macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-07-27
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I accept that point of order. but I would like to appeal to the chairman of this committee to work with us and see if we cant preserve some of the investments weve already made and some of the talent that is in place. The Acting CHAIR. The Chair is prepared to rule. The amendment expands the eligible uses of appropriations in the pending paragraph to include "fellowships." As such. it proposes to appropriate for that purpose. The proponent of an item of appropriation carries the burden of persuasion on the question of whether it is supported by an authorization in law. Having reviewed the amendment and entertained argument on the point of order. the Chair is unable to conclude that the item of appropriation in question is authorized in law. The Chair is therefore constrained to sustain the point of order under clause 2(a) of rule XXI.
Date: 2011-07-28
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

I rise in strong opposition to the Republican Default Act. which represents a continued effort by our Republican colleagues to hold our economy hostage while forcing an ideological agenda and jeopardizing our economy. Yet again. our colleagues across the aisle have put forward a legislative proposal that would lead to crippling cuts in Medicare. Social Security and Medicaid. all while refusing to even consider ending illadvised tax breaks for the most fortunate Americans. Who absorbs the total burden from these drastic cuts. Mr. Speaker? Our seniors and working families. thats who. On a day when Exxon Mobils second quarter profits soared 41 percent and they earned $10 billion. it is simply unconscionable for us to ask seniors. working families. children. and middle class folks to bear the burden of our deficits when we are asking nothingnothingof corporations. special interests and the wealthiest few. This shortterm debt limit increase measure fails to instill the necessary confidence in the American people that we have their best interests at heart. and it certainly does little to calm our creditors throughout the world. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in opposition to this reckless. deadonarrival bill that the majority of the Senate and the President oppose so that we can find legitimate compromise with a longterm solution. Mr. Speaker. Democrats have been sitting at the compromise table for a very long time. There is a cold. empty chair across the table from us. It is time for the Republicans to warm that seat.
Date: 2011-07-28
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

America. we really need to pay close attention here. First of all. this is a terrible bill at the wrong time. Here we are. the number one issue facing the American people is jobs. and this bill is a major jobkiller of the highest magnitude. It will average a loss of 40.000 public service jobs in the public sector each month. All we have to do is look at the record from the month of June. In the month of June. the private sector created 58.000 jobs. but because of massive cuts in the public sector. there was a loss of 40.000 jobs each month. In addition to that. this bill will drastically end Medicare. It will reduce Medicaid payments to the States. and it will severely cut back the checks to our Social Security recipients by an average of $1.000 each month.
Date: 2011-07-28
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

You know perfectly well. Mr. DREIER. that the announced cuts in this bill and the setting up with this commission. and. also. your party has already set your record on a road. Your number one target has been to end Medicare. But let me go back. and I just wanted to answer your question. Its very important. Mr. Speaker. that we also understand that the other dangerous part about this bill is that in 6 months we will be right back here again which will add greater instability to the markets and further undermine our credibility ratings.
Date: 2011-07-28
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Its high time that we stopped playing Russian roulette with the American economy and American jobs. And yet that is exactly what this measure does. for the following reason. It says. Okay. America. were going to pay Americas bills. but only for 5 more monthsand only if we put in motion a plan that will end the Medicare guarantee and slash education. The proposal before us today will put the American economy and American jobs at even greater jeopardy over the next 5 months than they are today. It deliberately. by choice. keeps the economy under a cloud of instability and uncertainty. It chooses to risk higher interest rates and shrinking retirement funds that hit on every American family. So why would we choose to intentionally keep this cloud hanging over the country and the American people? Were told that we have to do it in order to force this Congress to reduce the deficit. Thats what were told. But the actions tell a very different story. The actions suggest this is not about reducing the deficit. Its about reducing the deficit in a particular waythe way the Republican plan wants to reduce the deficit. Thats why our Republican colleagues walked out of talks three times. Thats why theyve rejected the balanced approach and framework put forward by the President that says. Lets do $4 trillion in deficit reduction. and well do $3 trillion in spending cuts and $1 trillion in revenue. Three dollars of spending cuts to every dollar in revenue from cutting special interest tax breaks and asking the folks at the very top to go back to the rates they were paying during the Clinton administration. Our Republican colleagues rejected that approach to reducing the deficit because they dont want to end these tax breaks for the purpose of reducing the deficit. In fact. we passed a piece of legislation just a week ago that says were going to keep America from paying our bills unless we enact a constitutional amendment that makes it easier to cut Medicare and Social Security than it does to cut special interest subsidies. It would say a majority vote. lets just cut Medicare and education. but you need twothirds. a supermajority. if you want to cut corporate tax breaks for the purpose of reducing the deficit. So thats what its all about. This particular issue on the debt ceiling is a manufactured crisis. Weve all heard when President Reagan was President. he raised it 17 times. So this is a manufactured crisis in order to try and force and squeeze through a particular deficit reduction plana deficit reduction plan that would end the Medicare guarantee. cut education. and yet protect those special interest tax breaks and breaks for the very top. If we want to be serious about the deficit. we need to do a balanced approach. but lets not hold the entire American economy hostage. Lets not put us on 5month to 5month interest rate and creditworthiness watches in order to jam through a particular idea on deficit reduction. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2011-07-28
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

We keep hearing from our colleagues that there wasnt a proposal put forward by the President. The framework is pretty clear. and we can sort of solve this particular piece of it today. if possible. He said he will do $3 in spending cuts for $1 of revenue for deficit reduction. If someone wants to take us up on that offer while were talking about it on the floor. that would be just terrific. Because our Republican colleagues walked out of that discussion. Senator REID did put on the table a proposal that has been scored by the Congressional Budget Office. I have their score in my hand. dated July 27. 2011. It would reduce the deficit by $2.2 trillion. more than the $917 billion score in the Republican proposal. This is a nonpartisan. independent CBO score. The difference is he would raise the debt ceiling for 2 years so we dont keep the economy under a cloud. so we dont keep the threat of higher interest rates going into effect. which would be a hit on every American family. Why we would choose to deliberately keep the economy under a cloud and put jobs at risk is a mystery. The only answer is our Republican colleagues want to use that as a forcing mechanism to ultimately put in place their budget plan. which does end the Medicare guarantee. which does slash education and does protect corporate tax loopholes. With that. I yield 1 minute to a terrific member of the Budget Committee. the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania
Date: 2011-07-28
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

As I was listening to my friend. I really dont think the American people want us to be doing this every 5 months so that it becomes business as usual that we put the country through this crisis situation and with the threat of rising interest rates and all the other negative economic consequences that would happen. Because the grand bargain is now off the table. Senator REID has put forward a proposal. Again. I have the CBO scoring of it right here: $2.2 trillion. with more cuts than in the proposal thats on the table here from our Republican colleagues. the big difference being he doesnt want to say every 5 months "lets put the country into economic crisis" and deal with all the uncertainty between now and 5 months from now that that will create. With that. I yield 1 minute to a terrific member of the Budget Committee. the gentleman from Ohio .
Date: 2011-07-28
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. of course we should be reducing the deficit. Of course we should make sure that we dont rely on the Chinese as our bankers any more. which is why its so ironic that our Republican colleagues refuse to cut subsidies for oil companies by one penny for the purpose of reducing the deficit so we dont have to rely on borrowing from China anymore. In fact. if you look at Exxons quarterly profits today. theyre through the roof. Now. Im all for having Exxon make money. But why should they have taxpayer money on top of it? And yet our Republican colleagues get up here and they talk about how were dependent on China. But they dont want to break that dependency if it means actually asking the top oil companies to get rid of their subsidies for the purpose of deficit reduction. So lets get serious. Now. with respect to the plan that has been put forward by Senator REID. I listened to my colleague. I would point out to the body that if you look at the Republican budget and the documents that accompanied it when they pointed out what their savings were relative to the CBO baseline. they also show a trillion dollars in savings from the global war on terror. As my friend the chairman knows. that is a function of the way the Congressional Budget Office scores. But it is also a fact that when the Republican budget was presented. they presented it both relative to the Presidents baseline and the congressional budget baseline. I would further make the point that even if you took that off the table. the proposal by Senator REID cuts immediately more on spending than the Republican proposal before us today. the difference being he doesnt keep the economy hanging under a cloud for 5 months and make this country go through this exercise just by the end of December. With that. I would yield 1 minute to the distinguished Member of Congress from Illinois .
Date: 2011-07-28
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. just to be very clear. the Democratic Senate leader Mr. REID has put on the table a plan that would cut more immediately than the Republican plan before us today. even if you dont include the overseas contingency account funding. The difference is. he would not put our economy in jeopardy again just 5 months from now. as the Republican plan did. With that. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia .
Date: 2011-07-28
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. you know what weve seen play out here is. a few years back. we provided the tax breaks that went disproportionately to the very wealthy in this country. Now all of a suddenoh. well. we cant pay our bills anymore. a good part of that reason being the tax cuts. But how are we going to deal with those bills? Were going to sock it to middle class America. whether its through cuts in education or cuts to Medicare. and all because we dont want to cut subsidies for the oil companies. Again. as I said. just today. Exxon reported huge profits. God bless them for making all that money. But why do they need any of ours. our taxpayer money? And that is the rub of the issue. Its not whether we reduce the deficit. its how. With that. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2011-07-28
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

I yield myself 45 seconds just to say that we. as a body. need to do two things: Number one. we need to make sure the United States pays its bills. We need to make sure it pays its bills. and we shouldnt do it in a way that puts the American economy in jeopardy every 5 months. Just listen to the folks. the experts who have been monitoring this. They have said that if you do this on a 5month period. you will risk interest rates going up. Second. we need to reduce the deficit. Of course we do. Lets do it in a balanced way. The President has proposed $3 in spending cuts to $1 in revenue. but we cant get our colleagues on the Republican side to get one pennynot one pennyof revenue from closing a corporate tax loophole if the purpose is deficit reduction. And there is the rub. So lets reject this wrong approach. Senator REID has a proposal on the table. It cuts more than the one that the Republicans have. but it doesnt put the economy in jeopardy every 5 months. Mr. Speaker. I yield the last minute to the gentlelady from California . the terrific Democratic leader in the House.
Date: 2011-07-29
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank my colleague. Madam Speaker. there is a little pattern emerging here. First we had our Republican colleagues walk out of the Biden talks. And then twice they walked out of talks with the President. And then they totally rejected a proposal put forward by the Republican leader in the Senate. MITCH MCCONNELL. And last night they said "no" to the proposal put forward by their own Speaker. And that brings us to where we are today. In order to accommodate the more extreme elements of the Republican Caucus. they had to change the bill once again. Now what they are proposing is that ultimately we turn budget authority over not to the elected Representatives but to a Federal judge who would ultimately decide how were going to deal with our budget. You talk about passing the buck. you talk about not taking responsibility. now is the time to come together to come up with a reasonable compromise. not to move the parties far apart. The last point I want to make with regards to the deficit: We want to make sure that we have a plan. a balanced plan. to reduce the deficit. Im just waiting for my colleagues on the other side to say that theyre willing to get one penny from eliminating taxpayer subsidies to the oil companies or closing corporate loopholes for jetsjust one pennyfor the purpose of deficit reduction. Then well know that theyre serious about that. The President has said lets do $3 in spending cuts and $1 in revenue. But apparently asking $1 in revenue by eliminating a subsidy for the oil companies. thats too far. Oh. yes. we owe China. We need to do something about our debt to China. but asking the oil companies to take less taxpayer dollars. Federal taxpayer subsidy dollars. no. we cant do that. Lets be serious about balancing the budget and getting the deficit under control. but lets do it in a balanced way. This proposal takes us further in the wrong direction and doesnt bring us together to solve a problem for the American people. Now is the time to get serious.
Date: 2011-07-29
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

In my 1 minute. I want to make a special appeal that we pay close attention to what I consider the most devastating. damaging part of this bill. and that is what we are doing and what the Republicans are doing to Social Security. to Medicare. and to Medicaid. In this bill. it requires that we set up a joint select committee. There are no protections in here. And it says in order for us to give the raise to the debt ceiling. we must concur and cut $1.6 trillion from the budget from discretionary funding. The Center for Policy and Budget Priorities has said that since 80 percent of the discretionary areas come from Social Security. Medicaid and Medicare. it doesnt take a genius to know that were talking about drastic cuts in this area. and they will come out to a tune of about a thousand dollars for each recipient. Now. I dont know about you all. but we have some people in this country who are hanging on by their fingernails. We have widows. we have seniors. we have youngsters who are depending upon Social Security. depending upon Medicare. and to say that in this measure that we will make these drastic cuts in Social Security and Medicare is totally irresponsible. and for that reason let us vote this measure down.
Date: 2011-07-29
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to speak in opposition to the bill being considered S. 627. The Budget Control Act. This bill should be called the Boehner Default Act because it is just another attempt for Congressional Republicans to hold the American economy and jobs hostage while they relentlessly pursue an extreme partisan agenda that seeks to balance the budget on the backs of seniors and the middle class. This approach has been met with widespread rejection by the public and it should be rejected by the House now. This bill is not a serious attempt to deal with the national debt limit and it is not responsible legislation. House Republicans need to go back to the drawing board and show real leadership by crafting a plan that does not threaten the United States with a credit downgrade and higher interest rates while providing only a shortterm debt limit increase. It is inexcusable for Congress to have set up yet another partisan standoff on this issue just a few months down the road. It is unacceptable to slash Medicare. Medicaid. and Social Security from our nations seniors while asking nothing in return from the nations most wealthy corporations and individuals. It is time for Republicans to stop trying to score points with their political base and start legislating on behalf of the American people. As the majority party in the House of Representatives. the American people are owed better.
Date: 2011-07-29
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank the gentleman. First of all. thank you for allowing us to really talk about how great America isI agree with youand we are not broke. Chairman Bernanke said fast. undefined cuts will hamper the economy. and he is nonpartisan as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. So what do we need to do? We need to look at our history. Twenty million jobs were created under the Democratic Presidency of William Jefferson Clintonand then this President. with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that we supported. 3 million jobs. We know how to do this. What I would say to my friends is that we have the responsibility to be not "any" party. but Democrats are here to be for the American people. and this weekend. Democrats will be the ones standing in the gap for the American people. I am proud of that. My last point is. there is no shame in taking care of the vulnerable. The last thing we want to do as we leave this place in these next couple of days with the debt ceiling in place. as it should be. is to leave behind us seniors who may be thrown out of nursing homes because we didnt do what was right. So I say we can do it. and we can do the debt ceiling in the way that creates jobs and protects the American people.
Date: 2011-07-30
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. this morning we join together to express our commitment to one Nation. Unfortunately. we are in a collapse and a crisis because we are. as my good friend from Michigan said. drawn and strangled by those in the Tea Party who believe that America belongs to only one group. Well. I stand here today to say that we must not take the Tea Partys words that say "do not surrender." That is a selfish position. You do not play surrender games when you work on behalf of the American people. You wonder why the economy is slow? Because it is strangled by inertia and lack of action in raising the debt ceiling. Lets join together in a bipartisan way to lift the debt ceiling. If not. the President has constitutional authority to lift the debt ceiling and get Members to move forward and on helping this country protect the 401(k)s. Social Security. Medicare. and Medicaid of the American people. Mr. Speaker. we are one Nation. not the Tea Party nation. We should represent the people of the United States in creating jobs. we can move the economy. and we can show the world that America is run by adults and we stand for the American people. I believe I stand for one Nation and to represent all of the people.
Date: 2011-07-30
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Ladies and gentlemen of the House of Representatives. this is not a Nation of Tea Party people. It is not a Nation of Democrats or Republicans. It is a Nation of all of us. And what the Reid plan presents. it represents the Tea Party. the Republicans and the Democrats and the President of the United States. This is what the American people expect us to do. That is what has made this country great. At critical times. weve come together and we have compromised. Were protecting Medicare. Were protecting Social Security. Were protecting Medicaid. as the people of this country want. And yet. as the Republicans and the Tea Party want. there are no tax increases in this. And as the President of the United States has asked us. there will be a second task in the year 2013. Ladies and gentlemen of this House. the time is present. It is time for us to do the American thing: Stand up for the American people and let us compromise in the best interests of all of us so this Nation will not go into default.
Date: 2011-07-30
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

I would point out to my good friend from Texas. Madam Speaker. as a constitutional conservative. he should recognize that the Constitution. itself. was a series of compromises. Our Nation and economy is being pushed closer and closer to default. Hardliners on the rightextremists by any other namehave refused to compromise. We are putting in jeopardy the payment of the Social Security obligations and paying the members of our military. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff yesterday couldnt even answer in the affirmative that he was confident that those payments could be made if we default. Were putting in jeopardy the full faith and credit of our Nation. Yesterday. seniors in my district called my office in tears. wondering whether we would default and what those consequences would mean for them. These are real people who live on Social Security to survive. We have many strongly held views on both sides of the aisle. I dont like everything in the Reid proposal before us. but compromise is critical. I recognize that I cant have everything 100 percent my way. Democrats have been at the compromise table for months with an empty chair on the other side of the table. It is time for Republicans to warm that seat across from us.
Date: 2011-07-30
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you. President Obama and House and Senate Democrats have said we are willing to support cuts even to programs we would normally fight to preserve. Republicans in response have doubled down in a Groundhog Day move that has pushed deadonarrival proposals that jeopardize our economy by bringing us closer to the brink of chaos. At the end of the day. the stewardship of our economy is our responsibility.