macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-12-09
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: Unknown
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. you know the American people deserve some answers. Where are the jobs? Ten months after passing a $787 billion stimulus package. unemployment has reached 10 percent and thousands of workers have stayed unemployed for 6 months or more. Unfortunately. the Democrats still think throwing money at the struggling economy will fix it. Albert Einstein once said. "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results." The first stimulus didnt work. The new stimulus would only increase the already massive deficit and provide a temporary fix. Higher taxes and higher spending is not the formula for economic growth. What America really needs is to encourage entrepreneurial activity. help small businesses. and get the government out of our pockets.
Date: 2009-12-09
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I yield 5 minutes to my friend from Louisiana. an extraordinarily thoughtful member of this House. Mr. CAO.
Date: 2009-12-09
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. we believe. as the overwhelming majority of Americans do. that Members of Congress should have the ability to read bills before they vote on them. It shouldnt be an issue. frankly. because the majority and the distinguished Speaker during the campaign. the political campaign. said that they would have the most open Congress in history and that Members would have at least. should have at least. 24 hours to examine bills before those bills are considered on the floor. But that hasnt been the case. I remember in the Rules Committee one early morning at 3 a.m. we were handed a 900page amendment. called the managers amendment. to energy legislation. the socalled capandtrade legislation that we considered a few hours later. just a few hours later here on the floor of the House. No one had any opportunity to vote on that legislation. And then we had similar situations with very significant and extensive pieces of legislation. So the American people were. I think. rightfully so. outraged when they saw those examples of very important and extensive pieces of legislation being brought to the floor without Members of Congress being able to even read them. And they should really be posted online so that not only Members of Congress but the American people in general could read them. Thats why legislation has been filed by a bipartisan group of 182 Members that have signed right there. right at that desk in front of you. Mr. Speaker. a discharge petition. its called. They go up there and they sign. I signed. 182 Members have signed the discharge petition to bring to the floor legislation saying that Members should have 3 days. that there should be 72 hours. once its filed. before legislation is brought to a vote on the floor. So thats why I am asking for a "no" vote on the previous question. so that we can consider that legislation that 182 Members have gone to the desk there and signed. bipartisan legislation by Congressmen BAIRD and CULBERSON. It would not interrupt this legislation that is being brought to the floor at this time. the tax extenders legislation. because if the motion passes. the motion Im making. it provides for separate consideration of the BairdCulberson bill within 3 days. So we could vote on the tax extender bill and then. once we have done that. consider that legislation requiring the 72hour timeframe for Members to be able to study legislation and. quite frankly. for the American people to read legislation before its voted on. Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment and extraneous materials immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.
Date: 2009-12-10
Speaker: DAVID J. KARP (republican)
Chamber: S

Senior Counsel. Office of Legal Policy. Main Justice Building. Pennsylvania Avenue. NW.. Washington. DC. DEAR MR. KARP: I am writing to comment on the Justice Departments April 18. 2008. proposed regulation for implementing the DNA sample collection authority created by section 1004 of the DNA Fingerprint Act. Public Law 109 162. and by section 155 of the Adam Walsh Act. Public Law 109248. I am the legislative author of both of these provisions. Allow me to note at the outset that I have reviewed the proposed regulations and have concluded that they properly implement the authority created by the laws noted above. I do not recommend that you make any changes to the proposed regulations. as I believe that they are consistent with the clear meaning and spirit of their underlying statutory authorization. The remainder of this letter first comments on the general privacy objections that have been raised by other commenters with regard to the proposed regulations. and then addresses several other criticisms and recommendations that are made in some of those comments.
Date: 2009-12-11
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Chair. this is a prime example of good intentions resulting in bad policy. My area is one of the areas hit as badly as any with respect to foreclosures. We have not cleared the market yet. We are in deep. deep shape. The last thing we need is to increase the level of uncertainty within the mortgage market. and thats what it does. It may be limited by its terms. but if we do it now. we can do it again. Some people ask. Why would we not allow cramdown for residential housing? Looking at this with a case in previous years. Supreme Court Justice Stevens said. The favorable treatment of residential mortgages was intended to encourage the flow of capital into the home lending market. That is why this exists in the bankruptcy code today. precisely because it allows more people access to purchasing homes. and premiums are not as high as they otherwise would be precisely because you cannot allow cramdown in bankruptcy proceedings now. Thats the sole substance of the reason we have this. We are going to reverse this as a matter of public policy. It is going to create greater uncertainty and thereby increase the premiums in the future for everybody else. and it will deny access to the housing market for those we seek to help.
Date: 2009-12-11
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. In other words. the bill anticipated a loss of jobs and creates a specific fund to reimburse people or to subsidize people or to in some way help those people who lose their job as a result of the effects of the bill.
Date: 2009-12-11
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. One of the concerns we ought to have is making people more dependent on government. When you make people dependent on government. you necessarily take away some of their freedom. And thats one of the things that we ought to be concerned about here. We know through every economic analysis thats available that the progenitor of jobs. the creator of jobs. the source of jobs in this country is the private sector. We know that more and more abides in the smalland mediumsized businesses. And if in fact we were dedicated to creating jobs at this time. it would make far more sense to do what the gentleman suggested well over a year ago. that we suspend the payroll tax. that we suspend the payroll tax both from the employer and the employee. which would have the effect of having immediate income in the pockets of both employer and employee. and we would then trust the individuals. Because employers and employees are individuals. We would trust them to make rational decisions in their lives which may just be better collectively than the decisions imposed on them by the Federal Government. where we choose winners and losers. and necessarily have to make political decisions with respect to winners and losers. And wouldnt that more quickly cause an impact on the economy on a positive side than waiting for whatever Congress and whatever administration decides finally in terms of distributing funds as they see it?
Date: 2009-12-11
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. And I think we need to talk about both ends of it. If we are going to be a free people. we have to be a responsible people. If we are going to be a people who cherish freedom. we have to be a people who cherish responsibility. And we must ask of ourselves. each and every one of us. to be responsible in our actions. to understand there is something of the common good that requires something of all of us. but that if we. in fact. mistake that notion or misinterpret that notion such that we think that no longer are individuals free. and that only important questions can be decided by the Federal Government. and in the Federal context only by the Supreme Court. what we are doing is not only becoming dependent on others. in this case government. but we are undercutting the tremendous. as I say. vitality that this country has always had. And so were not only cheating ourselves. but were cheating everybody else. as well. I think that every once in a while it is good for us to have a conversation on this floor about. some would say. huge concepts of freedom. I would say essential concepts of freedom. foundational concepts such as freedom. freedom which is spelled out in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. And so. I would just hope that as we continue in the last days of this congressional year. and as we look forward to the next congressional year. that we not forget about freedom and that. in fact. as we try and meet the challenges of the present and the future. that freedom be our lodestar. With that. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2009-12-14
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Madam Speaker. it is a darn good thing that the credit reporting agencies dont factor in each Americans share of the national debt when they calculate an individuals credit scores. If the agencies did. there would be quite a few otherwiseeligible borrowers who couldnt get a mortgage or a car loan. Think about that. I wonder why they dont include the national debt? Perhaps its because no one seems to think its real. Madam Speaker. it is real. Last year. America spent $250 billion in interest payments alone. $250 billion. Thats $250 billion a year we cannot invest in Americas future. Yet. in spite of this situation. Congress is preparing to increase the debt again by another $1.8 trillion. Attaching it to a mustpass Defense bill holds our troops hostage. And it might be convenient politics. but our country deserves much better. Congress should use the TARP returns to pay down the debt and redirect the failed stimulus money to tax reforms that actually work. Wouldnt that be unique?
Date: 2009-12-15
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. some days ago. when we were discussing and debating and voting on the health care bill. I got a call in my office from one of my constituents. After we had spoken for some time. he said. I have a confession to make. He said. I voted for President Obama because I thought that he would bring us together and that there was hope. But then he said these words. But I did not vote for this madness. What did he mean? I guess maybe he was talking about a health care bill thats going to cost more money. going to raise taxes. and not going to take care of all Americans. I guess he was talking about a capandtrade bill that will put a burden on every single American. I guess he was talking about a proposal that comes to us that says. oh. we have a huge deficit and were going to work our way out by spending more. And I suppose he may have been here to hear one of my colleagues just a moment ago who said. When Democrats meet behind closed doors. they come out for transparency. It seems absurd. perhaps because it is.
Date: 2009-12-15
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. Res. 905. which recognizes the 70th anniversary of the retirement of Justice Louis Brandeis from the U.S. Supreme Court. There is no doubt he was a brilliant man. and he believed the law was best served as a vehicle to correct injustices. rather than a gateway to make money. Justice Brandeis was born in Louisville. Kentucky. in 1856. the son of Jewish immigrants from Prague. now in the Czech Republic. He excelled in the public schools of his hometown and later studied in Germany. He grew up in a refined and engaged household in which history. politics. and culture were discussed regularly at the dinner table. I might add that one of his early influences was his uncle. Lewis Dembitz. who Im proud to note attended the Republican Party Convention in 1860 that nominated Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States. He enrolled in Harvard Law School at age 19. studied so hard that his eyesight failed. Rather than quit school. he paid fellow students to read his textbooks out loud so he could memorize their content. He graduated with the highest grade point average in the history of Harvard Law School at that time. He was best known for his work as a lawyer and justice. and while he eventually earned good money practicing law. he devoted most of his professional life to public causes. He argued cases and wrote treatises on privacy. labor relations and antitrust matters. and he assisted the Wilson administration in crafting the Federal Reserve Act and the Federal Trade Commission. He served on the Supreme Court for 23 years and issued seminal opinions on many of the subjects that consumed him as a lawyer. And yes. he did believe in States being the laboratories of democracy. I enjoyed the gentlemans comments of reference to my home State of California and. I might say. rather than choose the subject he chose as an example of California being one of those laboratories. I would suggest Proposition 13. or perhaps three strikes and youre out. as guiding lights to the rest of the Nation as to how we ought to organize ourselves. Unfortunately. my home State has forgotten some of those messages in the recent past. Mr. Speaker. Justice Brandeis was not without his critics. but this is not the time nor the place to air old grievances. Rather. were here to honor a man. and so I would use somebody else as a reference point. William 0. Douglas. who described Justice Brandeis as being "dangerous because he was incorruptible." I urge the Members to support H. Res. 905. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2009-12-15
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. It is interesting that we have heard of Justice Brandeis commitment to the First Amendment. One can only wonder what he would think of the current state of interpretation of the First Amendment where. unfortunately. it appears that we give greater protection to nude dancing than we do to political speech. One would hope that the Supreme Court. as we anticipate its decision in the most recent challenge to aspects of McCainFeingold. might listen to some of the interpretations and wisdom of Louis Brandeis with respect to the essence of the First Amendment. One would hope that we would. once again. regain the notion that protection of political speech is at the forefront of the First Amendment. not an afterthought to the First Amendment. and that when we have gone so far as to have someone representing the Solicitor General of the United States. responding to a question in the Supreme Court. saying in response to the question. So. the law would give you the right to ban books if they said what is contained in the script of the movie that the FEC believes it has the right to stop during the period of time before an election. the response from the representative of the executive branch was. yes. If we have come so far that banning books is seen as something allowed under the First Amendment because of the pursuit of purity in political campaigns. then we have lost sight of the First Amendment as understood and expressed by Louis Brandeis. And so I would hope that as we look forward to the end of this year that we could look forward to a Supreme Court that comes to its senses and understands the essence of the First Amendment. Once again. I would urge my colleagues to unanimously support this recognition on the 70th anniversary of the retirement from the Supreme Court of Louis Brandeis. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2009-12-16
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. I thank the gentleman. Madam Speaker. I rise today in opposition to H.R. 4314. which. according to the majority. "permits continued funding for government operations." That sure sounds a lot better than H.R. 4314. a bill to borrow another $300 billion from China. Or we could also entitle it. H.R. 4314. a license to keep spending like a teenager with a credit card. Madam Speaker. the United States is already paying $250 billion per year in interest payments alone on the debt. We are paying more for that interest by borrowing more. That just doesnt make sense. The argument that we have already spent the money. and when the bill comes in the mail we have to pay it. is misleading. Every American with a maxed out credit card would love to be able to pay his bills by simply raising his limit. That is what were doing here today. ladies and gentlemen. That includes the 15 million unemployed Americans who are still wondering when the socalled stimulus is going to create or save their jobs. I urge my colleagues to vote against more borrowing and to certainly vote against this bill. America does not want more debt.
Date: 2010-01-13
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Madam Speaker. the U.S. is $800 billion in debt to China. and yet Congress continues to spend. having to raise the debt limit time and time again. We do not grow Americas jobs by borrowing hundreds of billions from China. sending hundreds of billions of dollars to OPEC for oil. or taking hundreds of billions more from Americans in new taxes. What we can do. however. is by using some of our oil off our coast. we can use it to create jobs. restore our environment. use conservation and new technologies to cut waste and improve energy efficiency. develop innovative. efficient. and clean energy generation in all sectors. and rebuild Americas inefficient transportation and energy infrastructure. By putting our resources to work. we put millions of Americans to work here at home. and all this can be done without raising taxes. I encourage my colleagues to join the effort by supporting and being cosponsors of H.R. 2227. the American Conservation and Clean Energy Independence Act. Its about new jobs for a new. clean America.
Date: 2010-01-19
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. there are a lot of issues that are before this Congress. very. very serious issues. But on Christmas Day. we were reminded of one that we do not always think about. and that is the fact that we are still the subject of those who would use terror to take away our liberty. I would hope that. as the President has found it appropriate to use the word "war" and talk about the war with al Qaeda. that we would understand that it is more than words. it is actions. that we need to treat those who would attempt to kill us in this way as what they are. unlawful enemy combatants. not common criminals. We should not turn them over to our criminal justice system. We should allow them to be interrogated by the military. Madam Speaker. those who say that they are attacking us because of Guantanamo do not understand history. both longterm and shortterm. They are not attacking us because of Guantanamo. They are attacking us because of the Statue of Liberty.
Date: 2010-01-20
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. many of my colleagues in the House are ignoring the American people. Our constituents are holding rallies. posting blogs. talking with their neighbors. writing to their Congressmen. and are doing everything in their power to get them to listen. The American people are telling us loud and clear: they dont want a government takeover of health care. Listen to them. Massachusetts did. Americans want. need. and deserve better than a budgetbusting. trilliondollar health care bill when 10 percent of Americans are still unemployed. They are tired of sweetheart deals. secret meetings and dirty politics. There is still time to do whats right. to do what the people are asking us to do. Vote against the Pelosi takeover of health care.
Date: 2010-01-20
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Well. it is not a question of talking points. it is a question of fact. We will move on. I at this point yield. Mr. Speaker. 5 minutes. to my distinguished friend from Florida .
Date: 2010-01-20
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Well. Mr. Speaker. we saw last night that the blame game no longer works. And if we want to look at the past. we will see that when we cut taxes. we made it a reality. the recession after 9/11 was the shortest recession in history. Now. unfortunately. the policies that are being followed now are totally different. Theyre increasing debt massively. The deficit as a percentage of GDP after TARPthat I opposed. but it can be said that it was a bipartisan decision. TARPafter TARP. the deficit as a percentage of GDP was 4 percent. Today. 1 year after the Democrats took the Presidency and they had already taken the House and the Senate. the deficit as a percentage of GDP is almost 12 percent. Mr. Speaker. We are running in a dangerous direction. heading toward a collision with a fiscal crisis of unprecedented proportion. But. Mr. Speaker. the Democrats just dont get it. They dont see it. The American people sent a message last night that they had better. but it still remains to be seen if they received the message. Mr. Speaker. I yield 6 minutes to my distinguished friend from Virginia .