macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-06-12
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. the question before us is whether we will outsource American economic stability in this quadrilliondollar derivatives market to foreign subsidiaries of American companies. Will we outsource this quadrilliondollar market? Now. a quadrillion is a big number. If you stack dollar bills one on the other. a quadrillion will take you all of the way from the Earth to the Sun. Its important for us to remember that AIG outsourced to a foreign subsidiary. It was in London. And. of course. we know what happened with AIG. Finally. I will say this. Were trying to jumpstart the economy. it seems. We have to be careful what we do when we try these jump starts because this derivatives market has within it interest rate derivatives. These derivatives. if theres a spike in interest rates. can have an enormous impact on the worlds economy. So let us be careful when we jumpstart. Sometimes when we do common things. like jumpstarting our cars. it works fine. But on other occasions. we can have an explosion. Lets be careful as we jumpstart the derivatives market.
Date: 2013-06-12
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Thank you. Madam Ranking Member. Its important to note the amount in derivatives that were talking about. Were talking about a quadrillion dollarsa quadrillion dollarsmore than the entire economy of the world. a quadrillion dollars. and the impact a quadrillion dollars can have on the worlds economy. Some of this money is in interest rate derivatives. If theres a spike in interest rates. were not sure what the ultimate impact on the worlds economy will be. If I am wrong. everything will be all right. but if Im right. everything will be all wrong. and it will be too late for us to take corrective action.
Date: 2013-06-12
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

With no other speakers. Mr. Speaker. let me just close by saying. with the international. interconnected. complex nature of financial markets and the sizeable role the derivatives play within the global economyas I mentioned. $600 trillioninternational harmonization of rulemaking between the CFTC and the SEC is critical. and a coordinated regulatory cooperation between the nine largest global partners keeping our financial institutions at a competitive position is critical. Thats what this bill does. I urge all of my colleagues to support this important and timely piece of legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2013-06-12
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I have substantial sympathy with those seeking regulatory clarity and with U.S. companies wishing to avoid being competitively disadvantaged when operating abroad. At the same time. one of the hardlearned lessons from the recent financial crisis is that outsized risk readily crosses national boundaries. which is why prudential regulation of crossborder derivatives transactions that can impact our economy was embedded in the DoddFrank Wall Street Reform law. The problem with todays legislation is that it seeks to achieve regulatory certainty for these kinds of transactions by effectively substituting foreign derivatives rules for our own safeguards unless the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) both agree that the foreign rules in question are not "broadly equivalent" to our own. Like the Administration. I would prefer for Americans to rely on U.S. law for protection in this area. and for our regulators to finish their work on these important safeguards in coordination with their foreign counterpartsrather than presume that foreign regulation. and in some cases foreign regulation that hasnt even been written yet. will be sufficient to do the job.
Date: 2013-06-12
Speaker: SEAN PATRICK MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Thank you. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to offer the final amendment to the bill. It will not kill the bill or send it back to the committee. If adopted. the bill will immediately proceed to final passage as amended. I rise to offer this motion to recommit because this bill in its current form misses an opportunity to do more. and we should not let that opportunity pass. The underlying legislation has the goal of extending reasonable accommodations to likeminded friends and allies around the globe. A stronger. better coordinated global regulatory framework is. of course. a goal that we all share. My amendment is simple. It says that the accommodations we extend to our friends must not be extended to those who actively seek to harm the United Statesour citizens. our allies. our corporationsby violating the Iran Sanctions Act or by engaging in cyber attacks against the United States. The dangers of a nuclear Iran are real. They are made even more real by actors who continue to bypass American and U.N. sanctions. Iran is an existential threat to our friend and our ally Israel. Iran is a growing menace in the Middle East. arming both the Syrian regime and Hezbollah. and undermining peace in Iraq. Iran is actively pursuing the development of a nuclear capability. which we cannot allow. We cannot let countries or corporations who do not share our values reap the benefits of this bill. Thats why my amendment would target countries and corporations and deny them the benefits of this bill if they violate the Iran Sanctions Act. We have very strong laws on the books blocking any violation of the Iran Sanctions Act. here or abroad. either by countries or corporations who dont share our values. Thats a good thing. In fact. the President just recently issued a new Executive order further tightening these sanctions. particularly in the financial sector. Thats why this final amendment is key to keeping this legislation aligned with these efforts to keep Iran isolated from the international community and to eliminate any new sources of funding to the Iranian regime. My amendment also targets countries that engage in cyber attacks against our country or our corporations. Countries like Iran and other countries such as China try to undermine the United States. our companies. our infrastructure. our systems every day. thousands of times a day. Cyber attacks result in a huge economic loss to our intellectual property to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars annually. not to mention the extreme danger to our national security. our banks. our infrastructure. My amendment doesnt allow transactions under this bill that would harm either the United States or Israel. We cannot and should not walk away from making this bill better. and I urge my colleagues to support my amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2013-06-12
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. I want to first begin by complimenting the chairman of the Tactical Air and Land Forces. Chairman MIKE TURNER. He has really been a delight to work with. His steady and thoughtful leadership has really allowed us to. I believe. make a good mark in this bill. Under his leadership. the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee worked in a very bipartisan fashion. We developed a set of oversight legislation and funding recommendations that I think really looks at cutting waste. shaping programs. and making sure that our men and women in our military are ready to go. First. the subcommittees portion of H.R. 1960 supports many of the highpriority recommendations and desires of the Presidents budget. For example. H.R. 1960 provides $8.1 billion for the F35 Joint Strike Fighter program. $5.2 billion for Army aviation upgrades. $3.2 billion for 21 EA18Gs and F18 upgrades. $1.4 billion for the V22. and $1.3 billion for the U.S. Marine Corps ground equipment. In addition. the Armed Services Committee increased funding in some parts of the DOD budget that came from the President where we felt that there were inadequate funds. Specifically. the bill provides an additional $400 million for the National Guard and Reserve equipment account and adds funding for an additional F100 engines by $165 million. and increases advanced procurement funding for 29 Navy F18 aircraft by $75 million. Beyond these funding increases. I want to point out that we made reductionsover $463 million worth of reductionsin this funding bill. Its never easy to reduce or to cut programs. but I think we did a very good job in making sure that as we move forward we will have the systems that we need. Finally. H.R. 1960 includes important oversight legislation. especially for the F35 Joint Strike Fighter. for the ground combat vehicle. for the individual carbine. the Stryker vehicle. and for body armor for our men and women of our military. All of these provisions are good government. and I look forward to voting for this bill.
Date: 2013-06-13
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. in less than 3 weeks. student loan interest rates will double for millions of the countrys neediest students. going from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. unless Congress takes decisive action to maintain the current interest rate. The rising cost of a college education is driving many young Americans to assume historically high levels of student debt. With college tuition growing rapidly. the doors of opportunity are closing on todays students. The problem will only get worse if Congress does not act soon. With the job market still recovering. we should not be asking students with the greatest need to be burdened by higher loan costs. Making college more affordable is one of the best investments our Nation can make in Americas economic future. We must craft a longterm solution for student debtand it must be nowas part of a comprehensive approach at lowering the cost of college. but time is running out to block the July rate hike. We dont need the sham that we passed a few weeks ago that makes the situation worse. Providing affordable education should not be a partisan issue. This is a student issue. and it affects young people across this Nation of all political persuasions and in all congressional districts.
Date: 2013-06-13
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I rise today to stand with the families of those who fell in Sandy Hook who are here on this campus today to talk about unfinished business. I stand with them in mourning for those of their family members who died by senseless gun violence and thousands who have died since. I will soon leave this House to go to read the names of those who have died in Sandy Hook and beg my colleagues for once to come together and vote for universal background checks and gun storage laws that simply provide safety and security for our childrenunfinished business. I stand here today. as well. to restore the trust to the American people about their privacy rights and civil liberties and ask my colleagues in a very bipartisan manner to rein in the number of private contractors70 percent of the intelligence budgetand I intend to introduce legislation that will hopefully find an opportunity for bipartisan. thoughtful efforts to bring back the trust of the American people. Madam Speaker. we have unfinished business. I stand here to finish it.
Date: 2013-06-13
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank my good friend. and I thank the manager of the underlying legislation and this rule. Happy Fathers Day to all of the men who serve in the United States military. for this legislation points. in some instances. to the needs of these great servantsand to the women who serve in the United States military as well. I. too. would have wanted to see the SpeierGabbard amendment be included. I am glad for an amendment that I submitted to post sexual assault prevention information and to be able to ensure that there are ways of getting resources to those victims. the number of whom we want to see diminished. I am also glad to note that Mr. McGOVERNs amendment has been put in another amendment by Mr. CONYERS that has to do with not using force in Iran. Also. we recognize that our soldiers suffer from PTSD. and I am glad that an amendment has been made to extend the mental health services and counselors for our soldiers. One that I have been working on for a long time has come to fruitionand I want to thank the Rules Committee and. of course. the Armed Services Committeewhich is to collaborate between the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense on finding the biomarkers on triplenegative breast cancer. It will save the lives of so many women. I had hoped that we could have moved the 1.8 percent salary increase to 2.2 percent. I know that it costs moneyyes. it doesbut our soldiers are valuable. Finally. I wish we could have had a thoughtful discussion to restore the trust of Americans around our civil liberties. and to simply rein in the number of private contractors that deal with intelligence gathering. and I intend to introduce legislation.
Date: 2013-06-13
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Chairman. I rise in opposition to this amendment. I understand my colleagues concern with the shortfall in the Departments operations and maintenance accounts. but thats really a product of sequestration. What we are really talking about is innovation here. Innovation generally doesnt happen in the big companies. It happens in the small companies. the companies that are able to move quickly so that we get what we need. Thats what the RIF program is about. This is not an earmark. In fact. just yesterday. the prenotification for the fiscal year 13 process was released. It said: "Any and all companies can put forward proposals." Thats not an earmark. The RIF process contributes to cost savings to the services training activities. In fact. the Navy added "cost reduction" as a critical focus area in the fiscal year 12 Rapid Innovation Fund broad agency announcement. Several of these selected RIF projects actually seek to reduce operations and maintenance costs to include the cost of training. I urge a "no" vote on this amendment.
Date: 2013-06-13
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Chairman. I thank the ranking member. I rise in opposition to this amendment. Congress is of course outraged over the ongoing cases of sexual assault and sexual harassment occurring in our military. Theres no one in this Chamber who doesnt believe that criminals should pay for such violent and atrocious crime. and so I understand why my good colleague on the other side would offer such an amendment. Ill say several things. First. Im pretty much opposed to mandatory minimum sentences in general. But this base bill. the base bill that were considering today. the committee requires the Department of Defense to provide a report on mandatory minimums and sentencing guidelines in order to make sure that such sentencing reforms will not discourage the victims from reporting. And in addition to that. in the base bill. if you are convicted of these crimes. you will be dishonorably discharged. So in order to avoid imposing laws that may harm victims. I urge my colleagues to vote against this amendment.
Date: 2013-06-13
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chair. I thank Chairman MCKEON and Ranking Member SMITH and the Rules Committee for making in order and including in En Bloc Amendment #1 Amendment Number 35 and Amendment Number 111 to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. These amendments are offered by the House Committee on Homeland Securitys Chairman MCCAUL. Ranking Member BENNIE THOMPSON. as well as the Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Securitys Chairwoman MILLER and Ranking Member JACKSON LEE. In addition to the Jackson Lee amendments offered to this bill. I joined my Colleagues on the Committee on Homeland Security in supporting an amendment to promote collaboration and cooperation between the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security regarding the identification of equipment. either declared excess. or made available to DHS on a longterm loan basis that will help increase security along the border. I also request that my colleagues support another amendment that I joined in sponsoring along with the leadership of the House Committee on Homeland Security. which would allow the transfer of technology from DOD to state and local law enforcement. Before the creation of DHS a program was created to facilitate this type of equipment transfer and this amendment adds the Secretary of Homeland Security in a consultative role in the equipment transfer process. This amendment also gives applicants seeking DOD equipment for use in border security preference in this statute. This will facilitate expedited transfer of equipment that Federal. state and local first responders can use to strengthen our border security efforts. I thank Chairman MCKEON and Ranking Member SMITH for including these amendments in the En Bloc Amendment #1 and I urge all members to vote in favor of this amendment.
Date: 2013-06-13
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chair. I thank Chairman MCKEON and Ranking Member SMITH and the Rules Committee for making in order and including in En Bloc Amendment #2 three amendments that I offered to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. The Jackson Lee Amendments are simple and if adopted would improve the final bill. The Jackson Lee Amendment designated as #81 calls for the collaboration between the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health to combat Triple Negative Breast Cancer. The Amendment directs the Department of Defense Office of Health to collaborate with the National Institutes of Health to provide resources to identify specific genetic and molecular targets and biomarkers for TNBC.
Date: 2013-06-13
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Madam Chairman. I yield myself 2 minutes. First of all. this is. a very dangerous. dangerous amendment. I am a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. I am also the vice chairman of the Science and Technology Committee of NATO. I have been a member of NATO for 11 years. That means I get to travel across the world two or three times each year into this region. I can tell you firsthand that this is a dangerous amendment. it is very dangerous at this time. Now. you have mentioned about some of our NATO colleagues. And yes. we are having a challenge. Each nation is going through economic challenges. But let me tell you. they are increasing their input and their financial resources each year. One thing is for certain: the wrong message that we should send to them now and to encourage them to contribute more is for us to cut and run and contribute less. and thats exactly what this amendment that you are offering will do. The other point as to why it is dangerous is that we would sit here in Congress and force the hand of President Obamaor. for that matter. of any President or future Presidentto publicly state that he is going to remove a contingent of a brigade like the 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Vilseck. Germany. and then return that brigade to the United States and not put anything in its place. Europe and the Mediterranean and the Middle Eastthere is no more volatile. unpredictable place on this planet. At the same time. there is no place on this planet that we have the strength of alliances as we have here. With that. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2013-06-13
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Even today. yes. you are absolutely right. but what did they do in Europe when we asked them to stand with us in Afghanistan? They stood with us. What did they do when we asked in Iraq? All I am simply saying is that we have an obligation today and in the future.
Date: 2013-06-13
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Madam Chair. how much time do I have remaining? The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Georgia has 1 minute remaining.
Date: 2013-06-13
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

I would like to say this very quickly. How things have changed. Messages that go out from this floor go out around the world. As we speak. just at our most recent NATO meeting. we were able to get 27 nations out of the 28 nations of NATO to pass a resolution supporting the United States and Israels position against Irans acquiring a nuclear bomb. Thats how relevant we are today. With that. Madam Chairman. I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Oklahoma
Date: 2013-06-14
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Chairman. I rise to offer the amendment. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: Page 563. after line 11. insert the following:
Date: 2013-06-14
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Chairman. I yield myself 1 minute. Im very pleased to offer this bipartisan amendment along with my colleagues. Mr. MULVANEY. Mr. MORAN. and Mr. WOODALL. Im very pleased that it has the support of the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee. Mr. SMITH. This amendment is about truth in budgeting and making sure our military has the resources it needs to prosecute the war in Afghanistan and overseas contingency operations. The Defense Department budget is split into two parts: the base budget for ongoing operations and the part of the budget for the war and overseas contingency operations. What this budget does is provide the military with exactly the resources they say they need in fiscal year 2014 for the overseas contingency account. In fact. on Wednesday. Secretary of Defense Hagel and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dempsey. General Dempsey. said that what they needed was what would be provided as a result of this amendment. The problem is the underlying bill added another $5 billion. and this is becoming a slush fund. Madam Chairman. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2013-06-14
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Chairman. I find it interesting that the gentleman would suggest that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense are not asking for the resources needed to protect our men and women in battle. I now yield 11/2 minutes to Mr.
Date: 2013-06-14
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Chairman. I would just urge all Members to read the amendment itself. There is nothing in here that says we will reduce one penny from the National Guard and Reserve. This is an acrosstheboard provision and it will be disproportionate. At this time. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia .
Date: 2013-06-14
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Chairman. I find it interesting that the gentlelady would suggest that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Dempsey. would ask for an amount of money for our warfighters that is immoral. What is cynical is to use the Afghan and overseas contingency account as a slush fund to fund operations that are part of the base budget. This is about truth in budgeting. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan amendment. I yield back the balance of my time. The Acting CHAIR. The time of the gentleman from California has expired. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Maryland .
Date: 2013-06-14
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Chair. I demand a recorded vote. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII. further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Maryland will be postponed.