macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-07-28
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. the charter for the U.S. ExportImport Bank has been expired now for almost a month because Congress did not act. Because of that. thousands of American small businesses have been unilaterally disarmed in the battle for export financed business. Meanwhile. 85 foreign export credit agencies continue to help companies from their countries finance their exports. They are helping their small businesses while ours are disadvantaged. This body has also failed to act to increase the lending limits for the Small Business Administration. Without an increase. the 7(a) Loan Program will be suspended until the beginning of the next fiscal year. October 1. and the highway trust fund is set to expire. bringing vital construction work and jobs to a halt. Mr. Speaker. if this body doesnt get to work. then we are going to needlessly hurt hundreds of thousands of American jobs. It is time to stop the political bickering and to pass these important bills.
Date: 2015-07-28
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. today I missed the following votes: Motion on Ordering the Previous Question on the Rule. Had I been present. I would have voted "no" on this motion. H. Res. 380. Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 427. Had I been present. I would have voted "no" on this resolution. H.R. 675. the Veterans Compensation CostofLiving Adjustment Act of 2015. Had I been present. I would have voted "yes" on this bill. Young (IA) Amendment to H.R. 427. Had I been present. I would have voted "no" on this amendment. Smith (MO) Amendment to H.R. 427. Had I been present. I would have voted "no" on this amendment. Johnson (GA) Amendment to H.R. 427. Had I been present. I would have voted "yes" on this amendment. Capps Amendment to H.R. 427. Had I been present. I would have voted "yes" on this amendment. Cicilline Amendment #1 to H.R. 427. Had I been present. I would have voted "yes" on this amendment. Cicilline/Jackson Lee Amendment #2 to H.R. 427. Had I been present. I would have voted "yes" on this amendment. Nadler Amendment to H.R. 427. Had I been present. I would have voted "yes" on this amendment. Pocan/Moore Amendment to H.R. 427. Had I been present. I would have voted "yes" on this amendment. Motion to Recommit H.R. 427. Had I been present. I would have voted "yes" on the motion. H.R 427. the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2015. Had I been present. I would have voted "no" on this bill.
Date: 2015-07-28
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to highlight the 50th anniversary of the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Since 1965. these landmark programs have provided affordable health insurance coverage and access to care for our Nations seniors and most vulnerable populations. Few programs have improved the lives of Americans as significantly as Medicaid and Medicare. Fifty years ago. almost half of elderly Americans lacked health insurance. Today. Medicare provides lifesaving insurance to nearly 100 percent of adults over 65. Medicaid continues to be a lifeline for millions of children. pregnant women. people with disabilities. seniors. and lowincome families. Over 70 million Americans currently rely on Medicaid for affordable health insurance. Medicaid covers more than one in three children. pays for nearly half of all births. and accounts for more than 40 percent of all longterm care. On the anniversary of this historic law. we celebrate the successes of Medicaid and Medicare. We must renew our commitment to further strengthening them so they remain available in perpetuity for generations to come.
Date: 2015-07-29
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. it gives me great privilege. first of all. to speak about the first item of interest to America and to many of us as certainly when the President represents the United States of America overseas. I had the privilege of traveling with the President for a most dynamic. unique. and historic mission. and that was to Kenya and Ethiopia. Let me congratulate him for a stupendous diplomatic success and interaction with a continent that will be the largest populated land area in the 21st century. What an amazing experience to be able to engage with businesses and see the opportunity for economic empowerment and cooperation between the United States and the many nationstates of the continent of Africa. It was exciting to see new. young businesspersons seeking an opportunity to work in their countries. but work with the United States. eager to work with U.S. businesses. welcoming U.S. investment. creating jobs in Africa. creating jobs in Americain particular. a broadcasting company that had been there for 50 years creating jobs in the United States. creating jobs in Kenya. Let me indicate what a success this story was. Along with the regional security issues. there was a commitment with the African Union to stand against Boko Haram and a commitment to establish civility and peace in South Sudan by demanding that there be a resolution of this by August 17not the President standing alone. but working with the African Union. representing the tens upon tens of African nations. it was a resounding success. and I congratulate the President. As I come home and as a member of the Committee on the Judiciary. I am reminded of the tragedy of a young woman who had all of her life before her. and that was Sandra Bland. My commitment still is to offer my appreciation to the law enforcement officers across America and. as we all do. respect law and order. but in the instance where there is a tragic result. the death of this young woman. 28. with two undergraduate degrees and a masters degree. her death was the result of malfeasance. We must walk together in a respectful manner with law enforcement and civilians. We have done it before. We must do it again. I believe that it is crucial for the Department of Justice to take over this investigation on a number of aspects. including patting down and other practices of law enforcement in Waller County and Hempstead. and certainly the question of this young ladys civil rights. I ask that they look seriously. because even though there are alleged good intentions by the local authorities in establishing committees to review this. this is not regular order. this is not a procedure that works. No one understands the decision of a district attorneyunless he yields to an independent prosecutor. which this district attorney in Waller County is notto have a committee of individuals with no authority whatsoever review this matter. People and families are in pain. Certainly. we can do better as law enforcement and civilians working together. I also want to recognize that this is the 50th year of the Voting Rights Act. I join the leadership of NANCY PELOSI.
Date: 2015-07-29
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise with great excitement to congratulate the Houston City Council and our chief. Charles McClelland. for naming our beacon of law enforcement building after Edward Alfred Thomas. the longest serving and greatest patrol officer in the history of the Houston Police Department. so noted by fellow officers. Edward Alfred Thomas was born in Shreveport. Louisiana. in 1920. He played football for Southern University. As well. he was drafted in World War II. where he saw action with the United States Army in Normandy. in northern Africa. and during the Battle of the Bulge. After the war. with his honorable discharge. Edward Thomas became one of the first African American police officers in the city of Houstonwhen he started. he could not vote without a poll taxwhere he worked for 63 years until his retirement on July 23. 2011. He worked for more than six decades. way before the civil rights movement. His work was not without challenges. Because of his work and because of his race. Officer Thomas was not allowed to drive a squad car or arrest White suspects without obtaining permission from his supervisor. At one point in his career. he was disciplined for speaking to a White meter maid. who asked him to walk with her in order to avoid the unwanted attention and advances of nearby construction workers. just extending himself and doing his job. I am excited about him having his name on the 26story headquarters building. and I would offer to say that. to this great leader. I will be coming home to present you with a number of resolutions and honor. I know that he wants the Voting Rights Act reauthorized because he couldnt vote then. but now. he stands as the longest serving police officer and one of great service. I salute you. Edward Alfred Thomas.
Date: 2015-07-29
Speaker: JUDY CHU (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. 50 years ago. hundreds of courageous. unarmed men and women marched from Selma to Montgomery to call for the right to vote. They were met with violence. prejudice. and hate. but these brave men and women continued their push for equality. Because of their sacrifice and determination. the historic Voting Rights Act was passed. For over 40 years. the Voting Rights Act was one of our best tools to combat historic discrimination. It provided critical voter protections to ensure that Americans of all backgrounds had equal access to the ballot box. but with the Supreme Courts Shelby County decision 2 years ago. key provisions were gutted from this act that must be restored. As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. I urge my Republican colleagues to restore dignity to our electoral process and ensure that this is a democracy of the people and by the people. Allow us to vote on meaningful legislation to restore the Voting Rights Act.
Date: 2015-07-29
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. let me thank the gentleman from Colorado. and let me thank my good friend from Texas as well. Let me use a great philosophers statement of a couple of decades ago: "Can we all get along?" As I stand here. on the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 that is now with the rule before us. it is obvious that we are trying to take a divergent pathway. I was one of the first Members of Congress to go down in front of my veterans hospital to stand and to demand quality health care for our veterans. to ask that the system be fixed. I take no backseat. along with other Members. to ensuring that our veterans get what they need. and stand in line to make sure that they are not defaulted on by the American people. H.R. 1994 eliminates the due process rights of whistleblowers who have been key to drawing attention to any manipulation or coverups taking place. They are bringing back to the floor this bill. calling it an accountability bill. but. in essence. it is to go after hardworking employees and fire them and eliminating their opportunity to explain or to have due process. That is not the American way. This is not a bill that helps veterans. In fact. it takes away consistent. longworking employers who see something and say something. and so I am voting "no" on the bill and this rule. Then the surface transportation had a wonderful opportunity to do a 6year bill. to look for payfors that Members could bring together and support. yet my metro. the Houston metro. will be suffering. Our highways and other surface transportation entities. safety will be suffering. Employees will not be paid. Here we go again with a shortterm opportunity. I remember doing a 6year transportation bill. where I opened up the hike and bike trails of my community in Houston.
Date: 2015-07-29
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. this weekend. 64 Senators voted to renew the ExportImport Banks charter. which expired on June 30. More than 240 Members are on record supporting the Bank. and according to The Wall Street Journal. there are many more. As I quote. "some Republicans estimated that as many as 300 of the 434 current House Members" would support a measure similar to the one that passed the Senate. yet despite this overwhelming support. we have been denied a vote on the House of Representatives to renew the ExportImport Bank. Last year. ExIm helped underwrite over $27 billion in U.S. exports. It supported thousands of small businesses and about 164.000 jobs across our country. Since 2009. the Bank has supported over 1.3 million jobs. The Bank does all of this at no costno costto the American taxpayer. In fact. the ExIm Bank sent over $675 million to the Treasury last yearactual dollarsto help pay down the deficit. According to a letter sent by CBO just last week. using accounting standards. reauthorizing the ExIm would save taxpayers $2.3 billion over the next 5 years. yet American companies have been disadvantaged. They have been unilaterally disadvantaged of having the export assistance that over 60 different nations are providing their exportimport banks. Only 1 of the top 10 exporting countries in the world does not have an export credit agency now that can finance export dealsjust oneand that is the United States of America. That is because this Congress failed to do what every other Congress has done since FDR. and that is to reauthorize the ExportImport Bank. It creates jobs. creates money for the Treasury. It helps small businesses. Vote "no" on the previous question. "no" on the rule. Lets bring it to the floor today for a vote. [From the Wall Street Journal. July 28. 2015]
Date: 2015-07-29
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chair. I rise today in opposition to H.R. 1994. the VA Accountability Act of 2015. While no member of this body will deny that there is a need for fundamental and transparent reform at the Department of Veterans Affairs this bill does nothing to address the systematic issues that have plagued the VA. Currently. VA Management has many different routes to hold their employees accountable through existing law. H.R. 1994 would allow the VA to immediately fire employees for poor performance. violating a workers right to due process. Im concerned that the bill would effectively make the VA the only "atwill" federal agency and this would further deplete the talent and retention of the public servants who serve our veterans. I fully support Mr. TAKANOs amendment in nature of a substitute which would allow the VA to immediately suspend without pay any employee whos suspected misconducted threatened health or safety then allow the employee to tell their side of the story. preventing cases of political patronage and an increase in false whistleblower cases.
Date: 2015-07-29
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chair. I rise today in opposition to H.R. 1994. the socalled "VA Accountability Act of 2015." There is nothing more important than providing for the men and women who have made so many sacrifices for our country. However. todays legislation is a fake solution and provides no real fix to the fundamental problems at the VA. This legislation turns hundreds of thousands of VA employeesincluding many who served in the armed services and are veterans themselvesinto atwill employees. As a result. this would open the door for political abuse and witchhunts. effectively creating a mechanism where career federal employees could be removed because of their views or political affiliation. In addition. turning individuals into atwill employees would likely discourage whistleblowers from coming forward out of fear of being terminated. Moreover. if this legislation passes. the Department of Veterans Affairs would be the only federal agency with atwill employment. making it harder to recruit and retain the best and brightest employees who are needed to serve our veterans. I was disappointed that a substitute amendment offered by Congressman TAKANO was not adopted. Rep. TAKANOs amendment would immediately suspend without pay any employee that is found to put a veterans health and safety in jeopardy. However. it also ensures that all employeesincluded whistleblowersare granted their constitutional right to due process. On the other hand. H.R. 1994 would dismantle civil service protections that have been in place for decades. It would strip away important protections for federal workers and would deny a VA employee the opportunity to appeal a decision to the full Merit Systems Protection Board. Unfortunately. nothing in this bill addresses the systemic problems that continue to plague the VA health care system. I urge my colleagues to oppose this legislation. The Acting CHAIR . All time for general debate has expired. Pursuant to the rule. the bill shall be considered for amendment under the 5minute rule. It shall be in order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under the 5minute rule the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Veterans Affairs. printed in the bill. The committee amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be considered as read. The text of the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute is as follows: H.R. 1994 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.
Date: 2015-07-29
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

I thank the gentleman from Washington for yielding. Mr. Speaker. I agree with the gentleman. I agree that we are squeezing and squeezing and extending and extending when we know better and we know the difference. We know that we could have a meaningful solution to the problem that we face. We know it. We come and we kick the can a little bit. add a little bit more to it. Like him. I am going to vote for it. But I am going to vote for it not because I think it is the best approach. I am going to vote for it because I want to see construction crews continue to work. I want to see families who are looking for paychecks be able to continue to get them. I am going to vote for it because I want to see roads and bridges and highways repaired. I want to see veterans be able to go to the doctor and not wonder whether or not the doctor is going to be there to take care of them. So. yes. I will vote for it. and I will look up and see that we will be back in December voting again. but we do what we have to do. We have to keep America working. I will vote for it to keep America working.
Date: 2015-07-29
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. this Chamber is doing a great disservice to smallbusiness owners and to hundreds of thousands of American workers by going off to recess for the next 6 weeks without renewing the charter of the U.S. ExportImport Bank. It is the wrong thing to do. Sadly. the minority of ideologues in this Chamber that is blocking the renewal of the ExIms charter is absolutely right about one thing. If the U.S. ExIm goes under. all the export business and all the jobs supported by it will be just displaced to other companies. What they dont mention in their rants against the Bank is that the companies that will get this business will be in other countries and the workers who get those goodpaying jobs will be overseas because there are some 85 foreign export credit agencies today happy to help the companies in their countries seal the deal. We are leaving thousands of American workers at a real competitive disadvantage by leaving the U.S. ExportImport Bank in a zombielike status. We should renew it. We should keep these jobs in America. We should put more Americans to work.
Date: 2015-09-08
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 1344. the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act. This important legislation is led by Representatives Lois CAPPS and BRETT GUTHRIE. both members of our committee. Beginning in 2000. Congress took steps to facilitate the development of newborn and infant screening and intervention programs. This bill reauthorizes and makes further improvements to the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program. which supports detection and treatment for hearingimpaired newborns and young children. The early identification of a childs hearing loss increases the likelihood that intervention and treatment services can successfully prevent or limit developmental delays. Research shows that it can significantly improve quality of life and education outcomes for children with hearing impairments. The vast majority of deaf children are born to parents who do not have impaired hearing and who. therefore. may not be able to identify their childrens conditions early on. The outreach services provided for by the program reauthorized in this bill may help ensure that children and their parents receive appropriate screenings and followup. I want to thank Representatives CAPPS and GUTHRIE for their leadership on this issue. I thank Chairman UPTON. Ranking Member PALLONE. and Chairman PITTS for their work to advance this important legislation. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1344. the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2015-09-08
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California . my colleague and a cosponsor of the bill.
Date: 2015-09-08
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 1725. the National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Reauthorization Act. This important legislation is sponsored by Ranking Member PALLONE. Representatives JOE KENNEDY and ED WHITFIELD. and Congressman LARRY BUCSHON. The reauthorization of NASPER is urgently needed to ensure that physicians have patientspecific information through Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs. PDMPs. at the point of care. As its name suggests. PDMPs help physicians and other providers make appropriate prescribing decisions while ensuring that patients with legitimate pain management needs have access to necessary care. We are in the middle of an epidemic of prescription drug opioid misuse and overdose. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. in 2013. more than 16.000 Americans died from an opioidrelated overdose. PDMPs are an integral part of our Nations effort to combat the ongoing opioid and prescription drug epidemic. They allow for the early identification of atrisk patients and timely intervention to prevent prescription drug abuse. States have recognized that PDMPs are a vital tool to address this public health crisis as demonstrated by their universal adoption amongst the States. H.R. 1725 reauthorizes grants to States to enhance their PDMPs. and it makes further improvements to the programs. Funding for PDMPs is needed to help States utilize this effective tool. to incentivize information sharing across State lines. and to further the implementation of best practices. I want to thank Ranking Member PALLONE and Representatives KENNEDY. WHITFIELD. and BUCSHON for their leadership. I also want to thank my colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee for their commitment to addressing our Nations opioid epidemic. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1725. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2015-09-08
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself as much time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 1462. the Protecting Our Infants Act. led by Representatives KATHERINE CLARK and
Date: 2015-09-08
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts . the cosponsor of the bill.
Date: 2015-09-08
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I have no other speakers. and in closing. I encourage our colleagues to support this bill. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2015-09-08
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 2820. the Stem Cell Therapeutic Research Reauthorization Act. This important legislation is championed by Representatives DORIS MATSUI and