macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 1998-09-17
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

The bigger travesty is to consider all of the children who are robbed of an education opportunity. who are robbed of precious resources that could have. gone toward furthering their academic progress -by a bureaucracy that cares -more about .its paperwork and red tape and strings than the future of children throughout the country. . That is what we are trying to turn around. put the interests of children ahead of bureaucrats. But you know. I would like to try toanticipate tomorrows debate a little bit because this seems so simple. This seems like for those who are considering the whole path of a dollar that is earned by a local wage earner in some faroff community. and confiscated by the Internal Revenue Service. sent to Washington. D.C.. divvied up by politicians. spent by bureaucrats under the rules that they have written for themselves. and finally in the end sometimes less than 60 percent of it actually ends up helping anyone. This seems like a problem that we could all agree on. a problem that we could agree needs to be resolved. it needs to be fixed and fixed quickly. It seems to be a solution that we are proposing tomorrow in the Dollars to the Classrooms bill that is very. very simple. very. very commonsenseoriented. yet we are going to have a fight on our hands. Putting children first. as the Republicans will propose tomorrow. is not an easy thing to do in this Chamber because there are many other forces that come to play. And let me just suggest where I believe some of this opposition will come from. You see. all of these bureaucrats. they like their jobs. they want to keep them. and so they form associations. they form interest groups to preserve and protect their little empire. And then you have all kinds of administrators at the State and local level who actually enjoy the details of working through the red tape. It empowers some of these folks. and so they form groups and associations. and they hire lobbyists. and they collect dues. and they get involved in political campaigns and contribute to campaign coffers. usually on the other side of the aisle. and they remind people of that when it comes to these fights on the floor. And so you will have all of these groups and associations who want to keep the system confusing. They want to keep the bureaucracy receiving. in a position where it receives 40 to 50 percent of the offthetop value of every dollar that is spent on education. They like the system as it is. And we are going to have a real fight on our hands. It is hard to believe with the millions and millions of children around the United States of America. whose education future is at stake with tomorrows debate. it is hard to believe that those millions of children will take a back seat to the arguments that we will hear from some on the other side of the aisle. the Democrat side of the aisle. tomorrow. who will suggest that spending more dollars at the classroom level is somehow harmful to the country and for the education process. Confirm for me. if you will. do you expect this kind of fight tomorrow?
Date: 1998-09-17
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Before our colleagues walk on this floor tomorrow and engage in this debate. I would urge them .to do a couple things that they still have doubts about the importance and significance of this bill tomorrow. the Dollars to the Classroom bill. I would urge them to make a phone call back home in the morning before they come to the floor. Call your local school principal at the local elementary school or junior high school. Then ask the question: Do you think you can spend the money on a program designed to help the children you are responsible for better or worse than a Federal bureaucrat here in Washington. D.C.? Call your childs teacher tomorrow. Call the teacher and ask them: If you had more money in your classroom. do you think you could make the decisions that would result in a better education for the children in your charge than somebody in Washington. D.C. designing the rules and regulations and all the accountability measures with those dollars? Who can make the better decision? I will guarantee you that every Member of Congress placing those kinds of phone calls. asking those very simple questions. will hear the exact same response that you and I heard as we traveled around the country with the Education at a Crossroads project when we asked that question. When we asked that question of teachers and of superintendents and of school board members and of principals. those education professionals told us almost to the last one of them. cut the red tape. get the Federal Government out of my hair. give me the resources to do the job that I am trained to do and that I know to do. and get these people out of my way. Washington. D.C. They do not understand my neighborhood. they do not understand the children I am responsible for. they do not understand the issues that we have to deal with at our school. and they do not know how to spend the money in a way that is actually going to work. Get this bureaucracy out of my way and sit back and watch us improve dramatically the way we educate children in America.
Date: 1998-09-17
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

You know freedom is the operative word here. and you hit the nail right on the head. the freedom to teach and the liberty to learn. Let me tell you what freedom means with respect to the Dollars to the Classroom bill. It means that without appropriating a single additional dollar out of the education budget we will free up $2.7 billion that can then be spent on classrooms. Let me state that again. It does not mean that we are going to spend more money in Washington. D.C.. in the education budget. but it does mean that through efficiency mechanisms that you will find in. the Dollars to the Classroom bill $2.7 billion will be freed up to help children instead of being wasted on bureaucrats. That is what we are going to vote on tomorrow. $2.7 billion that will be liberated. freed from this bureaucratic nightmare in Washington and released upon the States in a way that those teachers. those administrators. those principals at the local level can utilize to do what they do best. and that is to help children.
Date: 1998-09-17
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

The interest groups that will be represented by some of our Democrat colleagues on the other side of the aisle is the National Teachers Union. the administrators associations. Those are the groups that will have real champions that they will find on the Democrat side of the aisle fighting very strenuously to prevent us from turning $2.7 billion back to the States and back to the children. The children have no lobbyists. they have no childrens association. they do not pay dues to an organization that hires- professional lobbyists to represent them here on the House floor. Those children are counting on you and I and others like us who will come to this floor tomorrow and will fight as passionately as we possibly can to make sure that that $2.7 billion is pried from this quagmire of bureaucratic red tape here in Washington and is redirected to those children who are counting on us back home. That is what real freedom to teach entails. that is what real liberty to learn is all about. that is what .Dollars to the Classroom bill is. what it represents. and that the real opportunity. the real opportunity that we have tomorrow. to place out for the American people real hope. real education reform and a program that is really going to make a difference for the children of America and allow them an opportunity to thrive academically and professionally eventually.
Date: 1998-09-18
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Chairman. whether we are talking about education savings accounts. opportunity scholarships. or block grants. what this is all about is who should benefit more. bureaucrats or children. Unfortunately. there are those who would prefer to see a bureaucrat get a paycheck rather than see a child get an education. This act provides more money and greater flexibility to the States so that local officials can decide how to spend these funds on their schoolchildren. Opponents say Statescannot be trusted with such a responsibility. Apparently they have forgotten that the Founders of this Nation placed the responsibility of education with the States. not the Federal Government. The Founding Fathers trusted their States. and I trust the Founding Fathers. Opponents also say this bill cuts the amount of money that will go to public schools. That is simply untrue. Millions of dollars extra. additional dollars. go to public school classrooms. The reality is that this bill reduces bureaucratic meddling. increases flexibility. increases funding. and ensures that more resources are spent on our children.
Date: 1998-09-18
Speaker: LINDA SMITH (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Washington

Madam Chairman. I think we are standing here today debating a philosophy of who we think knows best for our children. For me. is it bureaucrats 2.500 miles away from the classroom or is it the teacher. the parent. the superintendent. and the community? I am going to bet that the people in my State believe it is their families that know best. and I believe that this measure moves us closer to that. Now. it is not hard to know what my people want. because for 2 years I had a task force of public schoolteachers and the bottom line was this: They said. do not give us any more regulation. Get rid of the Federal programs. Get rid of the paperwork. The Federal Government is making us spend all of our money on administering Federal programs and Federal paperwork. Just give us back the money. Well. I trust the teachers in my district. in my State. more than I dQ the bureaucrats. too. This just simply says instead of us administering. managing. mandating education from here in Washington. D.C.. we are going to give 95 percent of that back to the classroom. I will tell my colleagues that my grandsons teacher can use that $400 a lot more than a bureaucrat can here in Washington. D.C. This is a great bill and I commend it to the body.
Date: 1998-09-18
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speakers table the Senate bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in the State of Colorado as a unit of the National Park System. and for other purposes. and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
Date: 1998-09-18
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. S. 1695. a bill introduced by Senator BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL. will begin the process to protect an important part of our western historical heritageThe Sand Creek Massacre Site. S. 1695 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a resource study of the Sand Creek Massacre Site located in Colorado and also determine the feasibility and suitability of designating the site as a unit of the National Park System. The study will include cost estimates for any necessary acquisitions. development. and operations. along with identifying alternatives for the management of the historical site. Mr. Speaker. this is an important bill which begins the procoss of conducting the resource study of a significant piece of our western history. The Senate bill was ordered to be read a third time. was read the third time. and passed. and a motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
Date: 1998-09-18
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. what a difference an election year makes. Just last year. most Democrats worked with Republicans to balance the budget and cut taxes. But how soon they forget. Last summer. they voted to cut taxes while we had a budget deficit. Apparently. according to Democrats. cutting taxes when you have a deficit does not threaten Social Security. but when you cut taxes in times of a budget surplus. suddenly they say that threatens Social Security. This is a classic. classic example of election year demagoguery. We see the Democrats embrace demagoguery over Social Security every election year as sure as night follows day. It is hard to know whether the Democrats are exploiting Social Security because they oppose tax cuts or because they just cannot resist scaring seniors yet again about Social Security. Lies about cuts in Medicare are now followed by absurd charges that what will happen to Social Security if people are allowed to keep a little bit more of what already belongs to them. What a difference an election makes year makes. Mr. Speaker.
Date: 1998-09-23
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I think a lot of people forget who is paying the taxes. It is the American citizens. For too long. the Federal Government has increased taxes on our families. our seniors. our farmers and our businesses. The Taxpayer Relief Act returns $80 billion to its rightful owners. the American people. and sets aside $1.4 trillion to protect Social Security. That is 90 percent of the total surplus. President Clinton calls this. "a gimmick to please people." Mr. Speaker. I urge Americans. do not believe him. The President has already proposed spending billions from the surplus on bigger government. He is the one with the gimmicks. President Clinton keeps forgetting the surplus belongs to the taxpayers of America. We can protect Social Security and give tax relief. Let us do it.
Date: 1998-09-23
Speaker: LINDA SMITH (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Washington

Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Idaho for yielding. She has been a great chairman. And I want to thank her staff. This has not been one of the easier bills. and I know that they did a lot of work in trying to negotiate the final principles and values in this bill. I want to talk about what happened in 1980 for a moment so we understand what brings us to this day. Mount St. Helens erupted in what was one of natures most beautiful events and also most devastating. It caused a 250mileperhour avalanche and high winds that destroyed over 150 square miles of forests. and it sent a plume of ash over to the eastern side of the State that was like nothing we have ever seen. In fact. it took quite a while to clean it up. But. after that. it took until 1982 to establish a monument. And in that process. we decided to protect 110.000 acres around the volcano for future recreation and education and research. This monument actually preserves this area. but it also has become a living classroom. Underneath this new beautiful park and living classroom. though. has been captured the mineral rights that were supposed to be exchanged in the original agreement in 1982 so that those that owned the mineral rights got mineral rights somewhere else or some compensation. Today. after all of this time. and this started in 1980. we are finally keeping our commitment to those that own the mineral rights to make reasonable exchanges for what is their property. So I again want to thank the chairman. I want to thank the staff and all of the members of our delegation who unanimously support this legislation in bringing us to this day. a long time. but finally fairness has prevailed and we. the government. are keeping our commitment to. those various landowners.
Date: 1998-09-24
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. right now. senior citizens are losing their Social Security benefits because they just want to work and earn a living. Right now. seniors can earn only up to $14.500 before they lose some of their benefits. This is an earnings limit that discriminates against senior citizens. Is it not outrageous to penalize seniors for working? The Taxpayer Relief Act would raise the limits and give essential tax relief to working seniors. It also sets aside $1.4 trillion. which our colleagues fail to understand. to protect Social Security. That is 90 percent of the total surplus. President Clinton does not want to help working citizens. He calls our plan "a gimmick to please people." I urge my colleagues. do not believe him. The President has proposed to spend billions from the surplus on bigger government. He is the one with the gimmicks. We can protect Social Security and give tax relief. Let us just do it.
Date: 1998-09-24
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I was unavoidably detained on rolicall No. 458. I ask that the RECORD reflect. that had I been present. I would have voted "yea."
Date: 1998-09-25
Speaker: JIM INHOFE (republican)
Chamber: S

and KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON as they diligently advocated for their constituents and their respective States. This honest debate is what makes it exciting to serve in the United States Senate. I was very pleased by the efforts of Senators SLADE GORTON and ARLEN SPECTER to address a very sensitive issue. while resolving it in a true Senate fashiona consensus which will prove to be beneficial to both sides of the debate. Throughout the last 12 months. my home State of Mississippi has received Federal support from the AIP to make needed physical improvements. A portion of these funds went to the Bobby L. Chain Municipal Airport in Hattiesburg to rehabilitate their existing runway pavement and lights. Other funds were allocated to the Jackson International Airport to construct a new taxiway and apron. These enhancements are needed. And this bill will ensure that the AIP will continue uninterrupted. AIPs reauthorization within the Ford Act will allow Mississippi to continue to receive funds for essential enhancements for the upcoming year. I look forward to working with the airport authorities in my home State to make sure that the right improvements are made at the right airports. This is about safety and about economic growth. No legislative initiation is ever possible without the dedicated efforts of staff. and I want to take a moment to identify those who worked hard to prepare the Ford Act for consideration by the full Senate.
Date: 1998-09-25
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I think some of us have forgotten that Social Security under our plan is paid for totally. Within the next 10 years. all our debt can be retired. Mr. Speaker. tomorrow this body is going to debate a tax relief bill that will ease the penalty married couples must pay under the current Tax Code. Right now in America. married couples pay more in taxes than two single people living together. That is just plain wrong. Why should we penalize the cornerstone of our society. the American family? We ought to encourage marriage. not penalize it. We also set aside $1.4 trillion to protect Social Security. That is 90 percent of the surplus. President Clinton calls this. and I quote. "a gimmick to please people." I urge my colleagues. do not believe him. The President has already proposed spending billions from the surplus on bigger government. He is the one with the gimmick. We can protect Social Security and provide relief for our families. Let us just do it.
Date: 1998-09-25
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. Mr. Speaker. I would like to respectfully point out that the gentleman from Massachusetts who just spoke ahead of me voted on the floor of the House to spend part of the surplus on agricultural disaster. If it is okay to spend the surplus that way. why is the gentleman proposing to punish farmers and ranchers by denying them tax relief now? I want everyone to listen to the Democrats rhetoric. They are forgetting one simple fact. that for 40 years the Democrats never set aside one penny to protect social security. Instead. they spent taxpayer and social security dollars on government programs. They are talking about 40 days from election. and suddenly they are concerned about saving social security. In this bill today we are protecting social security. and the Democrats are going to have a chance to put their money where their mouths are. In 1960. the Democrats said that we could not win the Cold War. We did. In 1996. the Democrats said we could not reform welfare. We did. In 1997. the Democrats said we could not give tax relief and balance the budget. and we did. They also said we could not and should not reform the IRS. Well. we did that. too. Now the Democrats say we cannot provide tax relief to families. farmers. small business. seniors. and protect social security. Once again. they are wrong. We will. This bill does set aside 90 percent of the $1.6 trillion surplus for social security. That is a lot of money. In return. we want to give the families. farmers. small businesses. seniors a break from high taxes. They deserve a break. Taxes are just too high. Let me say it one more time. I think people deserve a strong social security system and tax relief. What they do not need is for the surplus to stay here in Washington. D.C.. where Democrats and the President will steal it to create a bigger government. The choice is simple. taxpayers over bureaucrats. How can anybody argue with that?
Date: 1998-09-26
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. Americans are tired of being overtaxed just for being married. for staying healthy. for saving. for starting their own business or for producing food at our tables. I agree. the government has no right to take so much from hardworking people. That is why this bill is so important. It returns $80 billion to the rightful owners. the American people. This bill gives 48 million taxpayers relief from the marriage penalty. Millions of families will not be taxed on their savings. Farmers and the selfemployed will be able to deduct 100 percent of their health insurance costs. Seniors can continue to lead productive lives without being penalized and. guess what. several tax forms are going to be eliminated. The Democrats are wrong in this instance. They say these very people that do not deserve any of the surplus that you. the American people. created. Democrats say government should keep it and spend it to create new government programs. It is time to reward the American taxpayers. The truth must be told and scare tactics need to end. Social Security will be protected. Americans want. need and deserve tax relief. After all. it is their own money. Let us give some of it back to them.
Date: 1998-09-28
Speaker: DAN SCHAEFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill to extend certain programs under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act and the Energy Conservation and Production Act. and for other purposes. as amended.
Date: 1998-09-28
Speaker: DAN SCHAEFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
Date: 1998-09-28
Speaker: DAN SCHAEFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois . key sponsor of the bill. who has worked so hard on this. along with the gentlewoman from Missouri .
Date: 1998-09-28
Speaker: DAN SCHAEFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speakers table the Senate bill to extend energy conservation programs under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act through September 30. 2002. and ask for its immediate consideration.
Date: 1998-09-28
Speaker: DAN SCHAEFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on S. 417.
Date: 1998-09-28
Speaker: DAN SCHAEFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill to extend the deadline under the Federal Power Act applicable to the construction of a hydroelectric project in the State of Arkansas.