macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-05-18
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Chairman. I want to rise in support of the -amendment. You know. I have been an elected official for 25 years. 14 years in the Congress. And I want to be clear that the people of Florida are united against any drilling in Florida. Now. when I listen to the people from Texas and other places. you know. I understand that Florida is the number one tourist destination in the world. The number one. And we shouldnt do anything that would be against the people of Florida and the people of the United States. People save their money to come to Florida. And certainly we need a comprehensive energy policy. But someone said that the people in Florida in some surveys support drilling in Florida. That is definitely untrue. The people of Florida do not support drilling in Florida. And the people in Florida are united against any drilling in Florida. Floridas coastline is a treasure not just for Floridians. but all Americans and the rest of the world. For years Floridas delegation has worked together to protect our coastline and natural resources. Even conducting an inventory of resources in the Gulf of Mexico will begin to destroy the efforts we have made as a state to preserve our sensitive lands. As long as there are rigs In the area. the potential for devastation to Floridas beaches persists. Floridas beaches are not something we can afford to compromise. This decision goes against everything that Floridians have worked for over so many years. Certainly. the people of Florida do not support off of our shores. In fact. the impact of offshore drilling threatens irreversible scarring to the landscape. affecting thousands of species. each critical to the ecosystem. The great weather. pristine beaches. and I marine wildlife are the number one draws to our fine state. By moving forward with even a resources inventory. you risk a multibillion dollar industry for only a few extra barrels of petroleum. There are environmental risks associated with nearshore natural gas drilling despite claims to the contrary. Liquid hydrocarbon found with natural gas could float on top of the water and was up on Floridas beaches. Moreover. one huge problem with the plan is that the areas that are off limits to drilling now are not where the resources are. In fact. 80 percent of the Nations undiscovered technically recoverable natural gas on the OCS is located in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico and offshore Alaskawhere drilling is currently allowed and already underway. Indisputably. allowing drilling would be harmful to tourism and risk Floridas $57 billion tourist economy. In fact. this policy would af-. fect all U.S. coastlines from Alaska to Maine. Any drilling would also be visible from the beach and have no effect on oil prices. especially when. natural gas prices are falling.
Date: 2006-05-18
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H

of California): A.R. 5417. A bill to amend the Clayton Act with respect to competitive and nondiscriminatory access to the Internet. to the Committee on the Judiciary. By Mr. ISSA (for himself and Mr. SCHIFF):
Date: 2006-05-19
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Chairman. I thank my colleague from Texas for this time and for his work on this bill. I support this bill because it represents a vast improvement over the administrations budget request. But I dont think that we have in this bill the answer. the sufficient funds that we need particularly for our VA health care system. I know without a doubt that all of my colleagues in this House want to support our veterans. but the fact remains that the Veterans Administration is chronically underfunded. and it is struggling to provide very basic services and benefits to the veterans as we have promised them. The answer to our VA funding problem? Lets adequately fund the VA in the budget so that the veterans will receive the kind of care that they were promised when they signed ap to defend this country. While I am pleased that the Appropriations Committee saw fit to increase the VA funding from the wholly inadequate amount that the President had suggested. I am disappointed that the efforts of several of my colleagues. including Mr. FARR. to provide an additional $2.6 billion for our critical health care needs of our Nations veterans was not successful in .this committee. As a member of the Blue Dog Coalition. I believe fiscal responsibility should be one of the Federal Governments top priorities. but there should be no -higher priority than honoring the promises that we have made to our veterans. We cannot in good conscience balance this budget or reduce the deficit at their expense. How we treat our veterans. how we treat our veterans is a sign of our character as a Nation. The men and women who have sacrificed so much in defense of our country deserve no less than the very best that we have to offer in return.
Date: 2006-05-19
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I would like to thank both the chairman and the ranking member for putting together this legislation and for the appropriations. It is interesting because I do not serve on Armed Services or obviously Appropriations or Defense approps. but I think every Member of this House is affected by what is in this bill because all of us have seen our young men and women who have come back. who have been injured. and that is what this bill is about. the VA medical facilities. the medical facilities for these service personnel who are injured. and it isgreat to hear some of the good things that are in this bill. I know it is under very strict limitations. but I want to thank the committee for doing this. I want to talk about something that is very specific briefly. about an important project in my own area. Now. in Houston we do not have a base. We have a lot of reserve units. but we have the Ellington Field where they haveF16s. and we have a fire station that needs to be put in there. We have one that does not meet either Air Force* standards or OSHA standards. and it is a facility that serves not only our Air National Guard but our Army National Guard. the U.S. Coast Guard. NASA. and of course. civil aircraft. The existing facility. like I said. is rapidly deteriorating and does not meet either OSHA or Air Force standards. Roof leaks and lack of insulation result in equipment being destroyed and extremely high operating costs. The lack of adequate facilities and Apace do not allow for proper integration of female firefighters. Storage facilities do not exist and require hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment to be stored outside. and traditional. Guardsmen must store issued equipment at their homes. New firefighting apparatus must be parked outside the station because they do not fit in the truck bays. Currently. our 147th has one fire truck valued at $1 million which is unable to fit into the station. and the unit is expecting delivery of another one this year. This results in slower response times. degraded performance. and vehicle deterioration. The funding I requested for this new fire station will not only bring the facilities up to OSHA and Air Force standards but will protect the investments already made in the equipment in the base. Plans are under way to move 2.300 Army. Navy and Marine Corps Reserve troops from elsewhere in the Houston area to Ellington to make it really a joint Reserve base. As this happens. we must ensure there is sufficient infrastructure to support these units. Again..the fourth largest city in the country affecting not only Johnson Space Center and the petrochemical industry. but I would appreciate any consideration by the committee during the conference report.
Date: 2006-05-22
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. today I was unavoidably absent and missed rollcall votes Nos. 177 and 178. Had I been present. I would have voted: "Yea" on rollcall No. 177. S. 1235. the "Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2005" and "yea" on rollcall No. 178. H.R. 3858. the "Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act of 2005."
Date: 2006-05-22
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I rise in strong support of this legislation. . Earlier this year we watched as the Palestinian people went to the polls and voted into power a group that has employed car bombings. suicide bombings. mortar attacks. Qassam rocket attacks. and assassinations to achieve its stated goal of destroying Israel. Last January. Hamasthe radical Islamic Palestinian organization that has sought to expel Jews and destroy the state of Israel to establish an Islamic Palestinian state based on Islamic lawwon a majority of the seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council. This group has been recognized by the United States and the European Union as a terrorist organization. and has committed hundreds of acts of terrorism against Israeli citizens since its creation in 1987. I fully support the democratic process. but the. views of Hamas are at odds with that process and its principles. and I do not believe we should continue providing funding to a group thats stated purpose is the destruction of another democratic country. This legislation sends a message to Hamas. but protects humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people by continuing U.S. assistance through NGOs and USAID. H.R. 4681 also gives the President authority to waive many of the provisions of the bill if Hamas changes its stance or a new Palestinian Authority government emerges. We cannot allow U.S. taxpayer dollars to get in the hands of a Hamascontrolled govemnment to be used against Israel. and this bill will prevent that from happdning while protecting humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people. Madam Speaker. we need to send Hamas a message that.. we will not stand by while it continues to endorse terrorism and violence. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 4681.
Date: 2006-05-22
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I rise today in support of this bill and in support of peace and prosperity for all the people of the Middle East. For years. the international community has tried to work with Israelis and Palestinians to forge a lasting peace in the Middle East. But the election of Hamas to control the Palestinian Parliament was a shock to all of us. and the announcement that their party would rule alone disheartening. It remains to be seen whether participation in the democratic process can truly have a moderating effect on organizations that have supported terror. But until we see evidence to that effect. we are forced to deal with the worid as it isand in that worid. Hamas is a terrorist organization. Hamas uses violence against the innocent to further its political objectives. It does not accept the Roadmap. and it does not recognize the right of Israel to exist. Cleariy. we cannot supportwith our words or with our deedssuch an organization. At the same time. we must recognize that most Palestinian people voted for Hamas not because they support terror. but because they were desperate for a better quality of life. Hamas was providing basic services that their existing government was. for whatever reason. unable to provide. I would like to take this opportunity to say that supporting this bill is not a rejection of the Palestinian people. Americas position is clear: we support a twostate solution in accordance with the Roadmap. And although we cannot and should not support Hamas. we must not abandon the Palestinian people. We must continue to support humanitarian aidincluding health. education. and civil society initiativesto ensure that the next generation of Palestinian children can know something other than violence. desperation. and hatred. Only then will we have any hope of achieving .true peace.
Date: 2006-05-23
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I rise to speak on behalf of some of our most vulnerable Americans who are being denied access to needed and I underscore needed food stamps because of states eliminating facetoface interviews. Mr. Chairman. I speak on behalf of children. the elderly. the disabled and those with limited literacy. And I regret that they are not here to speak for them selves. Because if they were here to speak for themselves. they would tell you about the 20 minute phone waits. they would tell you about the phone calls that have been abandoned because they had to wait too long (44 percent per the USDA). They would tell you about the inability to use the phone because they cant speak. the inability to use the phone because they cant hear. they would tell you about the lack of computer access and the lack of computer literacy. This amendment assures a user friendly system for some of our most vulnerable Americans. I speak for them. I stand for them. I cast my vote for them.
Date: 2006-05-23
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I rise to speak on behalf of some of our most vulnerable Americans who are being denied access to needed food stamps because of States eliminating facetoface interviews. Mr. Chairman. I speak on behalf of children. the elderly. disabled. and those with limited literacy. I regret that they are not here to speak for themselves because if they were here to speak for themselves. they would tell you about the 20minute phone waits. They would tell you about the phone calls that have been abandoned because they had to wait too long. 44 percent per the USDA. They would tell you about the inability to use the phone because they cannot speak. the inability to use the phone because they cannot hear. They would tell you about the lack of computer access and the lack of computer literacy. This amendment ensures a userfriendly system for some of our most vulnerable Americans. I speak for them. I stand with them. I cast my vote for them.
Date: 2006-05-23
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

And I actually should have mentioned some-. thing else. You are a Midwesterner. but we have coastlines in both of our districts in Florida. and obviously the United States is surrounded by coastline. What was the answer to our longterm and shortterm energy needs that the Republicans put forward the other day? I mean. fortunately. we pieced together enough Members to defeat it. but that was to bring oil drilling and natural gas drilling within three miles of the coast of this country. And it is understandable that a lot of our Midwestern colleagues voted to do that. because they are desperate to make sure that something happens and there is some movement on this. But had our Republican colleagues had a little foresight. had they actually had any interest in not. for lack of a better term. no. I wont use that expression. had they had any interest in not continuing to give significant assistance to the oil industry. then they would have not needed to make that shortterm. shortsighted lastditch effort solution to prevent minivan moms like me from having to pay $55 in filling up their gas tanks. which is what I just did the other day when I was driving my kids around.
Date: 2006-05-23
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

I actually think you are being presumptuous because you touched a nerve when you said you think the Republicans lost touch along the way at some point. That presumes that they were ever in touch because when we listen to remarks on the floor of this House where commentary is made that. for example. people who make $40.000 a year do not pay taxes. when you know you pay upwards of $50 to fill up a gas tank. you scratch your head and wonder. who pumps their gas? When you cannot determine whether they know what the cost of groceries are. are they shopping for food? Who is talking to them in their districts? Are they driven around in limousines? Because all of the indicators. their desire to maintain tax cuts for the wealthiest among us. all of the indicators are there that they really are that out of touch. I mean. just to have it stated on the floor of this House that people who make $40.000 do not pay taxes. that is just unbelievable. But then just -take the tax cut bill. the rubberstamp Republican Congress. literally and the walk down memory lane that we have been going through turned the projected $5.6 trillion record surplus into a record deficit of $3.2 trillion. The President has quadrupled our debt held b3V China. The tax bill that was signed. Americans making $20.000 annually get $2 and Americans .making $40.000 get $16.
Date: 2006-05-23
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

When I ask people in my district in town hall meetings to raise their hand and show .me how many have benefited and got money in their pocket from the tax cut legislation. out of several hundred. I get two maybe three hands. that is preposterous. Here is the kicker: Americans making more than a million dollars a year get a thousand times what people making $40.000 get. They get $42.000. We have a graphic that we can show that means that they can buy a Hummer. That is essentially. they are basically being given the equivalent of a Hummer. Let me just conclude by adding on to what Mr. Gingrich has said because he also said sonte things very recently. On May 14. on Meet the Press. Mr. Gingrich said: I think we have to confront the fact that on a variety of fronts. we are not getting. the performance we want. The people in charge have an obligation to deliver. When you learn that maybe as much as $16 billion of the $18 billion that we sent to Baghdad for economic purposes was not spent effectively. you know something has to change. When you look at Katrina and you realize that we. the United States Government. paid $1.75 to a general contractor who paid 75 cents to a contractor who paid 35 cents to a subcontractor. who paid 10 cents to put the blue tarp on what was temporary roofing. then you know something has to change. The leader from the 1994 Republican revolution says. something has to change. Change is not going from Republican to Republican. It is going from Republican to Democrat so we can take this country in the direction that we really should be going. and so that the next generation of Americans are going to have an America that they can grow up and believe in.
Date: 2006-05-24
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. last month the Department of Energy announced. with no notice or consultation with Congress. that it would stop its contractors from offering traditional pension plans to new employees and cut back on health benefits as well. starting next year. Over the nextseveral years. this radical new policy would torpedo the retirement benefits of over 100.000 employees working on the Nations most cutting edge and vital research and energy projects. This unilateral action by the Department of Energy is a mistake in many ways. It sends a message that the Federal Government no longer supports one of the countrys bedrock retirement systems. The Department will shuffle employees into 401(k) savings plans. a vehicle that puts at risk all of the employees. Lets be honest. The 401(k) plans were never designed to meet comprehensive retirement needs of employees. They are saving plans. not retirement plans. But I want to commend Chairman HOBSON and Ranking Member VISCLOSKY for addressing this issue in this legislation. It would stop the Department of Energy from implementing this new policy and prohibit it from using the contracting process in any way from curtailing traditional pengion plans and health benefits. Groups throughout the retirement policy area have expressed concern with the Department of Energy policy. the AFLCIO. the AARP. Mercer Human Resources Consulting and Pension Rights Center. Major Energy Department laboratories and facilities are spreadthroughout the country. These contractors range from institutions like the University of California. Iowa State University. and major companies like Honeywell. Fluor. Johnson Controls and Westinghouse. Thousands of workers at the Energy Department facilities in Oak Ridge. Tennessee. Hanford. Washington. Idaho Falls. Idaho. Portsmouth. Ohio. and Los Alamos. New Mexico have jobs with traditional pension plans and comprehensive benefits. We need this as we try to stay on the cutting edge of competitiveness on a worldwide competition to make -sure that we can. track the best that this country has to offer in terms of scientists. engineers. computer technicians and the rest. I want to thank the chairman and the ranking member for taking care of this in this legislation.
Date: 2006-05-24
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman I want to thank the gentleman from Ohio and the gentleman from Indiana for their leadership on this important piece of water resources legislation in the midst of an extremely tight budget environment. I support the fiscal year 2007 Energy and Water Development appropriation measure. This measure includes funding for a number of flood control projects administered by the Corps of Engineers that are desperately needed within my congressional district: the Nokomis Road Bridge Erosion Project. the Upper Trinity River Feasibility Study. and most importantly the Dallas Floodway Extension. I appreciate the subcommittees consideration of my requests and your past support for vital flood control projects in my congressional district. My constituents in the region are highly concerned about the possibility of severe flooding of the Trinity River. an event that could result in countless loss of lives and almost immeasurable property damage. The Dallas Floodway Extension. DFE. is the linchpin of the citys flood control efforts. Each year the Office of Management Budget finds within its good graces to zero out funding. but the project is of critical importance to my constituents. This legislation includes $5 million for the construction of the DallasFloodway Extension. This funding will go towards the construction of a chain of flood conveyance wetlands and a system of protective levees that will enhance the security of Dallas central business district and area neighborhoods. The project will also reclaim 792 acres of land that are currently in the 100year flood plain. Although I am disappointed that this amount falls far below the Corps expressed capability of $28 million. it is my hope that the project funding may be revisited during the HouseSenate Conference. As thecountrys recent flooding events have highlighted. we can not continue to shortchange this Nations water resources infrastructure. Adequate investment in our nations infrastructure will protect lives and property. bolster economic growth. and further enhance the quality of life for all our constituents. While I recognize the difficult constraints the committee worked under in developing this legislation. and appreciate the funding included. I also know it is imperative to the public health and safety of the people of Dallas that this project proceed as quickly as possible. Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the bipartisan effort that went into the drafting of this legislation. commend that effort as a model for the way in which this Chamber ought to routinely work. and urge a "yes" vote on H.R. 5427.
Date: 2006-05-24
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

do you care to share anything. because I am going to talk about the fiscal irresponsibility and how the Republican majority has allowed foreign countries to have a piece of the American apple pie? We talked about that last night as it relates to the irresponsible spending that has taken place. unaffordable and in many. many areas � and is putting America more in debt. not only in domestic debt but foreign debt. unprecedented to any other time in the history. Ms. Wasserman Schultz.