would later become a leadership colleague of Hoyer as she served as Minority Leader and Speaker of the House.
In 1966, Hoyer won a seat in the Maryland State Senate
Maryland State Senate
The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland...
, representing Prince George's County
Prince George's County, Maryland
Prince George's County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland, immediately north, east, and south of Washington, DC. As of 2010, it has a population of 863,420 and is the wealthiest African-American majority county in the nation....
-based 26th Senate District. In 1975, Hoyer was elected President of the Maryland State Senate
President of the Maryland State Senate
The President of the Maryland Senate is elected by the Senate annually on the first day of the legislative session. -List of Senate Presidents:-References:*...
, the youngest in state history.
In 1978, Hoyer sought the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Maryland
Lieutenant Governor of Maryland
The Lieutenant Governor of Maryland is the second highest ranking official in the executive branch of the state government of Maryland in the United States. He or she is elected on the same ticket as the Governor of Maryland and must meet the same qualifications.The current Lieutenant Governor is...
but lost out to Samuel Bogley 37%-34%. In the same year, Hoyer was appointed to the Maryland Board of Higher Education, a position he served in until 1981.
Elections
In January 1981, incumbent Democrat Gladys SpellmanGladys Spellman
Gladys Noon Spellman , a Democrat, was a U.S. Congresswoman who represented the 5th congressional district of Maryland from January 3, 1975 to January 3, 1981....
of Maryland's 5th congressional district
Maryland's 5th congressional district
Maryland's 5th congressional district comprises all of Charles, St. Mary's, and Calvert Counties, as well as portions of Prince George's and Anne Arundel Counties. The district is currently represented by Democrat Steny Hoyer, the House Minority Whip....
was removed from office due to illness. Hoyer won the Democratic primary with a plurality of 30% of the vote. In the general/special election of 1981, Hoyer defeated Republican nominee Audrey Scott 56%-44%. In the 1982 general election, Hoyer won re-election to his first full term with 80% of the vote. His lowest winning percentage performance was his 1992 bid when he defeated Lawrence Hogan, Jr. with just 53% of the vote. His second worst performance was his 1996 bid against Republican State Delagate John Morgan
John S. Morgan
John S. Morgan was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, representing District 13B, which covered portions of Prince George's County & Howard County Maryland. Along with fellow Republican Martin G. Madden, he helped unseat incumbent Democrat William C. Bevan from office. In 1998, he was...
, when he won re-election with 57% of the vote.
Tenure
2010 Tax controversyIn June 2010, Hoyer brought up the idea that Congress would extend only temporarily middle-class tax cuts that were set to expire at the end of the year, suggesting that making them permanent would cost too much. President Obama wants to extend them permanently for individuals making less than $200,000 a year and families making less than $250,000.
Domestic issues
- Social Issues: Hoyer is pro-choicePro-choiceSupport for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
. He voted against the Partial-Abortion ban bill in 2003. Hoyer supports affirmative actionAffirmative actionAffirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
and gay rights. - Gun Rights: He is rated F by the NRA, indicating a pro-gun control voting record
- Privacy: Hoyer claimed to oppose providing immunity to telecom companies but has come under fire for negotiating a bill, described by Senators Patrick LeahyPatrick LeahyPatrick Joseph Leahy is the senior United States Senator from Vermont and member of the Democratic Party. He is the first and only elected Democratic United States Senator in Vermont's history. He is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy is the second most senior U.S. Senator,...
and Russ FeingoldRuss FeingoldRussell Dana "Russ" Feingold is an American politician from the U.S. state of Wisconsin. He served as a Democratic party member of the U.S. Senate from 1993 to 2011. From 1983 to 1993, Feingold was a Wisconsin State Senator representing the 27th District.He is a recipient of the John F...
as a "capitulation", that would provide immunity to any telecom company that had been told by the Bush administration that their actions were legal. “No matter how they spin it, this is still immunity,” said Kevin Bankston, a senior lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy rights group that has sued over President Bush's wiretapping program. “It’s not compromise, it’s pure theater.” - In a USA Today opinion piece regarding healthcare reform that was published August 10, 2009, Steny Hoyer wrote that "Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American."
Foreign issues
- IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
: Hoyer supports civilian nuclear cooperation with India. - IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
: Hoyer initially supported the Iraq War and was even recognized by the DLC for his vocal leadership on this issue. After the war became publicly unpopular, Hoyer said he favored a "responsible redeployment". However, he has repeatedly supported legislation to continue funding for the war without deadlines for troop withdrawal, most recently in return for increased funding of domestic projects. - IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
: Hoyer is a supporter of Israel, and has often been allied with American Israel Public Affairs CommitteeAmerican Israel Public Affairs CommitteeThe American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the Congress and Executive Branch of the United States...
. In September 2007, he criticized Rep. Jim MoranJim MoranJames Patrick "Jim" Moran, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1991. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is located in Northern Virginia and includes the cities of Falls Church and Alexandria, all of Arlington County, and a portion of Fairfax County.Jim Moran was...
for suggesting that AIPAC "has pushed (the Iraq) war from the beginning," calling the comment "factually inaccurate." - IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
: Hoyer has stated that a nuclear Iran is "unacceptable" and that the use of force remains an option. - Human Rights: Hoyer is a former chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in EuropeCommission on Security and Cooperation in EuropeThe Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe , also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, is an independent U.S. Government agency created by Congress in 1976 to monitor and encourage compliance with the Helsinki Final Act and other OSCE commitments. It was established in 1976 pursuant to...
.
Fundraising
Hoyer is a prolific fundraiser for House Democrats. He has been the top giver to fellow party members in the House. In the 2008 election cycle, he contributed more than $1 million to the party and individual candidates as of July 14, 2008.
In March 2007, the Center for Public Integrity
Center for Public Integrity
The Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit organization dedicated to producing original, responsible investigative journalism on issues of public concern. The Center is non-partisan and non-advocacy and committed to transparent and comprehensive reporting both in the United States and around...
reported that Hoyer's political action committee "raised nearly $1 million for congressional candidates [in the 2006 election cycle] by exploiting what experts call a legal loophole." The Center reported the following:
Campaign finance disclosure records show that the Maryland Democrat used his leadership political action committee — AmeriPAC — as a conduit to collect bundles of checks from individuals, and from business and union interests. He then passed more than $960,000 along to 53 House candidates and another quarter of a million to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, data compiled from the Center for Responsive Politics Web site show.
Federal law generally prohibits political action committees, including leadership PACs, which are run by politicians, from receiving more than $5,000 each year from a single donor or giving more than $10,000 to a single candidate ($5,000 each for the primary and the general election). But Hoyer collected as much as $136,000 from one labor union committee and distributed more than $86,000 to a single Congressional race.
The only media to cover the report, the Capital News Service, quickly pointed out how common and legal the practice is:
"That's like saying somebody who deducts mortgage interest on their taxes is exploiting a tax loophole," said Nathaniel Persily, a campaign finance expert and University of Pennsylvania Law School professor. "What exactly is the problem?"
"Bundling is very common," said Steve Weisman, of the George Washington University's Campaign Finance Institute.
What Hoyer, a lawyer, did was perfectly legal, the Federal Election Commission said, too. In fact, his insistence on detailed reporting made tracking the funds easier.
Party leadership
Gladys Spellman
Gladys Noon Spellman , a Democrat, was a U.S. Congresswoman who represented the 5th congressional district of Maryland from January 3, 1975 to January 3, 1981....
fell into a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
three days before the 1980 election. She was reelected, but it soon became apparent that she would never regain consciousness, and Congress declared her seat vacant by resolution in February 1981. Hoyer narrowly won a crowded seven-way Democratic primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
, beating Spellman's husband Reuben by only 1,600 votes. He then defeated a better funded Republican candidate in the May 19 special election, earning himself the nickname of "boy wonder". He won the seat for a full term in 1982 and has been reelected 14 times with no substantive opposition, and is the longest-serving House member from southern Maryland ever.
Hoyer has served as chair of the Democratic Caucus
Democratic Caucus of the United States House of Representatives
The House Democratic Caucus nominates and elects the Democratic Party leadership in the United States House of Representatives. The group is composed of all Democratic Representatives in the House...
, the fourth-ranking position among House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Democrats, from 1989 to 1994; the former co-chair (and a current member) of the Democratic Steering Committee; and as the chief candidate recruiter for House Democrats from 1995 to 2000. He also served as Deputy Majority Whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
from 1987 to 1989.
When David E. Bonior
David E. Bonior
David Edward Bonior is an American politician from the US state of Michigan. First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976, Bonior served as Democratic whip in the House from 1991 to 2002, during which time Democrats were in both the majority and minority , making Bonior the third...
resigned as Minority Whip in early 2002, Hoyer ran but lost to Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...
. After the 2002 midterm elections, Pelosi ran to succeed Dick Gephardt
Dick Gephardt
Richard Andrew "Dick" Gephardt is a lobbyist and former prominent American politician of the Democratic Party. Gephardt served as a U.S. Representative from Missouri from January 3, 1977, until January 3, 2005, serving as House Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995, and as Minority Leader from 1995 to...
as Minority Leader, leaving the Minority Whip post open again. On November 14, 2002, Hoyer was unanimously elected by his colleagues in the Democratic Caucus to serve as the Minority Whip, the second-highest-ranking position among House Democrats.
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
in January 2007. Hoyer was elected by his colleagues to be House Majority Leader for the 110th Congress, defeating John Murtha
John Murtha
John Patrick "Jack" Murtha, Jr. was an American politician from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Murtha, a Democrat, represented Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1974 until his death in 2010....
of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
by a vote of 149-86 within the caucus, despite Pelosi endorsing Murtha. Hoyer is the first Marylander to become Majority Leader. and became the highest-ranking federal lawmaker in Maryland history. In this post, Hoyer is the floor leader of the House Democrats and ranks second in the leadership after the Speaker who is the actual head of the party in the house.
The day after the 2010 midterms elections in which the Democrats lost control of the House, Hoyer had a private conversation with Pelosi and stated that he would not challenge her bid for Minority Leader (for Pelosi to remain Democratic House Leader). He ran for minority whip, but was challenged by outgoing Majority Whip Jim Clyburn
Jim Clyburn
James Enos "Jim" Clyburn is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993, and the Assistant Democratic Leader since 2011. He was previously House Majority Whip, serving in that post from 2007 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
(the top House Democrats want to remain in the leadership, but the minority party in the House has one less position). Hoyer is moderate while Pelosi and Clyburn are more liberal, and a significant number of Hoyer's would-be supporters in the House who were moderate and conservative Democrats had been defeated for re-election. The Congressional Black Caucus
Congressional Black Caucus
The Congressional Black Caucus is an organization representing the black members of the United States Congress. Membership is exclusive to blacks, and its chair in the 112th Congress is Representative Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri.-Aims:...
backed Clyburn, while 30 House Democrats have supported Hoyer, and Hoyer has also raised money and campaigned for many candidates. Hoyer received further support from outgoing Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard L. Berman, Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank
Barney Frank
Barney Frank is the U.S. Representative for . A member of the Democratic Party, he is the former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and is considered the most prominent gay politician in the United States.Born and raised in New Jersey, Frank graduated from Harvard College and...
, and outgoing Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman Pelosi intervened in the contest by supporting Hoyer as Minority Whip, while creating an "Assistant Leader" position for Clyburn which would keep him as the third-ranking Democrat in the House behind Pelosi and Hoyer (the existing "Assistant to the Leader" post currently held by Chris Van Hollen
Chris Van Hollen
Christopher "Chris" Van Hollen, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
is not officially part of the House leadership and was directly appointed by the Minority Leader).
Personal life
Hoyer has three daughters: Susan, Stefany, and Anne from his marriage to his wife, Judy Pickett Hoyer, who died in 1997. Hoyer also has two granddaughters, one grandson and a great-granddaughter (born on November 2, 2006). His wife was an advocate of early childhood educationEarly childhood education
Early childhood education is the formal teaching and care of young children by people other than their family or in settings outside of the home. 'Early childhood' is usually defined as before the age of normal schooling - five years in most nations, though the U.S...
, and child development learning centers in Maryland have been named in her honor ("Judy Centers"). She also suffered from epilepsy
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...
, and the Epilepsy Foundation of America sponsors an annual public lecture in her name. Hoyer, too, has been an advocate for research in this area, and the Epilepsy Foundation presented him in 2002 with their Congressional Leadership Award.
Hoyer serves on the Board of Trustees for St. Mary's College of Maryland
St. Mary's College of Maryland
St. Mary's College of Maryland, established in 1840, is a public, secular liberal arts college located in St. Mary's City, Maryland. It is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges and designated as a Public Honors College . St. Mary's College is a small college, with about 2,000...
and is a member of the board of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems
International Foundation for Electoral Systems
The International Foundation for Electoral Systems is an international, non-profit organization founded in 1987. This Washington, D. C.-based development organization provides assistance and support for elections in new and emerging democracies...
, a nonprofit that supports international elections.
External links
- Congressman Steny Hoyer official U.S. House site
- Office of Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer official site
- Majority Leader Steny Hoyer AmericPAC