Dem Rep. Hoyer: GOP debt ceiling vote not ‘an adult moment’

Hoyer made his comments at a Center for American Progress Action Fund event, where he also expressed hope that Republicans would get behind parts of “Make it in America,” his caucus’ push to create more jobs through increased American manufacturing.

At the event, the House minority whip also said the two parties needed to come together to find a way to reduce deficits and that he thought Americans, who polls have shown are largely against raising the debt ceiling, didn’t understand that the hike was needed to pay for debts the country had already incurred. 

{mosads}Administration officials like Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and a sizable number of House Democrats have lobbied for a no-strings-attached increase in the debt limit. 

For their part, Republicans have criticized Democrats for calling for that approach and then knocking Tuesday’s scheduled vote.  Boehner (R-Ohio), meanwhile, has stressed that any increase in the debt ceiling will have to be paired with a greater amount of spending cuts. 

Vice President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of lawmakers have held a series of meetings recently to discuss a deficit reduction plan, with more expected in the weeks to come. 

Treasury says the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling needs to be raised by Aug. 2 to avoid default.

As for his manufacturing push, Hoyer said Tuesday that he thought many of the ideas in the “Make it in America” package were not ideological and could gain bipartisan support, adding that the idea of increasing manufacturing in the U.S. had gained widespread support in polls. 

Patent reform, for instance, is part of both the House Democratic plan and the jobs initiative the House GOP rolled out last week — though Hoyer did say the Senate and the House had different views on how to overhaul the U.S. patent system.

And Hoyer added, if top Republicans wanted to sponsor ideas found in the Democratic agenda, then “God bless ‘em.”