macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-09-28
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. many of us promised our constituents that we would come back here to Washington and fight for them. I imagine that there are some families in America right now holding an 8yearold or a 10yearold. maybe a teenager. with a preexisting disease. Maybe like the little girl that I heard about when we were debating the Affordable Care Act that had leukemia. and time after time after time she was rejected by insurance companies until she died. And so I asked the question earlier tonight: What is the morally right thing to do? And I want to announce what is going to happen tonight. Let us be very clear. Let us not be full of smoke and mirrors. Tonight. the Republican majority will vote to shut the government down. Ill say it again: they will vote to shut the government down. They will look that family in the eye. and they will say that they are delaying the Affordable Care Actlong approved. But they are actually destroying it and eliminating it. A delay is eliminating it. They will stop the American people on October 1 from getting premiums between $100 and $130. They will stop seniors from being able to have help with their prescription part D. their prescription drugs. choosing dog food over their prescription. They will stop preventative care. They will stop research for cancer and leukemia and heart disease and stroke. They will stop the preventative care nonpayments. And they will also stop those young families from being able to have insurance. Remember what I said: What is the morally right thing to do? Is it morally right to be able to provide for the American people health care that theyve never had? Is it the morally right thing to shut down the government so that seniors trying to get Medicare benefits will not have anybody to process them. or Social Security. or the disabled. or downpayment for homes for young families? I came here to stand for the American people. Tonight you will witness the shutdown of the government. That is what the vote will be. a shutdown of this government.
Date: 2013-09-28
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Mr. Speaker. I hope all of America is listening tonight because we are seeing one of the darkest moments in the history of this Congress for what we are about. The Republican Party is held hostage by a Senator 8 months here to undermine the democratic process. Here we are. and they will shut down the government of the United States because we will not enforce the law. Affordable Care is the law. Everything the distinguished gentleman from Texas just said he said during debate. Were not debating. Its the law. Its the law of the land. It has been upheld by the Supreme Court. It has been debated in the elections. President Obama ran on it. Romney said. if he got elected. hed throw it away. The President said. if he got elected. he would make it work. And the people spoke. Make no mistake about it. my friends. the Republicans. The American people are never going to forget that it was you who shut down the government of the people.
Date: 2013-09-28
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. as a member of the House Appropriations Committee. I rise in opposition to this. the 43rd attempt to defund. delay. or undermine the Affordable Care Act by House Republicans. What is even more disturbing is that this latest attempt comes with the very distinct possibility for a costly and disruptive government shutdown. As Members of Congress. we have a constitutional obligation to fund our government. The Senate sent us a bill yesterday that would accomplish that goal. but rather than pass it. House Republicans are pressing their ideological agenda once more. pushing us closer to a government shutdown. Look. I get it. The Republican Conference is desperate to halt the Affordable Care Act because they bet against it and they came up short. but now theyre gambling with our entire economy. Theyre desperate because they bet against a law that is already benefiting millions of Americans. from seniors on Medicare. to children with preexisting conditions. to millions of Americans who are being overcharged by their insurance companies. And starting January 1. millions more uninsured Americans will be able to obtain quality. affordable health insurance. In fact. just this week. it was announced that a family of four in my congressional district making $50.000 a year will be able to obtain private health insurance for as little as $24 a month. The Affordable Care Act is working. and I urge my colleagues to stop betting the same losing hand on our economy. Enough already. Let it go. Now. let me tell you something that your little stunt that youre pulling herewhich has no chance of becoming lawwhat it does for the millions of breast cancer survivors like me. Ninetyfive days from today. the millions of survivors. the 150 million people who live in this country with a preexisting condition. you are trying to rob us of the peace of mind that that provision gives us. What youre trying to do is make sure that every single day. when each of us who survived cancer or another life -threatening illness. waiting for the other shoe to drop. what youre trying to do is say you should stay living in fear for an insurance company to boot you off your insurance because of the possibility of you getting sick again. Its unconscionable. Its unacceptable. Walk a mile in our shoes.
Date: 2013-09-28
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Mr. Speaker. lets say exactly what this is. This is about a shutdown being ordered by the Republican Party. It is your initiative. The reason for that is because you have been hijacked by a small group of extreme folks who simply hate this President. Thats all that this is about. The American people reject it because we had the election and the majority of the American people elected President Obama. You hate that when you see that becauseshake your head if you want toyou cannot separate ObamaCare from the President of the United States. Its one and the same. Youre the ones that are offering the shutdown.
Date: 2013-09-28
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Mr. Speaker. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson hated each other so much. But that hate that they had for each other did not come before the love of their country. Your hate for this President is coming before the love of this country because if you loved this country. you would not be closing it down.
Date: 2013-09-28
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. it is time we end these games and pass a clean continuing resolution. The American people and our economy deserve the certainty of knowing that our government will remain open for business. I am disappointed that a topic of such importance: the medical device tax repeal. is being reduced to the level of political squabbling over the CR. I fully support repealing this tax. I didnt support it being included in the ACA and do believe it is bad policy. But. to repeal this tax should be part of a larger effort to improve the ACA. not a half baked political stunt. This topic deserves thoughtful and careful debate. It should not be paired with delaying the individual mandate. which is a provision. upheld by the Supreme Court and critical to the success of the ACA. and used to take hostage funding for our government. I am voting no on the tax repeal. not because I oppose the policy. but because I do not support this type of political stunt when we have a job to do. We must avoid a government shutdown. Our constituents expect for us to act responsibly and rationally. Vote no on the amendment and lets move a clean CR and show the American people that we can work together. Then. we can reconvene next week and debate the merits of the device tax repeal. Instead. I fear. we will never see the Protect Medical Innovation Act. H.R. 523. again. because this is not a serious attempt at fixing a real problem. H.R. 523 has 263 cosponsors. including me. It is clearly enough to pass this chamber. Mr. Speaker. bring that bill to the floor. and I will strongly support it. Prove to the American people and to the medical device manufacturers. who drive innovation. that this is an important issue that you are committed to. Bring H.R. 523 to the floor and lets pass that as soon as we pass a clean CR.
Date: 2013-09-30
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this legislation. and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the majority and the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) for bringing this legislation to the floor. This is bipartisan legislation which promotes initiative. achievement. and excellence among young people. The Congressional Award Act empowers young people to take greater responsibility for their own lives. to discover new talents. to advocate on behalf of others. and to take positive action in the community. The Congressional Award Program has helped thousands of young people. including some of the most disadvantaged youth. find ways to get involved in public service. It shows young Americans how to set goals and to achieve them. Through this program. these young people gain selfconfidence. problemsolving skills. and the ability to work as part of a team. traits that are valued by employers and institutions of higher education. Since its inception in 1979. this program has grown substantially. Today. total participation in the Congressional Award Program exceeds 35.000 participants. In my home State of California. 6.491 participants have enrolled since 1979. completing over 450.000 hours of community service. As a nonprofit organization that operates almost exclusively through private donations. the Congressional Award Act is an excellent example of successful publicprivate partnerships. and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. Again. I thank the committee for bringing it to the floor. Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2013-09-30
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. we are on the brink of a shutdown. a brink of sending this Nation over the cliff. Tonight. I speak to the American people and to my colleagues. We have a very simple taska task of mercy and grace. a task of adulthood and recognition of our responsibility to keep this government open. Id like to shun the party of Marie Antoinette and let them eat cake. or those who would say lets work and play while Rome is burning. or maybe even the former Republican Presidential candidate Bachmann. who says: Were smiling. we got just what we want. a shutdown of the government. I would like to shun that kind of attitude and ask my colleagues to join together in a simple taskto support the clean continuing resolution that would fund this government as we are obligated to do under the Constitution. We have the purse strings in the House. to make sure that the government works. to make sure that our women and children are served and our veterans are served. to make sure that our parks are open. So all we have to do is a simple taskto stop going over the top and be able to respond as Americans.
Date: 2013-09-30
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. a simple question: Why is the Speaker of this House denying this House the opportunity to have an "upordown" vote on a clean continuing resolution to keep the Federal Government operating tomorrow and beyond? Why is he not allowing a vote? Why is he not allowing Democrats and Republicans together to have a vote on keeping the government open? Because. Mr. Speaker. if he had that vote. it would pass. It would pass on a bipartisan basis and the government would still be operating. So. apparently. the Speaker is afraid that we would actually pass a bill to keep the government going. So why is he not allowing the peoples House to do the peoples business? Well. weve been seeing this playing out around the country in the last couple of weeks. Youve got a farright extreme Tea Party element in the Republican Party that is dictating whats happening here on the floor of this House. Senator CRuz is running the show on the floor of this House. Mr. Speaker. why dont you just quicken it up and pass Senator CRuz the gavel and let him run the House? Now why is it that this group of Members wants to shut down the government? Because tomorrow. millions of Americans are going to get access to affordable health care. Millions of Americans are already benefiting from the protections of the Affordable Care Act. But tomorrow. millions more will get access to affordable care. Republicans are so bentat least this Tea Party factionon blocking that from happening and preventing those millions of Americans from getting access to affordable care. theyre prepared to shut down this government. That is a scandal.
Date: 2013-09-30
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

The other thing thats really puzzling is while our Republican colleagues want to shut down the government to prevent the American people from getting access to the benefits of the Affordable Care Act and access to the exchange. where you have a marketplace of different plans being offered and a little help for those who are stretched thin and cant afford it. while our Republican colleagues want to shut down that part and other important parts of the Affordable Care Act. guess what the Republicans kept in their own budget? They kept the Medicare savings. I remember Mitt Romney and the Vice Presidential candidate saying how those were going to be the ruin of the country. Well. guess what? In the Republicanpassed budget that virtually every Republican Member of this House voted for. they kept those savings. And guess what else they kept? They kept the same level of revenue that would be generated by ObamaCare. Just check the Heritage Foundation statement. Every penny of revenue from ObamaCare. that level of funding is assumed in the Republican budget. So here we have Republicans running around the country saying theyve got a balanced budget. which is balanced because of ObamaCare. and now theyre here saying they want to defund ObamaCare. You just cant have it both ways. Dont shut down the government. Lets pass the bill that came out of the Senate. send it to the President. and get it done tonight.
Date: 2013-09-30
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Mr. Speaker. I have been told that when elephants fight. the grass is bruised. And when Democrats and Republicans fight beyond what is reasonable. people are hurt. And many of them will not survive. Its time for us to move beyond this debate. Somebody said the other day that justice delayed was justice denied. I can tell you that treatment for a stroke victim thats delayed. treatment for cancer. treatment for dialysis. and treatment for liver ailments thats delayed. all of those are trips to an early grave. Its time to vote in the Senate resolution. forget about shutting down the government. and breathe life into our process and life for the American people.
Date: 2013-09-30
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. this is a sad day for our Congress. Our colleagues across the aisle have chosen to pursue a pointless path of petty politics that will shut down the government of the most powerful Nation on the Earth and damage the worlds largest economy. It is the height of irony that the extremists who have taken control of the Republican agenda speak of listening to the will of the people. The will of the people? The will of the people was to vote for the Presidential candidate who promised to preserve the Affordable Care Act and to reject the Presidential candidate who promised to repeal it on day one. The will of the people was to cast a million more votes for Democratic candidates for the House than for the Republican candidates. And the will of the people is to keep this government open and to vote on a clean CR that does not have a lot of stuff added to it unrelated to preserving our government and having our government function. Shutting down the government will raise borrowing costs. slow the recovery. and cause financial instability. Lets get a clean CR and vote for a clean CR.
Date: 2013-09-30
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I oppose this resolution. Mr. Speaker. here we are. within hours of shutting down most of the programs that this Congress has approved or funded. Do my Republican friends know how silly it sounds to threaten shutting down the government just to ensure that Members of Congress. our staff and White House staff dont receive the same health care benefits as other federal employees do? To gamble with valuable federal programs should be embarrassing. Here are just a few examples of programs that will be affected if the GOP pursues this strategy that I doubt theyd want to see happen. The GOP shutdown would mean that the Centers for Disease Control would be unable to support annual seasonal influenza program. Also. in the event of H7N9 influenza or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome related incident. preparation and response could be delayed. The GOP shutdown means we rely more on foreign energy as the issuance of permits for energy production on federal lands stop. I certainly know that my Republican colleagues wouldnt want to see that happen. Head Start centers around the country will close. During FY12. an estimated 1.600 Head Start agencies served over 950.000 children. including 71.963 children in Texas. Apparently. our children are okay to target in this political debate. Under the GOP shutdown. the Bureau of Alcohol. Tobacco. Firearms and Explosives will be affected and gun permits will not be processed. And very importantly. veterans educational. compensation. and pension benefits processing would likely be delayed. as happened in the 199596. shutdowns. Texas has the second highest number of veterans in the country at nearly 1.7 million. To make this even more unreasonable. the Affordable Care Act. which you hate. will continue to go forward even if you shut down the United States Government since its mandatory spending. Mr. Speaker. I encourage my colleagues to be reasonable and pass a clean CR.
Date: 2013-09-30
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the ranking member. Mr. Speaker. since the very moment the Affordable Care Act was passed. we have heard a massive campaign of misinformation and distortions from our Republican colleagues. From the beginning. we heard about death panels. Then we heard it was going to be the government takeover of health care. That earned them the independent PolitiFact lie of the year in 2010. Tonight. Mr. Speaker. on the floor. we just hear massive distortions. and whats shameful is that they want to use that now as the cover to shut down the United States Government. They want to use that so that. tomorrow. millions of Americans cant sign up for or access affordable care. Members of Congressall of uswe have affordable care. but. tomorrow. you want to deny that affordable care to millions of Americans and take it away from the millions of Americans who already have protection as a result of the Affordable Care Act. That is shameful. Now. this notion that they are going to go to conference on the continuing resolution is a fig leaf thats not going to get them any political cover. The only way to have kept the government open tonight. which is now closed. was to take up the Senates continuing resolution and fund the government. Yes. then we should go to conference on the budget. Mr. Speaker. we have been trying to go to conference on the budget to negotiate our differences since March. when this House passed a budget and the Senate passed a budget. In fact. back in April. I and my Democratic colleagues introduced a very simple resolution saying that the Speaker should obey the regular order and appoint budget negotiators here from the House to meet with the Senate. What did the Speaker do? Nothing. He blocked the ability to have those budget negotiations. We actually voted on it three times in this House. My Republican colleagues voted against the opportunity to appoint budget negotiators. In the United States Senate. what happened? On 18 occasions. Senator LEE and other Republican Senators blocked the effort to go to budget negotiations. Now. Senator MCCAIN said that was insane for Republicans in the Senate to do because he pointed out that our Republican colleagues claimed that they wanted to work on these budget negotiations all along. They said "no budget. no pay." What they forgot to tell the American people was that they didnt mean a Federal budget. They meant the House passes a budget and the Senate passes a budget. but then they were going to block the effort to negotiate the differences. Now. why would you block that. Mr. Speaker? Because. when you go to a budget negotiation. youve got to compromise. and youve got to meet the other party halfway. Youve got a Tea Party right wing in this House that refuses to compromise. So what did they say? Were not going to go to conference. We are going to vote three times against negotiations. In May. in June. and in July. no negotiations.
Date: 2013-09-30
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentlelady. So what do you do if you dont want to negotiate. if you dont want to compromise? You back the country up against the wall. and here we are with that strategy. The idea is. since you dont want to compromise in the regular order. lets try and get what we want by threatening to shut down the United States Government. If that doesnt work. we are going to make sure the United States Government cant pay its bills on time so that we can enact our radical agenda that way because youre not willing to do it through the regular process of compromise. So nobody should be fooled about this idea of trying to get fig leaf cover on going to conference on this. We should have voted on the bill and kept the government open. It is a shameful day for the United States Government and especially for this Congress.
Date: 2013-09-30
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentlelady. Mr. Speaker. let me disabuse my friends of any myth. Right now. the Republicans have shut the government down. SOS message from Texas: we are a diverse State with different opinions. One that says. with so many people that need health insurance. we like ObamaCare. But another SOS message: Ellington Field right now is shut down. The towers in Ellington Field in Texas are shut down. Why? Because the Republicans are on the floor of the House with a phony procedural vote that is not going anywhere. and the government is shut down. Hundreds of thousands of Federal employees. shut down. The SBA with no loans. shut down. Projects to improve our transportation. shut down. Federal economic reports and businesses. shut down. Workers in region 6 offices in the State of Texas. shut down. They will not be able to go to work tomorrow. I only hope that we will have a moment of reconciliation and common sense to speak on behalf of the American people. Please know that Texas recognizes that the American people are important. I dont want a government shutdown. I want a vote on a clean continuing resolution now. Texas believes in the best for America. not special interests.