macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-03-31
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I wish to provide further remarks on the Senate Amendments to H.R. 1388. the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education. GIVE. Act. While I support the goal of the underlying legislation. to provide voluntary service opportunities for Americans. to give back to their communities. I oppose the Senates removal of important taxpayer protections which were intentionally included by the House of Representatives. The Motion to Recommit. which I supported on March -18. 2009 and which passed the House by a vote of 318 to 105. prohibited taxpayer funds being funneled through programs authorized in this legislation to organizations that have been indicted for voter fraud. Additionally. organizations that provide or promote abortion services. including referral for such services or any organizations that colocate with such organizations would be ineligible to receive funds through this legislation. Unfortunately. the Senate removed these protections. If this bill were to be signed into law as it is written today. taxpayer dollars could be used to fund organizations like the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. ACORN. which has a record of carrying out unethical practices aimed at undermining the legitimacy of democratic elections in our nation. For these reasons. I oppose the passage of this legislation.
Date: 2009-03-31
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 54. which would. as the chairman has said. authorize use of the Capitol Rotunda on April 23. 2009. for a ceremony as a part of the commemoration of the Days of Remembrance of victims of the Holocaust. For descendants of the approximately 6 million Jews who were killed during the Holocaust. the atrocities that their loved ones suffered at the hands of Nazi Germany are with them each day. As a Nation. its important that all Americans take the time to reflect upon the effects of the horrors inflicted during the Holocaust. one of the *darkest days or hours of our humanity. Those who would seek to destroy an entire people based on their religious heritage committed the most heinous acts imaginable upon their brethren. By remembering the victims of these unspeakable acts. we ensure that the flame of life that the forces of evil tried so hard to extinguish will never be forgotten and that we shall never allow this to happen again. Mr. Speaker. at this time I would like to mention that there is a- wonderful statue in our Rotunda of a great American. his name is Dwight D. Eisenhower. Hes remembered as President of the United States. He was also the Supreme Allied Commander of all "of those allied troops in Europe. When his troops and he came upon the reality of the Holocaust. when they came upon the concentration camps. thenGeneral Eisenhower commanded that his troops take pictures. see the evidence. gather the proof. He required that German residents. German citizens of the surrounding communities. be brought forward and have to see what had taken place. and then he required those individuals to actually be part of the burial committees that buried the bodies of those who had been destroyed. When asked why he did this. President Eisenhower. thenGeneral Eisenhower. said. "I do this to gather this evidence. to get this proof. to get these photos. because some day in the future. some"-and I will use the initials-"some silly SOB will claim this never happened." There are some who claim this never happened. Because a remarkable man with tremendous foresight. General Eisenhower. later President Eisenhower. because he required that proof be made. those perpetrators of that fallacy cannot be successful. In order to make this time of reflection an official event shared by all Americans. Congress established the Days of Remembrance as our Nations annual commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust and created the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as a permanent living memorial to these victims. Since 1982. the Holocaust Museum has organized and led the national Days of Remembrance ceremony in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. a ceremony that includes Holocaust survivors. their families. liberators. and Members of Congress. So I urge my colleagues to support this bill so that we may continue to use the Capitol.Rotunda to pay tribute to those lives that were lost in the Holocaust during this shared time of solemn remembrance throughout the world.
Date: 2009-03-31
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of H.R. 151. For the last several years. I have joined my colleague. Ms. LOFGREN from California. in sponsoring this bill. This is a bill which would create a congressional clerkship program to qualified law school graduates to serve for temporarylyear terms in offices in the House and the Senate. The genesis of this actually was the dean of the Stanford Law School. when he came on a visit backhere and spoke to Ms. LOFGREN and myself and others and explained that he thought that with the prominence that judicial clerkships are given. that most aspiring outstanding law students look to the judicial branchand even with the clerkships that are available and fellowships that are available in the executive branchlook to those two branches of government as somehow the epitome of government service. And in a sense. what that does is it confers a sense of importance on those two branches of government. at least in my judgment. to the exclusion of the legislative branch. The way our system works. many outstanding young people who serve clerkships to judges go on to be judges themselves. The idea of the dean of Stanford Law School was that if we had a similarH4190. co type program in the legislative branch. perhaps we would have some of those people who are outstanding members of -the legal profession who would go on to receive judgeships. but they would have a better understanding of the importance of the legislative branch. Currently. as I said. both the judicial and executive branches have clerkship programs that attract these highly talented law school graduates. Judicial clerkships. in particular. offer both prestige and practical legal experience for such graduates. Should this bill pass. initially 12 clerks per Congress would be selected to serve in the offices of various committee chairs and ranking members. It would be on a competitive basis. It would be on a bipartisan basis. It would be on a bicameral basis. Not only would congressional clerks gain invaluable experience and knowledge about the legislative process. but they would then move into other leadership positions. not only with the courts but with the major law firms around the country and in other positions. bringing that understanding of the workings of Congress to bear on those careers. -1 thank Chairman BRADY for considering this bill and the expeditious way in which it was handled. I thank the Speaker for scheduling it so quickly. and I believe that this will truly provide an opportunity for some of the most gifted. young. legal minds to serve in Congress and. thereby. increase the understanding of its work by the public. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2009-03-31
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I urge all Members to vote for this. and I would yield back thebalance of my tine.
Date: 2009-03-31
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of H.R. 1299. known as the United States Capitol Police Technical Corrections ActI am pleased to join Chairman BRADY in sponsoring this bill. which will create a stronger operational framework for the police. allowing them to better accomplish their mission by providing muchneeded clarity and eliminating unnecessary or conflicting provisions of existing law. The technical corrections in this bill provide the chief of the Capitol Police with the appropriate authority and responsibility related to his role as head of the agency. This bill also clarifies important reporting and notification processes for personnel. administrative. and operational actions. So I am pleased that the chairman has taken up this issue. I am confident that the work of the full committee. in addition to that of the Subcommittee on Capitol Security. will create a stronger law enforcement organization and. therefore. a safer and more secure Capitol complex. I would urge that all Members support this bill. Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2009-03-31
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.
Date: 2009-04-01
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Baseline mumbo jumbo. as Mr. RYAN just said. How appropriate. Madam Chairwoman. because tonight is April Fools Day. How appropriate that we be considering this Democratic budget tonight. But. unfortunately. this is real. This is no joke. This is no laughing matter. This budget raises taxes on all of our families. our small businesses. and on all Americans. And it puts our economy on a path towards insolvency by borrowing trillions and trillions of dollars more. This budget. as weve already heard. is really the Presidents budget. Madam Chairwoman. And this President has promisedhe had promised a new era of transparency. honesty. and accountability. Let me tell you. those who supported himand even those who did notwere optimistic that that part. at least. would be true. Let me quote from the Presidents budget document. "Too often in the past several years budgets tricks were used to make the governments books seem stronger than they actually were." He continues on. saying. "We should not tolerate these kinds of tricks when it comes to accounting for the publics tax dollars." I think we all agree on that. But. unfortunately. as we have just seen. this budget is full of those same old tricks and gimmicks. Its full of the usual tired tactics. the same old businessasusual. that mentality thats typical here in Washington. Unfortunately. this is not the change that the American people expect. No. it isnt. This budget employs an arsenal of gimmicks to mask an unsustainable explosion of more spending. more deficits. and greater debt than this country has ever. ever seen. inherited and not. Now it also raises taxes by $1.5 trillionwith a Ttrillion dollars. burdening American families and small businesses. the principal job creators of our country. costing American jobs. Yes. it would also increase the national debt to $17.1 trillion in just 5 yearsthe highest level ever in the history of this country. Now compared to what the President has inherited. this is childs play. We can do better. We must do better for the sake of our children. our grandchildren. and our future.
Date: 2009-04-02
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. unlike what the gentleman just said. this Presidents budget spends too much. taxes too much. and borrows too much. This is the most fiscally irresponsible budget in the history of the United States. The spending levels in the budget are just staggering. Under the Presidents budget. the governments spending will represent roughly 30 percent of our economy. Thats not the American way. The right way forward is the PAUL RYAN alternative budget which trims wasteful government spending and lets families and small businesses keep more of their hardearned money. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the conservative budget proposal that rekindles prosperity. promotes financial security. invests in our future. and saves for our childrens future. Lets go. America. Its the right way to go forward.
Date: 2009-04-02
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. if one looks to the exceptionalism of America. one finds that at its base is freedom. Weve always had an agenda for freedomfreedom with responsibility. Today. we have a budget thats made up of numbers. People wonder how does that somehow have anything to do with freedom. Well. if you spend too much. if you tax too much. if you borrow too much. what it means is you give greater and greater power to the Federal Government. to elected representatives. to nonelected bureaucrats to make decisions for you and your life. not only today. but in the future. For the young people that are listening. they ought to understand that the impact of this budget today will be far greater on them than it will be on me. Why? Because we are about to embark on a budget that will give us more debt than at any time in the history of America. And we and those of us who are here will not live long enough to pay it off. The young people are the ones that are going to pay for it. They are in fact going to have less freedom rather than more freedom unless we -come to our senses and vote for a budget that is consistent with the American agenda of freedom.
Date: 2009-04-02
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Speaker. John Kennedys famous words were that a rising tide lifts all boats. I guess conversely then. a receding tide would lower all boats. Isnt that what we are talking about here? How do we get out of this economic difficulty we are in? My friends on the other side have correctly pointed out that we spent too much and we borrowed too much in the last number of years. I have agreed. I have said that ever since I came back to Congress 4plus years ago. But to condemn the actions of the past and then say youre going to get out of it by repeating it but doubling down on it doesnt seem to make a whole lot of sense. Look. I was gone from this place for 16 years. My children are grown now. I now have grandchildren. When I first came here. I had very young children. And I have got to answer to them at some point in time as to what we did when this choice came this year. Did we say that it made us feel good to loft ad hominem arguments at one another. to say that if you are fiscally responsible. what you are going to do is literally take the food out of the mouths of children. as I heard the gentleman from the other side say? The gentleman from the other side said that he has a number of sch6ol districts that can no longer give children lunch. Why is that? They are having difficult economic times there. They are finding out they cant tax their people any more. Their receipts arent enough at this time to do that. So the gentleman says that all we have to do is come to Washington. D.C.. because. of course. our taxpayers are different than the taxpayers back home. Madam Speaker. the fact of the matter is. they are the same people. They are the same people that are going to suffer if we put them on a road to economic calamity that is going to last for decades. So we have a responsibility here to look beyond the easy personal shots and to judge these budgets to see whether or not one of them is more responsible than the other. I could point out the $1 billion placeholder that is in the Democratic budget. What is it for? Nobody knows. It is a hedge against whatever they want to spend it on. I could point out that my Democratic friends are saying that cap and trade. which really translates into cap and tax. is a magical. mystical ride that we are going to take. It is going to cost nobody anything. And so they criticize us when we say. "do you know that there is a tax inherent in this budget?" Well. tell me how are we going to do this cap and trade that is based on an auction? An auction means somebody has to put a price in order to get the ability to spend. But it is going to come out of nowhere? And my friend from Massachusetts says. "and the Republican budget is going to allow dirty fossil fuels to be used." Once again we are blaming America. I know that the fact of the matter is that we have fossil fuels in abundance here in the United States. coal forinstance. and somehow. instead of working towards clean coal technology so that we can utilize our abundant resources. our friends on the other side say somehow thats evil.
Date: 2009-04-02
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Well. the gentlemans statement is only true if you believe that when you buy a carbon credit and pay for it. that actually amounts to money. If somehow. magically it doesnt cost anybody anything. even though its being auctioned on the market. and then that cost is going to be passed on to the consumer. which is. in the nature of a tax.
Date: 2009-04-02
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. What we have here is an argument that if you cant pay for it back home. you can pay for it here because somehow we have an unlimited amount of money. and it has no impact on anybody whatsoever. As if inflation has no impact.
Date: 2009-04-02
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Chair. I yield myself 1 minute. Madam Chair. when I listen to some of the debate on the floor. I wonder what the American people might think. As I reflect on the words that were just spoken. it sounds like we have a greater imperative to somehow deal with this notion of climate change than we do with defending the American people. The budget thats presented to us by the Congressional Progressive Caucus cuts defense enormously. and yet we keep hearing that. well. we dont want to take any money away from the troops. we dont want to take any money away from the equipment. But we cut defense enormously. And one has to ask. what is the first obligation of government? It is to create a modicum of security so the American people can live their lives in a sense of safety. so they can attempt to be the best that God gave them the skills to be. Thats the first obligation of local governments. the first obligation of State governments. and I would hope at some point in time in this debate it would be acknowledged by the other side that it is the first obligation of the Federal Government.
Date: 2009-04-02
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Chair. may I inquire as to whether or not the other side has more than one speaker on this subject.
Date: 2009-04-02
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Chair. I yield myself the balance of our time. I have never been in a place where a $4.3 trillion budget over the period that were talking about. which is what the Republican budget is. is somehow seen as parsimonious. The" other side seems to suggest that we are not attempting to try and pay for those things for which there is a reason for the Federal Government to be involved. Secondly. I would say this. I have been a leader for the last two Congresses in an effort. on a bipartisan basis. to try and reduce or to encourage the President to negotiate with Russia to reduce our overall nuclear weapon arsenal. and the President has indicated this last week hes going to do that. But I have looked at the figures. and if we reduced it to the numbers that the President is talking about that weve urged. it wouldnt even come close to be the cut that youre talking about on your side. The suggested cuts in defense spending in this budget. in the Democratic budget. but in this budget particularly. it doesnt just cut fat. It cuts muscle. It cuts sinew. It cuts bone. It makes us less able to defend the American people. And lets just be very. very clear about that. No one. no respected member of any previous administration in terms of national defense has suggested that you can support this kind of a budget presented here. So lets make it very clear to the American people what were talking about here. Are we going to do the fundamental job of preserving liberty and preserving freedom or are we. in fact. going to cut defense and. in the process. burden our people with more spending. more taxation. more borrowing. increasing the size of government. which ultimately takes freedom away from individual Americans?
Date: 2009-04-02
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Id like to yield myself 1 minute. First and foremost. I want to thank the CBC for putting together a budget. Its a difficult task. We know how much work it takes. So we thank them for their efforts. I want to thank them for proposing a substitute budget that really highlights the dramatic differences between the two sidesthe priority differences. If you loved the tax increases and the spending binge and the soaring deficits and the unprecedented debt that the underlying budget brings you. you will fall in love with this budget as well. This is the Democratic budget on steroidseven more spending. even more tax increases. and even more deficits. As economic conditions continue to deteriorate for 2009. this budget- immediately increases taxes for small businesses and for individuals that are set to expire in 2011. Just like the Democrats budget. this substitute increases taxes by $1.5 trillion. with a Tmake sure we dont get confused hereover the next 10 years. Just like the Democrats budget. this substitute budget increases spending by $18.3 trillion. with a T. over just the next 5 years. And just like the Democrats budget. this substitution also increases the national debt to $17 trillion by 2014-. Again. unprecedented levels of spending of taxes. I urge a defeat of this amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2009-04-02
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Id like to yield myself 30 seconds. I just want to mention that the relationship the gentleman mentioned with Germany and Francehow ironic that those two countries are now lecturing the United States because the United States is spending too much. I never thought Id live to see that happen. With that. Madam Chairwoman. if I may. Id like to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California .
Date: 2009-04-02
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Madam Chair. I now at this time recognize for 3 miirutes a gentleman who comes with years of leadership experience in the California legislature. the. gentleman from California
Date: 2009-04-02
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Madam Chairwoman. I would like to yield myself 1 minute. Again. I just want to emphasize that we keep hearing criticism of the previous administration for spending too much. And yet this bill makes that spending look like childs play. It makes that debt look like childs play. It makes that deficit look like childs play. And so you cannot on one side. like this bill does. criticize a previous administration for spending too much. for putting us in too much debt. and then do much more of the same. much more to an unprecedented level like this country has never seen. never seen such large tax increases. never seen such large debt. has never seen such large deficits as this bill would put on the American people. Again. facts are stubborn things. With that. I reserve.
Date: 2009-04-02
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Madam Chairwoman. we might have one but maybe not. We are definitel.y getting to the bottom here. the bottom of the list I should say.