macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-06-11
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Madam Speaker. precisely. In order to be able to take up legislation to give a tax break to commuters for the expenses. their expenses. rising expenses. daily rising expenses of getting to and back from work. I am going to ask all of our distinguished colleagues to vote "no" on the previous question so that we can take a stand against these high fuel prices and begin to give commuters a break in this country. I urge a "no" vote on the previous question. Madam Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2008-06-12
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Oil prices are climbing to record highs. gasoline is over $4 a gallon and climbing towards $5. food prices are up and rising. and family budgets stretch their limits. And how do we handle this? We beg OPEC to produce more oil. The Saudis say they will call a meeting. Venezuela says they want $200abarrel oil. Foreign speculators say lets hope the market will fall. Americans say. what about America? What about American energy? Why not explore for the trillions of barrels of Americas oil off our coast. Americas shale oil? Saying "no" to Americans is not an energy policy. Begging other nations is not an energy policy. Americans get it. Congress needs to get it too. American oil. American jobs. American control of its own destiny and returning America to be the greatest Nation on Earth and not a na.tion that has its hat in its hand saying please help us. -Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended. rather than spoken. by a Member of the House on the floor. H5332 co
Date: 2008-06-12
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Mr. Speaker. on rollcall No. 412. H.R. 5749. to provide for a program. of emergency unemployment compensation. I was mistakenly recorded as voting "no." I should have been recorded as voting "yea" on final passage. I am a proud cosponsor of H.R. 5749.
Date: 2008-06-17
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Mr. Speaker. oil prices climb to record highs. gasoline over $4. diesel prices near $5. family budgets stretched to the limits. And how do we handle this? We beg OPEC to produce more oil. The Saudis say they will give us 200.000 more barrels a day in the world market. but the daily world demand is 84 million barrels. Hey. how about putting the U.S. in charge of our own economy? What about American energy? Sixtyfour percent of Americans support Americanmade energy. Today I will introduce a resolution calling upon the President to revoke a ban President Clinton extended in 1998 that prohibits exploration of our. Outer Continental Shelf. The U.S. has the technology and regulatory framework to ensure that these resources are developed in an environmentally sound manner. The President has the power to remove this ban today. if he chooses. I invite all my colleagues to cosponsor.my resolution. and send a clear signal to the President and to the American people that we will help.
Date: 2008-06-17
Speaker: DAVID DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Tennessee

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of H.R. 1247. a bill I introduced. to support the goals and ideals of June 20 as American Eagle Day. The bill also highlights the successful recovery story of the American bald eagle. the official national emblem of the United States. The American bald eagle has been a part of American culture for hundreds of years. In 1782. the Second Continental Congress established that the bald eagle was the official emblem of the United States because of its uniqueness to North America. It can be seen on the United States seals in public buildings. schools. and even here in the House Chamber. Over the years. the bald eagle has become a living symbol of the United States spirit. freedoms. and continual pursuit of excellence. Mr. Speaker. just 45 years ago the United States had only about 400 nesting pairs of the American bald eagle. Through conservation. education and careful planning. today we have seen a significant rise to about 7.000 nesting pairs of the American bald eagle. Because of the successful recovery exhibited by the American bald eagle. the Department of the Interior has taken the bald eagle off both the endangered and threatened species list. The bald eagle has been a national symbol. and its recovery has been a national success story. H.R. 1247 will not only honor the now thriving American bald eagle. it will also encourage support of the United States Mint bald eagle commemorative coin program which has been a success for the past few years. Currently. this coin program has raised over $5 million for the American Eagle Foundation. which is located in Pigeon Forge. Tennessee. which is located in my district. The American Eagle Foundation is a successful notforprofit organization seeking to protect and fully restore the bald eagle population across North America. They also care for the injured and orphaned birds that have a strong environmental presence through educating thousands of families who visit Pigeon Forge. Tennessee each year. Furthermore. this bill encourages school systems. businesses. governmental agencies and conservation groups to share information on the American bald eagle that will benefit children and schools across our Nation. Mr. Speaker. I ask that my colleagues join me in supporting H.R. 1247. a bill I introduced to support the goals and ideals of June 20 as American Eagle Day. and celebrate the recovery and restoration of this great bird. the bald eagle. the national symbol of the United States.
Date: 2008-06-17
Speaker: GARY G. MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of H. Res. 1199. a resolution congratulating the Orange County Water District on its 75th anniversary. The Orange County Water District and its employees have effectively delivered innovative groundwater management. water quality. water efficiency. and environmental programs which will reduce our regions dependence on imported water. We all know that with increased demand. decreased availability of imported water. and higher water quality requirements. future water supplies will become even more limited and expensive. If we want to sustain southern Californias economic growth and provide for a rapidly increasing population. we must ensure efficient and reliable access to water resources and pursue a modernized sanitation infrastructure. The Orange County Water District recognized that we needed a reliable source of quality water and has pursued multipronged strategies for capturing and recycling water that would otherwise flow downstream to the ocean. The first initiative involves a series of agreements between the Orange County Water District. the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to allow the District to conserve water behind Prado Dam. This water. which would otherwise flow downstream to the ocean. is captured to recharge the local aquifer. In addition. the Orange County Water District has partnered with the Orange County Sanitation District in the development of the groundwater replenishment system. This system will take highly treated sewer water and treat it above and beyond existing drinking water standards by undergoing an advanced purification process that includes two membrane filtration and treatment by ultraviolet light and hydrogen peroxide. Once purified. the water will be sent to groundwater recharge facilities or injection wells. This project is a model of selfreliance and should be replicated throughout water districts around southern California. The Orange. County Water District is working to ensure water reliability for generations to come. This is a comforting thought to businesses as well as residents interested in moving to Orange County. Their efforts will allow our economy to grow without being restrained by potential water shortages. I congratulate the Orange County Water District for their 75 years of service to the region and I am proud of the Federal. State. and local agencies that have worked together to serve the community and address the regions growing water needs.
Date: 2008-06-17
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Madam Speaker. I rise today to share the absolute disgust that my constituents have with the inability of this majority to do anything about rising gas prices. Today. I received this letter from a constituent in Wesley Chapel. His name is Benjamin. and hes more than ready to drill for oil and natural gas here in the United States and certainly off the coast of Florida. His message is. "Its Time to Drill Our Own Oil Now!" And thats very clear. But in case you dont get the message. he was also kind enough to include a drill bit in his envelope so that we might start drilling right away. Madam Speaker. if Benjamin gets the need for increased domestic production. why doesnt this Congress? We need to promote efforts to drill in ANWR. drill in the nonprotected areas of the Outer Continental Shelf. support new refineries. and promote nuclear power. Instead. the Democrat majority wants to raise your gas tax by as much as 50 cents gallon. as the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee recently suggested. Madam Speaker. we need to listen to Benjamin and to other constituents who dont want our taxes raised.
Date: 2008-06-17
Speaker: DAVID DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Tennessee

Thank you. Mr. FORBES. I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to be with you. I rise tonight in support of H.R. 888. Psalm 33:12 says. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." It doesnt say. "Blessed is the nation whose God was the Lord." and theres a difference. Our Founding Fathers understood the difference. As has been stated before. you can see it all through these hallowed Chambers. Above the Speakers dais you will see the words. "In God we trust." Unfortunately. on TV at times you dont see the words "In God We Trust." they cut just a little bit below that. You will see Moses in full array in the back of the Chamber. This building. the Capitol of the United States. was actually used for church services in its early history. Out in the Rotunda. you will see many beautiful paintings. The first one you come to in the Rotunda you will actually see Pocahontas. that you will remember from Thanksgiving. Well. Pocahontas. in the painting. is actually depicted right after she changed her name to Rebecca when she became a Christian and was baptized. Our Founding Fathers understood our Christian Nation and our Christian heritage. And President James Buchanan understood this completely when he issued a proclamation in 1860 entitled "Humiliation. Fasting and Prayer." And hes quoted. "In this. the hour of our calamity and peril.. to whom shall we resort for relief but to the God of our Fathers? His omnipotent arm only can save us from the awful effects of our own crimes and follies. of our own ingratitude and guilt towards our Heavenly Father." It certainly sounds to me like President James Buchanan understood "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." We understand today that America isnt great because we have a large government. Were great because down through history. if we had a problem. we turned to God first and then we turned to our neighbors. not to a big government. And if we want to continue to be that great Nation. we need to look to II Chronicles 7:14. which says. "If my people. who are called by My name. shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." We need healing in our land.
Date: 2008-06-18
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. Americans are fed up paying over $4 per gallon for gas and nearly $5 for diesel. The price of a gallon of gas has spiked $2 since Democrats took control of Congress in January of 2007. Its high time we did something about the skyrocketing cost of gasoline and allow us to explore for oil right here in America. To bring down the price of gasoline. we need to expand U.S. refinery capacity. tap Americas own energy resources. streamline the number of fuel blends and promote the use of clean. alternative energy. With a nationwide price for gasoline now over $4 a gallon. its no surprise a recent Gallup Poll showed 57 percent of Americans now favor further exploration for oil right here in America. These folks are right. Come on. America. lets strike oil.
Date: 2008-06-18
Speaker: DAVID DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Tennessee

Mr. Speaker. I keep hearing my colleagues on the other side of the aisle say that we need to reduce our reliance on foreign oil. I couldnt agree more. The Democrats are good at making promises. but they need to follow through on those promises. There is one thing my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are very good at saying-"no." It seems like every option we put on the table. whether its developing the sources of the Outer Continental Shelf. expansion of nuclear power. or opening more refineries in the United States. the answer is always no. The Department of Interior estimates that in the Outer Continental Shelf alone. there is almost 100 billion barrels of oil and over 450 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. How high will gas prices have to go before the Democrats start saying "yes"? $5 a gallon? $10 a gallon? Its time for no more excuses. Families are hurting. Businesses are hurting. The American people are asking for help. Its time to say "yes."
Date: 2008-06-18
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. you know after listening to my friends on the other side of the aisle. if you listen to their prescription for our energy woes. it is very much like saying we can have milk in this country without cows. They dont understand that in order to take care of the problem. you need supply. And why do I say that. because on every single vote we have had over the last decade or so. when we talked about tar sands. Democrats voted no. When we talked about shale oil. Democrats voted no. When we talked about coal. Democrats voted no. When we talked about cleaner ways of using coal. the Democrats voted no. When we talked about offshore drilling for gas and oil. the Democrats said no. When we talked about drilling in ANWR. they voted no. When we talked about refineries. they said no. Nuclear. they said no. And sometimes they have even said no to wind if it happened to be near where they lived. Now the problem is that the American people want solutions. We are providing an opportunity for solutions. All we are asking is that the leadership on the Democratic side of the aisle allow us to bring to the floor those bills that will allow for more American energy production because we understand if you want milk. you have to have cows. If you want production. you are going to have to allow production in this country.
Date: 2008-06-18
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I have no additional speakers. and I would just say that this bill deserves the unanimoua support of the Members of this -body. With that. I would yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2008-06-18
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 5982. As a Californian. the State that was once known as the Bear Republic. and proud resident of the State of California. which has the bear flag. I rise in support of the BEAR bill that the gentleman from Mississippi has introduced and brought to the floor today. 0l 1115 The chairman from Mississippi has brought us a bill that seeks to build on work that hasalready been done in previous Congresses and also with TSA. but I think he gives us a little bit of a push to move in the direction of biometrics. The Biometric Enhancement for AirportRisk Reduction Act simply recognizes that as we go forward in trying to secure our airports and the flying public and the cargo from terrorist attack we need to use those things which give us an advantage over those who would do harm to us. and that means we need to have the smart use of technology. The gentleman from Mississippi has been one of those who has spoken for several years about the fact that we need to get biometrics on board more quickly than we have. and I join the gentleman in that hope. I think this bill will move us in that direction. People should understand that biometrics merely refers to identifiers. They could be something as simple as fingerprints. They could be iris scans. things of that sort. some medium by which we are able to identify an individual with the documentation that they have. And then if you have readers that are all over the landscape now for various different enterprises. it allows you in an economical and in an efficient way to identify the individuals that are granted access to particular areas. and this is particularly important when were talking about vast areas that we find at airports. Airports are not severely confined by geography as are some other enterprises. some other commercial enterprises. where you might be able to more easily secure the area. Particularly when you have airports where you have individuals who are cleared to work there. moving in and out. in and out. in and out of areas which are supposed to be secured areas. you have to find a reasonably efficient means that is also an effective means of identifying those people who should be in those areas and those people who should not be in those areas. And that is why biometric technology presents such an opportunity for us. and for these and other reasons I would support H.R. 5982. At this time. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2008-06-18
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. again. in closing. I rise in support of H.R. 5982. the BEAR Act. the Biometric Enhancement for AirportRisk Reduction Act. brought to us by the chairman of this committee. This is an advancement. This is a push to where we need to go with respect to biometrics. We ought to understand that the United States is the leader in the world in technology and technology application. We need to do that here as well. And it sometimes seems. strange that we dont take advantage of the leadership that we have in applying it to certain areas. The urgency that we need to adopt with respect to the threat that is out there is. I think. shared by this committee. but Im not sure that it is shared totally by the full Congress. nor by the Federal establishment all together nor. in some cases. by the American people. where. after our successes in forestalling any major terrorist attack on our shores since 9/11. it allows us a certain relaxation that I think is dangerous. The gentleman moves us in the right direction with this bill. I might say that as we move with this bill I would hope we would move with some other bills on this floor dealing with the threat that we have to our national economy and our national security through our energy dependence on many. many others. The U.S. is the leader in the potential for oil shale. just as were the leader in technology in this world. The U.S. might be called the Saudi Arabia of oil shale. According to the Department of Energy. this Nation is endowed with more than 2 trillion barrels of oil. To put this figure in perspective. the world has used 1 trillion barrels of oil since the first oil well was successfully drilled in Pennsylvania in 1859. According to the Department of Energy. let me repeat. we are endowed with more than 2 trillion barrels of oil. and were talking about U.S. oil shale. The problem is that we had a rider on an appropriations bill just last year that makes this huge domestic resource offlimits. That would be as silly as us having a bill on the floor that would say. even though were the leader in biometric technology. we will prohibit its use in the area of airport security. That would make no sense. Mr. Speaker. nor does it make sense for us not to utilize this tremendous resource we have. So again. Mr. Speaker. I would say that I would encourage all Members to support H.R. 5982. the Biometric Enhancement for AirportRisk Reduction Act. otherwise known as the BEAR Act. brought to us on this floor by the distinguished gentleman from Mississippi. the chairman of our committee. With that. Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2008-06-18
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of H.R. 5982. Chairman THOMPSONS legislation that would take an important step toward improving airport security. Since 9/11. Congress and the airline industry have taken strong actions to tighten security at our nations airports. These measures have included the creation of the TSA. the expansion of the air marshat service. and the full screening of airline passengers. Chairman THOMPSONS proposal before us today would build upon these early efforts by implementing a study on the use of biometrics in identifying airport workers. . As TSA continues to look for ways to ensure that airport workers--in addition to passengers---do not pose security risks. pursuing biometrics is a timely and necessary effort. At the same time. pursuing biometrics would also enhance efforts to conduct 100 percent screening of airport workers with access to secure parts of an airport. Congresswoman NITA LOWEY and I have long supported 100 percent screening of airport workers. Earlier in this Congress. we were proud to introduce and pass H.R. 1413. a bill to establish a pilot program to test such worker screening at a number of airports. Just recently. TSA launched a pilot similar to the program outlined in our bill. and I look forward to learning the results of this important test upon its completion. Of course. no one wants more bureaucracy for bureaucracys sake. but Congress needs to look continuously for vkays to improve protection for the traveling. public. As 9/11 so painfully taught us. we must resolve our security weaknesses before terrorists exploit the remaining gaps. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5982.