macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-04-18
Speaker: WATSON COLEMAN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. S. 1638 is virtually identical to the Housepassed legislation that my subcommittee advanced last year. The bills provisions acknowledge the need for GSA to be engaged at a high level. as the construction manager for the Departments headquarters consolidation project. and to help DHS develop realistic and achievable outcomes. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that up to 69 percent of the Departments commercial leases in the national capital region are slated to expire between fiscal years 2016 and 2020. As such. the Department will be forced to engage in the expensive process of recompeting and possibly relocating its operation and personnel. It would behoove the Department and the GSA to move more of DHS headquarters activities to St. Elizabeths as soon as possible and. thus. avoid the costs associated with executing additional leasing in the expensive D.C. market. Mr. Speaker. I do again urge the adoption of S. 1638. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2016-04-18
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of H.R. 4570. the "100 Years of Women in Congress Act." which renames the existing Women and Minorities in STEM Fields Program. or WAMS program. through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. as the "Jeannette Rankin Women and Minorities in STEM Fields Program." I commend Congresswoman MENG and Congressman ZINKE for introducing this bipartisan legislation which: Highlights the importance and contributions of women Members in Congress. Recognizes the importance of the Suffragette Movement in achieving opportunities for women. Emphasizes the imperative of promoting education for women in STEM. and Affirms our nations commitment to expanding opportunities for rural women in my home state of Texas and across the country. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first woman being elected to Congress. Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana. This bill is a fitting way to honor Representative Rankins legacy. and to celebrate the many contributions of the female lawmakers who have succeeded her in this institution. Jeannette Rankin was a trailblazer who broke barriers throughout her lifetime and whose example continues to inspire women the world over. She graduated from the University of Montana with a biology degree in 1902. She later became active in the womens suffrage movement. organizing the New York Womens Suffrage Party and working for the National American Woman Suffrage Association. In 1916. Representative Rankin became the first woman elected to Congress. even before the ratification of the 19th Amendment. which guaranteed the right to vote to women. For all of her contributions to womens rights. to political activism. and to this institution. it is only fitting to pay tribute to her achievements.
Date: 2016-04-18
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. let me just finish my point by saying that the reason why the budget is not here is because they could not muster the votes of the majority and they could not muster them even though their budget ended Medicare. it took $6.5 trillion in cuts from the overall budget. it devastated goodpaying jobs. education. American infrastructure. and. again. it repealed the Affordable Care Act and dismantled the Affordable Care Act for 20 million people. Even with those poison pills to draw in support for some kind of budget that would fit within the law. their responsibility or the responsibility of Congressthey are in the majoritythey could not pass or get on the floor a budget. Clearly. the moral compass is broken. More importantly. it denies equal protection under the law. in my interpretation. of millions of Americans depending on this Congress doing its job.
Date: 2016-04-18
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. the Republican controlled House has once again missed a key deadline when it failed to pass a budget resolution before April 15. Despite promises to the contrary. House Speaker PAUL RYAN has been unable to bring a budget resolution to the floor in a timely fashion. This is simply unacceptable. Completing a budget resolution is an important step in the budget process that will lay out Congress spending priorities and create a unified vision for a more prosperous nation. While Democrats have endeavored to work cooperatively with Republicans to pass a comprehensive budget resolution. Speaker RYAN has insisted on pushing a budget that divides our country while further slashing critical investments aimed at strengthening our economy. The Republican budget reflects the needs of only a select few instead of the views and priorities of every American and places the burden of deficit reduction squarely on the backs of middle and working class Americans. It is clear that our most vulnerable segments of the populationthe elderly. minorities. lowincome earners. and othershave been most impacted by the Great Recession. Yet this latest Republican budget resolution continues to reflect the failed economic worldview that wealth will trickle down when we give massive tax breaks to the wealthy. Time and time again. history has demonstrated that this is simply untrue. It is unfortunate that the Republicancontrolled Congress today is subjecting millions of hardworking families to even greater pressures to work longer hours for less pay. while we continue to prop up the wealthiest earners and biggest corporations with tax breaks and other loopholes. The Republican budget exemplifies these principles and drives the wedge deeper between the wealthy and our most vulnerable. Mr. Speaker. I believe our nation is on a dangerous path under this Republican leadership. Congress should be working to create jobs and increase pay for hardworking American families. not giving additional tax breaks to the wealthy and cutting spending for key social programs The Republicans have long abandoned their commitment to pass a budget resolution that reflects the needs of all Americans. Thus. I am strongly urging my colleagues to support fiscally sound and morally responsible budget alternatives that will create a level playing field and new opportunities for every American.
Date: 2016-04-19
Speaker: MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New Mexico

Mr. Speaker. I was unable to vote on rollcalls 153 through 158 due to a family emergency. Had I been present. I would have voted as follows: On rollcall No. 153 on H.R. 4570. I am not recorded due to a family emergency. I would have voted "aye." On rollcall No. 154 on S. 719. I would have voted "aye." On rollcall No. 155 on the Motion on Ordering the Previous Question on H. Res. 688. I would have voted "nay." On rollcall No. 156 on H. Res. 688. I would have voted "nay." On rollcall No. 157 on the Motion on Ordering the Previous Question on H. Res. 687. I would have voted "nay." On rollcall No. 158 on H. Res. 687. I would have voted "nay."
Date: 2016-04-19
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. I rise to talk about families. Yesterday. the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on DACA and DAPA. I challenge anyone to look at the children who were protesting in front of the Supreme Court yesterday and not feel an urgency to protect them and their families. Our unjust and broken immigration system has forced millions of families to live in the shadows. Where is our compassion? Immigrants. regardless of legal status. deserve justice and dignity. We are a Nation of immigrants. Uniting and keeping our families together is an integral American value. We should be protecting the stability of our hardworking immigrant families instead of tearing them apart. Comprehensive immigration reform is the moral imperative of our time. and I urge this Congress to pass it.
Date: 2016-04-19
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. I thank the gentleman from Michigan. I rise today to express my concern about the ongoing vacancy in the Supreme Court. The President has done his constitutional job. and that is to screen. to choose. to nominate. and to put forward a name. The Senate must do its constitutional duty. to take a look at the nominee and give a vote. I dont know how the Senate would vote. depending on the nominee. It is in their jurisdiction. It is in their individual right to take a look and to decide yea or nay. But it is their responsibility to take up that nominee. That is the constitutional requirement. It has dire consequences for us when this vacancy is left unfilled. It has dire consequences for many. in particular. for example. the Latino community. Just yesterday the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in United States v. Texas. a challenge to the Presidents executive actions on immigration. Because of the vacancy. we only have three Justices. So there is the clear possibility that it could be a 44 vote. That would leave in place the freeze on DACA and DAPA. and millions of immigrants lives are hanging in the balance. The Supreme Court must be able to make concrete decisions on the most pressing issues facing our country. but we are stuck in limbo. Actually. if you think of the division of powers. we are purposely in a way hampering the power of that judiciary. It doesnt have to be that way. President Obama has nominated Judge Garland. a worthy and a just successor to the late Justice Scalias seat. Yes. Senate Republicans refuse to give Judge Garland their consideration even though a majority of Senate Republicans voted to confirm this exact same judge to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in 1997. They refuse to consider his nomination. Why? Because they are looking to block any Supreme Court nominee at any cost. There is too much at stake to leave the Supreme Court vacancy open. It is time for the Senate to fulfill their constitutional duty by filling the Supreme Court vacancy with undue delay. Wasting time. playing political games with the highest of the Court. is irresponsible and is unacceptable.
Date: 2016-04-19
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. I thank Mr. CONYERS for his leadership and for organizing this Special Order to highlight the grave consequences of Senate Republican obstructionism by blocking a simple upordown vote on the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. Republicans claim to love the Constitution. yet they refuse to acknowledge their constitutional duties. Senate Republicans have chosen to play politics instead of doing what is right for the American people. They simply dont want to do their job. President Obama faithfully fulfilled his constitutional duty by nominating Chief Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. but Senate Republicans refuse to even hold a hearing to consider. to just consider. Chief Judge Garlands nomination. This refusal to fulfill a constitutional duty of theirs to vet and vote on this nominee is indicative of Republicans 8year strategy of obstructing President Obama at every opportunity. And who loses? The American people do. The worst excuse that I have heard as to why Senate Republicans are shirking their duty is that the American people should have a say in the process. I would like to remind my Senate Republican colleagues that the American peopleincluding 11.2 million Latinos who voted in the 2012 election cyclealready had a voice in this nomination. The American people expressed their will when they overwhelmingly reelected President Obama to a second full term. with the understanding that if a vacancy occurred. it is part of the Presidents duty to nominate a Supreme Court Justice. I would like to remind my Republican colleagues. a full Presidential term is 4 years. not just 3. I know math can be hard and a little tricky. so I wanted to make sure that my Republican colleagues in the Senate were clear on that. The vacancy before us is one that is critically important for all Americans. but especially for Latinos living in the United States. The President has fulfilled his obligation. Now it is time for the Republican Senators to do their job.
Date: 2016-04-20
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. last week I released a new report by the Democratic staff of the Joint Economic Committee about the effects of the gender pay gap on women and families in America. This report on gender pay inequality is the most comprehensive. uptodate report on the gender pay gap. A typical woman working full time and yearround is paid only 79 cents to the male dollar. This adds up to a loss of roughly $10.800 per year. and it compounds over a lifetime to roughly a half a million dollars in less pay than a man because of the pay gap. Over a lifetime. this jeopardizes a womans retirement because the lower pay results in a lower pension. lower Social Security. lower savings. and contributes to the fact that women over 75 years of age are twice as likely as their male counterparts to live in poverty. Millions of women. children. families. and husbands are hurt by unequal pay for equal work. Lets finally make equal pay a reality by passing the Paycheck Fairness Act and finally putting women into the Constitution for equality.
Date: 2016-04-20
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Mr. Speaker. I want to thank my colleague for yielding. Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 1206. which would restrict the IRS ability to hire qualified personnel until it has documented that each one of its 80.000 employees has not violated an unusual. uncertain tax standard. This legislation is totally unnecessary and promises to further undermine taxpayer service and tax enforcement. First of all. it is totally unnecessary. suggesting that IRS employees are tax delinquent when. in reality. IRS employees demonstrate a tax compliance rate much higher than that of Members of Congress or other Federal agencies. Indeed. 99 percent of IRS employees are tax compliant in contrast to only 95 percent of the House of Representatives. Further. IRS employees already are subject to the Federal Payment Levy Program that can levy Federal salaries to recover tax debts. Certainly. this is a bill in search of a problem. Secondly. this bill would further impede the ability of the IRS to serve taxpayers and enforce tax laws. Due to Republican insistence on dramatically reducing the IRS funding by over $1 billion in the last 5 years. the IRS has already experienced extraordinary reductions in personnel and service. Seven former IRS Commissioners from both parties have spoken about this unprecedented reduction and its negative impact on our tax system. My constituents. your constituents. and constituents all over the country have suffered enough. Our national debt has suffered. Every time we collect $1. that yields another $4 in revenue. So I would urge my colleagues to vote against this bill. I certainly will do so.
Date: 2016-04-20
Speaker: BRENDAN F. BOYLE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsyl

vania. Mr. Speaker. in this often colorful Presidential election. which has gotten much attention not only here in the United States but around the world. it occurred to me in watching the coverage last night that there is actually something the majority of Americans and probably a majority of both those who are supporting Donald Trump and those who are supporting BERNIE SANDERS agree on. that is that they believe Washington. D.C.. is bought and paid for. Mr. Speaker. as someone who has chosen public service as a profession. that deeply concerns me. A majority of Americans believe right now that we are all tainted by this campaign finance process. even though I believe that most who have chosen this profession are good and honorable people who are wanting to do the right thing. The fact is we are all tainted by the way in which our campaigns are financed. but we can change that. It is time for public financing of elections. It is time for H.R. 20. Government By the People Act. Lets get all of the outside money entirely out of the system and return the confidence that the people will have in their elected officials.
Date: 2016-04-20
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I just returned from my district which I might say is under water with. again. another torrential rain that has caused so many Houstonians and those in the surrounding areas to suffer. We did this with Tropical Storm Allison last year in May 2015. and now again in 2016. You see the depth of devastation by the families that I visited at M.O. Campbell and in apartment complexes. First. let me thank the mayor and county government officials who are working so hard. We need to move as quickly as possible for the Presidential declaration of natural disaster. I know it is a process. and I accept that. But we also have to have a way of investing in the infrastructure of overcoming the terrible aspect of places where water comes with no place to go. We need a national infrastructure effort and one that involves the State of Texas and Houston. Harris County. as well because we lost eight lives. Finally. let me say. Mr. Speaker. as I indicate to the Texas Department of Transportation that receives Federal funds. we must put flashing lights and signals where there are underpasses where people have died. We have to save lives. I will continue to fight for housing and for the Federal declaration and for FEMA. People are suffering. and we are going to work with them and give them hope.
Date: 2016-04-20
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I rise today in honor of Earth Day. which we will celebrate this Friday. Each year on Earth Day we recommit to preserving a healthy and sustainable environment for our future generations. When Pope Francis addressed Congress over 6 months ago. he called for a courageous and responsible effort to redirect our steps and to avert the most serious effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human activity. That is why I believe that the greatest thing that this Chamber can do right now in honor of Earth Day is to fully reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Land and Water Conservation Fund has provided critical funding to help protect and preserve our natural areas. our water resources. and our cultural heritage. So it is an important source of funding that allows so many of our Nations urban youth to understand the environment. to get to know the wilderness. to gain that valuable understanding and respect for wildlife and our environment. We must act responsibly and permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Date: 2016-04-20
Speaker: WATSON COLEMAN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to recognize the hard work of East Brunswick High Schools We the People team. We the People is a civic education program that has reached more than 28 million students since its inception in 1987. Each year approximately 1.200 students from across the country demonstrate their knowledge of complex constitutional principles in both historical and contemporary contexts. This week a talented group of young minds from East Brunswick High School in my district will compete for one of ten spots in the final round of competition. I wish both the coach and the team the best of luck and continued success.
Date: 2016-04-20
Speaker: WATSON COLEMAN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
Date: 2016-04-20
Speaker: WATSON COLEMAN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentlewoman from Illinois for her very eloquent and very important remarks. Mr. Speaker. I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas .
Date: 2016-04-20
Speaker: WATSON COLEMAN (democrat)
Chamber: H

I am always grateful for the gentlewoman from Texas who comes and shares her wisdom and her passion and her concern. Mr. Speaker. as we close out this Special Order hour. I just want to share a few more comments. We should be doing whatever we can to ensure that every American is able to participate in the democratic process and ensure that elected officials truly represent the voices of their constituents. The right to vote and the elections in which we cast our ballots are the foundations of our democracy. and policymakers should be strengthening those systems and expanding that right whenever and wherever possible. Instead. for the past few years. we have been restricting it. In a Nation whose founding documents begin with "we the people of the United States." the local. State. and Federal Government should champion the cause of ensuring that every single American can make his voice heard with as little difficulty as possible. I support every effort to do so. and I urge my colleagues to do the same. Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2016-04-21
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to call attention to the rising cost of our Nations nuclear forces budget. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that between 2015 and 2024. the administrations plans for nuclear forces will cost us about $348 billion. That is about $35 billion a year on our nuclear enterprise. According to the CBO. this is about 5 to 6 percent of the total cost of the administrations plans for our national defense for the next 10 years. Next week. the House Armed Services Committee will mark up the fiscal year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act. our military bill. if you will. One of my main priorities in the committee has been to reduce our Nations nuclear weapons spending and to reduce our nuclear stockpile. Unfortunately. year after year. the Congress authorizes funding for more weapons while capping the funding that we use to dismantle nuclear weapons. I think it is a far safer world without these nuclear weapons. Mr. Speaker. rather than spend on the legacy of the cold war. we should be investing in our most important military asset: our men and our women in uniform.
Date: 2016-04-21
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. just a few days ago in Harris County. in Houston. and in my congressional district and many other places. again. the State of Texas experienced a terrible rain. It was not a hurricane and it was not a tornado. but it was a downpouring of 20 inchesplus of rain. Our bayous overran. people were standing on furniture. babies had to be rescued. and people died. Today. I want to call the names of seven people who died untimely in this terrible. terrible storm. Next week. I will ask my colleagues to stand with me for a minute of silence. but I wanted in this week to call their names. They were mothers and fathers. truck drivers. mechanical engineers. teachers. They were Americans. they were Houstonians. they were Texans. and. unfortunately. they died. The government must work better to ensure that there are flashing lights on underpasses and toward many other solutions. We look forward to the declaration of disaster to help the people remaining. My sympathy to their families: German Antonio Franco. Claudia Melgar. Sunita Vikas Malhara. Pedro Rascon Morales. Charles Edward Odom. Suresh Kumar Talluri. Teri White Rodriguez. Mr. Speaker. may they rest in piece. God bless their families in this terrible. terrible time.