macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-01-26
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I rise in opposition to H.R. This bill will unnecessarily eliminate the $3 checkoff boxits voluntaryon tax returns to fund Presidential elections. and it could increase the influence of special interests in the funding of Presidential campaigns. Now. the bill has been fasttracked by the Republican leadershipwithout any hearings. no markups. no respect for the committee process. As a member of the House Administration Committee and as a former chair of the Subcommittee on Elections. I am very concerned by the end run around our committee and the lack of deference shown to the committee and its members. Speaker BOEHNER promised 2 weeks ago. when he took the Speakers gavel. more transparency in the legislative process and to focus on job creation. Last week. the new majority fasttracked a health care reform repeal bill. This week. they expedite the repeal of this voluntary program without the proper process. So I think the Speaker may need to revisit his statement about process and transparency. In addition to the process concerns. I question the need for Congress to pass this bill at all. I was here as a young staffer when the Judiciary Committee took up the impeachment of President Nixon. It is worth remembering that the public finance system was created as a direct result of the Watergate scandal. Remember Phillips Petroleum. which illegally contributed $498.000 to the Nixon campaign. or Ruth Farkas. who told the Watergate grand jury that she gave $300.000 to the Nixon campaign as an explicit exchange for an ambassadorship to Luxembourg. or the Nixon tapes that revealed that Secretary John Connally shook down dairy farmers for $600.000 in contributions in exchange for raising milk price supportsto the detriment of children who needed milk around the country. These incidents eroded public confidence. not only in the Nixon administration. but in the entire system. In response. pursuant to the General Welfare clause of the U.S. Constitution. Congress passed sweeping election reforms. including the Presidential checkoff system. Now. I would not argue that this system is perfect at this time. I think it does need reform. But I think mere elimination without a committee process is a huge mistake. I would hope that the committee could convene. that we could sort through what the problems are with this current system and how do we fix them. work in a bipartisan way to create the fixes. and then come to this House for the solution. I urge opposition to this bill.
Date: 2011-01-26
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank my colleague and thank him for offering this motion because its very simple. What this does is allow the American public to finally know who is funding the political ads that theyre watching financed by a lot of these shadowy groups. Mr. Speaker. earlier today our Republican colleagues rejected the idea of having broad transparency by adopting the DISCLOSE Act. What this does is target it in one very important area. an area that the American public deserves to know. and that is when commercials. TV commercials. are paid for by special interests. Big Money special interests. including foreign corporations. and corporations that are owned or controlled by foreign governments. whether they be China. Iran. Venezuela. whoever it may be. that the American public has a right to know who is paying for those ads. Its simple. its transparent. and in fact our Republican colleagues even recently said they were in favor of more transparency. Speaker BOEHNER said on Meet the Press. and I quote: "I think what we ought to do is we ought to have full disclosure. full disclosure of all the money we raise and how it is spent. I think sunlight is the best disinfectant." I would hope that would also be true about foreign- controlled corporations trying to secretly finance ads in this country. Majority Leader CANTOR told Newsweek. and I quote: "Anything that moves us back toward the notion of transparency. realtime reporting of donations and contributions would be helpful toward restoring confidence of the voters." Mr. Speaker. this motion is very simple. Lets let the American public know when you have these Big Money special interests. including foreign- controlled corporations. spending this money to influence their vote. Eighty percent of the American people. Democrats. Republicans. and independents. say they want to know. A vote against this motion is a vote to keep the American public in the dark. to continue to allow those shadowy groups. including those controlled by foreign interests. to continue to try and influence the elections in this country without telling a single person. Thats wrong. It violates the kind of pledge towards transparency and greater accountability that we heard a lot in this last election. So I urge my colleagues to act on a bipartisan basis to simply give the public the right to know when those kinds of organizations. including foreigncontrolled corporations. are spending gobs of money on TV and not telling the American people who they are or who is financing them.
Date: 2011-01-26
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. just a few minutes ago. this House voted to eliminate one of the anchors of democracy: allowing Americans to check off on their IRS filing form $3just $3to promote and support the democratic process of electing the President of the United States. all in the name of deficit reduction. But deficit reduction doesnt work without a plan. It doesnt work without thinking about the many State Departments of Transportation that can no longer fix the highways and freeways in your community. or that can promote rail mobility in order to take cars off the road. or that can. in fact. keep the doors of community colleges open. or that can support primary education while State legislatures are struggling to find resources to provide for teachers and students. So let me say this: I want to work with you on deficit reduction. In fact. Ive done it before but not without a plan. I believe that investing in the infrastructure of America is a plan that will allow jobs to be created. Thats the serious way of dealing with moving America forward and allowing for the genius of Americahaving a plan that responds to building America and not making false projections about saving money.
Date: 2011-02-08
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I have a sense of humor and I believe in the First Amendment. and I truly believe that many Americans had a great time either participating at the Super Bowl or maybe fellowshipping with family members. Its a great opportunity to share information and to inspire. That is why Im so disappointed with the Pepsi advertisement that showed a demeaning role for African American women. in an ad that showed a can being thrown and being utilized to wound someone else or hit someone else. and that individual fell to the ground. In this month of African American history where were trying to celebrate what is good and great. it certainly seems ridiculous that Pepsi would utilize this kind of humor. It was not humorous. It was demeaningan African American woman throwing something at an African American male and winding up hitting a Caucasian woman. I think that we can come together in a much better way. sell Pepsi. and as well talk about good nutrition. But. frankly. I consider this insulting. and so did many other women of all colors. It would be great to have a lot more women in ads at the Super Bowl and great to have more women involved. but it also would be great to have a sense of balance that will respect individuals for who they are and how they contributegreat women like the Honorable Barbara Jordan and the Honorable Shirley Chisholm. I think even though they probably had a great sense of humor. they would find this very offensive.
Date: 2011-02-09
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. as we look for ways to put our economy back on track. we have to be mindful of the quality of higher education that we are providing our future generations. I agree that difficult decisions must be made in order to guarantee this countrys economic prosperity. but access to higher education should not be negotiable. In California. we have seen tuition increased by as much as 10 percent on higher education. and Governor Brown has proposed a $1.4 billion cut to higher education funding. We argue that sensible solutions to our economic difficulties are essential to prevent this burden from being passed on to the next generation. But lets look around. Our next generation is here. It is at higher education. Students are dropping out of colleges not because their GPA is too low. but because they cant afford the higher tuition costs. Our future doctors. our engineers. our politicians. our educators. this is what we are talking about. We cannot rebuild our economy when we do so at the expense of our future generations and their American Dream.
Date: 2011-02-09
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Let me say. Madam Speaker. that on many occasions. we come to speak of the needs of our constituents. and sometimes we come to celebrate. And Im delighted to rise to celebrate the groundbreaking for our very favorite Houston soccer team. Houston Dynamo. that has broken ground for a 22.000seat stadium in the 18th Congressional District. serving all of Texas. I am congratulating them for many reasons. First of all. for the outstanding team wins that they have had but also because of the community outreach and the inspiration that they have provided. I am delighted to have been with the mayor of the City of Houston. the county judge. and elected officials celebrating the fact that we are creating $100 million in economic opportunity. creating jobs. and also joining in partnership with the historically black college Texas Southern University. where they will be playing their football games. They are the 2010 SWAC winners. So congratulations to the Houston Dynamo. And we are excited to have one of our champs in our community. Mr. De La Hoya. who will also be bringing boxing programs into the stadium. Its a family event. We love soccer. Its a growing. growing sport in this country. And maybe Texaseven though it may not be at that stadiumwill get the World Cup. But I am congratulating our local community. I was very glad to be a part of it in early support of this stadium and working with Mr. Oliver Luck. I congratulate all of the present leadership. We in the Federal Government will work with them to continue to build jobs and to provide an economic engine for our community. Again. congratulations to the Houston Dynamo.
Date: 2011-02-09
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

H.R. 600. Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Nationalization Clause: Article I. Section 8. Clause 4 of the Constitution. The Congress shall have Power * * * To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization. and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States. By Mrs. CHRISTENSEN: H.J. Res. 25. Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Article V of the United States Constitution relating to Congress proposing Amendments to the Constitution.
Date: 2011-02-10
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. I thank my colleague from Florida. And. Mr. Speaker. I urge my Republican colleagues to focus their priorities on saving and creating jobs. instead of spending 10 hours debating what Congress already has the power to do. We already have the power of oversight over the Federal agencies. And if 10 hours were not enough to debate this. imagine the 54 hearings already scheduled by the Republicans to focus on redebating the health care reform. Americans remember. we debated that for almost 2 years. but they took the vote on getting rid of the health care reform before they are ever even doing the 54 hearings. Listen. we do oversight. Actually. a legislative and authorizing committee like the ones I sit on. be it Homeland Security or the Armed Services Committee. we already have the power to do that. and the Republicans hold the chairmanship. The chairman gets to decide what the committee does. Just tell your chairman. lets do oversight. Its really straightforward. We dont have to spend 10 hours on CSPAN telling the American people. oh. my gosh. weve got to pass a resolution telling the committees to do oversight. We already have that. We are already doing that. We have already got subcommittees. On Armed Services Committees. we have an oversight committee. I hope your chairmen know what theyre doing. They dont need a resolution telling them to do their job. Or do they? We need jobs. Americans want jobs. Thats what we want. When I go home. we want jobs. Build it in America. The Build America Bonds. I am a cosponsor of that.
Date: 2011-02-10
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Let me thank the gentleman from Florida and as well my good friend from Texas on managing of this time. Mr. Speaker. I know that theres a great opportunity to be redundant sometimes. And I would imagine that any American would consider 9 hours of debating the authority of oversight. which is vested in all of our committees. to be redundant. But let me share just a few points of opportunity. First of all. in the Homeland Security Committee. having served as the chairwoman of the Transportation Security Committee. we introduced H.R. 2200. which would heighten the security for the Nations mass transit. Jobs being created. of course. but also securing the homeland. The idea of increasing the professionalism of TSA or TSO officers. again. providing enhanced training for jobs. but also in essence protecting the homeland. These are quick and ready issues that could be addressed in the time allotted for debating redundancy. Let me also congratulate my good friend on the infrastructure bank. because infrastructure creates jobs. the highspeed rail that our President is announcing. hearings to be able to assess how we can move quickly on investing in highspeed rail to create jobs. Or. for example. as one of my colleagues and I mentioned in a hearing as well. a number of our airlines are using overseas airline repair stations. Bringing those back to the United States would create and provide more jobs. Again. an action item that could be done through this Congress. creating jobs. So my question is. When will we get to the discussion of how we rebuild America? When will we get to answering the question. why. in some of our cities. huge sink holes exist where trucks. buses. and cars fall into sink holes because of the lack of resources in infrastructure. When will we fix the flooding that goes on in this country to avoid natural disasters? So let me thank you for this time. but Im ready to go to work in creating jobs for America.
Date: 2011-02-10
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. we are not the judiciary. We are the peoples voice. We are the United States Congress. The issue of whether a court has ruled any of this unconstitutional is the prerogative of that court. but we have the prerogative to address the issues dealing with the peoples voice. And so I am disturbed that this comes to the floor. first. as a suspension. which was defeated by the peoples voice. and then now through some unique trickery to come with a closed rule so that the peoples voice is shut down. This Constitution deserve more. The Founding Fathers were wise enough to establish three branches of government. This House is called the peoples House and. therefore. we have the right to have a voice. That voice was already expressed by Members on both sides of the aisles. Republicans and Democrats. who voted this down because of the lack of opportunity to engage on behalf of the people. What more needs to be said? Now. let me say this about the Constitution and about this process. First of all. we have been in some very difficult times. and we understand the crisis of terrorism and the aftermath of 9/ 11. but let us be reminded that in those early stages when we developed this Constitution. those men who were on this floor had to be concerned about the oppressiveness of the state that owned and dominated this country before it was. Yet they did not yield to not putting in the Constitution the Fourth Amendment. which says that we should not be subjected to unreasonable search and seizure. I want to remind my friends that when the Democrats attempted to have open hearings in 2005. the Republicans shut us down. They would not allow us to have people of a different perspective. They turned off the lights. They sent us home. They wouldnt let the people be heard. Is that what were going to get now? And so I raise the question about the roving wiretap. My friend on the other side of the aisle is incorrect. This is more restrictive than general criminal law. and all we ask is allow us to amend it so it conforms to general criminal laws. That is the point. I offered an amendment with Mr. CONYERS that talks about requiring a different standard other than the knowledge requirement when someone breaks into your house. When they come into your house and come into your office. we need to have a standard that is articulated so that innocent persons are protected. We realize that we live under a cover of terrorism. We are patriots as well. We join with the Patriot Act. And I must say to my good friend from Wisconsin. the most shining moment of the Judiciary Committee was after 9/11 when we constructed together. Republicans and Democrats. I believe. the best Patriot Act going forward. But. unfortunately. his majority at that time took that bill that we had developed in the Judiciary Committee in a responsible bipartisan manner with the emotion and the backdrop of 9/11 behind us and skewed it in a way that. frankly. narrowed the rights of Americans. It doesnt matter whether these cases have been selected.
Date: 2011-02-10
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

It doesnt matter if these cases have been challenged by the court. Mr. Speaker. It matters whether the people of this place. the peoples House. have a time to respond.
Date: 2011-02-10
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

As the gentleman well knows. February 25 is coming up. So the very fact that hearings had not been held-
Date: 2011-02-10
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Hearings had not been held as of December 2010. He knows that if we were in charge we would have had the appropriate hearings necessary to go forward before February 25.
Date: 2011-02-10
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. if hearings were not held by December 31. 2010. the gentleman knows that he cannot question whether or not we would have had the appropriate hearings before February 25 because we are not in charge. And why were asking you to let the voice of the people speak. and 2 days ago the voice of this House spoke. Republicans and Democrats voted this down because they believed the voice of the people should ensure that the Fourth Amendment of unreasonable search and seizure has not been violated. And by the passage of this bill today we thwart that and we fly in the face of those constitutional supporters that we can still have freedom.
Date: 2011-02-10
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. it has been said that the SEC has 3.800 employees. and this is correct. it does have 3.800 employees. But it also has to be said that they oversee 35.000 entities. It must also be noted that they have to police 11.450 investment advisers. It also must be said that they have to monitor 7.600 mutual funds. They have 5.000 broker dealers that they have to keep an eye on. And they also have 10.000plus companies that they have to monitor. Yes. 3.800 employees. but they are overworked already and they are overwhelmed with what they have to do. I might note. also. that if we go back to the 2008 levels. were talking about over $200 million in cuts to the SEC. The SEC needs help. not hurt. This piece of legislation. if it is implemented to its fullest thought intent. will indeed hurt the SEC. Lets talk for just a second about who the SEC employees actually are. These are the first responders to possible financial disasters. They are the ones who have to catch the Madoffs of the world. as has been indicated. And I must add. also. that it was under the 2008 levels that Madoff was able to make off with about $80 billion with his Ponzi scheme. We need to protect the SEC. Lets make sure that we dont cut jobs in an effort to save the economyand these are jobs that are actually needed. So lets not just cut any jobs. Lets make sure that we protect the jobs that are going to help protect the financial security of the United States of America.
Date: 2011-02-11
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Let me thank Mr. CONYERS for yielding as I think it is important that we explain to our colleagues what were doing here. Madam Speaker. this is part of a 7- or 9hour marathon for committees of jurisdiction to come to the floor to respond to how important it is to. in essence. clog up the government. It sounds pretty. and it sounds attractive to be able to suggest that we have not been exercising due diligence as relates to the regulatory process of the executive branch. My colleague from Tennessee was right: when we cite the Constitution. what we are saying is that the Founding Fathers recognized the importance of three distinct branches: The legislative writes legislation. It has the right to oversight. and those who are part of this body are elected to represent certain perspectives. The executive is elected by all of the people. electing the President of the United States. The third branch. the judiciary. has oversight. So what we have taken to the floor to do is to spend 9 hours in redundancy. talking about what this body should be doing anyhow. We have the responsibility of oversight. We have the ability to question regulations in regular order. but what we will be doing is ignoring the peoples business of creating jobs and. frankly. putting ourselves in the role of a clogged toilet. meaning that we are doing nothing. that we are stuffed up. I would make the argument that the REINS Act. maybe through good intentions. is a dilatory tactic that keeps us from doing our work. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee. let me give you a few examples. One of the subcommittees I have the privilege of sitting onand I thank Chairman SMITH for designing this committee againis a committee dealing with competitiveness. What could be more important than assessing whether or not this country is losing its competitiveness to countries around the world or that corporations are doing noncompetitive acts that cause us to lose jobs? I am not happy with the UnitedContinental merger. Weve just lost jobs in Houston500 of them. I would prefer our continuing to have oversight over whether these largetype mergers cause us to lose jobs. There are any number of merging industries that believe thats the best way to go. and therefore I would welcome that opportunity.