macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-04-28
Speaker: MICHAEL F. DOYLE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsyl

vania. I thank my good friend for yielding me time. I want to thank him as well for his support for this legislation in committee and here today on the floor. Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of H.R. 1690. legislation to designate the Federal courthouse in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania. as the Joseph F. Weis Jr. United States Courthouse. I have the honor and privilege of representing the city of Pittsburgh in the House of Representatives. Joseph F. Weis. Jr.. was a well known and respected individual in western Pennsylvania who served his country both as a soldier and as a judge. Naming the Federal courthouse in Pittsburgh would be fitting recognition for an individual with such a long and distinguished record of service to his country. Joe Weis left college and enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II. Later in life. he described that decision simply as "the thing to do. The country was at war. and I felt I should be out there doing my share." And he clearly did. He was wounded twice fighting in France with the 4th Armored Division. He was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor and a Purple Heart with an oak leaf cluster for his action in combat. After the war. Joe Weis completed his undergraduate degree at Duquesne University and then pursued a legal career. joining his fathers practice after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh Law School in 1950. After a number of years in private practice. he was elected to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas in 1968 as the first choice on both the Democratic and Republican ballots. As a judge. he rapidly earned a reputation for dedication. integrity. and hard work. Two years later. Judge Weis was appointed to the Federal bench. and in 1973. he was appointed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. one step below the Supreme Court. He served on that court for 40 years. retiring just 2 years ago when he was 90 years old. He worked tirelessly to improve the judicial system. advocating for innovative courtroom technologies and enforcement of judicial ethics. He was recognized for his outstanding service on the bench with the Devitt Award. the highest honor given to Federal judges. Amidst this impressive list of accomplishments. he was known most of all for the strength of his character. Joe Weis was beloved by his colleagues and his law clerks. who to this day call themselves "Weis guys." Joseph F. Weis. Jr.s life is a model all public servants should aspire to emulate. Naming this Federal courthouse in his honor is a fitting way to honor this long. faithful. and capable service to our country and to hold him up as an example of a true public servant. Mr. Speaker. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation to name the Federal courthouse in Pittsburgh in his honor.
Date: 2015-04-28
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I rise in support of the Protecting Adopted Children Act. which was introduced by Congressman JIM LANGEVIN this afternoon. By now. we have all read the reports about adopted children who have been "rehomed" by their legal adoptive parents. These children usually end up in the custody of strangers through arrangements that are often illegally made online in hidden Internet groups. In order to combat these transfers. Representatives JIM LANGEVIN. RoB WITTMAN. and I have crafted legislation that provides protections and support services for adopted children and their families. This legislation provides a more stable home for children with pre and postadoptive support services. such as training and counseling for parents. mentoring. and treatment services specifically for adopted children. The bill also expands the scope of the preexisting Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force under the Department of Justice to include combating the illegal transfer of a child. I firmly believe that this measure gives law enforcement the tools it needs to combat illegal transfers. which we have learned through investigative reporting. typically take place online. We must be committed to helping these children succeed in a family that they may call their own.
Date: 2015-04-28
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. we all watched with great concern and horror the tragic funeral of Freddie Gray and then the enormous outpouring of violence and young people taking to the streets in Baltimore. We commend our colleague Congressman CUMMINGS and the many other citizenspastorswho went to the streets and called for peace. but it is important for this Congress to stand up and call for criminal justice reform because. as we move into the summer. I express great concern as to the reactions of young people who are unemployed. who feel oppressed. and feel that no one cares. I will be introducingand have introducedthe Build TRUST bill. the CADET bill that collects data on lethal force between civilians and police. a bill on prison reformgiving good time. 1 day of incarceration. 1 day of good timeto provide for early release of nonviolent prisoners. At the same time. I will be asking for legislation that will provide the same reporting requirements for private prisons as public prisons. as well as grand jury reform. among others. The important point is that the Nation needs to hear this Congress make a statement of their commitment to criminal justice reform. I look forward to working with my colleagues and introducing legislation that will draw bipartisan support so that we can respond to these tragedies and get America on the right footing and rebuild the trust between police and the community.
Date: 2015-04-28
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I am on a mission of mercy. The people of Nepal have suffered a tragedy. The bad news is that thousands have lost their lives and many are injured. There is some good news in that the United States has. currently. disaster assistance teams on the way to Nepal. There is also additional good news. The Nepalese community in Houston. Texas. has organized. and they are working to make sure that they do their part to provide disaster assistance. I am also proud to say that we are sponsoring legislation. H.R. 2033. H.R. 2033 would provide temporary protected status for those who are in this country. for those in this country on the 25th. the date of this tragedy. for a period of 18 months. so that they can stay here and not have to return home to circumstances that are untenable. Madam Speaker. I am proud to say that many have cosponsored this legislation. and we are looking for more cosponsors. Mr. HONDA and I. I would also add that the United States has sent $10 million already allocated. and there is more to come. This is a time for us to show our friends where we stand. and we stand with them.
Date: 2015-04-28
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Madam Speaker. when the survivors of human trafficking are freed from their captors. they are often victimized again. This time they are abused by a system that does little to help them recover from years of rape and abuse. The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act would help change that. It would provide support and restitution to survivors. and it would clarify the law. helping to bring the demand sidethe pimps. the sex traffickers. and the purchasers of women and girlsto justice. I have been proud to work with Congressman TED POE on very similar legislation that passed this body overwhelmingly. unanimously. in January. but to become law. the House must now take up the Senate version and pass it here in the House. I urge the leaders of the House to schedule a vote. Lets send a message: women and girls are not for sale in the United States of America. They cannot afford to wait any longer for this vital legislation.
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

My understanding of this is it strikes the provision and. therefore. meets the requirements. After all. this is the first bill we are debating since the budget was passed. The budget opens the door wide to this accounting scam that Republicans on the Budget Committee just last year said was a gross runaround of the budget rules. I want to read. Mr. Chairman. from the report from the Budget Committee last year that said that abuse of the OCO cap adjustment is a backdoor loophole that undermines the integrity of the budget process. The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman must confine his remarks to the point of order.
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Well. Mr. Chairman. I want to point out that the Budget Committee itself has indicated that this violates the budget process. The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Maryland must confine his remarks to the point of order.
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

So it is hard to understand how this could be a violation of the point of order if the Budget Committee says that what we are doing violates the budget process or undermines the budget process. The Acting CHAIR. Does any other Member wish to be heard on the point of order?
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. parliamentary inquiry. just so I understand the ruling. The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Maryland may state his parliamentary inquiry.
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. as I understood the ruling. because the amendment strikes all of this section. as opposed to the portion of the section we are currently on. it is being ruled out of order. Is that correct? The Acting CHAIR. Only one paragraph is currently pending. and the amendment sought to strike the entire title.
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Parliamentary inquiry: Is there going to be a point in time when that entire section is pending? The Acting CHAIR. Only the first paragraph of title IV is pending.
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I understand that the meaning of "is" is "is." I understand that we are on the first paragraph. Parliamentary inquiry: Is there going to be a point in time when the entire section is pending. such that this amendment would then be considered in order since the amendment is to strike the entire section? The Acting CHAIR. The bill is being read paragraph by paragraph.
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I move to strike the pending paragraph. The Acting CHAIR. Does the gentleman seek to offer an amendment?
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to offer this amendment with my colleague. Mr. MULVANEY. And now that we have gotten beyond the sort of procedural objections. lets go to the substance of this. This is the first appropriations bill that we have on the floor that raises the question about the budgets that were passed in both the House and the Senate. As I think our colleagues know well by this point. both those budgets engage in an incredible accounting scam with respect to how we fund the Department of Defense and how we fund our military operations. For years. we have distinguished between the moneys that we spend on our ongoing defense programs. called the base budget. and the moneys set aside in the war account. the socalled overseas contingency account funds. What has happened here is that the President. on the advice of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and our military leadership. has requested the amount that is necessary to address our overseas contingency operations. But instead of abiding by that request and what was necessary. the Republican budget does this endrun and ends up using our overseas contingency account as a slush fund for funds that have been in the base defense budget. As I was indicating earlier. Mr. Chairman. this accounting scam. the sleight of hand. was something that the Republican Budget Committee just last year strongly objected to and indicated that it violated the budget process. I am going to read another portion of the Republican Budget Committee report from last year on this issue where it says the Budget Committee will exercise its oversight responsibilities with respect to the use of the OCO. the overseas contingency account. designation in the budget process. and it will oppose increases above the level the administration and our military commanders say are necessary to carry out operations. And then it goes on. because those are not war related. So what this House is doing now is engaging in this incredible sleight of hand. and it is only one big problem in the budget before us. along with many other problems. But on this point. I would like to now yield to the gentleman from South Carolina if he would like to say a word on this amendment.
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I ask unanimous consent. since the original amendment was offered by Mr. MULVANEY. to make this the Mulvaney amendment. The Acting CHAIR. The amendment may not have a cosponsor.
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

I am asking unanimous consent to make the main sponsor Mr. MULVANEY. The Acting CHAIR. The gentlemans request cannot be entertained.
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

I am willing to withdraw the amendment but only on the understandingparliamentary inquiryif I withdraw it and substitute the same amendment in the name of
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. lets just keep it. This will be known as the Van HollenMulvaney amendment. I thank the Chair. The Acting CHAIR. The gentlemans time has expired.
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I demand a recorded vote. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII. further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Maryland will be postponed.
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I would just observe. in response to the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania on the Appropriations Committee. that our military leadership has said that the funds that are requested for this purpose under OCO are not OCO funds. that they are not warrelated funds. That is coming from the Department of Defense. That is coming from the folks who put together the budgets for the Department of Defense. So to just claim that somehow these expenditures. which have been described by Mr. MULVANEY. are now somehow part of the war effort as opposed to the ongoing defense budget is to say to the military leadership that they dont understand how their budgets work. I think they do understand how their budgets work. We are trying to make sure that we protect the integrity of the process so that people cant be using the war account as a slush fund. which is exactly what this measure does.
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be considered as read. The Acting CHAIR. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from Texas?
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. my first task is to thank the ranking member. Mr. BISHOP. and the chairman of the subcommittee. Mr. DENT. both of whom I have worked with. and I consider them champions of veterans and champions of the legislation that we have before us in terms of the needs that are there. However. there are many needs that should be addressed. Mr. Chairman. I hold in my hand a list of veterans who have fallen upon hard times. one in particular who has three grown daughters who are serving in the military. She. herself. served in the Navy for 5 years. had a divorce. and really needed to have housing assistance and medical care. but her options were insufficient. My amendment is a simple amendment to. again. remind us of the importance of these individuals who still suffer. The Jackson Lee amendment makes a modest but important improvement to the bill by increasing the amount of funding for Supportive Services for Veteran Families account by $2 million. offset by a reduction in the same amount to the $4 billion allocated to the VAs information technology systems. Today in our country. there are approximately 107.000 veterans. male and female. who are homeless on any given night. and perhaps twice as many200.000experience homelessness at some point during the course of the year. All you need do. Mr. Chairman. is go home to your district and be able to engage with your veterans associations and your own constituents. and you will find that they will come up to you because they are homeless. The VA Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program helps veterans and their families who may have fallen on hard times or hit a rough patch in life and need help from the country they selflessly risked their life to defend. The veterans dont have to remind us that we owe them an obligation of support. They dont have to say it. We know that. When they put on the uniform. they ask no questions. they are selfless.
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chair. before I begin. let me express my appreciation and thanks to my good friends. Chairman DENT and Ranking Member BISHOP. for their hard and constructive work in shepherding this legislation to the floor. Chairman DENT and I worked together constructively for many years on the Homeland Security Committee and has always distinguished himself as one of the most bipartisan members of the House. And Ranking Member BISHOP has for years been one of the ablest Members of this body. I thank them both for commitment to the important work of ensuring that our veterans receive the care and support they have earned from a grateful nation. The Jackson Lee Amendment makes a modest but important improvement to the bill by increasing the amount of funding for the "Supportive Services for Veterans Families" account by $2 million. offset by a reduction of the same amount to the $4 billion allocated to the VAs "Information Technology Systems" account. Today. in our country. there are approximately 107.000 veterans (male and female) who are homeless on any given night. And perhaps twice as many (200.000) experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year. The VAs "Supportive Services for Veterans Families" Program helps veterans. and their families. who may have fallen on hard times or hit a rough patch in life and need a little help from the country they selflessly risked their life to defend. The Jackson Lee Amendment will enable this vital program to serve more veterans families in need of help by providing a bit more funding for grants to private nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives that provide supportive services to very lowincome veteran families living in or transitioning to permanent housing.
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I thank the chairman and ranking member of the subcommittee again for the work. and I raise again a picture of three ladies who look attractive in this picture. Mr. Chairman. and colleagues. these are homeless vets. These are vets who bonded with each other in a homeless shelter. The good news is that we have made progress on providing services for homeless vets. But I want to emphasize. through this amendment. that we will continue to raise and focus on the needs of homeless vets. I offer the Jackson Lee amendment because I believe reducing and eliminating homelessness among veterans. those who risked their lives to protect our freedom. should also be one of the Nations highest priorities. I would like this bill to have it as its highest priority. Homelessness among the American veteran population is on the rise in the United States. We must be proactive in giving back to those who have given us so much. Even though the administration has done an enormous job. has made great strides in bringing down the numbers of homeless vets. for those that they bring down. then. for some reasonwhether it is the loss of a job or medical issuesvets are becoming homeless every day. My amendment will help remind us of our obligation to provide our veterans the assistance needed to avoid homelessness. which includes adequately funding the program for Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing and. as well. to be able to ensure those centers are there for our veterans. Today in our country. we have mentioned the numbers of veterans that exist: 100.000 veterans. male and female. are homeless. 200.000 experience homelessness. In my hometown of Houston. for example. between the years of 2010 and 2012. the number of homeless vets increased from 771 to 1.162. I want to acknowledge the city of Houston that has worked on their Homeless Veterans Project. the George Hotel that has worked on the Homeless Veterans Project. many other veteran organizations. U.S.VETS. who has worked on the Homeless Veterans Project. and a grant that came some years ago to the Houston Housing Authority to work on the Homeless Veterans Project. But this amendment is to. again. establish in this important legislation the idea that we must fight for our veterans. and we must ensure that every year. we take the temperature of the Nations homeless vets. the temperature that says. if it is high. the numbers have been going up. if it is low. we are doing our job because the numbers of homeless vets are going down. Let me thank the many shelters that deal with our vets. and particularly in my district. St. Johns United Methodist Church for the work they have done. along with many other entities that believe that cutting the numbers of homeless vets should be the end. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Reclaiming my time. let me thank the chairman. With that. I thank my colleagues and ask my colleagues to support the Jackson Lee amendment to end homelessness for our veterans here in America. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2015-04-29
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I rise to speak in favor of the Huizenga and Hahn amendment. First. I would like to commend our Committee on Appropriations efforts on the increased Army Corps of Engineers budget on the navigation safety and efficiency. The committees work this year. despite very low numbers from the budget. has been difficult. I would like to thank the chair. ranking member. and staff for your hard work in working with us. In Texas. we have serious energy and water infrastructure needs. Representing a large part of the Port of Houston. our need for operation and maintenance. as well as construction money. is significant. I greatly appreciate the committees efforts to fund our needs by appropriating more than $32 million for harbor maintenance. but this amount does not reflect the amount the Port of Houston needs or the amount of revenue it generates. The Port of Houston is the second largest port in the country by tonnage. The Port of Houston ranks number one in foreign tonnage. For dredging operations alone. the Port of Houston requires more than $50 million annually. Currently. the Port of Houston has a backlog of projects with the Corps of Engineers totaling almost $100 million. The Port of Houston generates significant tax revenue. both for the State and Federal Government. To meet the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. the Port of Houston needs the funding allocated from the harbor maintenance trust fund. The Water Resources Reform and Development Act. WRRDA. requires that 69 percent of harbor maintenance trust fund fees be spent on related activities. While the energy and water appropriators have done great things with limited resources. this bill shortchanges the Port of Houston and many other ports across the country. I support the HuizengaHahn amendment. The approximately $37 million shortfall significantly impacts the ability of the Port of Houston to receive larger ships. and it is our job to meet these demands. I ask my colleagues to support the Huizenga and Hahn amendment.