macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

You know. Mr. MEEK. I can understand why you would have trouble seeing past that giant rubber stamp. That is simply because this Chamber. through the Republican caucus artd their Republican leadership. have been engulfed by the rubber stamp. You know. had our bobblehead Republican not turned up missing. we would be able..to use that as yet another example of why you continually have these policies that are put forward by the Republican leadership. as rubberstamped by the Republican majority. because their heads only move in one direction. I guess there is no hinge in this direction. only. yes. absolutely. we are glad to do whatever you say. anything you want. Mr. Speaker. I mean. it is just unbelievable. Fourteen months here and. "No. sorry. my conscience wont allow me to do that" is just not part of their vocabulary. And like I said. the joints just dont seem to work in this direction as they do for the Democrats. Now. you know. what makes matters worse about all of the things that we have been talking about. about the debt and the deficit and the bobblehead. rubberstamp Republican majority that we have here. is that thereare consequences. This stuff matters. It matters in real peoples lives. And what the Republican leadership would have you believe. especially in recent days. their new thing now is that the economy is doing great. Now. obviously they are now trying to shift to a new frame and help everybody understand that in spite of an $8 trillion deficit. in spite of the colossal debt that we are in to foreign countries across this globe. in spite of the fact that we have disproportionate trade deficits with many. many countries. Americans are doing great. Really? Really? Okay. well. lets examine that. I have here what the consequences actually are. We came up with a top ten list that describes the consequences of Republican economic policies. Since they raised the subject. they have brought it up recently and said. everything is rbsy. red rosy. and so lets just take a walk down memory lane here in terms of what is really going on in the United States of America. Number 10. I am Danielle Letterman this evening. Number 10. we have a projected surplus of $5.6 trillion that has vanished. It was replaced by a deficit in 2004 of $413 billion. which is the largest in our Nations history. and a deficit of $318 billion in 2005. an almost $3.5 trillion deficit over the next 10 years. Number 9. The Bush administration is the -administration with the greatest average annual decline in household income. We are talking real people here. Since Bush took office. household income has declined by $1.670.
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

We are talking thirdparty validators here. This is not stuff we are making up. This is not the Debbie Wasserman Schultz encyclopedia.
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Number 8. 45.8 million Americans have no health insurance at all. 6 million more than in 2000. Now. if things were getting better. that number would be. oh. I dont know. smaller. Mr. Speaker. not bigger. smaller. And you have. since then the cost of health insurance has risen nearly.59 percent. Yet workers wages have only increased by 12 percent. Now. we all do different things in our lives every day. We go t6 the supermarket. I am out on the soccer field or at dance class or on airplanes back and forth. I am sitting next to a couple. a middleaged couple. on the plane the other day from Tennessee. Not exactly a bastion of liberalism. They are from Tennessee. And do you know what they wanted to talk to me about when they found out I was a Member of Congress? What were we going to do about the cost of health care? They owned a small business. They employed quite a number. 75 people. They employed 75 people and he literally said. the husband. the husband and Wife team literally told me that within the next couple of years. if health care costs continue to go in this direction as they have since 2000. they would probably have to close their business. I mean. that is how bad it was getting. So the garbage that the Republican leadership and this administration are trying to feed the American people. you know. that 31 percent. that number. I would expect would continue.
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. DELAHUNT. I guess they follow the philosophy and the idea that if you say it enough times. people will believe it. Maybe if you say it enough times. actually our governor. it must be in the genes. also subscribes to that theory in Florida. and really believes that if you say something enough times. then it will come true.
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Yes. Number 7. Thirtyseven million Americans are living in poverty. We have a 12.7 percent poverty rate. which is on the rise. and 5.4 million people have fallen into poverty since the beginning of the Bush administration. 5.4 million people. You know. if they are going to talk about who is doing better. it is the wealthiest that are doing better. Their income is on the rise. Their life is getting better. Their lives are improving and their outlook is more rosy. The poor are getting poorer. Number 6.
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. DELAHUNT. when I have to pay $56 to fill up the gas tank in my minivan. believe me. you are right. It is not just the poor.
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Not be able to get to work. How do people who are living paycheck to paycheck factor in $53. $56 into their weekly budget? And we have shown those charts. before too. and we can again. When your bottom line gas tank. fillingthegastank cost goes from $20something to $50something every time you fill up. and people who have to drive any distance. I mean. we are from an urban community. a suburban community. as are both of you. E 2100 You just cannot zip around these communities in 2 seconds. You have to drive to get to most places. We are going toget to a point where people will lose their jobs because they will not be able to get to their jobs.
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

There is no end in sight. No end in sight to the rising gas prices. What will happen with number 7. where we have a 12.7 percent poverty rate that is on the rise and 5.4 million more people who have fallen into poverty. That number is going to get bigger. It is costs like these that send people into poverty. You have number 6 here that talks about the Consumer Confidence Boards index. Its expectation index is the lowest it has been in 3 years. Number 5. Congressioral Republicans defeated a Democratic amendment recently to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25. If the minimum wage kept pace with inflation. it would be $8.88 right now. It hasnt been -increased since 1997. That is 9 years ago. 9 years? I mean. if you are a person who is living on the minimum wage. struggling to pay. to fill your gas tank. struggling to put food on the table. you have no health insurance. do you really want the Bush administration and the Republican leadership to tell you how great the economy is? Do you believe them?
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

It is a slap in the face. and. really. a bigger and bigger percentage of the population is being engulfed by the struggle just to make ends meet. Let us go to number 4.
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. RYAN. I think I have figured it out. You have broken the code: The Republicans are the party of the cavernous abyss. They dont mind sending people right off the cliff into it. whether it is expanding poverty. sinking job growth. increasing the number of uninsured by millions each year. The party of the cavernous abyss is the party that created this Medicare prescription drug program with another cavernous abyss that senior citizens fall into just after they spend a little amount of money on their prescription drugs. So you have to ask where the American family is. They are engulfed by the Republican cavernous abyss. Number 4. I think we are on now. Yes. number 4. There are now 1.3 million more unemployed private sector workers than there were in January of 2001. the beginning of the party of the cavernous abyss. The longterm unemployment rate. which is people who are unemployed for more than 26 weeks. has nearly doubled since that time. This is the rosy economy that we are living in. Mr. MEEK. This is how great we are doing.
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

The economy is growing so well that we have number 3. in which the Bush administration. it has become clear. has the slowest job growth of any administration in over 70 years. Since January of 2001. 2.9 million manufacturing jobs have been lost. That is entire towns in
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Rosy. rosy. Things are rosy. rosy. Number 2. since President Bush t6ok office the economy that is rosy. rosy has posted only 15 months of job gains of 150.000 or more. That is since he took office. that is in 6 years. That is the number of jobs needed to keep up with the population growth. So we are not talking about anything to write home to talk about. Finally. number 1 of the top 10 worst consequences of Republican economic policies. 7.2 million Americans remain unemployed today with an additional 4.2 million who want a job. but are not counted among the unemployed because they have been looking so long they get taken off the rolls. The economy is rosy.
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you. The only thing I want to add to tie a ribbon on this whole discussion is tlaat what we have all noticed. whether we are in our districts with our constituents or talking to people across the country. when we interact with them. is that people have reached the breaking point. They dont buy it. They dont buy the garbage that is being fed to them by this administration that the economy is rosy. that everything is going well. that everything is hunkydory. They are falling off the cliff into the Republican cavernous abyss. and they are tired of it. and they want to have the Democrats or someone other than the people who are taking them in this direction that they no longer are willing to go. to fix it. Even their former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said that they are seen by the country as being in charge of a government that cant function.
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

It is time to move this country in a new direction and restore Americas confidence in their government. We know we have a plan that we can do that.
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

And the astronomical increase we have had in gas prices. which affects everyday Americans every single day. has just been unbelievable. Actually. Mr. CARNAHAN. we have a chart that illustrates those drastic increases. that is being brought over right now. that I think would be helpful. because I am a visual person. and graphically depicting some of these significant problems is really helpful.
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

We have good graphmakers among our staff. You talk about summer gas prices. Just look at the difference over the years since the Republicans have been in charge. In 2002. Mr. CARNAHAN. the average price of a gallon of gas was $1.39. that was the summer of 2002. Then you go to the summer of 2003. it was $1.57. 2004. $1.90. Move over to the summer of just last year. $2.37. And then this April. just last month. we hit $2.91. Now. most of us in the last several weeks have all paid over $3 in most communities across America. So this is the reality of the rosy Republican economy that they have been describing and painting for us over the last several days.
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

You are absolutely right. One of the other -elements of our alternative budget plan would embrace once again. as was thp policy during the Clinton administration and when Democrats controlled the United States Congress. was the concept of PAYGO. That is. I know. with you as a member of the Budget Committee and Mr. SPRATT as the ranking member. is an idea that our Democratic Members have championed as a part of our alternative. And we have done that on a number of occasions aid attempted to get the Republicans to go along with us and the concept of PAYGO. PAYGO is very simple. We came from States. and in our State legislatures you have to operate in the black. Just like people who are members of their families. they struggle not to have to go into debt. not to have to live paycheck to paycheck and not to have to go into massive credit card debt. Unfortunately. the Republican leadership here does not subscribe to that philosophy. and that is evidenced by their rejection of payasyougo rules whereby we would not spend more than we have. On March 17 of last year. Mr. SPRATT. our ranking member on the Budget Committee. offered a substitute amendment to the 2006 budget resolution that failed 165 to 264. no Republicans supporting payasyougo legislation. And we have the rollcall indicating that we were supportive. Again. Mr. SPRATT offered another amendment dealing with PAYGO that* would have reestablished PAYGO. 224 Republicans voting "no.".none voting "yes." and it failed. to 232. So we have certainly tried. It is not for our lack of trying to make sure that we restore some fiscal discipline here. The thing that has been the most frustrating for me as a new Member of Congress. and I am sure it is a frustration you have faced. is that the Republicans try to .lead people to believe that they are the party of fiscal responsibility. Yet. I am someone who believes that actions have to back up words and talk is cheap. and that seems to be all that they have been about since I have gotten here.
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

What makes that more obscene is that the* energy bill that Mr. CARNAWIAN referred to at the beginning of our hour highlighted the fact that not only did the oil companies make universal record profits. Let us take it beyond the galaxy. we gave away our rights to collect revenue from them in exchange for the drilling rights. I mean. what so many people do not realize is that the government owns the land underneath where the drilling takes place. whether it is in the gulf or whether it is on land. The United States Government owns that property. and we give the oil companies the right to drill there in exbhange for tax revenue and fees. In that legislation last summer. we forgave all of those fees. We gave it to them for free. Then a few weeks later they are making universal. history making. record. earth shattering profits and now people are paying more than $3 a gallon for gas. and we gave them our gas rights. our oil rights. It is unbelievable.
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. if the gentleman will yield. only to clarify who the hypocrites~are. because if you separate where the Democrats voting record is on energy and making sure that we focus on alternative energy like in our Innovation Agenda we rolled out in November. which includes an ironclad commitment that when we take control of this Chamber that we will within 10 years wean ourselves off of foreign oil and become energy independent. So the hypocrisy exists on the other side of the aisle. So I just want to make sure whose hypocrisy we are talking about.
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. we have been talking about energy supplies and the cost of a tank of gas and how difficult it has been for Americans to deal with those increases. and another equally important issue is how people are going to continue to be able to educate their children from their youngest age all the way through higher education. One of the things I think it is important for us to highlight tonight is the devastating budget cuts that this Republican budget puts forward in terms of the public education needs that we have. Literally. the Republican House budget resolution would make the biggest cut. and I think I am right. correct me if I am wrong. the biggest cuts to the Department of Education in 23 years. I guess the only thing that would be worse would be when they proposed to completely eliminate the Department of Education. but they are not doing that. They simply have the biggest cut in 23 years. The budget resolution cuts next years Department of Education budget by $2.2 billion. with a B. below this years funding level. It matches the Presidents budget cuts in his budget proposal dollar for dollar. Rather than increase education funding. both of the budgets. the Republican leaderships budget and the Presidents. grossly underfund education. social services and training programs. They cut those programs $4.6 billion below the amount needed to maintain current services. They eliminate completely 42 different education programs. not ones that people would think are not necessary anymore. but things like vocational education. safe and drug free school State grants. a college readiness program for low income students and both parts of the Federal Perkins loan program. It is just really unbelievabl6. You talked about priorities. This is where the Republicans priorities are compared to where we are as Democrats.
Date: 2006-05-10
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. CLEAVER. they do those things. It is the Republicans that do those things. I just want to point that out. When you are using "we." that includes us and we dont do that.
Date: 2006-05-11
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to highlight.the ongoing struggle for freedom and democracy in Vietnam. As we observe Vietnam Human Rights Day. it is clear that the struggle is far from over. The most basic freedoms we enjoy. the freedom of speech. the freedom of the press. the freedom of assembly. the freedom of religion. these are not available in Vietnam. Last month. 116 Vietnamese citizens signed an "Appeal For Freedom of Political Association." and 118 citizens signed a Manifesto on Democracy and Freedom For Vietnam. But the government crackdown began almost immediately with raids. detainments. harassment. and abuse. Those who signed these documents placed themselves and their families and their friends at a great risk for a greater good. What a compelling reminder that while the freedoms we enjoy are not universal. the thirst for freedom most certainly is. I urge my colleagues to speak out on behalf of these brave men and women who continue to fight for the very basic human liberty through peaceful and nonviolent methods.
Date: 2006-05-11
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I. thank my colleague from California in his leadership on these issues. We both serve on the Judiciary Committee. And we know the revelations about the domestic wiretapping program came out back in December. Aid as of today. we have not had a single nearing in the House Judiciary Committee devotedspecifically to that issue. And whether people are for it or against it or undecided. we have an obligation as a separate branch of government to do our oversight. to get the facts. to ask the hard questions. And that committee has been AWOL on this issue. just as it ha� been. this Congress has been on so many other issues. And I am very pleased that my colleague pointed out in the 9/11 Commissions sort of final report card they issued last November with respect to the issue of nuclear nonproliferation. They did give. this Congress and the Bush administration a big fat D. D on that effort. My colleague from California has been active in proposing different ideas for how we can strengthen those. but this Congress has not moved ahead. I just want to cite from that report card where it says. "Countering the greatest threat to Americas security is still not the top national security priority of the President and the Congress." What is that top priority. they say? A maximum effort by the U.S. Government to secure WMD. The fact of the matter is. we know after 9/11 that the most toxic combination of all would be some terrorist group getting their hands on weapons of mass destruction and the consequences to the people of our country. We are getting a D on that. We can do a lot better. That same report card gives this Congress a D in another area. an area we have been talking about. Under the category of congressional and administrative reform. there is a subcategory. intelligence oversight reform. Grade D. We would be embarrassed if our children brought back Ds from school. and yet Congress gets a. D for this. And it is important to point out in this area. this is an area entirely under the control of the leadership in Congress. The RepMblican leadership could decide today to fix this. This one has nothing to do with the administration. This has to do with decisions that can be made tomorrow by this Republican leadership. They have decided not to do it. Apparently a D is acceptable to them. And I think it is important to go back to the consequences of that failure of oversight. Now. we know in the leadup to the Iraq war the failures of intelligence. The former Director of CIA. George Tenet. very decent guy. said it is a "slam dunk case" that there are weapons of mass destruction. Well. what happened? Well. first the President awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The guys in intelligence and research in the State Department who got it right. they have never gotten any recognition. And then what happened?
Date: 2006-05-11
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. that is right. If I can just say to my colleague. you know this Congress was relatively quick when the 9/11 Commission recommended changes to the executive branch. in redesigning our national security review apparatus. We have the Director of National Intelligence now. Mr. Negroponte. and trying to change around the oversight within the administration. even though it is important to remember that the Bush administration originally resisted that reform and fought the reform. They realized that when the 9/11 Commission on a bipartisan basis came out in favor of that recommendationthat change would have to be made. [ 2000 But here in the Republicanled Congress they have not done anything to address the 9/11 Commissions recommendations with respect to oversight. And I think everybody understands that at a time when we are trying to identify terrorists who are trying to do harm to our country and respond against them. it is absolutely essential that we get it right. It is important that we get it right for our military men and women. It is important that we get it right for the American people. It is important that we get it. right for our own credibility. In order for us to do that. we know we have to expand our abilities in human intelligence gathering overseas. You need to have people who know more foreign languages. It is a shift in paradigm somewhat. And what is absolutely clear is that this administration has not had that paradigm shift when it comes to intelligence. Certainly the leadership in this House of Representatives has not had a paradigm shift. because they have not supported the bipartisan recommendations of the 9/11 Commission with respect to the issue of oversight. And so unless we do something. we are going to be caught with our lenses looking one way when the danger to this country sneaks up from another direction. We need to get it right. We need this oversight. It is like a board of directors that decides to go on vacation for four years and not pay any attention to the company. That board of directors would be sued for malpractice by the stockholders if something went wrong. We know some things are not going right and you have got to hold people accountable. And when you reward people who fail to punish or ignore people who get it right. you have got a recipe for failure. We need a recipe for success.