macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-01-08
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Chair. I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: Beginning on page 2. strike line 5 and all that follows through line 2 on page 3. and insert the following: "(8)(A) A trust described in paragraph (2) shall. subject to subparagraph (B) and section 107. provide upon written request and subject to payment (demanded at the option of the trust) for any reasonable cost incurred by the trust to comply with such request. to any party that is a defendant in a pending court action relating to asbestos exposure. information that is directly related to the plaintiffs claim in that pending action. "(B) A defendant requesting information under subparagraph (A) shall first disclose to such plaintiff and such trust. subject to an appropriate protective order the median settlement amount paid by that defendant for claims settled or paid within 5 years of the date of the request. by disease category. for the State in which the plaintiffs action was filed. No personally identifiable information shall be included in any exchange of information under this paragraph.". The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 581. the gentlewoman from Texas and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Texas.
Date: 2016-01-08
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Chair. I think most of all that we have had a vigorous discussion on behalf of the American people. I hope they are listening. I hope my colleagues are listening because. as I listened to the debate myself. I heard a continuing theme: Lets bash the plaintiffs and those seeking justice and make sure we make our friends who want to eliminate costs. eliminate the road to justice. provide them with an opportunity to reconfigure the road that has the Lady Justice balanced scales as a symbol of this system. When I heard my colleague from Texas. a good friend. talk about costs and making sure that the individuals in the class are spread out so that they are limited in the ability to press their case. I got the answer. Again. I say that a oneway street to justice is unacceptable. There are too many people who died that I cannot stand on this floor and deny those who are sick and ailing or those who had in the 1950s thalidomide where babies were born with malformations because women took medicine that had not been tested. The Jackson Lee amendment would provide a balanced approach to the bills disclosure requirements by applying transparency rules in the bill equally to the asbestos industry defendants. Specifically. this amendment will require that an asbestos defendant seeking information from the trusts about a plaintiff to first make available to the plaintiff and trust information about the median settlement amount paid by that defendant for claims settled or paid within 5 years of the date of the request for the State in which the plaintiffs actions were filed. The American Bar Association understands my point. Frankly. in their comments. they made the following statement that I think is important: "We oppose legislation such as H.R. 1927. because it would unnecessarily circumvent the Rules Enabling Act. make it more difficult for large numbers of injured parties to efficiently seek redress in court"-again. a oneway street-"and could place added burdens on the already overloaded court system." The ABA goes on to relate how this bill is a poor bill. I include their letter for the RECORD.
Date: 2016-01-08
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Again. my friends. this speaks to the idea that we are not focusing on the plaintiff. So the injured party is at a disadvantage. Let me say to my colleagues that this bill is unnecessary because. in a class action. you do not get the same amount of money. It just allows you to put together your resources to press forward your case. So if you are a poor farmer or if you are a poor waitress or you are someone driving a 1989 car and you are in a circumstance that puts you in a category where that car. even as old as it is. had some defect and you have no ability to press your case. you have the ability to press your case along with others. I am outraged to think that they would deny that. So my amendment says to the defendant: You need to put forward all the information that you are demanding of those individuals who are singularly unable to provide the kind of legal representation that they need. If transparency was the true goal of this bill. then. why doesnt the bill require settling defendants to reveal information important to public safety? The asbestos health crisis is the result of a massive corporate coverup. Trust information is already public. So lets make it a twoway street. Let me also include for the RECORD a letter and these words: "Far from being evenhanded. this bill allows defendantsand only defendantsto do an endrun around state rules of discovery that place limits on informationgathering. The bill would tip the scales of justice in favor of asbestos defendants." Re Opposition to Section 3 of H.R. 1927. the Fairness in Class Action Litigation and Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act of 2015 Hon. PAUL RYAN. Speaker. House of Representatives. Washington. DC. Hon. NANCY PELOSI. Minority Leader. House of Representatives. Washington. DC.
Date: 2016-01-08
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Chair. I vigorously disagree with my good friend from Texas because it is very clear that the bill would tip the scales of justice in favor of asbestos defendants by giving defendants access to information about victim settlements with asbestos trusts while allowing the defendants to continue hiding information about their settlements. My amendment asks for the defendants to give the same information. No matter how much my good friend tries to redirect and suggest that this bill does not do that. it does. Might I also suggest that the other side offered the suggestion that there were groups like Save Our Veterans. The Cost of Freedom. Veterans Resource. that were representing the veterans community. Again. I would take issue with that representation. I insert into the RECORD a whole list that has been recounted by the gentleman from Georgia . my colleague. Re Veterans Service Organization oppose H.R. 1927 the "Fairness in Class Action Litigation and Furthering Asbestos Claims Transparency Act" Hon. PAUL RYAN. Speaker of the House. House of Representatives. Washington DC.
Date: 2016-01-08
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Chair. I demand a recorded vote. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII. further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Texas will be postponed. The Acting CHAIR. The Committee will rise informally. The Speaker pro tempore assumed the chair.
Date: 2016-01-08
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

hometown of San Bernardino fell vicfornia. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to tim to gun violence and was added to a list that no community wants to join: Aurora. Newtown. Chattanooga. Charleston. and the list goes on. And that is the problem. the list goes on. The only action Congress has taken to address the epidemic of gun violence has been to hold moments of silence in honor of their memory. As a father of two young boys and as San Bernardinos voice in Congress. I cannot be silent. We owe it to our communities. from San Bernardino to Newtown. to do something. As one of the family members mentioned earlier in the week: "Congress has offered their thoughts and prayers. but thoughts and prayers are cheap when you have the power they have." While one single law could not have prevented the horrific events in San Bernardino. that doesnt justify a refusal to take action to make our communities safer.
Date: 2016-01-08
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. the jobs numbers released this morning are excellent. This is a very strong way to end 2015. The numbers are a reminder of just how far we have come since the long. dark days of the Bushera recession. The economy added 292.000 private sector jobs last month. Businesses now have added jobs for a record 70 straight months. The unemployment rate stands at 5 percent. half of what it was at the peak of the recession. and the gains are becoming more broadly shared. The unemployment rate for African Americans fell 1.1 percentage points last month. It now stands at the lowest level since 2007. Of course. there is much more that needs to be done. We must make sure that every American family benefits from this recovery. Some of my colleagues across the aisle will continue their efforts to cast doubt on the Obama recovery. I urge them to look at the numbers.
Date: 2016-01-11
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise in support to S. 142. the "Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act." which requires any nicotine provided in a liquid nicotine container sold. offered for sale. manufactured for sale. distributed in commerce must be in special packaging that is difficult for children under five years of age to open or access harmful contents. As the founding member and Chair of the Congressional Childrens Caucus. I am in support of this bill because it places the safety of children first. Today. small children are at risk of injury and death from easily accessed liquid nicotine used to refill electronic cigarettes. Nicotine liquids used in ecigarettes are sold without child proof packaging. Further. these nicotine products are attractive to children because they come in a wide range of candy flavors such as gummy bear. cotton candy and chocolate. Liquid nicotine is highly toxic and sold in a highly concentrated form. Many liquid nicotine products contain nearly 36 mg of nicotine per milliliter of liquid. According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids the concentrated form of nicotine in liquid form intended for use in smokeless cigarettes would only take a small 15 milliliter dose to kill four toddlers. According to the Centers for Disease Control the number of calls to poison centers involving ecigarette liquids containing nicotine rose from one per month in September 2010 to 215 per month in February 2014. Data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) showed nearly 4.000 adverse incidents related to ecigarette exposures in 2014. a 145 percent increase from 2013 and a 14fold increase since 2011. In 2015. there were 1.499 calls to Poison Control Centers through May 31. 2015 that were liquid nicotine related. This bill would save childrens lives by allowing the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) the authority to require the use of childresistant packaging on liquid nicotine containers sold to consumers.
Date: 2016-01-11
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise with a sense of concern. of sadness. and. also. of relief regarding the heinous shooting of the Philadelphia police officer. I am grateful that he managed to survive. that he is in the hospital. and that he is healing. We wish him and his family well and that he. as well. will heal. I think it is important to note that we need to look at the rage of gun violence from a sensible and logical perspective. Yes. the Presidents proposals would have had an impact on this crazed. allegedly ISILinspired individual who had no direct contact with ISIL. who had not been to the caliphate to fight. and who. unfortunately. had a previous criminal record. How would the proposals do so? First of all. it was a stolen gun. The President has suggested there be 200 more ATF officers to enforce the law. He has provided $500 million for mental health resources. and this individual suffered from that. In addition. he has provided for data collection. for the FBI to redo and to make more certain the inspection or the review of someone who is trying to get a gun. Mr. Speaker. lets look logically at what the President has offered. and lets not get in the way. Lets try to help stem the tide of gun violence so that our officers. as well. are not in the line of fire.
Date: 2016-01-11
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. last week. President Obama announced a series of executive actions aimed at reducing gun violence across the United States. President Obama laid out these muchneeded steps in the face of Congressional inaction. which will help to reduce the senseless gun violence that affects countless communities across our nation. In 2014. firearms claimed the lives of more than 33.000 Americans. Over 2.800 of those fatalities took place in my home state of Texas. Perhaps there will be a time when we no longer will have to read headlines about mass murders in our schools or movie theaters. But until then. our nation must take concerted steps to strengthen background checks. improve mental health services. and keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. This is what President Obama has sought to achieve and I truly believe that this can be done without infringing on lawabiding citizens right to bear arms. There have been numerous critics of President Obamas executive actions to reduce gun violence. However. we can no longer stand by as gun violence claims the lives of more innocent Americans. The President is limited in what he can achieve through executive actions alone. That is why Congress has the responsibility to pass comprehensive gun safety legislation now and put our nation on the path to preventing such violence from happening again. Mr. Speaker. gun violence affects individuals of all backgrounds in communities all across the United States. It is not a Democratic issue nor is it a Republican issue. It is an issue that affects every American in one form or another. Successfully reducing gun violence in this country will take more than just legislative action from Congress. It will take the collective effort of every American to change the course of our history and end gun violence in America once and for all.
Date: 2016-01-12
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Mr. Speaker. I rise to pay tribute to Mr. Otis Clay. an outstanding international artist who lived. worked. and was intimately involved in the North Lawndale community of Chicago. which I am proud to represent. Otis Clay was born in Waxhaw. Mississippi. and ultimately made his way to the west side of Chicago. where he made his home. Otis began his musical career as a gospel singer and. like many other artists. switched over to rhythm and blues and recorded his first hit in 1967. "Thats How it is When Youre in Love." which reached number 34 on the national charts. Otis performed and recorded in Europe. Japan. and Switzerland. Although Otis Clay reached national acclaim. he continued to live in the North Lawndale community. was a regular at local churches. festivals. and community events. He established his own recording studio. owned a local cleaners. and was known as a regular in the community. I was fortunate to have Otis Clay attend and perform at many events that I sponsored over the years. and it was indeed an honor to be able to call him my personal friend. Otis was involved with the Tobacco Road Project and was instrumental. along with Alderman Dorothy Tillman. in establishing the Harold Washington Cultural Center in the Third Ward on the south side of Chicago. My neighborhood and our world community has lost a great artist and entertainer. but also a great human being. I extend condolences to his family. I know that. when the gates swing open. Otis Clay will come walking in.
Date: 2016-01-12
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I rise today in honor of Joseph Jackson. Jr.. a resident of my hometown of Anaheim. California. Mr. Jackson was born on April 14. 1937. to a domestic worker and a janitor in Memphis. Tennessee. during the height of segregation. His tremendous civil rights contributions date back to 1960 when he was elected as the Youth Council president of the NAACP at Tougaloo College. Mississippi. On March 27. 1961. as a young college student. Mr. Jackson participated in a peaceful civil rights movement with eight others. You see. he wanted to be able to go into the Jackson. Mississippi. Municipal Library. They did a sit ina "read in." they called it. These nine civil rights students were recognized as the Tougaloo Nine. Mr. Jacksons desegregation movement started small. but his efforts led our Nation to ultimately desegregate public institutions. As we celebrate Martin Luther King. Jr.s Day. he has had an incredible impact. but let us not forget the Tougaloo Nine. We honor Mr. Joseph Jackson. Jr.. and the Tougaloo Nine for their historic achievements. nonviolent activism. and their courage to advocate for a civil society.
Date: 2016-01-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. this is an exciting day as the President presents to us his vision for the Nation. In addition. over the weekend. Speaker RYAN indicated his vision and the opportunity for Members of Congress to pass serious legislation. which includes criminal justice reform. How exciting it is to be the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Crime. Terrorism. Homeland Security. and Investigations and to work with my colleagues Mr. GOODLATTE and Mr. CONYERS and all of my colleagues on that committee to talk about important issues. Just today. we passed a bill dealing with mental health programs. A DOJ report found that 64 percent of those in jail. 54 percent of State prisoners. and 45 percent of Federal prisoners have some form of mental illness. Jails and prisons now house more than three times the number of mentally ill individuals than do mental health facilities and hospitals. It is clear that part of criminal justice reform deals with mental health. but it also deals with rehabilitation and reentry. which we are discussing in the Committee on the Judiciary. In addition. we are working on reforming the juvenile justice system. My message. Mr. Speaker. is. as the President speaks. as the Speaker has spoken. it is time now that we come collaboratively. Republicans and Democrats. and truly end mass incarceration and find a way to solve the criminal justice problem both by reducing gun violence. reducing crime. and helping the people who need the help.
Date: 2016-01-13
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. let me thank my ranking member and the chair of the committee for their diligence in running this committee and overseeing some of the most important legislation for our Nation. The Clean Water Act is the key Federal law used to protect our Nations waters and ensure that millions of Americans have access to clean water. The resolution of disapproval being considered today would block the implementation of important administrative reforms aimed at clarifying key components of this Clean Water Act. These reforms include considerations on how we define tributaries to traditionally navigable waters and sets out clear exclusions to the definition of waters of the United States. among other changes that will help streamline the regulatory process. Countless municipalities. businesses. and industry stakeholders have expressed concern around the confusing and outdated regulations established under the Bush administration. In fact. more than a million public comments submitted to EPA and the U.S. Corps of Engineers have contributed to the formulation of this final rule. The final rule would provide muchneeded predictability and clarity for these groups. and that has got my attention. In my home State of Texas. 43 percent of the residents get their drinking water from sources that rely on small streams protected by the most recent Clean Water Act and rule. The rule also restores protections to more than 12.000 miles of streams that feed into Texas drinking water sources. Further delaying the implementation of this rule will continue to have a dramatic impact on my State of Texas and other States around the country. I see a number of immediate problems with this resolution. For one. S.J. Res. 22 would block any future administration from ever clarifying the regulatory confusion related to the Clean Water Act unless Congress authorizes a new rule. In my opinion. that does not bode well for our ability to protect such an essential resource as clean water for Americans. Thankfully. President Obama has already expressed his intention to veto this resolution if it were to reach his desk. Based on a vote on this resolution in the Senate last year. Congress lacks the support to override a veto. This resolution is simply another attempt by this Congress to block this administration from carrying out its regulatory duties to protect Americans. I do not think that there is a single Member of this House who would disagree that access to clean water is absolutely essential for our wellbeing and health.
Date: 2016-01-13
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Here we are. dedicating even more time to consider legislation that would block our ability to protect important waterways and wetlands from pollution. Mr. Speaker. this resolution amounts to nothing more than a misguided direction. No one thinks that any American should be subjected to a questionable quality of water. For this reason. I would urge my colleagues to vote "no" on this resolution.
Date: 2016-01-13
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentleman from New York for his kindness. I acknowledge the chairman of this committee for his courtesies in debating this legislation. Mr. Speaker. first of all. I think it is important for all of us to acknowledge the safe return of our United States sailors and to recognize that the United States was persistent and determined and. as well. made no apology and that the Iran Government moved quickly to return them. Let it be very clear that our sailors did nothing wrong. Obviously. when other sailors are in trouble. let me thank those who remain. as our heroes do. They leave no person. in essence. behind. So I am very grateful. and I know their families are grateful that they are safe. That. Mr. Speaker. is a distinctive point from where we are today. Everyone knows that Iran is a bad actor. Some of us on this floor voted for the Iran nonnuclear agreement while others did not. But I believe that we do ourselves harm when we continue to renegotiate or to revote. as we have continued to do 62 times with regard to ObamaCare. This legislation would restrict the Presidents ability to lift sanctions on Iranian entities. thereby preventing the U.S. from carrying out its commitment under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. signed in Vienna. Austria. on July 14. 2015. Specifically. the bill would require the President to certify that the delisted entity has not knowingly facilitated a significant financial transaction or has provided significant financial services to the IRGC or to terrorist affiliates. This. of course. would be a very difficult and hindering aspect of the Presidents responsibilities in his role as the Commander in Chief. It would specifically prevent the delisting of 400 banks. companies. and individuals that are engaged in Irans nuclear program. particularly the Central Bank. Section 2 would require the President to certify to Congress that any entity from the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions list has not ever knowingly facilitated a significant financial transaction.