macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-07-10
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank the gentleman from Michigan. and I thank this House. I am reminded of the Declaration of Independence that calls upon this great Nation to pursue life and liberty with certain inalienable rights. as I paraphrase it. I dont know what the answer is to my friends on the other side. I dont know what the answer is to those who are languishing in the State of Texas when we have our Governor rejecting Medicaid and politicizing it by. in factin the ObamaCare plan the Federal Government sought to force the States to expand Medicaid. He says. in repeating. that the gun to our heads has been removedcertainly. a personal statement by this Governor. I asked him whether or not he has asked 357.000 young people in the State of Texas. who actually are on insurance plans because of this bill. I wonder. has he asked the 3 million children that have benefited in the State of Texas since 2010. boys and girls like these little ones who are seeing doctors now for the first time. What next. is the question. Maybe this little one. who needs to have doctors appointments. I would like to know. has he responded to the fact that our plan. the Affordable Care Act. reduces the deficit by $143 billion. Has he responded to the fact that 5.3 million seniors have saved $3.7 billion in part D. or does he realize that health care costs have been halved to 3.9 percent now after this legislation was passed. the Affordable Care Act. because before it was 6 percent and over. I call ObamaCare LeRoy care. Maria care. senior citizens sick care. nursing home care. Thats what it is. Does he realize that the American Cancer Society said this organization was looking at the ruling on Medicaid and is concerned that the decision may limit the expansion of quality coverage to some of our Nations most vulnerable citizens. That is what the Governor of the State of Texas has done and many others.
Date: 2012-07-10
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank the gentlelady from New York for her distinguished commitment and service to small businesses across America. Mr. Speaker. just a few minutes ago. a colleague rose to the floor and called this "socialism." It is not. Many have risen to the floor to talk about how this will impact negatively on small business. It will not. I rise enthusiastically to oppose what is a political legislative actthe repeal of ObamaCare. It is really the Affordable Care Act by the statement of the United States Supreme Court. The statement of Justice Roberts. of which I read. indicates that. beginning in 2014. those who do not comply with the mandate must make a shared responsibility payment to the Federal Government. That is what this is aboutsharing and bringing about health care costs that will go down. not up. To my small businesses. let me say how much we care for you. I have supported small businesses throughout my public life and before. and I would argue vigorously that this helps to ensure that you can keep employees and add employees. In fact. between 2010 and 2011. health care costs dropped to 3.9 percent when it was above 6 percentalmost one half less than before the Affordable Care Act was passed. This. frankly. exempts all businesses fewer than 50 employees. That means some 96 percent of American small businesses will not even be impacted. For those that are. this legislation will provide $40 billion in tax credits for small businesses to offer health care. Now. in 2011. 360.000 small businesses have benefited from the health care tax credit2 million workers. As well. you will be able to ensure with your health insurance that 85 percent of your premiums will go toward health claims and improvement activities. not to advertisement. It entails that if an insurance company pays $70 for every insurance claim and qualityimprovement activity. you will get rebates. $127 million in total rebates in the individual market. and $1.3 billion. Mr. Speaker. to consumers and businesses. The fact is this is the right thing to do. Support ObamaCare. Oppose the repeal. This is good for business.
Date: 2012-07-10
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. we have just finished part of the debate for legislation that wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act. I rise today as we conclude and begin to look toward the conclusion of the debate tomorrow to make a public appeal. When the 1965 Medicare law was written. it was written to save lives. We have statistics that recognize that prior to Medicare. Americans were living 60 years and under. It is well documented that weve extended the lives of senior citizens through Medicare. Now the Affordable Care Act seeks to extend the lives of the sickest of the sick. to extend the lives of children with preexisting diseases. to extend the lives of individuals who would not have access to insurance. or those families who have been thrown into poverty because of catastrophic illnesses or an accident. We can do better. This bill is a promise of allowing and providing for all Americans to be insured. This bill cries out for Republicans and Democrats to work together. This bill cries out for saving the lives of Americans who have been falling along the highway of despair and dying. It is important for us to look for the common and better good. the public good. Save this bill. Vote against the repeal.
Date: 2012-07-11
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. by refusing to expand Medicaid to cover millions of sick. lowincome adults. Texas Governor Rick Perry has joined the growing list of Republican Governors who have decided to put partisan politics before the health of their residents. 6.2 million Texans. including 1.2 million children. lack health insurance. the highest number of any State in the Nation. Medicaid expansion would drastically decrease Texas uninsured rate from an astonishing 25 percent to just 9 percent. Without the Affordable Care Act. millions of uninsured Americans will continue to seek primary care in our Nations overcrowded emergency rooms. leaving taxpayers. property owners. to foot the bill. As a nonpracticing registered nurse. I am all too familiar with this scenario. which has placed a tremendous burden on our Nations hospital systems. Madam Speaker. the highest court in the Nation has spoken. and its time for us to move forward for the American people.
Date: 2012-07-11
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. I rise today to urge my Republican colleagues to move beyond the attacks on health care for Americans and to move forward by getting our country back to work. The majority thinks that its a badge of honor to claim that it will have had 31 votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act. I completely disagree. They will have voted 31 times to strip patients of basic protections. They will have voted 31 times to reverse the progress made by the Affordable Care Act. including protecting up to 17 million children who now have coverage even if they have preexisting conditions. In fact. the 31st vote that we will take is nothing more than a reaction to Chief Justice John Roberts opinion that the law is constitutional. Yet the GOP continues to dispute this. Lets move on. If they were serious. they would have presented us with a plan 31 votes ago to help us fix any flaws that this law may have. So I plead for the 31st time: lets get back to work.
Date: 2012-07-11
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I rise today to congratulate our hometown university. Rice University. for their 100year celebrationa university known for advancing education in the arts. humanities. and sciences. It is a leading university. and it has been ranked among the top 20 universities in the United States by the U.S. News & World Report every year since the rankings began in 1983. As a former member of the House Science Committee. I am reminded of their great work in nanotechnology. space. cellular technology. bioinformation in energy and health. and their collaboration with the Johnson Space Center. I am also delighted that they have decided in years past to eliminate the bar against African American students and to open the opportunities of a grand education to Latinos and African Americans and to young people who have a last name such as Qadeer. They have a bright light in Dr. Roland Smith. who has led the effort in diversifying their campus. and I was delighted to go and join them in honoring the Honorable Barbara Jordan. one of my predecessors in the 18th Congressional District. They. of course. have a group of astute athletes who have made them proud. and they represent the diversity of America. It is great to congratulate a university that understands its brilliance and its necessity in teaching the next generation of scientists. thinkers and humanitarians. and to also be called an excellent university. Congratulations. Rice University. for your 100th year. for your service to this Nation. and for your reflection of the diversity of this great country. [- 1230
Date: 2012-07-11
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. the House farm bill calls for draconian cuts that hurt our most vulnerable Americans. Ill be blunt and just get straight to the point. The Houseproposed cuts are completely unacceptable.
Date: 2012-07-11
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank the gentleman. Frankly. I would say to my good friend on the other side of the aisle that there probably could be. in many instances. common ground about the exporting of mineral exploration. Many of us would look to this as a positive strategy for creating jobs. I think it is important to say to my friends that. in fact. this bill is not even coming to the floor of the House today. It is not even going to be debated today. So that is one fracture. if we talk about creating jobs. But another fracture is. of course. that we are substituting this legislationthat might. if it was bipartisan. be able to move forward on creating jobsfor wasting time and casting votes and debating on the Affordable Care Act. an act that has already proven that it has saved lives. provided coverage for small businesses. exempted businesses under 50 persons. allowing them to have insurance. closed the doughnut hole on the prescription drug benefit. and saved billions of dollars. Here in this legislation. of course. one of the challenges that I have is that even though one would call this a bureaucracy. in actuality it is expediting and overlooking the National Environmental Policy Act. and therefore expediting necessary environmental review. It is being called an "infrastructure project" for purposes of the executive order entitled Improving Performance of Federal Permitting that was designed to reduce permitting time. But more importantly. there are environmental impacts that should be considered. There is no opposition to creating jobs. There is no opposition to the value of our minerals. But I do believe there is opposition to expediting the process and excluding an environmental review and. more importantly. limiting this debatethat might create jobs. might have opportunities for more amendments. might have more time on the floorby what were going to do today. which is frivolity. again. for those of us who believe that we can come together in a bipartisan way to work on the underlying premise of the Affordable Care Act of saving lives. expanding opportunities. and adhering to the Supreme Courts decision that this is the right law of the land that works for all people. Id ask my colleagues on the underlying rule to oppose it. and maybe we can get down to the work of the people of the United States of America.
Date: 2012-07-11
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentleman for yielding. As has been said. for the 31st time in this Congress the House Republicans are trying to put insurance companies back in charge of Americas health care. The House Republicans are preoccupied with taking away the patient protections while theyre keeping their own protections. I recently got a letter from a woman named Annie who lives in East Bay of the San Francisco Bay area and she told me how vital this law is to her and her family. Her husband is selfemployed. He has diabetes. and thanks to the Affordable Care Act. the husband will finally have access to quality. affordable coverage. Annies daughter has a preexisting condition. and thanks to this law. the insurance companies wont be allowed to deny her daughter coverage. And Annies son. a 25yearold. thanks to this law. is able to get on his mothers health care plan and save the family a great deal of money. But today. the Republicans want to take that all away. They want to take away all these protections and these benefits that American families havent had in the past. Today. the Republicans in the Congress want to put the insurance companies back in the businessthe same insurance companies that took away your policy when your child was born with a disability. the same insurance companies that didnt allow you to have cancer surgery because you had a lifetime limit or they decided you had a preexisting condition. the same insurance companies that decided that your children would be kicked off your policies when theyre 18. I dont think we should go there. America. But thats what repeal brings you. Thats the Republican plan: to give it all back to the insurance companies. After a hundred years of struggling. take it away and give the power to the people to determine their own health care needs and the kind of policies that they need.
Date: 2012-07-17
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 6018. the State Department Authorization Act and to thank Chairman RosLEHTINEN and Ranking Member BERMAN for working together to bring this important. bipartisan bill to the floor. This act authorizes funds for our embassies to function and for our diplomats to promote U.S. national interests abroad. Congress has not sent a State Authorization bill to the Presidents desk in years. To get this bill on the suspension calendar. it had to be scrubbed of all controversial provisions. As a consequence. the bill contains no authorization for foreign assistance programs and includes no proposals for much needed foreign aid reform. The bill does. however. include a number of provisions to provide for and protect our men and women serving to advance American interests around the world. The bill authorizes funding for the State Department. the Broadcasting Board of Governors and the multilateral organizations to which the U.S. is a party. such as the United Nations. Our national security rests on four pillars: the strength of our democracy and economy. defense. diplomacy. and development. Whether in Yemen. where there are growing concerns about that nation becoming a safe haven for al Qaeda or in Afghanistan. where a strong diplomatic presence is helping to facilitate the transition of security responsibility from the coalition forces to the government of Afghanistan. the men and women who serve in our diplomatic corps are on the front lines. in cooperation with our armed forces. protecting U.S. national security. Mr. Speaker. the men and women who work at the State Department provide vital services to the nation. Both Foreign Service Officers and Civil Service employees monitor and analyze developments throughout the world. and proudly represent our nation and advance our interests around the globe. It is essential that they have the resources they need to perform their jobs on behalf of our nation.
Date: 2012-07-17
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. as a cosponsor and strong supporter of the United StatesIsrael Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012. 1 rise in support of the bill. The House originally passed this measure by a vote of 411 to 2 in May. The Senate then passed the measure by unanimous consent on June 29. The purpose of the bill is to extend to Israel a U.S. Government loan guarantee and U.S. defense stockpile transfer authority. Israel is an essential American ally in the Middle East. The rapid change that region is undergoing will have a significant impact on the national security of both our countries. In light of this. S. 2165 helps to reinforce our support for the security of Israel by extending until Sept. 30. 2015. the U.S. Government loan guarantees. The measure also expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should take a number of actions to strengthen the defense of Israel. including: providing support for its "Iron Dome" air defense system. providing Israel with air refueling tankers and specialized munitions. and expanding intelligence cooperation between our two countries. By passing this bill today. we reaffirm our support for the right of Israel to defend itself and demonstrate our ongoing commitment to Israel as an ally of the United States.
Date: 2012-07-17
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. today. I rise in support of S. 2009. This legislation includes provisions adjusting the federal minimum wage schedule for American Samoa in light of GAOs findings on its unique labor market conditions. Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA of American Samoa has asked the Congress to make these adjustments for American Samoa and pass this bill. Current law requires that the minimum wage increase in American Samoa annually until it reaches the Mainlands federal minimum wage level. Current law also requires the GAO to regularly report to Congress on economic conditions in American Samoa over the course of these minimum wage adjustments. These GAO reports are intended to give Congress information so that. if necessary. Congress can adjust the minimum wage schedule for the territory. Precisely because American Samoa has a unique. isolated. and relatively undiversified economy and because the path to the full federal minimum wage for this territory is a necessarily long one. Congress must be flexible over time with the minimum wage schedule in response to changing economic conditions. Congress must also maintain the clear requirement that the minimum wage in American Samoa be on a schedule to reach Mainland levels. In decades past. the use of a special industry committee to periodically review and set the minimum wage in American Samoa proved ineffective. unfairly depressing wage levels below what was economically feasible. The minimum wage provision in S. 2009 meets these standards. The adjustment proposed by S. 2009 is the result of the GAOs latest report. which lays out certain economic difficulties confronting American Samoa. These difficulties arise from a variety of factors. including recent global economic conditions and a specific set of challenges facing American Samoas tuna canning industry. In response to the GAO report. this bill adjusts the schedule by delaying any minimum wage increases in American Samoa until 2015. Importantly. it maintains a clear minimum wage schedule for the territory. with new increases made triennially. This is not the first adjustment in the schedule since the increases began in 2007. Adjustments were also enacted in 2010. Congress must continue to monitor conditions in American Samoa. Future adjustments to either accelerate or delay the minimum wage schedule may be necessary and warranted. Workers in American Samoa deserve a fair minimum wage as soon as possible. which not only improves their standard of living but generates new economic activity for everyones benefit. To achieve that end and to be sensitive to other economic pressures on the island that may affect employment levels. it is our ongoing responsibility to calibrate the minimum wage schedule as conditions warrant. I look forward to continuing to work with Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA and other colleagues in the House and Senate to ensure workers in American Samoa receive a just wage.
Date: 2012-07-18
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. I rise today to congratulate recently appointed President Mildred Garcia of the California State University systems Fullerton campus. President Garcia currently serves on the Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. and she was appointed to that by President Obama. Previously serving as the 11th female president for California State University. Dominguez Hills. President Garcia became the first Latina president within the California State University system in 2007. She began her career as an educator. Shes still an educator. still teaching at Cal State. Fullerton. while having the presidency. also. She is a scholar. President Garcia focuses much of her research on fairness for higher education policy and practice. and she has authored many books on this subject. I wish her great success in her new position and. again. congratulations. Millie.
Date: 2012-07-18
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I yield myself 3 minutes. Madam Speaker. I support this legislation. As the chairman of the Budget Committee said. it passed unanimously out of the Budget Committee. I believe that more information is better than less. I also believe. and from the comments Ive heard from colleagues on both sides of the aisle. we also agree that we have enough information to know right now today that an acrosstheboard. meatax approach to reducing the deficita sequesteris a reckless way to deal with our budget. Weve heard a lot about the impact of the cuts on defense. Secretary Panetta has talked about those. Weve heard a lot less about the impact of the cuts on other important investments. such as those in biomedical research. A coalition recently reported that the cuts to the National Institutes of Health alone would cut 33.000 jobs. That means fewer people investigating cures and treatments to diseases that plague every American family. Thats just one small example on the nondefense side. But. Madam Speaker. I believe. given what we know. we should be focused today and every day on avoiding the sequester. In the Budget Committee proceedings. the Democrats offered an alternative approach. Ive got it right here in my hand. It called for a balanced approach to replacing the sequester. the kind of balanced approach that every bipartisan commission that has looked at our deficit challenge has recommended. It included a combination of cuts. such as direct payments in excessive farm subsidies. It also included cuts to things like big oil companies. eliminating taxpayer subsidies. That plan would totally replace the sequester for 1 year. and it wouldnt have to have the deficit. the impact that weve heard about. So great to get more information. may have a unanimous vote here today in the House. but lets take a balanced approach to reducing our deficits. and lets take a balanced approach to replacing the sequester. I reserve the balance of my time.