macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 1999-07-27
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. we have got a new hero named Lance Armstrong as a professional cycler. In October of 1996. he was diagnosed with cancer. threatening not only his career but his life. Last Sunday afternoon. he conquered both. Lance. who grew up in Plano. Texas. in our district. won the Tour de France by 7 min-. utes. 37 seconds. Armstrongs triumph over the France landscape is a testament to the strength of human mind. body. and spirit when put to the test and a testament to faith in God that miracles do happen. The fact that an American won the race for the first time in 9 years is reason enough for national celebration. But Armstrongs victory over cancer gives a very real. very special hope to those who are struggling with cancer. Today we say bravo and congratulations. Lance. for a victory that will go down as one of the most incredible comebacks in history. America is in your debt. God bless you.
Date: 1999-07-29
Speaker: LINDY L. PAULL (republican)
Chamber: S

Chief of Staff. Joint Committee on Taxation. Washington. DC. DEAR MS. PAULL: Attached are the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) comments on the eight provisions from the Senate Committee on Finance markup of the "Taxpayer Refund Act of 1999" that you identified for complexity analysis In your letter of July 20. 1999. The comments are based on the Joint Committee on Taxation staff description (JCX4699) of the provisions and. in the case of marriage penalty relief. the statutory language for a similar item provided in H.R. 2656. introduced by Mr. Weller in the 105th Congress. Due to the short turnaround time. our comments are provisional and subject to change upon a more complete and indepth analysis of the provisions. Sincerely.
Date: 1999-08-03
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. Americans do not want. need. or deserve the highest taxes since World War II. For too long. our tax system has punished the very virtues Americans live by: hard work. marriage. savings. entrepreneurship. and freedom. Look what happens when we play by the rules. If we get married. the government punishes us with taxes. If we save and invest for our familys future. we pay taxes on the earnings. If we work hard to earn more. we end up paying what is called an alternative minimum tax. and lose all our family tax credits. Finally. if we build a successful business and try to leave it to our kids. they will probably have to sell it in order to pay taxes when we die. We want to end the assault on American values of family. savings. hard work. entrepreneurship. and freedom. It is our money. and we deserve to get it back. Americans do not want or need the President to spend our money on big government.
Date: 1999-08-03
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I appreciate what the gentleman says. but even with the Ambassador over there. we still are not getting into some of the places that we need to get into. If you send our military to do a job. they are going to do it. regardless of where they are. and they are doing that job over there. But I ask you. who better than our Vietnamese Americans to know what should happen in Vietnam? No waiver. They do not want a waiver. If you recall in 1995. I think it was. or 1993. rather. Clinton said that he would have a full and accurate accounting of all our POWs. That is our President. Again. in 1995. if you recall. he flipflopped and went back on his word and recognized them. And now we want to put another nose under the tent. or push the nose a little further and try to recognize them for trade. Even now. we still have over 2.000 unaccounted for servicemen in Vietnam. Our MIA. missing in action. families. deserve our full support and that means "yes" to no waiver.
Date: 1999-08-03
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I cannot believe the rhetoric I am hearing today. I listened to the gentleman from Texas . He is absolutely on track. All that is happening is a takeover by big government trying to interfere in individuals lives. Last year. the Congress and the President agreed to spend nearly $1 million on a study. and it is going to be completed in 2001. Why can we not wait until then? OSHA instead wants to rush forward and eliminate thousands of jobs and cost us billions of dollars while failing to assure the prevention of one single injury. Some single industry estimates go as high as 18 to $30 billion of cost. It is going to cost our businesses money. That means you. the consumer. the taxpayer. you are not only going to pay taxes. you are going to pay higher costs on everything you do. Let me just tell my colleagues something. When I was down at Homestead Air Force Base as commander. we had a little platform out on every level in a threestory barracks that our men lived in. OSHA came in and said you have to put a rail around there so when the guys get out there to clean the windows. they will not fall off. And furthermore. they have to have a hook to hook on that rail to make sure that if they do fall off. they will not fall and hurt themselves. Now. that is your government at work. Let me tell you what happened. A hurricane came through and destroyed that base totally. It does not anymore exist. So we got rid of the OSHA requirement in that way. Mr. Speaker. we need water here pretty bad. I hope we get a hurricane and just push OSHA out to sea.
Date: 1999-08-04
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. today we are faced with the largest tax burden since World War II. and what many people do not realize is that the Federal Government is taxing our American values. For example. the death tax. The death tax is one of the most onerous taxes imposed by our own Federal Government. It is double and triple taxation on American families hardearned savings. Even worse. the death tax forces grieving sons and daughters to sell the family business or farms just to pay their taxes. It is outrageous for the Federal Government to do this to our families. With almost no support from the Democrats. Republicans in the House and Senate have agreed to eliminate the death tax. But President Clinton has no compassion for American values. He is saying he will veto it. Enough is enough. It is time to start repealing taxes on our American values. Americans want. need. and deserve tax relief now.
Date: 1999-09-15
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1551. "The Civil Aviation Research and Development Act of 1999." I would like to thank the sponsor of this bill. Congresswoman MORELLA. for all of her hard work on this important piece of legislation. This bill authorizes the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct research and development activities that will update aviation technology and knowledge to ensure safety. efficiency. and security for our national air transportation system. Included in the managers amendment is an amendment I proposed in the Science Committee which direct the FAA to expand its current aging aircraft research and development efforts to include nonstructural components. This provision is necessary because while aging aircraft may be structurally sound. several safety expertsincluding the National Transportation Safety Board and the White Commission on Aviation Safety and Securityhave raised serious concerns about the performance and reliability of the various nonstructural components of aging aircraft which includes electrical wiring. hydraulic lines. and other electromechanical systems. This is an important bill for the safety of all who are involved in air travel. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1551.
Date: 1999-09-23
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. let me just say that we put together a $792 billion tax relief package for the people of the United States of America. There is a tax savings for every American. There is tax savings for education. We tried to put America back on track. Guess what the President is going to do today? He is going to veto that legislation and put a $792 billion tax increase on every American person in this country. Furthermore. to try to offset the stench of Waco that is going around today. this White House has the audacity to try to sue an American industry. the tobacco companies. They are legal operations. The idea is to take the pressure off of Waco. We must have justice in this Nation. We are a Nation of justice. We must stand firm for the benefits that every American deserves. and that is justice under the law.
Date: 1999-09-24
Speaker: DEBORAH GRISWOLD (republican)
Chamber: S

Community Builders. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Boston. MA. DEAR MS. GRISWOLD: I was very impressed with your presentation of the "Community Builders" program at the Ramsay Park Coalition last week. and I was wondering if you would be available on March 9. 1999 to speak to the Grant Manor/Camfield GardensRoxse Homes and Lenox Camden Safety Task Force. The Task Force was established to coordinate safety and security for the H.U.D./ M.H.F.A. Demonstration Disposition Program. and I feel many of the initiatives of the Community Builders Program would be an invaluable resource for the various tenant associations. The Safety Task Force meeting will be held at the Lenox Camden Residents Association Office at 515 Shawmurt Ave. Also. if possible. could you send me a copy of your booklet "Boston Connects". Thank you for your cooperation. Sincerely.
Date: 1999-09-28
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I really hope the American people are listening to what is being said here today. What did the minority leader say? He said we need a budget that does what we want it to do. What is that? They want to spend more money. He said let us figure out a budget that the President can agree to. What is that? He wants to spend more money. When the President proposed his budget this year. he spent $58 billion of Social Security money. What do we have to do to get Members to focus on the issue? We are saying. let us save Social Security. What do the others argue on that side? No. we do not want to agree to this resolution that we will not spend Social Security dollars this year. We need to protect the money our constituents pay for Social Security in a bipartisan fashion. If my colleagues really want to save Social Security. why will they not vote for this? Actions speak a lot louder than words. My colleagues have come before the American people and their rhetoric says let us save Social Security. but their actions today will not vote for a resolution that says we are going to save Social Security. None of us. including the President. should be adopting a strategy to increase. pressure for spending new money just to force the other party to spend money from Social Security. It is easy to say we are going to play one up on the other side. we are going to present something that Social Security monies have to be spent for. Let us stop that. Let us stop playing games. Let us.do what we say we are going to do. Let us protect Social Security. The gentleman from California is coming forward with a reasonable resolution. My colleagues on the other side say it does not do any good. What harm does it do? If~it does no good. it does no harm. Let us put our actions where our efforts are. Let us say we are going to save Social Security. I urge my colleagues. Democrat and Republican. and all of us should call on the President. to support this resolution and refrain from spending one dollar of Social Security money. This is a noble goal. This is an appropriate line to draw in the sand. and it should be drawn here today.
Date: 1999-09-28
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I rise today in support of H.R. 2506. the Health Research and Quality Act. First I want to thank the bills author the gentleman from Florida and the cosponsors for all their hard work on this issue. H.R. 2506 is an important piece of legislation which will improve the quality of health care by directing the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research to emphasize medical research. synthesizing and disseminating scientific evidence. and advancing public and private efforts to improve health care quality. With the explosion of medical research and information being produced. medical practitioners face the increasingly difficult task of keeping current with medical literature and putting the latest scientific findings into perspective. As one study indicated. even if a doctor read two peerreviewed journals each night for a year. he or she would still be 800 years behind in their reading. Access to uptodate. quality research will improve the care that patients obtain from all levels of the health care system. H.R. 2506 will provide a means whereby medical group -practices can obtain and contribute to such a body of information. This legislation frees the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research from the difficult task of providing guidelines and standards of care and allows it to focus on providing unbiased. sciencebased research to the health care community. H.R. 2506 will help health care professionals and policymakers better understand the future demands on the Nations health care system. Again. I lend my strong support to this measure and urge my colleagues to join me in voting in favor of the Health Research and Quality Act of 1999.
Date: 1999-09-29
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. let us be honest. President Clinton and his fellow Democrats believe in big government. the bigger the better. For years. President Clinton and the Democrats have increased taxes. squandered precious Social Security money on wasteful government spending. Now. thanks to fiscally responsible Republican policies. we have a budget surplus. We tried to return some of it to the American people. the true owners. but President Clinton vetoed any tax relief for hardworking Americans. Instead. the President and the Democrats cannot resist the urge to take the surplus. go on a big spending spree and charge it to Americas Social Security account. The President wants this funded with new taxes. of course. Americans do not want. need. or deserve new taxes. Mr. Speaker. we must protect the Social Security surplus from the President.
Date: 1999-10-01
Speaker: AMOUNT FOR NEW (republican)
Chamber: S

CENTERS OR CLINICS.In any case in which an entity first qualifies as a Federallyqualified health center or rural health clinic after October 1. 2000. the State plan shall provide for payment for services described in section 1905(a)(2)(C) furnished by the center or services described in section 1905(a)(2)(B) furnished by the clinic in the first fiscal year in which the center or clinic qualifies in an amount (calculated on a per visit basis) that is equal to 100 percent of the costs of furnishing such services during such fiscal year in accordance with the regulations and methodology referred to in paragraph (2). For each fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the entity first qualifies as a Federallyqualified health center or rural health clinic. the State plan shall provide for the payment amount to be calculated in accordance with paragraph (3) of this subsection.
Date: 1999-10-06
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. again I find myself on the floor in another debate about freedom. the basic principle of democracy. To debate over freedom means to choose the quality health care that one wants. This bill permits all individuals access to health care by expanding medical savings accounts. Medical savings accounts allow all Americans to have the freedom to choose their own doctor and decide. with their doctor. what sort of medical care they need. My colleagues will notice that medical savings accounts have been expanded by more than 28 percent last year. We need to allow them to choose. The best way to provide health care to every American is not to add government regulations but to lift the regulations that prevent people from getting quality care. I believe the path to good medicine and health care should pass through the doctors- office. not the lawyers office. I think that it is important for us to help people learn new innovations. and this bill also contains a medical innovation tax credit which helps our teaching hospitals and research facilities continue their fight to find cures for deadly diseases such as cancer. The American people have said they want control over their own health care. The answer to this problem is to. give. every American the freedom and control to choose their own doctor and medical savings accounts. and this legislation will do just that.
Date: 1999-10-13
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I come to the floor today to address my bill. H.R. 2162. the Can Spain Act. Spain are the millions of unsolicited commercial email messages clogging up computer networks and the entire information superhighway. Thirty percent of sample is pornography. Another. 30 percent is getrichquick schemes. and much of that is targeted towards senior citizens. In effect. spain levies a tax on all Internet consumers by causing ISPs to spend money on additional bandwidth. hardware. as well as time and staff to deal with the bulk commercial emails. The increased costs are passed on to consumers. America Online estimates that 30 percent of their costs are associated with spain. This cost is passed onto consumers. That is like getting a postage due letter that you do not want and being forced to pay for it. To combat this problem. I have introduced the Can Spain Act. This bill gives ISPs a civil right of action against spammers who violate their published policy prohibiting spain. They can litigate for $50 per message. up to $25.000 per day for damages. That would also levy penalties on spammers who hijack another persons domain name for the purpose of sending out unsolicited commercial email. We need to defend our constituents and the businesses in our districts from commercial advertising.
Date: 1999-10-20
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Chairman. education is about providing our children with the tools they need to get a good education. like flexibility. accountability and choice. After 30 years and $120 billion. Washington needs to realize it is not how much you spend but what you spend it on that counts. For too long. we have spent money educating bureaucrats in regulation. red tape and Federal control. But now we are returning control and flexibility to the States while at the same time demanding more accountability for your tax dollars. I am especially proud that many of the reforms provided in this bill are mirrored after the efforts of my home State of Texas. Under the proven leadership of Governor George Bush. Texas has become the model for school accountability and student achievement. In fact. the 1998 national assessment of education progress recently reported that eighth grade students in Texas scored higher on average than the entire Nation in writing skills. Madam Chairman. this proves once and for all that giving the States. teachers. and parents greater control over their childrens education works. That is what this Congress is doing. today.
Date: 1999-10-20
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Chairman. I rise todayin support of H.R. 2 the "Student Results Act of 1999." H.R. 2 authorizes the Title of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and other programs assisting disadvantaged students. Under H.R.. 2: States. School Districts and Schools Held Accountable to Demonstrate Results to Par-
Date: 1999-10-21
Speaker: RICHARD GUPTON (republican)
Chamber: S

DEAR MR. GUPTON: I would like to express our strongest support ltr Senator Coverdells Bill to provide assistance to repair the watershed dams across the county and especially important to me the dams in Forsyth County. I have been a supervisor in Forsyth County for over five years and have seen first hand the tremendous benefits that these structures have provided the citizens of Forsyth County. As these dams approach 40 and 50 years old the District has seen the urgent need for federal assistance in performing necessary repairs and upgrades to meet new regulations and standards. This assistance is urgently needed to upgrade these structures so they can continue to provide benefits in the year to come. Sincerely.
Date: 1999-10-21
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. on rollcall No. 521. I was inadvertently detained. Had I been present. I would have voted "yes." (By unanimous consent. Mr. ROGERS was allowed.to speak out of order.)
Date: 1999-10-26
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. just by looking around at our homes. our offices. our roads and our local infrastructure. we can see that. construction has an important .impact on our lives. The U.S. construction market totaled $652 billion in 1998 which was 8.13 percent of our gross domesticproduct. which is GDP. Construction employed 5.970.000 workers with a payroll of $160 billion in 1998 which is about 6 percent of the Nations nonfarm. private sector employment. The construction industry is comprised of nearly 2 million small and large firms: Construction is larger than the automotive and steel industries combined-. Because construction is such an important part of our everyday lives. I have started -he Building a Better America Caucus. The purpose of the caucus is to educate Members of the Congress on buildingrelated issues that impact our districts and our constituents. from affordable housing to airport construction. I urge all my colleagues to support our. Nations builders by joining the Building a Better America Caucus and supporting commonsense legislation to build a better America.
Date: 1999-10-28
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. the Democrat leaders strategy seems to be to obstruct and delay the budget process. According to Mondays Roll Call newspaper article. Democrat Leader GEPHARDT is telling Members not to support appropriations bills even if they are the product of bipartisan negotiations. Why would the gentleman from Missouri oppose Democrats and Republicans working together to finish the peoples business? What benefit is there in this strategy? Who does the gentleman from- Missouri represent when he says do not work with Republicans. do not pass appropriations bills. do not get anything done? This is not what the constituents of my district and the American people want. They want us to pass a balanced budget without raiding Social Security.