macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-06-09
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of S. 1254. the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2014. S. 1254 is a bipartisan bill. and I want to thank my colleagues. Ms. BONAMICI and Mr. POSEY. for their hard work to advance this important legislation. It authorizes an interagency program led by NOAA to improve our understanding and response to harmful algal blooms and hypoxia events. Unfortunately. over the past decade. the distribution and frequency of harmful algal bloomsor HABshas increased steadily. Today. nearly every State is threatened by this toxic algae. HABs can have serious economic and public health effects. Shellfish beds along the Atlantic. Gulf of Mexico. and Pacific coasts are often closed during a major event to protect the public from significant respiratory distress. shellfish poisoning. and other illnesses. The economic impact these closures can have on the shellfish industry and tourism is quite large. A single event can cost a coastal community tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue. While NOAA and the research community have made great strides since the establishment of this program. the need for continued research and tools to lessen the impact of these events is greater than ever before. More accurate and efficient tools for detecting toxins. early warning of blooms. better predictions of bloom movement. methods for controlling outbreaks. and the development of local and regional partnerships will all allow for a more effective response. For instance. in 2009. NOAAfunded scientists from Texas A&M University developed and deployed a sensor in Galveston Bay that can detect algae responsible for shellfish poisoning. The sensor now provides an early warning to Texas State health officials. allowing them to temporarily close the bay to oyster harvesting. This early warning capability is a perfect example of how this program can minimize economic impacts and protect human health. Addressing the many dimensions of HABs requires a coordinated multiagency approach. and passage of S. 1254 and the reauthorization of this program will result in practical and innovative approaches to addressing hypoxia and HABs events in U.S. waters. The health of our coast and waterways is critical to our economy. and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the passage of this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2014-06-09
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. it has been a pleasure to work with Representative HUIZENGA on this very. very important bill. This legislation is about two things: fairness and opportunity. My fellow cosponsorsboth Democrats and Republicansand I support H.R. 3211. which is the Mortgage Choice Act. because of our shared concern about access. access to credit. yes. for all consumers. but especially for lowerincome consumers and middleincome consumers. and to ensure that everybody in America that needs a home and wants a home. when securing a loan. that they have a choice in selecting both the mortgage and the title insurance providers of their choice. I urge my colleagues to support this needed legislation. and I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2014-06-09
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Our Financial Services Committee simply amends the Expedited Funds Availability Act to apply it to American Samoa. Essentially. it does just these few things. It extends by 2 business days for American Samoa any time periods established for large or redeposited checks. repeated overdraft. reasonable cause. or other emergency exceptions to the 30day funds availability requirements for deposits in a depository institution account by a new depositor. It also applies this 2day extension to any deposit in an account at a depository institution located in American Samoa by a check drawn on an originating depository institution which is not located in the same State as the receiving depository institution. With that. Mr. Speaker. I would like to yield to the distinguished gentleman from American Samoa who has worked tirelessly on this effort and deserves so much credit for his sterling leadership.
Date: 2014-06-09
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. working with housing developments in my own district. there is an interest in making sure that the tenants are informed of their rights and responsibilities. This amendment provides for informing tenants of their rights and responsibilities. The amendment would increase funding to the Department of Housing and Urban Developments Policy Development and Research Office to support efforts to inform tenants of their rights and responsibilities. In 2012. 23.8 percent of Houstonians were living in poverty. According to the Christian Community Service Center. 17.3 percent of Houston families live below poverty. In the city of Houston. 31.3 percent of children under the age of 18 live in poverty. and 33.6 percent of children under the age of 5 live in poverty. The amendment will increase the Department of Housing and Urban Developments Policy Development and Research funding. This amendment will support work by HUD to inform tenants of their rights and responsibilities. Those who provide shelter to residents of publicly subsidized housing may own monthly family dwellings or a single home. A relationship between the tenant and the property owner is very important to the longterm housing stability of those living in public or subsidized housing. Many residents of lowincome communities may never have lived in a home of their own and may not have the knowledge or experience to know the basics regarding their obligation as tenants to abide by rental agreements or the obligation of property owners to maintain safe and pestfree housing. It is my interest to continue to press forward for more information to the many housing developments that I have in my congressional district. I think it is important to give notice to the Department of Housing and Urban Development that a better job can be done. With that. Mr. Chairman. I ask unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment. The Acting CHAIR. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from Texas?
Date: 2014-06-09
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I want to thank Ms. LEE for her efforts and her work in trying to restore funding. Mr. Chairman. this does not bring it back to the FY14 funding level. but it does help. I am so grateful that Ms. LEE took the lead to get this done. She worked with the ranking member and the chair of the committee. I want to compliment and thank both of them for working with Ms. LEE to get this done. Let me mention this about this program. The Fair Housing Initiatives Program. affectionately known as FHIP. has been of great benefit to persons who are being discriminated against. especially veterans now. We have a good many veterans who are coming back. They dont return the way they left. and they are disabled. Many times when persons are discriminating against people. they dont know that the person is a veteran because the person happens to be in a wheelchair. This initiative allows for housing entitiesNGOsthat are qualified and certified to actually do testing to ascertain whether or not this kind of invidious discrimination exists. When they do find that there is discrimination. most of the cases. about 70 percent. are resolved by way of reconciliation. There is not a lawsuit filed. There is a means by which people become educated. and they abide by the law. This opportunity for us to continue the program. notwithstanding the fact that it is not at the Senate level. it is not at the level that the President requested. but it is at an additional $10 million. and I am grateful to Ms. LEE for what she has done.
Date: 2014-06-09
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I ask unanimous consent that the reading be dispensed with. The Acting CHAIR. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from Texas?
Date: 2014-06-10
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. last month. this body passed H.R. 863. a bill I authored along with the gentlewoman from Tennessee . This bill would create a national commission to develop a plan for a national womens history museum on or near the Mall in Washington. D.C. This would be the first national womens history museum in our country and. I believe. in the world. It passed this body with a huge bipartisan support and vote. My friends and colleagues in the other body. Senators SUSAN COLLINS and BARBARA MIKULSKI. are working hard to pass this bill. and I hope their colleagues in the Senate will move quickly and allow an upordown vote. Passing this bill wont cost taxpayers a single dime. but it will be a valuable first step in honoring our Nations foremothers and inspiring future generations of women.
Date: 2014-06-10
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. on rollcall vote No. 286. I voted "yes" inadvertently. I would like the RECORD to reflect that my vote would have been "no." Ruiz Rush Ryan (OH) Sanchez. Linda T. Sanchez. Loretta Sanford Sarbanes Schakowsky Schiff Schneider Schrader Schwartz Scott (VA) Scott. David Sensenbrenner Serrano Sewell (AL) SheaPorter Sherman Sinema Sires
Date: 2014-06-11
Speaker: SEAN PATRICK MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. it is with great honor that I welcome Rabbi Eytan Hammerman of Temple Beth Shalom to the House of Representatives and thank him for serving as todays guest chaplain. Rabbi Hammerman leads the congregation at Temple Beth Shalom and is passionate about serving his neighbors in Mahopac. New York. A distinguished scholar. Rabbi Hammerman holds a B.A. and a masters degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City and a degree in political science from Columbia University. Before he joined Temple Beth Shalom in 2010. he served small and large congregations in Baltimore. Maryland. White Plains. New York. and northern New Jersey. in addition to serving as director of the Jewish Youth Philanthropy Institute here in Washington. D.C. Rabbi Hammerman has served the Mahopac community since he was ordained in 2010. and his leadership has united people all throughout the communityno matter what their beliefs or what their background. Not only a religious leader. he has long been a political advocate for justice and equality. and especially for a reduction in the horrible plague of gun violence we see in our country. He is joined here today by his wife. Rebecca. and his three beautiful daughters. Ary. Rena. and Ilana. as well as his mother- and fatherinlaw. Marjorie and Dr. Steven Hoffman. Not only a religious leader. he is also my friend. and I am proud to call him my friend. I hope you will join me in welcoming Rabbi Hammerman.
Date: 2014-06-11
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of the reauthorization of TRIA. the antiterrorism risk insurance program. which will soon expire. This is a vitally needed program that helps the economy of our country. It was put in place after the 9111 attacks. and it helped our country rebuild. After 9111. you could not get an insurance policy for even a hot dog stand in New York. You had to go to Lloyds of London. It was tremendously expensive to get any type of insurance. but this program did exactly what it was expected to do. It allowed us to rebuild. It had a government backstop. and it did not cost the taxpayer one penny. yet it helped us build jobs and rebuild our economy. We have so many government programs that dont work. This is one that did exactly what it was supposed to do and at no additional cost. We need to have a plan in place. so. God forbid. if we are attacked again. we have a plan of how to respond and how to rebuild. This is a program that has worked. and we need to reauthorize it.
Date: 2014-06-11
Speaker: MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New Mexico

Mr. Chair. I thank the gentleman for yielding. and I rise in opposition to the language in this bill that rolls back standards that ensure our children are being fed nutritious foods at school. As a former State health secretary. I want to refocus this debate where I think it belongs. and that is on health. What we are really talking about here is the health of our children. More than onethird of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. and more than 2 million adolescents are prediabetic. Mr. Chair. children who learn to eat nutritious food are more likely to continue those healthy habits as adults. The best place to teach children about healthy eating is where they spend most of their timein school. Mr. Chair. I urge my colleagues concerned about the cost of nutritious food to think about the cost of obesity and malnutrition and to think about our childrens future. My colleagues say that it is too hard. that children really dont like healthy foods. I agree that making change isnt easy. but we are going to have to invest some time and energy into teaching our children to make healthy choices. That is a change worth making. I thank the gentleman from California. who has been a real leader on this issue. and I urge my colleagues to support his efforts to fix the bill.
Date: 2014-06-12
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Madam Speaker. I am a longstanding supporter of S corporations. passthroughs. and small businesses. In my State. as well as around the country. S corporations are a cornerstone of the business community. These corporations span a broad range of industries and employ a large percentage of our countrys workforce. In my State alone. there are more than 235.000 S corporations providing more than 1.5 million jobs and bolstering the Illinois economy through their taxes paid. In the name of fiscal responsibility. the Republican leadership has justified refusing to help 3 million Americans. including 116.000 Illinoisans. who were unemployed through no fault of their own. Yet the Republican leadership abandoned its fiscal responsibility to balloon our deficit to $614 billion for permanent tax breaks for corporations while refusing to aid hardworking struggling Americans in the name of fiscal responsibility. My track record is very clear on my strong support of small businesses. My track record is also very clear that I cannot and will not prioritize over half a trillion dollars in deficit spending for business tax breaks and tell struggling Americans that they are not worth the expense. I very much want the small businesses in my State to benefit from the tax benefits contained in H.R. 4457 and H.R. 4453. However. I cannot support the Republican approach of unpaid for. permanent cuts for businesses while the needs of our unemployed and working poor go ignored.
Date: 2014-06-12
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank my friend. I really think this goes to the heart of the matter. because whether it was the R&D tax credit. the research and development tax credit. or the business expensing provision. I support those provisions. but I support doing them in a fiscally responsible way that doesnt add over $600 billion to our deficit and debt. How can we do that in a fiscally responsible way? But shutting down some of the unproductive special interest tax breaks in the Tax Code. Yet. the rule before us says we are not allowed to do that. We cant even have a vote. Mr. Speaker. on shutting down some of those special interest tax breaks. That is how far our Republican colleagues are willing to go to keep those special interest tax breaks. not even allowing a vote to close one of them to pay for an R&D tax credit. So what is this really all about? By running up our national credit card with these business tax provisions you add to the deficit. Then our Republican colleagues will be back here with their budget saying: do you know what. now that we have this big deficit youve got to cut funding for our kids education. which is what they did in their budget. you have got to voucherize Medicare. which is what they did in their budget. we are not going to have enough funds for our national infrastructure and our highway program. which under their budget goes dry in September. people out of work. So by providing permanent. unpaid for tax extenders in the business area and running up that deficit. they will come right back to us and say: Do you know what? Now we care again about the deficit. and here is what we want to do about it: cut early education. cut our investment infrastructure. cut the National Institutes of Health research into finding cures and treatments for diseases. That is why. Mr. Speaker. this is not a serious effort. The chairman of the Ways and Means Committee made an honest effort at tax reform. I dont agree with a lot of what is in his tax reform bill. but it was an honest. professional effort. That is not coming to the floor today. In fact. this bill before us runs directly counter to the chairmans own tax reform effort. just as it violates the Republicans own budget. So. lets get serious. Mr. Speaker. Lets deal with these in a manner that provides the incentives we want to businesses. We can do that by extending these on a shortterm basis while we work together to come up with a reasonable tax reform plan in a way that is responsible from a budget perspective. That is the way we should be doing the peoples business here in the House. Because we are not doing it that way. I urge our colleagues to vote "no" on the provisions that are before us. I thank my colleague. the ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee.
Date: 2014-06-12
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

My point of order is this: The gentleman said that I had voted on this measure before. That is not true. and so I am asking what my recourse would be.
Date: 2014-06-12
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

My inquiry is this: The gentleman from Washington. who is a friend. made a statement that is inaccurate. He stated that I had voted for the provision in this bill before. This bill provides a permanent unpaid for extension of business expensing. I have not done that. So my question to you is: What recourse do I have to set the record straight?
Date: 2014-06-12
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

My point of order now is. I have asked for a parliamentary inquiry to make it absolutely clear that I have not voted for a permanent unpaid extension of the business expensing provisions in the past. which is what this bill does and which is the root of my objection to this bill. that it runs up the deficit in the way it does.
Date: 2014-06-12
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I thank my colleague. Mr. LEVIN. As the gentleman from Washington knows. these issues come up every year as to whether or not we should extend certain tax provisions. in this case the business tax provision. earlier the R&D tax provision. Those are provisions that we support. but we support doing them in a fiscally responsible way. In fact. the motion to recommit we will have will also say we should extend them for one more year while we get our act together here. Mr. Speaker. and do it in a way that doesnt run up the credit card by $600 billion. which is what the Ways and Means Committee has done in a period of 2 weeks2 weeksafter spending days on the floor of this house a few months ago saying that the biggest threat to economic growth in the future was our budget deficit. 1l 1000 They say that 2 months ago. and then they waive their own rules to bring up these bills that increase our credit card debt to the tune of $600 billion total from what came out of the Ways and Means Committee. in violation of your own budget. That is what I object to.
Date: 2014-06-12
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

said so eloquently. raising this huge amount of deficit$614 billion. going towards a trillionand then the Republicans are going to come back here and say: wow. look at how much the deficit has increased. So you now need to cut these critical programs relating to the lifeline of all of the people in this country. the middle class and all who need some help. So I strongly urge a "no" vote on this bill. and I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2014-06-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise to speak on H.R. 4453. The Permanent S Corporation BuiltIn Gains Relief Act of 2014. Identical to a provision contained in the discussion draft of the "Tax Reform Act of 2014" released on February 26. 2014. the bill. H.R. 4453. reported by the Committee on Ways and Means. provides a permanent fiveyear recognition period for builtin gains of an S corporation. I support sound tax policy which allows small businesses in Houston to grow and invest in their peoplewhich is exactly what this bill would do. And supporters of the bills argue that they would eliminate a significant deterrent that can discourage Ccorporations from electing to be Scorporations and will provide additional flexibility for Scorporations to access capital by selling unproductive assets to finance expansion of their businesses. Of course Democrats support permanent treatment of Scorporation taxes but we must again take our Republican friends to task for not offsetting the cost of the bill. noting again that permanently extending six tax provisions that GOP leaders want to act on would add $310 billion to the deficit. Thats $310 billion which could go to Head Start. Student Loans. or feeding the needy. Because we are the party of Small Business. Democrats understand that by making the provision permanent. businesses have more certainty and they can make better. more fluid decisionsbut the process by which we are doing it is unseemly. But the GOP has made paying for every bill a prerequisiteexcept in this case. Where is the consistency. I ask? In moving forward with a permanent extension of a select group of tax extenders. the Majority is once again leaving to an increasingly uncertain fate critical provisions like the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. the American Opportunity Tax Credit. the New Markets Tax Credit. the Mortgage Relief Debt Forgiveness and the renewable energy tax credits. as well as the longrange status of the EITC and the Child Tax Credit. The Democrats Motion to Recommit would extend the S Corporation shorter Builtin Gains Recognition Period and Charitable Contribution Adjusted Basis for only two additional years. through the end of 2015. as opposed to the underlying bills permanent extension. It would prevent these tax cut extensions from permanently adding to the deficit. undermining comprehensive tax reform. and putting further pressure on the United States discretionary priorities. Mr. Speaker. I am prepared to vote for a twoyear extension but these bills must be paid forbecause if they are notfuture generations will suffer because of the unsustainable debt. Let us get back to being fiscally responsible.