macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-05-16
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I never could have anticipated speaking in opposition to the Violence Against Women Act. and its unfortunate that weve come to this point. but here we are. This comes after more than a year of bipartisan efforts to put together a comprehensive. effective. and muchneeded VAWA draft. But Republicans in the Senate and then in the House decided to ignore the recommendations of the FBI. the Department of Justice. and advocacy groups on the ground and push a version of VAWA that endangers immigrant women and children. ignores the needs of our native communities. and perpetuates discrimination against LGBT victims. That is why hundreds of victim services organizations oppose this bill. and I stand with them today. At the Women in Distress shelter in my district. there has been a 39 percent increase in requests for services over the last year. Women need us now more than ever. and this is not the time to allow for discrimination or helping only some victims of domestic violence. This is the time to take a stand. As lawmakers. we speak for the voiceless. and today I speak united with my colleagues in opposition to this shameful bill.
Date: 2012-05-16
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank the gentleman from Colorado. and I sadly rise in opposition to the rule. I really cry out to ask the question: Who should refuse to help a victim of domestic violence? Who has the right to deny a victimNative American. immigrant. LGBT community. who has that right? It is obvious that this legislation is not bipartisan. and it is obvious that there is still a divide. It is obvious that the groups who obviously work with these victimsmany whom I have the opportunity of seeing through the eyes of the Houston Area Womens Centerrealize that no provider wants to pick and choose. It is clear that the underlying bill does not work. The Senate bill is what answers the question of these victims who now have been harmed. because what youre saying to an immigrant who is here on a visa. you are saying to them that they have no relief. I believe this bill will not work.
Date: 2012-05-16
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

It really is a question as to whether or not the new included funding for rape kits will actually be able to go to providers and solve the problems of rape kits in places around the Nation. We need to do this in a bipartisan way. Who will say "no" to a victim because they are Native American. they are immigrant. or they are LGBT. Who will say "no?"
Date: 2012-05-16
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Before today. every VAWA bill weve considered over the last 20 years had three things in common: theyve all been bipartisan. theyve all been written in consultation with the advocates and service providers on the front lines against domestic violence. and theyve all increased protections for victims of domestic violence. This bill. even as amended. shares none of those attributes. It actually reduces protections that exist in current law for victims of domestic violence. rape. and sexual assault. It was developed without any support or consultation from the minority or from the domestic violence advocates. And it is not bipartisan. Now. the bills opposed by every leading domestic violence organization. Its opposed by the National Association of Evangelicals and the Willow Creek Church. the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference. all the leading womens groups. Its opposed by law enforcement officials with years of experience fighting domestic violence. Its opposed by tribal authorities. immigration advocates. LGBT groups. The list goes on and on. So the question really is this: If everyone from the National Organization for Women and Planned Parenthood to the National Association of Evangelicals and the Catholic Church have extreme concerns about this bill. who thinks this is a step in the right direction? And as far as I can tell. the only groups who openly support the bill and the amendments are groups like SAVE and A Voice for Men. who align themselves. not with battered women. but with the men who abuse them. I will insert into the RECORD an article from Leith Anderson. the president of the National Association of Evangelicals. and Lynne Hybels. the cofounder of the Willlow Creek Community Church. This is what they say: Nicole came to the U.S. from Indonesia on a temporary fiancee visa. expecting to enjoy life as a spouse. Instead was trafficked. They oppose the bill. [From CNN. May 16. 2012]
Date: 2012-05-16
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Why do we find ourselves here today having this kind of debate that calls upon the higher angels of all Members. recognizing that as I stand on the floor today. some woman is losing her life. She may be a Native American woman. That individual may be from the LGBT community or the immigrant community. Why are we here today divided when all we needed to do was to work in a bipartisan manner? The Senate bill. which tracked the process and the strategy and the approach that weve used in all of the reauthorizations of VAWA. we have always expanded it to reach the needs of new victims. What do you say to a Native American woman when you limit the ability for that woman to be protected? In fact. in particular. you make it that much harder. for what you do is that it authorizes tribal governments to seek protection orders on behalf of victims with or without their protection or permission. violating the core principles that such victims must have autonomy. Why that language? With respect to the LGBT community. my friends on the other side will say. Theyre already protected. But we realize that the clarity of the law gives the protection that is necessary when someone is desperate. because as the Federal Government passes laws. it permeates to counties and cities and hamlets that need to have the interpretation to ensure that the law is equally applied. So this is why we call for the passage of the Senate bill and a bipartisan bill. And my friends on the other side of the aisleseven Republicans wrote Chairman SMITH and said. We want the bipartisan bill. Thats what were asking for. not anything extraordinary. When you talk about providing for rape kits and someone says on the other side. Weve increased it to 75 percent to address the backlogwell. in actuality. they have not because theyve taken money from some other programs. So. Madam Speaker. all I can say is. Why are we here? Let us stand united to help women. Let us not default on our allowance that weve been given to serve the American people. and the women are desperate. Someone is dying as I speak. Vote for the Senate bill. Let us do this in a bipartisan way.
Date: 2012-05-16
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. I rise today to oppose this Republican bill that dangerously leaves victims of domestic violence worse off than they are under current law. To say that this legislation builds on current law is patently false. Our Senate colleagues passed a strong version of the Violence Against Women Act with broad bipartisan support. Every Republican woman in the Senate voted in favor of it. Instead of crafting a bill of similar strength. my Republican friends in this body have insisted on taking back crucial protections for abused victims throughout our country. This Republican bill makes it more difficult for immigrant victims to work with law enforcement to report and help prosecute serious and violent criminals. This Republican bill pretends the LGBT community doesnt exist and would allow victim service organizations to discriminate against LGBT victims when they seek help. This Republican bill would further endanger the lives of Native American women who suffer abuse in epidemic proportions in this country. This Republican bill doesnt expand protections for women. it puts more women at risk by weakening current protections. Americas women deserve better. I encourage all of my colleagues to reject this Republican bill and support the Democratic alternative.
Date: 2012-05-16
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I think sometimes its helpful to get into the nittygritty of legislation. This bill changes the law that exists today and reduces protection for immigrant women in key ways. Let me just talk about one of the ways. If you are an immigrant temporarily here. or even without your documents. and you are a victim of domestic violence and the police want to keep you here because youre a witness or they need your help in a prosecution. the police can obtain what is called a U visa so you get to stay here. Thats in the current law. It was bipartisan. It was done in the year 2000. This bill changes that in important ways. Under current law. if you are a U visa holder. you have the possibility of applying for a permanent visa. Why is that important? Because otherwise. if you come forward to cooperate with the police. you could be voluntarily deporting yourself and be separated from your children. and that is a deterrent to people coming forward to work with the police. Thats why it was crafted the way it was. Even under the managers amendment. there is a diminution of that possibility. and it would lead to absurd results. Ill give you an example. Under the managers amendment. you can only apply for the residence if your abuser had been deported to the country where you are from. So a U visa is for 4 years. If your abuser is serving a 5year sentence. you have to be deported. and then your abuser will come after you the next year. Its a stupid provision. unfortunately. I cant believe that thats the intended result. I know Mrs. ADAMS is sincere. but thats what is in the bill. And thats why people object to the billthat. among many other provisions that will endanger women and take us back from where we were. I think that when you take a look at not just the groups that support the Senate bill instead of this. but the groups that support this bill. who embrace abusers. you know where you need to standand thats not with this bill. despite the sincerity of the author.
Date: 2012-05-16
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. the Violence Against Women Act. VAWA. has historically provided a vast network of support for victims of dating violence. sexual assault. and stalking since its initial passage in 1994. Declining instances of domestic violence and increased awareness surrounding these forms of abuse are a testament to the success of VAWAs programs. and to the importance of its preservation. Unless VAWA is reauthorized. these programs will no longer be available to protect the countless victims of domestic violence and abuse throughout the United States. Today. as Congress seeks to reauthorize this landmark piece of legislation for the third time. VAWA is at serious risk of being stripped of its most important provisions. The Senate version of VAWA was adopted on April 26 with bipartisan support. and not only preserves important protections for women but also expands those protections to LGBT individuals and Native American women. Conversely. H.R. 4970 represents a partisan bill that rolls back existing protections and excludes entire groups of victims. As long as H.R. 4970 excludes critical improvements and disregards the recommendations of key stakeholders. I cannot support this bill. In the previous reauthorization. VAWA was drafted in a bipartisan fashion and included meaningful provisions for protecting battered and abused individuals. and as such I supported its passage. Unfortunately. H.R. 4970 completely fails to achieve the original objectives behind VAWA. and actually does more to harm women than it does to help them overcome their aggressors. To show my support for VAWA. I have joined my colleagues as a cosponsor of H.R. 4271. an alternative to H.R. 4970 that contains language more consistent with the original intent of the bill. H.R. 4271 is simply a better bill that goes further to recognize the same prevalence of abuse among Native American women and LGBT individuals. and ensures that all victims are protected regardless of sexual orientation or national origin. Madam Speaker. this attack on women needs to stop immediately. I can find no justification for why this Congress should exclude certain groups of women from the protections afforded by VAWA. The bill that is being considered before the House today does a disservice to victims of domestic abuse in the U.S.. and falls drastically short of the original intent of the law.
Date: 2012-05-16
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

I yield myself such time as I may consume to respond very briefly. There is a great urgency here. There is a very serious cry coming from the American people. That cry is saying. Help us. and the kind of help we need is to prepare for the storm before the hurricane is raging. We live in storm alley. Now. I can tell you from firsthand experience that I represent a district in the State of Georgia where in 2010. I believe it was. we had the worst flood in over 500 years. I represent the Chattahoochee River. which overflowed. I represent one county in which we had 10 people who lost their lives. and seven of those people were from one county in my district. in Douglas County. Cobb County had losses. We got on. I guess we call it. Air Force Two with Vice President BIDEN. and we flew down with FEMA and Homeland Security. and we toured that place. Im sure you all saw on CNN and Fox and MSNBCand on all the news stationswhere Six Flags Over Georgia. the amusement park. was totally under water. So I can speak for my community and my area as those of us in the House have spokenover 400 strong. Why in the world the United States Senate is sitting on the reauthorization is a mystery amidst the cry coming from the American people. Now our season is on us. Hurricane season starts in 2 weeks. Let me just tell you that Ive heard from one of the individuals on the other side. and I wanted to respond to some of those concerns as to why this bill is so important. Our reauthorization bill would require annual notifications to homeowners who are living in flood zones about the risks in their communities. Many people move into these areas. and they dont even know theyre in flood zones. What weve got in this bill is that they will be notified every year. They need that information so they can make the adjustments. I mentioned the affordable insurance coverage. I need not mention the flood maps. themselves. many of which all throughout this country are outdated. that leave many of your constituents and my constituentsI hope the Senate is hearing because theyre their constituents as wellat risk for flood damage without even their knowledge. Lets hope that this message gets across to the Senate that we need action. The American people are crying for help. and we need to give it to them immediately. Weve got 2 weeks to do it. and we dare not let this hurricane season come upon us with the National Flood Insurance Programs having expired. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2012-05-16
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time. I would inquire if the lady from Illinois has any more speakers.
Date: 2012-05-16
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Mr. Speaker. I will close with my remarks. Im hoping that perhaps Members of the Senate may be watching CSPAN and watching us in the House. If not. I just simply urge their constituents to give them a call and ask them to move. It would be great to move on H.R. 1309. Because even if you do this temporary one. its 30 days and were right back here in another 4 weeks at the time that hurricanes are raging. We are really playing with fire here. and were not doing the American people justice. and were not doing right here. As the gentleman from Louisiana just mentioned. vivid in our minds has got to be Katrina. We can talk about Andrew in Florida or you can talk about Hazel up in New York. Our whole country is coastline. and flooding is the worst natural disaster in our country in terms of loss of life. in terms of property. Folks need this financial assistance from this flood insurance program. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to move and do the right thing. I urge the American people to contact their Senators and let them know we do not need to be standing naked in the face of fierce hurricanes without help and without support simply because the United States Senate failed to act in the best interest of the American people. With that. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2012-05-16
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Mr. Speaker. I unintentionally voted "aye" on rollcall No. 253 when I intended to vote "no" on the motion to consider H. Res. 656. providing for consideration of the bill. H.R. 4970. to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. and providing for consideration of the bill. H.R. 4310. the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013. I reiterate my strong support for the protection of women from acts of violence and my opposition to the reauthorization as currently written and brought forth.
Date: 2012-05-16
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Chairman. I thank our ranking member for the time. and I also want to thank Mr. TURNER. our chairman on the Strategic Forces Subcommittee. for his leadership. and all of the members who work on the Strategic Forces Subcommittee for all of their work and contributions to this years mark. I think that there are a lot of issue areas that we can agree upon. especially in the Strategic Forces Committee. to make our Nation stronger and to really look after our nuclear arsenal. I think there are particular provisions that I really like in this bill. for example. the cost effective and accountability on some of these things. And supporting nuclear nonproliferation. for example. is a very important issue. and I think this bill does a good job on that. Maintaining a safe and secure and reliable nuclear arsenal. I think that is also important. Fully authorizing the environmental cleanup that we have to do related to these activities. that is also included in this bill. Increasing the regional missile defense systems that we have that protect our troops when they are. for example. in Europe. when theyre deployed. and also our allies for the short- and mediumrange missile attacks that might happen. protecting longterm and costeffective investments in our military space assets. these are all areas that we have agreed upon. However. I am extremely concerned about some of the other issue areas where we do not agree. For example. provisions that impede nuclear weapons reductions. I think that is incredibly important to allow the administration to move forward. not only with New START Treaty. but also to look at other ways in which we can bring down our arsenal if we dont need it. The governance and management reforms that will undermine independent oversight related to health and safety. including nuclear safety.
Date: 2012-05-16
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. I thank my ranking member. These are very important to our people who work in this arena. What is their safety going to be when theyre working with nuclear weapons in the complexes that we have? I think that the standards and the way. the management way that the Republicans like to do are going to probably cause some inconsistent standards in protecting our workersand risk peoples lives. quite frankly. Increasing funding for nuclear weapons by more than $400 million over the Presidents budget request when our own Pentagon didnt want that. or increasing funding for the groundbased midcourse defense program by over $350 million while there are still test failures going out. when we have had 9 of 17 tests fail on us. then I dont think we should be continuing to invest in the same system. We should look and try to take care and find out what went wrong. I look forward to trying to work these things out in the conference.
Date: 2012-05-17
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. I rise today in honor of Older Americans Month. And I want to address an issue that is incredibly important to seniors. that is. caring for seniors with chronic illness and preventing unnecessary hospitalizations. Madam Speaker. skilled home care providers in my district deliver highquality and clinically effective care. Such care enables seniors to stay in their homes. rather than costing us by putting them out of their homes and into nursing homes. Unfortunately. a narrow sliver of operators within the Medicare home health program are tarnishing the good work of these dedicated. compassionate. and skilled professionals. MedPAC has found that a small number of criminals in just 25 counties are ripping off Medicare beneficiaries and taxpayers. Since we know the source of this abuse. it makes the most sense to isolate it and go after it. rather than indiscriminately cutting payments to thousands of home care providers that do the right thing by seniors and taxpayers. So lets reform the way we do this. Lets not cut off the people who do good work.
Date: 2012-05-17
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I rise in opposition to the bill and to the underlying rule. To put it simply in the minute that I have. this bill needlessly puts in jeopardy the health and safety of workers and residents who live near nuclear weapons facilities. Congressman VISCLOSKY. Congresswoman SANCHEZ. and I offered an amendment to fix these dangerous flaws. But todays rule will not allow that amendment onto the floor. Our amendment recognized that these facilities pose unique challenges when it comes to health and safety. They are ultrahazardous. They make plutonium pits. handle bombgrade uranium. and manage high explosives. If the worst were to happen. the American taxpayer is on the hook for any nuclear event. even if the contractor that operates the facility engages in gross misconduct. To protect workers. residents. and taxpayers. we need to ask that contractors live up to the highest standards of safety. This legislation does not do that. I want to commend the gentleman from Massachusetts for trying to get this amendment made in order in the Rules Committee. Its an important amendment. Were hearing from workers in these facilities all across the country that were removing a critical margin of safety for them. that were turning this over to contractors and lessening the safety standards across these plants and removing the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Energy. This bill should be rejected for what it does to these workers. These are some groups submitting letters opposing changes to nuclear safety protections in H.R. 4310: 1. Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board 2. Alliance of Nuclear Worker Advocacy Groups 3. Alliance for Nuclear Accountability 4. Building and Construction Trades Department. AFLCIO 5. Metal Trades Department. AFLCIO 6. United Steelworkers 7. Laborers International Union of North America 8. Communications Workers of America 9. National Treasury Employees Union 10. Project on Government Oversight