macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-11-29
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Madam Speaker. I rise to honor the memory of a friend who passed away just a few days ago. a larger than life personality. a generous and extraordinary man. Leopoldo Cifuentes. Scion of a distinguished Cuban family. his grandfather purchased the famed Partagas cigar factory in 1875. The Cifuentes family symbolizes Cuban tobacco and cigars. the best in the world. And Leopoldo Cifuentes symbolized his remarkable family. When the Cuban Communist tyranny confiscated all businesses in Cuba in 1960. including the tobacco business of the Cifuentes family. young Leo came to the United States of America. a country he loved and admired deeply. He married Dagmar Hidalgo Nunez. an extraordinary woman. in 1962. That year Leopoldo Cifuentes volunteered to join the United States Army. Years later. he received an honorable discharge and the commendation of the then Army Secretary Cyrus Vance. Leo and Dagmar subsequently moved to Spain. where much of their extended family resided. Their children. Leopoldo. Jr.. and Mayte. were born there. As Leopoldo and Dagmars family grew. so did Leos business success. But he never stopped loving the United States of America. nor the country of his birth. Cuba. Leopoldo Cifuentes. along with his son Leo Jr.. and his nephew Rafael. have been bulwarks in the fight for Cubas freedom. Madam Speaker. just this last July. when I visited Spain to meet with recently arrived former Cuban political prisoners. Leo. Leo Jr.. and Rafa helped me to lend a hand to our heroes. the justreleasedfromthegulag former political prisoners. And thats typical of their generosity and their patriotism. I send my deepest condolences to Dagmar. Mayte. Leo Jr.. Rafa. and the entire wonderful family of Leopoldo Cifuentes. I will never forget him.
Date: 2010-12-01
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Mr. Speaker. by 2030. Americas energy needs will increase by 40 percent. and our nuclear power plants are. on average. 30 years old and are nearing the end of their life cycles. We need more energy. The Nuclear Energy Research and Development Act. which passed the House last night. accelerates the development of small. premade reactors that can be built in factories and shipped to sites at a fraction of the cost. Today. a typical nuclear power plant costs $10 billion. takes 5 years to build. and produces more than 1.100 megawatts. Small reactors cost $750 million. which can be quickly added to the grid and shipped into the place. We need energy independence. but to rebuild our economy. we need products that can be developed here. built in our factories. and sold all over the world. or we can keep sending our dollars to OPEC. This year. the U.S. will buy $350 billion of foreign oil. and for roughly 1 days worth of oil purchased from a foreign country. this bill invests in the technology that produces these new energy plants. The stimulus bill gave us windmills made in China. Lets not repeat that mistake. If we dont do this in the USA. other countries can and will make them and ship them here. Lets support U.S. jobs for U.S. energy. I urge the Senate to quickly adopt H.R. 5866.
Date: 2010-12-01
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. it is my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to my friend from New York . who is the author of the proposal that we will be discussing subsequently. the YouCut proposal.
Date: 2010-12-01
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. Id just like to point out I think its important to clarify that if our proposal today. the YouCut proposal. to eliminate for the taxpayer unnecessary spending on paperwork. if thats adopted it would not negate in any way consideration of the underlying bill on the lunch programs. At this point I would like to yield 2 minutes to my friend from West Virginia .
Date: 2010-12-01
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. in closing. I believe its fitting that those of us on this side of the aisle are bringing forward another proposal. a YouCut proposal thats been voted on and recommended to this House by a significant number of our constituents. They continue to sound the alarm on government spending. and we must. this Congress must finally listen. To date. participants in Republican Whip Cantors YouCut initiative have voted to cut over $180 billion in spending. This week. those participating have voted for a proposal by Congressman LEE of New York. who we heard from before. to end the unnecessary printing of congressional bills and resolutions. I think its appropriate that we finally acknowledge the existence of the Internet. and that much unnecessary spending is taking place through the printing of documents. That was appropriate and logical in the past. but not after the development of many new technologies. So I will be asking Members to vote "no" on the previous question so we can have a vote on Congressman LEEs proposal. And again. I remind my colleagues that a "no" vote on the previous question will not preclude consideration of the underlying legislation that we have been debating today. I ask unanimous consent. Mr. Speaker. that the text of the amendment and extraneous material be placed in the RECORD prior to the vote on the previous question.
Date: 2010-12-01
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Again. I urge my colleagues to vote "no" on the previous question and "no" on the rule. Having said that. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2010-12-01
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of S. Con. Res. 75. authorizing use of the rotunda of the Capitol for an event in January marking the 50th anniversary of the inaugural address of President John F. Kennedy. Madam Speaker. Presidential inaugural addresses are always historic and are often some of the most memorable events during different eras of our countrys history. We can recall Abraham Lincolns inaugural address in 1861. President Franklin Roosevelts inaugural address in 1933. and President Ronald Reagans inaugural address in 1981. among many others. as addresses that inspired this Nation at particular moments of importance. In 1961. President Kennedys inaugural address rightly challenged us to ask what we could do for our country and not what our country could do for us. As people across this land did 50 years ago. so we must continue to do now. We must ask ourselves how we can best contribute to our societyby providing for our families. by participating in our communities. in civil society. in our childrens schools. and by looking at the lives and needs intimately and immediately around us and seeking to meet them. Some were then. and some may now. be also called to use their skills and services in our military. diplomatic. and public service sectors. Selfgovernment needs all these attributes and contributions. and President Kennedys address boldly challenged us to meet them. Madam Speaker. I support this resolution authorizing use of the rotunda. I. too. believe we should look for inspiration to President Kennedys eloquent address given some 50 years ago this coming January. As I say. I hope all will join us in supporting this resolution. I have no other speakers. and I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2010-12-01
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker. I rise today in qualified support of H.R. 6184. to authorize an extension of the Army Corps of Engineers section 214 program. As was just described. section 214 of the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 allows the Army Corps of Engineers to accept and. frankly. to expend funds provided by nonFederal public entities to hire additional personnel to process regulatory permits. something that we had heard time and time again was quickly needed. Now. most Members of this body support a permanent extension of section 214. Madam Speaker. Im not quite sure and Ive yet to understand what makes this program so different and so special that it requires temporary extensions and not just a permanent program. So. Madam Speaker. I say that I offer qualified support of H.R. 6184 because. while this legislation is neededand there is no doubt that it is neededmy colleague from Texas has offered a much better piece of legislation. Mr. OLSONs legislation. H.R. 4162. will authorize a permanent extension of the program. not a 5year temporary patch or a temporary extension offered by this bill. Congress has been forced to temporarily extend this program six times since it was authorized in the Water Resources Development Act of 2000. Yet the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has heard from Members on both sides of the aislethis is not a partisan issuesupporting a permanent extension of the section 214 program. Again. I have heard no Member object to a permanent extension of the section 214 program. The Corps of Engineers has now the adequate experience in running the program. and recent Government Accountability Office observations concur with this assessment. Yet here we are again on the House floor. moving a temporary extension of an excellent. proven. tested program. Authority for this program expires on December 31 of this calendar year. So. obviously. if this program were allowed to expire. the Corps would not have the ability to process permits in a timely manner as they need to. I want to thank Representative OLSON and Representative LARSEN for their efforts on this issue. I urge all Members to vote in favor of H.R. 6184. but I must tell you that I do wish we were passing a permanent extension of the section 214 program today. not a temporary one. Madam Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2010-12-01
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Madam Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker. this bill would require. as we have just heard. the General Services Administration to consult with various professional associations in order to establish training and certification requirements for Federal and private personnel who maintain Federal buildings. Now. the purpose of this bill is a very good one. With all of the taxpayer money and dollars that have been invested in the highperformance green buildings. we obviously need to ensure that those maintaining them are. frankly. properly trained. otherwise. that money is. frankly. just thrown away. So I want to thank Representative CARNAHAN as well asand he has mentioned alsoRepresentative BIGGERT and Representative SESSIONS for their leadership and work on this really. really important issue. There are a few caveats that I just want to put out there. and we have had this conversation and there is no disagreement here. It is going to be very important. Madam Speaker. after passage of this legislation. that we ensure that GSA implements this appropriately. In particular. it would be important that GSA doesnt develop such broad training requirements that it becomes. frankly. too costly and burdensome for small businesses to be able to do that. In addition. it is going to be really important. Madam Speaker. for GSA to ensure that conflicts. potential conflicts. conflicts of interest are not created and that appropriate Federal laws and rules governing advice from private entities are strictly followed. As this bill is implemented. our committee will be conducting close oversight to ensure the requirements in this bill are carried out in a reasonable manner. I am not going to object to the passage of this legislation. As I mentioned. I want to thank the sponsors for their hard work. Madam Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2010-12-01
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Before I recognize the following distinguished Member. I do want to just mention. I dont know how many other opportunities as ranking member Im going to have here on the floor. and I just want to mention what a privilege it has been to work with my chairwoman. She has been. frankly. wonderful to work with. We have enjoyed a great working relationship. and I think that working relationship has really grown into a bit of a personal friendship. And I want to thank her for always being exceedingly courteous to me. And I also need to mention Chairman OBERSTAR. I was able to speak to him at length a couple days ago. and I would be remiss if I didnt mention how much Ive enjoyed working with him. With that. Madam Speaker. Id like to recognizeshes already been mentioned a couple of timesthe gentlelady from the State of Illinois. Representative BIGGERT. for such time as she may consume.
Date: 2010-12-02
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. its just a few days till all taxpaying Americans will be hit with the largest tax hike in history in the wake of the longest recession since the Great Depression. Given this countrys economic condition. I think a huge tax hike is exactly what we dont need. We ought to be creating jobs. boosting the economy. Apparently. the Democrats think a $3.8 trillion tax hike is the answer. I say make the tax rates permanent and lets get this economy moving again with new jobs and investment. Empower small businesses to grow. hire. and expand. They can add more employees. buy more equipment. and rent bigger spaces. We ought to support them by stopping the largest tax hike in history. If we want Americans to prosper. they want. need. and deserve better than the Democrats massive tax increases.
Date: 2010-12-02
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Mr. Speaker. our country continues fighting a deadly and determined terrorist enemy. Agencies such as Homeland Security and the TSA work hard to keep us safe and protect us. Still. American citizens are concerned with the newly implemented security measures that are both revealing and personal. Concerned passengers and even TSA workers feel violated. confused. and uncomfortable. No one is sure what to expect. The American public rightfully wants answers from questions like what is the training. accountability. and selection process for the TSA? Two. what can we learn from other countries security measures? Three. can we prevent body scan photos from public release? Four. how do we identify who is actually a risk? And isnt there another. more accurate way to do this. rather than treating everyone as a suspect? People do not have confidence in the Federal Governments ability to protect their privacy. and TSA must explore other screening alternatives because national security and the liberty it aims to protect both matter.
Date: 2010-12-07
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume just to say that I support this resolution. The concern is a considerable one. These cartels are in fact violent and vicious. and their violence has gone up over the last number of years. and it is affecting our districts very directly. I might say to the gentleman who just spoke that we happen to be one of the States that allows for medicinal marijuana. and it is not very difficult to get a medicinal purpose for marijuana. But we also had before the voters in the State of California an opportunity to decide whether or not they wanted to make it legal. and it was voted down by a substantial margin. That being the case. I think this resolution needs to go forward. and I would urge my colleagues to support it. Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2010-12-07
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I reiterate my support for this piece of legislation and yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2010-12-07
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Today. Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 3353. which does provide for American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to be treated as States for certain criminal justice programs. This is sponsored by Mr. SABLAN from the Northern Mariana Islands. We thank him for bringing this forward to us. As the gentleman from Virginia said. this will allow these two territories to be treated individually for the Byrne Grant Program. This will assist both of them in dealing with some of the law enforcement challenges that they have. This increase in formula grant funding will provide additional resources to territorial law enforcement officials to help them combat crime. For example. this additional funding will help officials cover the costs of purchasing and maintaining police vehicles and other equipment which have to be shipped to the island. H.R. 3353 will also help the territorial governments to provide muchneeded services to the victims of crime. Because of the remoteness of the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa. these costs are quite high and services are very limited. For instance. there are three main inhabited islands in the Northern Mariana Islands but only one shelter that provides services for victims of domestic violence. The increase in Byrne JAG grants will also help to build capacity and sustain programs to serve crime victims. As there are a limited number of crime victim specialists and advocates in the territories. these funds can be used to hire and relocate additional staff from the U.S. mainland. This is important legislation that will help law enforcement officials in the Northern Marianas and American Samoa to accomplish their mission. So I support this bill. and I ask my colleagues to vote in favor of its adoption. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2010-12-07
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 6412. the Access to Criminal History Records for State Sentencing Commissions Act of 2010. This amends the Federal law to direct the Attorney General to share criminal history records with State sentencing commissions. I am proud to say that although its not as rare as the chances I have to agree with the Senator from New York. I do agree with my friend from Virginia more often than that. and it is good to be able to be here and support the legislation which he brings to the floor. Over a dozen States operate sentencing commissions that. similar to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. promulgate guidelines to provide uniform sentences for criminal offenses. Many State sentencing commissions also collect and report statistics on the types of crimes. the lengths of sentences. the rates of recidivism. and other important public safety data. Federal law has required the Attorney General to collect criminal history records and share such records with State and local governments. Indian tribes. penal institutions. and the U.S. Sentencing Commission. However. interestingly enough. State sentencing commissions are not currently eligible to participate in this exchange. H.R. 6412 corrects this omission by amending the Federal law to add State sentencing commissions to the list of entities authorized to obtain criminal history records. There is an old adage that all crime is local. And in many respects. that is still true today. But while crime still may be local. oftentimes the criminal is not. Today. more than ever. criminals move from one State to the next. or across the country. leaving a trail of criminal records behind them. Public safety officials rely upon shared criminal history records to apprehend fugitives and to identify dangerous criminals. Prosecutors and the courts depend on these records to assess penalties. And sentencing commissions need this data to accurately report sentencing data and to ensure that their sentencing guidelines provide fair and appropriate punishment. So I urge my colleagues to support this bill brought to us by Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2010-12-07
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. in recent weeks. we have seen the issue of the Western Sahara receive a great deal of coverage in the world press. Unfortunately. the press coverage has often been biased. in fact. Ive seen cynical attempts at purposeful disinformation. I think its important that we remember history. Lets not forget that while the Sahara was under Spanish colonial rule. only Morocco laid claim to that territory as its own. The Kingdom of Morocco repeatedly claimed the Western Sahara and demanded the end of Spanish colonial rule. It was only when Moroccos efforts at recovering the Sahara from Spanish colonialism under the leadership of King Hassan II began to be seen as making serious progress in the 1970s that the socalled Polisario Front came into being. Then. as now. the socalled Polisario group is financed by Algeria and is propped up by Castros Communist dictatorship in Cuba. Why is it important to understand this? Because in Morocco. our ally in North Africa in the struggle against international terrorism. the issue of the Sahara is the decisive issue. The reality of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara enjoys the support of the entire population of Morocco. including the Sahara itself. In other words. the issue of the Sahara is the sine qua non. the necessary ingredient for stability and peace in that country of strategic importance in North Africa. our friend and ally. Morocco. King Mohammed VI and his negotiating team have demonstrated great courage and patience in dealing with this critical issue so closely tied to the security of the entire region. Let us never forget that a makebelieve. an illusory. a fake microstate in Northern Africa would be led by a CastroCubanformed political class which would constitute a minority of the population even within the fake microstate. but would control it through Castrostyle repression. Let us never forget that such a microstate would serve as a focal point of regional instability and destabilization. as well as an exporter of terrorism. For over a decade. Mr. Speaker. Morocco has agreed to grant a genuine and profound autonomy to the Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty in order to reach a realistic and definitive solution to this problem. but Algeria and the socalled Polisario continue to insist on the creation of a fake microstate. Majorities in this Congress comprising both Republicans and Democrats have spoken clearly in support of our ally Moroccos position on this critical issue in letters we have sent. first to President Bush. and then to President Obama. The United States. during both administrations and with the strong leadership of Secretary of State Rice and Secretary of State Clinton. has agreed with the position expressed by the overwhelming majority of this Congress. The future of Americas struggle against international terrorism and the stability of Northern Africa require that the Government and the Congress of the United States continue to stand firmly and clearly with our friend and ally. the Kingdom of Morocco.