macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 1996-01-04
Speaker: MARK FOLEY (republican)
Chamber: H

I am a voter from Macomb county in southeast Michigan and I writing to thank you for keeping up the fight for fiscal responsibility. Unfortunately my Representative is Minority Whip and the chances of him being in favor of a balanced budget are nil. This letter might not mean much but I thought you should know than there are a lot of people out here that agree with your ideas. No one wants to hurt the elderly or throw people out on the streets. but a seven year plan to balance the budget should be relatively easy and painless to achieve. We are counting on you and your colleagues to take charge of this fight. Get us a good. fair plan with teeth in it so three or four years from now we arent faced with another budget crisis. Again. I would like to thank you for your efforts on behalf of .our generation and future generations. Keep up the good work. Those are letters from around the country. Let me read to you one thing. "Ten Cannots." originally attributed to Lincoln but which were done by Rev. William Boetcker. a Presbyterian minister. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot establish security on borrowed money. You cannot build character and courage by taking away mens initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.
Date: 1996-01-24
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. that speech last night was just like other speeches that this President has given. He is a great public speaker. but unfortunately. after the State of the Union is over. and he has had a chance to act. Willies actions never match his words. He talked about a secure future. yet he this very week is demanding that Congress raise the debt limit and increase the burden on our children. He talks about the importance of educating our children. yet he continually relies on bureaucrats in Washington to dictate how we educate our kids. Just like the last three State of the Union addresses. the delivery was great. but that is about it. He is a liberal who is ferociously fighting for big government. higher taxes and Washington control over every part of our lives. It is still the same old Bill Clinton. Our Republican ideal is for a better America for our kids: lower taxes. less government. and power back to the people. Our prayer is that the President holds our same views.
Date: 1996-01-24
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H

who was wounded and imprisoned by enemies of this Nation while he fought to defend our Nation and our people.
Date: 1996-01-24
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to support our Armed Forces. Although there are many good things in this bill. changes made in this latest version are not in our Nations best interests. The most egregious omission is that it now allows the President to put American troops under U.N. command. Under U.N. control the worlds best fighting force would be put into the hands of an irresponsible. incompetent organization that is fraught with unnecessary bureaucracy and fiscal crises. The United Nations record is a disgrace. Peacekeeping missions continue to grow in number. while success declines and its purposes and goals are illdefined at best. There is no leadership. Our service men and women put their lives on the line to protect freedom and serve our Nation. It is our responsibility to ensure their safety. We would be shirking that responsibility by allowing someone from the United Nationswho knows nothing about the U.S. militaryto assume control of our troops. Once again I find myself wondering why this administration and those on the other side of the aisle have fought so hard against any effort to protect our troops from being placed under U.N. control. How can any American really be committed to any questionable organization such as the United Nations. I am amazed that any administration could have such little concern for our Nations military. I would hope that the decision to take this important provision out of this bill will be reconsidered in the future. The safety and future of our Armed Forces depend upon it.
Date: 1996-02-01
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. this bill became necessary really because the President. Mr. Panetta. and Secretary Rubin have used our seniors as political pawns in the public debate. Instead of working on solving the problems remaining. the President has resorted to scare tactics. pure and simple. demagoguery to try to frighten our seniors on a variety of issues. But we as Americans cannot stand by while this administration blatantly misstates the facts to make seniors believe that their Social Security checks are in jeopardy. I find this outrageous. Leon Panetta himself back in 1993. believe it or not. said it is important to tie the debt limit to other disciplines people would like to put in place. Maybe he forgot about saying that. but I bet Leon did not forget about voting "no" against debt limit increases two times back there because it did not have anything tied to it. These comments are ridiculous. I urge my colleagues to pass this bill. not only to reassure our seniors but to prevent the President from playing the scare game once again. The purpose of this bill is to ensure that seniors continue. as they have for the past 55 years. to receive their checks without fail. This will be another Republican promise that will not be broken. which is more than the President can say.
Date: 1996-03-07
Speaker: DANIEL BUCK (republican)
Chamber: H

Office of the Honorable Patricia Schroeder. Rayburn Building. Washington. DC. DEAR MR. BUCK: The enclosed information may be helpful in answering the question of Revolutionary War soldiers buried at West Point. A news release from the Information Office of the United States Military Academy In 1968. mentions the relocation of graves of soldiers to the cemetery during the 1800s. The grave of Ensign Dominick Trant is identified as the oldest grave in the cemetery. A. listing copied from a Walking Tour of the West Point Cemetery identifies Trant as a member of the 9th Massachusetts Regiment. Molly Corbins remains were disinterred from the Old Cemetery at Highlands Falls in 1926. and reburied at the West Point Cemetery. Please do not hesitate to contact the Library if the enclosed material does not sufficiently answer your question. Sincerely.
Date: 1996-03-12
Speaker: LINDSEY GRAHAM (republican)
Chamber: H

and perhaps the gentleman from Connecticut. Mr. CHRIS SHAYS. is going to join us as well. I am not sure. We want to talk a little about some of the budget numbers. where we have come from. what it is going to take. the kind of discipline. Again. I restate. if you always do what you have always done. you will always get what you have always got. Unfortunately. where we are today is at least some of the people in this Capital City want to continue to do what we have always done. That is. "Well. we will continue to spend normally. but manana. or next year. or 5 years down the road. then we are going to start to really get serious." As somebody said the other day. it is a little like saying you are going to lose 20 pounds by the end of the month. but you are going to gain 5 pounds during the first 2 weeks. and you really will not get started on it until the last 3 days. That is sort of the way Washington sort of looks at balancing the budget. We have said that is not acceptable. Mr. Speaker. I yield to my good friend. the gentleman from South Carolina .
Date: 1996-03-14
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. on March 12. 1996. I was unavoidably detained from the House floor due to election in the State of Texas. HadI been present. I would have voted on the following: On rollcall vote No. 56. "aye". on rollcall vote No. 57. "aye". on rollcall vote No. 58. "aye". and on rollcall vote No. 59. "aye."
Date: 1996-03-19
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. today the President is going to release his budget. Unfortunately. his view of America is more taxes. more spending. and more government. This is a fact. it is not partisan rhetoric. and we should not be surprised. In the past 3 years President Clinton has passed the largest tax increase in history. vetoed welfare reform. not once. but twice. vetoed tax benefits for families and businesses. vetoed the first balanced budget in 26 years. and allowed Medicare to go bankrupt. Now he simply wants $8 billion more in new spending this year and a 4percent increase in spending next year. all this despite his rhetoric that the era of big government is over. This President has proven he cannot manage his own bureaucracy. He has shown by his actions he is not ready to give the people of this country the ability to achieve their own American dream.
Date: 1996-03-19
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. as my colleagues know. I think it is time we took a look at this thing. The purpose of the Social Security Administration is to provide benefits to seniors. not to police the borders. This card that we are talking about here costs about $10.54 to make. A card like my colleagues are talking about. if it is like a passport. Is $60. Taxpayers pay for a passport. They do not pay for this except through payroll tax deductions. Let me just read for my colleagues what the Social Security Administration says this is today. The current Social Security card is already counterfeit resistant. contains most of the features that have been incorporated in the newly redesigned $100 bill. such as small disks that can be seen with the eye. cannot be reproduced by color photographs. In addition. the current card is printed on banknotequality card paper that has blue marbleized background with raised printing that can be felt by running ones fingers across the card. It seems to me that maybe we are not looking at the Social Security cards when we hire people or when we ask people. "Are you a legal immigrant?" Now I think it is time that we got down to brass tacks and said Americans do not want. do not need. and do not deserve a Federal identification card.
Date: 1996-03-20
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. today the Committee on Ways and Means is in hearings to begin the process of replacing our current tax system. I applaud the gentleman from Texas . the chairman. for addressing this issue head on. He said that we have got to pull the IRS out by the roots. We can no longer support a tax system that places enormous burdens on our families. businesses. and the future of this country. Mr. Speaker. America deserves better. We deserve a new tax system that will reduce the role of the Federal Government and get the IRS out of our lives. It must be a system that promotes economic growth. savings. and investment. It must be simple and. most importantly. it has to be fair. I believe that. guided by these principles. we can develop an entirely new tax system that will unleash the tremendous pentup potential of this countrys greatest resource. its people. and get rid of the IRS.
Date: 1996-03-27
Speaker: MARY CAMPBELL (republican)
Chamber: H

OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD Prior to the November 1. 1995. House vote on the bill. Planned Parenthood circulated to lawmakers a "fact sheet" titled. "H.R. 1833. Medical Questions and Answers." which includes this statement: "Q: When does the fetus die? "A: The fetus dies of an overdose of anesthesia given to the mother intravenously. A dose is calculated for the mothers weight which is 50 to 100 times the weight of the fetus. The mother gets the anesthesia for each insertion of the dilators. twice a day. This induces brain death in a fetus in a matter of minutes. Fetal demise therefore occurs at the beginning of the procedure while the fetus is still in the womb."
Date: 1996-03-27
Speaker: MARY CAMPBELL (republican)
Chamber: H

OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD Prior to the November 1. 1995. House vote on the bill. Planned Parenthood circulated to lawmakers a "fact sheet" titled. "H.R. 1833. Medical Questions and Answers." which Includes this statement: "Q: When does the fetus die? "A: The fetus dies of an overdose of anesthesia given to the mother intravenously. A dose is calculated for the mothers weight which is 50 to 100 times the weight of the fetus. The mother gets the anesthesia for each insertion of the dilators. twice aday. This induces brain death in a fetus in a matter of minutes. Fetal demise therefore occurs at the beginning of the procedure while the fetus is still in the womb."
Date: 1996-03-28
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. it has been 5 years since the gulf war. and we have done nothing to end our dependence on oil. foreign oil. Today the United States imports more than 50 percent of its oil from foreign countries. not because we want to. but because our laws have forced us to. When we mandate that all companies have tget 1.000 permits and regulations to drill just 6ne well. anytime we increase the regulatory cost by $37 billion. when we close off their access to oilrich land and when we support a destructive tax code that contains provisions like the alternative minimum tax. we are just asking for lost jobs and foreign dependence. Is it any wonder our oil companies have lost over 500.000 jobs since 1972. closed half of their refineries and moved to Vietnam. China. and Russia? Mr. Speaker. we must change the rules.to allow our oil Industry to flourish. create jobs and provide a strong and secure America for us and our children.
Date: 1996-03-28
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. medical savings accounts are for middleincome America. There is a chart that proves it. Medical savings accounts. therefore. must be part of any health care plan we pass. They are an important option for both employers and employees. They give enhanced portability. preserve consumer choice. allow retirement savings and contain costs. Medical savings accounts offer all Americans the opportunity to buy a plan that best meets their individual needs. Mr. Speaker. middleincome Americans are my constituents. They repeatedly tell me that one of the most important things that they want is tho ability to choose their own doctor. Medical savings accounts do that. They will allow people to achieve control over their own health care dollars. make it more costconscious and bring down the total cost of medical costs for everyone. Medical savings accounts are good for America. Medical savings accounts offer Americans a freedom they deserve.
Date: 1996-04-16
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I too would like to commend the gentlewoman from Connecticut. NANCY JOHNSON. and the gentleman from California. Mr. MATSUI. for doing a good job and for getting this bill back to the floor. this bill of rights back to the floor for a second time. As you know. the President vetoed it back in December. along with a bunch of other stuff. But this bill is important because the powers of the IRS to investigate and examine taxpayers are greater than any .other Government agency. They are intrusive. They are into our lives. and it seems that the constitutional rights of taxpayers are always trampled upon but nothing is ever done. This bill makes important commonsense changes to current law that will strengthen the rights of American taxpayers. It establishes a taxpayer advocate to prevent the IRS from treating taxpayers like second class citizens. It increases the amount people may sue the IRS from $100.000 to $1 million. And for the first time. it allows the Federal courts to determined IRS failure and abuse of discretion. While this bill makes important progress to rein in the IRS and its 115.000 IRS agents. I believe America is demanding that the entire system should be replaced. and I think we must insist that any new system must empower individuals and not the Government. provide opportunities. not dead ends. and. most importantly. it must offer the hardworking people of this country the freedom to achieve the American dream. I commend the gentlewoman again for bringing this bill to the floor again. and I hope we can get it through in good shape this time.
Date: 1996-04-17
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. our current Tax Code has undergone 31 major revisions and 400 minor revisions over the past 40 years. It has grown from 11.000 words to over 7 million words. The IRS now prints about 480 different tax forms for Americans to fill out. But taxpayers shouldnt fear because the IRS will send you an additional 280 forms to explain how to fill out the first 480. Doesnt that sound simple? All this complex nonsense costs Americans about 5.4 billion hours and $200 billion a year. Is it any wonder that Americans are frustrated. angry. and just plain fed up with our current tax system. Its time to replace it. Join me in repealing the 16th amendment. We must get rid of the IRS. This country and her citizens deserve no less.
Date: 1996-04-23
Speaker: DON YOUNG (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Alaska

Mr. Speaker. H.R. 2679. introduced by our colleague from Nebraska. BILL BARRETT. will remove about 2.470 acres of land from the North Platte National Wildlife Refuge. This legislation is a direct result of a report issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that recommended that these lands be divested from the refuge because they provide "nothing significant toward the refuge or the National Refuge System purposes and goals." While these lands may have limited value within the refuge unit. they offer recreational opportunities to thousands of our citizens who enjoy boating. fishing. sightseeing. and swimming in Nebraska. Under the terms of this legislation. which is strongly supported by the De"partment of the Interior. these lands would be removed from the refuge and they will be managed by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission through a lease from the Bureau of Reclamation. While title to these lands would remain with the Federal Government. this measure is beneficial to the Refuge System and the thousands of Americans who will enjoy utilizing Lake Minatare in the future. I urge an "aye" vote on H.R. 2679 and I compliment BILL BARRrr for his outstanding leadership on behalf of his constituents and this legislation.
Date: 1996-05-07
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. in 1993 President Clinton passed the largest tax increase in history. and then later reversed himself in Texas when he commented that he raised taxes too much. He said he was for a tax cut. but he vetoed tax cuts. just one right after the other: A child tax credit relief. capital gains relief. a marriage penalty relief. and many more. Tomorrow we are going to bring a $5.000 adoption tax credit up to be debated again for a second time. and once again the President has reversed himself. He says he likes the idea. We must continue to fight for tax cuts that help American families and children. As my colleagues know. Americans want and even deserve a break from high taxes and not just when it is in the Presidents best political interest.
Date: 1996-05-22
Speaker: PAT ROBERTS (republican)
Chamber: H

for his work on the work opportunity tax credit. and also my friend the gentleman from New York. Mr. CHARLIE RANGEL. over here. This is a plain sense bill. It is part of the tax package. I would like to focus just the few seconds I have on the work opportunity tax credit. This is something. really. which makes sense. not only for the people who are to be hired. but also for the businesses. For the businesses. what it does is help those businesses that are going to be having an increase in the minimum wage to absorb the cost. As a matter of fact. if you hire an individual. the arithmetic works out that you. in terms of the total 2year period which you will be hiring this individual and having him work in your establishment. that the cost will be less than the minimum wage is now because of the incentive which the Government gives. So it is a real incentive for businesses. On the other hand. of course. what it does is take those needy people. who are working off welfare or getting off of food stamps or getting off a whole variety of things. to come into the work force. Now. this is not a perfect bill. and with any bill like this. it will be changed and adopted over the years. But it makes a great deal of sense. So. Mr. Speaker. with the minimum wage. combined with the work opportunity tax credit. I think we have a winnable combination. I thank you very much for letting me express myself.
Date: 1996-05-23
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of the point of order. I remind r.ry colleagues that 1 yeal" ago we did vote overwhelmingly to uphold it. and it is not just the fact we are losing dollars for the States and cities. it is a vote to place a massive $12.3 billion unfunded Government mandate on private business as well. It is a vote to destroy 623.000 jobs. And those jobs are jobs that parttime workers. teenagers. welfare recipients. in spite of what my colleague says. and unskilled %orkers. will never have. Those are the people we ought to be creating jobs for. We cught to be eliminating the costly mandates that we here in Washington shove down the throats of our taxpayers. This wage increase is bad economics. bad policy. and bad for the American worker. I ask the Congress not to do what is easy but do what is right for America: Vote "no" on this. Americans do not want. do not need. and do not deserve unfunded mandates.
Date: 1996-06-26
Speaker: NEWT GINGRICH (republican)
Chamber: H

while as a Member of this body ran this very political Republican organization. Where did he get his money? Well. he got a lot of it from taxexempt organizations. six of them. which he set up. which he ran. They got donations from the public to go to help children. to help college courses. to help learning disabled. and what did he use it for? He used it to elect the Republicans. That is what the Speaker did. It is pure fraud. And what is being done about it? Nothing. The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct has permitted the special counsel to look into two of those. but not the other four. Why not? It is a coverup. folks. They are taking care of the Speaker. They do not want the American public to know that the Speaker used taxexempt organizations. defrauded the people who sent the money down there. They thought it and paid for with charitable funds apparently focused on Gingrichs reelection chances and was written. on the Marietta Congressmans campaign stationery. VOTE TODAY TO HELP THE Madam Speaker. that is simply DISABLED AND THE ELDERLY wrong.
Date: 1996-06-26
Speaker: LINDA J. MORGAN (republican)
Chamber: H

Chairman. Surface Transportation Board. Washington. DC. DEAR CHAIRMAN MORGAN: I am writing regarding the proposed Union Pacific (UP) and Southern Pacific (SP) merger.
Date: 1996-06-27
Speaker: CRAIG SWNART (republican)
Chamber: S

(Volunteer Instructor). Very good. You squeezed that off real nice. Lets do it again. MITCHELL. They say good. clean fun. But should taxpayers foot the bill. permit the . Army to give the surplus guns away?