macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-10-10
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Mr. Speaker. I rise to pay tribute to Mr. Marvin Daniel Price. who passed away July 21 at the age of 81. Mr. PRICE came to my attention because he is the youngest known person ever to play professional baseball in the United States of America. At the age of 14. Marvin played with the Chicago American Giants in 1946. One might wonder how this happened. Well. his sister. Ms. Gloria Price Simpson. tells the story that one day Marvin couldnt come out to play because he was sick. The other kids looked up to him. so they spotted him in the window and asked him if he would call the balls. and so he called out. safe. foul ball. fair ball. He always imagined that baseball would play a major role in his life. and in fact it did. At the age of 14. professional baseball soon became a reality for Marvin when he was spotted playing baseball in Washington Park by the legendary Chicago Giants outfielder Jimmy Crutchfield. A tryout was soon arranged with thenowner J.B. Martin at Comiskey Park where manager Quincy Troupe originally thought he was the new bat boy. It didnt take long for him to show that he wasnt there just to distribute the equipment. Marvin put on such a show that the Chicago American Giants decided to take him on a barnstorming trip to the South where he could play without jeopardizing his amateur status back in Chicago. Playing against hardened black baseball veterans in the South. Marvin displayed an awesome hitting performance. After a week he returned home to Englewood High School. where he graduated and went on to play professionally with the Cleveland Buckeyes. New Orleans Eagles. and Chicago American Giants where he batted .390. Just as it looked as though Marvin was headed for baseball stardom. he enlisted in the military and spent 4 years in the United States Coast Guard. After his stint in the military. he continued to play semiprofessionally. and over the next 30 years. he worked as a supervisor with the Chicago post office while working parttime with the Chicago Park District teaching young people not only about the game of baseball. but the game of life. On Friday. October 11. at U.S. Cellular Field. formerly known as Comiskey Park. there will be a memorial ceremony in Prices honor. Family members. friends and supporters. members of the White Sox and others are invited to come and celebrate his rich life and history. He was indeed a legend before his time. and so we salute you. Mr. Marvin Daniel Price. the youngest known professional baseball player in the United States of America.
Date: 2013-10-10
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I hold in my hand a letter from the veterans cemetery in Houston. Texas. that is notifying us to indicate that. as of October 15. this cemetery will have reduced staff and will have to reduce the number of burials for our heroes who all of us commit to honoring. Mr. Speaker. our Federal employees are locked out of serving the government. of serving America. I just came from visiting with the representatives of thousands of Federal employees who were out in the rain. begging to come back to work. So the extreme faction of Republicans that dont want to open the government and raise the debt ceiling need to listen to the plea of those people. I am going to introduce today a resolution that says that we will no longer tie a legislative issue to the idea of continuing to serve the American people. keeping the government open. and raising the debt ceiling. We have been ready to talk. We have been ready to cooperate. We have given in to their number. We have done everything. as Democrats. to be part of the American leadership. Now. it is time to vote. Unlock the door for the workers who want to work for America.
Date: 2013-10-10
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I would like to associate myself with the remarks of my colleague and classmate from South Carolina on how we will miss Chairman YOUNG. He has been a great statesman in serving our House. But today I am here to talk about how we are 10 days into the Republican shutdown of the government services. Every week the shutdown continues cuts 0.3 percent of our gross domestic product. and the stock market has dropped 900 points in the last 2 weeks. Now they want to hold the full faith and credit of our country hostage. This is how it is hurting our Houston area economy: Over 3.100 NASA employees at Johnson Space Center in Houston have been furloughed as a result of the House majoritys refusal to keep the government open. The Small Business Administration has closed its Houston office and is unable to issue grants and loans and services to small business owners. Houstons regional VA center is closed. The government shutdown has forced VA to furlough 9.000 employees. delaying processing of the VA benefits. If the shutdown continues into late October. payments for more than 3.8 million veterans will stop. We owe it to our Nations veterans to make good on our commitments to them. and we cant do this with closed facilities.
Date: 2013-10-10
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Let me thank the distinguished ranking member. and let me thank the chairman of this committee. Let me ask again for the hardworking employees of the Federal Government and for the hardworking employees of the Department of Homeland Security to stop being locked out. Mr. Speaker. as my ranking member indicated. I am the ranking member on the Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee. This piecemeal approach does not comprehensively address the question of the needs of homeland security. Frankly. I am in support of the work of Customs and Border Protection. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Citizenship and Immigration Services. and the Coast Guard. You will find. probably. no greater supporter on these issues. but we need to be able to pass legislation such as H.R. 1417. comprehensively. to address all of the border aspects of this Nation. This is a gamble. This is throwing the dice. This is seeing whether or not we can get this piece and that piece. but it doesnt comprehensively deal with the entrances and exits. It doesnt comprehensively deal with comprehensive immigration reform. My message is to have a clean CR. to open the government. to protect our homeland security employees. and to protect the homeland. Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong opposition to H.J. Res. 79. the "Border Safety and Security Act." As Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Committees Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security. I strongly support the missions of Customs and Border Protection. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Citizenship and Immigration Services. and the Coast Guard. You will find no greater advocate in Congress for the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security who work on the frontlines every day. That is why I am greatly troubled that the Republican Majority continues to take a piecemeal approach to funding our vital homeland security agencies. activities. and personnel. They know this bill has no chance of becoming law. but are putting on a piece of political theater today to pander to a fringe element within their party. We must not gamble with our Nations security by picking winners and losers at DHS. Instead. this House needs to do its job and provide appropriations for the entire Department of Homeland Security. so that all of our Federal border. immigration. and homeland resources are operational. I call on the Republican Leadership to allow reasonable Members on both sides of the aisle to approve a Clean CR so that we can get DHS. and our entire government. working as it should be for the American people.
Date: 2013-10-10
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in opposition to H.J. Res 79. a bill which claims to fund border security. but in reality is just a continuation of the piecemeal approach to funding government operations being used by the House Republican leadership to create political cover for their continued refusal to hold a vote to immediately reopen the entire government. I support funding border security and appreciate greatly the dedicated men and women who work to keep our borders secure. but I do not support this bill because. in the end. it does more harm than good. I believe the proper way to fund border security is for Congress to fulfill its responsibility to pass regular appropriations bills. The House passed a full year funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security in June that would provide $40.1 billion more for DHS than the bill before us today. Using a cherrypicking approach to fund selected programs within an agency neglects other important programs within that same agency. In this case. supporting H.J. Res 79 funds border security at the expense of other Homeland Securityrelated functions like the Secret Service. the Army Corps of Engineers. the Transportation Security Administration and the Office of Disaster Assistance at the Small Business Administration. The fact is that by taking up the Senates clean continuing resolution and sending it to the President for his signature tonight. we can fund border security. DHS and all the other important programs and services of the government. That is why I call on my colleagues to bring up the Senate CR so we can end this shut down and get all our federal workers back on the job.
Date: 2013-10-10
Speaker: NEGRETE MCLEOD (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you. Mr. Speaker. with each day that passes that the Nation is in government shutdown. we put the very livelihood of Americans and the economy in uncertainty: like the over 3.800 Federal employees who live in the 35th Congressional District. these are all hardworking men and women in the Federal Government workforce. like the constituent who wrote us asking why death benefits for veterans were not being paid out. like the dairy owner that called this very morning and wanted to know why they had not received money that was owed to them from the Federal Government. These are just a few of the cases that are going on in my district. and while progress has been made in the Nations economic recovery from the greatest recession since the last depression. the Federal Governments shutdown hampers that very recovery. The shutdown sends a bad message to the business community. that government is unreliable. The 35th Districts constituents are not being helped by the Small Business Administration because of the shutdown. The SBA is currently approving zero general small business. real estate. and equipment loans. This hurts the economic development of Californias 35th Congressional District. Last year. the SBA approved almost $500.000 a day in small business. real estate. and equipment loans in my district. This money enabled job growth and benefited the community by spurring economic development in the region. This equates to more than $1 billion not currently being lent to small businesses across the country in 1 month. Businesses in my district. the State. and across the Nation are losing money every day because of the government shutdown. We should be helping businesses start up and grow. We should be doing everything we can to grow jobs and grow our economy. Congress should not be an impediment that slows prosperity in America. Without a solution to the Federal Government shutdown. lowincome women and children will suffer without programs that Congress fought hard to secure. Federally funded programs like the Women. Infants. and Children program. commonly known as WIC. is at risk of having its funding diminished under a government shutdown. WIC provides nutrition education and healthy foods. enabling families to make lifelong healthy eating and lifestyle choices. In California alone. 1.5 million lowincome women and children will be impacted should Congress not act to end this shutdown. This is at a time when 27 percent of Californias children are considered to be food insecure. children lacking access to enough food or nutritionally adequate food. Letting a government shutdown occur when childrens nutrition is at risk is irresponsible. Let us be part of the solution and end political gamesmanship that hurts average Americans. Let us feed Americas hungry children. Let us get businesses back to business and help America prosper.
Date: 2013-10-10
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

What a significant. enlightened presentation by Congressman DAVIS. if I might summarize his very broad and effective presentation and the educating of our Members. He has spoken about the collateral damage. and the collateral damage. Mr. DAVIS. is spreading like wildfire. You added that it is parking garages. it is the CTA or the MTA or the Metro. It is the restaurants. It is the District of Columbia that is collateral damage. a city that has to keep its doors open. but lo and behold. it is being impacted by the shutdown. Again. workers are shut out and shut down. If I might ask the Speaker how much time is remaining.
Date: 2013-10-10
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Let me say one thing about the farm bill. because I am very sympathetic and empathetic with farmers. I grew up on a farm. so I know a little bit about farming and how valuable. Of course. Illinois is a great farm State. But I am not in favor of all of these great big subsidies that we give to some people. like sugar growers that help to keep the price of sugar so high until the candy makers and the cookie makers and ice cream processors and all these people have serious difficulty making or producing the products that they sell. There is a lot of giveandtake in these decisions that we make. and there ought to be enough giveandtake to know that it cant just be my way or the highway. It cant just be my thoughts and ideas. It is time to really put behind us all of the difficulty that we have had. I am hoping that the next time I go home that I can tell the people in my district. Yes. we have reached an agreement. The government is going to reopen. We are going to function. and America is going to move like we know it can. like we know it will. That is going to be the legacy of this shutdown. that we are going to cut it off and reopen. I thank you for the opportunity.
Date: 2013-10-10
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank you so very much. Let me just say that I am on the sugar farm side of the issue. but we are on the same side of the coin on opening the government. And I want to thank Congressman DAVIS. I also want to make mention of my fellow Texas Democratic colleagues who stood together at 1 p.m. today. all of them calling for a bipartisan solution. actually calling upon our good friends. our Senators in the other body out of the State of Texas to come and stand with us and follow in the tradition of the Catholic Charities mission of helping our brothers and sisters. the most vulnerable. of the words of "just live by faith." of the words that "this government is an umbrella on a rainy day." cancer victims. children who need Head Start seats. the justice system of America. the interstate highway of America. sick patients in hospital beds needing disability checks. veterans who need service centers and need the resources of hospitals. all of these and beyond. teachers who are living under the pressure of a sequester that cuts off the money for their impoverished students and the services for special needs children. all tied into the sequester. all at a standstill because of the shutdown. What is our plea today? Our plea today is to recognize that we cant live in this world alone. and that it is imperative that we unshackle ourselves. I have even gotten a Koch brothers letter that was sent to the Senators. The Koch brothers. the Koch Industry. said. Dont blame us. We never tied defunding ObamaCare to the funding of the government. I consider that a getoutofjail card. I hope all the Senators are getting it. I hope all the Members of Congress here are getting it. It means that you can vote on a clean bill and lift the debt ceiling for a period of time that allows America to pay her bills. young couples to get mortgages. young families to get loans. That is what we should be doing. and I will take in the words of my good friend. We want a way forward in a bipartisan manner. But what I would offer to say to you. that America. the greatest country in the world. has a Constitution that has said we are organized for a more perfect Union. and. in fact. we have that perfect Union if we can open this government. We all are created equal with certain inalienable rights of life. liberty. and the pursuit of happiness. Mr. Speaker. I am thankful for the opportunity to speak. I believe that tomorrow we may have something on the floor that opens the government. Vote. Put it on the floor. a clean bill. so that we can vote and open the government and that we have a method for lifting the debt ceiling. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2013-10-11
Speaker: BEN RAY LUJAN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New Mexico

Mr. Speaker. funding for the NNSA is critically important to my State of New Mexico. for we are home to both Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs. However. this bill denies these national security labs the funding they need as it locks in the deep cuts of sequester for 2 more months. There is not a Member of this bodyDemocrat or Republicanthat says they like the sequester. Mr. Speaker. but my Republican colleagues refuse to lift it. They say they want to keep the government open. but they place conditions on it. This piecemeal approach in this bill to the Department of Energy and to the NNSA is picking winners and losers with employees that are going to be furloughed. This is a shame. and it is a shamthis Republican charade that is going to go home to my State of New Mexico and direct the Directors of the labs to tell employees who is going to go home without a paycheck and who will notbecause there is still not assurance that the Secretary of Energy. through the Department of Energy. will make these employees whole through allowable costs that will be accepted. Enough is enough. Mr. Speaker. this is a shame. Lets do the right thing and open the government.
Date: 2013-10-11
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Let me thank the gentleman from Massachusetts and the gentlelady who is managing this legislation and indicate that I wish we did have. Mr. MCGOVERN. a bipartisan mission like Mickey Leland and Bill Emerson. If anybody remembers those late Members. they founded the Select Committee on Hunger in order to stamp out hunger. Mr. Speaker. I wish we had the kind of passion that drew Robert Kennedy to Appalachia to show America that the hunger that existed in this Nation was not a respecter of race or regionor maybe even the sensitivity of Martin Luther King in the same year. Tragically. they both lost their lives in 1968. He was galvanizing poor people to come to Washington because they wanted jobs. because they wanted to eat. Here we are on the floor of the House. Mr. McGOVERN. and I read from the statement made from the gentleman of Iowa last night on the floor that we need to start the long march to start to reform the expansion of the dependency class. Who is in the dependency class? There are charges that President Obama has put 48 million people on food stamps. How has President Obama put 48 million people on food stamps? People are hungry. and 16 percent of the poor people in America are children. What our friends want to do with regard to reform is if you get a school lunch and a school breakfast. that is not evident that your family needs food stamps. So maybe this family is dysfunctional. Maybe these mothers and fathers are desperate. so now you are going to put them through another maze. You havent documented that they are fraudulently taking food stamps. but you are going to drop them off food stamps and say. Guys. if you want to get out of your hospice bed or if you want to get out of your sick bed or if you want to get out of your disabled bed and if you have these children who are getting lunch and breakfast. you have got to come and reapply. because there is something ingrained about those who are getting a hand up or who are in the dependency class. I didnt say that. Robert Kennedy didnt say that. Lets put a clean CR on the floor. by the way. to open the government. and lets stop talking about the idea. I just cant understand. We need a clean CR. and lets get it to the floor.
Date: 2013-10-11
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up the Senate amendment to H.J. Res. 59. the clean CR. and go to conference on a budget so that we end this Republican government shutdown.
Date: 2013-10-11
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up the Senate amendment to H.J. Res. 59. the clean CR. and go to conference on a budget so that we can end the Republican government shutdown.
Date: 2013-10-11
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up the Senate amendment to H.J. Res. 59. the clean CR. and go to conference on a budget so that we can end this Republican government shutdown.
Date: 2013-10-11
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Mr. Speaker. I have been very pleased to work in a very bipartisan way with Representatives PITTS. GOODLATTE. BLUMENAUER. and others as we have shaped H. Res. 378. The domestic sugar program is an outdated system of strict government controls that cost consumers $4 billion a year in higher prices. Historically. the sugar program not only hurts consumers but it also costs us jobs. High sugar prices were responsible for the loss of 112.000 jobs in sugarusing industries in the last decade. While growers of all commodities. including those for cotton. rice. peanuts. corn. soybeans. and wheat. have seen their benefits cut and their programs reformed. for some inexplicable reason sugar growers and processors continue to get a free ride and keep their program without any reform. No other crop has a program like sugar. which restricts both domestic production and imports. Peanut and tobacco growers once had a quota that limited production. but Congress reformed those programs a long time ago. Now we are only left with the sugar program. where it remains permanently in the 2013 farm bill to continue to cause higher consumer prices for food products containing sugar. This program is designed to benefit a few at a tremendous cost to many. Our current sugar policy offloads the programs cost onto consumers and food companies. entices U.S. companies to relocate overseas. destroys U.S. jobs. and limits export market opportunities for the rest of the economy. It is time for Congress to finally reform this relic of a program of the past and put an end to sugars special status. We can now correct a specific aspect of the 2013 farm bill by supporting H. Res. 378. The 2008 farm bill directs the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture to manage the overall U.S. sugar supply. including imports. so that market prices on average can stay higher in the United States compared to the overall world price of sugar. We need to eliminate this same provision in the 2013 farm bill that would limit the Secretary of Agricultures ability to allow sufficient sugar imports into the country so that consumers can pay their prices. All that we are asking is to give the Secretary of Agriculture some flexibility to adjust.