macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 1985-03-07
Speaker: SAM B. HALL (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. we are discussing matters here today dealing with money and no one in this Congress wants to save money any more than I do. I think my record is clear on that. Here we are asking for a mere pittance. I feel the same way toward this committee as I do the Narcotics Subcommittee which will follow this. on which I will make some comments at that time because I am a member of that subcommittee. II11120 Everyone in this room has seen the television news just as I have. We have seen evidence not only throughout the world but in the United States. the evidence of hunger. If this little bit of money that we are asking for can help alleviate some of the hardships. some of the terrible things that are happening throughout the world and in the United States. I am the first one to say that we should pass this resolution. I think it might besmirch the integrity of this body if we refused to allow this small amount which could be used to help alleviate some of the suffering in this world today. and God knows it is rampant. So I urge my colleagues. to not cut this program out now. I do not believe the bulk of the American people would appreciate this being done. .
Date: 1985-03-19
Speaker: DE LUGO (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. did you know that your fellow Americans in the territories of the United States cannot vote for the President? If these same citizens came to one of the 50 States. they could vote for President. But because they happen to live in one of the U.S. territories. even if they were born in the continental United States. they are denied the opportunity to vote for President. This is our chance to help. to give these Americans a voice in the selection of the President of this great Nation to which they give their allegiance. And this is a bipartisan issue. The convention platforms of both the Republican and Democratic Parties contained planks to extend the right to vote for President to the U.S. territories. One of the first bills introduced in this Congress. House Joint Resolution 23. introduced by myself and the Delegate from American Samoa. will accomplish this goal. My colleague. the Delegate from Guam. will join us in reintroducing this legislation in the next few days. So today. I am urging the Members of the peoples House to join us in cosponsoring this measure and help us bring equity to the U.S. territories by allowing these Americans to vote in Presidential elections.
Date: 1985-03-21
Speaker: DE LUGO (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. the tragic and untimely death last week of Mr. Tom Adams. the Prime Minister of Barbados. was a tremendous blow to the people of Barbados and. indeed. the people of the eastern Caribbean in general. We in the U.S. Virgin Islands were stunned by his loss. and the many more who simply admired and respected him sent letters of condolence to the Government and the people of Barbados. I was privileged to have met Prime Minister Adams when I traveled with certain colleagues on the Speakers bipartisan leadership delegation to the island of Grenada. It was an honor to serve on that delegation and that honor was heightened by the opportunity to meet and discuss the Grenada situation with Prime Minister Adams. Hiswas always the voice of calm and wellreasoned logic. and he consistently demonstrated those qualities of concerned and compassionate leadership that inspired confidence throughout the eastern Caribbean. The people of the U.S. Virgin Islands join with our brothers and sisters in the eastern Caribbean in mourning his loss. Our newspaper. the Virgin Islands Daily News. expressed that feeling of loss most appropriately. and I would like to share that editorial with my colleagues. (From the Daily News of the Virgin Islands. Mar. 14.1985]
Date: 1985-03-26
Speaker: SAM B. HALL (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I have listened with great interest to what has been said here today and also what I have read in the last few weeks about this issue. We are dealing with death and destruction from all angles. That is the purpose of military weapons. Everything that has been said here today and that I have read has merit. I read the dissenting opinions in the report this morning. and all them sound good. I listened to the gentleman in the White House yesterday afternoon talking about the position he would be in if we voted against the MX program. Now. I do not have any faith or trust in the Soviet Union. I am not In a position to read the mind set of those people. I can only relate to what they have done in the past with reference to positions they have taken where the United States was concerned. and many. many times they have broken those promises with us. Suppose that we took the position that everything that has been said by all parties to this controversy. is correct. Let us suppose. on the other hand. that if we take that bargaining chip. if that is what we wish to call it. away from those people in Geneva we are depriving them of something that they may use to give us some sort of position with the Soviets. I do not want to see us placed in a position of giving something away if we do not get something in return. That is just good common horse sense. Many people say they are not going to consider the MX as a viable weapon system. I do not know whether they will or whether they will not. I am not a member of the Armed Services Committee. I am not in a position to know many of the things that have been said today that deal with this MX system. The only thing I am concerned about. primarily. is I want us to have a country that is strong. If we do not have a country that is strong and one that can stand up to any nation on Earth. then these other matters such as my good friend from Ohio just talked about will mean nothing. If tve do not have a country that is strong and does the things that are right and proper. the jobs program. and all of the other areas of our economy will be of no consequence.
Date: 1985-03-26
Speaker: SAM B. HALL (democrat)
Chamber: H

In conclusion. I would like to say this: If all of the things that have been said are correct. would we be better off at that bargaining table if we voted against the MX? Would it help us? If it would help us. then we should vote against it. If it will not help us at the bargaining table by voting against the MX. then we should vote for it. Let us then do what will be better for us in the long run to preserve the integrity of this Nation.
Date: 1985-03-27
Speaker: SAM B. HALL (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. the distinguished majority leader is to be commended for calling to our attention the retirement of our dear friend. Joe Swanner. I want to be first in line to join this welldeserved tribute to a gentleman of the first order. Joe Swanner just retired from the Federal Government with his last assignment as regional director of the Economic Development Administration for the southwestern region. He enjoyed a long and successful career both as a congressional assistant and a key administrator in the Federal service. I know how proud Joe Swanner is of his staff days here in the House. He can trace his House work all the way back to 1950. and hisrespect and admiration for the House is very strong. Thats why Joe Swanner was a successful Federal employee. He understood the relationship of Congress to the executive branch. and rather than playing an adversarial role. he sought a strong working relationship between the two branches. Joe Swarmer was present at the beginning of EDA. He helped create it. and he helped to develop it into one of the most successful and productive Government programs ever written for the purpose of providing jobs for the American people. The Economic Development Administration is his legacy. and it is truly an outstanding legacy. I know for a fact that Joe Swanner eyed every request for EDA assistance under his jurisdiction as a request for money out of his own pocket. If a project didnt appear to have merit. Joe Swanner wouldnt cut corners. In short. he always had the courage and conviction to say "no" to anyone if he felt an EDA project would not give maximum bang for the buck. We need a lot more public employees like Joe Swanner. Of course. the Office of Management and Budget has slated EDA for termination. I hope this doesnt take place. For 20 years this small agency has helped to revitalize rural America. and its done it with a modest budget and a small. dedicated staff. A major reason for its success is Joe Swanner. So. Mr. Speaker. I salute Joe Swanner on his retirement. Its well deserved. He is a great Texan and a patriotic American. and Im proud of him.e
Date: 1985-03-28
Speaker: DE LUGO (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all *embers be permitted 5. legislative days In which to extend their remarks and to include therein extraneous material on the special order given today by the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. RosTENKowsx].
Date: 1985-04-01
Speaker: ST GERMAIN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I would like to call my colleagues attention to the innovative merits of a unique mental health program presently operating in the city of Providence. RI. The program. Project CHILD [Childrens HomeBased Intervention for Learning and Development]. was created In 1981 by the Providence Center for Counseling and Psychiatric Services. Its primary objective is to address the cognitive and emotional needs of preschool children whose parents suffer from chronic mental illness. Throughout the years. this program has successfully sought out to break the cycle of dependence and illness which is literally passed on from generation to generatioi in such families. Project CHILDs exceptional work in the mental health field was recently accorded high honors at the American Psychiatric Associations 36th Annual Institute on Hospital Community. The APA is a medical specialty society representing over 30.000 psychiatrists nationwide. Chosen from among 134 applicants. Project CHILD received an award of significant achievement honoring its outstanding efforts on behalf of the mentally ill and mentally retarded. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education and the Providence Center. Project CHILD targets preschool children because their parents often lead isolated. lives. With limited exposure to people outside the family. these children often have no alternative but to model their own behavior on that of their parents. Mr. Speaker. 70 percent of the children of psychotically ill parents exhibit adjustment problems by the time they reach adolescence. I am proud of Project CHILD for having finally broken that cycle. Project CHILDs staff helps the children learn to become competent and selfrellent: First. having them complete concrete tasks in a structured environment. second. . exposing these children to healthy. concerned adults. and third. by helping them to effectively seperate from their parents so that they can establish their own identities. I commend Project CHILD for its selection by the APA as an award winning program and invite my colleagues to view its successes as a model of what can be done for the atrisk emotionally ill of our Nation.e
Date: 1985-04-02
Speaker: DE LUGO (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I wholeheartedly endorse H.R. 1373 and I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this legislation which will designate the 25.000acre wilderness located within the Point Reyes National Seashore in California as. the Phillip Burton Wilderness. Phil Burton was. without a doubt. one of the finest men I have ever met. It was a privilege to have his friendship and to work with him on issues so crucial to the poor and the underprivileged. to the ecological future of our Nation. and to the territories of our Nation. He was a man driven. and one wonders in retrospect if he did not have some premonition that he had but limited time to accomplish his goals. And what goals they were. He became the conscience of this House. and had he cared about publicity he might even have become known as the conscience of the Nation. For he took on issues that had no champions. that some. in fact. ran from. One of his former colleagues said of him: "Theres only one constituency he gives a damn aboutthe poor. the elderly. the black and the disabled." To that I would add the disenfranchised and then neglected territories of the United States. and the people of those territories will be forever grateful to Phil Burton for his efforts. guidance. and counsel on their behalf. That he accomplished so much is a tribute to his brilliant command of the legislative process and his masterful use of power that left many in awe. and others in frustration. It is still and April . 1985 will always be an honor for me that he was my mentor. His crusading efforts to protect the environment are legend. In an obituary in the National Parks magazine. he was quoted as saying: You know this business of protecting unspoiled places is kind of like a religion to me . We really have only 10 years left to save these places. For such a man there can be no more fitting memorial than the seashore wilderness. a place of soaring cliffs and unspoiled beaches next to a deep and surging ocean: So majestic. and so restless. and so like the man himself.
Date: 1985-04-03
Speaker: SAM B. HALL (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Administrative Law and Government Relations of the Committee on the Judiciary be permitted to sit today. Wednesday. April 3. 1985. while the House is considering amendments under the 5minute rule.
Date: 1985-04-03
Speaker: DE LUGO (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to announce that 123 Members of the HouseRepublicans and Democratics. conservatives and liberals. from the North. South. East and Westhave agreed to cosponsor House Joint Resolution 23. which would extend the right to vote for President to the U.S. territories of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Guam. American Samoa and the Northern Marianas. Over 123 of our colleagues agree geographic disenfranchisement of American citizens is patently unfair. Their support also shows that members of both parties take their party platforms seriously. since both the Democratic and the Republican platforms included planks advocating the Presidential vote for the territories. This bipartisan demonstration of support is deeply appreciated by the people of the territories. and I urge our colleagues who have not yet signed up to join with the 123 members sponsoring this historic legislation which reaffirms the vitality of our American democracy.
Date: 1985-04-03
Speaker: ST GERMAIN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. each year the U.S. Veterans of Foreign Wars and its ladies auxiliary conduct the Voice of Democracy script writing contest. This year more than 300.000 secondary school students participated in the contest competing for the six national scholarships which are annually awarded as top prizes. The contest theme this year was "My Pledge to America." I would like to take this opportunity to submit to the RECORD this years winning script from the State of Rhode Island. Its author is Bethany L. Goldberg who lives at 8 Cedar Lane in Warren. RI. Bethany is the daughter of Palmer and Sandra Goldberg. She is a senior at Warren High School where she serves as a representative to the student council and is a member of the National Honor Society. I join in with the residents of Rhode Islands First Congressional District in saluting Bethany for such an outstanding achievement. Her essay reads as follows:
Date: 1985-04-04
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I am happy to announce to my colleagues that today I am introducing the Food Security Act of 1985. a 5year omnibus farm bill. and in conjunction with that. I would like to read the following poem:
Date: 1985-04-04
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that. notwithstanding any adjournment of the House until Monday. April 15. 1985. the Speaker be authorized to accept resignations. and to appoint commissions. boards. and committees authorized by law or by bhe House.
Date: 1985-04-04
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that the business in order under the Calendar Wednesday rule be dispensed with on Wednesday. April 10. 1985.
Date: 1985-04-17
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. the Food Security Act of 1985 that I introduced on April 4 contains provisions dealing with the peanut program. These provisions. in common with other provisions of the bill. are designed to serve as a framework for consideration. by the Committee on Agriculture and its subcommittees. of omnibus farm legislation. Section 703 of H.R. 2000. which pertains to transfer of poundage quota� for peanuts. could be read as generally permitting transfers of quotas to farms within the same State. This is incorrect. The intent of the bill. in this regard. is to maintain the status quothat is. generally to restrict transfers of quotas to farms within the same county. As I have indicated. the Food Security Act of 1985 is to be used as the markup vehicle during committee consideration of omnibus farm legislation this year. Therefore. I am introducing a clean bill that will not only clearly reflect the intent of the peanut provisions that I have discussed. but will also correct various typographical and technical errors that appear in H.R. 2000. as printed. The clean bill. together with H.R. 2000. will thus accurately fulfill the objective that I have envisioned.
Date: 1985-04-17
Speaker: ST GERMAIN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. almost 100 percent of the banks and savings institutions in the United States proudly display an official Federal seal on their premises. Weve become so accustomed to seeing it over the past half century that most of us no longer notice it. As a matter of fact. that seal has been so effective in accomplishing the purpose for which the Federal agencies it represents were created that many have forgotten why it was considered necessary In the first place. Congress established the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in the darkest days of the worst economic crisis every to beset our country. Our country thenin the thirtieswas in deep economic depression. wracked with joblessness. with hunger and homelessness on a scale unrivaled in American history. Confidence in Americas ability to right itself was eroding rapidly. It bottomed when frantic citizens lost faith and trust in their financial institutions. There were runs on banks. Bank failures were so widespread it appeared our entire system of depository institutions would come crashing down. It was at that point a wise and concerned Congress rewrote the laws under which our depository institutions operated. These laws continue to form the basic framework of our financial system. One key to the continuing success of our depository system was the establishment of a Federal deposit insurance systema system designed to assure depositors their Federal Government stands 100 percent behind their dollars on deposits up to the present limit of $100.000.
Date: 1985-04-18
Speaker: DE LUGO (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the Speaker. Mr. Speaker. we are a great nation. but sometimes we can do some unwise things. I received in my office yesterday an excellent letter from my good friend. JAIME FUSTER. the distinguished Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico. Copies of this letter with the attachment were sent to all Members of Congress. I want to urge all Members of the House to take a moment to read the letter from the Resident Commissioner and the attachment. an article which appeared In the Wall Street Journal on April 11 of this year. written by Norman Ture. who. from 1981 to 1982. was the Under Secretary of Tax and Economic Affairs in the Department of the Treasury. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an American success story in the highly volatile and important Caribbean. The success came about through "Operation Bootstrap" which is based on section 936 of the Tax Code. the socalled territorial exemption. Now. under the Treasury tax simplification proposal. they want to do away with section 936. This section 936 provision is the basis of an American success story. the transformation of a povertystricken island in the Caribbean Into a prosperous island community that all Americans can be proud of. I hope that my friends will read this letter and think very carefully before takihg action which could be disastrous for Puerto Rico and extremely harmful to the best interest of our country.
Date: 1985-04-23
Speaker: SAM B. HALL (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I would imagine that everyone who has listened to all of the testimony and statements here the last few hours has already made up his mind as to what he intends and plans to do. I have myself. I intend to support the President in the position that he is taking today. I do not question and I do not think anyone does. the motives or the integrity of anyone who has taken a stand at this place. and who has taken a position different from the way I feel. They are sincere. honest people. who are seeking what they think is for the best interests of our country. However. I would like to share with you for just a moment an occurrence that happened a few weeks ago when Congressman SONNY MONTGOMERY and I. and other members of his codel had an opportunity to visit seven countries. Panama. Venezuela. Honduras. Costa Rica. Belize. Ecuador. and El Salvador. We spent a week in those countries. I do not take the position that by going one time and visiting those people that I am an expert on Central America. I do not take that position. but I do want to share with you some information that was given to us that I think should be made a part of this RECORD. This information was presented to us in intelligence briefings. We were told that since Mr. Ortega has been in power that this is the first time that direct shipments have come to his country from the Soviet Union. that prior to his assuming power it came from circuitous routes for his use and benefit. We were also told. and this to me is cogent to what we are discussing today. that foreign military advisers in Nicaragua today total 3.770. That these military advisers come from Cuba. Soviet Union. East Germany. Libya. the PLO organization. and North Korea. Now. I pose this question to my friends. Why are those military advisers in that country? Would anyone take the position that they are there to protect our interests? Would anyone take the position that they are in that country to try to further democracy? Of course not. They are there. in my opinion. to try to do the same thing to that country that they have done to Cuba and that is to make it a satellite of the Soviet Union. I live in east Texas and I know that some of the fighting there is closer to my hometown than my hometown -is to Washington. DC. That in itself gives me great concern.
Date: 1985-04-23
Speaker: SAM B. HALL (democrat)
Chamber: H

I am concerned about not voting this $14 million aid for another reason. I would much rather see those people fight it out down there themselves than to ever have American troops go down into Central America and shed an ounce of blood. I do not think you can compare it with the Vietnam matter because of the distance involved. if nothing else. So I would state to my friends to consider why those 3.700 people are there and if you can convince me that they are there for the betterment of the United States of America and for the betterment of democracy and that they are doing things that would be better for my children and grandchildren. I will switch over this minute and lead the fight and vote with you. I do not believe you can show me that.