macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-12-04
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I want to also echo my thanks to Chairman MCKEON. I had the pleasure not only of working with him on this committee. but also the Education Committee when we were on that. You will be missed here in the Congress. BUCK. but as a Californian. I hope you will come back and help California even more. An important role of the Armed Services Committee is to conduct aggressive oversight on the hundreds of billions that the Department of Defense spends each year. And while the DOD needs strong funding support from Congress. there are still a lot of areas of wasteful spending. areas that need to be cut. areas where more funding might be needed than requested in the budget. and I am pleased that this final NDAA includes numerous measures to reduce or restrict funding for DOD programs that are behind schedule. not performing. or judged to be of lower priorities. In the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee part of the bill. there are almost $800 million in funding reductions to such programs. and we did that in a bipartisan manner. There is also oversight legislation on several critical programs. The final NDAA provides funding at the Presidents budget level for most major programs. including more than $8 billion for the 34 F35 aircraft and also for continued research and development. And finally. the NDAA also includes significant funding in highpriority areas. For example. the Growler aircraft. $450 million. an additional $98 million for additional MQ9 aircraft. an additional $103 million for UH60 helicopters for our Army National Guard. an additional $382 million for Army ground vehicles. Also. I am very pleased that my provisions to further integrate women into the military were included in this final bill. I strongly urge the Department of Defense to ensure that there are no delays in expanding opportunities for female servicemembers who are out there on the front lines.
Date: 2014-12-04
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker. I rise with a sense of moral indignation that we would want to block parents from loving their children. children from loving their parents. and deporting persons who have no reason to criminally act in this Nation. I join with the President in saying let us keep families and deport felons. That is a discretion that is given by the law to allow Presidents to take care and ensure that the laws are enforced properly. This legislation is wrongheaded and misdirected. Allow me to say that this November 20 executive order is now being retroactively judged by this Congress. That is not the Congress responsibility. The Congress. if they desire to do so. as they have done on many occasions. is to bring this to the judicial courts. But if they do so. they will find that the law has dictated that courts grant without much interest in deciding whether or not an administrative decision has been made with fault. The President. through his executive order. is making an administrative decision in terms of how laws are prosecuted. Just yesterday. the State of Texas and a number of other States filed a lawsuit against the executive actions announced by the President on November 20. Much to my surpriseand. of course. with great joythe Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals appears to have already issued a decision. dismissing such a complaint. It did so in 1997 when Governor George W. Bush was arguing that the Federal Governments failure to enforce our immigration laws violated article I. and the court rejected Texas argument that the Federal Government had breached a nondiscretionary duty to control immigration under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Specifically. the court said: "We are not aware of and have difficulty conceiving of any judicially discoverable standards for determining whether immigration control efforts by Congress are constitutionally adequate." Why? Because there is an interpretation of the law and an administrative component of the law. Likewise. in Heckler v. Chaney. the Court said: "An agencys decision not to take enforcement actions is unreviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act because a court has no workable standard against which to judge the agencys exercise of discretion." The President of the United States is not exercising discretion of executive order. He is instructing and giving guidance to administrative agencies who will make decisions accordingly to the framework of making sure that those who are felons are out but families are not. If you want to stop human trafficking. if you want to have a conscience in this Nation. if you want to protect the vulnerable. if you want to keep young people who are brighteyed simply to serve in the United States military-
Date: 2014-12-04
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I cannot support this legislation. and I hope nobody expects me to. Mr. Speaker. I am the beneficiary of the greatest executive order ever written. the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1863. when Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. the country was at war. it was being torn apart. and yet he signed that proclamation. While it did not liberate the slaves. it did lead to the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865. I cant agree with this legislation because Truman in 1948 signed an executive order integrating the military. and it went on to integrate the broader society because it was a part of the avantgarde effort. And I would note that at the time he did it. the Dixiecrats were formed. They split from the Democratic Party. We have always had times of strife in this country. but great Presidents have always stepped forward. and they have done the right thing. Now let me address something quickly that has to be addressed: the question of this is a magnet. that it attracts a lot of people to the country. You cant be serious about this. If you were serious about the magnetic approach. you would have done something about wetfoot. dryfoot. Wetfoot. dryfoot allows any person who is from Cuba who gets one foot on American soil to come right on in and get into a pathway to legalization. just by getting one foot on. Have the other foot in the water. one on land? Come on in. And that is the policy of the United States Government. You would end that if you were serious. That is a magnet. But you dont see magnets until it comes to certain people. it seems. Mr. President. I salute you for what you have done. I commend you. I stand with you on this issue. but more importantly. I stand with bringing people out of the shadows of life into the sunshine of a new life. God bless you.
Date: 2014-12-04
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. briefly on the floor of the House today I mentioned how many times I voted for the defense authorization bill and appreciated the underlying principles in that legislation. which is to wholly support the United States military and their families. Today. unfortunately. layered down with poisonous pills on the floor of the House. the majority did not give this Congress the opportunity to debate the questions of war and peace. So I ask my colleagues and the leadership to let us debate this issue next week. or come back. or. as we begin 2015. Whenever we put our sons and daughters in harms way. it is extremely important to do so. Let me change to another topic very quickly and acknowledge and give my sympathy to the Garner family and indicate that I am going to begin an assessment of the criminal justice system that includes a review of training for our law enforcement across America that will include the utilization of stopandfrisk citations so that racial profiling can stop. and it will be an overview of the grand jury system. which is obviously broken. My sympathy. again. to the Brown family. to the Garner family. Sean Bell. Trayvon Martin. Robbie Tolan. and many. many others. Mr. Speaker. let me finally say this Congress cannot turn its head away from a broken criminal justice system.
Date: 2014-12-04
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Thank you. my friend and colleague. Congressman RUSH for calling this Special Order. I have thought that I wouldnt be able to be here. but I actually changed my schedule. I want to commend you for calling this Special Order and especially for the subject which you have addressed. As I listened to you. I thought about the fact that the day of the assassination. my friend. Frank Lipscomb. and I went through the apartment. We saw the blood on the sheets. we saw the bullet holes. and we saw the tape. We were young schoolteachers. becoming activistoriented. caught up in what was taking place in our country. I am so grateful that you were not there because had you been. in all probability. not only would we be talking about Fred and Mark. but we would also be talking about BOBBY RUSH. But I do believe that the good Lord spared you and somehow or another took you in another direction at that moment so that 45 years later we could look at and appreciate the many public contributions that you have made in efforts to try and make this world a better place. a more just place. a place where all life could be considered sacred. The location is in my congressional district. the district that I represent. the district that I serve. less than a mile away. The building that I inhabit as a district office has a mural on the wall on the side of the building of Chairman Fred. His son. Fred. Jr.. Freds mother. and members of their organization come with regularity to pay homage and tribute. Of course. Freds mother. brother. and sister live in my district in Maywood. Illinois. Never does a year go by when they dont have some event. some activity. some groupings of progressivethinking people who come and spend time at their home talking about progressive causes and progressive issues. It is kind of interesting that here we are 45 years later when law enforcement misconduct and police brutality are all at the forefront of issues plaguing our society today. I think the one thing that Freds life and legacy has taught us is that freedom is a hardwon thing. Each generation has to win it and win it again. So when we look at what is taking place in St. Louis. in Chicago. in Ferguson. in Cleveland. in New York. and in Florida. all across the country. it tells us what Frederick Douglass taught. and that is that struggle. struggle. strife. and pain are the prerequisites for change. If there is no struggle. then there is no progress. Fred taught us that struggle must continue even to the last breath of injustice. So we commend you. just as we commend your friends. Fred and Mark. for the leadership that you have provided in trying to help make America the America that has never been but all of us know must and will be. I thank you for calling this Special Order.
Date: 2014-12-09
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. as we come to this season of joy. I am always committed to wishing all of my colleagues of this body. this government. and our people a happy holiday. We are on the brink of the release of a report that talks about issues of torture which America has stood against. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to communicate that any report of past practices which we abhor does not indicate our lack of respect for the men and women of the CIA. nor does it give excuse to any international provocateur or terrorist to do violence to their own people. This is a deliberative assessment of how we can go forward. how we can continue to protect this Nation. and as a member of the Homeland Security Committee. it is important to protect our Nation. But we should not yield to those who will use this recklessly and violently to do terror around the world. Let me thank our marines who are on high alert. Let me also bring to the attention of my colleagues that tomorrow is Human Rights Day. and I hope that we will stand on this floor and promote the values of human rights. Again. Mr. Speaker. I challenge and charge those who would use this in a violent way: you are wrong. you are wrong. and you are wrong.
Date: 2014-12-09
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding. and I want to thank Chairman HASTINGS and Ranking Member DEFAZIO for their help in bringing this bill to the floor. It has been subject to negotiations that didnt end until just a couple of weeks ago. and fortunately. we have this time for Congress to consider it. It is a very simple bill that will greatly benefit our national park system by expanding the John Muir National Historic Site in my congressional district in Martinez at no cost to the Federal Government. The Muir Historic Site is a terrific resource for people living in and visiting the bay area. Thousands and thousands and thousands of people come to the historic site every year. Schoolchildren visit it on a regular basis. and certainly visitors from Scotland come to the site to learn about this rather remarkable native of Scotland who stirred up so much activity in the United States. As Ranking Member DEFAZIO pointed out. he was absolutely key to the founding and existence of Yosemite National Park and Sequoia National Park. In fact. he left his home site that is part of this park and walked to the Sierras to explore the Sierras and to live in them and to write about them. Some of his most famous books were written on those journeys. This land. what we know locally as the Plummer Ranch. is contiguous to the John Muir National Historic Site. It was once part of a ranch owned by John Swett. John Swett was a very close friend of John Muir. There are many historic pictures of them together. John Swett was. in fact. the father of the California public school system. They spent a great deal of time in this area. both farming. farming fruit and grapes and other agricultural products. and were very close friends. So this donation by the Muir Heritage Land Trust to the Federal Government. if we accept it. will bring these two pillars of Californias history together. linking the physical connectedness of their ranches. It will connect this area to Mount Wanda. which was named after John Muirs daughter. He used to have orchards at the top and side of Mount Wanda. So this is really a winwin for the historic community. and it is a winwin for this historic site which is visited by so many people. It is a win for the taxpayers since the money was raised locally to purchase this land from the original owner and to provide it in donation to the National Park Service. With the passage of this bill. that transaction will be completed. It will expand this park. The Nation will have the benefit of this additional historic asset to the site for people to visit and to understand. Again. I want to thank Chairman HASTINGS for making time for this legislation in his committees jurisdiction and deliberations. and my good friend PETER DEFAZIO for allowing me to present this on the floor. Thank you so much to both of you. I urge all of my colleagues to vote "aye" on this matter.
Date: 2014-12-09
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Since you opened up commending Doc HASTINGS for his career in the Congress. I want to join you in that. We were both discussing yesterday that we started our careers battling over California water when he came to the Congress and when I came to the Congress. and on the last days of our legislative action we will. once again. be discussing California water. Those are the twists and the turns that this place takes with legislation. But I want to thank him for his service and leadership of the Resources Committee. He knows how dear those issues are to me in many years of service on that committee. Thank you for your fairness in dealing with a lot of the issues. As Mr. DEFAZIO pointed out. it wasnt about whether we always agreed. but it was about whether or not you could work with one another with some respect and figure out where you could get together on particular issues.
Date: 2014-12-09
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield 5 minutes to our colleague from Florida. Congresswoman DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. the Democratic sponsor of this legislation.
Date: 2014-12-09
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of H.R. 5185. the reauthorization of the Breast Health Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young Act. or the EARLY Act.
Date: 2014-12-09
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 5185. the EARLY Act Reauthorization of 2014. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. over 220.000 women and 2.000 men were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011. making breast cancer the most common cancer among women. Approximately 11 percent of the new breast cancer cases occur in women under 45 years of age. Young women who have close relatives diagnosed with breast cancer before age 45. have changes in certain breast cancer genes. were treated with radiation therapy to the breast or the chest as a child or a young adult. or possess certain other risk factors may be at higher risk for getting breast cancer at a young age.
Date: 2014-12-09
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I support H.R. 5705. the Propane Education and Research Act. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to support H.R. 5705. the Propane Education and Research Enhancement Act. Today. tens of millions of Americans rely on propane and heating oil. Propane and propane accessories are used in everyday life from cooking to commercial agricultural uses are vital to farmers in the Midwest that use propane to dry corn and feed the world. Heating oil is used throughout the Northeast to heat homes and water during the long New England winter. Personally. in years past. Ive relied on propane when I didnt have access to the vast network of pipelines that supply natural gas. Unfortunately. like many important commodities. unless youve run out of propane or heating oil. most people probably dont know or understand the vast importance of this product. In the early 2000s. the Energy and Commerce Committee passed legislation that authorized the Propane Education and Research Council and the National Oilheat Research Alliance. These two national entities implement consumer education. research and development. and safety and training programs related to the use of propane and heating oil. While PERC and NORA are federallyauthorized. these two organizations cost the federal government absolutely nothing. But they play an important role in the communities they serve. H.R. 5705 amends the Propane Education and Research Act of 1996. the original legislation. and expands the ability of PERC to educate distributors and consumers in strategies to deal with future propane price spikes. Last winter. the United States faced a propane emergency. The industry has stepped up to ensure that we dont face another crisis like that. But we always need to be prepared and armed with knowledge of how to better deal with any situation. With preparation legislation like H.R. 5705. we can assist Americans. all over the country. by sharing the best information possible. I lend my support to H.R. 5705 and I am pleased my colleagues do the same. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2014-12-09
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I am delighted to join you in saying some words about RALPH HALL. my friend. Mr. Speaker. it has been my honor and privilege to serve with my colleague and friend. We had some laughs just recently when I visited him about our history and working together in elective office. Our relationship goes back to when I was in the Texas houseand I left the Texas house in the seventiestalking about things that we remembered. I really regret that he is not here today. but he wanted to be. and he planned to be. but he is not going to make it today. As all of you have had the pleasure of serving with RALPH. we are missing out on several jokes and stories. Some of them were really funny. and some cant be said in some places. so I wont try to match him in storytelling. I am going to tell you a little story that happened when RALPH switched parties. I called him and called him and called him and called him. and I couldnt get through. nor did he return my calls until I finally said. "Well. just tell him I still love him. and I dont care what party he is in." Thirty seconds later. he returned my call. and he said. "I just couldnt take another bawling out from a woman." He said. "I have gotten it from my sister. I got it from my wife." I said. "But do you know what? Probably nobody understands more than I do because I have been watching your numbers." So it never interfered with our relationship. When he was chair of the Science. Space. and Technology Committee. two of the years that he was chair. I was the ranking member. He never hesitated to reach across the aisle to try to reach consensus. Really. that is the kind of spirit we need now. I will miss him for that. I will miss him because of the history we both shared. Our districts used to come right next to each other. Now. there are a couple of people that come in between us. but it wont divide our friendship. and I look forward to our continued friendship for many years to come. Mr. Speaker. I have learned so much from him. I remember when I first came. he was the person who taught me how to make arrangements to go home every week with the airline that we use and also taught me how to find rooms and shortcuts of how to get where you need to go on this Hill. which is rather complicated when you first get here. He will be greatly missed. He has meant a lot. and he has done a lot. The space exploration program will be forever grateful to him. The Science. Space. and Technology Committee research and all it stands for will always have RALPH HALL as a part of its history. I appreciate the opportunity to have had a chance to work with him. to know him and his family. and to wish him well.