macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-09-10
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in opposition to H.R. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to express my opposition to H.R. 3522. the Employee Health Care Protection Act. While the title of this legislation and those supporting it claim that it will protect employees. in fact. it will prevent millions of Americans from accessing the consumer protections and important reforms included in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). H.R. 3522 would permit any health insurance issuer offering coverage in the group market in 2013 to continue to offer that coverage through 2018. These insurance policies would not have to comply with the consumer protections that went into effect in 2014. This bill is differentand much worsethan the Administrations grandfathering policy. It means that insurance companies would be able to cherry pick. offering low rates for inadequate barebones policies for some groups but discriminate against. charge higher prices. or offer weaker coverage for others. The bill would put insurance companies back in the drivers seat. If this became law. insurers will be able to continue to discriminate against small businesses if they have an older workforce. more women in their workforce. or if any of their employees or their children has preexisting health conditions. And small businesses will face higher premiums and continue to see their premiums spike year to year if an employee has an accident. develops a chronic health condition. or has a complicated pregnancy. Since the Affordable Care Act became law. businesses have added nearly 10 million jobs and in just the past few months. more than 10 million people who were previously uninsured have gained health insurance coverage. Premiums have risen at historically low levels. and the life of the Medicare trust fund has been extended by 13 years. We have come far in the effort to stop the worst abuses of the insurance industry and provide Americans with true coverage that protects them from bankruptcy. annual and lifetime limits. discrimination. and from being dropped from their plans when they need them the most. Rolling back critical reforms and returning to a broken system is not the answer. I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill and work together to improve the law for all Americans.
Date: 2014-09-10
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

I thank the gentleman for his leadership on this issue and so many other important issues. I would now like to recognize a leader on this issue from New York. Representative of Staten Island and Brooklyn. Congressman GRIMM.
Date: 2014-09-10
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

I thank the gentleman for his leadership and for joining us tonight on this Special Order. Tonight is a time to remember how just 13 years ago. this entire country and even this fractious Congress came together. We were united and determined as I have ever seen this Congress before. strong in our resolve and ready. without question. to put country before self. We worked together to bring comfort to the afflicted and justice to the terrorists behind this attack. With bipartisan cooperation. we rebuilt Lower Manhattan. the Pentagon. and put in place a memorial in Pennsylvania honoring the heroes on United Flight 93 that was headed towards our Nations Capitol. There is still much more left to do. and we need to have that same spirit to approach the challenges. such as the crucial AntiTerrorism Risk Insurance Plan. the TRIA bill. has not been reauthorized yet. and the James Zadroga 9111 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 needs to be reauthorized. This and still much more needs to be done. not some day. but now. Around 9111. there is a great deal of rhetoric. but actions speak more than words. Let us come together. and let us get these two important bills and other bills done in a bipartisan way. We shall never forget. Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2014-09-11
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I was unavoidably delayed in a security briefing on the issues dealing with the terrorist group ISIL and I missed the vote on the motion to recommit on HR. 3522. the Employee Health Care Protection Act. If I had been present. I would have voted "aye."
Date: 2014-09-15
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. sometimes we have the opportunity to come and to share some of the joys of America. This month is gospel music history month. and I am delighted to be able to say that we are celebrating the history of gospel music. In 2008. former Senator Blanche Lincoln and myself introduced a resolution to name September gospel music heritage month. and we are doing that to be able to reflect upon the writers and singers and musicians of gospel music throughout the country. in different areas around. in Appalachia and the Deep South and Midwest and the Far West and the east coast where people sing it in their own way. where soldiers sing the music and people sing it for comfort and joy. Tonight at the Kennedy Center. we will be honoring the former Senator. Blanche Lincoln. of Arkansas with Yolanda Adams and Kirk Franklin. These are individuals who represent a long trend of history in gospel music. but the real idea is to say that America is such a free and wonderful country that we can reflect upon the goodness of so many. singing songs of joy and praise. without the degradation and the trepidation of government interference. gospel music heritage. simply to say thank youthank you for the music over the years. From the 1700s and 1800s and 1900s. through war and peace. gospel music has been a comfort to many Americans. I am delighted to celebrate and thank all of those who have contributed to the great history of America. gospel music history month.
Date: 2014-09-15
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to recognize the career of my constituent Kevie Niland who recently retired after 34 years of service to the United States House of Representatives. Kevie came to the House in 1980 to be a constituent service coordinator for Congressman Miller. beginning a long career of service to the American people. She later moved to the Clerks office. starting as an administrative assistant before becoming Assistant Clerk to the Official Reporters in 1995. Four years later. she was named Reading Clerk. and then. in 2009. she took the office of Deputy Chief of Legislative Operations for the House of Representatives. Kevie served under seven Speakers of the House. from Tip ONeill to JOHN BOEHNER. and has had a front seat for many historic and spirited debates in this Chamber. I have encouraged her to write a book. but she has responded. "No one would believe it." Her extraordinary efforts to record and support the work of the House makes our actions open and transparent to all American citizens and holds each of us accountable to the constituents we serve. I know Kevie plans to take a welldeserved vacation. but I expect that she will continue to find ways to serve her community. I know we all feel very lucky to have benefited from her work here in the House. Mr. Speaker. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Kevie Niland on her outstanding and productive service to this body and to our country and wish her the very best in her wellearned retirement.
Date: 2014-09-15
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of Chairman KLINEs amendment in the nature of a substitute to S. 1086. The Child Care and Development Block Grant. or the CCDBG. is an indispensable resource for millions of children and families nationwide. This enables parents to send their kids to safe. highquality. and affordable child care so they can work or attend training programs or provide for their families. Meanwhile. the program helps place children in the sorts of environments they need for healthy growth and development. However. it has been almost 20 years since last we updated this program. In that time. we have learned that we need to do more to ensure that children receive highquality care in safe settings. That is why this vote is so very important. That is why I am so pleased to have reached bipartisanbicameral consensus on this legislation. I would like to thank all of the organizations for their support of this legislation in the process of finalizing this legislation. which has been done over the last several weeks. This bill is not on suspension because it is unimportant. it is on suspension because we recognize the urgency of getting this done this year. and we also recognize a growing national bipartisan consensus about the value of children being placed in highquality. safe environments during their early learning years. I would like to include letters from the following organizations: Save the Children. Child Care Aware of America. the National Womens Law Center. the Center For Law and Social Policy. Zero to Three. the Early Care and Education Consortium. the National Association for the Education of Young Children. the Childrens Defense Fund. the National Education Association. and the American Federation of Teachers.
Date: 2014-09-15
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I thank my friend. Mr. GRIJALVA. for his assistance on this bill and his leadership on so many other important issues. Mr. Speaker. I join my colleagues in rising in strong support of S. 476. a bill to restore the authority of the C&O Canal National Historical Park Commission. I joined with Congressman FRANK WOLF and Congressman JOHN DELANEY to introduce companion legislation to this bill in the House and appreciate the work of my friend Senator CARDIN in the Senate and Chairman HASTINGS and Ranking Member DEFAZIO of the Natural Resources Committee in bringing this bill to the floor of the House today. The C&O Canal National Historical Park begins just a few miles from this Capitol and follows the old C&O Canal and towpath for about 185 miles to reach Cumberland. Maryland. Along the way. as Congressman HASTINGS says. it passes through three States. and it passes through the District of Columbia and many cities and towns in rural areas. It is a treasure of the National Park System. providing a place for visitors to learn about the history of the canal and enjoy the scenic views from the towpath. The C&O Canal National Historical Park Commission was established along with the park in 1971. an idea of my former boss. Senator Mac Mathias of Maryland. and former Congressman Gilbert Gude of Maryland. They believed that a park spanning so many diverse communities should have a formal channel through which park management could seek advice and input on park policy from its many neighbors. For years. this model worked well. and then the authority for the Commission expired in 2011. Mr. Speaker. the legislation before us today would reestablish the Commission. allowing it to resume its critical service. While the Commission would have no authority to make binding park policy. it would serve an important advisory role and strengthen the relationship between the park and its neighbors. Mr. Speaker. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation today and thank the Natural Resources Committee for bringing this to the floor in a bipartisan basis.
Date: 2014-09-15
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 2996. the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act of When it comes to jobcreating bills. many of our promises these days can seem empty. But the bill before us today will deliver results. not just rhetoric. This bill. if enacted and funded. will do more than any other measure this Congress has recently debated to revitalize American manufacturing and create highskill. highpaying jobs in communities across the country. The decline in U.S. manufacturing has been a threat to middle class jobs and to our entire economy for decades. Many of those jobs. however. were lowskilled jobs. never to return. But we have also seen a large number of higherskilled jobs move offshore. along with the supply chain that supports manufacturing. The good news is we experience a rebound in goodpaying. highskilled jobs as our economy continues to recover and manufacturers realize the advantages of remaining close to the worlds greatest scientific and technological talent. However. these gains remain modest. In the meantime. our international competitors are busy implementing and funding policies that will further threaten the American manufacturing base and send our best talents overseas. I am deeply concerned that we could reach a tipping point beyond which it will be nearly impossible to rebuild a vibrant manufacturing sector here in the U.S. We must act now to ensure that American companies and factories maintain their capacity to be the most sophisticated in the world and that American colleges and universities graduate the workforce to fill advanced manufacturing jobs on our shores. The Revitalize American Manufacturing Innovation Act. or RAMI. is a critical step toward this goal. This bill makes strategic investments in advanced manufacturing research. development. and education across our Nation. In keeping with our entire history of innovation. this bill creates partnerships involving the public sector. the private sector. and our great research institutions for the benefit of Americans. However. even if this bill gets enacted this month. our job is not done. Specifically. I am concerned about an unnecessary obstacle we have added to the bill that could make it difficult to stand up and sustain this program. To meet majority rules about offsetting all new authorizations. the bill that passed out of committee contained language that by some subsequent interpretations looked like appropriating on an authorization bill. I want to assure my appropriations colleagues that if I had my way. we would have written a straightforward authorization as we have always done throughout this committees history. Clarifying language has been added to the bill. but we now look to the appropriators to take the next step necessary of standing up for this program in fiscal year 2015. In that regard. I look forward to working with my appropriations colleagues to ensure that this program gets funded next year and for the duration of the authorization. I would like to thank my colleagues.
Date: 2014-09-16
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I thought it was extremely important to rise today to congratulate the President on recognizing the crucialness of the fight against this horrific disease Ebola in Africa. I have been in Africa over the last 4 or 5 months. Ebola is devastating to the West African countries. They have been fighting on their own. but it has been recognized that they do not have the infrastructure to be able to contain the disease. We are sending 3.000 of our men and women of the United States military but. as equally important. we are providing for the selfmade hospital containers that can be utilized to provide the infrastructure for these countries to be able to fight Ebola. There is no medical system existing now because everyone is fighting. and therefore everyone is. in essence. ensuring that the illness is not taken care of. This is a crisis. We need to be engaged. and we need to fight against Ebola so it can be extinguished and the people in Africa can get back to their lives again.
Date: 2014-09-17
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I want to acknowledge the value of our Constitution. I just left the Homeland Security hearing on the horror of ISIL and held up the Constitution to say that we will not allow terrorists to undermine our values. and I am grateful that we live under the Constitution that we do. With that in mind. I encourage my colleagues to join me on H.R. 5488. a bill that I have introduced that would call for the reviewing and looking at the watch list to make sure that no foreign fighters are left off of that list and that there is a no fly for foreign fighters. again. reminding us of the processes which we use. and I hope that there will be those who will do so. I also want to acknowledge the fact that we are facing economic growth. but we are also experiencing problems. All I hear from the NFL are the expression of problems. I sent a letter to Director Goodell of the NFL. the commissioner. to say. "Put your resources where your complaints are." There are so many groups that are dealing with violence against women and abuse of children that we need to provide the NFL the resources to all of those groups. We need the NFL wives to be engaged. Stop talking. and lets do something. This is disgraceful. but there is an epidemic of domestic violence. and the NFL can stand up and announce a major fundingas my colleague in the Senate has indicatedto be able to lift all of these groups that struggle every day to reach these women. I would also add to them. put a campaign: see something. say something on domestic violence. I ask the NFL to stand up and be counted.
Date: 2014-09-17
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. I rise today in opposition to this amendment. I dont take that lightly. I spent 18 years on the Armed Services Committee and about 12 years on the Homeland Security Committee. and with any decision like this. we have to weigh what we know and what we dont know. We know that. if left unchecked. ISIS would become a direct threat not only to the United States. but possibly to the entire world. That is why we are going after them currently in Iraq with partners that we know we can trust. such as the Kurds. We know that we cannot sit on our hands. close our eyes. and hope that ISIS goes away. That is why we need a good plan. We know that we cannot do this alone. that we need a committed international coalition to stop ISIS. The President says we have a coalition of 40. You know. it is interesting because I remember the Iraq war and the coalition. Some of our coalition members sent one person. I would really like to know who our coalition is and what they are really going to do before I vote for any plan. What dont we know? We dont know how moderate these Syrian rebels really are. In fact. some of my Syrian constituents. Syrian Americans who live in Orange County. have told me that there are no moderates left or. worse. that the moderates. given the choice between losing or Assad or ISIS. want ISIS. and they say people arent going to fight against ISIS. We dont know if somewhere down the line they will turn our guns right back on us. In fact. that is one of the scarier things that we have to face. We simply dont know who we can trust. In an uncontrolled. wartorn destabilized country. who do we trust? We can look back. for example. at what happened in Central America. how the rebels there. who were armed by the United States. went after innocent civilians. This blood will be on our hands when that happens. We need a winning strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIS. Now. we are in an election season. Everybody says this isnt political. but I know. I have been talking to colleagues on both sides of the aisle. and some are wondering what they do 7 weeks away from an election. I have got to tell you. this is not a political vote. The last time people took a political vote in this House. it was on the Iraq war. and many of my colleagues say it was the worst vote they took.
Date: 2014-09-17
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. while I support airstrikes. I rise in opposition to this amendment. While there is no doubt that ISIS is a brutal terrorist group that is wreaking havoc in the region. at this time. none of the evidence I have seen. including U.S. intelligence reports. and none of the arguments I have heard convinces me that getting involved in a religious civil war in the Middle East will be successful or effective in keeping our homeland safer. I cannot support what could turn into a war on three fronts: fighting ISIS in Iraq. fighting ISIS in Syria. and potentially Assad in Syria. Nor can I support an unprecedented scenario in which the U.S. tries to reinvent a substantially degraded rebel army to act as our boots on the ground against a former ally of theirs. ISIS. all while ignoring their stated objective of overthrowing Assad. And this entire plan depends on our ability to identify socalled moderates in Syria who would be prepared to die for our agenda. It is not at all clear how we are going to do that. Trillions of dollars spent. allout war. and more than a decade of occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan did not produce the peace we sought or the stability we were promised. We spent $25 billion to train the Iraqi Army to defend their own country. and they were decimated by ISIS in a matter of days and left their weapons to ISIS. What would make anyone believe that spending a great deal less money to train a rebel army to defend our interests would turn out any better? Mr. Speaker. this is a wellintentioned effort. but it is not a viable strategy. I urge a "no" vote.
Date: 2014-09-17
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. as a mother. I can see those who are now mourning because they have lost their babies. their family members. I can see the Yazidis in the mountains in Iraq fearful. and I can hear the cries of mothers whose sons were viciously beheaded by a terrorist group that most cannot understand the level of its viciousness. I rise today. Mr. Speaker. to say that doing nothing is not an option. and I want to say to my friends and to my colleagues. ISIL has been here. for in 2005 Ayman alZawahiri. deputy head of al Qaeda. had a killer idea. and that was to establish an Islamic State. It percolated for a number of years. In 2014. now. we have voices being raised across the world knowing that ISIL exists. and that is exactly what they want us to do. be terrorized. I refuse to be terrorized. and I also refuse to do nothing. Mr. Speaker. I do not stand here today to vote for an authorization to use military forces. I will not vote to send our precious treasure again to that region. but I do believe that the President has a strategy. unlike some of my colleagues. a systematic campaign of airstrikes. increased military assistance. regional political effort and humanitarian aid. changing the face of the Islam religion that people believe is the Islam religion. and looking to those who support the core values of Islam. That is a strategy. yet we have to address ISIL. There are 20.000 to 31.000 fighters making their way across the land. so I believe that an existing provision under section 10. provision 10. simply to train and to provide instruction to those individuals who can be in the fight in the region. train them with the expertise of the United States but not put our precious treasure on the ground. ISIS has no restraint. and we remember the names of James Foley. Steven Sotloff. British aid worker David Haines. and 40some members of the Turkish diplomatic corps held by ISIS and many others. so I believe it is important to note what we are doing here today. In the McKeon amendment. it provides an opportunity for Congress to be advised 15 days before action. We should hold the administration to that. We should also say that any authorization for military forces. it must be a debate on the floor of the House. I will not vote for that today. I will not vote for that. I do believe. again. Mr. Speaker. that we cannot stand and do nothing. I think it is extremely important that we do something. and I hope others will look at the resolution that I have and the no fly for foreign fighters. H.R. 5488. which I have introduced. I would like to add something else to the McKeon amendment. It indicates that appropriate committees will be advised. The legislative history of this debate should reflect that the Homeland Security Committee is an appropriate committee and should be one of those that is appropriately advised.