macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-03-23
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

We have locked elbows for 12 years. Mr. MEEK. worked together and fought together. As we close. I was thinking as you were closing that you and I. we were born 3 weeks apart. The Vietnam war. vhen the Vietnam war was endingi we were less than 10 years old. We were little kids. I dont remember much about how the Vietnam War closed out. but that was the beginning part of the history lessons that we had in public school. I remember learning about. and I have read articles and read textbooks and studied for exams learning about what happened to our men and women in uniform when they came back from that war. As they came back. they were spat upon and disrespected and unappreciated. We see sadly the results of that with so many of the homeless and mentally disabled veterans that scatter on our Mall and who stand up for the rights of veterans. I have to tell you. I am also proud of the American people because as we grew up. and as we spent the balance of .our lives until this point without there being war. that is not how our troops are treated any longer. The American people grew. and they learned. and that is what I am incredibly proud of. I am proud that our colleagues today did two things that are important: We used our heads. and we listened with our hearts. and we will be able to bring our men and women in uniform home from this war. Until then. we will make sure that they have the funding that they need. the equipment that they deserve. and the plan to get them home. Mr. Speaker. the 30Something Working Group is always proud to be able to come to the floor at the pleasure of the Speaker of the House and our leadership team. If anyone wants to contact us or see any of the charts or see any of the information that we have talked about on the floor this afternoon. they can email us at 30SomethingDems@mail.house.gov or visit us at our Web site. www.speaker.gov/30something.
Date: 2007-03-26
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I rise today in proud support of H.R. 137. the Animal Fighting Prohibition Eliforcement Act of 2007. because it is time for the Federal Government to up the ante in its efforts to curb this cruel and gruesome abuse of animals. The current misdemeanor penalties in Federal law have not been effective. They are considered a cost of doing business by the animal fighting industry. which continues to operate across the country. This bill addresses the growing problem of animal fighting by amending Federal law to prohibit moving animals through interstate commerce for the purpose of fighting: Do we want to make a Federal case out of this? Yes. we do. Those who profit from animal fighting often drug dogs and roosters to make them hyperaggressive and to keep fighting even after suffering severe injuries. The animals are in a closed pit from which they cannot escape. Often. they die during the fight. This is a gruesome and inhumane practice. The American _people * agree. Dog fighting is illegal in 50 States and cockfighting is illegal in most. Current law is simply not strong enough. Animal fighting often leads to additional criminal behavior. It is associated with illegal gambling. narcotics trafficking. public corruption. gang activity. and violent behavior toward people. The National Sheriffs Association supports the legislation. and more than 400 individual sheriffs and police departments in every State in the country have endorsed it. They recognize that animal fighting often involves movement of animals across interstate and foreign borders. and they cant do the job on their own. They need the Federal Government to do its part to curb this dangerous activity. I am proud to be a part of this bipartisan effort to curb this appalling treatment of animals. I urge my colleagues to join me in voting yes on .H.R. 137.
Date: 2007-03-26
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you. Mr. MEEK and Mr. MURPHY. it is great to be here again. I had an opportunity to engage in some dialogue with the caucus chairman on the Republican side. the gentleman from Florida . I fully expected to be engaged in a pointcounterpoint discussion on the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney scandal. and that he would be defensive. as many of his colleagues have been. But knowing Mr. PUTNAM as we do. he was very frustrated. He expressed deep concern. He was beyond comprehension how the administration could have dealt with this problem in the way that they did. I was asked how I felt about it as a member of the Judiciary Committee. Quite honestly. under normal circumstances the President does have the right to appoint and unappoint and ask for the resignation of U.S. Attorneys that serve at his pleasure. Had it been a matter of him just saying. yes. I asked for their resignation. we have some other needs. we are moving in a different direction. whatever he said. just be straight with the American people. Just be straight with the Congress. If he had said. yes. I asked for their resignation. I can do that. I am the President. Fine. But. instead. it is fabrication. it is distortion. it is no. it was not him. it was the guy behind the tree. It was his mother. Just own up to what you did. Now. if the problem is what you did. you asked for their resignation because they were too good at their job and they were pursuing public corruption cases against Republicans. and we have colleagues that picked up the phone and put some pressure on these U.S. Attorneys whose resignation ultimately was asked for. that is a horse of a different color. But this would have never exploded to the level it has if they had just said. yes. we did. What I pointed out in my conversion with Mr. PUTNAM. in past years. and I was happy to see he was frustrated and concerned and there is bipartisan concern about the action that this administration has takenrepeatedly on the war in Iraq. on the U.S. Attorney firings. and on the handling of the Valerie Plame issue. and the list goes on and on. Had there not been Democrats in charge of the Congress. this would have been another thing that would have been swept aside. They would have moved on or waited it out. They would have squeezed their eyes tight shut and hoped that this. too. would pass.
Date: 2007-03-26
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

I want to go back to my "mom" analogy that I had last week. It is like how I deal with my kids. I told them. as all little. kids. they get nervous when they have done something wrong. Sometimes tley might not be completely truthful. And I have sat them down time and again. and said. listen. honey. if you just tell me the truth right away. it is going to be easier. I. might be a little mad. but I am going to be more upset if I find out you lied on top of a lie. Young kids might not completely understand this. but grownups like the President and the Attorney General can certainly understand the more you stretch the truth. because we have to be careful about the words we use here. the harder it is to remember the last one you told. the last version of the truth you told.
Date: 2007-03-26
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

We absolutely have to make sure that we continue to exercise the system of checks and balances in our oversight role here. If we dont. I am really fearful about what else. And we have already seen the evidence of how far this administration will push and how obsessed they are with the notion of a unitary Executive and the concentration of power that they have tried to gather in the Executive. through signing statements which are notations. whole paragraphs and pages and pages of notations on legislation that we pass here. We will say "X" must happen. And in a signing statement. the President will actually write a note that says why he doesnt have to do "X" even though Congress passed a law and he signed it. He has exercised more than any other President combined the socalled right to. essentially if he doesnt think a provision in the law that we have passed is constitutional. he has exercised his belief that he can ignore it or not implement it. That is what the judiciary is for. So between signing statements and the abuse of power with the PATRIOT Act and National Security Letters and essentially not being entirely straightforward. for lack of a better term. I am coming up with a lot of adjectives and synonyms for the "L" word here. there is an incredible effort being made that seems to require more energy than the straightup truth does. That is why the oversight role is so important. If we are not here asking questions. then the administration will run rough shod over the Constitution. They have proven that.
Date: 2007-03-26
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentleman. On Friday. what we said was no more blank checks. no more war without a strategy and a plan to get our men and women in uniform home. no more sending troops over into combat. into harms way without the armor they need. without the preparation they need. without the rest they need. All of those items were in that Iraq War supplemental. The alternative. what the President preferred. was just give me the money. just give me the money. do not ask me any questions. He was opposed to his own benchmarks. The benchmarks that he laid out on January 10 were in the bill. the ones that he said the Iraqi people have to meet. that the Iraqi leadership has to meet. and we added some that said. you know what. you have tomake sure that you think about protecting the men and women we are sending over there.
Date: 2007-03-26
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Words are nice. but when you go. like each of us have. to Walter Reed Army Medical Center and you look those troops in the eye and you have a chance to spend some time with them. the words ring really hollow unless you know you can back those words up with some action. with some commitment. with some belief in the mission and understand how devoted these men and women are to getting the job done. I mean. listen to some of the folks that are in that hospital. they all. to a person. have told me when I have been there. they want to go back. They want to get better. and they want to go back to join their comrades. their buddies. and help finish the job. but we have to make sure that we have their back.
Date: 2007-03-26
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

As we conclude. the President is so stubborn and so "my way or the highway." that his own definition of victory. the benchmarks that we have put in this bill. he is threatening to veto. That is what is mindboggling. even when we insert his milestones. Still. that is not acceptable. If the gentleman would like to talk about our Web site.
Date: 2007-03-27
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I especially want to thank the chairman for his outstanding leadership. It is an honor and really a preeminent privilege to serve with him on this committee. I also bhank the ranking member. I would thank also the subcommittee Chair. SHEILA JACKSONLEE. from the great State of Texas. She and I have districts that are juxtaposed right next to each other. Mr. Chairman. I am supporting this legislation because it authorizes $140 million to Amtrak to improve tunnels in the Northeast corridor. It requires programs that will cause our transit employees to be trained on how to prevent. prepare for. and respond to terrorist attacks. Our first line of defense will be prepared to defend as a result of this bill. This bill requires that we look forward. and it authorizes $200 million over the next 4 years to find solutions to security threats. This bill protects those who would protect us in that the whistleblowers will be protected. I trust that while it may not be a perfect provision. it is better than what we had. and I assure the public that this is going to help us. This bill will help us to get the additional inspectors that we need. We will move from 100 inspectors to 600 by 2010. This bill helps us to protect Americas future. our children. in that it provides for school bus transportation security assessments. This bill provides for enhanced security for shipments of sensitive materials. Finally. of the many things I can say. I want to remind us that this bill provides that violators of the act will be punished. There are both civil and criminal penalties for violators. I think this is a good bill. I am honored to have my name associated with it as an original cosponsor.
Date: 2007-03-27
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I rise in strong support of H.R. 1401. The Rail and Public Transportation Security Act of 2007. of which I am an original cosponsor. This legislation will make long overdue security improvements to the rail. transit. and surface transportation systems in our nation. In the last 80 years there have been over 900 attacks on public transportation systems around the world. In recent history. the horrific attacks in Madrid. London. and Mumbai have been unfortunate reminders that we must do more to secure our Nations transportation systems. For too long. our country has not done enough to improve the security of our transportation systems. In fact President Bushs fiscal year 2007 budget proposal included $41.4 million in the Transportation Security Administration budget for surface transportation security. less than 1 percent of the TSA budget. Clearly the past level of funding has been inadequate to address the security of the surface transportation system. I am very pleased that H.R. 1401 authorizes three grant programs that will make more funds available to enhance the security of rail. public transportation and overtheroad systems. The Rail and Public Transportation Security Act of 2007 requires rail and public transportation systems to submit vulnerability assessments and security plans to the Department of Homeland Security. Each system is then placed into a risk tier. those in medium and high risk tiers have to have Department of Homeland Security approval for their security plans. Each transportation system will then employ security measures to address the type and degree of risk they face. This approach will help increase the security of our transportation systems. while allowing them the flexibility to adopt measures that meet their needs. I am particularly pleased that the Rail and Public Transportation Security Act of 2007 requires that rail and public transportation systems provide their employees with adequate training. This training requirement will enable employees to respond efficiently to prevent potential terrorist attacks and to minimize the damage and loss of life if an attack does occur. I am also pleased that thislegislation establishes -a rail and public transportation security exercise program so that systems can practice and perfect their responses to potential attacks. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
Date: 2007-03-27
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

This amendment jeopardizes the safety and security of over 2 million Amtrak passengers and is a huge step backwards in protecting the Nations transportation infrastructure from harm. Amtrak was a first responder during Hurricane Katrina. delivering food and supplies and helping to evacuate thousands of gulf region residents when President Bush and his administration were nowhere to be found. Now they are becoming a key part in each States future evacuation plan. I was in New York City shortly after September 11 when the plane leaving JFK airport crashed into the Bronx. Along with many of my other colleagues in both the House and the Senate. I took Amtrak back to Washington. I realized once again just how important Amtrak is to the American people and how important it is for this Nation to have alternate modes of transportation. Vote "no" on this amendment.
Date: 2007-03-27
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to add requirements regarding trauma care. and for other purposes. as amended.
Date: 2007-03-27
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
Date: 2007-03-28
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I rise today in support of H. Res. 76. which would establish a national holiday in honor of C6sar* Chivez. C~sar Chivez dedicated his life to teaching others that persistence. hard work. faith. and willingness to sacrifice oneself breaks down barriers. He committed himself to achieving justice and equality for all farm workers. and paved the way for momentous social change. In 1962. C6sar Chivez formed what is known as the United Farm Workers. His efforts initiated one of the greatest social movements of our time. He dedicated himself to fighting for safe working conditions. reasonable wages. decent housing and the outlawing of child labor for farm workers everywhere. Mr. Chivez embraced nonviolent tactics to help focus national attention on the problems that existed for farm workers. Mr. Chivez was said to have given his last ounce of strength defending the farm workers before he died in his sleep on April 23. 1993. C~sar Chivez is honored throughout America for his tireless work to help those who could not help themselves. In my hometown of Houston and my district every year we celebrate the life and times of C~sar Chivez by holding a Hispanic heritage parade and day of celebration. A national holiday in honor of C~sar Chivez would serve as an inspiration to those who seek to create a better world in the legacy of one who served to remind us that together all things are possible. in Spanish. "si se puede."
Date: 2007-03-28
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairmen. I rise today in support of H.R. 1538the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act of At the beginning of this month. when I was in Iraq. I spoke with soldiers who had just learned that their tours had been extended. They said to me. "Please. can you help us get us out of here." These troop extensions are really having an impact on the morale of our military men and women. " To add to that. soldiers see what has been going on at Walter Reed and they wonder whether they will be able to get the care they need. The President has sent our troops into harms way. extended their tours to support his surge. and has allowed these unforgivable lapses in the care of our wounded Warriors under his watch. When our men and women sign up for military service. -recruiters assure them that the military will take care of them. The failure at Walter Reed calls the commitment given by our military recruiters into question. The bill before us today will go a long way in making sure that the troops get the care they need and deserve. I would like to thank my chairman. Mr. SKELTON. and all my colleagues for their work in developing this important legislation. I supported this legislation when it came before the Armed Services Committee on which I sit. and I am proud to support it today. .
Date: 2007-03-28
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Chairman. first of all. I would like to thank the chairman and ranking member for bringing this bill to the floor. Mr. Chairman. I rise today to bring an amendment to H.R. 1538. the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act of 2007. This bill establishes a tollfree hotline for reporting deficiencies in medical facilities and a new system of case managers. advocates and counselors for wounded servicemen returning from combat overseas to help them get the care they need and help navigate the military health care system. The bill provides no professional pro.tections for servicemen if they or their family members call this hotline to get better treatment. This could cause those injured men and women to refrain from reporting abuses and problems. and the situation we currently have at Walter Reed could continue. There is also the worry that anything reported will affect the servicemans career. My amendment would simply offer confidentiality for those soldiers to get the care they are provided under this bill. This amendment requires any hotline set up by the Secretary of Defense to ask if the caller wants confidentiality at the beginning of the phone call. Last month. I was in the grocery. store in Jacksonville. Florida. A veteran working part time told me about a friend at Walter Reed. with pictures showing the problems occurring there. I couldnt believe what he was describing to me was a military facility. and I told him. You cant believe everything you see on the Internet. The next day. the very next day. this story was in The Washington Post. The fact that an active duty soldier was treated this way is inconceivable. Most of the information I get is from families. about the war and lack of equipment. Not fromthe Department of Defense. not from the soldiers. but from the family members. I do not want a call for help by a wounded serviceman or woman or their family to be used against them. I do not want those heroes to be scared to ask for help. to be scared their future career could be compromised by one phone call. Support the Brown amendment.
Date: 2007-03-28
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I ask unanimous consent that my amendment be modified with the text that I have at the desk that proposes text changes in section 107 of the bill.