macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-01-09
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Mr. Speaker. as our Nation marks the 50th anniversary of the war on poverty this week. I rise to urge the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives to immediately extend unemployment assistance to the longterm unemployed workers who continue to struggle to find jobs as our economy recovers from one of the worst economic crises in its history. The declaration of the war on poverty was a historic moment in our Nations history when we affirmed our national priority to support those in need. The war on poverty helped reaffirm that our government has a responsibility to protect our citizens. especially during times of economic hardship. Providing support and economic opportunity creates a stronger citizenry and a stronger country. In contrast. the expiration of the emergency unemployment program last month undermines the economic security of our citizens and of our Nation. The expiration of the emergency unemployment program cut off more than 1.3 million Americans from unemployment insurance. with approximately 72.000 additional Americans losing benefits each week during the first half of 2014. In my home State of Illinois. where the unemployment rate remains high. at 9.2 percent. an estimated 82.000 Illinoisans lost benefits on December 28. with 38.000 of those citizens living in Cook County alone. An additional 89.100. or roughly 3.000 Illinoisans a week. will exhaust regular benefits without access to emergency benefits in just the first half of 2014. Failing to help these citizens is an unacceptable failure of leadership. Failure to continue emergency unemployment benefits is not a theoretical issue for millions of Americans. It is a daily nightmare. These Americans lost their jobs through no fault of their own. They tirelessly try to find work when the jobs are few and far between. They struggle to cover basic food. housing. and transportation costs for their families on an average of $290 a week. a pittance which typically replaces only half of the average familys expenditures. Failing to help these citizens is an unacceptable failure. Failure to continue emergency unemployment benefits poses a realistic threat to our fragile economic recovery. costing over 200.000 muchneeded jobs and restricting our economic growth. The expiration drained over $400 million from State economies. In Illinois alone. the loss of an average $313 in the weekly benefit means a negative impact of $25 million for our citizens. Franklin Delano Roosevelt said. "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much. it is whether we provide enough for those who have little." Congress must act quickly to support our citizens and our economic recovery by continuing emergency unemployment benefits. The time to do it is now.
Date: 2014-01-09
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I want to join the Rules Committee and thank Members on both sides of the aisle for their hard work. but I want to associate myself with Ranking Member SLAUGHTER for recognizing that we represent millions of people. and the constant closedrule approach for bills that have not even been heard by committee makes it difficult to represent your constituents. So I associate myself with her plea for equity and comity. I also ask that we recognize that 1.3 million and growing. 3.6 million. 4.000 a week. of the individuals who worked and invested in this Nation have received letters. like my constituent in Houston. letters with no offer of assistance but simply that your unemployment benefit. insurance benefit. has been canceled. Cancel your life. cancel your housing. cancel your food. cancel your medicine. cancel taking care of your children. cancel your life. And so I believe that it is extremely important that we vote todayagainand we hope that we will draw bipartisan support. to avoid the loss of some 200.000 jobs. to avoid the loss of serving 20.000 military veterans who are in fact beneficiaries of unemployment insurance. 1.3 million Americans. 2 million children impacted. to avoid the loss to the American economy. Mr. Speaker. $1.55 is generated by this insurance. millions of dollars to be lost. And then I would say that it is important to be able to have a rule structure. more than a structured rule. more than a closed rule. because the bills that are before us today. the underlying bills. I am opposed to because my district is impacted by the Superfund.
Date: 2014-01-09
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentleman. The three Superfund bills. no involvement of the Federal Government. taking authority away from the Federal Government. having the States override the Federal Government on Superfunds. There are neighborhoods that are still suffering. And then with respect to this issue of privacy. I support the idea. but what I would say to my friends. and this privacy with healthcare.gov. what I would say to my friends is that we cannot continue to chip away at a bill. the Affordable Care Act. where millions of people have received health care. Lets work to ensure privacy for all of the sites of the Federal Government. Lets not pick away at the Affordable Care Act. which has been documented that it is secure. healthcare.gov. If Republicans wish to help make all of government secure. we are ready to do that. but what I would suggest is that this bill is not going in the right direction. I ask for a "no" vote on the rule and on the underlying bills.
Date: 2014-01-09
Speaker: SEAN PATRICK MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Chairman. I rise in support of my colleagues amendment requiring the EPA to stay focused on the National Priorities List. There are nine Superfund sites where I am from in the Hudson Valley of New York. Toxic sites once declared uninhabitable are now engines of economic development. and I want to credit the good folks at the EPA. including my friend Judith Enck. who leads Region 2. but one Hudson Valley community with poison in its water has waited over 10 years for a solution. The EPA began cleanup at the site in Hopewell Junction in 2003 and officially added Hopewell to the Superfund National Priorities List in 2005. Hopewell Junction isnt some abandoned wasteland. and it isnt an empty brownfield. It is a community full of children and families who need our help and who need our help now. Hopewell could be a neighborhood anywhere. a neighborhood in which families shouldnt have to choose between clean water and their childrens health. between selling their houses or staying in a place where they grew up and loved but is now contaminated. My neighbors. like Debra Hall. have put blood. sweat and tears into this effort for 10 years to try to clean up Hopewell10 years telling anyone who would listen that Hopewell must be a priority because they cant wait. It is outrageous. and they deserve better from their government. I support this amendment to keep our priorities straight. and I urge my colleagues to do the same.
Date: 2014-01-09
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Let me quickly mention that we must stop the violence of guns. When we think about 5.740 children being killed by guns. I would like. again. for this Congress to look at H.R. 2812. which is a bill that deals with stand your ground that we have not addressed from the Trayvon Martin case. And I would like them. also. to quickly look at gun safety and gun access prevention. H.R. 65. I find that a way of being able to come together and keeping guns out of the hands of underage children and teaching gun safety to parents and children. I want to also join with my colleague on the Foreign Affairs Committee and mention human trafficking is a major issue. It will be commemorated on January 11. but I will be hosting. with the Homeland Security Committee. a hearing on human trafficking in Houston. Texas. Quickly. I want to make mention of the Congressional Gold Medal that I have for Malala. who is a voice of strength. a young teenager gunned and shotI wouldnt say gunned down because she lives in Pakistan. only because she wanted girls to have education. I ask my colleagues to join myself and ILEANA RosLEHTINEN to insure that we do have. if you will. the honor of presenting this to her. nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. spoke before the United Nations. and I hope that we will do that. Let me close. Mr. Speaker. by mentioning two quick things. and that is. let us not forget our veterans. enormously important. and let us also move quickly for NSA reforms. As a member of the Judiciary Committee that helped write the Patriot Act. section 215. that was not our interpretation. That was not legislative history for trolling megadata collection. We can be safe and secure. and we will be presenting a briefing on privacy and security next week in the Judiciary Committee. 2226. at 10:30. I hope all of the colleagues will come. But I have introduced legislation to make sure that there is a peoples advocate in the FISA Court. but more importantly. that we restrain and find a way to restrain the megacollection. And I hope the President. in the reports that he has just received. will be able to do that as well. Let me also indicate that internationally. I think this Congress should deal with where we are in Syria and where we were in South Sudan. two places that I am concerned about. the human cost. if you will. We have a lot to do. Mr. Speaker. I just gave just small bits this evening. but we have a lot to do that we can do together in a bipartisan manner. And we can look at the Affordable Care Act. just as a point. in closing. because it has been so divisive. and look at it that it is working. People want insurance. We can do that. and we can make sure that. as we do so. Mr. Speaker. then America will see us working together. That is what I would like to see happening. I have given an array of an agenda that touches the lives of people. Lets get to work. Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2014-01-10
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the distinguished gentleman. and I thank the manager of this legislation. and I thank the good intentions of our colleagues. I want to pause for a moment. Mr. PALLONE. and just simply say that although these are important issues. as a member of the House Judiciary Committee. I helped draft the PATRIOT Act and business record 215. and we are now looking to constrain the collection of megadata. and I accept the importance of privacy for the American people. But I pause for just a moment to ask my colleagues. we have enough time today to actually pass the extension of the unemployment benefits. There are 1.3 million people. 12.000 in my own community. who would like us to stay here and make sure that we get that done. I hope that my friends on the other side of the aisle will accept the challenge of Republicans putting an extension of the unemployment benefits on the floor to help unemployed Americans. But this is an important issue as well. and I do want to say that our friends have not documented any breach on personal and private data of those individuals that have accessed the Affordable Care Act. which are 9 million plus. and growing. We have had 46 votes to repeal it. Now we come one by one with legislation that has not gone through regular order. It has not gone through the committee process. It has very good intentions. but. in actuality. it may be overly burdensome because. Mr. Speaker. there is no bar. There is no limit for HHS to provide notice for any possible breach within seconds or minutes or hours after the incident may have occurred. Frankly. this legislation doesnt go far enough. Let me give you a few facts. The Affordable Care Act implementation of healthcare.gov is under the authority of HHS. HHS assigned the task for developing healthcare.gov to the agencys Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Under the Federal Privacy Act. all Federal agencies must draft regulations to protect personally identifiable information under their control. The Federal Privacy Act was established by an act of Congress and concurrence of the executive branch to balance the governments need to maintain personal information on Americans with the right of individuals to be protected against unwarranted invasions of their privacy. The Privacy Act came as a direct result of the work of the Church Committee following revelations that the government has routinely used records on citizens for political purposes to engage in surveillance or retaliatory activity. There were a series of laws passed by Congress to protect the privacy of Americans. Computer records management was of such grave concern to Members of Congress following investigations into disclosures that thenPresident Nixon had used his high office to seek out by means to exact retribution against political enemies by causing harm to careers. reputations as well as financial injury through IRS audits.
Date: 2014-01-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. just a few minutes ago. I left the House Judiciary Committee. where they were discussing. "Asylum Fraud: Abusing Americas Compassion." a hearing that was called by the Republican majority. Madam Speaker. I adhere to following the law. but I do believe as we approach the 50th year of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. we will see more and more voices being raised for the indignity and lack of human rights in not passing comprehensive immigration reform. Let me remind my colleagues that the Refugee Act was signed by President Reagan in 1980. It reflects Americas values and this countrys deepseated commitment to liberty and human dignity. as well as to pledge. under the Refugee Convention protocols. to save those who have been abused. sexually or otherwise. and children or families who have been subject to violence. Lets get on with the values of this Nation. Lets pass comprehensive immigration reform. Lets restore the values of this country and provide laws that secure all of our borders. Yet we continue to have these hearings suggesting that those of us who cry out for immigration reform do not understand the law. Coming from a border State. let me be very clear. Madam Speaker. that I understand the law. Lets pass comprehensive immigration reform.
Date: 2014-01-12
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise to follow up on my good friend and colleague from Floridas comments on behalf of homeowners in south Florida and around the Nation who are trying to maintain affordable flood insurance coverage. and I urge the House leadership to bring the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act to a vote today. Through the National Flood Insurance Program. millions of homeowners benefit from the ability to purchase affordable coverage. including thousands of south Florida families. While I understand the need to keep the national flood program financially stable. we must do so while ensuring that these families can afford the coverage on their homes or they wont have coverage. Surging premiums destabilize our recovering housing market and they cause uncertainty for homeowners. The system cannot withstand these increases. and we must act to fix it. I want to thank my colleagues in the Senate who. in a bipartisan way. passed this legislation. and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who make up the 207 bipartisan cosponsors here in the House of Representatives who want to pass this bill into law. This is essential. We cant allow this to go on. Mr. Speaker. our Nations homeowners cant afford to wait any longer. We need to defeat the previous question and vote on this bipartisan agreement today.
Date: 2014-01-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentleman from Colorado and the gentleman from Texas. Mr. Speaker. what we can do is really do our work and pass comprehensive immigration reform to deal with the pain of so many in this country. I do believe that we should defeat the previous question so that my constituents in Texas. along the coastline. can stop paying $8.000 in flood insurance. It is absolutely absurd. A bill has passed. We are ready to go. Finally. Mr. Speaker. I think it is important that we discuss H.R. 3193. which wants to undo the corrections that we made to save Americas jobs. homes. life savings. and pensions when we reformed Wall Street. We believe in the capitalistic system. We just dont believe in the abuse of the capitalistic system. The Consumer Protection Agency that has been put in place to help consumers with credit. credit cards. and other matters dealing with their financial needs is now being imploded by this legislation. What do we have to say to speak for the people of the United States? This bill effectively defunds the CFPB. What we want to do is to continue the consumer protection board. continue the leverage that it has given to protect consumers. I have actually heard from consumers who have said. Thank you. we now have a board that will hear our voices and that will express our concerns with what kind of treatment we are getting from financial agencies. Lets move on behalf of the American people now. not on behalf of special interests.
Date: 2014-01-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentleman. and I thank the manager of this legislation. I thank our chairman. our ranking member of the Armed Services Committee. for his consistent diligence on acting on behalf of the men and women in the United States military. and certainly those who have already served. I. for one. will associate myself with the disappointment of the offset that has been offered in this legislation. No one likes sequester. I will add an additional point of contention is that this Nation is not broke. Economists have said over and over again that we are not broke. We can fully fund and should fund our military as it relates to preparedness. That is part of protecting the homeland. which I serve on the Homeland Security Committee. Then of course we all have tried to deliberate on what we can do best for our doctors under what we call the SGR. or the doctor fix. Let me just say this as I rise to support this legislation. because I do come from Texas. and I do interact with veterans across the Nation and others. As painful as the extending out of the sequester to 2024 was. I just want to offer this thought. First of all. as I have arguedand I hope maybe the light will come on that we are not broke. that we will rid ourselves of the sequester and begin to budget fully to provide investment in our people. So. the reason for advocating is. as I go home every weekend. and throughout the week when I am in the district I will run into military personnel and/ or veterans. to speak about the impact that this would have on them. their families. Certainly I believe that this was one that needs to be corrected. and I would like to see us working fairly across the board. that we find a way to respond to the high numbers that this costs. and as well to work with those with optional ideas. I hope before 2024 we have no sequester. As my good friend has indicated. it is a poor way of managing our budget. Let me also say. because of the many lowincome areas and the physicians that I have interacted with. who indicate how difficult it is to serve my lowincome patients or my patients that are elderly. that the doctor fix is crucial for the 18th Congressional District in providing health care for those who are in need. particularly those who are elderly. So. as we look askance at how this has been formulatedand I know that it is one that has come to usbut I would hope that we would do this fix this time. Mr. Speaker. and then work to undo the offset so that we can help seniors and doctors.
Date: 2014-01-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. as I have listened to debate on the floor of the House. I have seen that Members are coming from all regions of the United States. which means that. in fact. this will be impacting all of our constituents. So I would hope Republicans would join the Democrats who will vote by and large. almost near 100 percent. to do what the Federal Reserve former Chairman Ben Bernanke said is to avoid a government shutdown. And perhaps even more so. a failure to raise the debt limit could have very serious consequences for the financial market and for the economy. More importantly. it will cost student loans much more to our young aspirants who are attempting to develop an expertise to contribute to this society. A longer default could increase payments by $2.000 of 531.327 Texas students who rely on loans to go to college. Mr. Speaker. I dont want to do that. Higher interest rates for mortgages and auto loans and student loans and credit cardsMr. Speaker. I dont want to do that. Families retirement savings and 401(k)s dropping as the stock market plummets. reminding us of about 4 years ago when we had one of the worst plummets that we have ever experienced during the last administration. 3.4 million veterans not receiving their disabilityI know we do not want to do that. Ten million Americans not receiving their Social Security check on time in just the first weekwe cannot do that. Drug reimbursements under Medicare stopping and doctors and hospitals not getting paidI know the Members of Congress will not and do not want to do that. So. a clean debt ceiling is the only direction. but we have some other options. We can do this in a bipartisan manner. We can have the Democrats standing tall as they have advocated for a clean debt ceiling. but we can join with our partners and we can acknowledge the fact that the government is not broke. We can invest in infrastructure. As my colleague. Congressman LEVIN. has said. we can ensure that we extend the unemployment insurance and provide for education and provide for research and development. We can build this country. It is time now to vote for a clean debt ceiling and do it together so that we can invest in America.
Date: 2014-01-12
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I was unable to be in Washington on Monday. February 10. 2014. for votes because of events in our district. If I would have been here I would have voted as follows: On passage of H.R. 2431. the National Integrated Drought Information Systems Reauthorization Act. rollcall No. 55. I would have voted "yea." On passage of H. Res. 447. a House resolution supporting the democratic and European aspirations of the people of Ukraine and their right to choose their own future free of intimidation and fear. rollcall No. 56. I would have voted "yea." On approval of the Journal. rollcall No. 57. I would have voted "no."
Date: 2014-01-14
Speaker: NEGRETE MCLEOD (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to urge my colleagues to reinstate a critical lifeline for the unemployed. Since the expiration of the unemployment insurance benefits in December. 1.3 million people nationwide have been affected. one in six of whom live in California. This extension of unemployment benefits is especially needed for the residents of San Bernardino County. where the unemployment rate is 9.1well above the national average. Unemployment benefits keep individuals actively looking for work. they prevent families with a reduced income from becoming homeless. and infuse the economy with muchneeded dollars. My constituents have contacted my office on a daily basis. I hear them. They need this vital lifeline back. I ask that the Speaker work with the Senate and take up this extension.