macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-02-08
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the gentleman from Florida . the Florida delegation. the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. and everyone who served on the Courthouse Committee in Jacksonville for helping me to bring this bill to the Floor today. Judge Simpson was the overwhelming choice for the people of Jacksonville. and it is easy to understand when one learns about his impact on civil rights in the State of Florida and in the entire South. H.R. 315 is a bill to designate the courthouse at 300 North Hogan Street in Jacksonville. Florida as the "John Milton Bryan Simpson United States Courthouse." Judge Simpson was a native of Florida. born in Kissimmee. Florida on May 30 of 1903. He attended local high school and the University of Florida. and in 1926 graduated from law school at the University of Florida. After law school. he settled in JacksonVille. practicing law in addition to becoming an Assistant States Attorney from 1933 until 1939. He then ran for and was elected as a State Judge serving from 1939 until 1943. In 1950. he was nominated by President Truman for the United States District Court. Southern Florida. and in .1966. was nominated by President Johnson and joined the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Simpson was an active participant in the struggle for civil rights and was instrumental in desegregating Duval. Orlando. and Daytona Counties in Florida. all in my district. He became an agent for change in the Jim Crowe south. His judicial orders desegregated the schools. city pools. city golf courses. and the city zoo. For his personal courage. he was the subject of numerous death threats and cross burnings. -It is well known that Martin Luther King himself. appeared before Judge Simpson and argued for a reversal on a ban on nighttime civil rights marching in St. Augustine. Within a week. Judge Simpson issued an order in support of Kings appeal. Judge Simpson was known as the giant of the legal system in Jacksonville. He was a man of great courage and fairness. It is most fitting that the new courthouse in Jacksonville is named in his honor. Mr. Speaker. I urge my colleagues to support this bill which honors a judge of great distinction and character. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2005-02-08
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. I have a couple of questions for the gentlewoman from California and for the chairman. but before that we have had several discussions about the budget and what the budget reflects. Mr. Speaker. when you are in a group or organization. or in the church. you can tell something about the people as to how they spend their money. It is clear that this Bush administration does not value the people that are paying the bills. They do not value the people that are paying the bills. All you have to do is follow the dollars. Every single domestic program is cut under this administration. My question has to go back to starting with Social Security. My question. one. pertains to the Social Security program that we just celebrated a few years ago. how many years it has been in existence. the most successful program in the history of this country. I guess I am the only Member that remembers that the Republicans said that they want to see the program wither on the vine. Would my colleague. the gentleman from New York . explain how old the program is and why it was started in the first place.
Date: 2005-02-08
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. my chief of staff and I were talking today about the program. He is a young man in his 40s. but his father died when he was a young man. and he was able to get that benefit that took care of him until he went to college. That is a benefit of the Social Security- program. So it helps those people that have parents who die. and it also helps the disabled. is that correct?
Date: 2005-02-08
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to vehemently state my disappointment. frustration. and objection to the FY 2006 budget submitted by President Bush. When President Bush submitted his 2006 budget to Congress on Monday he said. "The taxpayers of America dont want us spending our money into something thats not achieving results." I couldnt agree more. The unnecessary tax cuts for the rich and an optional war with Iraq are not producing results. The Presidents 2006 budget request slashes social programs while increasing military spending. Yet not a single dime of his FY 2006 budget is earmarked for Iraq. Instead. those costs are hidden from the American people in the form of an $80 billion emergency supplemental request to Congress. This budget will severely impact Texas citizens negatively. as well as other American citizens. They deserve better. Mr. Speaker. never before has America faced such an array of issues that demand creative. competent leadership. But the Administration has pursued solutions that serve. only to escalate the problems we are facing. Programs and policies that not only provide assistance for the poor but for a large portion of the American people who need help to keep their heads above water are under attack. On the cutting block by this Administration are grants for college tuition. housing assistance under Section 8. food stamps. health care for the uhinsured. Eight million Americans are unemployed. But Republicans passed a new set of tax breaks that reward corporations who send jobs overseas. About 45 million Americans have no health insurance. But Republicans have proposed Health Savings Accounts that benefit a wealthy few. encourage employers to drop insurance coverage and will increase the number of uninsured by 350.000. Over 8 million children nationwide are struggling to meet new national education standards. But Republicans refused to provide promised help to our schools. leaving millions of children without the help they need in reading and math. America needs a national security policy that is as strong and brave and as decent as the heroes who serve in uniform. We must make sure that they have the training and equipment they need to get the job done right. Democrats are working to build a future that is worthy of the trust of the American people. the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform. and the aspirations of all of Americas . children.
Date: 2005-02-09
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I thank my classmate and colleague for yielding me this time. and I rise in opposition to this legislation. It is interesting that we are discussing the drivers license the day after the Presidents budget was released that did not fund the border patrol officers we authorized 2 months ago. Instead of 2.000. the President only wants to authorize 200 new border officers. We are attacking the drivers license issue. which seems strange. when we should be attacking the person who may be getting it. I always hear that "Guns dont kill people. people do." Well. that drivers license does not kill anybody. It is the person who does it. Let us go after that person. And that is what those 2.000 border patrol officers for the next 2 years are supposed to do. You know. building a fence is a good idea. But. again. I think it ought to be built like other construction projects. subject to competitive bidding and environmental concerns. There is bound to be a way we can build a fence that is environmentally safe along the desert in Southern California. I have a district in Texas. and I know that we need secure identification cards that are used like drivers licenses. But we have one of the largest minority immigrant populations in the country. and more people immigrate to the United States through Texas every day. Having secure ID cards not only helps protect our homeland. but also helps our law enforcement keep our roads safer and enables them to do a better job. That is why we addressed this issue 2 months ago and required. under the Intelligence Reform Act. the Department of Homeland Security to establish standards. guidelines for ID cards.
Date: 2005-02-09
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Chairman. I am a proud daughter of immigrants who is honored to serve my country. I consider it a privilege to be able to give something back to this country that has given so much opportunity to generations of immigrants over the years. Like millions of immigrants here today. my family came to this country in search of the American Dream: a better life for their children so that. their children could receive a quality education. some day own a home. and earn a fair wage. I stand before my colleagues today angered and outraged that under the guise of national security. the Republican Party is trying to punish those seeking the same dreams that my parents sought. If the Republicans and this administration really want to strengthen national security. they should start. I would think. by providing full funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Instead. the administrations budget slashes funding for the COPS program by $480 million and guts funding for local firefighters by $215 million. This leaves our first responders without the critical resources they need. The administrations budget also breaks the promise of putting an additional 2.000 border patrol agents on the job in 2006 as promised in landmark intelligence reforms passed last year and endorsed by the 9/11 Commission. Instead. the Presidents budget provides funding for a mere 210 agents. a 90 percent cut over the 9/11 Commission recommendations. The truth of the matter is that Republicans are using national security as a facade to alienate lawabiding. hardworking. and taxpaying immigrants. There are 8 million undocumented immigrants in this country who are cleaning our offices. caring for our children and elderly. and picking the fruits and vegetables that we consume. Most of these jobs most Americans do not want. Without these immigrants. our economy would falter. What we should be doing is allowing immigrants a path to citizenship and access to drivers licenses so they become a part of our American system. This will make our country safer. and it will strengthen our national security. We need comprehensive reform that supports our economy and values our immigrants. If the REAL ID Act is passed today. it will deny drivers licenses to those immigrants and slam the door shut on refugees seeking asylum from bloodthirsty regimes. America is a country built by immigrants. and we should remain a country that is opening and welcoming to those who seek freedom. It is a sad day when Republicans use the pretext of national security to attack immigrants who pose no real threat to our security. Americans deserve better. and I urge my colleagues to vote "no" on H.R. 418.
Date: 2005-02-09
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. the most troubling aspect of this bill is that related to asylum. Todays laws for seeking asylum are the result of lessons learned after World War II. After the war. America reflected with shame on how this shining beacon of democracy and freedom turned its back on 1.000 Jews who fled for their lives on the ship called the St. Louis. We turned the St. Louis away. not even allowing it to dock in America. It is estimated that over half of those refugees eventually died. Today. in Haiti. Cuba and other countries. thousands face death. religious persecution. torture and property confiscation. This bill virtually closes the door to those who might seek asylum in America. Let us not forget the lessons of history. I urge my colleague s to keep the doors open to those seeking justifiable refuge. Regarding drivers licenses. the 9/11 tragedy has been referred to here on this floor referencing the terrorists who obtained drivers licenses. Let me remind my colleagues that this bill would not affect that situation at all. as all of the terrorists were in this country legally and could have obtained drivers licenses regardless of this law. We should heed what Florida Governor Jeb Bush said last year when he was talking about drivers licenses for illegal immigrants. He said. "We shouldnt allow them to come into the country to begin with. but once theyre here. what do you do? Do you basically say that they are lepers to society. that they do not exist?" He concluded by saying. "A policy that ignores them is a policy of denial." I agree and I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill.
Date: 2005-02-09
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. yesterday. the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. a federally mandated bipartisan. commission. released a comprehensive report documenting the mistreatment of asylees in America. For those seeking asylum. we stripsearch them and then we thrown them in jail with criminals. As we debate this bill. thousands of people seeking safety from persecution are in jail with criminals in the United States. They are here fleeing from torture. from rape. some are here seeking freedom because they have been denied the opportunity to practice their religion. say Christianity. in a place where religion is not permitted. But when they get here. we lock them up. And today we are considering a bill that will make it harder for those fleeing oppression. trying to find safe haven in our Nation. This bill does nothing to make us safer. In fact. we have heard references to those who came prior to the first World Trade Center bombing. We made changes in the law subsequent to that. That fix has already been done. We do not need to do what is before us today. So it is surprising we are not addressing today the shocking findings of the Commission Report. Mr. Chairman. I want to say something else. This bill. despite the protestations. is in fact creating a de facto national ID card. It establishes one type of ID that most Americans will carry. All our information will be held in databases linked together and readymade for use by the Federal Government. How much will they really know about each and every one of you? This is not just about immigrants. this is about all Americans. and I think we need a national conversation about whether we want that form of big brother.
Date: 2005-02-09
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I join our Nation in mourning and remembering one of our finest citizens. Mr. Ossie Davis. Born Raidford Chatman Davis or "Ossie" in Cordell. Georgia in 1917. Ossie Davis knew at an early age exactly what he wanted to do in life. He decided to attend college at Howard University to become a playwright. Many of us knew Ossie as an actor and political activist but he also served in the United States Army during World War II. where he was stationed at the Armys first black station hospital before being transferred to special services to write and produce stage Shows for the troops. During the civil rights era. Ossie and his wife Ruby Dee fought tirelessly to promote equal rights and justice for AfricanAmericans subjected to segregation. And although he suffered tremendous loss professionally. his career has been nothing short of stellar. Besides an outstanding career on Broadway. Ossie Davis should also be remembered as a pioneer in the film and theatre world. including his performance in the movie classic. "A Raisin in the Sun." I will fondly remember when the couple traveled in the early 1980s to my district of Dallas to shoot their show. "With Ossie & Ruby". a public television series produced by a local television station. They were also very generous to local charities. including the Black Academy of Arts and Letters. His marriage of more than 50 years to actress. Ruby Dee is truly an inspiration to many people. young and old. Last year. they both received the Kennedy Center Honors for their lifetime of achievement in the arts. Mr. Speaker. we should all learn by the example of the life of Ossie Davis. Our nation will remember his courage. determination. humility. and service to our country.
Date: 2005-02-09
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I thank my colleague so much. and I have to say that it is a tremendous pleasure to join my 30something colleagues. my colleague from Florida and the gentleman from Ohio
Date: 2005-02-09
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank my colleague. Mr. Speaker.. Another important point. and why the three of us are here tonight highlighting this. is because our generation needs to understand the President has laid out a rosy scenario under his proposal that simply does not exist. No group of Americans has more reason to fight the privatization of Social Security than young Americans and young workers and their families. The Presidents proposal cuts benefits. it pulls the rug out from underneath our retirement security. and it adds trillions to the debt. Privatization will ultimately result in a crisis that means millions of young people will basically be forced to work into their 70s. when right now. under the current system. they could retire far earlier with a guaranteed benefit. And they would have to ultimately pay higher income taxes for the rest of their lives. I want to talk just briefly about the simple terms that I described earlier. This is how the Presidents proposal hurts everyone. The costs of privatization clearly explode the national debt. Most Americans understand what happens when you run up your credit card bill and do not pay it off. It is impbssible to get out from under that debt. never mind trying to get a bank loan based on the credit you have. because your credit is gone. That is exactly what the President is doing here. essentially. He is using up Americas credit. yours. mine. our childrens. even our grandchildrens to fund a radical and untested program that puts the safety of Americas workers and retirees at risk. That is really the bottom line. Because of the misplaced spending priorities. the national debt has grown so large that anaverage family of four pays thousands of dollars each year to pay down the governments debt. which is just like the interest that you pay on a credit card when you do not pay off that debt every month. Imagine what that family is going to owe when trillions of dollars are added to their monthly statements in the form of new and higher taxes. And what do they get for all that spending? Benefit cuts. removal of their retirement security. all of which is subject to the whims of politicians and the stock markets fluctuations. And that is totally inappropriate public policy. and young Americans should be as deeply disturbed as we are.
Date: 2005-02-09
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I want to bring up something that maybe has not been discussed and that is the disproportionate impact that the Presidents plan will have on women. Women are already starting far behind the eight ball as compared to men in their earnings. There are a number of factors that leave women even more vulnerable to this radical proposal than it leaves men. In 2003. for example. the average monthly Social Security benefit for a woman was only $798. That is $241 less than the average mans monthly retirement. Womens earnings are 77 percent relative to men back in 2002. Women who reach retirement age live. on average. at least 3 years longer than men. and Social Security is the only source of retirement income for one in three unmarried women. Without Social Security. 52 percent of white women. 65 percent of African American women. and 61 percent of Hispanic women would live in poverty upon retirement without the safety net that Social Security provides. It provides more than half of the total income for female widows and for single women. So when the President talks about the different groups that his proposal would disproportionately benefit. he does not seem to care that we would leave women in this country completely out in the cold.
Date: 2005-02-09
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I know we are using Congressional Budget Office numbers. and that needs to be understood. We are not just making this up to fit the picture that we want to show here. But the question I have is. when I sat in the Chamber and listened to the President deliver the State of the Union address. my understanding of the Presidents proposal was that he would try to put forward a proposal that would ensure future retirees would have more money. The illusion that he has created is that by privatizing Social Security. putting the future of Social Security into the stock market. he led people to believe Wednesday night that they would retire with more money than they would have if we left the system as it is. But each of the graphs I have seen here tonight shows consistently there is less money for each scenario. whether you are the youngest future retiree or the oldest future retiree. How are we wrong and he is right? How is it that he does .not see that he is costing the government trillions of dollars. pulling the rug out from under our retirees and causing them to have less money. not more? What are we not. getting here?
Date: 2005-02-09
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

If the gentleman would yield further. let me just read the statement. "Aggressive lobbying by veterans groups that brought about medical care for retired military health brings about this great drain on fighting wars. Chu said in the article. He described it as painful to move moneys for new weapons programs to accounts that fund
Date: 2005-02-09
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

If the gentleman would yield further. my question to the gentleman is I agree that we have a budget. and you determine something about the people of a country how you.use that budget. It is clear to me that this President. President Bush. his priority is for the people that funded his campaign. It is not a matter of whether we should fund weapons or supplies that our troops need or whether we should take care of the veterans who have taken care of us for so many years and who need us in their twilight. It is these tax cuts that this administration wants to make permanent. That is the problem. It is a matter of priorities. I mentioned earlier today that Valentines Day is coming up. Everybody wants to show you some love.. If you love me. you are going to send me flowers or spend some money on me. you are going to take me out to dinner. But it is clear that the Bush administration does not love these veterans. In other words. they talk a great talk. but they do not walk the walk or they do not roll the roll. If you look at their budget. the budget priorities are to their rich friends that funded their campaign coffers. and not to the veterans that need them. I come from a district where the veterans are not the richest in the country. In fact. onethird of the homeless people are veterans that have fallen through the safety net. They are not getting the health care they need or the mental health counseling or the job opportunities. It is a failure. The richest country in the world. and we are trying to put the burdens of the war on the veterans. Help me. somebody.
Date: 2005-02-09
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

If the gentleman will yield further. I am reminded of the words of the first President of the United States. George Washington. whose words are worth repeating at this time. "The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war. no matter how justified. shall be directly proportioned as to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars are treated and appreciated by their country." Now. I think that is very profound. In other words. how we treat our veterans today will determine whether our young people will enlist and commit themselves to go to war to fight for our great country. Profound. does the gentleman not think?