macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-09-14
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker and Members. jobs are the issue. and the American Jobs Act is the solution that this House should consider on the floor immediately. This bill will help reverse the flow of jobs overseas and will help rebuild the manufacturing base in America. providing good jobs for hardworking Americans. Make It In America creates jobs in America. This bill builds America. The longterm FAA reauthorization will create 150.000 jobs. and reauthorizing the surface transportation bill will support 134.000 projects around the country. 5.000 mass transit projects. and nearly 1 million jobs over the next year. The national infrastructure bank proposal would combine public and private resources to build. rebuild. and repair the countrys key infrastructure. This bill also helps create jobs through the Tax Code. The proposal cuts the payroll tax in half for 98 percent of businesses on their first $5 million in payroll. it offers a $4.000 tax credit to employers for hiring longterm unemployed workersget them on the tax rolls and not on the unemployment rollsand it starts a "Returning Heroes" hiring tax credit. between $5.600 and $9.600 for firms that hire unemployed veterans. We have the responsibility to help our country climb out of this tough economy. and this bill is a proposal that deserves bipartisan support to help accomplish that.
Date: 2011-09-14
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. 53 years ago. China declared ownership of the islands in the Eastern Sea. which include the Spratly and the Paracel Islands. On September 14. 1958. thenPrime Minister Pham Van Dong of North Vietnam issued a diplomatic note affirming the declaration from China regarding the Chinese ownership of those islands. When this decision became known. Vietnamese students and bloggers organized unprecedented protests in Hanoi and in Saigon against Chinas violations of Vietnams sovereignty in the Eastern Sea. The Vietnamese security police were ordered to end the public demonstrations regarding the issue of the Spratly and Paracel Islands and detained over 40 activists who were involved in this protest. Since early August of this year. at least 13 young patriots have been arrested by police and the Ministry of Public Security in Vietnam. and several of these activists are prominent bloggers. such as the Vinh Diocese of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. for this same issue. As a cosponsor of House Resolution 352. I call for a framework in accordance with the United States Convention on the Law of the Sea for a peaceful resolution to this conflict. Furthermore. I urge the Vietnamese Government to unconditionally release all advocates who were exercising their rights as citizens to call for social justice and protesting the sovereignty of Vietnamese territories from China.
Date: 2011-09-15
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentleman for yielding and for that nice introduction. Mr. Speaker. I rise in very strong opposition to this legislation. H.R. 2587. This special interest bill is a job killer. It is simply a job killer. It was spurred by a particular case involving a Fortune 500 corporation. The Boeing Company. But this bill is not just about Boeing. This bill is really about working Americans all across this country. and they should pay very careful attention to this bill and to this debate because it affects their livelihoods. their ability to support their families. the safety of their jobs at work. the conditions under which they work. and their ability to participate through their increased productivity in higher wages and better conditions. This bill takes those rights away from workers. from all workers. all across the country. This isnt just about whether you belong to a union or not. This is about whether or not your employer can retaliate against you by taking your work away. by sending your work down the road or out of the country. It makes it easier to outsource because you simply. in response to a request by workers that they might share in the profits of the company. they might have higher wages. their work can disappear in an arbitrary fashion. And they have to understand that thats what happens under this legislation. For the first time in 70 years. American workers in the workplace will not be protected. They will not be protected for the right to have a grievance against the employer for their wages or for the benefits that they are paid because the employer. for the first time in 70 years. will have the ability to say: Well. if you need more wages and you want more wages. you know what Im going to do. Im going to take your jobs and Im going to outsource them. Im going to send them to China. Im going to send them to India. Im going to send them to another part of the country because Im not going to pay higher wages. Today. thats illegal. Under this law. it will not be. They can take your job and your work away from you. Weve got to understand what that means. We just saw that wages have taken one of the largest hits in a decade in this country. We have seen. as workers fail to organize in the workplace. wages have continued to go down. And at the same time. we have seen the CEOs and the management of companies take out tens of millions of dollars a year for each and every one of them. but not share it with the workers. They have decided that theyll take the increased productivity of the most productive workers in the world. the American worker. and theyll take that increased productivity and theyll take it for themselves. They wont continue the bargain that we have in this country that if you work hard. youll be able to improve your lot in life. And so weve seen wages have stagnated in this country. And now this. If you try to get better wages. if you seek to improve your lot in life. if you seek to improve the ability of your kids to go to school. to provide for your family. your work can be taken away. This is a first in America.
Date: 2011-09-15
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

This is a first in America. We must repudiate this on behalf of families that are struggling all across the country. those who are fortunate enough to continue to have a job. but they cant have a job living under this threat that they wont be able to better themselves if their employer decides to be selfish. decides to retaliate against them for seeking to organize to do something on their behalf. Its a fundamental part of the contract in America for workers. It doesnt exist in a lot of other parts of the world. but it does here. It has led to the middle class in this country. and its the middle class that is threatened by this legislation.
Date: 2011-09-15
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong opposition to the socalled "Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act." Its a nice name for a bad bill. This bill is not about protecting American jobs or American workers. Its about protecting big businesses who want to move jobs out of American communities without consequence. Its about forcing American workers to accept the lowest common denominator rather than standing up for fair pay and safer working conditions. For more than 75 years. federal law has guaranteed employees the right to organize without threat of retaliation. If workers decide to form a union. the company cant punish them by moving operations down the street or out of the country. But this bill would allow companies to retaliate with impunity by stripping the National Labor Relations Board of its power to enforce that law. Todays legislation is a response to an ongoing dispute between the NLRB and Boeing. I understand that many of my colleagues have strong opinions on that issue. but it is not the business of this Congress to legislate on an individual case. It is not appropriate to dismantle the enforcement mechanism to secure a result for any party. This bill makes sweeping changes to worker protections and would have severe consequences. Rather than creating a single job. it would give employers free rein to eliminate jobs or move them overseas to punish workers for exercising their rights. Mr. Speaker. this bill strips fundamental protections from American workers. leaving them and their jobs less secure. It turns back the clock on 75 years of employment law. It is the wrong direction for America. and I urge my colleagues to reject it today.
Date: 2011-09-15
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in opposition to H.R. 2587. the misleadingly named "Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act." This legislation. if enacted. would gut key provisions of the National Labor Relations Act. a law which has ensured the right of working Americans to fight for better working conditions. a better salary. and better benefits for themselves and their families for more than 75 years. H.R. 2587 would strip from the National Labor Relations Board the ability to take action against any employer that has been found to violate the law by closing an office. relocating a plant or firing workers in retaliation for exercising their rights to organize or petition for fairer benefits. Even worse. passage of this legislation would open the door for companies to engage in the practice of illegally moving jobs overseas. In the past. the NLRB has been able to take action against companies that have attempted to move their operations overseas who do so with the clear goal of punishing employees for exercising their fundamental organizing rights. This legislation would open the door to wholesale offshoring of U.S. jobs at a time when this Congress should be discouraging such behavior. A bill of this magnitude. which would set back decades of established labor law and precedent. should be considered in a much more deliberative manner. I call on my colleagues on both sides of the aisles to vote in favor of working Americans and to oppose this legislation.
Date: 2011-09-20
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of H.R. 1852. "The Childrens Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2011." would amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize payments to childrens hospitals operating training programs that provide graduate medical education. These payments would be made to hospitals for both direct and indirect costs related to graduate medical education. Americans across our nation need care. and the Childrens Hospital GME (CHGME) program has been utilized by hospitals across our country to train doctors who can provide that care. I represent the 18th District which is home to the Methodist Hospital System. one of the largest medical institutions in the world. In 2010. the Methodist Hospital System graduated sixtynine doctors from the resident CHGME program. That is 69 additional doctors who will meet our growing health care needs. H.R. 1852 will allow Houston to continue to recruit and train so many talented doctors. Overall. freestanding childrens hospitals have increased their medical resident training programs by 35 percent since 1999. If CHGME is allowed to expire we will lose the gains we have made in this field. There is no reasonable argument for allowing this program to expire as it provides a great benefit at a marginal cost. For this fiscal year. the program has spent .0085 percent of the federal budget. This small expenditure allows childrens hospitals to train more than 5.600 fulltime equivalent residentsmore than one third of our nations pediatricians. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges. the nation could face a shortage of as many as 150.000 doctors in the next 15 years. The funds generated from this legislation will help train the medical professionals we desperately need. In a time when there are growing health disparities within our nation. It is important to address the needs of underserved urban areas. The more medicinal professionals we train there is an increase likelihood that these underserved communities will have access to proper medical care. The program supports 56 hospitals nationwide and trains more than 5.000 medical residents each year. It started 12 years ago as an effort to provide childrens hospitals with funding for residencies and fellowships. There are other federal programs to assist residency funding exist. however. the CHGME program caters to pediatrics. while others are open to all teaching hospitals. This funding is vital as it will help to cover the cost of 5.600 pediatric residencies at more than 50 childrens hospitals across the United States. Forty percent of the nations pediatricians and 43 percent of pediatric subspecialists receive training from the program. We must train the very professionals who will one day save the life of a child.
Date: 2011-09-20
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I rise on behalf of the 64 percent of Americansand growingwho say. "Pass the jobs bill." I rise on behalf of those who have sought to get work time and time again. I rise on behalf of the citizens of the State of Texas. for the 8.3 percentand growingunemployed individuals in our own State. which has been represented to be a State that has no unemployment. We are resilient. yes. But in working with the United States. it is important to note that we must do something to restore the opportunities for people to work and to restore human dignity. As the President said. we should have one purpose in this House. It should be to work for the American people. We can balance this budget. we can reduce the deficit. but we really can put people to work: firefighters and teachers and police officers. We can invest in this economy. we can provide education. and we can put Americans back to work. Lets not make ourselves number one. Lets make the American people number one. Pass the jobs bill now.
Date: 2011-09-21
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. this week I introduced House Resolution 404. a resolution honoring Latinos in the military. and I rise today to recognize all the great contributions and service that Latinos have given to this country. In fact. Latinos have fought in every United States military conflict that we have had. and today nearly 163.000 Latinosand Latinasserve in the regular components of the Armed Forces. The contributions and sacrifices that they make to defend our Nation are often overlooked. So I encourage the Secretary of Defense to increase promotion opportunities for Latinos in the Armed Forces. Its my firm belief that the military should invest in outreach to minority communities and to work to mitigate the barriers that hinder more Latinos from advancing up the career ladder in our Armed Forces. because our Armed Forces need Latinos. Latinos. like all those who serve. continue to sacrifice their lives daily in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. We have lost lives of Latinos also. 539. I salute the dedication of our Latino servicemembers.
Date: 2011-09-21
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. it would seem that we would come to the floor of the House at this time and celebrate a continuing resolution in the backdrop of Tropical Storm Lee and Hurricane Irene. the enormity of the tragedy in Vermont. I know that my colleagues from that area are in pain and still suffering from the devastation. I noticed upstate New York. Prattsville in particular. a city that is full of pain with individuals who are at loss of why their town is no longer. But in that instance. as my colleagues know. my Republicans friends know. although we have had some moments that we have not been proud of. such as in the gulf region when we were not prepared for Hurricane Katrina. we have still risen to the occasion thereafter and said to the American people that if you are in a disaster. this Nation will come to your aid. Unfortunately. this CR does not in any way befit the American way. for here we have a fix that is really a broken fix.
Date: 2011-09-21
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Rather than declaring disasters what they are. emergencies. and providing the dollars that we need. we are. in essence. if I might use the oldfashioned term. nickel and diming our responsibilities. It is patently unfair to put the American people in the crosshairs of our politics about having an offset for emergency funding. Do you want to tell that. if we look back at 2005 to the thousandplus that died in Hurricane Katrina. you have to have an offset? Lets think about whether were going to send you any money. Now. I know that there is a need for this legislation to pass. but once we concede the idea that the American people will be put in the pickle of an offset. that means that disaster knocks at your door. not at your invitation. and the Federal Government. which is. in fact. the umbrella on a rainy day. it will not be there. I will not be able to tolerate that. What we should be doing is passing a CR that declares emergency funding what it isto be there for the American people. And this next thing we should be doing is passing the Presidents jobs bill. for that is how we will ensure that we are doing the job that the American people want. This CR is a bunch of smoke and mirrors. and I will not tell the American people that they are secondclass citizens. If I can find the dime to pay for your misery. I will look for the dime. That is not the American way.
Date: 2011-09-21
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. todays Continuing Resolution would fund federal government operations through November 18. 2011 at 98.5% of FY 2011 funding levels. reflecting the 1.5% acrosstheboard cut required to bring spending in line with the $1.043 trillion discretionary cap for FY 2012 in the recently enacted Budget Control Act of Additionally. H.R. 2608 provides $3.65 billion in disaster relief funding. which is $1.8 billion below President Obamas request and $3.25 billion less than the Senate allocation supported by ten Republican Senators. Of the $3.65 billion for disaster relief in todays legislation. $1 billion is made available in FY 2011 and the remaining $2.65 billion is designated as FY 2012 money. However. in a sharp break with precedent under previous administrations from both parties. the $1 billion in FY 2011 in emergency disaster relief is offset by a $1.5 billion cut in the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program. Mr. Speaker. we should not be holding emergency disaster relief hostage to political infighting in Washington. DC. And with unemployment still hovering above 9%. we certainly shouldnt be undermining a proven job creator like the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program that will help next generation vehicles get built in the United States rather than overseas. Instead. we should put politics aside. pass a clean CR and get disaster relief where it is needed without undercutting innovation and job creation in an economy that needs more of both.
Date: 2011-09-22
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I rise today to express my strong support for the artificial pancreas. which will transform the way we treat diabetes in our country. Millions of Americans have diabetes. Diabetes accounts for approximately $174 billion in health care costs in the U.S. each year. 32 percent of our Medicare expenditures. Studies show that tight control of blood glucose levels significantly reduces or delays the development of diabetic complications. Most patients with diabetes cannot achieve tight glucose control with traditional diabetes tools. Erratic blood glucose levels can cause devastating complications. including kidney failure. blindness. nerve damage. amputations. heart attack. and stroke. The artificial pancreas can allow individuals suffering from diabetes to regulate their blood glucose levels using an insulin pump and a sensor. The system can prevent low and high glucose levels and help individuals with diabetes avoid the worst and most costly complications while allowing them to remain healthy until a cure is found. In April of this year. 250 Members of the House. myself included. and 60 Senators sent a letter to the FDA urging them to approve the artificial pancreas. I am encouraged by FDAs response to have a decision by December.
Date: 2011-09-22
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. we love you. Carrie Meek. And I am delighted to rise today to admit that Carrie Meek. Congresswoman Meek. was a mentor to me and someone who drew the admiration of Republicans and Democrats and did some unique and remarkable activities here in this Congress. One. as a freshman. she pushed enough to become a member of the Appropriations Committee and led graciously during her tenure. And then she worked very closely with Republicans and Democrats to fight to ensure that cigarette packages had warnings about the impactthe negative impacton groups like African Americans. Carrie. do you remember the picture that we took with Rosa Parks and some of our colleagues. and how gracious you were? And do you remember the 25.000 people in Florida when they were trying to overturn affirmative action? And yes. you walked as long and as hard as anybody else. So. Carrie. I think the jobs bill that the President has could be named after you. where it provides some 80 percent compensation to small businesses to hire people. That sounds like Carrie Meek. And I think we can resolve the CR and provide for those who have suffered disasters and do the right thing. That sounds like Carrie Meek. So Im here to pay tribute to our friend. Carrie Meek. and to thank her for sending her son. Kendrick. who is a great friend. and to let you know that we need to follow in the pathway of Carrie Meek that brings us all together to pass the jobs bill. a bill that could really be named after you Carrie. and as well to ensure that we protect those who have been harmed by disasters. Thank you. Congresswoman Carrie Meek.
Date: 2011-09-23
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chair. I rise in strong support of the amendment offered by my friend and colleague. Congresswoman Lois CAPPS. and in opposition to the underlying billthe majoritys latest assault on clean air and public health. Id like to thank Congresswoman CAPPS and all of my colleagues whove spoken in opposition to this bill. which puts the health of all Americansespecially our childrenat great risk. This amendment simply requires recognition of the very real health consequences of air pollution. For example. curbing mercury pollution will protect children and mothers from toxins that damage a developing brain. With this amendment. the required report must assess the effect on birth and developmental defects and infant mortality rates caused by the delay in better clean air standards. Whats wrong with that? Who could be opposed to that? For such a small additional effort. this assessment would provide crucial information affecting the health of all American families. As a mother of three young children. whose health is among my absolute greatest concerns. I urge my colleagues who are parents and grandparents to take a moment and consider the impacts of this bad bill. Delaying EPAs Mercury and Air Toxics Standards will have serious consequences on their children and grandchildren. Remember that we are their first line of defense in this world. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this good amendment and opposing the underlying bill.