macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 1999-02-03
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

We have heard much debate today about saving Social Security and spending 62 percent of the surplus to do it. I agree with that 100 percent. Our Medicare has to be ensured to be there for our generation and the generation to come. The same is true for defense. How can we expect those defending our Nation to feed their family using food stamps? It is deplorable and we need to change that. But if we listened to the Presidents State of the Union. it is obvious big government just came roaring back. When do we start trusting the American people? What do we do with the remaining 38 percent of the surplus if we are going to spend 62 percent for Social Security? Let us give the people their money back. We talk about making sure we are going to better education for the future. When will we start trusting parents? When will we start trusting school boards? When will we start trusting teachers to provide education? The Federal Government has 790 various programs associated with education. The mandates associated with those programs generally cost more to implement than they receive from the Federal Government. That has to be changed. Let us start trusting parents. let us start trusting taxpayers. let us start trusting individuals with their rights.
Date: 1999-02-03
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I rise in strong support of H.R. 98. the War Risk Insurance Program Extension. I wish to express my appreciation for the hard work of Chairman SHUSTER. Ranking Member OBERSTAR. Subcommittee Chairman DUNCAN. and Subcommittee Ranking Member LIPINSKI in crafting this legislation and getting it to the floor in an expeditious manner. This bill is highly important. especially when U.S. troops are still being deployed to various parts of the world. Commercial insurance companies usually do not insure commercial airline flights to high risk areas. To- ensure that flights to high risk areas can operate when needed. Chapter 443 of Title 49 of the U.S. Code authorized the Secretary of Transportation to provide insurance and reinsurance to commercial airlines against any risks. The program has been reauthorized 12 times and is now scheduled to rexpire on This bill is a simple. noncontroversial reauthorization for the program through December Many members of the U.S. military. both active and reserve. live in Californias 41st Congressional District. When called upon to go overseas. they usually use March Air Reserve Base. located near my district. as a staging point for deployment. Commercial carriers are sometimes called upon to provide Boeing 747s and other wide bodied jets for such operations. We saw this clearly happen during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Passing the War Risk Insurance Program will allow these high risk flights to operate as needed. I urge my colleagues to pass H.R. 98 by unanimous consent.
Date: 1999-02-03
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Chairman. I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Madam Chairman. I rise in strong support of H.R. 99. the FAA Short Term Extension Act. I wish to congratulate the full committee chairman. the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Chairman SHUSTER).. the gentleman from Minnesota . the ranking member. the Subcommittee on Aviation chairman. the gentleman from Tennessee (Chairman DUNCAN) and the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Aviation. the gentleman from Illinois in drafting this together on a bipartisan basis. This bill is extremely important to Ontario International Airport. located in my district. H.R. 99 reauthorizes funding for the Airport Improvement Program through September 31. 1999. and makes several minor changes to FAA programs. Specifically. the measure authorizes $2.3 billion for the Airport Improvement Program and $7.8 billion for FAA operations. facilities and equipment. The bill includes funding for airport improvements. air traffic control facilities and equipment. and the salaries and expenses of operating the FAA. Finally. H.R. 99 includes funds for new radars. computers and navigation equipment that are needed to modernize the air traffic control system and. ensure that air travel remains safe. I ask my colleagues to pass this bill with their strong support.
Date: 1999-02-10
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to congratulate 18 outstanding high school seniors in my district who are finalists in the National Hispanic Recognition Program. These students are among 3.600 high school seniors in the Nation selected by the College Board for this honor. They come from the cities of Chino. Ontario. Pomona. Upland. Brea. Yorba Linda. Anaheim. Rowland Heights. and my home city of Diamond Bar. I know that their families and their respective communities are proud of their academic accomplishments and their hard work. As a representative of the 41st Congressional District in California. I can say we are also proud of them and wish them the best in their college careers. Mr. Speaker. I include their names for the RECORD. I am sure this is not the last time we will hear from these bright young students. The scholar finalists are: Arturo Nuno. Naomi Esquibel. Yolanda Robles. Tony Saucedo. Michelle Rodriguez. Henry Artiga. DeAnn Del Rio. Michelle Allis. Erin Freyermuth. Marissa Guerrero. Maria Sequeira. Meredith. Garcia. Natalie Alvarado. Michael Espinoza. and Juan Jauregui. Honorable mention finalists include: Oscar Teran. Gabriel Bustos. and Nick Yanez.
Date: 1999-02-12
Speaker: GEORGE MASON (republican)
Chamber: S

animadverting on the magnitude of the powers of the President. was alarmed ... Now. I conceive that the President oughtnot to have the power of pardoning. because he may frequently pardon crimes which were advised by himself. It may happen. at some future day. that he will establish a monarchy. and destroy the republic. If he has the power of granting pardons before indictment. or conviction. may he not stop inquiry and prevent detection?
Date: 1999-02-12
Speaker: BENNETTS USE (republican)
Chamber: S

OF THE FALSE AFFIDAVIT The next example of obstruction of justice is the Presidents decision to stand mute while his attorney used an affidavit the President knew to be false to make representations to a federal judge that the President knew to be false. As I have noted. I do not think the Presidents act of omission constitutes a separate act of obstruction. However. I do think the Presidents failure to object to the use of this false affidavit sheds light on many of the Presidents acts of commission that do constitute obstruction of justice and witness tampering. such as his sugges- tion that Ms. Lewinsky file an affidavit to avoid testifying in the Jones case.
Date: 1999-02-23
Speaker: ARTICLE ONE (republican)
Chamber: S

PERJURY Let me now turn to the facts of this case. The House alleges in Article I that the President should be removed because he committed acts of perjury. The House alleges in Article II that the President should be removed because he obstructed and interfered with the mechanisms and duly constituted processes of the justice system. To demonstrate why I believe it is so. it is necessary to discuss both the legal standards and how the facts meet the requirements of those standards. I will first discuss perjury. and. next. turn to obstruction of justice.
Date: 1999-03-02
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I rise in favor of House Joint Resolution 32. I want to thank my fellow freshman. the gentleman from Wisconsin for his leadership on this issue. This bill is our opportunity to stand up and say our government will pay what It owes the people. We are committed to keeping the promise of Social Security. When our constituents look at their pay stubs. they see a large portion of their hardearned money going to Social Security. Ninetysix percent of all workers pay 12.4 percent of payroll taxes. That is 148 million workers and their employers. Every one of those workers sees the exact dollar amount on the Social Security portion of their paychecks. In exchange for that money. they expect a certain amount of help in their retirement years. They expect that money to come back to them in later years. I repeat. they expect that money to come back to them in later years. They- do not care about charts and graphs here in Washington. they just know that money is going out of their pockets and expect to have some of it come back. They have paid for Social Security. they have been promised the money will come back to them when they retire. and we are committed to making sure that promise is kept. I know that some changes. some of them possibly difficult changes. will have to be made to make Social Security solvent. but we need to keep our promise.
Date: 1999-03-03
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in recognition of the men and women of the Naval Reserve Association. and to congratulate them on the 84th anniversary of the founding of the Naval Reserve. celebrated on March 3. 1999. At the same time. I wish the Associations Spring National Conference to be held on the same day in San Diego. California. the best of success. The American people owe the 94.000strong Naval Reserve a debt of gratitude for the sacrifices they have made. both opast and present. Americas strength and position as the sole superpower in the world is the result of our dedication to our countrys defense. Without the Naval Reserves contribution. America would not have become the beacon of democracy it is today in the world. For that. I. along with the residents of the 41st Congressional District in California. thank them. I look forward to working with them and other members of the Naval Reserve Association on issues which affect all the men and women of our military.
Date: 1999-03-10
Speaker: DICK ARMEY (republican)
Chamber: S

said only five months ago. "We are very pleased to receive the Presidents request for more teachers. especially since he offered to provide a way for them. We are very excited to go forward with that." And Chairman GOODLING made similar statements. We are now put in this situation where we are told that we cannot consider that. we have to just go ahead with EdFlexwe cant consider what the Republicans agreed to in a bipartisan way. I have listened to those who say lets put partisanship aside. We would like to put partisanship asidewe would like to follow on With what DICK ARMEY and Chairman GOODLING said. They supported this proposal. It was bipartisan in October. Why was it bipartisan in October and it is now partisan in March?
Date: 1999-03-10
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. educating our children is one of the most important issues facing this Nation today. It is vitally important for our children to receive the best education from the most qualified teachers in the safest schools. We can only provide this when our local governments. parents. and teachers are given the necessary tools and flexibility to design a learning environment that inspires and captures their attention. I know Congress can help our children succeed by continuing a program that has freed our schools from needless regulations and giving our teachers. not bureaucracies. the ability to design an education program that works. a program that allows our children to be number one in math. science. and reading. What we call it is EdFlex. It gives the States the flexibility to improve education through local control. Washington cannot and should not dictate how our children are taught. Our parents and teachers are the reason for our childrens successes. EdFlex does work. As has been stated. my home State of Texas is the leader of new and innovative ways to give our children the tools they need to excel. Under the proven leadership of George W. Bush. our Governor. Texans have made a commitment to turn around our school system. believeit or not his wife pushed him into doing this. and demand the results from our children. from our teachers. and from our school administrators. Our Governor has used this program to rid our schools of needless bureaucracy and provide the greatest amount of flexibility to the State school systems. But in return. he has demanded increased accountability and improved academic performance. The results have been remarkable. It has already been stated. since 1996. Texas has granted over 4.000 EdFlex waivers to local schools. Since then. in just three short years. reading and math scores have gone up. Reading scores have risen nearly 7 percent. Math scores have risen nearly 10 percent. National accountability is in the results. We do not need a Federal mandate for accountability. In fact. all our schools are doing better. The performance gap between highperforming and lowperforming schools has narrowed. The great success of this program has shown me the difference between a child who succeeds and one who fails is the people who are there every day. helping them. giving them support. and encouraging and picking them up if they fail. These are the people who make a difference. not a regulation written by a person 1.000 miles away. It is simple. Local control works. Accountability is in the result. True education reform can happen in every State if we just give every Governor the flexibility to help improve their own schools. We must make sure that no child is left behind. The time has come to share this opportunity with every school district. every teacher. and every child in our great Nation. Americans deserve no less. This bill helps our kids. I urge my colleagues to support this bill without amendment.
Date: 1999-03-17
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. we do have to protect Social Security. The President has been saying over and over he wants to save Social Security. but he keeps spending it on foreign giveaways. I would just say. Mr. President. you cannot have it both ways. Unlike the President. however. this years budget resolution will set aside fully 100 percent of the Social Security surplus to strengthen that vital program for our seniors. Seniors have paid a lifetime of earnings into Social Security. and we promise to protect it for them. We are committed to that promise. and we cannot allow Social Security money to be frittered away on foreign aid. The President just wants to use Social Security surplus funds as a slush fund for his failed Social Security policy. for his failed foreign policy as well. Mr. Speaker. that money belongs to our seniors. American seniors need it and deserve it. and we must make sure that they get it. Mr. President. do not spend away our Social Security money.
Date: 1999-03-18
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. the President keeps vetoing missile defense systems as unwarranted. He says a missile defense system would waste billions of dollars. It is the duty of this Congress and the President to provide protection against rogue nations who have delivery systems and nuclear weapons. and it is not a waste of money. What most Americans do not know is that we have no defense. Right now we cannot even stop one incoming missile. North Korea. China. Iran. Iraq are true threats today. How many more missiles need to be pointed at our cities. our homes. and our families before the administration decides the threat is real? Mr. Speaker. every American must be protected from the threat of missile attacks. They have the right to feel safe. That is what freedom means. That is what America is all about. And it is the duty of this Congress to protect our country. That is why we must pass this legislation.
Date: 1999-03-23
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to oppose uniononly requirements for construction projects. Vice President GORE wants to have all Federal projects done by union construction firms. Also. the Los Angelcs Unified School District. near my congressional district. is considering requiring all of their new construction to be done only by union companies. Uniononly construction agreements may make political sense for some politicians. but they certainly do not make practical sense for our children in our schools. PLAs do not guarantee lower costs. higher performance standards. or eliminate red tape. The uniononly contracts only guarantee that the four out of five construction workers not represented by a union cannot work on the project. It is unAmerican for our Government to say to someone who does not belong to a certain group or organization. "You are not good enough to compete for Federal money based on merit." For those of us who agree that there should not be racebased discrimination. this is another form of discrimination. A person should not be denied a job because of his or her color. Neither should he or she be denied a job because they do not carry a union card. I hope that the Vice President and the Los Angeles Unified School District will not put politics above our children. I encourage both of them to support freedom in the bidding of construction projects.
Date: 1999-03-24
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. we have got to support the Tiahrt amendment. It is important that we fully. fully put aside the Social Security funds. But the Tiahrt amendment is simple. fair. and fiscally responsible. Some of my colleagues are concerned that this amendment would affect our defense programs. With our forces committed and fighting in Kosovo. our military must be strengthened. and everybody knows that this administration has slashed military spending. We know troop levels are dangerously low. retention is short. recruiting is down. and morale is at the bottom of the barrel. I agree Congress must step forward and reverse these .trends by putting more money in our defense budget. Our fighting men and women deserve the best. This amendment does nothing to harm this goal. The Tiahrt amendment takes $195 million of foreign aid money from a $12 billion bank account that has never been used. It takes no money away from defense. No Member should oppose taking $195 million from a $12 billion nondefense account that is not being used for anything. I would also like to make clear that this is not a military emergency. The defense portion of this bill is a reimbursement for disaster assistance by our National Guard which it provided to our neighbors in Central America.. It is money that has already been spent. It is not an emergency and. therefore. should not be funded as one. I understand the concerns that some of my colleagues have. but in this case offsetting $195 million from nondefense accounts is practicable. is reasonable and is fiscally responsible. not dangerous. We are in Washington to be responsible.- The Tiahrt amendment simply allows us to keep our promise to the American people that we will stop big government spending. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment today. It is good for America.
Date: 1999-03-25
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. as a member of the Committee on the Budget. I rise to support House Concurrent Resolution 68. Our budget plan is the first ever to lock up 100 percent of social security payroll taxes and interest for the future. This is historic because over 10 years the Federal budget has been taking social -security funds to pay for other spending programs. In the year 2000.�the GOP sets aside $137 billion. that is 100 percent of social security monies. for social security. The President pledges 62 percent of that. that is $85 billion. and $52 billion of social security money spent for other programs. Between the years 2000 and 2009. we set aside $1.8 trillion for social security and Medicare. The Presidents budget sets aside $1.3 trillion for social security. and earmarks about $345 billion for Medicare. That is $1.645 trillion. over $100 billion less than our budget No matter how we add it up. $137 billion is more than $85 billion. No matter how we add it up. $1.8 trillion is more than $1.645 trillion. Two plus two does equal four. Some on the other side who are using projections on the Presidents budget will save over 15 years. compared to our budget. over 10 years. That. as the saying goes. two plus two does equal five. No matter how you look at it. we are saving more for social security and Medicare than the Presidents budget saves over 10 years. The President is not only missinginaction on Medicare reform. he cuts Medicare by $11.9 billion. He is using a very strange strategy for claiming the high ground on Medicare. One. he cuts billions from Medicare. Two. he saves less than Republicans for Medicare. Three. he singlehandedly stops bipartisan Medicare reform from the Medicare Commission. Four. he leaves us with the status quo. Five. he then claims to be the champion of Medicare. If we look at the facts. we know that the Committee on the Budget resolution does more to protect social security and Medicare than the President has ever done. Also. anyone who- votes for the Presidents budget is doing nothing short of stealing from social security and cutting Medicare. I urge all my colleagues to vote for the GOP budget.
Date: 1999-03-25
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I believe the speaker is off the subject at this time. and I do not believe that is proper.
Date: 1999-03-25
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. it is easy to understand why most of my colleagues do not want to vote for this Presidents budget. As a veteran. I have looked at it. And the President flatlines benefits for veterans. The Republican budget actually increases it by $1 billion. Let me just tell my colleagues a few things. The Presidents budget busts the spending caps by $30 billion. We hold them. The Presidents budget raids Social Security money for more and more spending. Our budget protects Social Security and Medicare. The Presidents budget cuts $11 billion in Medicare. cuts the Republican budget. The Republican budget protects Medicare. The Presidents budget raises taxes by $172 billion. To quote President Reagan. "There they go again. spending more money." In fact. the President has said Congress should not even consider providing tax relief for 15 years. Let us not let that happen. Vote this budget down.
Date: 1999-04-12
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. it is interesting listening to the debate on this side of the aisle. Some have said we need to continue our course and others say we need to have a bipartisan agreement on the budget resolution. and I wish that were possible. However. this side of the aisle balanced the budget. The President wants to increase taxes. wants to spend more money. We fought in the past to continue the concept of welfare reform. The President vetoed welfare reform twice before finally deciding to follow our lead. We are keeping the budget caps. The President wants to break the budget caps. For the last year. all I have heard fromthis side of the aisle is. we need to save Social Security. Where is all the rhetoric now? Obviously one of the Members from the other side got his wish and some of my colleagues were beamed up. All We have talked about is talk. This side of the aisle wants to set 100 percent aside for Social Security this year alone. $137 billion. and over 10 years $1.8 trillion. The President wants to save 62 percent and spend this year alone $58 billion on his programs. and over 10 years wants to set only $1.3 trillion aside. compared to our $1.8 trillion. We provide for Medicare in our budget. The President cuts $11.9 billion over 5 years out of Medicare. This side of the aisle believes working men and women should have a tax cut. The President proposed raising taxes $172 billion over 10 years. We provided $22 billion for elementary. secondary and vocational education. That is $1.2 billion more than the President proposes. I wish we could come to a bipartisan agreement.