macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-05-23
Speaker: JAMES J. MULVA (republican)
Chamber: S

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Conoco Phillips Company. Hbuston. Texas DEAR MR. MULVA: For many years. Ive been supporting and promoting ethanol and biodiesel fuels as a way to reduce our dependence on foreign and traditional energy sources. and increase our national security and rural economies. Our nation is now consuming five billion gallons of ethanol annually. and is estimated to produce as much as eleven billion gallons annually by 2009. In an effort to further reduce Americas oil dependence. its imperative that higher ethanol blends be available to consumers. While our domestic auto manufacturers are leading the effort to expand the flexfuel vehicle market. more must be done to expand the fuels availability. Of the 170.000 stations nationwide. only 1.100 currently. offer E85. This represents less than one percent of fuel stations. As you may recall. on March 14.2006. you testified under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee. At the hearing. I asked if you would commit to allow independent owners of branded stations to sell E85 or B20. and if you would allow those station owners to purchase the alternative fuel from any outlet. For your benefit. Ive enclosed a copy of the hearing transcript. In your response to me. you simply associated yourself with the statements made by the other witnesses. That association led me to believe that Conoco Phillips was already allowing independefitly owned -stations to freely deploy E85 under the canopy. Your testimony before the committee clearly indicated that Conoco Phillips was perfectly willing to allow the sale of alternative fuels at branded stations. However. a recent Wall Street Journal article. which Ive enclosed. detailed many of the obstacles your company and other major integr.Aed oil companies apparently use to effectively prohibit or strongly discourage the sale of alternative fuels. The Wall Street Journal article indicated that Conoco Phillips does not allow E85 sales on the primary island under the canopy. This policy directly contradicts the statements to which you associated yourself during the March 2006 hearing. I would appreciate hearing your explanation as to why you led me. the Judiciary Committee and the American people to believe that Conoco Phillips supports making E85 available to your customers. yet your company is described by the Wall Street Journal as a key obstacle to expanding the availability of alternative fuels. I would appreciate knowing exactly what Conoco Phillips is doing to grow the F85 market. and why you believe your tactics arent simply obstacles. as claimed by the Wall Street Journal. I look forward to receiving your response not later than May 25. 2007. Sincerely.
Date: 2007-05-23
Speaker: DAVID J. OREILLY (republican)
Chamber: S

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Chevron Corporation. San Ramon. CA. DEAR MR. OREIILY: For many years. Ive been supporting and promoting ethanol and biodiesel fuels as a way to reduce our dependence on foreign and traditional energy sources. and increase our national security and rural economies. Our nation is now consuming five billion gallons of ethanol annually. and is estimated to produce as much as eleven billion gallons annually by 2009. In an effort to further reduce Americas oil dependence. its imperative that higher ethanol blends be available to consumers. While our domestic auto manufacturers are leading the effort to expand the flexfuel vehicle market. more must be done to expand the fuels availability. Of the 170.000 stations nationwide. only 1.100 currently offer E85. This represents less than one percent of fuel stations. As you may recall. on March 14. 2006. you testified under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee. At the hearing. I asked if you would commit to allow- independent owners of branded stations to sell F85 or B20. and if you would allow those station owners to purchase the alternative fuel from any outlet. For your benefit. Ive enclosed a copy of the hearing transcript. In your response to me. you stated that Chevron was already allowing station owners to sell E85. and that it was available and under the canopy. Your testimony before the committee clearly stated that Chevron was perfectly willing to allow the sale of alternative fuels at Chevron stations. You proudly stated that Chevron is one of the largest sellers of ethanol. However. a recent Wall Street Journal article. which Ive enclosed. detailed many of the obstacles your company and other major integrated oil companies apparently use to effectively prohibit or strongly discourage the sale of alternative fuels. In fact. Chevrons agreement with franchisees discourages selling E85 under the main canopy and includes policies that are claimed to prevent franchisees from deceiving customers as to the source of the product. The Wall Street Journal article indicated that Chevron recommends that E85 pumps be outside the caniopy. and that Chevron prohibits branded stations from including F85 on signs listing fuel prices. It seems these policies are in place simply to limit the availability and sale of alternative fuels. rather than prevent customer deception. I would appreciate hearing your explanation as to why you led me. the Judiciary Committee and the American people to believe that Chevron supports making E85 available to your customers. yet your company is described by the Wall Street Journal as a key obstacle to expanding the availability of alternative fuels. I would appreciate knowing exactly what Chevron is doing to grow the E.-85 market. and why you believe your tactics arent simply obstacles. as claimed by the Wall Street Journal. I look forward to receiving your response not later than May 25. 2007. Sincerely.
Date: 2007-05-23
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

I thank the gentleman. One of the things thats important to keep in mind is why are gasoline prices what they are. and it is not the retailer. When we look at what has happened to prices over all. lets keep in mind that we have become more and more dependent upon other nations. When we look at whats contributed to costs. look at this: Crude oil costs are 56 percent of the price. taxes are 18 percent of the price. refining nearly 17 percent of the price. distribution and marketing. nearly 9 percent of the price. What has -happened with regard to crude oil prices. they have doubled since 2004. they have tripled since 2001. and they have gone up over 600 percent since the 1980s. But what has happened. as the cost of a barrel of oil has gone from $11 a barrel to over $70 a barrel. is Congress has continually stood in the way of trying to come up with more sources. We have abundant supplies. We have the Atlantic coast. the gulf coast. the Pacific coast. the western States and Alaska. Whenever those come up for a vot6. Qongress shuts it down. Over 90 percent of Federal lands are offlimits to exploring for the vast supplies of oil we have there. We have shut off some of our other sources. and some are still trying to do that with regard to using coal as another energy source. We have not funded fully the things we need to do for hydrogen fuel cell. We have not gone far enoughwith conservation. with our -automobiles. with reducing homeowner uses. So between these issues of exploration. conservation. diversification. we have not taken the steps we need to do to truly reduce energy costs. It concerns me greatly that we are moving forward to blaming the retailer when we ought to be looking to blame ourselves. After all. if we have supplies of oil in the gulf coast. which we set offlimits to ourselves. and. yet. we let Cuba explore for them. something is terribly wrong. I hope that what this Congress does is work more towards energy independence and recognize that its changing the way we explore for oil and making sure that we do much more for diversification of our sources and conserving our huge energy waste in this country. That. is what is going to lower the prices of gasoline. Until we make this commitment as a Nation. and until we make this commitment as a Congress. we will not see these prices go down.
Date: 2007-05-23
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Let me just -correct one thing. The staff tells me Mr. RANGEL did call our committee yesterday at 10 oclock in the morning on this bill. So the Ways and Means. Committee was informed.
Date: 2007-05-23
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. you know. its not every day the House gets to consider a bipartisan. commonsense bill thats affordable. This doesnt cost anything and supports our service men and women overseas. However. Im happy to say this is one of those days. Right now the law prevents a Medicare physician from leaving his practice for more than 60 days at a time. And the regulation was created to prevent fraud. but it had the unintended effect of making life more difficult for someone thats called up to serve his country. And this bill eliminates the red tape by allowing our reservists to have one substitute doctor for their entire deployment. Not only will the bill help our reservists. itll prevent Medicare beneficiaries from experiencing a gap in service or losing access to care altogether. And I want to thank my colleague from California for bringing this problem to my attention. Im surprised we hadnt had it brought to our attention before. and for all the work you and your staff have done to get the bill to the floor today. Those who serve our country and their communities need and want our assistance. and its time we helped our weekend warriors who happen to be doctors to keep their patients and keep their practice. This is a great bill. and I appreciate the time. I thank Mr. KuCINICH for providing us the opportunity.
Date: 2007-05-23
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Speaker. I thank the ranking member and certainly the chairman of the Veterans Committee. I rise today in support of H.R. 612. the Returning Servicemember VA Health Care Insurance Act. This measure provides much needed expansion to the availability of VA health care to certain American soldiers returning from combat. Currently these individuals only have 2 years in which they can access .medical services at the VA. Unfortunately. conditions associated with service in a combat theater can sometimes take longer to manifest themselves. In response. the measure provides a 5year window of health care for our veterans. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation. Many of the young men and women in our Armed Forces have been away from their loved ones for very long periods of time. During this time. they have endured harsh conditions and tremendous physical and mental strains. The very least that Congress can do is to give these brave individuals 3 additional years of health care. I think it is the right thing to do. and I know that both the ranking member as well as the chairman fully support this effort to extend the health care for the additional time. I think it is a good public policy.
Date: 2007-05-23
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Speaker. in 2005. the Department of theArmy authorized the creation of the Army Combat Action Badge. This important badge provides recognition to our soldiers who personally engaged the enemy in combat. However. the Armys current policy limits eligibility to those who meet its criteria after September 18. 2001. As such. the Combat Action Badge overlooks thousands of veterans who made similar sacrifices in previous wars. Ive heard from many veterans who feel slighted by the Armys failure to recognize their own heroism. In response. Ive reintroduced my legislation. H.R. 2267. to expand eligibility for- this award to those soldiers who served during the dates ranging from December 7. 1941. to September 18. 2001. This expansion would be a fitting tribute to countless individuals whio made sacrifices for our country.
Date: 2007-05-24
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. we have heard sentiments from the other side of the aisle about the vote that is going to take place today. I would like to throw a few facts on the table. One. the President asked us 110 days ago for this support. 110 days. Nothing has changed with his request. the need for the support of the troops. from then until now. except we have gone -through political exercises to try and limit the ability of the President and. more importantly. his commanders in the field. from doing what they think is best. I have heard it said that we need a new policy. We have a new policy. I have heard it said. we need a new military commander. We have a new military commander. I have heard it said. we need new tactics. We have new tactics. The problem is. as the President has presented this. as we put this into effect. all we hear is. no. no. no. and no. That is not a policy. that is a denial. That does not support the troops. Unfortunately. it makes it more difficult for them. Lets remember as we vote to supportour troops. we could have done this and should have done this 110 days ago.
Date: 2007-06-05
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in strong support of H. Con. Res. When the 1947 U.N. Partition Plan created two separate states in Palestineone Jewish. and one Arab---it was a milestone in world history. Jerusalem was from this point on to be an international cityneither Jewish nor Arab. but shared by the two cultures. However. the excitement over this groundbreaking compromise was shortlived. Although Israel accepted the plan. the Arab world refusedto sign on. and soon after attacked Israel. plunging the region into ArabIsraeli War of 1948. The result of this war was a division of Jerusalem in two. with one half being controlled by Israel and one half controlled by Jordan. In 1967. during the Six Day War. Israel retook control of the Jordanian half of Jerusalem. On June 7. 1967. a cease fire occurred. and Israel took full control over the entire city of Jerusalem. One year later. Israel declared a new holidayJerusalem Dayto commemorate the reunification of the city. June 5. 2007 . CC This year. to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the reunification. Israel held its Jerusalem Day wjth the slogan "Something Special for Everyone." I commend Israel and all of the inhabitants of Jerusalem for embodying the inclusiveness of thephrase "Something Special for Everyone." I. encourage my colleagues to support the resolution.
Date: 2007-06-05
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 422. This resolution aims at encouraging the Peoples Republic of China to use its influence as one of Sudans chief purchasers of oil to place pressure on the Sudanese government to improve the conditions for the people in the Darfur region and allow humanitarian organizations to enter the region and assist the people of Darfur. The underlying basis for the conflict in the Darfur region is difficult to define. Some scholars describe it as a conflict between Arab and African cultures. although this is a simplistic view. Whatever the foundation of the conflict. the Nile Valley region (the area around the Darfur region in Sudan). has had cultural conflicts dating as far back as the fourteenth century. The current conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan places the Sudanese military and the Janjaweed militia against rebel groups. including the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement. The Sudanese government. while denying its support for the Janjaweed militia. has nonetheless provided funding and weapons to the Janjaweed. Because of this military conflict. humanitarian aid groups have been unable to reach most parts of the Darfur region. Further. journalists have been prevented from entering the region by the Sudanese government. thus ensuring that many of the atrocities occurring in Darfur go unreported. U.N. officials have estimated that over 400.000 Darfur residents have died since the conflict began. many due to starvation. Further estimates put the number of residents displaced from their homes at over 2 million. It is important that the United States look to any means available to quell the atrocious acts occurring in Darfur. As a leading arms dealer to the country of Sudan. The Peoples Republic of China is uniquely situated to encourage the Sudanese government to accept the decisions of the United Nations with regard to helping the inhabitants of the Darfur region. As China readies itself for the spotlight on the world stage at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. it is important that China. along with the rest of the world. step up its influence on the Sudanese government and ensure that the atrocities and human rights violations taking place in the Darfur region are put to an end. I encourage my colleagues to support this resolution.
Date: 2007-06-05
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 430. This resolution calls on the government of Iran to release Dr. Haleh Esfandiari. who is being held captive in Evin prison. despite the Ministry of Intelligence offering no evidence of wrongdoing. Dr. Esfandiari is a respected member of academia. holding the position of director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars. having previously taught Persian language and literature at Princeton University. While visiting her ailing 93yearold mother in Iran. Dr. Esfandiari was held up at knifepoint. her travel documents and luggage were taken in the process. It was while attempting to procure subsequent documents that. Dr. Esfandiari was taken into custody by the Ministry of Intelligence in Iran. Dr. Esfandiari is not the only American taken prisoner in Iran under the guise of being a "spy." With U.S. and Iranian diplomatic relations resuming again after 25 years. it is important that the United States remain vigilant in opposing these unconscionable tactics employed by the Iranian Govemment toward United States citizens abroad. This resolution is a strong first step in standing up for the safety of all American citizens traveling abroad. No American should ever be deprived of their liberty simply because they crossed the safe haven of U.S. borders. I encourage my colleagues to support this resolution.
Date: 2007-06-06
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of H. Res. 421. a resolution to honor the achievements of women in space exploration. In the 1960s. a courageous group of women challenged themselves. and the stereotypes of our Nation. to become the- First Lady Astronaut Trainees. These women were all accomplished pilots with a dream to explore the unknown. Thirteen of these women-"the Mercury 13"-were chosen to be part of Americas space team. breaking bbundaries with their passion and determination. Though the program was discontinued before these women could actually fly in space. they paved the way for future female astronauts through their hard work and relentless efforts. Finally. NASA got the message and began recruiting women again. starting with the class of 1978 astronauts and culminating in the first American woman in space in 1983. Without the efforts of the Mercury 13. women with skills and interest in science and exploration would have had a much tougher time breaking through gender barriers. The Mercury 13 women saw roadblocks as challenges to overcome.I hope that all of the young women in my district and across America may be inspired to make change by their example. Mr. Speaker. IPurge my colleagues to support this important resolution. Mr. WJ. Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2007-06-06
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker. I rise today in very strong support of the HPrize bill that we have before us. H.R. 632. This legislation encourages the best of what this House can offer. and that is ingenuity and the genius of the American inventor. We have always known that when the American people in our free markets put our minds to a problem. there is no stopping them. When we faced the challenges of World War II. for the runaway inflation of the 1970s. American genius and the free market prevailed and delivered our solutions. Todays challenge is for us to reduce our dependence on foreign oil sources. Our goalis to create a free market diversified portfolio of energy sources. so that we are never again reliant on one single source for our energy needs. Whether with wind. solar. nuclear or biofuel. this Congress goal should be to protect the environment with as little prejudice for or against alternative energy sources as possible. One might ask why? As we are already seeing with ethanol. we should never forget the law of unintended consequences. By forcing ethanol into our gas tanks. Congress has unfortunately raised the price of our gas and the price of feed for our livestock. Listen up. America. Our experience with ethanol should be a cautionary reminder of the burdens government regulation places on our economy and the everyday lives of American families. What is so brilliant about the HPrize is that. unlike most of the programs coming out of Congress. this bill doesnt mandate a specific form of technology. or add additional regulatory burden. Indeed. instead. the HPrize encourages the inventor and the market to generate the ideas and solutions. Mr. Speaker. Republicans pretty much have been shut out of debate and denied amendments. but this bill was one of our ideas from the last Congress which I voted for then. and I certainly will vote for now. I commend you for moving a free market approach through to the floor so that the 110th Congress can also do the right thing.