macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-06-11
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I just want to say that I serve on three committees. I serve on the House Administration Committee. And I am here today in that capacity.. I serve on the Homeland Security Committee where I have participated in I would say dozens of hearings on cybersecurity at least over the years. And I serve on the House Judiciary Committee where we have -had. we have a little bit of jurisdiction. but we have actually worked pietty hard.. on our spyware issues and cybersecurity issues. We have paid attention to that. I know that the Armed Services Committee has also paid attention to the whole issue of cyber warfare and cybersecurity. The Intelligence Committee isnt allowed to tell the rest of us mere mortals who dont serve what they have done. but I certainly hope they are taking this seriously and believe that they are. I know that the gentleman has the right to close. I would just say that I would like to provide to Mr. WOLF the material from the many. many hearings that we have had. I think that he would value seeing what we have done so far. And also it would be valuable to him to see what remains to be done. As I said earlier. we have been yelling. actually yelling about this.-We have. as a Nation. tremendous vulnerabilities. And you cant always know. You can detect. unless it is spoofed. where an intrusion is coming from. You cant always say who has initiated that intrusion. But I will tell you. these intrusions and hackers are coming from all over the world -with all kinds .of intentions. And we all ought to take all of this very seriously. And we have failed. I think. to do all of the things that we couldhave done. We have workedwith the private sector. And at this point. the private sector is so wary of the Department of Homeland Security that there is a reluctance. actually. to work with the department because the information provided to the department will be so insecure. So we have a long ways to go. I am glad that the gentleman has a strong interest in this. I wish that every Member had a strong interest in it. And maybe after we are through having these presentations to the Republican Conference and the Democratic Caucus. we will have a higher level of Member interest. And maybe instead of just our few voices in the wilderness here in the House. Mr. EHLERS. Mr. LANGEVIN. myself and Mr. THORNBERRY. who have been working on this for so many years. will have more voices. and maybe we will have a better response. I certainly hope so. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2008-06-11
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I thank the chairman. That level was never fully funded. and since then. this funding has been cut. Because Federal funding for pediatric research continues to drop. many critical trials have been put at risk. As many as 20 studies has been put on hold and enrollment in new clinical trials has decreased by more than 400 children. This is taking us in the wrong direction. This act will enhance and expand pediatric cancer research activities at the NIH. establish a pediatric cancer registry. and increase educational informational and support services to patients and families affected by childhood cancer. Madam Speaker. we can do better in our fight against pediatric cancer. Lets help give our children and their families the future they so deserve by passing this bill. I urge my colleagues. and once again. thank our colleague. DEBORAH PRYCE. for leading by example in this very important area.
Date: 2008-06-11
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. MURPHY. I might need a little help with this so I can be bipartisan. Letsspread this out here. It is always better in the 30Something Working Group when we give visual examples of. what we are talking about. We walked through the agenda of the New Democratic Congress on our initiatives to try to affect the cost of energy in the shortterm and the longterm. Here is a visible example. Next to here are the names of the entire Republican leadership. and here are the four major pieces of legislation that we have moved through the Congress. Not allowing OPEC to price fix. making sure that our constituents are not gouged by prices. ensuring that we invest in renewable energy and repealing those $14 billion in subsidies. and ensuring that we have energy security going into the future. There are no yeses on this entire grid. the entire Republican leadership. What is objectionable about making sure that we dont have price gouging when it comes to gasoline? Should we allow OPEC to fix prices? Is that okay? I am just not sure which of these bills was objectionable. It is one thing for them to say that we should do some other things as well. but if we are going to try work in a bipartisan spirit and approach this problem and find a solution together. voting no on anything that doesnt prop up the oil industry is just insensitive and callous and doesnt recognize that this is a real problem that is affecting Americans in a significant way. Thank you. Mr. MURPHY. I would be happy to yield back to Mr. MURPHY.
Date: 2008-06-11
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

you are pointing out when this comes down to it. when we had the chance to gather together and link arms and be one as Republicans and Democrats. our friends on the other side of the aisle didnt join us. There have been plenty of opportunities for that to happen. for us. as Mr. RYAN says. to do what our constituents want and put politics aside. As I said at the outset. the pumps dont care if you are a Republican or a Democrat. The pumps dont care if you voted for CHRis MURPHY or not. They are going to charge you the same thing one way or another I think Mr. ALTMIRE is right. Maybe they have the best intentions at heart. But it is a pretty simplistic solution to a pretty complex problem: Drill more. drill more. Again. you are just feeding the beast. You are continuing to perpetuate a monopoly on energy that offers no real competition. What you need is not competition betweenExxon and Mobil. You need competition between oil and electric. between biodiesel and gasoline. That is what you need competition among. That is how you are going to solve this thing in the end. But so long as the solution to high oil prices is just more oil and nothing else. Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. RYAN. you are not getting anywhere.
Date: 2008-06-12
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I rise today to raise awareness of an increasing problem with H2B Visa abuse in my hometown of Houston and elsewhere. Fraudulent recruiters are increasingly bringing in foreign workers for temporary. low skill positions by claming there is a labor shortage for this type of work. These recruiters frequently advertise positions with wages below what they should be paid. and when there are no responses the employers claim there is a labor shortage and bring in foreign workers to do that work. The Immigration and Nationality Act requires that the hiring of foreign workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers working in the occupation in the area of intended employment. However. these regulations are not being strictly enforced. The Department of Labor has proposed new procedures based on its contention that its workload. and the workload of State workforce agencies. has greatly increased in recent years due to the H2B visa program and that an adequate rise in funding to meet that increased workload has not occurred. The proposed changes would cover many aspects of the H2B visa application process. including the moving of filing of State workforce agencies to the Natioial Processing Centers. New requirements for- employers to report on the status of their H2B employees should be enforced. I am extremely concerned about these changes. because current regulations are not being strictly enforced at the national level. or at the State workforce agency level and moviog filings to the national processing center along with these other changes will not improve enforcement. This lack of enforcement is driving down wages. and preventing individuals from gaining experience necessary to move into higher paying jobs. Congress needp to act and should require recruiters to be certified or licensed to prevent temporary workers and their U.S. employers from being misled about the nature of their visas being defrauded or victimized by outrageous fees. This would allow oversight of the recruiting process which is a muchneeded addition to the program. Madam Speaker. I plan to work to see that this issue is addressed. that these rules are corrected. and I urge my colleague to join me in fixing this problem.
Date: 2008-06-12
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. when you are born into poverty. you enjoy such delicacies as mayonnaise sandwiches without mayonnaise. When youre born into poverty. phrases like "but for the grace of God. there go I" have true meaning because you understand you have been there. This bill will not fuel rockets to Mars. It will. however. put fuel in gas tanks right here on" Earth. It will not put a man on the Moon. but it will put food on the table of somebodys home. But for the grace of God. there go I. I will support the bill.
Date: 2008-06-12
Speaker: LINCOLN DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Tennessee

Madam Speaker. its a pleasure today to come on the floor and talk about ways that this Congress and those of us who serve here can help those who are unfortunate to have lost a job. I have watched the opposition on the other side attempt for the last couple of years to make illegal immigration their issue. I have watched with dismay as they continue to bring to this floor and blame Democrats in this .Congress for the cost of gasoline at $4 a gallon. Back home wd have a saying: that dog aint gonna hunt in this pongress. In fact. when you look at what they attempted to do on immigration. their Presidential candidate introduced an amnesty bill. and now their attempts on the floor are to block this Congress from even introducing legislation or passing legiglation that would have been an energy package that would even attempt. that would attempt. to tell oil companies you have to pay your fair share of taxes. So what theyre now trying to do is block legislation that gives amnesty to big oil companies. Again. thats not going to work. And now they come to the floor saying payasyougo principles are not being followed with this bill thats been introduced. and I hope it passes today. So as we look at this legislation. lets talk about payasyougo. I used to be an employer. Today in Tennessee. if you 6mploy someone. you pay between .15 percent. less than 1 percent. up to 10 percent as an employer of what each employee earns. Theyre paying as they go. At Forbus General Store. my friend Joe pays every paycheck every week so much percentage of what his employees earned into a Federal trust fund. Hes paying as he goes. And when someone has to be laid off because jobs are not available. the economy turned sour. those individuals apply for and receive unemployment benefits. Were paying as we go constantly. We have close to $40 billion in the trust fund. Currently. this bill today scored with the CBO saves roughly $10 billion cost over 10 years. This Congress has .attempted to address the issues of oil prices and unemployment.
Date: 2008-06-12
Speaker: LINCOLN DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Tennessee

It seems to me that as we listen to the other side. theyre constantly trying to find some way that would be a head shot on issues for. an election campaign. I tell you whos getting a head shot right now. folks who work at furniture factories in Tennessee and North Carolina. folks who work at auto industries. Their jobs are being lost. Thats a head shot to them.
Date: 2008-06-12
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. democrats in Congress have pushed to extend unemployment benefits since the beginning of the year. as the economy weakened. but have faced continued resistance from the Bush Administration. Nobody can argue that our economy is struggling. For five consecutive months. the U.S. economy has lost jobs. totaling 324.000. Over the last year. the number of unemployed workers has grown by 1.6 million. The number of people looking for work climbed to 8.5 million in May. Nearly 1 in 5 jobless workers (1.6 million) is longterm unemployed (jobless for more than 26 weeks). There are 200.000 more longterm jobless Americans now than when President Bush signed the last extension of unemployment benefits into law in 2002. The airline industry has eliminated 22.000 jobs so far this year. more than in all of 2007. most recently at Continental (3.000 jobs) and United (up to 1.600 jobs). and the automobile industry continues to .ace job cuts. leading industries with announced layoffs in May with over 30.000. In May. we had the biggest onemonth jump in the unemployment rate in two decades. The unemployment rate surged to 5.5 percent from 5.0 percentthe biggest onemonth jump in more than two decades (since February 1986) and climbing to the highest level in nearly four years (October 2004). The unemployment rate is now a full percentage point higher than a year ago. Families can wait no longer. and neither will this Congress. Today. the House will take up H.R. 5749. the Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act: To immediately provide up to 13 weeks of extended unemployment benefits in every state to workers exhausting the 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits. In states with higher levels of unemployment (six percent or higher). an additional 13 weeks would be available. for a total of 26 weeks of extended benefits. Relief would run through Marclr 2009. The bill would provide muchneeded relief to 3.8 million unemployed workers to assist them with rapidly rising gas and food costs. while they continue to struggle to find work in the slowing economy. Federal unemployment trust funds. which have more than enough reserves to cover the cost. will finance these benefits. In Texas. this bill would help 160.239 unemployed workers. Extending these benefits is one of the most costeffective and fastacting ways to stimulate the economy because the money is spent quickly. According to the Congressional Budget Office. every $1 spent on unemployment benefits generates $1.64 in new economic demand. This bill costs $11 billion over 10 years. or 1.1 billion per year. That is approximately 3 days in Iraq. I commend my colleagues. Congressman MCDERMOTr and Congressman ENGLISH for introducing this bill and I urge my colleagues to support its passage.
Date: 2008-06-12
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Chairman. I rise to support the NASA authorization act and to thank Chairman GORDON and Representative UDALL for their leadership and exceptional work on this bill. On May 31. I experienced the thrill of attending the most recent shuttle launch in Cape Canaveral. Florida. As I witnessed the intense brightness of the rockets afterburners and felt the rumble of the Earth as the shuttle lifted off. I could feel the pride and strength of American innovation and technological leadership. I have to tell you that I was surprised at how emotional I felt watching the shuttle hurtle towards the sky. and my heart really burst with pride in the American spirit and our ability to move forward generation after generation. The continuity of the space program is critical to maintaining this leadership. The space shuttle is scheduled to retire in just 2 years. yet a lack of funding has delayed its replacement until at least 2015. Without adequate funding. not only would we lose jobs. but we would be forced to rely on Russia to access the International Space Station. The economic return on our investment in the space program is far greater than many realize. In fact. NASAs budget accounts for less than sixtenths of 1 percent of the Federal budget. and yet the benefits of space exploration are vital to our daily lives. Our TVs. cell phones and computers. as well as the military and weather forecasters all rely on satellite technology developed through space exploration. Last year. Speaker PELOSI announced "The Speakers Innovation Agenda." an action plan to keep America as the leader in global science and technology. This agenda includes educating a new generation of innovators and committing to research and development. By supporting NASA today. we are committing to innovate. to create new opportunities and markets. to drive discovery. and to push the boundaries and limitations that are before us. It is vital that we instill this curiosity and drive in the next generation. I know it was instilled in the next generation that Im raising because my son announced to me after he saw the shuttle launch. he said. "Mom. I want to be an astronaut." And for me. as the National Chair of the Womens High Tech Coalition and cochair of the Young Womens Task Force. I want to express particular support for the Hodes amendment. which establishes a scholarship program in honor of Christa McAuliffe. the teacher who died in the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster. The scholarships will go to women pursuing degrees in mathematics. science. and engineering. and would further support women seeking careers in fields related to NASAs mission. We really need to expand the young womens and young girls interest in the science and mathematical fields. As leaders and legislators. we must work to harness the talent. intellect. and entrepreneurial spirit of Americans. I urge my colleagues to support this bill to ensure that NASA has the resources to continue to promote American competitiveness.
Date: 2008-06-12
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Chairman. the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is a strong economic driver in the State of Texas and an important national resource. My colleagues and I on the House Committee on Science and Technology have worked on this legislation to reauthorize many of NASAs programs for 1 year. This action will provide a funding bridge until next year. and it will provide important funding for research and programs in the areas of science. aeronautics. exploration. education. space operations. crossagency support programs and other activities. NASA celebrates 50 years since its establishment. For 50 years. NASA research has enabled scientists to continue to do groundbreaking research in a zerogravity environment. with untold benefits. For example. one of the many spinoff technologies from the Hubble telescope is the use of its Charge Coupled Device (CCD) chips for digital imaging breast biopsies. The resulting device images tissue more clearly and efficiently than other technologies. The CCD chips can detect the small differences between a malignant or benign tumor. without the need for a surgical biopsy. This saves the patient weeks of recovery time. and the cost for this procedure is hundreds of dollars vs. thousands for a surgical biopsy. With over 500.000 women needing biopsies a year. the economic benefits are tremendous. not to mention the reduction in pain. scarring. radiation exposure. time. and money associated with surgical biopsies. Of course. this is just one of so many examples of NASA research that benefits society with broader applications. H.R. 6063 authorizes $20.21 billion in funding for NASA in fiscal year 2009. I support this legislation and urge NASA to continue its education efforts. A welleducated technical workforce is essential to NASAs success. and it is imperative for the agency to continue to invest in education as well as its other activities. Again. I want to congratulate NASA for 50 years of stellar work.
Date: 2008-06-18
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. nearly one in five unemployed Americans have lost their unemployment benefits because it has taken them longer than 26 weeks to find a new job. Obviously. most companies are laying off. Imagine not having a job. losing unemployment benefits. and then trying to pay for gas at the pump and food at the grocery store. This Democratic Congress knows it is tougher to find a job when the economy is not producing them. That is why we passed legislation last week giving these workers an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits. In my home State of Texas. there are more than 45.000 workers who have already exhausted their unemployment insurance and 115.000 more that are expected to exhaust their benefits by March of next year. This legislation would help all of these people. But President Bush and his Republican allies here in the House oppose our efforts. even though the President supported a similar extension back in 2002 when the economic situation is not nearly "as bad as it is now. Mr. Speaker. millions of American workers need help from this Congress today. Washington Republicans should reconsider their opposition to this important legislation.
Date: 2008-06-18
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. today I would like to honor the service of Anaheim City School District Superintendent Sandra Barry and to wish her luck in her upcoming retirement. Throughout her 11 years with the school district. including the last 8 as superintendent. Mrs. Barry has done an excellent job leading the Anaheim City School District. which is the largest elementary school district in Orange County and one of the largest in the State of California. I applaud Superintendent Barrys commitment to the entire Anaheim community. Mrs. Barry has given her time and energy to many causes. including being on the board of directors for the Tiger Woods Foundation. the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce. the YMCA and the Police Chief Community Advisory Board. Her dedication to the community and the future of our Anaheim children is clear through her many achievements. I sincerely thank superintendent Barry for her leadership. her commitment and her dedication to brightening the academic future of every Anaheim elementary student. She will be missed. but her lasting influence. and especially with respect to all the educators in the district. will go on for a long time in Anaheim. I wish my good friend the best in her retirement. and I thank her for making the Anaheim City School District a great place to learn.