macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-01-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise to share the story of Patricia Maisch. Pat. as her friends call her. lives outside Tucson and has been fittingly hailed as one of the heroes during the tragic shooting of our colleague and friend GABBY GIFFORDS. Pat actually knocked the second gun clip out of the shooters hand as he was attempting to reload. very likely saving the lives of more innocent people. She was in line to talk to her Congresswoman. to share that she thought that the title of the health care repeal bill was disingenuous and because Pat and her husband own a small business north of Tucson. The spouse of one of their employees has a preexisting condition and they have been unable to find affordable coverage to cover her. Pat wanted to tell Congresswoman GIFFORDS that the health reform law will help them provide health insurance for this employee. She wanted to ask Gabby to stand up to attempts to repeal health reform. Pat was unable to deliver her message to her Representative. but she asked me to share it with you now. Heed the words of Pat Maisch. Heed the words of millions of Americans needing health care. Dont repeal vital health care reform.
Date: 2011-01-19
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. thank you so very much. I look forward to working with you. Its time to bust a number of myths. Its time to really tell the Americans the truth. As we begin another series of 5hour debates on repealing a lifesaving initiative. its really time to tell the truth. Maybe its time to tell the truth about this senior citizen. who had pneumonia and didnt know she had it. But if she had not had "a governmentrun health system." Medicare. she wouldnt be laying up in a sophisticated medical facility. providing her with the opportunity to live. Any of you know about pneumoniawalking pneumonia can kill you. It killed my grandfather. who did not have access to this quality health care because he did not have Medicare. Its time to bust the myths. Its time to tell our physicians that Democrats worked hard to build up your reimbursement. We were the leaders on it. This has nothing to do with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. because as this bill grows with research dollars. we also have the opportunity. with the President. to work on reimbursement. This bill is a bill to save lives. And those in Texas know it. Mr. Speaker. because the Texas insurance agency said it is a good bill.
Date: 2011-01-19
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I yield myself 30 seconds. I would just say to the gentleman from Tennessee it is universally recognized that there was no worsedesigned health care plan than TennCare. that all you did was extend the benefits and no cost containment and no payfors. and it damn near bankrupted the State. It is also recognized that nowhere have health care costs gone up faster than in the private sector. much faster than Medicare because. once again. there is not much in the way of cost containment. You just reimburse people for the cost. This legislation has cost containment. and that is why CBO says. if you repeal it. you will drive up the shortterm deficit to $30 billion and longterm deficit to $1.2 trillion. That is the difference. I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York . a member of the committee.
Date: 2011-01-19
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Can I just say to the gentleman from Minnesota. I think Im starting to understand the physician shortage in the country. most of them are in the Congress. apparently.
Date: 2011-01-19
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I yield 112 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu). Mr. WU. Mr. Speaker. while America desperately wants more and better jobs. Washington Republicans want to waste time today debating a health care repeal charade. But lets look at what health care reform repeal would actually do. In my congressional district alone. repealing this law would allow insurance companies to deny coverage for up to 360.000 individuals with preexisting conditions. including up to 45.000 children. Lets mend this act. dont end it. A repeal would eliminate health care tax credits for up to 19.000 small businesses and 164.000 families. Mend it. dont end it. A repeal would eliminate new health care coverage options for 3.100 uninsured young adults. It is time to mend it and not to end it. In 50 years. Mr. Speaker. health care reform will stand beside Social Security. the GI bill. and Medicare as a pillar of American health care and humane values. The people of that time will not understand why it was hard to pass in the first place or why we are spending time today rehashing old business. Its time to fix health care reforms remaining deficits and to mend it. not to end it.
Date: 2011-01-19
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. as a Member of Congress from Texas. I supported the health care reform law proudly. Texas has some of the highest rates of uninsured in the United States. Twentysix percent of our Texans are uninsured6.4 million residentscompared with the national average of only 16.7 percent. Over the past 8 years in Texas. employerbased insurance coverage has dropped 18 percent. Now. only 48 percent of Texans have health insurance provided by their employerswell below the national average. Texas has some of the highest health insurance premiums in the U.S. A family of four making $44.000. the average premium outofpocket is $6.548almost 15 percent of their income. In Texas. our State Department of Insurance report to the legislature acknowledged the positive impact of the Affordable Care Act. The State of Texas Department of Insurance concluded the Affordable Care Act will have a positive impact on the State and help Texans gain access to private insurance coverage. As the Department of Insurance report states. "the removal of underwriting restrictions. new premium rating reforms. availability of subsidies and limitations on outofpocket expenses for low- and middleincome families should make it easier for many lowincome Texans to obtain private insurance." In our district in Houston and Harris County. 40 percent of my constituents were uninsured when we passed the Affordable Care Act in March of last year. Repeal. H.R. 2. would be a major setback to what were trying to do in our own district. To cite a few local statistics from the repeal on my constituents: increase the number of people without insurance by almost 217.000. allow insurance companies to deny coverage to at least 102.000 people in our district. including at least 12.000 children with preexisting conditions. eliminate health care tax credits for 14.600 small businesses and 177.000 people. increase prescription drug costs for 4.400 seniors in my district who fell into that doughnut hole except for health care reform. My Republican colleagues want to work on improving it. Im here to do it. but repeal is not the answer.
Date: 2011-01-19
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I want to respond. because if the Constitution means anything. it also shows that as Members of the House and the Senate. the legislative branch. its not our job to decide constitutionality. My opinion is just as important as yours. Its the nine people over in the Supreme Court that the Constitution gives that authority to. And I think the health care law is constitutional. because all those companies serve all of our States. Its across State lines. The commerce clause works that way. So hiding behind the Constitutionand we read it here on the floorthis bill will be constitutional because Social Securitys constitutional. mandatory insurance in our States is constitutional. So we can have that argument. It doesnt do any good.
Date: 2011-01-19
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. its no secret that our economy is still sluggish. So our top priority in this Congress should be about creating jobs. Its certainly my top priority. And I want to work with Republicans to meet that goal. Instead. House Republicans are focused on repealing patients rights. putting insurance companies back in charge and ballooning the deficit. American families have suffered and waited far too long for the freedom and security that affordable health care provides. And now the Republican majority is trying to take that freedom and snatch that security away. If Republicans have their way. families will once again lose their benefits when insurers unfairly cancel or cap their coverage. If Republicans have their way. children with disabilities and pregnant women wont be safe from discrimination by insurers. If Republicans have their way. seniors in my district will be forced to return the $250 in prescription assistance they received under the Democratic health care reform bill. and millions of hardworking Americans will lose the freedom to start their own business because they will be afraid of giving up the health insurance tied to their current job. This is a costly plan for seniors. children. and families in my district and for the taxpayers of America. To stand up for families that deserve and need our help. we must reject this plan. I urge everybody to vote "no" on the repeal of health care. I thank the gentleman from Michigan.
Date: 2011-01-19
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Thank you very much. Chairman LEVIN. I really appreciate it so very much. I have listened for the last 2 days. and I have heard my friends from the other side refer to this as ObamaCare. so derisively. meanspiritedly. But let me assure you what were talking about that is the law of the land today is not ObamaCare. It is Americas health care for all the American people. It is the health care for that senior citizen who is sitting down at her kitchen table thankful that she now has a 50 percent discount on all of her prescription drugs. and she does not want to see this repealed. Its for that youngster who can now be on his parents insurance until hes 26 years old in these tough economic times. The American people want this and do not want to see it repealed. And I want to say to the American people. have no fear. let not your heart be troubled. This law will not be repealed. Yes. they will vote for it today. But its not going to be taken up in the Senate. and its not going to be signed by the President. So what do the American people say about this? They want us to be concerned about jobs. And certainly if we have to deal with this health care. why should we not be dealing with some of the critical issues? The American people do not want this bill. this law. repealed. They want it fixed. Theyd love to see Democrats and Republicans working together on the 1099s. Sure. theres too much paperwork for small businesses. Let us work on that. This medical liability issue. the number one reason why kids are not going into medicine. let us work on that. And the reimbursement rate for our physicians. The American people want us to fix it. not repeal it.
Date: 2011-01-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise to share the story of Patricia Maisch. Pat. as her friends call her. lives outside Tucson and has been fittingly hailed as one of the heroes during the tragic shooting of our colleague. GABBY GIFFORDS. Pat actually knocked the second gun clip out of the shooters hand as he was attempting to reload. very likely saving the lives of more innocent people. She was in line to talk to her Congresswoman to share that she thought that the title of the repeal bill was disingenuous. and because Pat and her husband own a small business north of Tucson. The spouse of one of their employees has a preexisting condition. and they have been unable to find affordable insurance to cover her. Pat wanted to tell Congresswoman GIFFORDS that the health reform law will help them provide insurance for this employee. She wanted GABBY to stand up to attempts to repeal health care reform. Pat was unable to deliver her message to her representative but asked that I share it with you now. Heed the words of Pat Maisch. Heed the words of millions of Americans needing health care. Dont repeal health care reform.
Date: 2011-01-19
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to speak in strong opposition to H.R. 2. the "Patients Rights Repeal Act". Repealing the law would take us back to the days when big insurance companies had the power to decide what patients can receiveallowing them to once again deny coverage to children with preexisting conditions. cancel coverage when people get sick. place limits on the amount of care people can get. or overcharge for insurance just to boost their profits. The Texas Department of Insurance issued a recent report that noted nearly 26.1 percent of Texans are without health coveragecompared to the national average of 16.7 percent. who are uninsured. Without the Affordable Care Act. Texans stand to lose: Critical Consumer Protections that ban health insurance plans from denying coverage based on an individuals health status would be lost. Young adults under the age of 26 would lose their coverage through their parents health plans. Patients with private insurance coverage would suddenly find themselves vulnerable to annual and lifetime limits. New insurance plans would no longer be required to cover recommended preventive services. like flu shots. Seniors who have Medicare coverage would be forced to pay a copayment to receive important preventive services. like mammograms and colonoscopies. and Small businesses would lose tax credit assistance to help families purchase affordable health insurance. Early retirees between the ages of 55 and 64 would lose health coverage through their employers for them and their families. I am confident that if we repeal Affordable Care Act. we present a grave. unhealthy danger to the lives of all Americans by playing politics. I urge my Republican colleagues to revisit the thought of repealing the Affordable Care Act by working with eager Democrats to continue building a bridge to a healthier America.
Date: 2011-01-19
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Just a quick point. Number one is the benefit you just mentioned in a State like Texas. this retiree program. And we have a very quixotic or very complicated retirement program for teachers. And I will just say in closing. State legislators are beginning to go back to their capitals to try and understand how theyre going to face these enormous deficits. I cant understand why we are burdening now States. by this vote. with extra responsibilities when they are all in crisis. The bill we have saves jobs. creates jobs. and provides benefits for people who need it and States who are in trouble.
Date: 2011-01-20
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I rise today to oppose the Republicans cynical attempt to replace the health care reform law. Yesterdays decision to repeal the Affordable Care Act was truly damaging to the American people. but todays decision to tout the central reforms of the Affordable Care Act as Republican ideas is simply baffling. If the provisions in H. Res. 9 were really the Republicans priorities. they would leave the Affordable Care Act intact because all of these provisions exist in the current law. If we all agree on the importance of keeping young adults on their parents insurance. prohibiting insurance companies from dropping coverage for the sick and strengthening Medicare. then this spectacle is a colossal waste of time that we dont have. If Republicans really want to guarantee these consumer protections to the American people. they would not stage partisan antics with this kind of resolution. Even when Republicans had control of the entire government for 6 years. they did nothing to reform our Nations health care system. And during that time. premiums skyrocketed. the number of uninsured Americans grew to 47 million. and those with insurance saw their benefits decimated. Of course. it would have been great to have the Republicans as willing partners during the last 2 years as we worked hard to pass the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Unfortunately. they insisted on being the Party of No even as we incorporated so many of their partys ideas into the law. Rather than roll back the hardfought consumer protections and freedoms that unshackled Americans from the whims of private insurance companies. as former Republican Senate Majority Leader Brill Frist said. Republicans should be working with us to build on and improve the health care system. Not to mention. every potential minute spent in committee focusing on redundant legislation is another minute that we are not helping American families and businesses emerge from this recession. Democrats have pledged to measure all legislation by the proposals success at creating jobs. strengthening the middle class and bringing down the deficit. Unfortunately. the Republican majoritys hasty vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act fails on all such accounts. The American people deserved and got real reform. This vague resolution stating socalled Republican principles on health care reform is like giving the American people a wish sandwich. Theres nothing between the bread. but we wish there was.
Date: 2011-01-20
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank my good friend from Massachusetts for yielding. Madam Speaker. let me say that the good news is that the only thing that occurred last evening was simply a vote. because the law of the land is still the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. I hope that the Presidents words are not twisted. because I agree with him: we are all willing to work together to do the right thing. which is to amend a bill. I dont understand the understanding of my friends on the other side of the aisle. Repealing the law of the land has nothing to do with questioning some of the provisions. Frankly. theyre not even listening to a distinguished doctor. Senator Frist. the former majority leader. who said this billour billis the law of the land. and it is the fundamental platform upon which all future efforts to make that system better for that patient and that family will be based. What is there not to understand? Amend the bill. Dont repeal it. In fact. Senator Frist said if the bill were on the floor. he would have voted for it. I spoke to some students the other day. and they asked about doctors. This bill has in it scholarships for medical professionals. the bill that we have. In fact. the issue. of course. is one that you cannot dispute: this bill saves lives. so much so that the Republican majority leader ran to the media to promise seniors that they wouldnt lose the $250 that our bill. the patient protection bill. guaranteed them so that they would have some cover. some cushion. for their prescription drugs. So. my friends. I know we are doing the right thing. We are all willing to amend. but how ridiculous it is that you would repeal the law of the land or attempt to do so. I know the President still has his veto penbecause this bill will save lives.
Date: 2011-01-20
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I rise in opposition to this resolution. The House Republican majority has brought this resolution to the House floor claiming that they will take action to replace the health reform bill that they voted to repeal yesterdayyet again. with no specifics. But the Republican record on tackling the issues with our health care system is clear. Between the years 2000 and 2006. health insurance premiums doubledwent up 100 percentand the profits of the major health insurance companies quadrupled. What did the Congress do during those years to stop those skyrocketing premiums? Nothing. In contrast. the health reform bill signed by President Obama finally provides the chance to rein in those exorbitant premiums and will reduce the deficit by more than $1 trillion in the next 20 years. It has already put in place important consumer protections. reduces prescription drug costs to seniors by closing the Medicare Part D donut hole. and provides tax credits for small business owners who provide insurance coverage. And Washington Republicans just want the American people to trust that they will come up with a planwithout a single detail. without a timeline. without any track record of addressing this crisis in our Nation. There are certainly areas where we can improve this historic reform legislation. In fact. the House voted in the last Congress to repeal the 1099 provision on small businessesHouse Republicans opposed that effort. But the American people dont want to go backwards by repealing these new rights. and doing so without a specific plan to replace it is simply irresponsible. Its time to stop playing shell games and start working to move America forward. Madam Speaker. I urge my colleagues vote nay on this resolution.
Date: 2011-01-20
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. America lost one of her greatest public servants this week. Sargent Shriver dedicated his life to others. He was the driving force behind the creation of Head Start and Upward Bound. opening the door to education for countless children. He was passionate about service. and through his stewardship of the Peace Corps and VISTA. gave millions of others the opportunity to serve. Sarge and his wife. Eunice. were visionary advocates for people with disabilities. and today the Special Olympics empowers young people with intellectual disabilities around the world. Sargent Shrivers courage under fire earned him a Purple Heart for his service in the Navy during World War II. After directing the Peace Corps and the Kennedy administration and helping launch the War on Poverty in the Johnson administration. Sargent Shriver applied his formidable talents to our Foreign Service as ambassador to France from 1968 to 1970. In 1994. President Clinton awarded Sargent Shriver the Presidential Medal of Freedom. our Nations highest civilian honor. Despite all these accolades and welldeserved recognition. those who knew Sargent Shriver knew that he considered his work its own reward. His life was a tireless crusade for peace and justice. willing to lend a hand wherever one was needed and building institutions that could carry his work into the future. "When our deeds match our ideals." Sargent Shriver would say. "we will be living life as it ought to be lived." Sargent Shriver lived life as it ought to be lived. I extend my deepest sympathies to his five children. Mark. Robert. Maria. Timothy and Anthony. and to their families. I hope they are comforted by the thoughts and prayers of all those who knew. admired. or were helped by Sargent Shriver. His legacythe children given a head start. the volunteers whose lives were changed and who changed lives in their service around the globe. and the individuals with disabilities now treated with dignity and respect that they deservethat legacy is with us today and will continue for years and decades and more to come.