macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-02-25
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Mr. Speaker. in the runup to the 2012 elections Republicancontrolled legislatures passed a wide range of bills designed to restrict. rather than broaden. access to the ballot box. Despite multiple comprehensive reports and findings demonstrating that impersonating another voter is more rare than being struck by lightning. thirty one states now require ID. fifteen require photo ID. for voting. potentially disenfranchising five million voters mostly minorities. especially African Americans. and senior citizens. Other recent oppressive state laws aim at making it more difficult to register to vote and scale back early voting periods. Several states undertook massive (and subsequently proven fraudulent) purges of the voting rolls. Some of the most egregious attempts at suppressing the vote occurred in states which required preclearance under the 1965 Voting Rights Act because of their long history of voter suppression. Without Section 5 in place. many of the roughly 2.400 blocked voting changes proposed since 1982 would have had a significant adverse impact on voters. Following the Civil War Congress recognized the critical central role of voting in our democracy and passed the fifteenth amendment which gives the Federal Government primary authority to prevent discrimination in voting. The amendment was ratified by the states and the Voting Rights Act (VRA) is a direct implementation of that authority to prevent any attempt to limit access to the ballot. The Supreme Court has itself noted that Congress. not the Court. has the special responsibility to protect voting rights. The fact is that. in an overwhelming bipartisan vote in 2006. Congress found that voting discrimination continues to persist. and it undermines our democracy and therefore reauthorized the VRA for twentyfive years. This year marks the 48th Anniversary of the 1965 SelmatoMontgomery March which led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act and I join in calling for a new generation of Freedom Riders to join with tens of thousands of original Freedom Riders in standing tall for our hard won voting rights.
Date: 2013-02-25
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. as the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments in Shelby County v. Holder this week. it is critical that we recognize the importance of upholding the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in order to preserve the rights of all Americans. To strip the VRA of its most effective provision now would be to turn our backs on millions of Americans who continue to be targeted by discriminatory voting practices. The 2012 Presidential Election exemplified the persistent threats that work to disenfranchise voters. Long lines at polling places. the purging of voter registration rolls. and blatant efforts to intimidate select groups of voters have mired the electoral process in many localities. In Texas. two harsh voter mandates were passed in 2012 which were designed to create hurdles to voting with restrictive voter ID laws. and to dilute the voting power of the burgeoning minority population. In a testament to the necessity of the VRA. both measures were blocked under Section 5. preventing inequality of voting rights in Texas. Historically. Congress has always reauthorized Section 5 of the VRA on a bipartisan basis. and as recently as 2006. The U.S. Department of Justice has filed more than 1.000 objections under Section 5 since 1982. protecting millions of voters from discrimination. The Supreme Court has upheld Section 5 of the VRA four times. Mr. Speaker. voter disenfranchisement still poses a great threat to the electoral process. The Voting Rights Act is an essential tool in our fight to preserve equal voting rights for all Americans. Through the VRA. Congress has exercised its constitutional authority under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to ensure voters have free and fair access to the polls. Until there is sufficient evidence to suggest that efforts to suppress minority voters have been mitigated. the Voting Rights Act must be upheld in its entirety.
Date: 2013-02-26
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Mr. Speaker. I rise to pay tribute to my predecessor. who came to the House basically as an auditor. an accountant. not one who was greatly involved in public activity but quickly learned the ways of the House. became chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. and a leading voice in equity for women in sports. I lived in the same community that she and her husband lived in. and our community is especially proud of the accomplishments of the honorable Cardiss Collins.
Date: 2013-02-26
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. and I rise in support of House Resolution 77. And I commend the chair of the committee and the ranking member for bringing this to the floor. and I hope that all of our colleagues will participate in this competition for students in STEM subjects to create these apps and to further. hopefully. their careers in STEM. But I must tell you. Mr. Speaker. I am also deeply worried that our hopes to increase the number of students who will participate in STEM education and become part of the STEM careers that are available to them that this Nation so desperately needs could all be for naught. this resolution and all of our efforts. if on Friday we are not able to set aside the sequester and make a balanced proposal to reduce the deficit and to provide for the ongoing needs of this Nation. Right now. if we do nothing between now and Friday. there will be a $740 million cut to title I. impacting over 1 million students. lowincome students. and 9.000 teachers and staff jobs. Those are the people that we want to encourage to go into STEM. Those are the very same students that have a 1 in 7 chance of having a qualified teacher teach them mathematics or science in their schools. So the very population that youre trying to encourage will have less of a chance because of sequestration. Over $600 million cuts for students with disabilities. eliminating some 7.800 teacher and staff jobs with respect to those students. For those students who are trying to acquire the English language so they can participate in STEM careers and STEM academics. nearly 210.000 children and 450 teachers would be eliminated by the sequestration. And the same goes with community learning centers. where its an opportunity to expose these students. after school and in additional time. to these careers. to these opportunities. to the applications and to the Web sites that are available to them that they cant use during class time. But. finally. there is even a more direct harm that will be done by sequestration. and that is that the National Science Foundation would issue nearly 1.000 fewer research grants and awards. impacting an estimated 12.000 scientists and students and curtailing critical scientific research. Thats the scientific research that builds this Nation. And for that reason. I ask unanimous consent that the House now take up H.R. 699. a balanced approach introduced by Mr. VAN HOLLEN. to replace the sequestration and save jobs and avoid these cuts in education that are so desperately needed.
Date: 2013-02-26
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. does that mean that we will not be taking up sequestration between now and Friday so that we can get rid of the sequestration with a balanced plan?
Date: 2013-02-26
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of H. Res. 77. the Academic Competition Resolution of 2013. For years. the annual art competition sponsored by the U.S. House of Representatives recognizes imaginative high school students from every congressional district in the United States. Like the congressional art competition. H. Res. 77 establishes an academic competition in the fields of science. technology. engineering and math (STEM) to be held each year among students in each congressional district across the country. It is just and appropriate for the United States House of Representatives to incentivize STEM education by highlighting outstanding youth across our country who are excelling in these disciplines. The highest growth sectors. such as information technology. require a workforce proficient in STEM. Producing students with the STEM skills needed to fill the jobs of the future is necessary to maintaining our nations innovation capacity and creating new highskill. highpaying jobs at home. As Ranking Member of the House Committee on Science. Space and Technology. I know that to strengthen our nations technological workforce and infrastructure we must encourage and incentivize STEM education. Mr. Speaker. as we rise in support of H. Res. 77 to encourage STEM education and American innovation. with the fiscal cliff looming I would be remiss if I did not warn against cutting our critical federal R&D investments. As we struggle with our own deficits. we too can make the strategic choice to continue to invest in our futureboth in our human capital and physical infrastructureor we can make the strategic choice to permanently cede our leadership. to fail our current generation of young people. and to put our economy in a state of stagnation for years to come. It is when our economy is hurting the most that we should be redoubling our efforts to innovate our way into a brighter future of new jobs. new technologies. and untold societal benefits.
Date: 2013-02-27
Speaker: BEN RAY LUJAN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New Mexico

Madam Speaker. in recent years weve seen an increase in major weather events. especially in the continental United States. From recordsetting superstorms to severe droughts and devastating wildfires. the recent impact of climate change cannot be ignored. In my home State of New Mexico. ranchers and farmers are struggling to maintain their livelihoods in the face of drought conditions. while last year wildfires threatened communities that have still not fully recovered. A rapidly changing climate affects everyone on the planet. Climate change impacts agriculture. water supplies. power and transportation systems. and even our health and public safety. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and one of the worst wildfire seasons in the western United States that weve ever seen. its time to work together on commonsense solutions that will allow us to use power in a smarter manner. produce clean and abundant renewable energy. and reduce emissions through energy efficiency. These are things we should be able to agree on and work together on in a bipartisan manner. It is critical that we move forward with a sense of urgency and take meaningful action that addresses the very real threats of climate change that are already impacting our country. Sequestration is devastating America today. Madam Speaker. we just heard from one of my colleagues. This week were scheduled to go on recess on Friday. I hope that my colleague that spoke today. Madam Speaker. reaches out to Speaker BOEHNER and ERIC CANTOR and says. Keep us in session. Lets stop this sequestration from happening. And its quite simple. The fix to this legislation could be put together in one sentence: Stop it. I guess even better. in two words. Madam Speaker. we have a sense of urgency across the country when it comes to working on climate change legislation. but as we talk about the impacts to each and every one of our districts with what sequestration will bring with job losses. lets stand together and stop this. Lets ask our leadership to allow us to vote on a simple couple of words: Stop sequestration. and lets prevent it from happening.
Date: 2013-02-27
Speaker: NEGRETE MCLEOD (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you. Madam Speaker. Today. I urge all of my colleagues to join together to avert the automatic trigger cuts brought forth by the sequester that are scheduled to begin in 2 days. These cuts will hurt small businesses. the military. seniors. and our children. In California. it is estimated that more than 15.000 children will not receive vaccinations for diseases such as measles. whooping cough. and influenzaall because of these automatic trigger cuts. This is unacceptable. In addition. special education services for children with disabilities will see cuts. while over 8.200 lowincome children in California will not receive critical early education from Head Start. Children deserve better from their Members of Congress. That is why we need a balanced approach to replace sequestration. which includes revenues and spending cuts. thereby ensuring the most vulnerable are not burdened. I. therefore. ask unanimous consent to bring forth H.R. 699 to provide balanced deficit reduction.
Date: 2013-02-27
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I rise today in the memory of Mr. Michael Anthony Solis. who was an educator. He taught at Anaheim High School in my district. He was a champion for lower income students. He grew up in Riverside. California. and his family grew up in pretty poor circumstances. but education was always important to them. He enrolled in Riverside Community College where teachers encouraged him to be an educator. As a student teacher. Michael became involved with the AVID program. a program that helps to close that achievement gap from lower income students to the normal. Mr. Solis went on to teach AVID in various southern California schools. He was also the director of AVID for our county education program. He most recently served as our assistant principal at Anaheim High School. He was impassioned about education. He knew that this would make a difference in so many peoples lives. Even though he lost a 40month battle with cancer. he will be remembered by all who knew him. and his legacy will move forward in all of those students whose lives he has impacted.
Date: 2013-02-27
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. I rise today in opposition to the amendment made under this rule to gut the Senatepassed Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013. The Senate bill is a bipartisan approach that protects vulnerable populations. and the amendment made under this rule would remove those protections. Furthermore. S. 47 includes legislation that I have worked on in these two past Congresses with Representative VIRGINIA Foxx of North Carolina. who I call my good friend. and Senator KLOBUCHAR of Minnesota. I reintroduced the STALKERS Act this Congress and am pleased that it is included in the underlying bill. No one can deny that the Internet is a great tool for all of us that connects billions of people around the world. But one of the problems with it is that its proven to be an effective weapon for stalkers to prey on innocent people. Current Federal stalking statutes simply have not caught up with the new tools and the emerging technologies that these criminals use. The STALKERS Act would bring our laws into the 21st century by giving law enforcement the tools they need to combat stalking in the digital age.
Date: 2013-02-27
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. I urge my colleagues to pass the rule and the underlying bipartisan Senate Violence Against Women Act. This is the first bill that I worked on when I came to Congress with the great LOUISE SLAUGHTER and Patricia Schroeder. and thenSenator JOE BIDEN. It has been reauthorized in a bipartisan way many times. From 1994 to 2010. about four in five victims of intimate partner violence have been female. These numbers are real people. and so are the tragedies behind them. But this is not about politics. This is about the single most fundamental task that we require of our government: to keep its citizens safe from violent assaultsall of our residents. all of our citizens. immigrants. no matter what the sexual orientation is of our citizens. Its for all of our citizens. I am pleased that two of the bills that I have authored are part of the Senate version. It would be ripped out by the Republican version. so I strongly support the bipartisan Senate version. One I authored with Representative POE in a bipartisan way. and that was the SAFER Act. This took the monies and directed Justice not to spend more money but to process the backlog of DNA kits in rape cases to put rapists behind bars. And also. the Campus SaVE Act. Theres too much violence on campus. One in five women will be sexually assaulted during their college years. This provision that I authored would increase the obligations of colleges to keep students safe and informed about policies on sexual assault. Also. the very bipartisan. important antitrafficking bill is part of it. So I urge my colleagues. in a bipartisan. historic way. to reauthorize. repass the Violence Against Women Act. the Senate version.
Date: 2013-02-27
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank you so much for the time. Isnt it ironic that today. the Supreme Court of the United States of America is considering section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in terms of whether it will continue to apply to the United States of America and those specific States and areas that are included therein. This is being done at the same time we are considering the Violence Against Women Act. which in my opinion should be called a Family Violence Act. I say this because we cannot exclude people because of their sexual orientation. This is my watch. I have a duty to stand up for those who are being left out or left behind. This act should include the LGBT community. and any substitute that would remove the LGBT community is a substitute that I cannot support. Isnt it ironic that today. the Supreme Court is considering section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. and we just had a statue of Rosa Parks made available to the public in Statuary Hall? Friends. its time for us to come up to the standards of this time. and lets bring all of our people with us. The LGBT community merits our consideration. I will not vote for the substitute. I support the LGBT community.
Date: 2013-02-27
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank Ranking Member SLAUGHTER. I hope tomorrow this House will finally have a chance to vote on the bipartisan Senate bill to prevent violence against women. I hope tomorrow we will also have a chance to vote on a proposal that weve now put forward three times this year to replace the sequester. Unfortunately. the rule reported out of the House Rules Committee denies us that opportunity. So lets just remind people what will happen starting March 1. Starting March 1. if this House does not take action to replace the sequester. we will lose 750.000 American jobs between March 1 and the end of this year. Those are not my numbers. those are not President Obamas numbers. those are the numbers from the nonpartisan. independent Congressional Budget Office750.000 fewer American jobs by the end of this year if we dont replace the sequester. This majority in this House has not taken any action this year in this Congress to prevent that sequester from happening beginning Friday. not one step. We have now asked three times for the opportunity to vote on our alternative. So whats our alternative. Mr. Speaker? Our alternative would replace the sequester with a balanced mix of cuts and revenue generated by closing tax loopholes and tax preferences that benefit the very wealthy. So very specifically- because its a concrete proposalwe would get rid of the direct payments that go to agribusinesses. something that used to have bipartisan support because thats an unnecessary subsidy that has outlived its purpose. So thats a cut. We also say we no longer need taxpayer subsidies for the big oil companies. Guess what? Thats an idea that was proposed by President Bush who said taxpayers should no longer be giving these big breaks to big oil companies. they dont need that extra taxpayer incentive in order to keep producing oil and making record profits. So we do that. Then we say to folks who are making $2 million a year that were going to limit the number of preferences you can take. Were going to limit the number of tax breaks that you take that allow you to effectively pay a lower rate than the people who work for you. So if youre making $2 million or more per year. we say you should pay an effective tax rate of 30 percent.
Date: 2013-02-27
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

If you take that balanced combination of targeted cuts and the elimination of tax breaks that disproportionately benefit very wealthy people. guess what happens? You get the same deficit reduction over the budget window. so you reduce the deficit by the same amount as you would get if you allow the sequester to take place throughout this year. but you do it in a way that does not lose 750.000 American jobs. You do it in a way that does not cause disruption at our airports. in a way that does not cause disruption to our food safety system. in a way that does not cause disruption to the nurses who are caring for our veterans in military hospitals and veterans hospitals around this country. and in a way that does not disrupt our military operations. So. Mr. Speaker. we just have a simple question: Why is it that as we gather here Wednesday. were denied the opportunity to even have a vote on this alternative. this balanced alternative. to prevent the loss of 750.000 American jobs? Were not asking Members of this House to vote for our alternative. although we think its a good one and would urge them to do so. Were simply asking that in the peoples House we have a vote on an alternative to something that will create these great job losses and that great disruption. I think the American people are going to ask themselves why we were not even granted that opportunity with less than 3 days to go before we hit that acrosstheboard sequester. which is just Washingtonspeak for massive job loss and massive economic disruption. In addition to the job loss. according to the independent Congressional Budget Office. it will cause onethird less economic output in the United States of America in this year at a time when the economy remains very fragile. So I ask. finally. Mr. Speaker. give us that opportunity at least to vote so people have a choice to prevent the sequester. I thank the gentlelady from New York. the ranking member of the Rules Committee.
Date: 2013-02-27
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. just three numbers: 750.000 fewer American jobs. cutting growth in GDP by onethird. not economic output but growth in GDP by onethird. Thats one number. The second number: three. the number of times weve tried to get a vote on this. The third number: zero. the number of times our Republican colleagues this year have tried to resolve the sequester issue.