macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-06-18
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Chairman. I rise today to introduce a very important amendment to H.R: 4567. My amendment would make sure that our firefighters. law enforcement officers. and emergency medical personnel or other first responders are actually receiving the terrorism preparedness grant money that the Department of Homeland Security promises to them.. The amendment would require States to distribute the alreadyapproved grant money to those first responders no more than 15 days after the States receive the receipts for equipment. training or the other purchases approved under the grants from the local first responders. The homeland security appropriations bill in its current form would allocate $1.25 billion for formulabased grants. Yet the bill does not spell out the requirements for making sure that the money gets down to our first responders. to our police officers. to our firefighters. to our hospitals and emergency medical personnel. As we all know. these first responders are not receiving their promised funds to fulfill their mandate to protect our homeland. In some cases. the State is holding tight onto the money. In other cases the local responders do not understand the very complicated process that has been set up for actually receiving those grant dollars from the States. I believe that we need to have a system to verify that critical homeland security money is making its way through the pipeline. That is the biggest criticism that I have heard. that the money is not getting down to the people who have already spent their own money and are supposed to be reimbursed from the Federal Government. My amendment would make such a system possible.
Date: 2004-06-18
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

of -California. Mr. Chairman. I am willing to withdraw my amendment. but I think this is a very important point. I just held for all of the membership here about 10 days ago a meeting with first responders. The answer is always the same. The money is taking too long to come down into the local hands.
Date: 2004-06-18
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I want to state that I incorrectly voted "no" on H.R. 4567. the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill. I intended to vote "yes."
Date: 2004-06-21
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the House for considering the John Muir National Historic Site Boundary Adjustment Act today. My district is home to the residence of John Muir. his orchards. and Mt. Wanda. named for his daughter. Without John Muirs efforts. Yosemite National Park would not exist. and as first president of the -Sierra Club. he helped sharpen Californians appreciation for the Sierra Mountains. which he called "The Range of Light." In addition to its historical significance. the former Muir estate provides valuable open space in the rapidly growing Bay Area. In 1988. we enacted legislation to expand the John Muir Historic Site. Following a survey conducted as part of the development of the General Management Plan. the Park Service discovered that a .2 acre triangle adjacent to the newly acquired parcel did not belong to the City of Martinez. In fact. it did not belong to anyone. In order to meet the growing needs of site users. the Park Service would greatly benefit from a boundary adjustment to finally put to rest the question of property title to this small triangle of land. This bill will allow the Park Service to either acquire the land if an heir or former owner is identified. or condemn the property if an heir is not found. Once the title to the land is clear. the Park Service would be free to begin construction on a 32 v~hicle parking area that would utilize the .2 acre parcel. This will allow greater access for schools. seniors groups. and everyone else interested in wilderness conservation. and the history of modem environmentalism. This boundary adjustment is supported by Contra Costa County and the City of Martinez. Enactment of this legislation allows the Park Service to enhance public understanding of John Muirs contributions. while also facilitating access to an important recreation area in my district. I thank my colleagues for their support of this legislation.
Date: 2004-06-22
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker and distinguished Members of Congress present. I come before you to celebrate the millions of working American women who are blazing a bright path for young women to successfully contribute to the American economy and. most importantly. to the future of our Nation. Women are the backbone of Americas homes and of Americas economy. Our presence and career fields such as science. business. and politics. has only brought improvement to these areas where women have traditionally been underrepresented. Though women have made tremendous gains in closing the gender gap in the workplace in the past. the current status of women in the workplace has become stagnant and on a decline. Instead of full and equal pay. women are still hitting the glass ceiling. In the year 2002. data from the AFL/CIO stated that women are paid 77 cents for every dollar men received. C1 1845 Of course. before that it was 76. Nationwide. working families lose $200 billion of income annually to the wage gap. In addition to loss of wages. working American women have experienced a loss of jobs during the last 3 years. Following the 2001 recession. women workers lost over 300.000 jobs between the start of the recession and March of 2004. The 2001 recession marked the only period of sustained job loss for women in the last 40 years in the United States. With startling facts like these. I ask. What is this administration doing to ensure equality in the workplace for working Americanwomen? Mr. Speaker. I am sorry to report that this administration has taken regressive actions to address the problems facing women in the workplace. The Bush administration has made 25 publications on the Department of Labors Womens Bureau Web site unavailable. This administration has disbanded and underfunded government offices that were established to address women. such as the Office of Womens Initiatives and Outreach in the White House and the Presidents Interagency Council on Women. Mr. Speaker. these actions are really unacceptable. and Congress should lead the charge for procuring equality for women in the workplace by writing and passing bills that call for equal pay of both men and women employees for equal work. restoring the funding to government offices dedicated to women issues and reinstating the publications that have been removed from the Department of Labors Web site regarding women in the workplace. In the future. the majority of the workplace will continue to be female. What is this saying to our young people? The Bush administration prides itself on being a champion of the economy and an administration that has taken action to stimulate our economy with tax cuts. However. this administration has failed to include women in this process for stimulating the economy. Women are 51 percent of the population in our country and growing. and over half of the working population is not being utilized to contribute to the growth of the American economy. I urge my colleagues to take a stand against the degradation of the status of women in the workplace of this Bush administration.
Date: 2004-06-22
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. excellent point. and I am going to have to leave you gentlemen now. but. I just wanted to commend both of you for your excellent work in trying to bring issues to light that impact young adults in America. and I think this topic is so very timely. and I urge you to continue your great work on the issue.
Date: 2004-06-23
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. this amendment represents another example of the Republican leadership playing politics with important matters of national security. The decision of Libya to renounce its program to develop weapons of mass destruction represents an important victory for U.S. diplomatic and foreign policy efforts. However. the attempt to directly tie that success to the war in Iraq is not supported by the facts. Consequently. while I agree with much that is contained in this amendment. I will not engage in this politically motivated farce.
Date: 2004-06-24
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise to speak about "how Texas families and workers are struggling to survive during this administrations handling of our economy. While Democrats here in the U.S. House of Representatives have been fighting to stop the exportation of American jobs and create more jobs here at home. the administration has chosen a completely different path. In my State of Texas. we have lost over 175.000 manufacturing jobs. Health insurance premiums have increased by 65 percent since the beginning of the Bush administration. The cost of a college education has increased by 28 percent in the State since the beginning of the current administration. Household income has decreased by $204 over the past 2 years. 808.000 have joined the ranks of the uninsured in Texas since the beginning of this administration. How long are we going to sit here and just talk about each other instead of addressing these issues? As the lawmaking body. Mr. Speaker. of a system created to serve. protect and enhance American ideals. liberty and longevity. we must rebuild our economy. put families first before corporations and stop the rampant outsourcing of our jobs overseas.
Date: 2004-06-24
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. reserving the right to object. although I do not intend to object. I ask the gentleman to offer an explanation of his request.
Date: 2004-06-24
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: . California

Mr. Skeaker. I thank the gentleman for his explanation. Continuing under my reservation of objection. I yield to the gentlewoman from California . ranking member of the committee.
Date: 2004-06-24
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentlewoman for her explanation. And also I want to thank her for all of her hard work and her advocacy on behalf of children in this program and families in this program. She has very much made a difference in the outcome of this legislation by her efforts. Mr. Speaker. continuing under my reservation of objection. I yield to the gentleman from Delaware for his remarks.
Date: 2004-06-24
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman from Delaware for his explanation. I also want to thank him for all of his work and his participation. He is one of those individuals in this institution that makes a bipartisan agreement like this able to be brought up on unanimous consent because of his cooperation and his advocacy on behalf of our children. So I thank the gentleman from Delaware . Mr. Speaker. continuing under my reservation of objection. I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey . a member of the committee.
Date: 2004-06-24
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. continuing my reservation. I thank the gentleman for his remarks. Mr. Speaker. I yield to my colleague the gentlewoman from California . and thank her for her participation in this legislation.
Date: 2004-06-24
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. continuing to reserve the right to object. I thank the gentlewoman for her remarks. Mr. Speaker. I yield to the gentlewoman from Los Angeles. California
Date: 2004-06-24
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. continuing my reservation of objection. I thank the gentlewoman for her comments and participation in the resolution of the issue concerning the WIConly stores. Mr. Speaker. I yield to the gentleman from Illinois .
Date: 2004-06-25
Speaker: PETE VISCLOSKY (democrat)
Chamber: H

Pete. it has been a pleasure working with you and your minority staff. Dixon Butler and Peder Maarbjerg. i want to thank the Committee staffKevin Cook. Dennis Kern. Scott Burnison. and Tracey LaTumer. as well as Kenny Kraft on my own staff. I also want to recognize our agency detailees. Tim Winchell and Jim Spratt. Their assistance was invaluable in putting this bill and report together.
Date: 2004-06-25
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentleman for his comments. and I thank the gentleman for his work. But as the gentleman knows. we have been working on some of those solutions. As the gentleman knows. I have been involved in the plants in Yolo County and Solano County and Contra Costa County where we have brought on new generation. clean generation. sitebased generation. replacing old. inefficient production of energy. We are working on a cable system now to go under the bay to put power from the East Bay into the South Bay. into San Francisco. We are working on more efficient pipelines to move fuel around Northern California. So I mean I think clearly those are there. This amendment is a little different. This is about people who stole money. This is not abou people who are building power plants. This is about people who took power out of service. Knowingthat if they removed 1 or 2 percent of the power. they would drive up their revenues by hundreds of percent.
Date: 2004-06-25
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Chairman. I move to 111GI. I. Madam Chairman. I rise in strong support of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act. H.R. 4614. I would. however. like to ask the distinguished chairman about language in the bill report that would require the Army Corps of Engineers to seek congressional approval whenever the Corps reprograms funds for major water development programs. My district in Orange County. California. would be particularly affected by any changes to the reprogramming policy. In recent years. the Army Corps of Engineers reprogrammed between $10 million to $12 million that Congress had originally appropriated to shore up flood protection along the Santa Ana River in my area. We are now in dire need of that money to continue building up our flood protection for the growing urban communities in Orange. Riverside. and San Bernardino counties. Without the successful completion of the project. the corps estimates that over 3.35 million people would be endangered and that it could probably destroy up to $15 billion in property value if we do not get that project completed. So I am asking the distinguished chairman. will the Army Corps continue to have the authority to ship money back to those ongoing projects from which it had previously borrowed? I understand there is report language directing the court to return funds to appropriated programs. I would like to know. would this apply to the Santa Ana River Mainstem project?
Date: 2004-06-25
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Chairman. I know that the gentleman from Ohio as the other subcommittee had been able to tighten things up alsb. and I aptpreciate the new policy that the gentleman is trying to move forward. Again. I am just concerned. as this is a major project for almost 4 million people in that area. and we are at that point where we are really going to get a lot of it done. and we need those funds to be brought back in.
Date: 2004-07-07
Speaker: D URBIN (democrat)
Chamber: S

Mr. President. today I am introducing. along with my colleague Senator HAGEL. legislation that will help to address the severe workforce shortages within public health
Date: 2004-07-07
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise to pay tribute to Mattie Stepaneka remarkable poet and precocious young man from my district. Mattie died recently from complications due to a rare form of muscular dystrophy. The 13yearold captured the hearts of millions with his poetry and message of peace. Mattie will forever be remembered as a brighteyed boy with a big. dimpled smile whose personal philosophy was "remember to play after every storm." Matties poetry rose to the top of the New York Times best seller list and will now inspire people for generations -to come. Mr. Speaker. Mattie was an incredible role model and inspiration for all Americans. In spite of his hardships. he dedicated his life to spreading harmony and hope. Matties message will live on through -his poetry. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends during this time of loss.
Date: 2004-07-08
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to address H.R. 3598. the Manufacturing Technology Competitiveness Act of I find it very important that we address manufacturing technology competitiveness at a time when over 8.2 million Americans are without employment and over 10 percent of African Americans are currently jobless. Today the American economy is facing challenges unlike any that it has ever faced before. The sector most drastically affected by this decline is the manufacturing industry. Historically. the manufacturing sector has been a pillar of the American economy. Without a strong manufacturing base. we will not have a strong economic recovery. Not only is manufacturing a key source of skilled. highpaying jobs. but it also is critical to our economic and national security that we have the ability to manufacture goods we need in this country. In my home State of Texas. more than 156.000 jobs have been lost since January 2001. The manufacturing unemployment rate continued to rise last month. Mr. Speaker. when this bill was marked up in the committee. the vast majority of the suggestions from this side of the aisle were dismissed. The markup was uncommonly partisan. No matter how good the amendment was. and there were many amendments spoken about as being good. but no support. So as we debate this bill on the House floor today. I am hopeful we can reach constructive consensus on many of the amendments being offered today. and I do ask that as many Members as possible join me in voting against the rule.
Date: 2004-07-08
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I rise in strong support of the Sanders amendment. Let me say that the problem of 9/11 was not with what Americans were reading in the libraries. It is what the intelligence community and the FBI were not reading from its regional offices.
Date: 2004-07-09
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. Members of the House. yesterday a bipartisan majority in this House voted to change the PATRIOT Act so the government cannot wantonly snoop and peer in what people are reading in their public libraries and at their book stores. But that bipartisan majority was unable to be sustained because of the corruption of the Republican leadership in this House. because of the corruption of the rules of this House. and "because of the corruption of the principles of this country by that Republican leadership. What they could not stand was the fact that there was a majority that disagreed with the handful in the Republican leadership. So they nullified the vote. They nullified the principles of democracy. they nullified the principles of majority rule in the House of Representatives. That very same day. thousands of families and schoolchildren came through the Capitol and they were told this is where democracy reigns. This is the beacon to the world. This is where freedom exists. But it does not exist on the floor of the House of Representatives because of the corruption of the leadership of the Republican Party. Every time they believe the majority is going to win out here. a bipartisan coalition majority whether it is on minimum wage. whether it is on overtime. they prevent that vote from taking place. The people who are truly afraid of the majority in this country is the corrupt Republican leadership in this House.
Date: 2004-07-09
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding time to me. and I want to commend her for her work on this legislation. also to the gentleman from California for all of his work on this legislation. Regretfully. I must oppose this legislation because I think at the moment. as this is currently drafted. this legislation fails to address what is. I believe. a fatal defect. Not only do I think it will delay the consideration of .this legislation for a successful passage through the Congress. I also believe that it has a very real possibility of throwing much of this legislation back into the court. something we are trying to avoid with the CALFED process. and that is. the preauthorization of future California water projects. I appreciate what the gentleman said about WRDA. but I think if he takes a close look at WRDA he will find. in fact. it is a much different process than what we envision here. In. fact. the language of this legislation says that virtually any water project or water supply or water yield can move into construction after a feasibility study. It does not say a favorable report. as it says in the WRDA or the Chief s. It simply says if you have thefeasibility study. you can move on. and I think what. in fact. we will see is that those people who are critics of many of the projects that all of us support in this legislation will start to raise Cain at the local level about the process being rigged. They will take this to the courts. take this to the bow. and we will. go through a process that is justgoing to be unacceptable in terms of meeting the goals that the gentleman from California and the gentlewoman from California have for this legislation.
Date: 2004-07-09
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I would like to enter into a colloquy with the gentleman from California . I rise in support. full support and strong support. of H.R. 2828. I think maximizing the use of. our limited water resources in California is an issue that is close to my Orange County district. and it is close to me. In fact. the gentleman from California and I are the sponsors of a bill. H.R. 1156. which would allow Orange County to complete its revolutionary Groundwater Replenishment System. That system would create a new water supply of 72.000 acre feet per year and serve 2.3 million residents of the north and central portion of Orange County. The bill would increase the authorized Federal share for this project from $20 million to $80 million. and I would like to inquire if the Chairman continues to support this very important bill that. unfortunately. is not in this good CALFED bill. but which is very important to Orainge County.