macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-09-23
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. the financial crisis on Wall Street did not happen overnight. For 8 years. this Bush administration refused to regulate the very financial institutions that they are now asking American taxpayers to bail out. Congressional Democrats want to work in a bipartisan fashion to clean up this mess and to insulate Main Street from Wall Street. We will not be pressured into approving a $700 billion blank check for Wall Street that does not include any safeguards or any independent oversight. We simply cannot hand over $700 billion of the American taxpayers money to the Department of Treasury and hope for the best. Any bailout package needs to ensure that the actions of the administration are being watched by an independent observer who can report back to both Congress and the American taxpayer. We also need to include some protections for homeowners who are in danger of losing their homes and some reasonable limits to the executive compensation for CEOs and top executives. House Democrats will work in a bipartisan fashion to improve the economic recovery package.
Date: 2008-09-23
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. I want to thank Mrs. MALONEY of New York for coming up with this. for working with so many of us. because we have heard from so many of the people we represent asking for just some better and fairer types of practices for credit cards. I rise today as a cosponsor of this bill. While the economic crisis on Wall Street is on the front page of every newspaper. many American families are actually dealing with their own crisis at home. and that is this crisis of how they get credit and how they man- age credit. Credit card debt in the United States has reached a record high. nearly $1 trillion. and unfortunately. many Americans are subjected to these excessive credit card fees and unfair interest rate increases with no warning. among other misleading and questionable tactics. This legislation today would end practices that would require credit card companies to provide 45 days notice before interest rate increases. and mailing billing statements 25 calendar days before the due date. instead of only 14. In addition. this bill would prohibit double cycling billing so that companies cannot charge consumers interest on debt that they actually have already paid on time. This legislation provides consumers with needed protections. while allowing credit card companies to balance the financial risk of the consumers they lend to. I think thats whatsimportant. that the credit card companies also have to take responsibility for the type of credit risk that theyre taking an. Were talking so much today about credit risks. Well. this is one of the areas that is incredibly important. This has been going on for too long. Credit card companies just give credit to anybody. and theyre really not taking the responsibility of what type of risk is there. We have to protect the access to credit. but we also have to take into account and protect Americans against some of these bad practices.
Date: 2008-09-23
Speaker: HERSETH SANDLIN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. the House is considering today the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights. I believe it is critically important to ensure fairness and transparency for consumers engaged in credit card transactions. and I support many of the commonsense provisions included in this bill designed to prevent unfair and deceptive practices. However. while ensuring basic consumer protections. we should also consider the full implications of potential new regulation for consumers. I have joined with the other members of the South Dakota delegation in expressing our concerns on this subject to the regulatory agencies that are already fully engaged in crafting new credit card regulations addressing many of the same issues addressed in this legislation. We are concerned that. if enacted. this legislation would prohibit issuers of nonprime credit cards from charging deposits or fees to the card for the issuance of credit. Although well intentioned. this provision could have the unintended consequence of unnecessarily limiting credit for many of the more than 70 million consumers who are considered nonprime. and for whom subprime credit cards may be the only available source of credit. In a time of economic instability and decreasing credit availability. it is essential to consider the full potential impact of limiting access to credit. Furthermore. the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and other agencies with significant expertise ip this area are already working to implement new credit card regulations targeting many of the same practices this legislation seeks to address. These regulations are expected to be finalized before the end of this year and will reflect over 50.000 comment letters received by these agencies from consumers and representatives of the financial service industry. It should also be recognized that many issuers of credit cards have already initiated good faith steps to impose greater fairness. transparency and consumer protections in their industry. For these reasons. while I fully support the goal of ensuring fairness in the credit card industry and protecting consumers from unfair and deceptive practices. I cannot support todays bill. whtch I believe should be improved before being passed by the House. As the legislative and regulatory processes progress. I will continue to work to ensure Congress fully considers the potential effect of these provisions on millions of consumers.
Date: 2008-09-23
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I am proud to stand. as an original sponsor. in strong support of the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights Act of 2008. a bill to prohibit creditors from using adverse information about a consumer or his credit as the basis for increasing his interest rate or fees. Even in the best economic times. unexpected credit card fees can make it difficult for many strapped consumers to stay afloat. In the worst of times. these fees can push them over the edge into bankruptcy. For Americans struggling to keep pace with rising food costs and falling home values. this legislation equips consumers with significant new powers to help protect them from punitive credit card rate charges and fees. The bill requires advance notice of credit card account rate increases and prohibits companies from imposing interest on credit repaid within the interestfree repayment time period. The bill authorizes a consumer who receives a notice about a rate change to cancel the credit card without penalty or the imposition of any fee and allows consumers to pay any outstanding balance that accrued before the effective date. of the rate increase. The bill also authorizes a consumer to optout of overthelimit fee programs and imposes restrictions on the frequency of overthelimit fees. Madam Speaker. this important bill comes before this House at an important time for American consumers. Our constituents need these protections. I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this bill.
Date: 2008-09-23
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I rise in very strong support of this legislation. It is an important piece of legislation. It does some very important things for families and individuals. with mental health problems. H.R. 6983 amends the Employer Retirement Income Security Act to prohibit employers and group health plans from imposing mental health or substance abuse treatment limitations. financial requirements or outofnetwork coverage limitations. unless comparable limitation requirements are imposed upon medical surgical benefits. Under this provision. if a mental health plan permits individuals to go to an emergency room for a medical condition without prior authorization or an outofnetwork hospital or treatment center at innetwork rates for a medical condition. then the plan must apply the same rules to an individual suffering from mental illness or substance abuse. However. if a group plan does offer mental health or substance abuse benefits. there must be equity between the mental health or substance abuse coverage and all comparable medical and surgical benefits in the plan. Nothing in H.R. 6983 is intended to preempt the stronger State mental health and substance abuse parity laws. Having said that. I want to pay tribute to two of our colleagues. JIM RAMSTAD. who has been tireless in his effort to see this measure become law. and hopefully with our ajtions today it will be on its way to the Presidents desk and become law. I just want to thank you on behalf of so mapy families. not just my constituents who have mental health illness problems in their families. but so many families in America and individuals. for your work on this legislation. And to PATRICK KENNEDY. our colleague who again has just done a remarkable job of rounding up support and votes for this legislation and getting to people to explain it to them. to get them to understand it and appreciate the problems that these families have when they try to get services from the insurance plans. from their health networks. and the barriers that are erected in front of them. Hopefully this legislation will do what it is supposed to do to make sure that they can get treatment. they can get care. and they dont have to run all of the gauntlet that they today encounter with those barriers. So to Congressman RAMSTAD. thank you so very much for all of your work. and to PATRICK KENNEDY. thank you so very. very much for all of your advocacy on this legislation. fl 1415
Date: 2008-09-23
Speaker: PATRICK J. MURPHY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Penn

sylvania. I thank the gentleman from New Jersey. and I urge my colleagues to vote in 9upport of this bill.
Date: 2008-09-23
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of this long overdue bipartisan legislation. and I want to commend and thank
Date: 2008-09-23
Speaker: FRANK PALLONE (democrat)
Chamber: H

from New Jersey. for his good work in this important legislation that we are going to vote on. This effort is really a culmination of a lot of peoples hopes. desires and dreams to further advance the medical science that has taken place in recent decades on organ transplants. As a founder and the cochair of the Congressional Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Caucus. I am very pleased to support this measure before
Date: 2008-09-23
Speaker: HERSETH SANDLIN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of H.R. 4544. the "Code Talker Recognition Act." As a cosponsor of H.R. 4544. I would like to thank Representative BOREN for introducing this important bill to honor our nations Native American Code Talkersincluding code talkers from South Dakotas Sioux tribeswith this long overdue recognition. South Dakota is home to the last living Lakota code talkerClarence Wolf Guts. Clarence. who is an 84yearold Lakota warrior from the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. was the personal code talker for Major General Paul Mueller. commander of the U.S. Armys 81st Infantry. He traveled with Gen. Mueller and the 81st as the division moved from island to island during the fight against the Japanese during World War I1. I am privileged to have this opportunity to thank Clarence for his service during World War II and to honor all of our Nations code talkerswhose efforts prevented the enemy from intercepting vital communicationssaving the lives of countless American members of the Armed Forces. Again. I would like to thank Representtive BOREN for his leadership and to thank our Nations code talkers. who serve as an inspiration for all Americans to emulate.
Date: 2008-09-24
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker and Members. I want to use my 1 minute today to talk about the disaster from Hurricane Ike in the district I represent. These two pictures behind me are two separate homes that were hit by the wave action. the storm surge. You can see. this houseis totally destroyed. and in this home. literally the waves went right through the home. knocked down the brick and everything else. That is not counting the thousands of homes and businesses and even industry that the power is out. Certain zip codes are more than 50 percent out of power.. and when you have a Houston September. which is really summertime. I have folks living outside their homes literally for the last 10 days. Mr. Speaker. the supplemental today for the CR is something that is so important to my area and all of Southeast Texas. I want to thank both the Speaker and Chairman OBEY and my colleagues for helping work on funding for that for the initial disaster assistance. $22 billion for disaster relief activities. including $6.5 billion for CDBG funding and $8 billion for FEMA assistance. which is just the down payment. You have the fourth largest city in the country. Southeast Texas is devastated. To get that community back up. we need the assistance. Just like we helped California with the fires and the earthquakes. the floods in the Midwest and everywhere else. our community needs that help too. and I want to thank the leadership for doing it. These two homes are in Baytown. Texas. in East Harris County. that I share with Congressman TED POE. This is actually in our district that I saw Monday morning with the mayor. Steve DonCarlos. and a city council member. You can see what just the storm surge did. Just think about what hurricane force winds did to peoples homes. We are a Pine trees area. so we have a lot of those trees that have fallen on houses and powerlines.
Date: 2008-09-24
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker.- I rise today to express my support for the HouseSenate compromise language for the FY09 National Defense Authorization Act. I am happy that the House and Senate were able to come to an agreement to provide critical support to our Armed Forces. I am particularly pleased that a number of provisions that I advocated for are in this final language. These provisions include the establishment of a Sexual Assault Database to provide a centralized. caselevel database of information about sexual assaults that involve service members. I am also proud that my colleagues supported my efforts to require the Department of Defense to conduct a study of its bandwidth needs in the near and long term. Ensuring adequate bandwidth is essential to the militarys ongoing readiness. This bill takes critical steps to restore the readiness of our Armed Forces by providing an equipment reset of $8.6 billion for the Army and $1.8 billion for the Marine Corps. It also ensures full utilization of our depots in the future. There are also a number of provisions to protect our service members in the battlefield. These include $1.7 billion for MRAP vehicles for our troops overseas and authority for the Department of Defense to conduct oversight and testing of personnel protective equipment. In addition. this bill prohibits increased premiums and copays for TRICARE recipients and provides tuition assistance and training for military spouses. This bill also establishes a task force on suicide prevention and authorizes $3.2 billion to expand quality family housing. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation and I urge the other body to move quickly to pass this compromise language that will continue to prepare. support and protect our Armed Forces. Thank you and I yield back.
Date: 2008-09-24
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

I encourage all of my colleagues to support this important legislation. You dont want to go back to your district and tell your constituents that you voted against energy efficient transportation and valid railroad safety. Vote "yes." and we will move our Nations rail system into the 21st century.
Date: 2008-09-25
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. I rise today to bring urgent attention to the deteriorating human rights conditions in the country of Vietnam. Most recently. Vietnamese students and bloggers have been harassed and detained for peacefully voicing their concerns about the Vietnamese governments policies. It is becoming increasingly evident that the Government of Vietnam is not living up to its commitment to honor and to protect human rights. This month. over 3.000 Vietnamese Catholics were harassed by Hanois police with tear gas. electric batons and other repressive measures while attending a peaceful Thai Ha prayer vigil. We are continuing to see more and more activists being detained and imprisoned for exercising their freedom of speech. religion and expression. rights that are guaranteed under the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights. D Printed on recycled paper. This week. I. along with six other Members. sent a letter to President Nguyen Minh Triet to express outrage over Vietnams ongoing human rights violations. and to urge the Government of Vietnam to stop using violence against its own people. I encourage my colleagues to continue addressing this serious issue and speaking out for those in Vietnam who are putting their lives in danger in the name of freedom.
Date: 2008-09-25
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. there is a reason that the American people are demanding real change this year. Nearly 8 years ago. this administration inherited a Nation that was well respected abroad. fiscally sound and economically stable. Today. thanks to misguided policies and arrogance. President Bush has left our Nations security in a more precarious and dangerous position. On the budget front. President Bush and congressional Republicans have turned a projected 10year budget surplus of $5.6 trillion into a projected 10year deficit of $3.4 trillion. On the economic side. home foreclosures are at record highs. wages are stagnant. More than 600.000 jobs have been lost. this year alone. and Wall Street is in crisis thanks to this administration looking the other way for 8 years. The administration is now looking for a $700 billion recovery package with absolutely no strings ttached. While they are trying to recast themselves as the agents of change. we know better. They have built a record of failure over the last 8 years. and America cannot afford more of the same.
Date: 2008-09-25
Speaker: LORETTA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 6045. the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 2008. Bulletproof vests and body armor have saved thousands of law enforcement officers since the introduction and improvement of bulletproof material. The Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program provides our brave law enforcement officers with the vital equipment they need to save lives in the line of fire. This grant program was created In 1999 by the Department of Justice to provide protection to state. local and tribal law enforcement officers by assisting officers in purchasing the protective equipment they need. Since its inception. the grant program has purchased more than 1.5 million bulletproof vests for over 40.000 jurisdictions in the United States. In 2007 alone. the program provided $28.6 million to state and. local law enforcement agencies across America and purchased over 180.000 new bulletproof vests. In my district. this grant program has awarded more than $45.000 to law enforcement officials in the cities of Anaheim and Santa Ana. As a result. these cities were able to purchase more than 400 vests for their officers. I am pleased that the House of Representatives is acting to reauthorize the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program for another three years. Brave law enforcement officers risk their lives on a daily basis to protect our communities. and this grant program ensures that their communities can help protect them.
Date: 2008-09-25
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress that the President should grant a posthumous pardon to John Arthur "Jack" Johnson for the 1913 racially motivated conviction of Johnson. which diminished his athletic. cultural. and historic significance. and tarnished his reputation.
Date: 2008-09-25
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
Date: 2008-09-25
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of this resolution expressing the sense of Congress that the President should grant a posthumous pardon to John Arthur "Jack" Johnson for the 1913 racially motivated conviction of Mr. Johnson. which diminished his athletic. cultural and historic significance and tarnished his reputation. More importantly. Mr. Speaker. adoption of this resolution and granting of this posthumous pardon by the President would remove a nearly centuryold stain from the reputation of this Nation. Although the harm inflicted on Mr. Johnson can never be undone. it is nevertheless important that we set the record straight and acknowledge that he was wrongfully convicted in a disgraceful climate of racial hatred. John Arthur "Jack" Johnson was a flamboyant. defiant and controversial figure in American history who challenged racial biases. The son of former slaves. Jack Johnson was a professional boxer who traveled throughout the United States and the world. fighting both black and white heavyweight boxers. He was without question one of the greatest boxers this Nation has ever produced. The resentment felt towards Mr. Johnson by many whites was not limited to his successes in the ring. It was compounded by his relationship with white women. an issue which aroused not just anger. but brutal violence. Be- tween 1901 and 1910. 754 African Americans were lynched. some simply for being perceived as "too familiar" with white women. In 1912. Jack Johnson was arrested by United States marshals and charged with transporting his future wife. Lucille Cameron. across State lines for an "immoral purpose" in violation of the Mann Act. Ms. Cameron refused to cooperate with the authorities. the charges were dropped. and she later married the champion. Federal authorities continued to pursue Jack Johnson and subsequently sought to prosecute him based on charges of "prostitution and debauchery." This time they were able to obtain a conviction. and Mr. Johnson was forced to flee the country. He returned to the United States in July 1920. surrendered to the authorities. and served nearly 1 year in the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth. Kansas. Jack Johnson fought boxing matches after his release from prison. but never regained the heavyweight championship title. Although this Nation failed him. Jack Johnson remained a patriotic American. He supported this Nation during World War II by encouraging citizens to buy war bonds and by participating in exhibition boxing matches to promote the sale of war bonds. He died in 1946. In 1954. Jack Johnson was finally inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame. a fitting recognition of the outstanding accomplishments of this great sportsman. It is time that we also recognize the wrong that was done and do what is in our power to make amends for this wrongful conviction. which destroyed a great boxing career. but not a courageous and indomitable sportsman. I urge my colleagues to support the measure. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2008-09-25
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I urge adoption of this measure. I appreciate Mr. CANNONS comments. and yield back the balance of my time.