macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-02-26
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman from Colorado and the gentlewoman from North Carolina for their leadership. Mr. Speaker. I think you can look at me and understand the importance of the Federal Government. for when I went to school. those of us of minority status. African Americans and Hispanics. were not protected by our States. It had to be those in the Federal Government who indicated that no matter what you looked like. what your race was. or what your disability was. you had the right to equal education. That is what the Federal Government can do. That is what this involvement of the Federal Government is. It is to ensure that no child is denied an education. Yet. Mr. Speaker. we find ourselves today with a decrease in funding to education across America. Parents should understand that. with a 3.2 million student enrollment increase. this bill flatlines any increase in education. It does not support teachers. and it does not support highly qualified teachers in providing for them an incentive to teach. More importantly. my fellow students who may be called disabled. do you know what they do to them? They raise the numbers of those who can be sent to those classes that in the old days we called slow classes. so that they are not mainstreamed. they are just thrown over to the side. We stopped doing that decades ago. but this bill brings it right back home again. What the Federal Government does is it raises standards to allow States not to weaken standards. not to weaken the assessment process. and not to institute weak accountability systems. But that is what this bill does now. So my student who needs an opportunity does not have the support. and poor children. money is taken from poor children and recklessly used for something else. Why. Mr. Speaker. cant we make this a bipartisan bill and do what was done for me by the Federal Government? It gave me the opportunity to stand on the floor of the House today as an African American. With a history of segregation in America. the Federal Government said that I needed an equal education.
Date: 2015-02-26
Speaker: JUDY CHU (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. our current education system must be fixed. However. H.R. 5 is not the solution. As chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. I cannot support H.R. 5. This bill hurts the very children that ESEA intended to protect: children of color. children of poverty. and children with disabilities. H.R. 5 fails to hold States and schools accountable and to make students college- and careerready. Almost 5 million English language learners will suffer with limited funds and block grants. Wraparound services that are so critical for a wellrounded education are eliminated. H.R. 5 hurts our students and makes America less competitive. By contrast. Mr. Speaker. the Democratic substitute ensures that highpoverty schools and highneeds students get the resources and the support that they need. I urge you to vote "no" on H.R. 5 and "yes" on the substitute.
Date: 2015-02-26
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I was unavoidably detained by a meeting with law enforcement officers from across the Nation. and I missed rollcall vote No. 91 on the question of consideration of the resolution involving funding of DHS. If I had been present. I would have voted "no."
Date: 2015-02-26
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: Page 354. line 19. strike "two" and insert "three". Page 355. after line 15. insert the following: "(iii) Accountabilitybased programs and activities that are designed to enhance school safety. which may include researchbased bullying prevention. cyberbullying prevention. disruption of recruitment activity by groups or individuals involved in violent extremism. and gang prevention programs. as well as intervention programs regarding bullying.". The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 125. the gentlewoman from Texas and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Texas.
Date: 2015-02-26
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. let me thank the gentleman from Indiana for his kindness this evening as I have listened to the debate. I want to thank the ranking member of the full committee. Mr. SCOTT. and Mr. KLINE. who have worked diligently. We could not have come to the point of having Members amendments without the very hard work of Mr. SCOTTs staff. and certainly Mr. KLINE. So I thank both of them because of our great concern on this issue. Mr. Chairman and colleagues. this is a face that I am trying to help with my amendment. This is the face of children being bullied in America. My amendment supports accountabilitybased programs and activities that are designed to enhance school safety. including researchbased bullying prevention. cyber bullying prevention. disruption of recruitment activity by groups or individuals involved in violent extremism. and gang prevention programs. I will note. Mr. Chairman. that this amendment wants to support accountabilitybased programs and to acknowledge that every day in schools across America children of all kinds are bullied. One in seven students in grades K12 is either a bully or a victim of bullying. and 282.000 students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month. The Jackson Lee amendment also addresses growing concerns regarding violent extremism and the misuse of social media by militant extremist groups to recruit students and young persons. It really is about giving tools to schools to be prepared for the new. if you will. ills that are facing our children. which include cyber bullying. bullying based on discrimination. and peer advocacy. It is noted that when bystanders intervene. bullying stops within 10 seconds. 57 percent of the time. and bullied youths were most likely to report that actions that accessed support from others made a positive difference. I ask my colleagues to support this amendment and to realize that we can provide the skills and the tools for school districts to help in these very unfortunate circumstances for our children. Mr. Chairman. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2015-02-26
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. how much time do I have remaining? The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman from Texas has 3 minutes remaining.
Date: 2015-02-27
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to call out my Republican colleagues for abandoning their duty to govern and protect our national security. We are just hours away from asking 200.000 DHS employees who protect our country to go without pay because Republicans cant get their act together. A DHS shutdown doesnt protect us from national security threats. and it certainly doesnt solve our disagreements over immigration policy. This is nothing more than a tantrum. but even my 5yearold son knows that tantrums are a waste of time. It is time to grow up and govern. Will you listen to the extremists in your party who are focused on obstruction of progress. or will you listen to the majority of Americans who want us to fund DHS. want us to act on comprehensive immigration reform. and want us to govern like adults? I urge my colleagues to pass a clean DHS funding bill.
Date: 2015-02-27
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I thank my good friend from New York for the time. and my good friend. as well. on the Rules Committee. let me thank you for the time. We share time on the Judiciary Committee. He is a good friend. In this instance. I vigorously disagree and say that it is about the President. It is about the President on every term. from the Affordable Care Act to his reasoned. constitutionally premised response to the tragedy of undocumented individuals in this country over and over again. It is about the President. It is about the President when there is not one item that the President has put forward that you are agreeing to. Right now. let me change my story because I am here todaythough I wanted to honor a dear person who is in my district today. and I am not able to be there. I was leaving last nightbut because of this immediate crisis and the foolery that is going on. the ignoring of the words of the experts. such as the Secretary of Homeland Security. that says as an initial matter in a letter he sent to all of us. it must be noted that a potential shutdown of the Department comes at a particularly challenging time for Homeland Security. It is stunning that we must even contemplate a shutdown of the Department in the current global context. The global terrorist threat has become more decentralized and complex. The FBI Director said that there is an ISISISIL cell in every State. Mr. Speaker. the tomfoolery of Republicans is absurd. that they are willing to play with the lives of Americans. that they are willing to throw under the bus the thousands upon thousands of important. essential. and crucial workers in the Department of Homeland Security. The FBI said. under this new fusion of work together. that the Department of Homeland Security is crucial. In my district. people are coming up to my staff and asking. What is going to happen in Houstona place where. when we were in the midst of 9111. there were rumors about planes going to the energy sector. This is a foolish position that we are in. I demand that we vote for a clean DHS bill that is coming from the Senate. This is foolish. This is outrageous. I cannot understand what is going on with Republicans that they are. in essence. killing us here in this House. This is absurd.
Date: 2015-02-27
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I thank the gentlewoman very much. and I thank her for her commonsense explanation. Might I say. as a member of the authorizing Committee on Homeland Security. I believe. as we have just heard. that the Senate has passed a clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill that came out of these appropriators who did excellent work. In the name of the security of this Nation. I ask the Speaker to bring this bill to the floor of the House right now. I do so with headlines like: "Three Denver girls played hooky from school and tried to join ISIS." I do it in the name of the headlines of three arrested in Brooklyn who had intentions to do the Commander in Chief harm and many others harm. I do it also in recognition as one of the Members who was there. if you will. in the aftermath of 9111. who watched the forging of the Department of Homeland Security that put forward Border Patrol agents and TSO agents and ICE agents working with the FBI. All of those individuals will not be funded. Let me say to the hardworking men and women of the Department of Homeland Security: We will not leave you abandoned. but we will vote for a full funding of the Department of Homeland Security. We ask the Republicans why they refuse to address the national security of this Nation. putting political security over national security.
Date: 2015-02-27
Speaker: BRENDAN F. BOYLE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsyl

vania. Madam Speaker. I realize that I havent been serving in this body very longonly 8 weeksbut today is exactly the kind of day that drives most people nuts about Congress. Even though we all agreeSenate Republicans. Senate Democrats. in a more than 21 vote. House Democrats and House Republicansthat we need to fund the Department of Homeland Security. yet here we are a few hours before the deadline once again playing around with the security of the United States. Madam Speaker. we have a way to end this. We have the Senate bill in front of us. Let us adopt the bipartisan bill. get the Department of Homeland Security funded. and then we can move on and have this legitimate debate about immigration.
Date: 2015-02-27
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Let me thank the gentlelady for her excellent work on the Subcommittee on Homeland Security of the Committee on Appropriations and the gentleman. Mr. CARTER. To the statements that have been made on the floor. might I just chronicle a more correct. if I might say. articulation of really what happened. First. it is an applause and appreciation for the work done by the gentlelady from California and the gentleman from Texas. along with the ranking member and the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations. because they had 12 appropriations bills ready to go forward. What my good friends have missed on the other side of the aisle is they debunked the full funding of the Department of Homeland Security because of their ire against the Presidents authorized constitutional executive action. That is why we are here today. for no other reason than. rather than allowing the debate on a clean funding on the omnibus bills. the 12 that have come from the House. they took out the Department of Homeland Security and left it to the side. They took it out in the light of young women. as I indicated. Three Denver girls played hooky from school and tried to join ISIS. They took it out in the light of the FBI Director saying there is an ISIS cell in every State. They took it out in the light of the tragedies that happened in Paris. in Denmark. and have happened around the world in Australia. Boko Haram. they took it out. They took out that full funding of the Department of Homeland Security and skewed it by adding their contempt for the executive action. But then. lo and behold. what happened is a judge didnt rule it unconstitutional in Texas. That was not the order of the court. It was that there were questions that should be decidedit was actually a stayand that it should have gone through an administrative procedure. the APA. It did not rule it unconstitutional. but it was an action that caused. at least for the moment. a stay in the actions of the President. What does that say. Madam Speaker? It says that today we can come and give a full funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
Date: 2015-02-27
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentlelady. Madam Speaker. that order answers their concern about the executive action. In the meantime. we have every opportunity tonight. today to vote on a clean full funding of the Department of Homeland Security until September. because that is what the Senate did. They did their work. But now we are playing games. in spite of the letter from the Secretary of Homeland Security. and we are telling the Customs and Border Protection. we are telling the TSOs. the FAA. the ICE officers. all of them. we put a stop sign and said we no longer want to secure America. I ask for support of this motion to instruct. and I ask for full funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Lets do our job.
Date: 2015-02-27
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise to speak to the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security to let them know that many of us are listening and working very hard to make sure that the agency is fully funded for the rest of 2015. Tonight we will extend funding through for an additional seven days for the Department of Homeland Security. The fight was worth it. Next week we are assured that we will have a vote on a clean DHS bill that fully funds DHS through the end of the fiscal year. Democrats stood united and this was a battle for the American people and the brave men and women of the DHS who are dedicated to protecting the security of the homeland. Now is the time to put politics aside and put the interest of the country first. This is a step in the right directionprovided that we fully fund DHS for the remainder of this fiscal year when we reconvene for business next week. We cannot afford to continue the political games played by the Republicans when there are so many serious challenges facing our country from ISIS and other violent terrorist groups. Just this week FBI Director James Comey. while speaking at the Winter meeting of the National Association of Attorneys General. reported that his agency is investigating ISIS suspects in all 50 states. Next week Congress must take action. and send the right message to the men and women charged with protecting the homeland. Mr. Speaker. we must focus our efforts next week on the needs of the 170.000 DHS employees who will be required to work without pay if we do not find a path forward. These employees include members of the Coast Guard. Border Patrol. Secret Service. Transportation Security Administration and others on the front lines of Homeland Security. An additional 30.000 employees of the Department of Homeland Security will be furloughed and sent home without pay. A DHS shutdown would hit Texas especially hard. The local and state negative impact of House inaction is the forgoing of fiscal year 2015 grants that go to first responders. In 2014. DHS grants awarded to the city of Houston included $24.000.000 from Urban Area Security Initiative grants and $299.995 from the nonprofit program. In 2014. port security grants included: $1.810.826 for Harris County. $845.250 for the City of Houston. Programs intended to aid our fire fighters such as the one at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. which received a $1.493.340 DHS research grant last year are being hurt by House inaction on fiscal year 2015 funding for the agency. When Congress returns next week we must complete our work and fully fund DHS for the rest of the fiscal year.
Date: 2015-03-02
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of H.R. 280. a bill which authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to recoup bonuses paid to VA executives who knowingly falsified data on the treatment of our nations veterans. Last year. it was discovered that a VA hospital in Phoenix. Arizona falsified waitlist records for veterans to see a doctor in order to make it appear that the facility was meeting waitlist goals. This deliberate. and deplorable. action allowed VA executives to receive performance bonuses and awards. while veterans waited up to six months to a year for care. and it was reported that some died as a result. To date. the VA has paid more than $380.000 in cash bonuses to top executives at 38 hospitals that are under investigation for falsifying wait times for medical care. In response to the waitlist scandal. many members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have called for the VA to take action to recover bonuses paid to VA officials who falsified waitlist records. However. the VA has said it is uncertain whether it has that authority. This bill directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to require VA employees to repay. in part or in full. bonuses or performance awards in appropriate circumstances under regulations to be established by the department. This authority would apply to bonuses or rewards paid on or after the date of enactment and would not authorize the VA to recover previously paid bonuses. Furthermore. under the bill. VA employees would receive notification and be given a hearing at which they could contest allegations about their performance. The measure requires that an appeal decision would be final and not reviewable by any other agency or court. Our nation supports more than 2 million troops and reservists. their families. and 22 million veterans. including 32.477 in the 18th Congressional District of Texas. We have a responsibility to ensure that they will be provided the quality job opportunities they have earned. I cannot. in good conscience. allow VA executives who knowingly falsified data which kept our nations veterans from receiving proper care. to keep bonuses that they do not deserve. This money should be used to help those who have risked their lives to protect our freedom. not for awarding VA executives who shamefully put these veterans health at risk. I ask my fellow Members to support H.R.
Date: 2015-03-02
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 203. the "LongTerm Care Veteran Choice Act". which will help expand access to healthcare for our nations veterans. In 2014. it was found that some VA Department employees were responsible for deliberately falsifying waittime records for veterans medical appointments in order to create the appearance of reaching waittime targets. This falsification of records even resulted in the unfortunate death of several veterans who were forced to wait unreasonably long periods of time before receiving the healthcare they unquestionably earned. H.R. 294 is intended to prevent another unacceptable incident and to ensure our veterans receive the healthcare they deserve. H.R. 294 allows veterans to obtain health care at nonVA health care facilities if they live more than 40 miles from a VA clinic or cannot be scheduled for an appointment at a VA clinic within 30 days. Further. the bill increases the VAs capacity to provide health care services by providing expedited authority to hire more doctors and nurses and by providing for leases for the opening of 27 additional VA health facilities across the nation. This bill will also propose a three year pilot program which will transfer certain veterans to nondepartment medical foster homes if they are unable to live independently at the cost of the VA. It is our duty to make available only the best health care to our veterans. and I cite as an example the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston. The DeBakey VA Medical Center provides worldclass services to almost 130.000 veterans in southeast Texas and employs over 4.000 health care professionals. The DeBakey VA Medical Center has earned prestigious awards and accreditations for the quality of care provided. including: Accreditation from Joint Commission for hospital. longterm care. behavioral health care. home care. and substance abuse. Redesignation for Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Services by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Gold Seal of Approval in 2011 from the Joint Commission as an Advanced Primary Stroke Center. and Specialty accreditation by the American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation for its Clinical Neuropsychology Postdoctoral Program. Mr. Speaker. our veterans have given this country so much and we owe it to them and to ourselvesthat they have the best and most accessible health care services.