Newswise — U.S. House Majority Leader, Steny Hoyer, D-Md., will speak to University of Maryland graduates at the spring commencement on May 20. Hoyer, a Maryland alum, is the highest-ranking member of Congress to ever serve the state.
When Hoyer was elected by his colleagues to the number two leadership spot in the House late last year, it captured the imagination of the graduating class, according to senior psychology major Jesse Fox, who chaired the senior council's commencement speaker selection committee.
"Right after they declared he was going to be House Majority Leader, he moved right to the top of our list," Fox told the university student newspaper, the Diamondback.
"We are very pleased that Majority Leader Hoyer will be speaking to our graduates as they step into the professional world," says University of Maryland President C.D. Mote, Jr. "As a superbly accomplished Maryland alumnus, Congressman Hoyer's career embodies a commitment to the people of the state and to the nation. He is a role model for public service and I hope that our graduates will be inspired by his example."
Hoyer lists among his most important legislative accomplishments his efforts to preserve and create thousands of Maryland jobs; his co-sponsorship of the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Act, as well as securing millions of dollars to cleanup the Bay and its tributaries; shepherding the Americans With Disabilities Act through the House in 1990; and guiding the Help America Vote Act through the House and a House-Senate conference committee in 2002.
In 1963, Hoyer was named Maryland's "outstanding male graduate" and went on to earn a law degree from Georgetown. He was elected to the Maryland Senate in 1966. Now in his 14th term in Congress, he is the longest serving representative in the state's history.
"The University of Maryland has meant a great deal to me, and I've been very close to the university throughout my adult life," Representative Hoyer told the Diamondback.
Because of the opportunities he received at the University of Maryland, Hoyer also continues to be an advocate for education, whether working to reduce elementary school class size, increasing funding for children's immunizations or making college more affordable. He served 25 years on the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education and, since becoming majority leader, has promoted an increase in Pell Grant funding and a 50 percent reduction in student loan interest rates.
"If we're going to be competitive in this global economy, it will be because we maintain the highest levels of education and we make it affordable and accessible," Hoyer says.
He currently serves on the Naval Academy Board of Visitors, and the St. Mary's College Board of Trustees. Formerly, he served on the State Board of Higher Education and the Board of Regents of the University System of Maryland.
The University of Maryland's main commencement will be held Sunday, May 20 at 7 p.m. in the Comcast Center. Individual department and school ceremonies will be held at various campus locations the following day. More information is available online: http://www.commencement.umd.edu/
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