macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-05-05
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to commemorate Yom Hashoah. Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day. and to remember the 6 million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust. Sixty years ago. as American. British. and Soviet soldiers moved across Europe in a series of offensives on Germany. they encountered and liberated concentration camp prisoners. Advancing from the west. U.S. divisions freed the major concentration camps of DoraMittelbau. Buchenwald. Flossenbuirg. and Dachau in Germany. and Mauthausen in Austria. In northern Germany. British forbes liberated BergenBelsen and Neuengamme. In the east. Soviet divisions liberated Auschwitz in Poland in January 1945. Just a few weeks before the German surrender in early May 1945. -they liberated the Stutthof. Sachsenhausen. and Ravensbrick concentration camps inside Germany. In liberating the Nazi camps. the AngloAmerican and Soviet soldiers exposed to the world the horror of Nazi atrocities. Today. we must rededicate ourselves to fighting intolerance. racism and apathy so that future generations do not experience the suffering. terror and ultimate death endured by the victims of the Holocaust. Remembrance Day serves as a reminder that we must never forget the appalling tragedy of the Holocaust. and the six million Jews who lost their lives. Unfortunately. the struggle against antiSemitism continues today. as recent reports indicate an increase in violence against the Jewish community around the world. Last year alone there were reports of antiSemitic desecration and vandalism of about 40 schools. 140 statues and cemeteries. 60 synagogues and 60 businesses around the world. The number of antiSemitic incidents in the United States also rose by 17 percent in 2004. Sixty years after the end of the Holocaust. it is important that we strengthen our fight against antiSemitism and religious intolerance. It has been said that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Yom Hashoah reminds each of us where racism. bigotry and religious intolerance can lead. so that something as horrific as the Holocaust is never repeated.
Date: 2005-05-10
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise to speak about the increasing problem of gang violence. Since 2001. we have seen drastic budget cuts in youth violence prevention. Atrisk kids need support and a place to go after school. They need the fundamental tools to make good choices. Instead of funding these programs. the Congress has chosen to lock them up and throw away the key. Mr. Speaker. what kind of message is this. and the bill that we are going to take up this week. giving to our atrisk youth? We must provide atrisk youth with a path to succeed. not a path to prison. Our police forces are doing a very outstanding job. most especially in Dallas. Texas. However. prosecuting criminals is not enough. We also need to work on preventing future violence. I am a strong supporter of law enforcement. but I do believe in prevention. It is less costly.
Date: 2005-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

What I Wanted to bring out was exactly what the gentleman was talking about. We have a problem that needs to be addressed. But we can not throw our Nations retirement security. our constituents retirement security. to the whims of the stock market and then add insult to injury by saying that we are going to adjust their benefits based on the price index as opposed totheir wages. because obviously wages grow more quickly than prices do. So their benefits are going to be cut both through the indexing and through the privatization and on top of that will add to the deficit. This is about the most irresponsible proposal that I have ever heard of.
Date: 2005-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I just appreciate the gentleman from South Carolinas and the gentleman from Floridas leadership and the opportunity for us to help explain to our generation what the ramifications will be if the Presidents proposal goes through. I think it is real important that we plug the Web site. and the gentleman from Florida has it up here on the board.
Date: 2005-05-11
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to pay tribute to Miguel Contreras. who died unexpectedly on Friday. May 6. 2005. As executivesecretary treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and a vice president of the California Labor Federation. Miguel was a staunch champion for working families in Los Angeles and throughout our Nation. His leadership reenergized our Nations labor movement. Miguel began his life working in the fields of southern California alongside his immigrant parents. After meeting Cesar Chavez. he became active in the United Farm Workers Union. Under Miguels leadership. union membership in the Los Angeles County area grew by more than 125.000. creating a powerful voice for working families. Miguel led successful organizing campaigns for janitors and bus drivers. among others. In a lifetime dedicated to service of working men and women. Miguel Contreras touched many lives. including my own. It was Miguel who encouraged and supported my run for executivesecretary treasurer of the Orange County Federation of Labor. I became the first Latina to head a federation. so I jokingly described myself as Miguel Contreras in high heels. I want to thank him for being a great role model and teaching me many of lifes invaluable lessons. Miguel was not only a friend and a mentor to me. but more importantly. he was a remarkable labor leader. activist. community spokesman. power broker. husband and father. and he will be sorely missed.
Date: 2005-05-11
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker. I have worked with gangs at home in conjunction with our police department. and there is a way to start prevention. I recognize that the crimes that have been mentioned here this morning are crimes that should be punished. I believe if you do the crime. you do the time. But I also believe that you can prevent this with young people. I dialogued with members of.a gang several years ago. shortly after I heard that the people are coming from Los Angeles to start gangs. And in dialoguing with these young people. I first had to understand what they were saying. That gang activity has been converted to something positive because I encouraged it. I said. Stay together but do not do. crime stuff. do things positiveb That is what they have done. They have even run people for office. You have got to not give up on young people. Americans deserve a bill that would successfully combat gang activity and violence. This bill does fall short of that. This bill fails to address the root of the problem. Even though law enforcement is vital. we must try to prevent gang activities before they occur. Prevention programs can save- many lives and many dollars. It is a lot cheaper to prevent all this crime and prevent them going to jail and for them to stay in school. Of the $50 million appropriated in this bill. not one penny goes toward prevention. You can call it play. You can call it anything you want. But inschool and afterschool prevention programs successfully teach young people the skills they need to combat peer pressure. They target environmental risk factors by teaching young people conflict resolution skills. cultural sensitivity and the negative aspects of gang life. if it is violent.. -These young people want to be a part of something. and it might as well be a positive experience. We must stop the violence at the source. If we do not put forth that activity. that is when it gravitates to what he just discussed. We must give our young people a path to success not just a path to prison.
Date: 2005-05-11
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Chairman. I rise in opposition to H.R. 1279. the Gang Deterrence and Community Protection Act. because this bill fails to adequately deter youths from joining gangs and does not do enough to protect our communities. This bill fails to create a mfichneeded. comprehensive approach to fighting our national gang epidemic. Instead of offering funding for proven intervention and prevention programs that effectively keep youths from joining gangs in the first place. this punitive bill simply imposes harsh and sweeping mandatory minimumsentences. Locking up 16yearolds for 10 years will not make gang crimes disappear. As any law enforcement officer will tell my colleagues. suppression is merely one of the avenues by which we can prevent gang violence. In fact. as many of my Democratic colleagues have repeatedly stressed. imposing mandatory minimums on youths often results in a greater likelihood of repeat. and more violent. offenses. Prevention and intervention programs. on the other hand. have a proven track record of keeping kids out of gangs. but at the Committee on the Judiciary markup of this bill and in the Committee on Rules last night. amendments to include intervention and prevention programs in this bill were defeated along partyline votes. I joined my colleagues. the gentleman from Califprnia . the gentleman from California . and the gentlewoman from California . in submitting an amendment. to expand the Project Safe Neighborhoods program. to authorize the Attorney General to make the FBI increase Safe Streets Initiative efforts. to reauthorize the Gang Resistance Education and Training Projects program and. more importantly. to doublefunding for highintensity interstate gang activity areas and require half of those funds to go to communitybased antigang programs. I know from personal knowledge that our amendment would have reduced gang activity nationwide because I have seen community7based programs work in my very own district. The Gang Resistance in Paramount. or GRIP. program has been educating kids about the dangers of gang participation for years. I spent some time inside a fourth grade class inside of Paramount last year to see the GRIP program in action. I saw firsthand how the program caught the attention of the students. and it was amazing how the program engaged the students in learning and how quickly they saw the dangers in gangs. I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 1279 and instead work towards a comprehensive approach.
Date: 2005-05-11
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Let me applaud the author and the ranking member and the Chair of this committee for addressing the issue of. gangs. I do not agree with all of the approach. but I do agree we need to address the issue. and I. rise today to speak about the creation of databases to track gang activity. In addition to developing a solid gang prevention strategy. we must equip our law enforcement professionals with the tools to protect our communities. Recently. law enforcement in Dallas spoke to me regarding their desire to track gang activity. I work closely with the law enforcement divisions in my area. and they wanted a system that would allow them to easily access and share information on gang activity. I am offering an amendment that will do just that. This database will contain critical information on gangs. gang members. firearms. criminal activities and histories. vehicles. and other fields of information necessary for investigators to solve gangrelated crimes. In addition. it will allow law enforcement to track the movement of gangs and members throughout the country. coordinate police response to gang violence. and enhance officer safety. This system is a fundamental step in combating future gang violence. I ask my colleagues for their support for this important amendment.
Date: 2005-05-12
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1544. the Faster and Smarter Funding for First Responders Act of 2005. The bill we are voting on today is an important piece of legislation designed to better support our first responders so that they can help protect and defend our citizens against terrorist attack. I strongly support H.R. 1544 and am proud to be a cosponsor. along with all of my colleagues on the Homeland Security committee. from which this legislation passed unanimously. I would like to congratulate Chairman Cox. Chairman KING. Ranking Member THOMPSON and Ranking Member PASCRELL for bringing this bill to the floor in an expeditious and bipartisan manner. The core principle of the bill is to -ensure that homeland security is always viewed through the lens of directing resources to address urgent security vulnerabilities in our country. Security funding is fundamentally different than other funds such as highway money. where we try to spread the funds moreorless evenly. and this bill reflects the changes needed in our thinking to address our homeland security needs. I would also like to thank the chairmen and ranking members for including language from my proposed amendments thatwill: Create an office of Comptroller within ODP to ensure oversight and accountability over funds moving through the pipeline. Study the effects of waiving the Cash Management Improvement Act. so that its good governance intent does not have adverse consequences. and Grant conditional authorization to the Secretary of Homeland Security to make direct payments to localities. should States be unable to pass grant funds through to the local recipients in a timely fashion. These are all important tools that will ensure that resources necessary to protect our citizens are disbursed quickly and with strong accountability. In closing I would like to reiterate my strong support of H.R. 1544 and urge all my col-. leagues to vote yes on this important piece of legislation.
Date: 2005-05-12
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. on Thursday. May 12. 2005. I was unavoidably absent due to a personal emergency. I request that the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD reflect that had I been present and voting. I would have voted as follows: Rollcall No. 169: "No." On Agreeing to the Weiner Amendment to H.R. 1544. Rollcall No. 170: "Yes." On Passage of H.R..
Date: 2005-05-18
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Chairman. I thank the gentleman from Mississippi for yielding me this time. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1817. the Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006. This is our first authorizing bill for the now 2yearold Department of Homeland Security. and. it represents hard work by all the members of the Committee on Homeland Security. I would like to congratulate the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox). the gentleman from Mississippi . and all the members of the committee for their hard work in crafting this bill and bringing it to the floor today. While I would have liked to have seen a more comprehensive bill such as the substitute that will be offered by the gentleman from Mississippi which would have addressed aviation security. port security. interoperability for our first responders and a host of other important areas not addressed in H.R. 1817. I recognize that this bill marks significant progress for the Congress. and I urge its adoption. H.R. 1817 will authorize specific amounts for certain programs within the Committee on Homeland Securitys jurisdiction. such as fully funding the 2.000 additional border patrol agents recommended by the 9/11 Commission and authorized under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. I was gratified that during the markup of the bill in the Committee on Homeland Security that important amendments I offered concerning the national infrastructure protection plan and cargo container security were adopted. but I am also disappointed that an amendment that I intended to offer on the floor today was not accepted by the Committee on Rules. It is the CustomsTrade Partnership Against Terrorism amendment. CTPAT. as it is known. is a program that offers companies reduced inspections of their cargo. and in return the companies must submit and adhere to a security plan. There are currently 5.000 companies participating in this program that receive the benefit of reduced inspections. yet only 600 of these have had an onsite validation to ensure compliance with the security requirements. CTPAT in its current form represents a dangerous security gap that must be closed. and I hope that Congress and DHS will address this problem before it is too late. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
Date: 2005-05-18
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I want to commend the gentleman from Mississippi and the gentleman from California (Chairman CoX) for their work and leadership on this bill. but I would also especially like to compliment the ranking member for his work on this substitute. There is much in the bill that is good. the substitute is even better. for the reasons outlined by the gentleman from Mississippi
Date: 2005-05-19
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Chairman. today are considering the Interior Appropriations Bill. which provides Federal funding fcr our national parks. as well as the Environmental Protection Agency. I agree with the assessment of our ranking member. Mr. OBEY. that this subcommittee has done good work w th a difficult allocation. I would have preferred more resources devoted to important environmental. land management. and land conservation programs. As this bill moves forward. I hope to work with the subcommittee to provide EPA funding for a muchneeded study on air toxics in east Harris County. which lies in the district I represent. The Houston Chronicle recently completed a fivepart series titled "In Harms Way" that investigated air toxics in these "fenceline" communities near industrial facilities. In particular. the series noted that the Texas Commission bn Environmental Quality found that folks residing in some of Houstons East Erd neighborhoods experience higher levels of potentially carcinogenic compounds than other areas. For many years. residents have had conce:ns and questions about the quality of the air in Houstons East End. the potential relationship to local industry. and the potential health effects on families. While it came to few conclusions about health impacts of -air toxics in Houston. the Chronicle series raised an alarm and confirmed that there is a pressing need for a comprehensive Air Toxics Risk Assessment to properly identify any adverse health effects and their possible relationship to local industry. With support from the EPA. the City of Houston plans to utilize methods from the EPAs National Urban Toxics Program. which has proven successful in other cities with air quality issues. The City of Houston. partnering with the University of Texas School of Public Health. is already working to characterize the science and weigh the evidence on health effects. Feceral funding would broaden the scope of these efforts to ensure that we can include the full range of risk assessment activities in our efforts to improve the air in Houston. Tie folks in fenceline communities are often the workers who produce many of the essential energy and petrochemical products we all use everyday. and they deserve accurate information about their environment. I look forward to working with the EPA on this effort and hope that the Appropriations Committee will see it fit to include this critical funding during conference negotiations on this legislation.
Date: 2005-05-19
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I thank the gentleman from Oklahoma.. my neighbor. for yielding me this time. 1- is interesting that there is potentiai production of our natural resources that people oppose. This amendment only covers the eastern Gulf of Mexico. It only covers off the coast of Florida. Not California. not the northeast United States. even though there may be potential there. This is just the eastern Gulf of Mexico. I just do not understand what is going to happen to our country if we continue to import more and more oil. and obviously we are having to import mo:re and more natural gas. I do not know what the folks in California are goi:ng to do about energy. I know they have high prices. Get ready to have them even higher. unless we can start bringing production on line that is domestic production. and right now the gentleman from Oklahoma and the gentleman from Texass amendment is the best potential because off the western coast of Florida is some of the most productive potential for natural gas and oil fields. I guess it is frustrating because off the nation of Cuba we have Chinese and Spanish companies that are drilling closer to Florida than U.S. companies can drill close to Florida. So we havea foreign country who can drill closer to Florida. This only covers the eastern Gulf of Mexico. and that is why I think some people will say no to anything. And I do not know what is their solution. More windmills? I love windmills and we can do that. We need energy. no matter whether that comes from oil. natural gas. windmills. or anything else. The United States produces some of the safest energy that we can. The nations of Norway. Denmark. Canada. Japan. and the United Kingdom are successfully producing oil and gas from their coastal waters. and yet we leave a great deal of ours except off of Texas. Louisiana. Alabama. Mississippi. and Alaska. So. again. even though those beaches may be pristine. because I like the beaches in Texas and I consider them pristine. but we do not need to keep our head in the sand of those beaches and not realize we have to have more energy resources in our country.
Date: 2005-05-23
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of this legislation. H.R. 32 is aimed at criminals who traffic in counterfeit labels and packaging rather than the products themselves. Many counterfeit products are labeled with brand names or trademarks that consumers know and trust. However. under current law. trafficking in counterfeit labels is not illegal if the labels are not affixed to the counterfeit products. Counterfeiters have exploited this by importing the counterfeit labels and products separately. and then affixing the labels in the United States. This bill expands criminal penalties to include those who traffic in counterfeit labels and packaging. It also requires forfeiture of any property derived from the proceeds of the violation and requires restitution to the trademark owner. At the same time. H.R. 32 now includes language that will ensure that criminal sanctions do not reach legitimate businesses that repackage goods or services with no intent to deceive or cause confusion. The original bill left open the question of whether someone other than the manufacturer could affix marks to gqods that could correctly identify the source. This confusion struck at the very heart of the parallel market in which third parties lawfully obtain goods and make them available in discount stores. Not only has this practice been upheld by the Supreme Court. but it also saves consumers billions of dollars each year. I appreciate that the majority worked with us to address this concern. We now have a bill that protects manufacturers. targets illegitimate actors. protects consumers. and leaves the legitimate parallel market unscathed. Therefore. I urge a "yes" vote on this legislation. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time. fl 1415
Date: 2005-05-23
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Michigan . an original cosponsor of this bill.