macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume. While I intend to claim time in opposition to the amendment that addresses Open World a little bit later. which I know will come as a surprise to the chairman. I do want to point out now that what the chairman says is not quite accurate. which is why I am going to oppose the amendment. Because were weand there were a number of options available to the Rules Committeetaking the $5 million that is going to Open World in the Legislative Branch bill now and putting it in to some other place in the Legislative Branch bill. life safety programs. restoring the cuts to GPO. or doing something that is going to make sure that the legislative branch can be competitive and has the ability to get our work done. then that would have been fine. because I agree that Open World is actually a square peg in a round hole and shouldnt be funded out of this bill. and I have made that case for many years. Instead. what the majority did is they took an amendment that takes that $5 million and puts it into the spending reduction account. We are already $106 million below 2010 levels in our MRA. in our office accounts. This bill is flatfunded for 3 years in a row. We are doing ourselves a disservice and making it difficult for us to do our jobs when we had a ripe opportunity to take that $5 millionwhich I would have been forand put it somewhere in the Legislative Branch bill instead of sending it out of here. That is not responsible. Additionally. I will point out that perhaps the chairmans comments about sequestration demonstrate that he thinks that Congress hands are tied and that we dont have the ability to actually make changes. The President has proposed what he believes we should do as an alternative to the sequester. That was his proposed budget. Like last year. we also have the ability to set aside and work with the administrationset aside at least part of the sequesterso we could provide improved allocations for each of these appropriations bills and make sure that we can make life better for more Americans. Unfortunately. the majority continues to act as if somehow we are frozen in time and that we are paralyzed by sequestration as the law. The last time I checked. the Founding Fathers in the Constitution gave Congress the ability to change the law. which we should do. Mr. Chairman. I will look forward to discussing some of the amendments that we will be debating in a few moments. Again. I want to thank the chairman for. really. the opportunity to spend some time focusing on the needs of the legislative branch and giving us the ability to at least move forward in some ways towards addressing our role as a coequal branch of government. I think this bill could have been far better. It has made several positive changes. but as I have outlined. we have places where we disagree. but we did it without being disagreeable. Mr. Chairman. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I claim the time in opposition. The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Florida is recognized for 5 minutes.
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I want to note for the Members that this would be the first time that I am actually opposing an amendment that cuts the Open World program. Initially. when I became chair of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee 8 years ago. this program was at $14 million. I have consistently tried to cut this program and move its funding to the State Department bill for every single year since then. We have not been successful. but we are only at $5.7 million now. which is a more appropriate amount. We are. as I said. in general debate. This funding going somewhere else in the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill would be more appropriate. Since we are sending it out of the bill in a bill that is already inadequately funded. it is not an amendment I can support. At this time. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Nebraska . who wishes to speak in opposition to the amendment.
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. can you tell me how much time we have remaining? The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Florida has 11/2 minutes remaining. The gentleman from Texas has 30 seconds remaining.
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. unfortunately. what this amendment is. is a missed opportunity to be fiscally responsible. I also support not spending money on the Open World program any longer and moving it to the State Department. Unfortunately. the majority has chosen to make a rule in order that focuses on an amendment to shift the $5.7 million completely out of the legislative branch when we have plaster falling off buildings. elevators badly in need of repair. we have cuts to our MRAour office accountsour staff that isnt well paid enough. and it just not responsible. This is a missed opportunity. I urge the Members. unfortunately. to oppose the amendment. and I yield back the balance of my time. The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Texas .
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I demand a recorded vote. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII. further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Texas will be postponed.
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I rise in opposition to the amendment. The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Florida is recognized for 5 minutes.
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I think it is worth stating for the RECORD that this amendment would maybe save somewhere between $9.000 and $29.000. I mean. lets bear the full impact of that weighty sum. depending on how it is interpreted. This is an amendment that would prevent the delivery of a printed copy that I have in my hand of the Congressional Pictorial Directorywhich. by the way. Mr. FLORES. no offense. but some of us used this directory to identify you during the course of this discussion. This is a book that is actually necessary and one that we shouldnt be farming out or relying on lobbyists to print for us. Every year. we seem to get an amendment that stops some sort of printing or delivery of a paper copy of some document to Member offices. Just so Members know. we have actually made real savings in this bill in the pastin the Legislative Branch Appropriations billby no longer delivering a printed copy of a bill unless a Member requests a copy. we no longer Member offices. we no longer allow more than 50 printed copies of the Code to go to House offices. we no longer deliver a printed copy of the statements of disbursement to Member offices. we no longer deliver a printed copy of the daily calendar to Member officesall of which cost far more than stopping the printing of these books. It isnt really realistic to expect Members to print out a piece of paperor staffand carry around a whole bunch of printed faded copies of paper to help identify Members. We have new Members every 2 years. My point is we are about out of lowhanging fruit here. I hope this is the last of this type of amendment because. if we want to change printing. the Members have an opportunity to take their grievances up with the Joint Committee on Printing. The distribution of the Congressional Pictorial Directory is actually set by the Joint Committee on Printing. Maybe the gentleman is unaware of that. and it doesnt need to be legislated through this bill. We dont need to be creating a false impression that we are actually saving taxpayer dollars that would not have been saved through another means. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

I am wondering whether that app was privately produced or was produced by taxpayers. As for the $1.99 that you spent on it. were those taxpayer dollars you used to pay for it or from your own personal funds?
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. my point is that it would be one thing if a congressional tutorial directory were unnecessary. but that is not the case. It is necessary. What isnt necessary is for us to be wasting time in debate on the House floor over something that could actually be handled differently. If the gentleman or any other Member thought that the Joint Committee on Printing should handle it differently. just go talk to them. Instead. what we are doing is pretending that we are actually saving taxpayer dollars. This is about $9.000. and what we shouldnt be doing is outsourcing the things that we need in terms of the materials to do a better job serving the public to lobbyists and the private sector. That does not make sense. and it isnt necessary. and the majority should not leave the impression that they are actually doing something fiscally responsible here. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I will point out that the gentlemans amendment does not actually stop the printing of the pictorial directory. It simply stops the delivery of the directory to Members offices. So it does not provide the savings that the gentleman is talking about. It provides between $9.000 and $29.000 because the only cost that he is saving is on the delivery and not on the printing. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I conclude by pointing out that the offerer of the amendment. and the chairman. are suggesting that now we should print things that we dont use. If that isnt an example of a waste of taxpayer dollars in suggesting that we should print this document but not make sure that it is delivered to Members offices for their utilization. that pretty much sounds like government waste under the classic definition. I yield back the balance of my time. The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Texas .
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I claim time in opposition to the amendment. The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Florida is recognized for 5 minutes.
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. It takes a meatax approach to cutting this bill by over $29 million with an acrosstheboard cut of 1 percent. I want to point out that it also exempts the Capitol Police and its buildings. as well as the Sergeant at Arms. If the gentlewoman. who I know offers these amendments over and over again. were truly committed to an acrosstheboard cut. then she would just simply offer an acrosstheboard cut. Mr. Chairman. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland . the minority whip.
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. how much time do I have remaining? The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Florida has 2 minutes remaining.
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. may I inquire how much time I have remaining? The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Florida has 15 seconds remaining.
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

To close. Mr. Chairman. the bottom line is that what would be fiscally responsible and responsible in general is to not further take a meat ax to a bill that has already been flatfunded for the last 3 years. Our employees deserve a raise. We deserve to be able to be a coequal branch of government. funded well enough to be able to hold the administration accountable and make sure we can do our jobs. This bill does not allow us to achieve that. I urge the Members to oppose this irresponsible amendment. I yield back the balance of my time. The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Tennessee .
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I demand a recorded vote. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII. further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Tennessee will be postponed.
Date: 2015-05-19
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 1561. the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2015. I want to take a moment to acknowledge that getting to where we are today was not easy. This is an update to a bill the House passed two years ago. and we have spent several months in this Congress negotiating over how to rework that legislation. I want to especially recognize the efforts of Environment Subcommittee Chairman JIM BRIDENSTINE and Ranking Member SUZANNE BONAMICI as well as the bills sponsor. Mr. LUCAS. Their leadership and commitment has really driven this process forward. Todays bill is a testament to their dedication and represents one very positive step forward on the long and continuous road to improving the American weather forecasting system. America has some of the most diverse and dangerous weather events of any country. From my home state of Texas. all the way to Maine. hurricanes and tropical storms annually batter our coasts. Likewise. the central portions of our country. from Texas to Illinois are the most tornado prone areas in the entire world. Unfortunately. all youve had to do over the last few weeks is pick up a newspaper or turn on the television to see the true impact tornadoes can have on American families. To help our citizens cope with these potentially devastating events. we need to have the very best weather forecasting and warning capabilities. The National Weather Service and the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research at NOAA play a central role in protecting the lives and property of every American. The bill before us today will help accelerate innovation and the transition of cuttingedge weather research into essential weather forecasting tools and products. The legislation accomplishes this goal by breaking down the barriers that exist between the weather research community. our nations forecasters. and the privatesector weather enterprise. Improving collaboration and cooperation within NOAA. but also between the agency and the broader weather community will extend the accuracy and timing of our weather predictions. Such improvements will ultimately save lives and make our communities safer. Mr. Speaker. the weather is a central part of everyday life and resiliency to severe weather events is an important part of strengthening the nations economic security. H.R. 1561 will advance our weather forecasting capabilities and I urge my colleagues to support its passage.
Date: 2015-05-20
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I am proud to say that this week marks the 50year anniversary of the Head Start program. a momentous achievement in our Nations fight to break the cycle of poverty and open the windows of opportunity for lowincome families and children. Now. I dont want to date myself. actually. but I was in the first class of Head Start. and today I bring with me my original certificate of completion from that program. I am proud to say that. if it were not for Head Start. I wouldnt be here today. You see. as the daughter of poor immigrants from Mexico. not many people would think I would graduate from high school. let alone college. or get my MBA and eventually make my way to the House of Representatives. Head Start has served over 32 million children. and. more importantly. it has helped families know how to navigate the school system. My hat is off to the teachers. to the community volunteers. to the healthcare coordinators. and to so many who helped to implement Head Start programs in their communities. Your work is transforming our Nation. It is giving that head start to our children because they are the future of this Nation. So. Mr. Speaker. I say today. "Happy birthday. Head Start."
Date: 2015-05-20
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. the House voted yesterday to approve a 2month extension of the highway trust fund. I am pleased we were able to pass a shortterm fix. but it is time to stop kicking the can down the road. I urge my colleagues to use the next 60 days to come up with a longterm plan to invest in our Nations transportation infrastructure. a plan that will create jobs. strengthen American competitiveness. and lay the groundwork for future economic growth. I asked the Joint Economic Committee staff to analyze the costs of U.S. underinvestment in infrastructure. and this map tells an important part of the story. Across the country. one in four bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. That is scary. and it is a matter of public safety. Americans are taking tens of millions of trips every day over bridges that are in need of repair. As you can see on the map. in some States. over onethird of the bridges are failing. Here in the Nations Capital. 70 percent of our bridges are failing. We should fix our crumbling infrastructure as a matter of public safety and as a matter of national pride. To see how your State is doing. you can download the map and the raw data behind it from the JEC. jec.senate.gov. I urge my colleagues to support infrastructure. It is time to move beyond a 2month extension and. instead. work on a longterm solution to this critical and important and economic development challenge.
Date: 2015-05-20
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the gentleman from California for yielding me time. I also want to thank Representative BRADY for his characterization of my State. the State of Illinois. as being research driven. and indeed it is. I am also proud to know that. from the time I have been here. I have always been number one or number two in our delegation of supporting research. so I am research oriented. It amazes me how much doubletalk we engage in. We talk a great deal about deficit reduction and reducing spending. and yet. at the same time. we are passing a bill that is not paid for while we cut greatly needed programs and activities that could give balance to individuals all over the country who are just simply trying to survive and to make it. activities like Medicaid and SNAP. In my communities and in many others throughout America. we are struggling right now with the idea of how do you develop summer work opportunities for young adults so that we could have a real attack on some of the rash of violence and activity that we see approaching and being engaged in throughout urban America. I have always been in favor of research and development. and I have always been in favor of using tax incentives as a way of spurring economic development and stimulating the economy. But. you know. I am also interested in passing credits. I am interested in credits for businesses. We have talked about businesses. Well. lets pass some credits so that businesses can hire hardtoemploy individuals. so that they can hire these young people looking for summer jobs. for something to do. So I am in favor of credits. but I am not in favor of a bill that is not paid for. a bill that will not be comprehensive across the board. and a bill that will put more wealth in the pockets of the 1 percent and do nothing to aid the overall economy.
Date: 2015-05-20
Speaker: TED LIEU (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I rise today to oppose the America COMPETES Act in part because it cuts over $62 million of funding to the hard science of studying the effects of climate change. The effects of climate change are not a partisan issue. We know that our sea levels have risen by over 6.7 inches in the last century. and they have accelerated in the last decade. Rising sea levels affect not just Democratic districts. it also affects Republican districts. We can measure with precision that we have had. over 20 years. the hottest records in terms of temperatures in recorded history having occurred since 1980. We know that. in 2012. over 19 States broke the hottest records in their States. More extreme weather events and more weather uncertainty affect not just red States and blue States and purple States. it affects all of America. And that is why. last month. former Reagan Secretary of State George Shultz wrote an oped in The Washington Post saying: Climate change is happening. We need to take action on it. and we need to ensure our future against climate change. He called it the Reagan way. He said that is what President Reagan would have done. As you know. this America COMPETES Act. the funding for the hard science of the effects of climate change. was put in place under President Bush in 2007. Just today. our President announced what the U.S. military is saying about climate change. I served on Active Duty in the United States Air Force. I am now 19 years in with the Reserves. One of the amazing strengths of America is that our military is nonpartisan. nonideological. and our military takes the world as it is. not as they hope it to be. Our military does not live in a fantasy world. and they understand that climate change is happening. They know it is a national security threat. They are telling the American public we need to act on climate change now because we cant have flooding of our bases. we cant have droughts and more severe weather events that cause conflicts in all the parts of the world. So I ask the American public to trust former Reagan Secretary of State George Shultz. trust President Bush. trust our United States military who are saying climate change is a problem. Keep in mind. our military relies on hard science and technology and all that makes this world possible. So trust our military. and trust everyone who has looked at it. Please reject the America COMPETES Act because we need to deal with climate change. We need to deal with it now.
Date: 2015-05-20
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chair. I have no further requests for speaking. I just urge everyone to vote "no" on this bill. and I yield back the balance of time.
Date: 2015-05-20
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I claim the time in opposition to this amendment. although I do not oppose the amendment. The Acting CHAIR. Without objection. the gentlewoman is recognized for 5 minutes.
Date: 2015-05-20
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I appreciate that this amendment makes a few small improvements to the bill. so I will not oppose it. However. I want to take a moment to reflect on how this amendment demonstrates how flawed the process on the majoritys bill has been. In this amendment. the chairman restores an arbitrary 11 percent cut to the EPSCoR program. in addition to the prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program. scientific instrumentation for smaller institutions that cannot afford their own. and interdisciplinary research centers. Even our colleagues on Appropriations prioritized full funding for this account at NSF while they made steep cuts to other accounts. It just happens that EPSCoR States overall are represented by many more Republicans than Democrats. so. when the Science Committee Republicans proposed cutting funding for the EPSCoR program by 11 percent. their caucus took notice. If only the chairman had actually given the stakeholder community. his colleagues. and the research and development agencies an opportunity for a hearing or to see and respond or work in subcommittee on it and respond to this bill before introducing it. we wouldnt have had to fix all of these very big mistakes today. I am glad the chairman is now restoring the cut to EPSCoR and the other important programs in that account. I only wish he would have listened to an overwhelming call by the stakeholder community and even some of his own colleagues to restore the other arbitrary and shortsighted cuts in this bill. I yield back the balance of my time.