macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-09-08
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Chair. I would just like to close by reminding our colleagues on both sides of the aisle why these investor protections were put in place. We still have not recovered from the 2008 crisis where literally millions of Americans lost their homes. lost their jobs. and. depending on which economist you listen to. $15 to $18 trillion of wealth in this country lost and down the drain. I just came from a hearing of the Joint Economic Committee where testimony included a statement that this was the first financial crisis in the history of our country that could have been prevented by better regulation and oversight of our markets. I do not understand why anyone in this body would want to support rolling back investor protections. This merely keeps in place protections that have worked well for this country and for investors. I urge all of my colleagues to vote against this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2016-09-08
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I am really underscoring that my colleagues should vote against this bill because it rolls back investor protections. Why in the world do we want to roll back investor protections? We have heard some of my Republican colleagues suggest that. because the bill does not alter the securities laws regarding fraud. it has no bearing on fraud and will only help small businesses. This is wrong for a number of reasons. Let me try to explain this with a real life example. Robbie Dale Walker was a former police officer who was living with his mother in Dripping Springs. Texas. Mr. Walker approached his mothers best friend. Dolores "Pokey" Conn. and offered to sell her an investment in an oil and gas drilling program. Mrs. Conn was a 96yearold widow at the time of the solicitation. After gaining her trust. Mr. Walker sold Mrs. Conn an investment of $100.000 in an oil and gas drilling program. Later. he convinced her to invest another $100.000. Mr. Walker convinced two other individuals to invest an additional $55.000. In this case and in similar instances. State securities regulators often get calls asking whether an issuer or a dealer is selling legitimate securities. If the securities are not registered and have not filed a Form D with the SEC. the State securities regulators can warn investors about a potential red flag. In addition. the regulators enforcement divisions can open investigations into the matters. If title II of H.R. 2357 is enacted. the Texas regulator in this case would not be able to quickly provide a red flag to a concerned investor like Mrs. Conn because Mr. Walker would not have to provide any disclosures to investors or regulators. Although I dont doubt that the Texas regulator eventually would have caught Mr. Walker. the most likely outcome would have been that he and fraudsters like him would have been able to have run their schemes for several more years. further defrauding other seniors like Mrs. Conn. Today. Mr. Walker is serving a 25year prison sentence for this fraud. and Congress should not be making it easier for the next Mr. Walker to defraud another grandmother. Again. I urge a "no" vote on this bill. Mr. Chairman. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2016-09-08
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would like to respond to the chairman of the Financial Services Committee in that the point of these investor protections is to enable regulators to stop the abusive practices and fraud. as was being perpetrated on the friend of Mr. Walkers mother. Because they had disclosure requirements and he had not disclosed or filed with the SEC. they knew it was a fraud securities and were able to intercede and stop the fraud and arrest Mr. Walker. I feel that these rollbacks are really very dangerous to investors. and I cannot understand why anyone would want to make it easier for a "Mr. Walker" to defraud grandmothers in this country. Mr. Chairman. I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California . the distinguished ranking member. [ 1500
Date: 2016-09-08
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Again. I want to underscore that this bill is bad for investors. bad for the financial industry. and bad for our country. It moves us in the wrong direction. It treats investors terribly. They were treated awfully in the financial crisis where millions lost their jobs. millions lost their homes. and well over $15 trillion of private money evaporated from the economy of this great country. Now. investor protections are there to protect investors. I cannot understand any valid reason why anyone would want to roll back protections. some of which have been on the books since the Great Depression. Again. I urge a "no" vote on it. I would like to inform the chairman of the Financial Services Committee that I have no further speakers. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2016-09-08
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I include in the RECORD a letter from the North American Securities Administrators Association. where they come out strongly against this bill. They say that it shifts "policies in the wrong direction. weakening the oversight of our capital markets and placing retail investors needlessly at risk."
Date: 2016-09-08
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Again. I urge a "no" vote on this. I feel it is a very dangerous bill. but I would also like to point out to my good friends on the other side of the aisle that keep talking about the economy. and I would like to point out that when President Obama took office. this country was shedding 700.000 jobs a month. and because of his leadership and Democratic policies. we have climbed out of that deep red valley of job loss and we are gaining jobs. Since March of 2010. this country has gained 14.6 million private sector jobs. That is a lot better than losing 700.000 jobs a month. When President Obama walked into office. we were at 10 percent unemployment. We are now at 4.9 percent unemployment. I can assure you. no Democrat will be satisfied until every American who wants a job has a good American job. but this is a shift in the right direction of an improved economy. We have had well over 74 months of private sector job growth and. again. we are climbingwe would like to be doing better. but. again. it is a lot better than shedding 700.000 jobs a month. One of the ways that we grow an economy is by having safety and soundness in our financial institutions. trust in our financial institutions. trust that investors will be protected. and that is why I feel so strongly that this bill is going in the wrong direction. We should be protecting investors. not putting them more at risk. Mr. Chairman. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2016-09-08
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume to respond to my good friend on the other side of the aisle. Democrats certainly support expanding and growing capital markets and liquidity in the markets. I was one of the lead sponsors on portions of the JOBS Act. and I supported the JOBS Act. but I do not support rolling back protections for investors. The protections that are in the law now. that they are attempting to roll backwhich they will not be able to because the President has said he will veto itthese protections are not DoddFrank. These have nothing to do with DoddFrank. although I understand there will be a markup totally repealing it next week. so I have been told. But these are protections that have been on the books for decades. Title III. in particular. concerns a $2.1 trillion market. Now. that is not a small deal. $2.1 trillion is a lot of money. We just are recovering from massive rollbacks of regulations which economists say led to the worst economic downturn in the history of this country. Christina Romer testified before this Congress that the economic shocks at the time she was the head of the Presidents Council of Economic Advisers were three times deeper and stronger than the Great Depression. So I am mystified why anyone would want to roll back protections for investors that have worked well for people in this country. We have the strongest markets in the world. More people invest here. come here because they trust our markets. Why in the world do we want to undermine that trust? I would say that the best way to stimulate investment is to treat investors well. and that means strong investor protections. I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California
Date: 2016-09-08
Speaker: MAXINE WATERS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I simply want a little colloquy with the gentlewoman from New York about what she just alluded to. I think she said something about we will be faced with legislation very soon that would roll back all of the work we have done with DoddFrank? Did I hear her say something like that?
Date: 2016-09-08
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

As the ranking member knows. there is a bill before the Committee on Financial Services which would completely roll back DoddFrank. I was clarifying that these rollbacks have nothing to do with DoddFrank. These are protections that have been on the books since we recovered from the Great Depression. But. apparently. that is on the agenda. or so I have been told. I am not in charge. The gentleman across is the chairman. He knows the schedule. but I have been told that that will be before the committee next week. Mr. Chair. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2016-09-09
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. this Sunday marks the 15th anniversary of 9111. a day when we suffered from the savagery of mankind at its worst and witnessed the courage of humanity at its best. In our collective sorrow. I have never seen this body so united and determined to protect our people. to protect America. We found strength from one another. I am proud of the way my city. my country. and my colleagues responded. I am grateful for the privilege of working with our first responders. survivors. and families. and my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to pass the James Zadroga 9111 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act. so that anyone suffering from the wounds of 91 11 will never have to worry about the health care and assistance they deserve. It is in this way we remember and honor those who carry the wounds of that very dark day and who deserve the thanks of a grateful nation. It is in this way that we show we will never forget.
Date: 2016-09-09
Speaker: MAXINE WATERS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I come this morning rather stunned because I am witnessing comments by Presidential candidate Trump and Vice Presidential candidate Mike Pence that stuns me. Today I heard that Pence basically said that Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama in his country. And then. of course. Donald Trump is arguing that the Russians are not meddling in American Presidential politics. despite the fact he was interviewing on a Russian television station. What is going on here? Is this patriotism? I dont know why all of a sudden we have a Presidential candidate who is praising or talking about basically a dictator being better than the President of the United States of America.
Date: 2016-09-09
Speaker: MAXINE WATERS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield 31/2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York . the ranking member of our Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises.
Date: 2016-09-09
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Speaker. I rise today in opposition to H.R. 5424. While my good friend from Illinois. Mr. FOSTER. is going to offer an amendment that would remove two of the most problematic provisions. I. unfortunately. still have serious concerns with the remaining provisions in the bill. which makes changes to core aspects of a regulatory regime that has been very successful for decades. For one thing. this entire bill applies to more than just private equity funds. It applies to private equity funds. hedge funds. and commodity pools. So. as a threshold matter. this is not narrow or targeted relief. I also have a problem with the provision exempting private equity advisers from the Proxy Voting Rule for private securities. The Proxy Voting Rule simply requires advisers to have a policyjust a policyin place to deal with conflicts of interest when the adviser is voting on shareholder proposals on their clients behalf. Proxy voting is not limited to public companies. and conflicts of interest exist whether a company is public or private. So there is really no reason why private securities should get an exemption here. In fact. private equity advisers are even more likely to have a conflict of interest when they are voting on shareholder proposals on a clients behalf because the entire business model of a private equity funds is premised on the funds having a significant amount of influence. if not outright control. and. in some cases. they even manage the company. So a private equity adviser that is voting on a clients behalf would have a conflict of interest virtually every time it is faced with a proposal that is good for management. but bad for shareholders. Requiring a private equity adviser to have policies in place to manage these conflicts of interest is really not too much to ask. We are just asking for policies to be in place. While I think there are some very good things in this bill that are reasonable. I think too many of the provisions go too far. so I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill.
Date: 2016-09-09
Speaker: MAXINE WATERS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself as such time as I may consume. I will remind the Members that NANCY PELOSI. our leader. has weighed in on this pretty heavily. She doesnt weigh in on a lot of things. but she has put out an advisory here today titled: H.R. 5424. a House GOP giveaway to the shadow banking industry. We have from the administration that a Presidential veto will take place on this legislation should it get to his desk. This mornings debate illustrates Republicans misguided priorities. When we are here in Washington. the American public expects us to address the pressing needs of our Nation and not waste our time with Wall Street giveaways that the financial crisis taught us is neither prudent nor without devastating consequences. Why is it that the interest of Wall Street takes high priority when we return from our break? Why arent we talking about homelessness? Why arent we talking about Flint? Why arent we talking about Zika? Why arent we talking about Baton Rouge? I will tell you that there are those who think. perhaps. they have to take care of Wall Street. that it comes first. but I do not think so. I ask for a "no" vote on this bill. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2016-09-09
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker. I support the Foster amendment that has been offered by my good friend and colleague from Illinois. and I thank him for his hard work in responding to concerns that the Democrats raised. I thank Chairman HENSARLING for accepting the amendment and Congressman HURT for accepting the amendment. This amendment removes a provision in the bill that would exempt certain funds from the annual audit requirement of the custody rule. The custody rule is a longstanding investor protection that guards against outright theft of clients funds. so I think that is a very huge burden of proof if you want to even think about rolling it back. There are so many ways to comply with the custody rule. but this bill without the Foster amendment would allow certain advisers to be exempt from having an annual audit. from having an annual surprise exam. and the requirement to hold a clients securities at an independent qualified custodian. In other words. it would exempt certain advisers from all of the protections of the custody rule. I think that is a bridge too far. and I am so pleased that Mr. FOSTERS amendment would remove this provision. It makes it a much better bill. I still have concerns about the remaining provisions of the bill. but I think that this amendment is a huge step in the right direction. and I urge my colleagues to support the Foster amendment.
Date: 2016-09-09
Speaker: NANCY PELOSI (democrat)
Chamber: H

and STENY HOYER. and my good friend. JERRY NADLER. for being there from day one. Also. let me thank former Congressman Dan Lungren. who was the original lead sponsor of this bill going back several years. Let me also thank the 9111 families for the fact that they have never. ever yielded. They have never stepped back. They have always kept this issue on the front burner at a time when too many Americans choose to look the other way. I especially want to thank Terry Strada and the great work that she has done. Her husband. Tom. her fatherinlaw. Ernie. and her motherinlaw. Mary Ann. are very good friends. I want to again thank her for the job that she did. And her husband. certainly she is carrying on his name. and Terry. I thank you for that. This is essential. It is essential that justice be done. It is essential that 911 families have the right to bring action in American courts. As Judge POE said. this is the most basic constitutional right. This is an obligation. It is an obligation we. in the Congress. have to not allow foreign lobbyists or foreign countries or anyone else to intimidate us. Justice must be done. and we want to make sure that there are no more 9/11s. This is one more step we can take to show foreign governments they cannot step aside. they cannot walk away when something is carried out. where they are sort of looking the other way to make believe it is not happening. I am not prejudging the case. but the fact is the 9111 families have the right to have this resolved in court. and I am proud to stand with them. I want to commend my colleague. DAN DONOVAN. From the day he arrived here in Congress. this has been a major issue for him. The Zadroga Act and JASTA is what propels him and certainly has motivated me. So. again. I want to thank all the 9111 families for all the work they have done. It is a bipartisan effort. It is an American effort. and we can be very proud as we go into the 15th anniversary of the most horrible day in America that we have not given up the fight. We will continue to fight and we will win.
Date: 2016-09-09
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for all of his hard work on this bill and others. I thank Chairman GOODLATTE for his hard work in helping to bring it to the floor. I thank my colleagues from New York. Congressmen KING and NADLER. for their hard work. This is an important. important bill. and I rise today. 2 days before the 15th anniversary of 9111. to express my strong support for the passage of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act. The attacks of 9111 were acts of appalling cruelty. They targeted. knowingly and specifically. innocent Americans who just got up and went to work like every other American and were killed on 9111. Though the hijackers of those planes died that day. it is virtually indisputable that people who conspired with them in the planning. preparation. execution. and financing of those horrific acts walk the streets freely in foreign capitals today. In fact. they are protected by a peculiar interpretation of international law that shields them from justice in U.S. courts for terrorist acts on U.S. soil. This bill. a version of which passed the Senate unanimously. would correct misinterpretations of previous legislation and lower court decisions. and empower survivors and families of the victims of international terrorism to seek a measure of justice through our civil court system. This bill is needed because both the Congress and the executive have affirmed that civil litigation against terror sponsors. including governments. can have an important deterrent effect. This bill is also mindful of the concerns some have about its possible effect on sovereign immunity. For that reason. it is narrowly focused and applies only to attacks committed on U.S. soil that harm U.S. nationals. The attacks of 9111 were roundly condemned by people and governments around the world. so this bill is needed not just for the families of those who died in New York and at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. but it is needed by people around the world. We know we lost. roughly. 3.000 people on 9111. but thousands and thousands more have died since the attacks because of the diseases that they now have because of being exposed to the toxins down at Ground Zero. Now they are predicting that. roughly. 15 people a day are concerned because cancer is now in their bodies from the exposure. So our people are still suffering. Fifteen years is a long time to wait. This bill is needed. Justice. we need justice. I think it is a strong deterrent. I am proud of the United States Congress and the legislative body of this country for standing up and passing this bill. I strongly urge my colleagues to not forget and to support overwhelmingly this bill.
Date: 2016-09-09
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I love my country. and I rise today to pay tribute to those who lost their lives on 9111. It has been a very painful thing for those of us who love our country. But notwithstanding all of the pain that I and the many others endure. it is not the same pain as those who have loved ones who made a transition on that day. So today I rise in honor of those who made the transition. those who went forward when others were running away. I salute those who are willing to stand and secure this country. I salute the police officers. I salute the military. I thank them for their service. I also want to honor those who lost their lives. and I have great sympathy for those who survived and the family members. I ask for a moment of silent prayer. Mr. Speaker. I know that there are still people who are willing to go into harms way to make the ultimate sacrifice so that we can have a better quality of life in the freest country in the world.
Date: 2016-09-09
Speaker: TED LIEU (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. it has been 2 years since the people of Flint were able to turn on their faucets and get clean water. and Congress has not acted to help the people of Flint. That is a travesty and an injustice. and the issues since then have gotten even worse. not just for the people of Flint. but across America. Multiple reports indicate that now at least 29 States have issues with lead in their drinking water. We need an investment for infrastructure that is not only going to help people no longer get poisoned. but also create new jobs. That is why. on the House Budget Committee. I introduced an amendment to increase. by over $3 billion. the funding to the States Clean Water Revolving Fund to help local municipalities upgrade and replace lead pipes. There is now new technology such as plastic PVC pipes that do not leach lead that are safe. They are less expensive. Cities and municipalities and States across the Nation should be investing in plastic pipes to deliver leadfree water to our residents. It is my hope that Congress acts on this soon.
Date: 2001-01-06
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: S
State: Texas

Mr. President. I rise on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus to object to the 25 electoral votes from Florida.