macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-09-13
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. the gentleman is right. As we discussed last week when we were putting this bill together. and we are fortunate that we have all 25 members of the Florida delegation as cosponsors. we are working together on this. this is not a partisan issue. We have some homeowners who were looking through the roof of their houses at the sky. The impact on those families in Florida is the same as the impact. without the widespread devastation. that they are feeling in the Gulf Coast States. But we wanted to make sure that Floridians do not get left behind who are suffering in the same way. I appreciate the gentlemans leadership and advice and guidance on helping to put that bill together. One of the things that I wanted to talk about tonight is where we go from here. which is. I. know. the direction that the gentleman from Florida is taking this discussion. There are some good things that have happened. in no small part. I think. due to the things that we have been pointing out over the last 10 or so days. Leader PELOSI has rightly called for an independent commission similar to the 9/11 Commission. Like the gentleman said. that would not be Members of Congress sitting around and talking to each other. that it would be. and certainly that would be bipartisan and would be balanced and fair. so the American people can have confidence in our emergency preparedness and disaster response system. Because of all of this that has happened in the last 2 weeks. that is what has been shaken the most. We have been building. since September 11 we have been trying to rebuild Americans confidence in the system. because when you have the Twin Towers knocked down. that was the biggest devastation beyond. obviously. the .tragedy of the 3.000 people who died there. was that Americas confidence was shakenin our ability to respond to those kinds of disasters. And it is 4 years in the making. a process that we restore confidence. we restore peoples ability to believe that we have some security here. While we may have made improvements on the terrorist and international risk preparedness level. clearly the domestic preparedness level. as the President admitted today. we have a 16t of work to do. Because we never can predict Mother Nature. and particularly because of where we live. we have hurricanes approaching our constituents on a regular basis. it is really disturbing. So J am glad that Under Secretary Brown did the right thing and stepped down. We called for it a year ago with our colleague. the gentleman from Florida . and. quite honestly. had he done the right thing sooner than that. then perhaps we could have had a prepared expert in place who could have responded much better to the results of Katrina..
Date: 2005-09-13
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. if you do not mind if I jump in. I want to just caution people listening. tonight. our colleagues. our leadership. because when.you have a disaster or anything of the proportion in size that Katrina was. it is hard to get your mind around it. especially if you have not been there. You now have direct. firstperson ability to relay and understand the depth of what happened. Most of us have only seen the aftermath on TV. The danger that we have in front of us is that with every passing day that Katrinas hitting is behind us. we are in danger of the American public and us as leaders becoming desensitized. The more it is on the news. the more we hear about it. the more we read about it. it is just the human psyche is such that you cannot have that raw nerve scratched every day and not steel yourself against it. With that desensitization. we are in danger of not having an appropriate response come out of this body. and we have got to come together. We come here every week and we stand up and we point out our xiery clear differences with our friends on the other side of the aisle. but it does not have to be this way with the response to Katrina. There are some specific action items that can and should be done in order to prevent ourselves from becoming desensitized. not just as policymakers but in the general populace as well. We need the press. We should commend the press from the floor of this body for the spotlight that they have shown on these victims and their reality because. quite honestly. without that spotlight being shown by them. without their piling into the stormravaged area. see no evil. hear no evil.. they would still be saying the same thing. and we would not have had the response and reaction that. quite frankly. we should have had right from the beginning. So I want to commend the press and encourage them to continue to do it. but we have some action items that need to occur. We need to get these people health care. We need to make sure they have access to Medicaid immediately. We need to get them food stamp access. We need to make sure that they have access to education and housing and not just farflung housing all over the country. If you lived in New Orleans. you do not need to. resettle yourself permanently in Utah. That is not what we want to have a policy direct these people to. We want to bring them back. We want to set up transitional and then temporary housing and then eventually get them into permanent facilities. whether it is facilities that they have assistance from the Federal Government or whether they be given the ability to help them to make their own purchases of homes. which would be a wonderful thing to see. That is what the leadership in this Congress is going to need to make happen. It is certainly going to be suggested by our side of the aisle. We need to make sure that we come. together and suggest it on both sides of the aisle. The reconciliation process should be suspended. There are a number of things that should happen. and we are going to continue to talk about that.
Date: 2005-09-14
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I am pleased that the Congressional Black Caucus has decided to discuss poverty. I am a cosponsor of H. Con. Res. 234 and would like to see the President present a plan to eradicate poverty by Hurricane Katrina devastated the lives of people who were already living well under the poverty level. I have concerns with the slow response and weak leadership of the Federal and State agencies. I have concerns that many of the affected States have Medicaideligibility criteria that are too harsh. I have concerns about our overcrowded and underfunded safety net hospitals. I have concerns that since our current President took office there are 5.4 million more people in poverty. 6 million more without health insurance. and the median income is down more than $1.600 a year. 0l 1615 As relates to these statistics. the most affected State is the home State of the President. Texas. What we saw on television during the hurricane was the face of poverty. People with resources left early. Only ones with the least resources had to depend on their government for a safety net. The safety net had holes that need repair. Denying minimum. wage to help with the cleanup and the Halliburton Company in charge. opportunities are dismal. Only the President can correct this. We still are being asked. was it racism? My response to the question: It is the face of poverty U.S.A. Was it racism? You answer the question. If it was. it did not start with Katrina. We need measures to eradicate poverty. Mr. President. let us not continue the trends of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. As We move closer to a rich and poor society with the middle income disappearing. I plead with all of us. and the President. to address this problem.
Date: 2005-09-14
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. would the gentleman please explain to me. because I quite do not understand it. I heard what he said about the Halliburtons of the world. But could he explain why minorities and women. the people that are most affected by this hurricane. cannot participate in the recovery.
Date: 2005-09-14
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Jdst a followup. Mr. Speaker. Can he give me the criteria. how they participate? Is it some kind. of campaign contribution? Is there some kind of criteria? I need to be able to go somewhere and tell my small businesses who want to participate how to participate. Whom do they have to write the checks to?
Date: 2005-09-14
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. on that question. I understand I cannot discuss their personal motives. but I understand that I can raise their names. . This inquiry should not be on the time of the gentlewoman from California.
Date: 2005-09-15
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. the House today is going to vote to create a special congressional committee on preparedness and response to Hurricane Katrina. My question is. why do we need a special committee? That is our job. anyway. We have a lot of committees in the House that are supposed to be doing that every day all year. What we need to do is see what happened. Let us have an independent commission to check both the executive branchs response and also the congressional branch. We need somebody to come from the outside and check both our test and our homework. Let us not have a sham or a whitewash.
Date: 2005-09-15
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. later today the House will have under consideration legislation to create a select bipartisan committee to investigate the preparation and response to Hurricane Katrina. This would be a good commission if. in fact. it was bipartisan. But it is not bipartisan in the sense that both parties do not have equal access to the information or subpoena power or equal numbers on the committee to do the investigation. Therefore. what we really need is a 9f 11type commission. The public overwhelmingly supports a 9/11 commission. an independent commission to look at what the failures were that led to -the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. an independent commission that can look at the administration. can look at the Congress of the United States. because both bodies. both entities. made decisions. The Republican leadership in the administration. the Republican. leader.ship in the Congress made decisions about resources. about talent. about personnel. about the deployments and all of the rest of this. The idea now that they can come and investigate themselves. and they alone can hold the subpoena power. is a horrible mistake on behalf of the victims of Katrina and the American people. It should be rejected. and we should have a 9/11type commission.
Date: 2005-09-15
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. for so many reasons my colleagues on this side of the aisle have articulated. this resolution should be rejected. Because it is neither bipartisan in terms of its authority. nor bipartisan in terms of its power. nor bipartisan in terms of its subpoena power. That will all rest with the majority. The question that must be answered is how is it that FEMA. which 5 years ago was a worldclass agency that was being praised by Republicans and Democrats alike. by local officials. by governors. by mayors. by the international community. who were coming and visiting and taking lessons from FEMA. how in 5 years was that agency so incredibly hollowed out that it could not respond to Hurricane Katrina? This President and this administration made some horrible decisions about putting political hacks and their cronies in charge of the agency that is in charge of the safety of the people of the United States. whether it is western fires. earthquakes. floods. tornadoes or hurricanes. He appointed political hacks. Is he going to investigate that himself. as he says? This. Congress. powerful Members of the Senate and the House. made decisions about using FEMA as a honey pot to take resources out of and divert them elsewhere. The Committee on Appropriations chairmen of both houses. the leadership. the Republican leadership of both houses. are they going to investigate that themselves? That is like asking Enron to investigate corporate ethics. baseball to investigate steroids. DICK CHENEY to investigate energy policy. It just cannot happen. and the American people know that. That is why. when they are asked on this question. 75 percent of the American people want a 9/11 Commission. They want a 9/11 Commissiofn because they saw that the 9/11 Commission was the only way that the citizens of this country were going to get the answers. not the answers the politicians wanted them to get. and that is what this bipartisan. phony committee is about. They want to give you the answers they want you to get. The citizens want the answers to the questions that they want to ask. The power in our democracy is with the citizens. and the citizens want a citizens committee. They want a citizens committee to answer these questions because the questions are going . to have to be asked of a Republican President. a Republican Congress. a Democratic mayor. a Democratic governor. a Republican governor and that simply will not be able to be done. The President has said he takes responsibility. The question that must be asked is: Did he act responsibly as the President of the United States to protect the people of this country? So far. the question is a resounding. no.
Date: 2005-09-15
Speaker: CORRINE BROWN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Chairman. I want to thank Chairmen YOUNG and LoBIONDO and Ranking Members OBERSTAR and FILNER for their hard work in bringing ths bill to the floor. The Coast Guard has been protecting our shores for more than 200 years. and has done an outstanding job. The Coast Guard was the first Agency to react to the terrorist attacks on September 11th. and within minutes was guarding our ports and bridges. and directing maritime traffic out of New York. Right now theyre in the Gulf region evacuating victims and cleaning up neighborhoods. And we now have a Coastie heading the recovery effort. Like many Members. I had major concerns when they moved the Coast Guard into the Department of Homeland Security because I feared that it would prevent them from doing their core missions of Search & Rescue. Drug Interdiction. and Enforcing Maritime and Fisheries Laws. We now know that they can also get caught up in the red tape of the Department of Homeland Security. and we need to keep the Departments feet to the fire. so they dont stand in the way of the Coast Guards traditional mission. Fortunately the Transportation Committee realizes how important the Coast Guard is. and we are providing them $861 million more than the Administration. This is just one more example of where the money being sent to Iraq could be used right here by our own Coast Guard. I encourage my colleagues to support full funding for the Coast Guard. Its simply the right thing to do for America.
Date: 2005-09-15
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I want to offer my strong support today for H.R. 889. the Coast Guard and -Maritime Transportation Act of 2005. Over the last several weeks the Coast Guard has been in the national spotlight for the outstanding work it has done to aid in the recovery and relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims along the Gulf coast. While the response of many agencies has been scrutinized. the Coast Guard has not been one of them. The Coast Guard has been responsible for saving 33.000 livessix times the number of lives the Coast Guard saved in 2004since Katrina hit. coordinating pollution. response with the Environmental Protection Agency. the state of Louisiana and local industries. and managing the megashelters in my hometown of Houston. Texas. where tens of thousands of the evacuees found relief following the storm. Coast Guard Lieutenant Joe Leonard and the units in Houston have done an incredible job in managing these shelters that received thousands of people a day in the days following Katrina. But relief efforts are just a part of what the Coast Guard does. The Coast Guard. which is a part of the Department of Homeland Security. is the lead federal agency for maritime homeland secu*rity. The Homeland Security Act of 2002 specifies five homeland security missions for the Coast Guard: ports. waterways. and coastal security. drug interdiction. migrant interdiction. defense readiness. and other law enforcement duties. With regard to port security. the Coast Guard is responsible for evaluating. boarding. and inspecting commercial ships approaching U.S. waters. countering terrorist threats in U.S. ports. and helping protect U.S. Navy ships in U.S. ports. The Port of Houston. which handles more foreign tonnage than any other port in the United States. is in the district I represent. and the Coast Guard provides the security necessary to protect the Port. as well as the people of Houston. Mr. Chairman. I would again like to thank the Coast Guard for its excellent work in the Katrina relief efforts. and urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Date: 2005-09-15
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia (during the re 6ding). Mr. Chairman..I ask unanimous consent.that the .modification be considered as read and printed in the RECORD.
Date: 2005-09-15
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Chairman. my amendment would have the commandant of the Coast Guard review and report on whether the currently authorized level of active duty personnel is adequate for carrying out all the Coast Guards missions. including its newly expanded homeland security missions. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina. we have seen how much our country relies on our Coast Guard. Currently. ther.e ire 2.400 Coast Guard members on the ground working on rescue and recovery efforts in the gulf coast. and to date they have saved over 33.000 lives. The Coast Guards contribution to disaster response is extremely valuable. and it is only one part of what the Coast Guards broad mission is. which includes port. waterways and coastal security. recreational boater safety. search and rescue. illegal drug and migrant interdiction. aids to navigation. and the protection of our natural resources. In the last couple of years. the Coast Guard security mission has grown exponentially as they work to secure our Nations ports. our ships. and the cargo. But despite these growing responsibilities. the Coast Guards authorized active duty personnel level is the same as it was in the early 1990s. In the "Department of Homeland Securitys Inspector General Fiscal Year 2003 Report" on the mission performance of the Coast Guard. the demand for experienced and trained Coast Guard personnel was cited as one of the major barriers to improving and sustaining mission performance. So we must ensure that the Coast Guard has the personnel resources to achieve their broad and their very complex security missions while maintaining high performance on all of their other missions. I would like to thank the chairman and ranking member and their staff for working with me on this issue. and I ask for my colleagues support of this amendment.
Date: 2005-09-20
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker. I rise today in support of the HEROS Act introduced by my colleague from Minnesota. and I want to commend him on this legislation. It is a good bill and it is an important bill. However. I must say that I am disappointed that we are not using this opportunity today to further strengthen the support we are providing to our men and women fighting in Iraq. Afghanistan. and elsewhere. We can and should be doing better As you heard. the bill before us allows the Secretary of Education the opportunity. the authority to ensure that those men and women serving in Iraq who have Federal student loans not have to make payments on those loans while they are serving overseas. while they are in combat. and while they are on active duty. But the problem is this: while they are on active duty. while they do not have to make payments. the interest payments on those loans continues to accrue and accumulate. So. then. that man or woman. the soldier. comes back to the United States owing a larger bill than wheii he or she was deployed. For example. if you left for Iraq or Afghanistan owing $20.000 in Federal student loans and you were there for a period of time. and your loan interest payments accumulated $2.000. � you would return home owing $22.000 instead of the $20.000 payment you faced when you left. That is why the gentleman from Ohio
Date: 2005-09-20
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I urge my colleagues to support this very important piece of legislation that extends the existing authorities and again congratulate the gentleman from Minnesota . I do want to underscore the fact that I thought we should use the opportunity right now to improve this legislation in the way I described. We are. of course. hostage to our own congressional calendar. but I do not think we should be holding our troops overseas hostage to that same calendar. The higher education bill. whenever it comes before the House. still has to go through a long process. It has to get through the House. as we know. it has to get through the Senate. and then it must be signed by the President. That could be months. It could be years. as we know. for this process. I do not think we should be asking the men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan to be waiting years while their interest payments on these Federal student loans are accumulating. It seems to me we should get it done now. We have an opportunity to get it done now. and I hope we will move quickly to deal with that situation. Especially if the Higher Education Act gets bogged down. it seems to me we should move quickly to address that discrete issue that we can handle by itself without all the other issues that are tangled up as part of the higher education bill. So. again. a good bill. I wish we had used the opportunity to make it a little better. but I urge my colleagues to support it. Madam Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2005-09-20
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I support House passage of H.R. 3765. This bill extends through December 31. 2007. the authority of the Secretary of the Army to accept and expend funds contributed by nonFederal public entities to expedite the processing of permits under the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbor Act of 1899. This program is popular and well received. particularly in the northwest part of the country. And I congratul te the gentleman from Washington . my committee colleague. for his attention to this issue and for securing todays consideration of this bill. The language in H.R. 3765 is identical to that which is contained in H.R. 2864. the Water Resources Development Act of 2005. which passed the House on July 14 by an overwhelming vote of 406 to 14. This bill should likewise receive strong support. Todays consideration of one section of this larger Water Resources Development Act should not be viewed as an indication that the largerbill will not be enacted this year. I remain optimistic that the other House of Congress will soon consider this vital legislation. particularly in light of the vital role of flood damage reduction. navigation. and storm damage reduction projects in protecting lives and property and enhancing economic wellbeing. The tragic events associated with Hurricane Katrina indicate how important our water infrastructure really is. However. the Senate is not likely to act on the broader legislation before the Secretarys authority to accept funds expires on September 30. just 10 days from now. By providing this extension. the program can continue uninterrupted. and I urge support of this bill. Madam Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.