macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 1996-06-26
Speaker: VERNON WILLIAMS (democrat)
Chamber: H

Office of the Secretary. U.S. Surface Transportation Board. Washington. DC DEAR MR. WILLIAMS: We wish to express our concern about the merger application of the Union Pacific (UP) and Southern Pacific (SP) Railroads. If this merger is approved. the consolidated UP/SP system will create the nations largest rail carrier and could spur additional mergers in the Eastern United States. The merger could mean a significant decrease in competition. rail service and jobs. and would harm shippers and raildependent businesses. It could eliminate thousands of jobs in a workforce already struggling from a large number of mergers. reductions and corporate dowsizing in other major sectors of the economy. A consolidated UP/SP rail system certainly will create a monopolistic situation in the West but the trend toward megarailroads could lead to a wave of similar mergers in the East. This disturbing trend of consolidation is not in the public interest. Shippers will be left with few transportation choices. .Communities and workers will face the threat of job loss and dislocation. We question the wisdom of granting this merger when there are no compelling reasons to create such a large railroad. UP and SP have other options available to allow them to compete in the marketplace short of this merger. We believe this merger is anticompetitive and will have farreaching implications. It will harm shippers. consumers. communities. and working men and women. We urge the Board to preserve rail competition and protect American workers by rejecting the UP/ SP merger. Sincerly.
Date: 1996-06-27
Speaker: SAM JOHNSTON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I rise to a question of the privileges of the House. and I send to the desk a privileged resolution (H. Res. 468) and ask for its immediate consideration.
Date: 1996-07-09
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. today millions of working Americans can come one step closer to earning a livable wage. The Senate will finally vote on increasing the minimum wage. After months of blocking Democratic attempts to vote on raising the minimum wage. the Senate Republican leaders will finally allow a vote. But this vote for working Americans does not come easy. As payment. the Senate Republicans will attempt to attach an amendment that will destroy this minimum wage increase. The Republican amendment would delay the implementation in the increase. freeze the minimum wage for those people who work in restaurants and also exempt millions of people from having any increase. Republicans have no real interest in helping the millions of working Americans because these exemptions will prevent millions of hardworking Americans from earning a livable wage. American families are working harder than ever. It is tough to get by when working full time for minimum wage does not put enough money in your pocket to put bread on your table. I ask my colleagues in the other Chamber not to prevent these hardworking American families from earning a livable wage. Support work. not welfare.
Date: 1996-07-11
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I appreciate my colleague from North Carolina when he asks to stop the slinging of the mud on the one hand. and not the other. But. Mr. Speaker. let me talk about education this morning. Did we learn anything last year in Congress? Maybe we need to do more homework on our own. The American peojle overwhelmingly rejected education cuts last year. and they still do. But the Republicans want to deny education services to hundreds of thousands of children with the bill we have today. The LaborHHSEducation appropriations bill cuts education funding $2.6 billion below the level needed to keep up with inflation. Overall education will be cut below fiscal year 1995 levels at the same time school enrollment is going up 7 percent. Education reform funding and Eisenhower teacher training grants are being eliminated. The Republican bill provides $475 million less in title I funding for disadvantaged children than the administration requested. It is time for the Republicans to listen to the American people and provide the funds for education. It is Americas future we are talking about.
Date: 1996-07-11
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I thank my colleague for an extra 30 seconds. Those of us from Texas. we talk a little slower. I am just shocked that the Republican majority would be opposing this amendment that does not increase the deficit and yet it puts money where 80 percent of the American people want it. in education funding. Education is hard. its difficult and it is not cheap. and we know it is not free. We cannot cut spending. as my colleague from California thinks. in education and expect it to improve. Education is tough when we spend the money. It is impossible when we do not spend the money. That is why the Obey amendment is so important. It increases title I funding. increases summer youth training programs. dislocated workers. Head Start it increases $70 million. title I funding for disadvantaged children. $450 million. At a time when we see an increase in the student enrollment. as the chart in the front talks about. 7 percent increase. this bill cuts it. That is why the Obey amendment is so important. If we do not restore the funding with the Obey amendment. then a number of us are going to have to vote against this bill because it is not preparing for the future of our country. It is cutting the future of our country. Using the gentleman from Californias argument that education is failing and it is because we are not seeing the improvement. the Pentagon might be zeroed out this year if we know what the GAO study said on the gulf war. We have to do better. not only with the Pentagon but also with education funding. That is why the Obey amendment is so important for us to adopt and to pass.
Date: 1996-07-12
Speaker: PAT DANNER (democrat)
Chamber: H

the key sponsor of H.R. 2428. deserves an enormous amount of credit for introducing this legislation and championing this cause. Despite all the time and effort she has personally invested in this effort. she has graciously given her support for our effort to rename this bill to recognize Bill Emerson. In summary. I urge my colleagues to support this important piece of legislation. which will go a long way toward ensuring that our Nations lowincome families will receive the nutrition they require to lead healthy. productive lives. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 1996-07-16
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 3161. which authorizes the President to extend permanent mostfavorednation treatment to Romania. The bill recognizes that Romania is making progress toward democracy and a free. market economy. and the extension of MFN will encourage that process to continue. Additionally. Mr. Speaker. Romania is an important trading partner- for my home State of Texas. Texas ranks No. 2 among the 50 States in exports to Romania. and in the period from 1992 to 1994. Texas exported more than $110 million worth of products to Romania. The products Texas exports to Romania are many. and they range from energy development products to transportation equipment and paper products. After the recent debate over extending MFN to China. it is easy to see the benefits of permanently extending MFN to an emerging democracy like Romania. Romania has adopted a new constitution since overthrowing its Communist dictatorship in 1989. and is improving in the areas of human rights. freedom of expression. and economic reforms. Romania is also a member of the World Trade Organization. and extending MFN allows the United States to have our full rights under the terms of the GATT with respect to Romania. The extension of MFN to other Eastern European nations has already occurred. and it is time for us to extend MFN to Romania as well. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 1996-07-17
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. during rollcall vote No. 322 on H.R. 3756 I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present. I would have voted "No."
Date: 1996-07-23
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. the Republican majority last night and today. we have all heard it. is trying to rewrite history. In fact we heard it again this morning where they are trying. the Republican colleague. my Republican colleague is trying to rewrite it. Their method of operation is. to threaten possible libel suits against television stations that run commercials that accurately reflect what the Speakers views on Medicare are. The logic is: "If you cant beat them. then prevent them from broadcasting." The question is whether the Speaker of the House said Republicans planned for Medicare to "wither on the vine." After he made that famous speech last year. it was not quite clear. and yet reporters asked the Speakers press secretary for clarification. He confirmed to a reporter that the Speaker meant the feeforservice medicine. Feeforservice medicine. that is Medicare. That is not some change in interpretation a year later. Later. in a town hall meeting in his district the Speaker said he was referring to the "feeforservice portion of Medicare." That sounds to me like Medicare that most of the country is familiar with. Mr. Speaker. the Republican majority says the Democrats and the media are lying to the American people. But the record shows that the Speakers words are what is getting Republicans in trouble.
Date: 1996-07-23
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I yield. myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. it has been a long time in coming. I am speaking of the amendment to FIFRA and the food and drug law. Today we have a package before this House that makes amendment to how we regulate pesticides. and it is on the suspension calendar. It is hard to believe that we have come all this way. Mr. Speaker. let me echo appreciation to all of those Chairman ROBERTS has mentioned as having worked on this effort. I would like to add only our former colleague from Iowa. Mr. Berkley Bedell. who diligently worked on this issue and had it almost to the brink of passage at one time. Mr. Speaker. I have no objections to the present bill. However. I have concerns about how it will be implemented. One of the biggest hurdles. if not the biggest. to getting where we are today has been the infamous or famous Delaney clause. Whatever ones perspective might be. the Delaney clause was a political outgrowth of the publics fear in the 1950s of the disease that was being increasingly diagnosed: cancer. Americans were facing this mysterious killer more frequently. Interestingly. at the same time medicine was improving and physicians were diagnosing more cancer. Today we have the capability to measure to parts per trillion. There is no justifiable reason for a test based on zero tolerance like we have with the Delaney clause. Mr. Speaker. I would like to mention that all of the areas that have been covered by the chairman of the committee. minor use crop protection. antimicrobial pesticide registration reform. and public health pesticides. were all very diligently and studiously worked on by members ofthe Committee on Agriculture. I would like to commend our friends from the Committee bn Commerce. the chairman. the ranking member. and the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Health and Environment. for all the work they have- kne. and for their diligence in seeing thatthe needs of society are met to the extent that it is possible. H8!42 CO I have always maintained. Mr. Speaker. that Americans enjoy the safest. least expensive. and most abundant food supply in the world and that legislation is the art of the possible. We are here with that. with what is possible. It is not perfect. This is what could be agreed upon. Probably in the future it might be further looked at. but for now it is the extent of what is possible. considering all of the areas of concern. To all of those from the Committee on Commerce. we commend them and appreciate their work and cooperation. Mr. Speaker. commending my colleagues from the Commerce Committee on the work that they have done. I yield half of my time. 10 minutes. to the gentleman from California . and I ask unanimous consent he be permitted to control that time. He was chairman of the subcommittee and did tremendous work. and now is the ranking member of that committee.
Date: 1996-07-23
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. let me add my commendation to all of the staffs from the committees. including the hard work done by the members staff of the Agriculture Committee. Mr. Speaker. when I became a subcommittee chairman three decades ago. the first major bill that was -referred to our subcommittee was FIFRA. I did not know what the word stood for at that time. and I have worked with FIFRA since then. As Members know. I will not be returning the next session of Congress. and I think probably with this unanimity and all this good will. that it may well be the crown of my retirement that we hopefully go through the Senate and finish with a FIFRA bill as I leave this Congress. We worked diligently. There have been many. many long hours of hard work. There have been discussions. heated and otherwise. but to arrive at this point on a suspension calendar is something worthy to be remembered. It is historic. and I am so proud to have been a small part of this endeavor. It will be something that I can go home with and point to with pride. With that. I ask all of the Members to give us their support and their vote on this legislation.
Date: 1996-07-23
Speaker: BOBBY RUSH (democrat)
Chamber: H

As we sailed through the Dodecanese Islands. a group of 12 islands down in that southern part of the Aegean. I wanted my colleagues to understand that Imia is Greek. Indeed. it has always been considered. and. as the gentleman from Pennsylvania said. as Greek by those living nearby and by the international community. Despite these recent tensions. I am confident that they will not hinder. I am hopeful they will not hinder the administrations push to resolve the Cyprus issue. Cyprus is the only country in Europe. the only country in Europe with 37 percent of its land under the occupation of an invading force. Resolving the division of Cyprus will not only reunite Cypriots. but will also help lay the foundation for better relations between Greece and Turkey. Mr. Speaker. I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey who was also in Cyprus on my last trip there.
Date: 1996-07-26
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. takes a 22percent pay cut. This is not Speaker. I am here from the Govern- what we need. It is wrong to try and ment and I am going to help you. I am trick Americas families. who are a Republican and I am here to help the under such stress. that you are trying working people of America. to be so sympathetic toward them. Both these statements are kind of when all you are really doing is giving hard to believe. We have a bill today on their employers even more money and the calendar that will change 60 years even more authority over the time and of 40hour week laws. The Republican the hours that they work. This is majority this year alone opposed the wrong. It should be defeated. minimum wage increase. cut occupa- Mr. Speaker. I hope everybody listens tional health and safety funding for* to it. and I hope we stop putting the safe workplaces. cut funding for fair kind of nice warm fuzzy names out over something that is really going to harm Americas families. They are too precious to do that.
Date: 1996-07-26
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I thank my colleague from Massachusetts for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker. I serve on the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities where this bill originated. I have expressed it during the committee that I like the idea of workers choosing between earning overtime and comp time as long as it is the total choice of the employee with teeth to prevent the coercion. This bill does not protect that employee choice. National polls show that. an overwhelming number of workers expect to be forced by their employer to accept comp time instead of overtime. But the central issue here is clear. it is either employee choice or employer mandate. That is the concern about the bill. That is why the bill is flawed. H.R. 2391 does not contain a strong provision to prevent the employer from forcing workers to accept time off in lieu of overtime pay. In my district many people have to have overtime pay just to make ends meet. In H.R. 2391. employers maintain the control when to grant that comp time regardless of the amount of notice that the employee gives. What good is it to earn comp time if your employer makes you use that instead of your vacation you may earn? This needs to be addressed. Comp time should be treated just like any other wages in bankruptcy. This bill does not touch that. It should be at the same level. in bankruptcy filings. so comp time is the same as lost wages in bankruptcy. This proposal does not ensure that the full remedies available to employees for violation of the overtime law are available where the employer violates the law. Strong civil fines should be established where employers who operate comp time programs violate the law and coerce employees. Instead of this flawed Republican proposal. we should work on a bipartisan proposal giving employees real flex time. I urge defeat of the rule. Mr. Speaker.
Date: 1996-07-26
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr Speaker. reserving the right to object. I yield to the gentleman from Texas for an explanation of the bill.
Date: 1996-07-26
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker. further reserving. the right to object. I yield to the gentleman from Texas .
Date: 1996-07-26
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 3900. This bill will give the U.S. Department of Agriculture much needed direction in the interpretation of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996FAIR Actwhich we passed earlier this year. H.R. 3900 is very simple. First. it reaffirms the Departments ability to continue the practice of ghost acres. Under prior farm bills. producers who suffered a natural disaster could plant a second crop of their choosing without having any impact on their participation in commodity programs. This practice allowed producers the ability to try to recoup some of their losses when Mother Nature was in an unkind mood. The second provision in H.R. 3900 will require the Department to issue regulations by September 15. 1996 to implement the Conservation Reserve Program which was amended by the FAIR Act. Producers and landowners in many parts of the country are wondering what the parameters of the new program will be and this provision will spur the Department on to work out the new regulations in a timely fashion.
Date: 1996-07-30
Speaker: SONNY MONTGOMERY (democrat)
Chamber: H

who will be leaving this body soon. He has chaired the Committee on Veterans Affairs over many years and led the Nations efforts to recognize and serve its veterans. Mr. Speaker. I urge again the passage of this legislation for all our veterans. Mr. Speaker. I have no further requests for time. and I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 1996-07-31
Speaker: PETE GEREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise to commemorate the end of an era in U.S. aviation history. This past weekend at a ceremony in Fort Worth. TX. the FIll was retired and officially named the "Aardvark." the nickname given it by the pilots that flew it. This ceremony commemorated the accomplishments of this great aircraft from its first flight in 1964 to its honorable service in the gulf war and its revolutionary impact on military aviation technology around the world. The F111 served this Nation in the war in Vietnam. the bombing of terrorist targets in Libya. and during Operation Desert Storm. In November 1966. the FIll set a record for the longest lowlevel supersonic flight. and it was the first tactical aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean without refueling. Additionally. the FIll was the first plane equipped with swing wing technology that allowed it to take off and land on a short 2.000foot runway while still being able to reach supersonic speeds at a variety of altitudes with wings swept back. Mr. Speaker and my colleagues. join me in celebrating the men and women who built this great aircraft. a bird that served our Nation and the free world for over 30 years and now takes its place among other great Texas built military aircraft like the B24 Liberator and the B8 Hustler.
Date: 1996-07-31
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

In quick response. Mr. Speaker. to my colleague. the gentleman from Georgia. he knows who controls the rules on the floor. If we could have submitted amendments we probably would. but the Committee on Rules typically has closed rules. and the gentlemans colleague from Georgia prohibited them with his amendment. most of them. What I am really here to talk about this week. we are celebrating the 31st anniversary of Medicare. We are looking back on a time that has seen drastic reductions in the number of seniors in poverty. As a result of Medicare. the poverty rate among Americas senior citizens has dropped from 30 percent in 1966 to 12 percent in 1993. Before 1966 only 51 percent of American seniors had health insurance. Today. thanks to Medicare. 99 percent of Americas seniors have health car. This is a program that America needs. not only in 1965. but today and tomorrow. Contrary to sentiments expressed by my Republican colleagues. Medicare should not be allowed to wither on the vine or be limited to pay for tax cuts. or. as one of our former colleagues said. "I was there fighting the fight voting against Medicare. 1 out of 12. because we knew it would not work in 1965." Celebrating Medicares 31st birthday this week. we as Democrats are taking actions to ensure its success in the future.
Date: 1996-08-01
Speaker: PETE GEREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Introduced a H.R. 3480: Mr. BALLENGER. bill for the relief of Senior Master H.R. 3488: Mr. NADLER. Sergeant William L. Sullivan. U.S. Air H.R. 3518: Mr. HERGER. Mr. Cox. Mr. Force. which was referred to the Committee RADANOVICH. Mr. MOORHEAD. Mr. FAZIO of on the Judiciary. California. and Mr. RIGGS.