macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-05-30
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you. Congresswoman. Let me also thank you for your leadership as a ranking member of the Subcommittee on Commerce. Manufacturing and Trade for the Energy and Commerce Committee. and your leadership in the area of health care has been incredibly important for America. I think its interesting. First of all. you taught me something that I didnt know tonight. I did not know that there are two Jewish players on the Chicago Bears. One of your staffers was joking with my staffer today. saying that there are actually more Jews on the Chicago Bears than there are in the Illinois delegation. which is really kind of ironic. actually. Thank you so much for being here. Now it is my privilege to introduce and acknowledge a friend and colleague from the neighboring district of mine. someone who is a relatively new Member. who had some big shoes to fill but who has done so capably. He serves as a member of the House Committee on the Judiciary and on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. and he was a State senator in the State of Florida. I am fortunate that I dont need his bio as a cheat sheet because I know him so well. He is our colleague from the great State of Florida. Congressman TED DEUTCH.
Date: 2012-05-30
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you so much for your commitment and for your leadership. It is really a privilege to fight side by side with you on behalf of our constituents in south Florida and on behalf of the values that matter so deeply to our community. For many years. actually. before you were elected to public office. I watched your commitment to the U.S.-Israel relationship and to a strong and vibrant Jewish State of Israel as an AIPAC activist and then as a State senator. now as a Member of Congress and as a colleague. I thank you so much for joining us here this evening. It is now my privilege to recognize a newer colleague and a newer friend but someone whom I have seen develop as a leader and someone who has stepped up to represent her constituents in the western part of our country. which Im sure is a completely different Jewish experience than the east coast experience. Congresswoman SUZANNE BONAMICI is a new Member who was elected in a special election not even a year agoactually. just a few short months ago. She has stepped up and represents the Portland area in Oregon. More importantly. she is a member of Congregation Beth Israel. and I am pleased to recognize her here tonight.
Date: 2012-05-30
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you so much. and thank you for your service on the House committee on the Budget. We serve on that committee together. and you have represented your constituents well. I appreciate you honoring the contributions of Jewish Americans across this country here tonight. Now it is my privilege to bring to the rostrumfor lack of a better terma friend and colleague who represents the southern region of California in San Diego. who has been an incredible leader on the Armed Services Committee. and who has definitely in her own right been a Jewish leader and as a Jewish woman someone who has taken a leadership role in the area of armed services. not only not traditional for women. but one that we have a story to tell about Jewish involvement throughout our American military history. And Im going to share a little bit about that later. but thank you so much. Congresswoman SUSAN DAVIS.
Date: 2012-05-30
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you so much. Thank you. Congresswoman DAVIS. Thank you for your leadership and for sharing the stories of the important contributions that Jews in the San Diego community in America have made through the fabric of American history. Its now my pleasure and my privilege to ask my colleague from the great State of Connecticut. CHRIS MURPHY. to share some things. I hadthis is a reunion of sorts. A number of years ago. when Mr. MURPHY and I. along with Mr. RYAN of Ohio and our former colleague. Congressman Meek from Florida. we used to spend a little time down here on the House floor. around this time of night or later in the 30Something Working Group. and you may still actually be eligible to participate. I no longer would be.
Date: 2012-05-30
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Maybe I would be part of the "something" in 30something. I did have a chance to meet your fantastic Lieutenant Governor. Nancy Wyman. today at the Jewish American Heritage Month reception at the White House. She is obviously an incredible leader. an example of the political leadership that is part of the contributions that American Jews have made to American life.
Date: 2012-05-31
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Tomorrow is June 1. and it marks the very start of the hurricane season in the United States. First. I want to take a moment to thank our first respondersthose police officers. those firefighters. those EMS personnel. and all of our emergency personnelwho risk their lives to save Americans lives. I also want to stand and thank and recognize another group of first responders. those who are our brave and talentedand at many times courageouslocal broadcasters of television and radio and the journalists. many of whom are the first right after the first responders. sometimes before the first responders. bringing to the American people vital. lifesaving information. So it is very important that as we begin this hurricane season that we take a moment and say a word for our local broadcasters of television and radio. I know firsthand how important this is. for I represent a district in Georgia that had a devastating. historymaking flood and storm situation in 2009. I represent Cobb County and Douglas County. which were two of the hardesthit counties. along with Fulton County. We lost 10 lives. Seven of those lives that we lost were from one county alone. in Douglas County. Many of you might have seen the devastation at the Six Flags Over Georgia. which is an amusement park. It was completely under water. We lost over 500 businesses and homes in that area. Most importantly. we would have lost so much more if we had not had the timely. vital. lifesaving information from our local radio and television broadcasters. A broadcasters commitment to public service is never more apparent than during a time of crisis. During an emergency. no other service can match the ability of broadcasters to deliver the comprehensive. uptodate warnings and information affected by citizens. Just think. we have senior citizens. many of whom live alone. and their only contact with the outside world is that radio or that television letting them know what is coming and how to prepare for it. Television broadcasters reach millions of households across the country every day. and radio reaches more than 241 million Americans each week. Yet. if we are to improve disaster preparedness in our Nation. we have got to make sure that local stations of television and radio have the necessary tools to continue to communicate with people and to communicate with each other in these times of crisis. So as the 2012 hurricane season gets under way and as local communities continue to face erratic weather conditions. I know that every American feels safer in knowing that their local broadcasters are dedicated and committed to saving lives by providing critical news and information to our local communities. It is so important that we always remember that we must prepare for the storms beforebeforethe hurricanes are raging. and we thank our local broadcasters for helping us to prepare for the storms before the hurricanes are raging.
Date: 2012-05-31
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. faced with a number of challenges. I have lived through hurricanes Rita. Katrina. Ike. Storm Allison. and I realize the importance of emergency radio and television giving us the information as a lifeline. and I rise to thank Charity Productions going on in my district right now. the Sixth Annual Ecumenical Hurricane Forum. Thank you so very much for educating our public. I also wanted to rise today to congratulate CNBC and the Congressional Black Caucus Faith Forum that has been going on for the last 2 days. We realize that Americas faith institutions. and in this instance African American denominations. are crucial. coming together to reach out for empowerment. for social justice. and certainly freedom. We thank them so much for the work that they do. In conclusion. Mr. Speaker. let me say that in this particular body. and in the Judiciary Committee. we are facing the question of FISA and the impact of the FISA amendments. as it has reversible impact on spying on Americans. We must look to get the data and insist that we are securing the homeland. but we must also ensure that Americans are not in essence spied upon. are not surveilled by the impact of international needs.
Date: 2012-05-31
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise to urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question and amend this rule to allow consideration of the Paycheck Fairness Act. This bill is critical to women and families. and its time has come. Its not only about basic fairness for womengetting equal pay for equal work. Its also an economic issue for families. Getting paid less for just being a woman means fewer resources to pay the mortgage or to put food on the table. Today. women earn 23 percent less than men do for doing the same job. But those women dont get a 23 percent cut in their health care costs. They dont get 23 percent off their rent. They dont get 23 percent off their grocery bill. But they do get 23 percent off their paycheck. Its outrageous that this Congress is not doing all it can to eliminate pay discrimination. and its outrageous today that American corporations have as a matter of their business plan to pay women less than they pay men for the identical jobs. identical responsibilities. identical education. and identical experience. Corporations have made a decision that they will pay those women less. and thats why women earn only 77 cents for every $1 that their male counterparts earn for doing the same job. Congress ought to let us take up this bill and get rid of this inequity to Americas women. women who are working to support their families and to provide for their families.
Date: 2012-05-31
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I do not rise on the gentleladys amendment. In the statement I made on amendment No. 7. I indicated that the CIA officers name that was undercover. that was not the CIAs undercover agents name. which I would not give. It was the section station directors name. Mr. Garrett Jones. The CIA agent was undercover and remains unnamed. But he was an African American who did his duty because of his background.
Date: 2012-05-31
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I would like to give special thanks to Mr. VISCLOSKY and his staff. as well as Congressman DICKS and his staff. for their tremendous support for fusion energy in this bill. I would like to enter into a colloquy with the distinguished chairman of the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee. Mr. Chairman. since the need for a national ignition facility was first established in the 1990s. the project had a mandate of supporting nuclear weapons science expertise required for stewardship of our Nations stockpile and the development of fusion power. Basic science research has always been a central mission of NIF. In the 1997 Facility Use Plan for NIF. the Statement of Mission projected that the uses of the facility fall into five major areas: one. ignition physics. two. weapons physics. three. weapons effects. four. inertial fusion energy. and. five. basic science and technology. I want to affirm with you that the mission of NIF has not changed and that inertial fusion energy and basic science research. as well as stockpile stewardship. will continue to be vigorously pursued at NIF.
Date: 2012-06-05
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Chairman. I offer an amendment to increase funding for the National Nuclear Security Administrations defense nonproliferation program by $16 million. This is a small restoration of funds. and it would restore the Global Threat Reduction Initiative to our fiscal year 12 levels. Its really just a small increase in funds. but it will go a long way. in particular for the Presidents top national security priorities. The $16 million would come from the Departments administration account. Specifically. this $16 million transfer would restore half of the funds that had been cut from the Global Threat Reduction Initiative to counter the risk of nuclear terrorism. The danger that nuclear weapons and materials might spread to countries that are hostile to us or to terrorists who want to use these against us is one of the gravest dangers that we have to the United States. Nonproliferation programs are one of the least expensive ways. and theyre critical for U.S. national security. and they must be a top priority. Its our line of first defense. It is the most costeffective way to achieve the most urgent of goals. which is securing and reducing the amount of vulnerable bombgrade material. The funding for the Global Threat Reduction Initiative specifically supports securing vulnerable nuclear material around the world in 4 years. in order to prevent this deadly material from falling into the hands of terrorists who are intent on doing us harm. And let me give you a specific example of why this is so important. Increasing the funds would help accelerate the conversion of research reactors and the removal of vulnerable highly enriched uranium. The need to accelerate those important efforts can be seen. for example. in the example of Belarus. which had enough HEU for several nuclear weapons. and agreed. in 2010. to give up this material. Now. the NNSA cleaned out a portion of that material. but in 2011. Belarus reneged on its agreement because it was angry at the imposition of U.S. sanctions on that regime. There is still a significant amount of highly enriched uranium that sits there in Belarus. It could have been cleaned out by the NNSA if it had had 5 more months before Belarus said no. This illustrates why its so important for us to put the money in to go and clean these places up before people decide or new regimes come in and all of a sudden we cant get to what is very dangerous materials for us. We cant squander the opportunities to move forward on this urgent priority. The 9/11 Commission and the Nuclear Posture Commission noted that the addressing of this issue is important. This is a grave danger. with the Nuclear Posture Commission warning that "the urgency arises from the imminent danger of nuclear terrorism if we pass a tipping point in nuclear proliferation." I urge support for a very modest increase of $16 million that will significantly help us reduce the dangerous delays to these very important nonproliferation programs. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2012-06-05
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. 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 gentlewoman from California will be postponed.
Date: 2012-06-05
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I hope that my appreciation to the ranking member and the chairman is evidenced by hoping to offer an amendment that is a reflection of the time that I served on the Science Committee for 12 years. and now almost a decade plus on Homeland Security. When we speak about jobs. we understand that jobs are equated to education. and the education that is the key of today in the 21st century is science. technology. engineering. and math. I had the privilege of participating in one of the largest robotic competitions among students from around the world. hosted in Houston. Texas. sponsored by the Harmony School. It was amazing. Mr. Chairman. to see the outstanding and talented young people. particularly from the United States. but hosting individuals from around the world. The camaraderie. the collegiality around not war but peace and how to use science. technology. engineering. and math to improve the quality of life of all who live in this world was amazing. But more importantly. as we look to America and the creation of jobs. we must create a new generation of inventors knowledgeable about science. technology. engineering. and math similar to what NASA did in inspiring young people to go into physics. biology. chemistry. and a variety of sciences. all desiring be to be astronauts. many of whom became medical doctors. Now. as we begin to look at regaining our manufacturing prowess. science. technology. engineering. and math are key. The United States economic base has shifted from the manufacturing of durable goods to processing and analyzing information. In this informationdriven economy. the most valuable assets are human resources in science. technology. engineering. and math. But. in addition. manufacturing can be bolstered by science. technology. engineering. and math. It is so important. then. to ensure that we prepare the next generation. This amendment is simply a restatement and an affirmation of the importance of the fact of the Department of Energy energy programs. science. and that we reinforce the value of these programs. I have seen it firsthand. I am promoting. and many Members as well. science. technology. engineering. and math in their particular communities. The National Assessment of Educational Progress. the Nations education report card. shows that fewer than 40 percent of students at every grade level tested are proficient in math and science. In 2006. only 4.5 percent of college graduates in the United States received a diploma in engineering. So I ask my colleagues to just reinforce our commitment to job creation. to science. technology. engineering. and math. to inventiveness. to world peace. to the collaboration of young people in this generation moving forward to make a better quality of life for all who are in this world.
Date: 2012-06-05
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank the gentleman very much. and I thank the committee for its work. I ask my colleagues to support the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. Chair. I rise today to offer an amendment to H.R. 5325. the "Energy and Water Appropriations Development Act. FY 2013." My amendment will protect funds provided for Science under Title III of the Department of Energys Energy Programs. This amendment addresses the need to increase programs that educate minorities in science. technology. engineering and mathematics (STEM). as well as. the need to train teachers and scientists in advanced scientific and technical practices. As a former Member of the Committee on Science. Space. and Technology. I recognize the importance of developing a highly skilled technical workforce. Over the last 50 years. there have been major changes in the United States in terms of both the economy and the population. The economic base has shifted from the manufacturing of durable goods to processing and analyzing information. In this informationdriven economy. the most valuable assets are human resources. Therefore. in order to compete successfully in the global economy. the U.S. needs citizens who are literate in terms of science and mathematics. and a STEM workforce that is well educated and well trained (Friedman 2005. National Academy of Sciences 2005. Pearson 2005). Consequently. we cannotliterally or figurativelyafford to squander its human resources. it is imperative that we develop and nurture the talent of all its citizens. The jobs of tomorrow will require workers who possess strong advanced science. engineering and math backgrounds. Other countries are training and educating their citizens in these areas and we must do the same. By investing in the scientific advancement of our workforce and our youth. we are investing in our future . . . we are investing in job creation � . . we are investing in greater job opportunities for Americans. This investment is the only way to address the increasing knowledge gap between our nations workforce and those of our international counterparts. We must invest in our citizens. My amendment will ensure the funds that have been made available will be utilized for that purpose.
Date: 2012-06-05
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

For a number of years. Mr. Chairmanand to my colleagues. again. I thank the chairman and ranking memberI practiced energy law in the State of Texas. For a number of years. I worked with advocacy groups that were crying out for an energy policy in this Nation. one that would respect the assets that weve been blessed with in this country. Texas is blessed with a number of assets. particularly wind and solar. as it has fossil fuel. shaleopportunities to ensure that America remains independent in the quest for energy independence. My amendment recognizes the holistic approach to energy. In recognizing the various resources that our State has and many other States. it is a very. very small contribution. but an important contribution. for the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program. Whenever you speak to the multinationals. I will assure you that all of them have within their companies an emphasis or a section on the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program. This is an essential office that invests in clean energy technologies. an office that is created to strengthen our economy and protect our environment. It works well simultaneously along with the other very important programs in the U.S. Department of Energy. Under H.R. 5325. this development program fosters research. providing to innovators the funds and resources they need to develop energy- efficient equipment that can be used at home. by the construction industry. and in the transportation market. The main concept is that this can create jobs. that partnerships can create jobs. This program is designed to develop costefficient methods through the use of renewable energy practices for the home. Financial incentives are provided to builders that utilize methods that result in the reduction of energy use during construction. as well as to manufacturers within the transportation industry who research and design energyefficient vehicles. I have had the privilege of going through energyconstructed homes. What a unique difference. Builders across America are crying out for the opportunity to experiment with these very special. unique tools. I would ask my colleagues to consider the job creation aspect of renewable energy and the role that it plays in a holistic energy policy. I ask my colleagues to support this amendment.
Date: 2012-06-05
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

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 gentlewoman from Texas will be postponed.