macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-03-10
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. House Concurrent Resolution 39 authorizes the use of the Capitol grounds for the District of Columbias Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run to be held on June 5 of this year. The Special Olympics is an internationally recognized organization dedicated to enriching the lives of children and adults with disabilities through athletic competition and through athletic events in general. The Law Enforcement Torch Run is the largest grassroots effort that raises funds and awareness for the Special Olympics program. Mr. Speaker. The event in D.C. is one of the many law enforcement torch runs throughout the country and across 35 Nations leading up to the summer Special Olympics. [] 1330 The Torch Run is a special event during which members of law enforcement run the "Flame of Hope" to the site of the local Special Olympics games. Mr. Speaker. this event has become a regular occurrence on the Capitol Grounds. And this years event will represent the 24th time it has occurred on these grounds. I am pleased to be a cosponsor of this resolution along with the chairwoman of our Subcommittee on Economic Development. Public Buildings and Emergency Management. I support this resolution and encourage my colleagues to do the same. If I may at this time. Mr. Speaker. if I might inquire of the gentlewoman from Maryland if she has any further speakers.
Date: 2009-03-10
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Speaker. before I yield back. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Maryland for doing a great job in leading us through all the bills. She has done a wonderful job. I thank her for her leadership today. And with that. Mr. Speaker. I would yield back.
Date: 2009-03-10
Speaker: JASON CHAFFETZ (republican)
Chamber: H

And he hails from Utahs Third Congressional District. We are very excited to have him join us and to have him speak now to this body and to the American people on spending and what that means for our economy. Mr. CHAFFETZ. I yield.
Date: 2009-03-11
Speaker: RONALD JACOBSMA (republican)
Chamber: H

General Manager. Friant Water Users Authority. Lindsay. CA. Subject: Financing Provisions of the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act. DEAR MR. JACOBSMA: As you are aware. amendments were made early in 2008 to the proposed San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act (Act) in an effort to reduce the "PAYGO" score of the Act. One of the amendments made in the Act would authorize and direct the Secretary of the Interior to convert certain Friant Division. Hidden Unit. and Buchanan Unit irrigation contractors water service contracts to water repayment contracts. subject to certain provisions." The Act was recently passed by the Senate as Title X. Subtitle A. Part 1. of S. 22. and we expect the House of Representatives to consider it shortly. As you know. staff from the Bureau of Reclamation and the Friant Water Users Authority have had technical discussions concerning the financing provisions of the bill. This letter and enclosures set forth our understanding of how the financing provisions will be implemented if the conversion sections of the Act. found in Section 10010. are in their current form upon enactment. if those provisions of the bill are modified before enactment. we will of course need to reevaluate whether the information in this letter and enclosures is still accurate. Enclosed is a summary of each of the financing provisions in Section 10010 related to the contract conversion and our understanding of how they would be implemented by Reclamation (Enclosure 1). Also. enclosed are two specific examples to demonstrate how the financial calculations for this conversion and related funding would work given a number of specific assumptions (Enclosure 2). Enclosure 2 consists of a description of the assumptions used and a spreadsheet for each of the examples. If there are any problems with the information provided in the enclosures. please contact Jason Phillips as soon as possible to discuss and resolve. Sincerely.
Date: 2009-03-12
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. folks in America ought to be outraged. They have a right to know that Congress has spent roughly $1 billion an hour since the new President took office. Recently. Michael Allen of Politico wrote about a speech in the other body. He described a crafty Senators efforts to express his deep concern that the Nation is spending way too much money. and America cant afford this freeforall spending Congress. In just 50 days. the Congress voted to spend about $1.2 trillion between the stimulus and the omnibus. That amounts to $24 billion a day. or about a billion dollars an hour. most of it borrowed money. Congress spending $1 billion an hour? Pew.
Date: 2009-03-12
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I thank all of our colleagues who have taken to the floor to speak about this underlying legislation. which is important. Again. I want to thank Chairman OBERSTAA aid Ranking Member MICA for their hard work in bringing forward this legislation and allowing the House to consider it today. I see that its Thursday and the House has been waiting all week to get to this legislation. so I commend the majority for finally bringing the legislation to the floor on Thursday. Having seen the reiteration of bipartisan support for the underlying legislation. I do so again. and once again I thank all our colleagues that have come to speak on the underlying legislation. Mr. Speaker. I have no further requests for time. and I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2009-03-17
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. my email inbox is full of constituents fed up with AIG. I dont blame them. I have had it up to here with bad news about AIG and their bigtime bonuses. They should return that money. As a U.S. News columnist asked. "Forget bonuses. Why are these people still collecting regular paychecks?" I am glad that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo demanded AIG provide information on who is receiving bonuses in its Financial Products Group. Those who receive the fatcat bonuses are mainly responsible for the companys and the countrys financial problems. I say fire them all. They dont deserve bonuses. Turn them over to the Marines. Put them in the brig.
Date: 2009-03-18
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. it is my pleasure at this time to yield 5 minutes to a distinguished colleague from the Rules Committee. who has brought to our committee great wisdom and tenacity. the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).
Date: 2009-03-18
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. it is my pleasure to yield 5 minutes to a brilliant neW Member of this House who is already leaving a mark on Congress by facing the important issues of our day. Mr. PAULSEN of Minnesota.
Date: 2009-03-18
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

At this time it is my privilege. Mr. Speaker. to yield an additional 2 minutes to Dr. Foxx of North Carolina.
Date: 2009-03-18
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. first yielding myself such time as I may consume. Im very happy that we have gotten the message to the majority leadership and that the) have set a Rules meeting. we have just been informed. for 3 p.m. to address -this issue. It shows that the rules protect the minority and that the minority can bring issues of great importance to the American people and get the attention of the majority. So Im glad that the majority will be addressing this at 3. But we dont have to wait until 3. It is 11:30. We can address it now. And then after we address itwe are not saying that we wont pass the GIVE Act. But lets address at 11:30. not at 3 in the Rules Committee. this issue that is of great importance to the American people. I yield 2 minutes to my friend. Dr. Foxx. from North Carolina.
Date: 2009-03-18
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Today. were debating the merits of paying volunteers. Experts estimate this bill will cost the government about $1 billion for just 1 year. Ive got a better idea. Lets redirect just a small portion of that money to the real volunteers--those who voluntarily serve in the Armed Forces. They volunteer to wear the uniform. There is no draft. Some volunteer their limbs. .their lives. Surely. these folks deserve special treatment too. Not so. says the White House. The White House has floated a plan to save the government $540 million. The White House will cut costs by forcing wounded warriors to pay *for their own treatment. Talk about the cost of war! As a combatwounded fighter pilot who served in two wars. I find the White House idea of charging wounded war heroes for care absurd. abhorrent. and unconscionable. Its sad and shameful that the administration is willing to force our combat wounded to foot the bill for their own recovery and rehab. I will fight like mad to stop this rash and reckless proposal and back a new resolution blasting the White House plan. I urge every American who loves freedom and supports the troops. why dont you just call the White House at 2024561414. Tell the President those who voluntarily choose the Armed Forces and voluntarily serve in harms way. voluntarily leave their loved ones. and voluntarily endure enemy fire. are the absolute last people we need to hit up to balance any budget. Again. that number is 2024561414. Tell the White House that forcing veterans to pay for the cost of war out of pocket is just plain wrong. Our troops fight. they lose legs. they lose arms. Support the troops.
Date: 2009-03-18
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Speaker. let me quote from a meeting with the editorial board at the San Francisco Chronicle that thencandidate Barack Obama had in January of 2008. He said. "under my plan of a capandtrade system. electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. This will cost "money. They will pass that money on to consumers." Well. ladies and gentlemen. unfortunately. the Presidents capandtrade plan. or as many people call it. the capandtax plan. does exactly that. There was a recent study conducted by MIT. the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. and it was able to assess the fact that a total energy bill for the average household will increase over $3.000. As a matter of fact. it will be up by $3.128 per year. According to CBO testimony. those figures actually will relate.
Date: 2009-03-18
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Speaker. can you believe that -President Obama wants to start charging wounded veterans for their treatment? Our first CommanderinChief. George Washington. once said. "The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war. no matter how justified. shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their country." Taking care of those who have sacrificed for our Nation is. I believe. our sacred duty. It is a national promise that goes back to Presidents Washington and Lincoln. President Obafna actually acknowledged this during his campaign when. on the floor of the Senate on April 10. 2007. he said these are soldiers who fought in World War H. Korea. Vietnam and Iraq. They made a commitment to their country when they chose to serve. and we must now keep our commitment to them. I could not agree more with those words. But in the meantime. as we all know. he was elected. Yesterday. we learned that President Obama plans to move ahead. despite what he said on the floor of the Senate. and start to charge veterans private insurance for the treatment of combatrelated injuries. Let no one be mistaken that the Presidents plan breaches the moral responsibility the CommanderinChief owes to veterans wounded on the field of battle. It is a breach of our national promise. and we should not let this stand. The proposal is outrageous and beyond belief. The men and women he proposes to charge are those injured on the field of combat. These are people who sacrifice not only their sweat and tears. but their flesh and blood so the American dream can be protected. F] 1715 Mr. Speaker. what must the average American think? Just recently. the criminals at AIG received hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses paid by the taxpayers. Is the President now seriously considering balancing a $1.7 trillion deficit on the backs of veterans? To do so would be a great insult to anyone who ever wore the uniform of this great country.
Date: 2009-03-19
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Mr. Speaker. on March 7 and 9. the young Government of Northern Ireland was put to the test. Two British soldiers and a policeman were killed by fringe groups trying to change peace to chaos. trying to reach the future through a return to the past. They failed. and the people of Northern Ireland became stronger. The people voted for peace and acceptance of the Good Friday Agreement. The people voted for their First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness. who jointly condemned the murders. The people of Northern Ireland grew stronger when thousands of Catholics. Protestants. Unionists. and Nationalists marched together saying "No going back." As Americans. as fellow lovers of freedom and democracy. we are with the people of Northern Ireland. We are both nations of law. and oan only survive when the law is upheld. God be with the families who have suffered a loss. And God bless the people and the peace of Northern Ireland.
Date: 2009-03-19
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I thank my friend. Ms. PINGREE. for yielding the time and I yield myself such time as I may consume. What concerns me about this scandalous AIG bonus issue is that the Obama administration was asleep at the wheel. Two weeks ago. the Presidents press secretary was asked. is the administration confident that it knows what happened to the tens of billions of dollars given to AIG? The response from the Presidents press secretary was. "It is confident." Yesterday. we learned that the Obama administration asked the Senate Banking Committee chairman. Mr. DODD. to insert a provision in last months socalled economic stimulus legislation that had the effect of authorizing AIGs bonuses. First. that gentleman who I just referred to said that he didnt know how the bonus authorization had made it into the legislation. but the next day he said yes. he authorized it after being asked to do so by the Obama administration. Was the administration complicit? I think this is an issue that Congress needs to investigate. Yesterday. I made a motion on this floor that would have allowed debate on H.R. 1577. a bill introduced by my colleague. Representative. PAULSEN. and the rest of the Republican freshmen. to deal with the AIG bonus scandal. My motion was defeated. but it garnered bipartisan support. Every Republican voted for it. and so did eight Democrats on what is a procedural motionvery interesting. Although the motion failed. I am pleased that it attracted the attention of the majority leadership and they finally decided to take action on this scandal. So. here we are today. Although I support the bills we will consider today. I find it quite unfortunate the way in which the majority leadership has decided to handle this scandal. The heavyhanded process they are using will block all Members of this House from offering amendments. It will also block every procedural right the minority has to shape legislation. including the motion to recommit. It will even limit debate on this important issue to a total of 40 minutes. Why is the majority refusing Members to participate in the legislative process. Mr. Speaker? This is an issue that Members on both sides of the aisle feel outrage about. so why not allow Members to participate? Is it because the majority is afraid of the minoritys thoughtful ideas? Actually. as Congress debated the socalled stimulus bill. it was the Republicansthe thoughtful oppositionwho advocated for transparency and accountability. but again. the majority blocked effort after effort by the minority to participate in the legislative process. That is unfortunate. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2009-03-19
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker. a recent headline read "AIG is a P.I.G." And thats exactly the way that most Americans feel.
Date: 2009-03-19
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Reclaiming my time. I dont believe that the gentlewoman responded to the question. Were here today to remedy something that you had the opportunity to vote against. you and your colleagues had the opportunity to vote against. That language was in there.
Date: 2009-03-19
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. before I yield. let me say that what Ms. BROWNWAITE was talking about was the $800 billion socalled stimulus package. In that legislation was the authorization for these bonuses to AIG. And my understanding is that all of the colleagues on the other side of the aisle voted for that stimulus package. So thats for the record. And I would urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to urge their leadership to take processes seriously. I remember when. that week of the stimulus package. the socalled stimulus package with $800 billion. the House unanimously voted for a 48hour period for everybody to be able to see what was in that package. and yet the majority leadership ignored the unanimous view of the House. So I would urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to tell their leadership. please. pay attention to the will of the House. especially and including on process. because we now see that when process is abused. things make it into legislation that *later embarrasses those who vote for it. Mr. Speaker. I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished Member from Texas .
Date: 2009-03-19
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. facts are inconvenient things and the United States Constitution is An inconvenient truth at times. particularly when Congress wants to show its upset about something it already did. Here are the facts. In the stimulus package. an amendment was adopted that the majority put in. the majority voted for. stating that provisions in the TARP and in the stimulus bills that limited compensation payments would not apply to "any bonus payment required to be paid pursuant to a written employment contract executed on or before February 11. 2009." It was written specifically to protect the very bonuses that we are talking about here today. So now we are asking. how do we undo what we did? And the majority has brought to us a bill that doesnt recognize the truth of the Constitution. There is something called a bill of attainder. You cannot punish a group because you dont like them. You cant have them treated more *onerously than somebody else without a trial. Now. thats an unfortunate truth that we have to deal with. How can we deal with this? Yesterday in Judiciary Committee. applying bankruptcy principles. we had an alternative. But thats not here on the floor today. because thats arguably constitutional. This is to get headlines to show that we are outraged. But let me tell you. if we overturn the Constitution to show our outrage. no single American is safe. Because in the future what we will do is say we have a precedent that when we have an unpopular group. when we have a group that deserves some punishment. we wont go through the real laws. what we will do is we will pass a new tax law with confiscatory rates and say we have done it for the American people. Well. if you do that. you are tearing up the Constitution. I didnt come here to tear up the Constitution to undo something that the majority did just a few weeks ago. We are better than that. We need to protect our Constitution.
Date: 2009-03-19
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. no more blaming Bush. Mr. DODD said that its the Obama administration that asked them to authorize these bonuses. I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from North Carolina. Dr. Foxx.
Date: 2009-03-19
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. it is my privilege to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Minnesota. who has legislation filed and who has been working diligently on this issue. Mr. PAULSEN.
Date: 2009-03-19
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I am asking all Members to vote "no" on the previous question. It wont preclude consideration of the other suspension bills we expect to consider today. but it will give the administration another way to recover the taxpayer fuads given in those outrageous bonuses to AIG. and it will also help prevent another bonus scandal. as Mr. PAULSEN. the author of the legislation that I wish would be able to be debated. has just explained. So I urge a "no" vote on the previous question. really. to say enough is enough with regard not only with the scandalous misuse of taxpayer funds. but the abuse of the process by the majority. because on an issue like this. where there is outrage on both sides of the aisle. there should be no problem with discussion and debate and consideration of ideas from other Members. not just the office of the leadership here. the majority leadership. And with regard to what we have heard about blaming the prior administration. it is going to be very interesting. Mr. Speaker. to see how long that lasts. I am sure they will try to make it last for 4 years. but how long will it be effective? Because the authorization for the bonuses was in the socalled stimulus package voted for by the majority. Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent to have the text of the amendment and extraneous material inserted into the RECORD immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.
Date: 2009-03-23
Speaker: PAUL BROUN (republican)
Chamber: H

a family practitioner in Georgia. Seventythree primary care physicians per 100.000 in Georgia. the national average. 88.1. Eightynine percent of job seekers graduating from Georgia medical residency programs received and accepted job offers in 2004 but only 54 percent of them stayed in my great State of Georgia. So just kind of bringing home some of the statistics from where we live and represent. At this time. Im proud to yield to
Date: 2009-03-23
Speaker: PAUL BROUN (republican)
Chamber: H

the gentleman who represents my hometown of Augusta. Georgia. and Athens. Georgia. the home of the University of Georgia. the great bulldog nation and many. many wonderful counties in between. I yield to the gentleman from Georgia. Dr. PAUL BROUN.
Date: 2009-03-24
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Yesterday. Father Jenkins. the President of my alma mater. Notre Dame. explained his decision to give President Obama an honorary degree. in spite of his opposition to the culture of life expressed by that university and the Catholic Church. He explained it as an invitation to dialogue with the President. Let us hope so. Let us hope there is a dialogue on the Presidents support for partialbirth abortion. on his opposition to the bornalive baby legislation. on his reversal of the Mexico City policy. on his support of Federal funding for embryonic stem cells where. denouncing it. he gave the back of the hand to Catholic moral teaching. and. in vitiating the Federal regulations guaranteeing the conscience clause. which is aimed at Catholic hospitals. doctors. and nurses. Will this be an invitation to dialogue? Will the commencement address be an opportunity for the President to question his prior decisions? God only knows.