macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-09-16
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 23. legislation that would reauthorize the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Programor NWIRP. The last few years have been devastating years for natural disasters across the country. For example. in May. the Great Plains had a sixday outbreak of tornado activity that affected areas ranging from Colorado to Texas and resulted in over 60 injuries and 5 fatalities. H.R. 23 directs NIST. NSF. NOAA. and FEMA to support activities to improve the understanding of windstorms and their impacts. We can use that knowledge to reduce the vulnerability of our communities to natural disasters. The NWIRP program helps our federal agencies and communities across the nation to develop and implement many measures that help minimize the loss of life and property during windstorms and to rebuild effectively and safely after such storms. I was pleased that when this bill was considered by the House Science. Space. and Technology Committee. we worked in a bipartisan manner and made several improvements to the bill. We worked together to increase the authorization for FEMA. the agency tasked with implementing the research conducted by the other NWIRP agencies. Also. we added several social sciencerelated provisions to the bill. We cannot design effective disaster preparation strategies without understanding how people make decisions and respond to disaster warnings. The House of Representatives passed H.R. 23 at the end of January with a vote of 38139 and sent it to the Senate. During their consideration. the Senate made minor changes to the bill. but I am happy to report that all of the bipartisan improvements we made to the bill remain in H.R. 23. I want to thank my fellow TexansChairman SMITH and Mr. NEUGEBAUERfor working across the aisle on this bill. I also want to thank the Commerce. Science. and Transportation Committee in the Senate for their work on this bill. This is an important program that needs to be reauthorized. It is good to see Members of the House and Senate coming together. working out their differences. compromising. and ending up with a bill with bipartisan. bicameral support. I support the bill and urge my colleagues to support this important bill.
Date: 2015-09-16
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. Members. here we are. 2 weeks away from another potential shutdown of the government. Do my Republican friends know how silly it sounds to threaten shutting down the entire government over a manufactured crisis for funding that does not even go to abortions? Current law already withholds Federal funding from covering a womans abortion. except in cases of extreme limited circumstances. To gamble with valuable Federal programs should be embarrassing. Here are just a few examples of programs that will be affected if the GOP pursues a strategy that I doubt they would want to see happen. The GOP shutdown would mean that the Centers for Disease Control would be unable to support the annual seasonal influenza program. The GOP shutdown means we rely more on foreign energy as the issuance of permits for energy production on Federal lands stop. I certainly know my Republican colleagues wouldnt want to see that happen. Head Start centers around the country would close. During fiscal year 2014. an estimated 1.600 Head Start agencies served over 927.000 children. including 71.000 in Texas. Apparently. our children are okay to target in a political debate. Under the GOP shutdown. the Bureau of Alcohol. Tobacco. Firearms and Explosives would be affected. and gun permits will not be processed. We could be using this time to debate the extension of valuable programs like the ExportImport Bank or the highway trust fund. but instead. we are going through the same theatrics we went through 2 years ago. which accomplished nothing. Mr. Speaker. I encourage my colleagues to be reasonable and pass a clean continuing resolution so Congress can get back to work doing what the American people sent us here to do.
Date: 2015-09-16
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. the good news of this place is a congratulations offered by my colleague just a few minutes ago to a 90yearold lady who served in World War II and had never received a thank you. Wouldnt it be a positive step to reflect on America and to be able to hold in this body positive things that shows the Congress working together? Yet. as has been mentioned. our colleagues want to defund Planned Parenthood and shut down the government. I wonder whether or not. in this debate coming up. that any of the moderators will ask whether any of those debating will stand in shutting down the government. I wonder whether they will ask them whether they support voting rights and will support the restoration of the Voting Rights Act. like the Americans who walked 1.000 miles for justice. I wonder whether or not. in fact. they would ask them whether they care anything about criminal justice reform and decriminalizing. if you will. this system where it has mass incarceration. children in jail. where it doesnt believe in rehabilitation for those who have served. I wonder whether these individuals that have been making a lot of noise in front of the public who will be in the public eye all over America. Mr. Speaker. whether they will answer the real questions about America and bring us together. Voting rights. health care for women. and making sure that we fix the criminal justice system. those are the questions that should be asked tonight.
Date: 2015-09-17
Speaker: JUDY CHU (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to commemorate National Citizenship Day. America would not be the great country that it is without its immigrants. One of our greatest strengths is our Nations diversitythe ability of this country to absorb and integrate the most entrepreneurial minds that this world has to offer and to make them our own. In fact. immigrants or their children have founded more than 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies. However. there is a dangerous antiimmigrant sentiment perpetuated by those who fail to recognize the strength derived from our diversity. Even today. laws are being proposed to deny the constitutional right of citizenship to those born in America. Proposals like these are both appalling and unAmerican. In Congress. we must continue to fight against these antiimmigrant proposals and to push for comprehensive immigration reform. and we must work to ensure that every person who is eligible for naturalization understands the process that it takes to become a U.S. citizen and has a voice in our great democracy.
Date: 2015-09-17
Speaker: MAXINE WATERS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I first would like to thank the gentleman from Colorado for the time to speak on this important issue. I rise today in opposition to the previous question in order to give House Members an opportunity to vote on reauthorizing the charter of the ExportImport Bank. Mr. Speaker. it is well past time to end the ideologically driven shutdown of the ExportImport Bank that has prohibited this critical agency from continuing to support United States businesses and their workers. For almost 2 years. Democrats have been sounding the alarm that a shutdown of the ExIm Bank would be devastating for American businesses and their workers. Since Republicans in Congress let the Banks charter expire in June. companies around the country have been preparing to lay off employees. and many have stopped expansion plans because they now lack the critical financing tools that ExIm provides. In fact. just last week. General Electric announced that. due to the GOP shutdown of the ExIm Bank. more than 500 jobs will be shipped to places like France and China. Last month. Boeing told its workers that it expected to cut as many as several hundred jobs at its southern Californiabased satellite factory after a multimilliondollar contract was scuttled due to uncertainty about the future of the ExportImport Bank. Republican obstructionism is also having a direct impact on countless small businesses around this country. many of which are set to lose their ExImbacked insurance policies in the coming weeks. Mr. Speaker. a majority of this House supports reauthorizing the ExportImport Bank. but if we dont give Members the opportunity to vote up or down on reopening the Banks doors today. the selfinflicted shutdown of the ExIm Bank may continue for months on end. If that scenario plays out. the damage to our businesses. their workers. and our economy will only get worse. The consequences for average taxpayers would get worse as well. Because the Bank generates income through fees it charges for its services. failure to reauthorize the Bank means throwing away billions of dollars that would otherwise be transferred to hardworking American taxpayers. Accordingly. we should reauthorize the Bank. If we did. we could raise billions of dollars in profit for U.S. taxpayers over the coming years. The House should take a position. Mr. Speaker and Members. we have too many Republicans. our friends on the opposite side of the aisle. claim they support small businesses. They want to do everything that they can to get rid of the regulatory obstacles to small businesses being able to grow and expand. They talk about this with community banks. They talk about this with all kinds of businesses. But look what they are doing.
Date: 2015-09-17
Speaker: MAXINE WATERS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

They have absolutely stood in the way of reauthorizing the ExportImport Bank. And where does that place this country? It places us in a position where we cannot compete with other countries who fully support the export opportunity. So I would ask my colleagues to please vote on this bill at this time.
Date: 2015-09-17
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Madam Speaker. I rise in opposition. These bills today are the direct result of a series of videos that have been found to be purposefully misleading. alleging misdeeds that never happened that will result in the punishment of millions of women who have absolutely nothing to do with it. In many areas of this country. Planned Parenthood clinics are one of the few affordable healthcare options for women. During the Senate debate on defunding. a letter was introduced from Californias community health centers. stating in no uncertain terms that defunding the Planned Parenthood clinics would place untenable stress on the community healthcare providers. but our Republican colleagues are indifferent to the experts. Truth. as usual. is the first casualty when they wage their cultural wars. and all that matters is the theater. their bizarre kabuki theater. of ritualized outrage. I urge my colleagues to vote "no" on the rule and on the underlying bill.
Date: 2015-09-17
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee and a strong defender of the civil rights and liberties of all Americans. I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 758. the "Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2015." which can more accurately be described as the "Denial of Access to Civil Justice Act." This illconsidered and misguided legislation would rescind the current version of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. which has been in effect since 1993. and reinstate the disastrous 1983 version of the rule. I strongly oppose H.R. 758 because it hampers the ability of federal district courts to deter frivolous litigationwhile preserving access to the courtsby limiting the ability of judges to exercise discretion in imposing sanctions for Rule 11 violations. Under H.R. 758. federal district judges would be required to impose sanctions for all violations of Rule 11. even in cases in which it would be manifestly inappropriate to do so. Mr. Speaker. the reason the version of Rule 11(c) in effect from 19831993 was rescinded is because the results of its 10year experiment proved conclusively that it did not work. Instead of reducing frivolous litigation. mandatory imposition of sanction actually had the opposite effect of increasing litigation. Indeed. according to the American Bar Association. "during the decade of that the 1983 version of the Rule requiring mandatory sanctions was in effect. an entire industry of litigation revolving around Rule 11 claims inundated the legal system and wasted valuable court resources and time." Studies by the Judicial Conference of the United States. the administrative arm of the federal judiciary. found that the 1983 version of Rule ii(c) quickly became a tool of abuse. Aggressive filings of Rule 11 sanctions motions required expenditure of tremendous resources on Rule 11 battles having nothing to do with the merits of the case and everything to do with strategic gamesmanship. Most importantly. Mr. Speaker. H.R. 758 would undermine civil rights cases. During the decade between 1983 and 1993. mandatory sanctions under Rule 11 were disproportionately imposed in civil rights cases. A leading study on this issue showed that although civil rights cases made up 11.4% of federal cases filed during this period. 22.7% of the cases in which sanctions had been imposed were civil rights cases. If this bill were to be enacted. once again. as happened between 1983 and 1993. defendants in civil rights cases could wield Rule 11 as a weapon against legitimate plaintiffs. tying up civil rights cases in long and costly satellite litigation on Rule 11 and preventing legitimate civil rights cases from moving forward. For these reasons. I urge all Members to vote against H.R. 758.
Date: 2015-09-17
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Mr. Speaker. the confectionary industry directly employs 70.000 people in the United States and more than 400.000 jobs in agriculture. retail. transportation. and other industries that rely. in part. on the sale of confections for their livelihood. For every job that is created in confectionary. another six are supported in related industries. which means that candy drives a multiplier effect of 6 to Chicago was once known as the candy capital of the world. However. due to an unfair sugar program. many decent and goodpaying manufacturing jobs are now located outside the United States. The candy industry is comprised of hundreds of small- and mediumsized familyowned businesses. as well as the multinational companies with global brands that operate more than 1.000 manufacturing facilities in all 50 States. The confectionary industry is doing its part to help address the ongoing conversation about food and nutrition. policy wellness. and food safety. NCA member companies are providing consumers with the information options and support they need to make the choices that are right for them. Candy helps to make America just a little sweeter.
Date: 2015-09-17
Speaker: WATSON COLEMAN (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me. Mr. Speaker. for the umpteenth time. men in Congress are leading the charge to limit womens access to health care. but now. instead of just wasting taxpayer dollars and time. they plan to take their outrageous tactics to a whole new level. perhaps shutting down the entire Federal Government if they dont get their way. As the gentlewoman from Massachusetts has already explained. that is absolutely ridiculous. Rather than consider legislation that would fund repairs to our Nations infrastructure or invest in our schools or create jobs for millions of Americans still out of work. we are considering legislation that would cut off support to an organization that provides vital health services to women and men who might not otherwise have access. Mr. Speaker. Planned Parenthood is. first and foremost. an organization dedicated to womens health. What is more. despite the endless conservative rhetoric to the contrary. Planned Parenthood does not use a single dollar of Federal funds to provide abortions. This is really just a thinly veiled attempt to allow Congress to regulate a womans uterus. and the end result wont be the end of very legal abortions. It will be the erosion of care. family planning. and medical treatment for thousands of women. Wednesdays Washington Post offered a perfect example. It profiled a single Planned Parenthood clinic in Ohio. a clinic that does not offer abortion services. According to The Post. that clinic sees 7.100 patients each year. most of them young and poor. They administer 3.400 pregnancy tests. they write 2.900 birth control prescriptions. and they provide 13.200 screenings for sexually transmitted infections. Facilities like this make up nearly half of the Planned Parenthood centers nationwide. Cutting their funding will only result in more illness. more unplanned pregnancies. and more babies born to mothers unprepared to care for them. In 2013. Planned Parenthood provided more than 71.000 patients with care in my State. the State of New Jersey. They provided almost 16.000 Pap tests to New Jersey women. and they conducted more than 33.000 breast exams. In a shortsighted response to a series of questionably edited videos and false claims. we are going to take health care away from Americans with few. if any. alternatives. That is not what my constituents elected me for. That is not what they expected me to be doing in Congress. I am here to create jobs. to better educate our young people. and to reform our broken criminal justice system. By no means am I here to relitigate a womans right to choose. Quite frankly. I am not sure which I am more disgusted by: the fact that we are doing this again. or the fact that I have come to the floor of this House so many times before to express that disgust. I urge my colleagues to consider taking up the work that really matters to the American people. I thank the gentlewoman from Massachusetts.
Date: 2015-09-18
Speaker: JUDY CHU (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York . an outstanding and leading member of our Judiciary Committee.
Date: 2015-09-18
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Madam Speaker. I stand in strong opposition to this punitive and intrusive bill. I am both disturbed and offended that this latest attempt to restrict womens access to reproductive health care is based on a series of videos that have been found to be grotesquely deceptive and purposefully misleading. This is politics at its most manipulative. and politics should never be permitted to come between a patient and her doctor. This bill attempts to criminalize legal medical care and punish millions of women by rolling back reproductive choices. It wages a kind of guerilla warfare against Roe v. Wade by threatening doctors with jail time for providing care to their patients. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists calls the vague requirements and drastic penaltiesunnecessary requirements like going to the hospitalscare tactics that are unnecessary and wrong. This bill would have the Federal Government threaten doctors who do their job taking care of their patients with up to 5 years imprisonment. To make it all even more outrageous. this bill is based on a series of unsupported allegations and it ignores the fact that there has been no evidence of wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood. In fact. five States have now conducted their own investigations into the charges against Planned Parenthood and have found that no laws have been broken. Instead. the backers of this bill rely on misleading. badly doctored videos released by an extreme antichoice group as the basis for a slew of legislation to decrease access to care for women in this country who can least afford it. Millions of women rely on Planned Parenthood for their basic health care.
Date: 2015-09-18
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

There is no choice in this country which has been guaranteed by our Supreme Court without access to choice. This bill attempts to stop the access to choice by putting doctors in jail by absurd requirements. I urge my colleagues to respect the relationship between women and their doctors. respect their need for affordable and available health care. and vote "no" on this punitive and intrusive bill.
Date: 2015-09-18
Speaker: JUDY CHU (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee . the ranking member of our Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
Date: 2015-09-18
Speaker: JUDY CHU (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would like to reiterate. this is a bill that has been introduced with virtually no process. This was introduced less than 48 hours ago. with no hearings and no expert testimony. In fact. those on the other side of the aisle are citing. as evidence. videos that have been shown to be highly edited. that are misleading and fraudulently obtained. There were 47 edits in the video that are shown. Even though Planned Parenthood doctors said 10 times that such procedures were not done for profit. that was all edited out. This is legislation based on sound bites and antichoice rhetoric and not on facts. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2015-09-18
Speaker: JUDY CHU (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I have one speaker remaining. and then I will be prepared to close. Madam Speaker. I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Illinois
Date: 2015-09-18
Speaker: JUDY CHU (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker. this bill politicizes womens health and limits womens access to abortion. It interferes with the sacred doctorpatient relationship and substitutes a physicians best judgment with the judgment of a handful of politiciansand. in fact. male politicians. I would note that not a single woman on the other side of the aisle has spoken on this bill. Let me note. it is already illegal to fail to provide care to an infant born alive. There was a bill passed 13 years ago. the BornAlive Infants Protection Act. and that bill was not intended to affect abortion practices or a womans right to choose. In fact. that is why Judiciary Committee Democrats voted to support it. But what this bill does is to vilify abortion providers. This bill is so broad and the penalties are so severeup to 5 years in prisonthat one can only conclude that the real purpose of this bill is to intimidate abortion providers out of practice. This bill requires doctors and employees of hospitals and clinics that provide abortion services to report any violation of the bills standard of care to State or Federal law enforcement authorities. and any personremember. we are talking doctors. cleaning crew. receptioniststhat fails to comply with these requirements is threatened with fines and up to 5 years in prison. That is why the 58.000 physicians of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists oppose this bill and says: "This legislation represents gross interference in the practice of medicine. inserting a politician between a woman and her trusted doctor." Let us not forget. politicians are not doctors. We should be concerned about doing our jobs and fully fund highquality womens health care instead of trying to keep doctors from doing theirs. I strongly urge my colleagues to oppose this dangerous bill. I yield back the balance of my time.