macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-07-08
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. H.R. 1761. introduced by the gentleman from Kansas . designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 9350 East Corporate Hill Drive in Wichita. Kansas. as the Garner E. Shriver Post Office Buildifig. All members of the Kansas congressional delegation have cosponsored this legislation. Garner Shriver represented the Fourth Congressional District of Kansas in this House for.8 terms. from 1961 to 1977. He was a lifelong resident of the Sunflower State. he spent nearly his entire adult life working for other Kansas residents. first as the State legislator and later as a U.S. Representative. This legislation is a fitting commemoration of his service to his home State and to the entire Nation. Mr. Speaker. Garner Shriver was born in Towanda. Kansas. July 6. 1912. He and his family moved to Wichita in 1925. and he graduated from the University of Wichita in 1934. Following his college graduation. he enrolled in the Washburn School of Law and received a law degree in February. 1940. After he was admitted to the bar. he entered into public service for -the first time by enlisting in the U.S. Navy. He spent 3 years as an officer in the Navy. and after being honorably discharged. he chose to run for public office. He was elected to the Kansas State House where he served 2 terms. In 1951. he left the State House to run successfully for the Kansas Senate. which he served from 1953 to 1960. Finally. in the fall of 1960. the voters of the Fourth Congressional District of Kansas sent Garner E. Shriver to Washington for the first of 8 distinguished terms in the House of Representatives. In Congress. he was an influential member of the Committee on Appropriations. He accomplished much during his 16 years in the House. but he fought extra hard for his fellow veterans. particularly working to secure health and education benefits for his peers when they completed their duties with the U.S. Armed Foices. Moreover. even when he left the House in 1977. he stayed in Washington to fight for veterans by moving a few blocks north and becoming the staff director for the Committee on Veterans Affairs. He worked in the Senate for 5 years before returning hometo Kansas in 1982 to practice law. Garner E. Shriver passed away on March 1. 1998. at the age of 85. He was a remarkable American who succeeded at everything he tried in life. and I know the citizens of Kansas still feel very grateful to him for his years of dedication. Congressman Shriver preceded the gentleman from Kansas as the representative of the fourth district. and I congratulate my colleague for his work on this measure. I urge all Members to support the passage of H.R. 1761 that honors the life and service of Congressman Garner E. Shriver. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2003-07-08
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I commend the gentleman from Kansas for introducing this legislation. Garner E. Shriver during his years in Congress lived in Lake Barcroft. which is the community I live in and represent in Congress. He was a good family man and neighbor there as well. This is a fitting commemoration for a very distinguished statesman. and I urge all of my colleagues to support adoption of this measure.
Date: 2003-07-08
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1210 Highland Avenue in Duarte. California. as the "Francisco A. Martinez Flores Post Office".
Date: 2003-07-08
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 2396.
Date: 2003-07-08
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. this legislation. Introduced by the gentlewoman from California . designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1210 Highland Avenue In Duarte. California. as the Francisco A. Martinez Flores Post Office. All 53 members of the California delegation have signed on to this bill as .cosponsors. The story of Lance Corporal Flores Is one of remarkable courage. Born in Guadalajara. Mexico. Francisco came to the United States with his family at the age of 3. His family settled in the community of Duarte. California. east of Los Angeles. He grew up in Duarte. attended Duarte High School where he was a standout in the jazz band and on the football team. When Francisco graduated from high school in the spring of 2000. he bravely enlisted In the Marine Corps despite not yet being an American citizen. He was assigned to the First Marine Division and sent north to Twentynine Palms. California. the home of the Marine Corps AirGround Combat Center. After 21/2 years of active duty in California. Lance Corporal Flores courageously journeyed with many of his fellow Marines across the globe to Iraq in January of this year for the military buildup to Operation Iraqi Freedom. On March 25. 6 days into the war of liberation of Iraq. Lance Corporal Flores was killed in action outside of Nasiriyah in southeastern Iraq. Sadly. he was less than 2 weeks from earning his United States citizenship. something that was his lifelong dream. Mr. Speaker. Lance Corporal Francisco A. Martinez Flores lived an extraordinary life. albeit a tragically short one. He represents the best of what American immigrants bring to this country. I commend the gentlewoman from California for introducing this bill. that It will appropriately honor his sacrifices to our Nation. I want to let all Members know that Lance Corporal Flores was deservingly granted his U.S. citizenship posthumously on April 6. right on schedule. Therefore. I urge all Members to support the passage of this bill that will name this post office after Lance Corporal Flores in his hometown. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2003-07-08
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Let me say I commend my colleague for bringing this legislation to the floor. In our usual order of things. it is individuals with power. prestige. and notoriety that get postal namings. but it is the Francisco Floreses of this world. many of them immigranits. who built this country. who make it run every day. and who fight to keep it free. He is in a larger sense. as the gentlewoman from California says. an American hero. and I urge adoption of this legislation. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2003-07-09
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. If I may. I think one of the things you cannot do is have it both ways. You cannot come to the floor of the House one day and accuse the Republicans of not spending enough. which was exactly what happened here during the Medicare bill debate. which is exactly what happened during the budget debate. and then later say we are spending too much. Which one is it? Do you believe that we are spending too little. or do you believe we are spending too much? I happen to believe that. if anything. we are spending too much. But I think what you cannot do is have it both ways. That is what I kept hearing. since I have been here. anyway.
Date: 2003-07-09
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. If the gentleman would yield. again. what I am saying. though. is you cannot have it both ways. Because what I have heard. and I know I am relatively new here. what I have heard consistently in the Committee on the Budget. is Republicans are not spending enough. Every single proposal. by the way. including the Blue Dog proposal. spends more. Yet my dear friend. the gentleman from Florida . whom I respect immensely and whom I have a friendship with. now says that we are spending too much. Which one Is it? Which one is it?
Date: 2003-07-09
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. If the gentleman will yield for a second. it is nice to say those things. but on the floor we had votes on the budget. and the votes on the budget were a partisan vote. I may be wrong. but I think the Blue Dogs voted against the Republican budget. and the argument there was that we were not spending enough money. If you look at the Blue Dog budget. here is the Blue Dog budget. In 2006 to 2011. it raises taxes by $124 billion. By the way. it would not make the tax cuts permanent. There is the vote. So it is very nice. We can say anything and it kind of gets diffused in the air. but the facts are the facts. I am glad you said that. sir. Let us talk about the facts. The votes were there. We had two budgets: a much larger budget. the Democratic budget. and a smaller. tighter. more responsible budget. and you all did not vote for that. Those are the facts.
Date: 2003-07-09
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Speaker. we heard about some things where we could work together. I agree with the gentleman. My* Democrat colleagues cannot have it both ways. You cannot have it both ways. You cannot on one side of your mouth say that we are not spending -enough and. on the other side of your mouth. when there are no votes on the table. say that we are spending too much. which we keep hearing from our colleagues on the Democrat side. My colleagues will recall a couple of things that the gentlenan may agree with me on. The chairman of the Committee on the Budget wanted to do a 1 percent cut in waste. fraud. and abuse.
Date: 2003-07-09
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Again. we have to talk about the facts. Let us talk about the facts. When our dear friends on the Democratic side just said a little while ago. kind of equating tax cuts with government spending. the thing that it really boils down to is what the differences are. There is a huge difference between more government spending and tax cuts. More government spending are Washington bureaucrats spending the taxpayers money. Tax cuts is allowing taxpayers of this country. hardworking men and women of our country. and small businesses. to keep more of their money. So we have a huge philosophical difference when my colleagues equate tax cuts with more government.
Date: 2003-07-09
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Speaker. again. I agree that we should look at positive ways to agree. I would like to yield 10 seconds to anybody there who will answer: Would you all agree to that 1 percent cut that we tried to do? Would you vote for it?
Date: 2003-07-09
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Speaker. I do not have a lot of time. but you did not vote for it. you did not support it.
Date: 2003-07-09
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Speaker. if I could reclaim the time. I did not support the Blue Dog budget because it increased taxes. and those are the facts. I did not support the Blue Dog budget because it raised taxes on hardworking American people to fund more bureaucracy and more bureaucrats. while ours cut taxes. I did not support the Blue Dog budget because it did not make the tax cuts permanent. You better believe I did not support it. I am asking a specific question which I cannot get a specific answer to because we keep hearing two different sides of the solution. None of the Democrats supported the 1 percent cut on waste. fraud. and abuse. Those are the facts. That is the reality. This is the party that has got a balanced budget. that cuts taxes on the working people. that does not raise taxes. and. unfortunately. the Blue Dog budget did. Now. when you strip that budget down. it is not a Blue Dog budget. it is just a dog budget. it is a sad dog budget because it increases taxes on the American people to fund more bureaucracy. I think. again. if you want to work together. support. for example. that 1 percent tax cut on fraud and abuse that none of you. none -of you did in committee. Those are the facts.
Date: 2003-07-14
Speaker: GARY G. MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that my name be removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 1472 and H.R. 20.
Date: 2003-07-14
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

from. the Committee on Rules. submitted a privileged report (Rept. No. 108206) on the resolution (H. Res. 316) providing for consideration of the bill to authorize appropriations for the Department of State for the fiscal years 2004 and 2005. to authorize appropriations under the Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 for security assistance for fiscal years 2004 and 2005. and for other purposes. which was referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.
Date: 2003-07-15
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. by the direction of the Committee on Rules. I call up House Resolution 316 and ask for its immediate consideration.
Date: 2003-07-15
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. for the purpose 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 purpose of debate only.
Date: 2003-07-15
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Every week. pursuant to an idea of the gentleman from New Jersey . he and I rise on this floor to speak about the brave men and women who are languishing in prisons in totalitarian Cuba. an island that has been oppressed for 44 years by a totalitarian dictator. So each week I spend a few minutes at least bringing forth specific cases to iemind our colleagues and all those who will listen about the horrors taking place just 90 miles from the shores of the United States. This week. I would like to speak about Rafael Ibarra. Rafael Ibarra heads the 30th of November Democratic Party. an islandwide opposition movement to the Castro tyranny. In 1994. he was sentenced to 20 years in prison and is currently at the prison known as Combinado del Este. after having spent 3 years in an isolation cell in the provInce of Camaguey. in an area of Camaguey in Cuba. hundreds of miles from his family. In 1997. his wife at the time. Maritza Lugo. also a highly respected prodemocracy activist. was arrested as well and sentenced to 2 years. leaving their two daughters without parents. On multiple occasions after 1999. Maritza would continue to be arrested and harassed by the regime. Even when Maritza and Rafael were both in prison at the same time. the dictator sought to evict their two girls from their small farmhouse which had become a gathering point for human rights and prodemocracy meetings. Rafael Ibarra was one of the political prisoners who recently signed the Cuban flag painted on a pillow case and sent it to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva.
Date: 2003-07-15
Speaker: JO ANN DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Madam Chairman. I rise today in support of the SmithOberstarHyde amendment to H.R. 1950. Madam Chairman. I am deeply troubled by the $25 million included in this bill for the United Nations Population. Fund. The UNFPA has been proven to be an active participant in Chinas coercive population program. Secretary Colin Powell. following an investigation into the UNFPAs family planning programs. concluded that the "UNFPAs support of. and involvement in. Chinas populationplanning activities allows the Chinese government to implement more effectively its program of coercive abortion." Madam Chairman. by funding UNFPA. we are. permitting women in China to be victimized through this policy of forced abortion and involuntary sterilization. Certainly these women deserve better than that. No woman. no woman should be forced to have an abortion. Yet this is precisely how the Chinese government enforces its population control agenda. with the assistance of UNFPA. Madam Chairman. we cannot support this egregious violation of human rights and violence against women. By permitting the Crowley provision to remain in this bill. we will allow U.S. taxpayer dollars to be used to support coercive abortion practices overseas. To me. this is unthinkable. U.S. funds should not be connected to any program that is at all involved in a coercive population program. whether directly or indirectly. Due to the clear evidence of UNFPAs involvement in China. we cannot allow our taxpayers to contribute to this organization. Madam Chairman. UNFPA fails women through its participation in Chinas policy of coercive abortion. Regardless. regardless of where one stands on the issue of abortion. I think we can all agree that no woman. no woman should be forced to abort her child. My colleague from Connecticut spoke earlier about denying women of Nigeria. Pakistan. Haiti. and so forth. But Madam Chairman. I do not want to deny the women of China the right to have their children. I urge my colleagues to protect thefundamental human rights of women and children and support the SmithOberstarHyde amendment.
Date: 2003-07-15
Speaker: JO ANN DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Chairman. on rollcall vote No. 363 I was in a meeting with the Commissioner of the EU. Had I been present. I would have voted "no."
Date: 2003-07-16
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. as I understand it. I would have the time yielded to the Committee on Government Reform in addition to the time yielded to me by the Committee on Energy and Commerce?
Date: 2003-07-16
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. the gentleman is correct. and it makes them more likely to be involved in this process. We think that all of these amendments. and I thank the gentleman from California for working with us as well. have been agreed to by the majority and the minority on the various committees. and they are part of the bill that we are considering today. Since our markup. we have continued to work on this bill in a bipartisan fashion. This issue is really too important to play party politics with. We have worked out language to ensure that the rights of contractors withrespect to payment are protected in the event they are terminated for convenience. This is a good bill -nd deserves our support. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2003-07-16
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut . the distinguished vice chairman of the Committee on Government Reform.
Date: 2003-07-16
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. For years the National Institutes of Health have served as our Pentagon in the war against disease. I think Americans. as well as people around -the world. have benefited. Now. we must call upon. and we do so in this important piece of legislation. for theNIH to utilize its expertise and innovation. the expertise and innovation of all of its scientists to guard this Nation against the horrors that a serious biological attack would mean. We have already seen. Mr. Speaker. a biological attack on this country. We know the great damage that it can cause. So what this legislation is doing is taking another important step. taking another important step by this Congress to protect the Natiqn from the great damage that a biological attack would cause. I thank the gentleman from California (Chairman Cox) and the entire committee for its hard work in bringing forth this important piece of legislation today.
Date: 2003-07-16
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Chairman. this amendment brings funding authority back to Congress and ensures that major decisions about funding Everglades restoration. which by the way happens to be within the congressional district that I represent. that those decisions are made by Congress and not by government bureaucracies. Everglades National Park is one of our great Nations greatest national treasures. and current funding is critical to the future restoration of that treasure. The current bill language. Mr. Chairman. provides for a mandatory stoppage of Tunding based on water quality reports issued by the Department of the Interior. the Environmental Protection Agency. the Army Corps of Engineers. and the Attorney General. This would empower Federal agencies to eliminate critical funding without congressional review. Mr. Chairman. Therefore I have offered this amendment with the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) to ensure that any possible changing of the funding levels occurs through the constitutionally appropriate body. the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Appropriations Committee. not solely Federal agencies. This amendment eliminates the provision that provided Federal agencies with that authority to automatically cut funding based on their reports again without the legislative having any input. Mr. Chairman. I will continue to fight along with my other colleagues for adequate funding for Everglades restoration. and we will work with the State of Florida and the appropriate State and Federal agencies to ensure that this critical restoration project receives the necessary funds now and also in the future. I would. Mr. Chairman. though. want to thank some people that have worked with me on this: the gentleman from California (Chairman DRrIER). the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss). whom I already mentioned. the gentleman from Florida . and the gentleman from Florida (Chairman YOUNG).
Date: 2003-07-17
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Chairman. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Let me make a couple of comments. First of all. the underlying language in the bill gives me concern because it stops all competitive sourcing in the Department of Interior. I think the current administration plans are probably an overreach. I think there are a lot of concerns that are expressed over the current A76 circular. and I get concerned sometimes that they may be biting off more than they can chew. moving a little faster and competitively sourcing too many things at one time and not exercising the appropriate oversight. But I think banning it in its entirety from this or any other agency is probably illconceived because. after all. this is one of the pillars of the administrations management policies. of their agenda. This provision constitutes really an unprecedented intrusion in the executive management discretion. Having said that. I do want to express a couple of concerns about the Presidents agenda on this issue. One is that we need to be concerned about Federal employees who enter for career service and will have their jobs uped every 5 years. And I think for competitive sourcing in terms of their being able to look at the appropriate career path. particularly in some of these areas. we have talked to a number of Members on this. and if we could get some kind of reading where the President would have some kind of flexibility in this area. I think we could move ahead. I appreciate my friend. the gentleman from Texas . offering this amendment. I think it is the right way to go when you get overreaching amendments like this on there. and I certainly support his efforts.
Date: 2003-07-17
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Chairman. I join with the gentlemans comments on the Park Service. The difficulty with this amendment is it was Departmentwide throughout the Department of the Interior. Hopefully. we can come up with some satisfactory language that will satisfy the. gentlemans concerns and ours as well.