macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-07-12
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Let me commend Ms. WATERS and Mrs. BIGGERT for their extraordinarily important work on this legislation that is very much needed. People all across this country are very grateful that we are finally bringing some help here. Madam Chair. nothing is more devastating to a family. to a community. than to lose. almost in the flick of an eye. to lose your home to a floodI mean. totally underwaterto lose businesses. This happened in my State in a devastating manner in 2009. It was the worst flood in modern history of the State of Georgia. We lost over 20.000 homes throughout the State. but no area was more impacted than my own congressional district. Ten people statewide lost their lives. There was a cost of over $500 million to lost businesses and homes. And of those 10 people who lost their lives. seven of them were from my congressional district. To even make this more pointed. seven of them were from one county in my district. Douglas County and Cobb County were just devastated by this flood. The communities of Austell and Powder Springs and Douglasville and Lithia Springs and College Park had to all virtually start over. Imagine yourself as a child with your whole school under water. It was an extraordinarily unfortunate situation. To make matters worse. Madam Chair. most of these individuals had no flood insurance. The reason they didnt have any flood insurance was the cost of flood insurance and the requirement that you had to pay for your flood insurance in one lump sum. Thanks to this committee. thanks to this bill. thanks to the work of Ms. WATERS. Mrs. BIGGERT. Chairman BACHUS. and Ranking Member FRANK. we have galvanized this. Thanks to the Federal Government and FEMA and now thanks to this bill and the amendment that you all were kind enough to adopt. which was mine. individuals can now purchase their flood insurance in monthly installments. What a relief. What a great measure. This is what the American people expect of usto come up here and immediately respond to a pressing need. This is a great day. It is a great bill. I want to thank all of you for working with us on this. Madam Chairman. again. I want to thank Mrs. BIGGERT and Ms. WATERS for their excellent work. for a job well done. The people of this country thank us. too. as they can pay for their flood insurance in installments.
Date: 2011-07-12
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Chair. I rise today in support of the Flood Insurance Reform Act. H.R. 1309. Flood insurance is critical for homeowners in our area who rely on this program to protect their hardearned investments in their homes. The National Flood Insurance Program is the primary source of flood insurance for Americans and people in our district. About 5.6 million homes and businesses nationwide rely on NFIP. In our district. in Houston and East Harris County. Texas. flood insurance is a top priority. The Harris County Flood Control District does an impressive job of implementing new flood control measures in the way of maintaining bayous. building retention basins. and implementing drainage features. but even the best flood control will be defeated by a particularly bad storm. While I support the underlying bill. I am especially supportive of measures that I first advocated for in 2007. During Floor Debate of the 2007 bill. I offered an amendment that was adopted. and it is also included in the bill we are debating today. Our language provides for a limited. fiveyear phasein of flood insurance premiums for lowincome homeowners or renters whose primary residence is placed within a flood plain through an updating of flood insurance program maps. These homes can be valued at no more than 75 percent of the median home value for the state in which the property is located. This is important to residents of our district. who need the stability and stability that this provision allows. I want to thank Chairman BACHUS and Ranking Member FRANK for their leadership on this issue and for including this important provision.
Date: 2011-07-12
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Chair. I rise in support of the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2011 . The National Flood Insurance Program is the primary source of reliable and affordable flood insurance for over 5.6 million homes and businesses. Todays bipartisan legislation reauthorizes the program for five years through FY 2016 and contains numerous reforms designed to put the program on firmer financial footing. The bill is supported by the National Association of Realtors. the National Association of Homebuilders. the American Insurance Association. the Property Casualty Insurers Association and the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America. and in my judgment. strikes the proper balance between providing Americans with the flood insurance protection they need at a price taxpayers can afford.
Date: 2011-07-12
Speaker: MAXINE WATERS (democrat)
Chamber: H

as well as Chairman BACHUS and Ranking Member FRANK of the full committee. and also my friend Mr. SCHOCK and Mr. SHIMKUS from Illinois. We all worked on this amendment together. Its a good amendment. As I think Mr. SCHOCK just explained. the Bachus amendment gives the administrator the authority to allow for a possible fourth and fifth suspension of the mandatory purchase for certain communities that are making adequate progress in construction of the flood protection system. Its a commonsense amendment. Its a bipartisan agreement. I urge its adoption. and I not only support the amendment but the underlying bill as well.
Date: 2011-07-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. there have been a number of points that I would just like to bring really to the attention of my colleagues and to indicate that I hope we can do better. Thats my message: I hope we can do better. I hope we can do better than having two Presidential candidates in the Republican Party sign a pledge that would suggest that children of slaves were much better off than the children of African American parents today. We know that we have a high number of single parents throughout the United States raising children. But just read the slave narratives and the biography of Frederick Douglass to know that there were no marriages among slavesit was not allowedand that children were torn away from their parents. And husbands or wives or those who had given birth or created children were torn away from each other. Slavery was a destructive part of this country. and never compare it with the life that we have today. I would also suggest that if we are negotiating the debt ceiling. we should not have leaders in the room that make the statement that well have no resolution because President Barack Obama is President. Im insulted. offended. and it is not becoming as adults.
Date: 2011-07-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank you for your passion. What youre saying makes me think what were doing even to the younger generation because you just made a point that its lasted for over half a century. if I could use that term. over 50 years. And it is a framework that can be in place for those who are young. And if we take it apart. we will not have this structure that has been helpful. There is no reason to ignore modernizing. Were not against that. looking at ways to improve Medicare. But thats not what our Republican friends are saying. Theyre talking about ending it as we know it. vouchering it. And theres a story about the running of the bulls. And frankly. I have this image of a voucher plan. or the plan that will come about through cuts in guaranteed benefits. of the running of the bulls. the running of seniors running toward. trying to get that last voucher that is being handed out. trampling each other because theyre seeking that one lifeline that they need. In addition. we need to be very real about Medicare. Medicare is the infrastructure of our hospital system. You cut into Medicare. youre talking about closing hospitals. youre talking about eliminating physicians. and youre talking about ending care as we know it. Is there any understanding to the fact that we need to be adults and sit down? When I left my city of Houston. I spoke to my constituents on Sunday. I held a press conference to indicate my commitment to helping to preserve Social Security. Medicaid and Medicare. The idea was that this will impact our city. You will see jobs lost. We have the Texas Medical Center. It will see businesses close and people have the inability to care for themselves or their senior family members. So this simple issue of a debt ceiling speaks. I think. very eloquently to the need for common sense. And you have laid out very clearly weve had it for this period of time. weve been able to keep a structure that has helped to save lives. it has this amount of life. it can have a longer life as we continue to improve it and to ensure that there is no waste. fraud. and abuse. And for me. I cannot imagine. I cannot imagine a picture of seniors trampling each other to get that last voucher or having to be told by their government. a country that theyve served and worked for and raised their children in. there is no room at the inn for you. theres no opportunity for your health care. theres no more Medicare. by the way. we had to pay tax cuts or we had to give the billionaires and rich folk the long period of time of tax holidays. and we just didnt have any opportunity for you. That is unacceptable. It is unAmerican. And I think we can do better. And we need to fight to protect Medicare as we are doing as Democrats. And I would encourage and welcome my friends. my Republican friends. to join us in doing the right thing.
Date: 2011-07-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Thank you very much for leading us in this discussion. The message should be albeit we have some concerns. we are not broke. We need to fix jobs and investment and we need to save Medicare. Medicaid. and Social Security. They have not contributed to our debt. and we cannot allow seniors to run like bulls to seek medical care in this great and wonderful country. I. for one. will not stand for it. Thank you.
Date: 2011-07-13
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I am delighted to stand this morning and simply ask the question. where are the jobs. and why have we been here for some 27 weeks and we have not been able to say to the American people we are on your side? Let me deviate for a moment and say the debt ceiling that has consumed us is a procedural matter that has occurred over the years and decades of Presidents. Republicans and Democrats. And so lets not castigate President Obama and say a deal would not be made because he is here. Lets look at ways of finding jobs. The energy industry. for example. has a program that says veterans to jobs. energy jobs. Lets have youth to jobs. 1835. energy jobs. and begin to create the jobs that Democrats have been fighting for. putting on the floor of the House. job creation. Lets have the energy industry broadly look at a tax structure that is responsible and invests back in America. And lets realize that the vulnerable cannot be the brunt of our confusion about the debt ceiling. This is not a fight that we need on behalf of the American people. What we need to do is to say to the American people here is a job. and we are staying on this floor 24 hours a day. 7 days a week to create jobs. Now is the time for jobs.
Date: 2011-07-13
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. on October 15. 2009. I received disturbing reports that a democracy activist. Tran Khai Thanh Thuy. and her husband. Do Ba Tan. were beaten in front of their 13yearold daughter and imprisoned by the Vietnamese police and government. Since then. I. along with some of my colleagues here in the House. have written countless letters to the Vietnamese Government urging the government to release Mrs. Tran. I have also engaged in direct communications with Secretary Clinton strongly advocating that the United States put pressure on the government in Vietnam to release her and so many other activists who simply want human rights to improve in Vietnam. Fortunately. last month. thanks to the work of human rights organizations and Members of Congress. Mrs. Tran was released. and the State Department was able to bring Mrs. Tran to the United States where she now resides with her daughter. Mrs. Tran. along with other activists. were all arrested simply for wanting human rights. I urge my colleagues to please help us with this issue.
Date: 2011-07-13
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chair. I rise in strong opposition to todays legislation. the socalled "Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act." which represents another effort on the part of this Republican Majority to systematically dismantle environmental protections by eroding EPA authority under the Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Act is a partnership between federal and state authorities to maintain water quality standards across the nation. But it also provides a federal backstop if states cannot or will not effectively enforce those standards. As we all know. water does not stop at the state line. Policies in one state upstream will affect water quality in another downstream. This is a serious issue in my state of Maryland. where the Chesapeake Bay feeds from a watershed that includes six states and the District of Columbia. Inadequate environmental protection in any of those states can have grave consequences for the health of the nations largest estuary. It is not difficult to imagine the costs of dismantling Clean Water Act authority. Prior to its enactment in 1972. our nations waters were in crisis. Lake Erie could not support aquatic life. A floating oil slick on the Cuyahoga River caught fire. Industrial polluters used lakes and streams as dumping grounds for dangerous chemicals and twothirds of our nations lakes. rivers. and coastal waters were unsafe for fishing or swimming. The Clean Water Act was a simple and powerful solutiona baseline for water quality with a federal safety net in the event of state inaction. For nearly 40 years. this approach has helped preserve access to safe water to all Americans. There is no reason or justification to roll back those protections today. I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill.
Date: 2011-07-13
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Let me thank the chairman very much. I definitely support cooperation between the Federal Government and the State government. That is absolutely the best partnership and one that I encourage. Having been a member of the local city council of my own city of Houston. I also know that unfunded mandates are very much difficult to overcome. But I argue vigorously against the underlying legislation because it does equate to undermining the health of Americans. We need clean water. not dirty water. So this amendment strikes the entire legislation that causes us to ignore a partnership that has been established between the EPA. the Environmental Protection Agency. and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. which is a State system. And to my count. some 47 States have initially gotten into the system and have worked to ensure that they have clean water. Why do I suggest that this is a very challenging approach to take that the underlying legislation has? Because it prevents the EPA from taking actions to revise outdated State water quality standards. It makes a State the final arbiter of whether an NPDES permit. a license for better water quality. is in fact to be implemented so that one State may do something that impacts negatively on another State. These are the people were concerned about: a working nurse and a healthy baby. or we are concerned about a gentleman by the name of Mr. Caldario. who is a resident of Crestwood. who indicated some years ago that he was worried about the water he drank for years without knowing what it was contaminated with-"Cancer Study Triggers Fears in Crestwood." which I will submit for the RECORD. His final sentence states. "I cant help but wonder if what happened to me had something to do with the water." My amendment is straightforward. It strikes the language of this bill. It says lets go back to the drawing table. I want to be able to help Members. but if you have 47 States that have been engaged in this process. lets find a way that we can come together and have clean water and not dirty water. This is a straightforward amendment that says that this is overreaching. The EPA would be prohibited from resolving conflicting State decisions on protecting water quality. Join me in supporting the Jackson Lee amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2011-07-13
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank the distinguished chairman. and again I thank my friends on the floor of the House. and I did not acknowledge my friend the ranking member. I offer myself as a person who seeks to collaborate and fix problems. So my second amendment says lets work together. but there are times when the heart of the matter has to be addressed. My amendment strikes the language that really is the heart of the matter. It strikes the language in the bill. ensuring that the vital role played by the EPA in determining whether or not certain pollutants enter our waterways can still exist. Providing States with nearly unlimited authority to determine which pollutants can enter our waterways does not take into account issues that arise when States disagree. My amendment strikes the language that allows States. 50 States. to conflict against each other and oneupmanshipIm going to do this. no. youre going to do this. This standardizes the issue of clean water. This stands up for people like those in Crestwood. Illinois. that wonder whether the water caused cancer. kidney cancer. in a 30yearold. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2011-07-13
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. we are so proud of not just our victory. which was incredibly sweet. and were really so sorry that our opposition is not in the press gallery to witness this acceptance of the trophy. But the two things that we are the most proud of. one is that we continue to be the best example of bipartisanship in the Capitol. in the United States Capitol. and we hope that our camaraderie will extend to the rest of the legislative process. Hopefully we can continue to be that example and it will carry over. We know that it carries over for all of our friendships and our relationships. Number two. the beneficiary of the Congressional Womens Softball Game each year is the Young Survival Coalition. which is an organization that is dedicated to raising awareness and providing assistance to young women diagnosed with breast cancer under 40 years old. Most of you know that I was 41 when I was diagnosed 31/2 years ago with breast cancer. and I am still here to talk about it. thank God. Thank you. There are only two women breast cancer survivors in the House of Representativesmyself and SUE MYRICK. So as you can see. thats bipartisan as well. I know she and I both very much appreciate the time and dedication. companionship. camaraderieI can never get through this without being emotional. The women on this team came out 20 different times at 7 in the morning to practice to get ready for this game. We raised more than $50.000 for the Young Survival Coalition. Thank you. So many of you came out. and so many of our staff came out. We had 875 people come watch the game this year. It was just a phenomenal success. We cant thank you enough. We will be back next year. We understand that the press wants a rematch. they told us so the night of the game. and we look forward to beating them again next year.
Date: 2011-07-14
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. C.A. Tindley was right when he proclaimed. "Harder yet may be the fight." When they tried to privatize Social Security. we fought and held them back. We fought the good fight. When they tried to minimize the CHIP program. Childrens Health Insurance Program. we fought the good fight and we held them back. When they tried to destabilize Medicaid. we fought the good fight and we held them back. They are now trying to minimize and voucherize Medicare. We will fight the good fight. We will hold them back because C.A. Tindley is right: "Harder yet may be the fight. right may often yield to might. wickedness a while may reign. Satans cause may seem to gain. But theres a God that rules above. with hand of power and heart of love." When were right. Hell help us fight. Harder yet may be the fight. but we will hold them back.
Date: 2011-07-14
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Chair. it is just a matter of time before we will rue the day that we did not build out the infrastructure across the length and breadth of our country. Our President has proposed that we have an infrastructure bank such that we can take care of the needs on this side as well as the needs on this side. We will rue the day that we did not build out our transportation infrastructure. One example. in 2005. in Houston. Texas. Rita hit the gulf coast. We had thousands of people being evacuated from a major urban area. and as they were moving away. the highways became clogged. They were stopped on the highways. People spent nights on the highways. Trains are a part of the emergency evacuation system in this country. and we need more rail so that we can evacuate people in times of emergencies. 9/11/01. who can forget? The skies were clear. There was a full ground stop. More than 4.000 planes were grounded. No one could fly. Trains became a part of the emergency evacuation system so that people who could not fly could still make their destinations. It is time for us to wise up and realize that the President is right. It is time for us to. in the parlance and vernacular of those in the streets of life. to fess up and tell the truth. We should not put Peter ahead of Paul. We should not rob one to pay the other. It is time for us to take a holistic approach and show some vision. Lets move to create jobs across the length and breadth of the country with this infrastructure program. Lets give architects who have offices and business and laborers and engineers jobs. Lets give them jobs to do. And the good news is you cannot export these jobs overseas. You dont have to worry about them being outsourced. because they will all be done right here in the United States of America. Lets rebuild this country. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2011-07-14
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

regarding limiting funds to be used in contravention of the Department of Energy Organization Act. an amendment by Ms. KAPTUR regarding funding for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. an amendment by Mr. LUETKEMEYER regarding the study pursuant to section 5018(a)(1) of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007. an amendment by
Date: 2011-07-15
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I intended to vote "aye" on the Schiff amendment on yesterday. July 14. 2011. to the Energy and Water bill that was under consideration. I incorrectly voted "no."