macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-05-09
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I rise today In support of H.R. 2. the Jobs and Growth Tax Act of 2003. Although there is general consensus among many economic forecasters that our economy is poised to grow at a faster pace than it has over the last year. action is necessary in order to hasten the recovery. While GDP has continued to increase. the modest increases we have been witnessing are not sufficient to stabilize employment. Consumer confidence and spending have improved. however business and Investor confidence have not followed suit. The legislation before us today will stimulate growth and investment. and expedite our economic recovery. First. this legislation will increase purchasing power for all Americans through an acceleration of the 2001 taxcuts for individuals. Accelerating tax relief from the marriage penalty. increasing the child tax credit. expansion of the 10 percent tax bracket and providing working families with relief from the AMT will help to give our economy an Immediate stimulus. Secondly. this package creates business and investment Incentives to spur business growth. ultimately leading to job creation. Increases in depreciation allowances for business and an increased allowance for expensing capital purchases for small business will promote capital Investment. putting more money back Into the economy and creating more jobs. These proyisions will work to counteract the general- climate of caution In the business sector that has resulted in layoffs. a reluctance to invest In new capacities. and aggressive actions to maintain low levels of inventories. Finally. the bill reduces the tax rate on dividends and capital gains to spur Investment and business growth. Today. we are faced with the simple fact that the overall economy cannot Improve until the stock market recovers. Additionally. today. eightyfour million Americans. over 50 percent of our population. are invested In the stock market. and Investment plays an increasingly important role in our individual financial security. With much of this Investment In 401(k)s. IRAs and pension plans. it is vital to many Americans that we do all we can to Increase the growth of the stock market. Additionally. capital gains tax reductions have historically resulted In freeing stranded capital locked in mature Investments as well as increasing capital for new investment. The reduction of the tax rate on dividends and capital gains to 5 percent and 15 percent will increase the purchasing power of individuals. stimulate Investment and capital formation In business. and increase job oreation through business growth. For these reasons. Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this measure. in support of an immediate stimulus and Infusion of confidence In our economy. In support of creating jobs. and in support of longterm economic stability and growth for the future.
Date: 2003-05-14
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

This weekend is Armed Forces Day. and are not our men and women in uniform doing a great job. I hear all this talk about the Texas Legislature. We have got a lot of deserters down there. the guys that are afraid to stand and fight like our armed services do. Fox TV said. and I thought it was pretty good. and I paraphrase. they said. Are you not a Texas -legislator? The guy answered yes. He said. Well. what are you doing in Ardmore. Oklahoma? The legislature meets in Austin. Texai. It is a shame that we cannot have formal debate In our capital in Texas. Thank God we did not have those Demociats at the Alamo. God bless them.
Date: 2003-05-14
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. PBGC. substantial owner. This important provision was approved by the Committee on Ways and Means last week. and I am glad that we are also including it in this bill today. This provision could help breathe life into defined benefit plans in small businesses. Right now the owners of small businesses have several disincentives to offering traditional pension plans. Aside from the fact that these plans are too expensive to maintain because of too much red tape. owners of small businesses are prohibited from receiving guaranteed benefits from PBGC should their businesses fall. It is crazy to think that small businessmen would offer traditional defined benefit plans. pay the expensive insurance premiums to the PBGC. and then be prohibited from receiving the same insurance benefit that all their employees receive if the company fails. This provision fixes that and allows owners to get some benefits from PBGC. This bill also reduces PBGC premiums for new pension plans and for small pension plans. Those premiums are an expensive barrier to those few employers who are willing to set up traditional defined benefit pension plans. Reducing premiums could help bring back this type of pension plan. This bill is long overdue. It should have been approved in our other body during the last session. but this time it looks like it can be and should be. for the benefit of all Americans. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2003-05-14
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I just would like to make the statement that my friend on the other side voted for H.R. 2269. which was the original Investment Advice Act. in November of 2001. The minority is comparing the investment advice that this bill would allow with the recently concluded Global settlement involving several Wall Street firms. the SEC. and the New York Attorney General. It is a bad comparison. It suggests they do not understand the bill or the Global settlement. The socalled Global settlement inv.olved claims about individual company stocks which analysts were allegedly recommending while their firms were seeking investment banking business from the same companies without telling them. individual investors. about the relationship. H.R. 1000. which we are discussing today. is about 401(k) allocations. which mostly involve mutual funds. Mutual funds and the advisers who provide guidance about mutual funds are in no way implicated in the Global settlement. But because they also provide investment advice. the minority is tar ring them with the same brush. In addition. the Global settlement was about potential conflict of interests which were not disclosed to investors. This bill requires clear disclosure of any such relationship so that investors can make the decision themselves about whether to accept or reject the advice. Finally. the Global settlement was just a settlement in exchange for a number of reforms aimed at making sure investment analysis is without conflict of interest. The investigators who police Wall Street havd dropped their lawsuit and settled their disagreement. I would like to also include at this time the statement from the administration on their policy: "The administration strongly supports passage of H.R. 1000. which encompasses important principles outlined in the Presidents pension retirement security plan. Like the Presidents plan. this bill strengthens workers ability to manage their retirement funds by giving them more freedom to diversify their investments and by providing better information to workers through improved 401(k) and pension plan statements. The bill will also permit employers to provide their employees with access to professional investment advice. H.R. 1000 would give American workers access to information through expert advisers." The White House strongly supports this bill. I believe it requires a "yes" vote. The statement of administration policy follows:
Date: 2003-05-14
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. we just heard about IBM and some of the other large companies. But guess what? They fixed the problem. so there is no longer a problem. Why are we talking about it? Because all of this stuff is voluntary anyway. The Democrat substitute proposes to limit the types of defined benefit plans that companies can offer. Specifically. the substitute limits companies in converting to cash balance plans even though there is substantial evidence that 80 percent of workers fare better under a cash balance plan. The Democrats are attempting to force companies to stay with an outdated. arcane pension system that does not really work in todays market. We need to allow companies the freedom to provide the best possible benefits to their employees with advice. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2003-05-14
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I am glad that was brought out. All of the reasons to not vote for this substitute. we just heard them. The Democrat substitute unwisely expands remedies available under ERISA. Under the Democrat substitute. employers. administrators and service providers can expect a wave of new litigation from participants alleging economic and noneconomic losses stemming from ERISA violations. It can only lead to higher costs. Employers will become more reluctant to offer retirement savings plans to their work-
Date: 2003-05-14
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the subject of my Special Order.
Date: 2003-05-14
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Reclaiming my time for a second. as the gentleman knows. I am new in Washington. This is my first year. One of the things that has surprised me a little bit is the ability by some Members. very eloquently. to just espouse things. yet with no facts whatsoever. and sometimes even distorting some facts that are used. The gentleman mentioned something that is very important. There has to be a proposal. In other words. if we want to create jobs. which is I think the emphasis of this. clearly of the President and the majority of this Congress. we have to put something forward that creates jobs. One of the ways to create jobs. and that is a bipartisan goal. we have agreed to that. I think. one of the ways you create jobs is by cutting taxes. making sure the people can keep more of their money. Another way I think we can create Jobs is by controlling government spending. Yet. since I have been here. I have never heard one moment where our friends from the other party have ever asked for controlling government spending. Every time I turn around. they are asking for more government. bigger government. more bureaucracy. more money for that bureaucracy. more taxes from the people for that bureaucracy. That is a common theme I have been hearing in these debates. I was wondering if the gentleman could sbed some light on how does creating a larger government. more bureaucracy. more taxes. how does that help create more jobs for the American people.
Date: 2003-05-14
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. One of the things that I keep hearing. and the gentleman just mentioned small businesses. which is a big part of this economic stimulusjob creation package. it is to provide relief for small businesses. That is where most of the jobs are created. in small businesses. In the State of Florida it is even more dramatic. The numbers are staggering. the number of jobs created by small business. That is the entire economy of the State of Florida. But we hear when we want to cut taxes on small business owners to help small businesses do well. to incentivize them to spend more money. to hire more people. to create more jobs. you hear that we are cutting taxes on the rich. Yet. when you look at the proposals from our good friends on the minority party. the Democratic Party. everything that they do seems to be trying to raise taxes on working Americans. By the way. many of those working Americans are now struggling. which is why it is important to pass this package. But yet their proposals seem to be. and I have them here. seem to be raise taxes on the working people. on the hardworking Americans. who are having a hard time paying the mortgage and rent. who are having a hard time staying employed. Some of them. have actually lost their jobs. Yet they want to raise taxes on them. It seems in many cases just to create larger bureaucracies up here in Washington. DC. I do not think one has to be a brilliant economist to realize when you are further taxing people and you are creating more burcaucracy in DC. that does absolutely nothing to help the economy. What it does. it actually helps stagnate the economy. it hurts the economy. It makes sure that the economy does not grow. Again. the gentleman has been here longer than me. Is that just a normal theme for them. that they always use these blank statements when we are asking to or suggesting or trying to cut taxes on small business owners. that they say those are the rich? The small business owners in my district. the district that I represent. it is not my district. that I represent. are not rich. They are struggling. They are struggling to pay their employees. to pay for their health care. to keep that busines�. those small businesses. alive. To call those people rich people and say that cutting the taxes on those people is cutting the taxes on rich people. and. at the same time what they want to do is raise the taxes on the working people of this country. to create a larger bureaucracy. how is that good for the economy?
Date: 2003-05-14
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Speaker. by the way. I have been very impressed with the quality of the speeches. Sometimes the rhetoric is really. really good. I mean. there is some great eloquence on the floor of the House. We heard some great eloquence today bashing the plan to create more jobs. We heard that tonight. We have heard eloquent speeches bashing the Presidents plan to Create more Jobs. We have heard eloquent speeches bashing and bashing and bashing. We also heard. the gentleman will recall. very eloquent speeches from our friends on the Democratic side bashing when we were talking about trying to cut wasteful spending. They just hate that. They hate when we talk about that. I mentioned some examples. but I want to make sure that nobody thinks that. well. because when we add that up. it is only $100 million. Some people say that. We have heard that here. it is only $100 million.
Date: 2003-05-14
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. You also get taxed when you die. When you die you get taxed again on money you have already paid taxes on. by the way. to the government. So it is one tax after another tax after another tax. It seems some people are never satisfied. There is never enough that we can take away from the American people. and that has to stop. that attitude. that philosophy. that approach. that culture. We have to change the culture from a culture of just grabbing as much money as we can from the taxpayer and spending it whichever way we can. regardless of the waste. of the fraud and abuse. to a culture of responsibility. a culture of real responsibility. Again. we misspend so much money. It is not only we misspend money but it is the bureaucracy we create that forces the American people to spend a ton of money. For example. the IRS. which by the way spent $8.9 billion administering the Tax Code.
Date: 2003-05-14
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the gentleman. and I know that we do not have a lot of time left. and I would like to see if I could ask my colleague to give us a bit of an update. because one of the bills that I am really excited about is one that he has sponsored dealing with health care. Health care is such a crucial issue. the cost of health care. The cost of health insurance is really getting to the point where it is unobtainable to many American families. and we cannot survive without health insurance. And we hear a lot of people cannot afford health insurance. and we have what I think is a model piece of legislation. And I know we do not have a lot of time. but if the gentleman could just briefly let us know about that bill that my colleague has been so generous to allow me to cosponsor and work with him. I think I would like to hear a little bit about that.
Date: 2003-05-14
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flr

ida. Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the gentleman from Minnesota for coming here today and shedding some light on the facts. not showering with us rhetoric. but getting to the facts. speaking about the facts. He is absolutely right. We did pass legislation to create jobs. and so we are not complaining. We are not just spewing rhetoric. We have results here. and that is a huge difference between. I think. the two sides. And I again thank the gentleman for his work on health care. I thank him for his work on the budget and transportation. And yes. I think we have to be very proud that we are not going to sit back and just let things happen.-We are going to do everything in our power to incentivize" this economy so more Americans can have more highpaying jobs. because that is what really it is all about.
Date: 2003-05-15
Speaker: LINCOLN ..DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that the proceedings had during the recess be printed in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD and that all Members and former Members who spoke during the recess have the privilege of revising and extending their remarks.
Date: 2003-05-15
Speaker: TOM DELAY (republican)
Chamber: H

who is willing to put his own agenda and the presumed agenda of the national Republican leadership ahead of the people of Texas. % 01115 He describes the freight train as carrying redistricting. but that it is also carrying other important cargo like school finance and the CHIPS program. and that this train with DELAY and Craddick at the helm is headpd for a wreck. Fiftythree House Members saw the wreck coming. did what they thought was best for the State of Texas. and hightailed to Oklahoma to prevent this train from slamming into the Texas House. It is a stand that I see as nothing short of heroic. They have put DELAY and Craddick. and in fact. the Nation. on notice that there are many of us out here who are willing to put it all on the line for what we think is right. that there are many of us who will not be threatened or bullied into an agenda that is bad for Texas. Joe Deshotel. Craig Elland. and Alan Ritter. as well as their colleagues who have joined them. are risking everything for the people of Texas. notr their party.
Date: 2003-05-15
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. by direction of the Committee on Rules. I call up House Resolution 229 and ask for its immediate consideration.
Date: 2003-05-15
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. for purposes of debate only. I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts . pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution. all time yielded is for the purposes of debate only.
Date: 2003-05-15
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Under the rules of the House. the majority has the obligation of setting the agenda. I think part and parcel of not only the rules obviously of the House but of democracy is to let the minority speak about whatever the minority wants to speak about. We have seen an example of that today. In case somebody has been paying attention to this discussion. I think it is important to remind us of what the bill before us is. the bill that the Committee on Rules has brought to the floor today. and. that is. the reauthorization of the National Transportation Safety Board. The National Transportation Safety Board is a very important agency. It carries out really a fundamental missibn with regard to airline safety and investigation of accidents. studies and reports with regard to increasing the safety of transportation. That is what is before us. Obviously. we would never attempt to stop the minority from speaking about anything. But what we ard here today on is the National Transportation Safety Board Reauthorization Act. The issue chosen today. for example. that we learned today was chosen by the minority to speak on is an important issue. Unemployment benefits have not expired. Many of us on this side of the aisle. in the majority. have not only supported unemployment benefits but continue to do so. and they have not expired.
Date: 2003-05-15
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

I will not yield. I did not interrupt the gentleman. Again. to get us back to what we are bringing to the floor today. and to remind colleagues on what they will in fact be voting on today. it is the National Transportation Safety Board Reauthorization Act of 2003. We have brought this forward. We have brought it forward with a rule that permits all amendments that may be proposed by any Member to be brought forward and to be debated. Again. we did not know what. if any. opposition would exist with regard to this bill. and we will soon see. but I think it is important. as I said. Mr. Speaker. to remind Members what we are. in fact. here voting on today and what we are not voting on today. even though there are many issues obviously of importance that could be debated. because freedom is the essence of this House. and obviously any Member can talk about any issue under the sun.
Date: 2003-05-15
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. this rule brings forth the National Transportation Safety Board Reauthorization Act. an open rule. absolutely fair rule. The material previously referred to by Mr. MCGOVERN is as follows:
Date: 2003-05-21
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. today I rise to pay tribute to those who have paid the ultimate price for our freedom. our servicemen and women. This Monday is Memorial Day. a day when America will recognize those who have .served our country in war and peace. This weekend in our district I will visit the Moving Wall. a small replica of the sacred Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The Moving Wall is a halfs ided replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial which is in Washington. It has been touring the country for nearly 20 years. The Moving Wall allows people who cannot visit the breathtaking Vietnam Veterans Memorial a chance to experience this legendary landmark. The Moving Wall will be in Allen. Texas. open to the public 24 hours a day from May 24 to May 30 at Bethany Lakes Park. I encourage the people of north Texas to visit this excellent tribute to our veterans. God bless our servicemen and women. I salute you. May God bless America.
Date: 2003-05-22
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the gentlewoman yielding me this time. First of all. civil servants have had a large role in shaping this. There have been nine pilot programs the Department of Defense has piloted through the years. and in all of those cases. civil servants have. in many cases contrary to the labor bosses. opted for the new system as opposed to the old system with which they are currently operating. The problem with the current system today is that we are contracting out where we ought to be able to use Federal employees because we do not have the flexibility in terms of deployment. So we are using uniformed officers behind desks to get jobs done. Federal contractors to get jobs done. what Federal workers are. in many cases. more capable of doing. and that is wrong.