macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-04-30
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

And in this Month of the Military Child. we want to make sure that we highlight the impact on our military members families. because they are the ones that end up forgotten. And I thank all of you for coming this evening. because you all have some unique experience and involvement. unique constituencies who are significantly impacted by our troops deployment in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And someone who in particular has a specific family member who has inspired him is Congressman JERRY McNERNEY. who actually was inspired to run for Congress by his son. Michael. who in response to the attacks from September 11 sought and received a commission in the United States Air Force. And Michael suggested that his dad serve his country. too. bk running for Congress. And when they pulled together as a family. Congressman McNERNEY decided that that was what he needed to do. And we were so pleased when your victory became clear on election night in 2006. and it is with a deep sense of duty and your familys support that I know you are serving here and serving admirably. So. the gentleman from California
Date: 2008-04-30
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you so much. Mr. SPACE and thank you for your commitment. You really have been representing your district proudly. and I know theyre proud of you. And I am honored to serve with you. We truly appreciate your being here this evening. Its now my pleasure to yield a few minutes to my 30 something colleague who is a little bit more familiar with the normal give and take that we have in the 30Something group. This is a little more staid and low key foro 30Something. but were trying to help you all keep up with the .pace. And feel free. to my colleagues. to jump in. We usually have a little bit more dynamic style in the 30Something instead of a one at a time type of approach. So my colleague. Congressman ALTMIRE. from the great State of Pennsylvania. I have to tell a story before I yield to you. And youve heard me tell this before. Literally. Im on the whip team for our caucus. and it was my responsibility right after Mr. ALTMIREs election to sidle over to him and talk to him about some legislation that we wanted him to vote with the caucus on. And literally. his first words to me were that he had to make sure what the impact was on veterans. and that he came here to make sure that the quality of life of our Nations veterans was upheld and that that was paramount to him. So I thought that was really admirable and wonderful. and you have represented veterans in your community incredibly well. And I yield to my colleague from Pennsylvania.
Date: 2008-04-30
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you. Mr. ALTMIRE. And thank you for really making Americas military. veterans as well as the troops currently serving. a high priority for Srourself and your agenda and the issues that you champion on behalf of the people in the district that you represent in Pennsylvania. I want to turn now to another Pennsylvanian who served in the United States Navy for 31 years and rose to the rank of three star Admiral. His battle group conducted combat operations in Afghanistan and precursor operations to the war in Iraq. and he is one of our caucus foremost experts on the issues that are important to military families and that are important to us as we try to wrestle with this very difficult issue of how were going to extricate ourselves from this war in Iraq. And our caucus has tremendous respect for your service. And its my pleasure to yield to Congressman JoE SESTAK.
Date: 2008-04-30
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you so much. Mr. SESTAK. for your 31 years of military service and now your continued public service to our country and to the citizens of Pennsylvania and your district. We really truly appreciate your expertise and the heart that you put into this job in representing your community. So thank you so much for joining us. Its my pleasure to turn to someone who I admire and respect and look up to. She is one of the few women that are in a leadership role in our Congress on the Armed Services Committee. and she is really a person who has broken through on the issues that are important to the military and the military families and provided a different perspective. as women often do. And this was such a tremendous source of pride for me. Ms. Davis. that you chair the Subcommittee on Military Personnel. which is an incredibly important assignment of the House Armed Services Committee. and you represent thecommunity of San Diego so admirably in this institution. and you have been a champion on behalf of veterans and military families. It is my pleasure to yield to you. Thank you so much for joining us.
Date: 2008-04-30
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you. Ms. DAVIS. Mr. Speaker. I sense that our time is drawing to a close. The whole point of doing this 30Something hour focused on the impact of deployments on military families was to try to improve the quality of their life and decrease the impact. the negative impact. I just want to show you an important statistic here is that less than 50 percent of military families felt that they had support available through all of the phases of their family members deployment. and that is absolutely unconscionable. It is something that Chairman FILNER and the members of the Armed Services Committee. as well as the Veterans Affairs Committee. have been working very hard at trying to improve. and that is what the Democratic Caucus. under Speaker PELOSIS leadership. has been absolutely committed to. Mr. Speaker. I want to yield 30 seconds to Mr. SPACE. and then we will wrap up.
Date: 2008-04-30
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. with that. in honor of the Month of the Military Child. we thank Speaker PELOSI for her generous donation of this time to the 30Something Working Group. Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2008-05-01
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material on H.R. 493.
Date: 2008-05-01
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. pursuant to House Resolution 1156. I call up the bill to prohibit discrimination on the basis of genetic information with respect to health insurance and employment. with a Senate amendment thereto. and ask for its immediate consideration.
Date: 2008-05-01
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I ask unanimous consent to yield my 10 minutes to the Chair of the Commerce Committee. Mr. DINGELL.
Date: 2008-05-01
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California . a subcommittee Chair in the Committee on Education and Labor.
Date: 2008-05-01
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of the Genetic Information NonDiscrimination Act. and thank my colleague. Congresswoman SLAUGHTER. for her tireless work term after term to support this bill and ensure that it would eventually become law. Over the past several years. genetic discoveries have progressed at a remarkable rate. Today. doctors and scientists have the ability to detect genes linked to common conditions like colon cancer and heart disease. Individ-. uals who learn about their genetic risk factors can make lifestyle changes and begin treatments that prevent these conditions altogether. But t~o many Americans dont take advantage of these amazing breakthroughs for a very practical reason. They fear that the information will be used to deny them health insurance or even a job. While the best way to allay those fears would be to enact universal health care coverage for all. this bill is a fantastic first step. By prohibiting discrimination on the basis of our genes. this bill will improve the chances that average Americans can benefit from cutting edge genetic science. It will promote better .health care by helping Americans feel secure enough to learn about their genetic risk factors. As the daughter of a father who suffers from Alzheimers and a mother who suffers from arthritis. I personally understand the need to make genetic testing a positive step in understanding ones genetic predispositions and making health care choices. Genetic testing should not be a hindrance to getting or keeping ones job or health care benefits. While this.bill will accomplish many great. things. I want to point out just two very important ones. Number 1. it will arm people with necessary and relevant information about their own health. And Number 2. it. will ensure that people wont be penalized for seeking and using this valuable information. I urge all my Colleagues to support the Genetic Information NonDiscrimination Act.
Date: 2008-05-01
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I also would be remiss if I did not thank Dr. Francis Collins for all of his work and assistance and guidance to the Congress on this matter and for everything else he does in such a wonderful fashion.
Date: 2008-05-01
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I rise in strong support of the Senate amendment to H.R. 493. the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. This bipartisan legislation is long overdue. Recent scientific breakthroughs in sequencing the human genetic code have already transformed the battle against a broad range of medical conditions. Scientists have now identified genetic markers for a variety of chronic health conditions which will increase the potential for early treatment and prevention. However. as much as these advances will improve health care delivery in this country. it has increased the potential for employers and insurers to discriminate based on an individuals genetic makeup. Such a threat deters the public and science from taking full advantage of the lifesaving and costsaving potential of genetic research. That why we need to pass this muchneeded bill. Discriminating against someone because of their DNA is simply unacceptable. Mr. Speaker. I urge colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation so that Americans do not have to live in fear of losing their job or health insurance because of their genetic predisposition towards certain medical conditions.
Date: 2008-05-01
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I move to suspend the -rules and agree to the concurrent resolution to make technical corrections in the enrollment of the bill H.R. 493.
Date: 2008-05-01
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I request 5 legislative days during which Members may insert extraneous material on House Concurrent Resolution 340 into the RECORD.
Date: 2008-05-01
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

This concurrent resolution makes two technical corrections to the GINA legislation just passed. First. with respect to the Department of Defense Labs. in our current bill. section 202(b)(6) and section 205(b)(6) of H.R. 493 provides an exclusion for an employer to conduct DNA analysis for law enforbement purposes as a forensic laboratory. which submits analyses to the Combined DNA Index System. known as bODIS. if the employer only uses that analysis of DNA identification markers for quality control to detect sample contamination. However. we recently learned that the Armed -Forces DNA Identification Laboratory. AFDIL. of. the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System. which identifies soldiers remains. would not be included in this exclusion because it does not submit DNA to the CODIS system: It was not our intent to prevent the Armed Forces. AFDIL. from using DNA analysis for human remains identification. This* technical change would allow them to continue their mission. With respect to NAIC. the other change is a very minor one. Section 104 of the bill. dealing with Medigap. requires the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to modify their regulations to conform to GINA. The deadline for NAIC to make these modifications is June 30. 2008. If NAIC does not make these modifications by this timeframe. HHS would be required to .make the modifications by October 1. When this bill moved through the House last April. these deadlines were not a problem. However. with today being May 1. NAIC will not be able- to meet the June deadline. Thus. the other change to this bill pushes back the NAIC and HHS deadlines until October 30. 2008. and July 1. 2009. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2008-05-01
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendments to the bill to ensure continued availability of access to the Federal student loan program for students and families.
Date: 2008-05-01
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I request 5 legislative days in which Members may insert extraneous material on H.R. 5715 into the RECORD.
Date: 2008-05-05
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to support the establishment of a National Teacher Day to honor and celebrate teachers. Teachers are the cornerstone of our Nations schools. We ask them to be educators and mentors. We ask them to work long hours. keep order in crowded classrooms. and respond creatively to individual student needs. They consistently rise to meet the challenge. We should recognize their contributions. but we should also take tangible steps to assist them. And that means funding for our schools. high quality training. and fair pay. It means making sure that every teacher is prepared to walk into the classroom and every teacher has support through the school day. We trust our Nations teachers with our most important task--caring for and educating our children. National Teacher Day will remind us to honor their commitment and support that mission.
Date: 2008-05-06
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1086) recognizing National Nurses Week on May 6 through May 12. 2008.
Date: 2008-05-06
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5. legislative days to revise and extend their remarks arid insert extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
Date: 2008-05-06
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Madam Speaker. I rise today in support of H. Res. 1086 recognizing today. May 6. through May 12 as National Nurses Week. As a cosponsor of this resolution. I am proud to lend my voice in support of our Nations nurses. Continuing in the illustrious tradition of Florence Nightingale. the founder of modern nursing. nurses today continue to attend to our Armed Forces overseas. These brave men and women place themselves at risk in war zones. including the ponflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. to tend to our injured soldiers. Besides tending to the wounded abroad. nurses are also on the front lines of our health care system here at home. Whether their primary function is to care for our aging population or to provide immediate aid to the sick and injured. our nurses provide quality patient care and support to keep our health care system running. As the Nation continues to face a nursing shortage. with a projected 1 million new nurses needed by 2016. it is especially important that everyone is aware of the sacrifices nurses make on a daily basis for our country. We must continue to encourage more young people and those seeking a change in career to join the nursing profession. The resolution before us encourages all Americans to observe this week as National Nurses Week by showing appropriate recognition to nurses and creating programs and activities during the week to demonstrate the importance of nurses. I would like to thank my colleagues and former nurses. Congresswoman EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON. Congresswoman CAROLYN McCARTHY. and Congresswoman Lois CAPPS. for their leadership on this measure. Again. I reiterate. they are former nurses. although I dont know if you are ever a former nurse. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in support of the resolution and its adoption. Madam Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2008-05-06
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I yield 5 minutes to my good friend and colleague from Texas. Congresswoman EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON. who literally I have served with since 1973 with just a little break in the service.
Date: 2008-05-06
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I yield 3 minutes to a colleague on the Energy and Commerce Committee and a good friend. Congresswoman LoIs CAPPS. and also a nurse.
Date: 2008-05-06
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. in closing. I join my colleague from Nebraska in encouraging all of our Members to support this resolution in recognition of National Nurses Week. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2008-05-06
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I rise in opposition to H.R. 4279. While this administration can and should do more to protect intellectual property rights. I do not think that the answer lies in this bills creation of new forfeiture provisions. a new "IP Czar." or a new IPonly division within the Department of Justice. In recent civil actions pursued by some within the content industry. we have seen unduly aggressive tactics that occasionally target innocent individuals. I am concerned that given the bills thrust toward more aggressive enforcement of copyright infringement. enhanced forfeiture provisions similarly may sweep up wholly innocent students. parents. and consumers in larger enforcement actions. I regret that more was not done to strike the appropriate balance between protecting copyright owners from those who unlawfully benefit from infringement and ensuring that we do not inadvertently punish innocent bystanders. I also have concerns with Title IIls creation of a new officd of the U.S. IP Enforcement Representative. I appreciate the work that has been done to refine the scope of Title Ill. Nonetheless. Title Ill still creates a position that is a coequal of the U.S. Trade Representative in the Department of Commerce. There is a strong possibility that the USTR and the "IP Czar" will come to conflicting policy decisions in matters affecting both IP enforcement and international trade. The bill offers little guidance with respect to how those conflicts will be resolved. Nor does it contain adequate safeguards to ensure that the IP Czar does not target legitimate innovation out of overstated concerns about contributory infringement. Finally. I share the authors frustration with this administrations failure to engage in a more constructive dialogue about how best to focus the DOJs resources on IP enforcement without harming and disrupting equally important law enforcement priorities. Nonetheless. that potential harm and disruption cannot be ignored and has not been addressed adequately. I share the goals of the authors of this legislation but not the means by which they sought to achieve them. I thank the authors for their work to improve this bill. but regret that it was not improved further.
Date: 2008-05-06
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I am proud to support H.R. 5690. introduced by Chairman HOWARD BERMAN. I applaud Mr. BERMAN and LAMAR SMITH. the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. for coming together as they have to end the absurdity that now exists with respect to South African government officials who want to visit the U.S. Like other freedomfighting groups that should be laudednot penalizedmembers of the ANC have been effectively ensnared by the overbroad "terrorism" provisions in our immigration laws. These provisions have prevented the U.S. from admitting and offering protection to many innocent people. including some of the worlds most vulnerable refugees. Caught up in these definitions have been the Hmong and the Montagnards. brave men and women who fought alongside our troops in Vietnam. the Alzados who fought for freedom against Castros regime in Cuba. and the Chin and the Karen who tried to free themselves from a repressive Burmese government. Until recently. our immigration laws labeled all of their actions as "terrorist activity." simply because they used weapons to fight for their freedom. In the 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act. we finally began to address these issues. freeing many of these groups from this problem. With todays bill we now join the ANC to their ranks. Like the Hmong and the Montagnards. the Alzados. the Chin and the Karen. many members of the ANC did nothing more than fight for freedom against a repressive governmentin this case. a government that severely restricted the rights of its people through apartheid and used brutal and murderous tactics to stay in power. We should commend their efforts to free themselves and their people. not to mention their spectacularly successfuland peacefultransition to power. I strongly support this bill. Mr. Speaker. I have no further requests for time. and I return all unused time.
Date: 2008-05-06
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for compensation to States incarcerating undocumented aliens charged with a felony or two or more misdemeanors.
Date: 2008-05-06
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. 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.