macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 1998-10-14
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Remember just last year. during the State of the Union address. the President stood right behind where the gentleman is standing right now by just a few feet. stood here and announced to all of us assembled in this Chamber and also to the country that the era of big government was now over. signaling that he was now going to join hands with the Republican Congress and fight for a balanced budget. to fight for reduced spending. to keep us on that trend line that the Republicans had established asa longterm goal for the Nation. I think that the Republican Party has done a good job and the Republicans here in Congress have done a good job conveying the message to the country. and persuading the country that less spending is better. that more savings at home through tax relief and through smarter investments and a stronger economy is more liberating. provides more freedom for the American people and they have really sent us all a message. Republicans and Democrats alike. that we need to start doing some more belt tightening. that there is still a lot of fat in government. that we are still funding programs that we do not need. Yet. when the President came over just last week and said. wait a minute. this plan we had all agreed on up to this point of balancing the budget. of trying to set money aside for Social Security. for -other important purposes. is something that he does not agree with anymore. Heading into an election. just a month out from the election. he has gone back to his old ways and his friends over on the Democrat side. they are just joining him almost instinctively because now they are back talking their old language again. spend more money. spend more money. delay tax cuts. do not talk about paying down the national debt. do not talk about rescuing Social Security. do not talk about Medicare. Let us spend money right now while we have got it in our hands. That is the way they won elections year after year after year. I am just curious as to the gentlemans opinion. I do not think it is going to work this year. Does the gentleman think it is going to be a successful formula for liberal victories around the country? Do the American people really want to see this Congress spend more money?
Date: 1998-10-14
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

This is a point that I think many Americans are actually in tune with and understand. It takes a lot of hard work to shrink the size of this Federal Government. It takes a lot of hard work for the Congress to go do battle with those bureaucrats across the street and throughout the country to reduce the burden on taxation. to squeeze more efficiency out of the Federal Government. Every time we want to make some agency or some program do more with fewer dollars. there are a certain number of comfortable bureaucrats who are inconvenienced by that line of thinking. yet that is the way most Americans work every day. The farmers and ranchers who live in the gentlemans district and mine. they know what it is like to squeeze an extra mile out of the tractor. They know what it is like to. to put in a few more bushels in an acre by whatever way they can. Sometimes thats investing in technology or research or better seed stock or perhaps better fertilizer. what have you. But the American people understand continuous improvement. They understand continual efficiency measures. It does take hard work. The Democrats. on the other hand. they look at balancing the budget. tax cuts. more efficiency as doing nothing. See. they measure success when they were in charge by how much money they can spend. how much of somebody elses money they can spend on the charities of their choice. Our measure is very different and I think more in tune with the American people.
Date: 1998-10-14
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. let me pick up where the gentleman left off with the analogy of finding a wallet. When we get elected to Congress and we walk into the door. they give us one of these. We get a little wallet of sorts. Inside. this is a plastic card. This is our voting card. Many people do not know lhbw this works. There is a little computer chip inside of this one that says this is BOB SCHAFFERs voting card from the 4th District of Colorado. When we walk on the House floor. we put the card in the little boxes behind the chairs here. and we vote. When it comes to spending money. many of our Democrat colleagues and people over in the White House look at this voting card as some kind of a credit card. a remarkable credit card wherein we never have to pay back. We spend other peoples money. and we can spend and spend and spend. and we personally never get the bill. Instead. the bill gets sent to our children. Where we stand right now. $5.5 trillion in debt from using this card too many times. without responsibility or accountability. To the point now. when we divide that $5.5 trillion by every man. woman. and child in America. it comes out to a little over $20.000 per person. That is what has been the result of using this card with reckless abandon when our Democrat opponents were in charge of this Congress. The President downstairs is negotiating with the Congress right now. trying to see how long he can keep us here at election time. trying to see how many promises he can make for spending more money on programs that sound good at first. he is trying to persuade Members of Congress to pick up this card and spend again with reckless abandon and do it in a way that will push any prosperity that America is enjoying now on to future generations. We are determined to stand here and say. no. that we are not going to leave for home until we are convinced and able to stand proudly in front of our constituents and say we did our level best to continue this downward deescalation of government spending. that we have tried to raise the amount of revenue that the Federal Government generates. not through higher taxes. but through more economic productivity. That is our promise and our message and what we are here fighting for tonight. and the reason we are here now.
Date: 1998-10-14
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. I sure appreciate that. and I am grateful that we are able to maintain our good friendship in spite of the disappointment the gentleman is about to suffer when that contest takes place.
Date: 1998-10-14
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Chairman. that. by the way. is about 2 million American families which are no longer in welfare in the last 3 years.
Date: 1998-10-14
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for helping with the special order tonight to shine light on what has. I think. historians will record as one of the most productive Congresses in recent memory. We have managed to balance the budget ahead of schedule. We have managed to turn the authority out of Washington and back toward the States and cut taxes for the first time in 16 years.
Date: 1998-10-14
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. pursuant to House Resolution 589. I hereby give notice that the following suspensions will- be considered tomorrow. Thursday. October 15. 1998: H. Res. 597. expressing the sense of the Housewith respect to the Brutal killing of Mr. Matthew Shepard. H.R. 4829. authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to transfer administrative jurisdiction over land within the boundaries of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Historic Site to the Archivist of the United States. H.R. 1467. a bill to provide for the continuance of oil and gas operations pursuant to certain existing leases in the Wayne National Forest. H.R. 700. to remove the restriction on the distribution of certain revenues from the Mineral Springs parcel to certain members of the Agua Caliente and of Cahuilla Indians. S. 2500. to protect the sanctity of contracts and leases entered in to by surface patent holders with respect to coalbed methane gas. S. 2272. GrantKohrs Ranch National Historic Site Boundary Adjustment Act. S. 2133. to preserve the cultural resources of the Route 66 corridor and to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance. House concurrent resolution. correction in enrollment to H.R. 3910. H.R. 3972. to amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from charging State and local government agencies for certain uses of the sand. gravel. and shell resources of the outer Continental Shelf. S. 1132. Bandelier National Monument Administrative Improvement and Watershed Protection Act. And H. Res. 598. Steel Import Resolution.
Date: 1998-10-15
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. late last night the Republican Congress and the Democrat President arrived at an agreement on the Nations spending plan. Now our disagreement up to this time has delayed our adjournment by 6 days now. What were we arguing about. one might ask. Well. Mr. Speaker. we were debating the merits of spending a budget surplus. Now before we get on to details of the spending. let us talk about this surplus. See. Mr. Speaker. were it not for the Republican Congress. we would still be debating the travesties of deficit spending. But today we are not. And that is what Americans should keep in mind. From deficits to surpluses. from runaway spending to lower spending. from higher taxes to lower taxes. from bondage to liberty. That is what happened when control of this Congress went from Democrat to Republican. and that is what voters should remember when they go next month from their homes to the polls.
Date: 1998-10-15
Speaker: DAN SCHAEFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the House amendments to the Senate bill to extend energy conservation programs under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act through September 30. 2002.
Date: 1998-10-15
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 include extraneous material on S. 417.
Date: 1998-10-15
Speaker: DAN SCHAEFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself 5 minutes. Mr. Speaker. today. the House does consider S. 417. the Energy Conservation Reauthorization Act of 1998. S. 417 improves U.S. energy security by reauthorizing various conservation programs. It also reduces the energy- bills paid by low income consumers. cuts the energy bill paid by the taxpayers through improving the energy efficiency of Federal agencies. and promotes energy security by encouraging the use of biodiesel fuel to reduce dependence on the petroleum motor fuels. This is not a controversial bill. It passed the House on September 28 by a voice vote. and it had very strong bipartisan support. The original House bill was introduced jointly by the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Power. the gentleman from Texas . and was strongly supported by many on the other side of the aisle. When the House considered the bill last month. not one Member rose in opposition. The Senate approved an amendment to S. 417 that adds three sections to the bill. One section assures that the State of Hawaii has access to oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve In the event of a drawdown. Another reauthorizes a program that assists Indian tribes develop energy sources of their own. The final section provides for cleanup of contaminated thorium sites. I have no objections to the Senate amendment. The first section of the Senate amendment assures the State of Hawaii has access to oil supplies in the event of a Strategic Petroleum Reserve drawdown. The State of Hawaii needs assurance of access to oil during a SPRO drawdown because it is much more dependent on oil in other parts of the U.S. This amendment does not undermine the SPRO Of which I am very favorable to for many years. I have spent the last 4 years fighting to protect the SPRO against misguided attempts to sell off our Nations oil stockpile. I have done so to assure that the SPRO is available in the event of an oil supply emergency. I would not support the Senate amendment if it undermined the SPRO reserves. The Senate amendment also reauthorizes a program that provides grants and loans to Indian tribes to assist their development of energy resources. Many Indian tribes are in remote areas that are not wellconnected to the electric and natural gas transmission system. This program provides funding toassist Indian tribes develop energyresources. The new thorium section addresses concems about the adequacy of funding for -contaminated thorium sites. In the Energy Policy Act of 1992. the Federal government accepted responsibility for funding its fair share of cleanup at such sites. The Senate amendment simply ensures the Federal government continues to own up to its responsibility for thorium cleanup. I urge support for S. 417. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 1998-10-20
Speaker: LINDA SMITH (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Washington

Mr. Speaker. I reluctantly stand here in opposition to this bill because it breaks the balanced budget deal and spends an additional 320 billion out of Social Security. the trust fund that says you can trust us to put your longterm security money in and -we will spend that money for your longterm security. This bill has a lot of pork. And no. I have not read the 4000 pages. I do not think most Members have. But I know it saps $20 billion out of Social Security. Butworst yet. it charges to my kids and grandkids a bill that they are either going to pay with a loss of Social Security or they are going to pay it with higher taxes. because we do not have the discipline now- to say no to pork barrel spending. Worse yet. I just believe it breaks our promise. the promise the President made. the promise we made to save Social Security first. We did not put it first. We did not even put it second in this bill. I am not sure what place it takes. but it certainly is not first or second. Just three weeks ago. we faced the issue. of whether we would take money out of Social Security for tax breaks for the American people. and some Members on this floor were so smart. they said. if we do not give tax breaks. the liberals and the President will want to spend that on additional programs. and today we stand with them wanting to spend it on additional programs. I have here a part of the budget spreadsheet that we have been using. It showed we were going to take $37 billion out of Social Security in the last balanced budget. and this takes it to $57 billion out of Social Security. leaving nary a few dollars left for the longterm security of the people in this country. I guess what I ask Members is this: Please do not vote for this unless they have read it. Please reconsider whether we rob the Social Security trust fund. Let us keep our commitment to the American people.
Date: 1998-12-17
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I would like to comment on several remarks that have been made here. But before I do. let me just say that our fighting men are fighting for our constitutional privilege to do just exactly what we are doing here today. It is the Constitution that we are following. That is why we are doing it. The remark was made that we did not remove any generals during a war. I kind of recall MacArthur was removed by a Democrat administration during Korea. which I fought in. It did not bother the war effort at all. I also remember when I was a POW in Vietnam that there were people on the Democrat side that called for our Presidents impeachment. That process may have started. I am not sure how that happened. but some of those people may even be here today. When our president. George Bush. attempted to get involved in Desert Storm. every single Democrat leader voted against it.
Date: 1998-12-17
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. if the gentleman will yield further. let me just make another point. I think the President has just said that this military action that is currently going on could be openended. so we do not know when it is going to end. Furthermore. most of the veterans organizations around this country support us continuing. I have not seen a war in the past of any sort. whether it is a limited conflict or a total out war. that has stopped the Congress of the United States from doing its business. We can look back in almost any case. even the Civil War. where they were on the doorsteps of this building. I would suggest that it is important that we carry out the responsibilitie8 of this Congress under the Constitution of the United States and get on with it.
Date: 1998-12-18
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. we have heard the argument that our military forces are fighting. Do my colleagues know what they are fighting for? They are fighting to uphold the Constitution and the oath that we took and they took. As my colleagues know. when the President stands before God. puts his hand on the Bible and takes an oath to uphold the Constitution and lawfully carry out the duties of his office. he is promising to put the people and the Nation before his own interests. I believe the President violated the laws and beliefs he swore to uphold instead of following the law. respecting American peoples values and honoring his office. He chose to lie. cover up and evade the truth. His actions have made a mockery of the people who fought for this country and are fighting for this Nation today. the Constitution and the laws we live under. and because of the Presidents actions Congress must act as dictated by the Constitution.
Date: 1991-01-30
Speaker: M JURKOWSKI (republican)
Chamber: S

Mr. President. I am pleased to join the vice chairman of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs. Senator McCAIN. in sponsoring the Indian AntiDrug Abuse Amendments of 1991. Senator McCAIN has pointed out. but it is worth reemphasizing. that these amendments are aimed at problems not only of illegal substance abuse. but at problems arising from alcohol as welL Like other States. Alaska has serious problems of both substance and alcohol abuse. Among the Eskimos. Indians. and Aleuts. the graver problem is that of alcohol abuse and the tragediessuicide. family violence. infant mortality. and handicapping conditionsthat accompany such abuse. Mr. President. in testimony presented before the Select Committee on Indian Affairs during the last Congress. the statewide Alaska Federation of Natives described in very stark terms the conseQuences of alcohol abuse among Natives. calling alcohol abuse an epidemic of a new kind. a plague of our times. In rural Alaska. the Federation told us. "virtually every Native family has been affected by alcohol abuse and senseless death." In that testimony. it is Important to point out. the Federation also told us of its formation of a special commission to address problems of drug and alcohol abuse. of its own prohibition of alcohol use at functions it sponsors. and of the adoption of ordinances by nearlyhalf of the villages to -curb or end the use of alcohol Mr. President. what this legislation promises is assistance to efforts like those being made by Alaskas Native organizatons and villages. It is for that reason that I was sorely disappointed at the failure of the House of Representatives to act upon a similar bill which we passed in the Senate during the last session. -Two struggling programs which are widely applauded for the beginnings they have made would be special beneficiaries of this legislationthe statewide community selfhelp Raven project and the St. Marys village familybased alcohol recovery project. In addition. this bill would resolve a technical issue that has arisen in connection with a youth treatment center operated by the Tanana Chiefs Conference. In Its broader provisions and its reauthorization of existing programs. this legislation will help meet very grave problems in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Given the Senates approval during the last Congress. I am counting upon early action by the Select Committee on Indian Affairs so that it may be promptly brought to the floor again for approval.9 By Mr. McCAIN:
Date: 1991-02-27
Speaker: SIL CONT (republican)
Chamber: H

on many occasions. got the Republican and Democratic nomination. he was unopposed. He ran against himself. and I remember talking to a Democratic State chairman who said that they had a full house at the Democratic meeting in his town. and they were talking about some of the local problems. As a Republican. SIL CONTE walked in. everybody stood up and cheered. To them. Sn. CONTE was not a Republican. He was not a Democrat. He was SIL CONTE. He was the fellow that worked for us. He was the fellow that was always there. If everyone ever saw SIL CONT marching in a parade. they would think he got elected the day before he marched on that parade. He marched in every parade like it was his first parade. going from side to side. shaking hands. The energy that he had and the way that he greeted people. burnout was not a word in SL CoNEs vocabulary. He did so many things when he really physically. should not have done them. That was SIL CoTr . He fought the good fight. He loved life. He played hard. He laughed hard. I am sure that he is entertaining some of our people upstairs somewhere. I yield to the gentleman from Callfornia [Mr. MIN=wa1. . 1950
Date: 1991-02-27
Speaker: VANDER JAGT (republican)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. it Is with profound sadness that I join with my colleagues today in saying goodbye to our dear friend. SILvIo 0. CONTE. a courageous leader. whose outstanding public service will long be remembered by his many friends and admirers in the U.S. Congress and throughout this country. This body is only as great as its individual contributors and in SILvIo CONTE. we found a most valuable asset. a man worthy of respect and admiration. a man who inspired us all in his dedication to his fellowman and the public good. His service meant a great deal to all of us. and most particularly to the people who knew him best. -he people of the First District of Massachusetts. Simply put. he did a tremendous job. And he did that job with renowned wit and good humor. While others held back. SILVIO was.quick to stand up against waste and unnecessary spending. underlining. oftentimes in humor to vividly bring home his point. that each taxpayers dollar was valuable and that .he intended our Government to be held accountable for each and every expenditure. He was a constant source of inspiration to those of us de"termined to bring spending under control. and his leadership will be missed. Mr. Speaker. I join with all my colleagues today in sending our .most profound condolences -to Corinne Conte and *the entire Conte family. Thank you for sharing this very special man with us and the American people. His distinguished public service Is worthy of our utmost respect and recognition. I shall always remember him and I shall always be so grateful that our paths crossed. He and his work. his personality. his character made me a better individual and a better Member. By far one of SILS greatest attributes was that he never forgot from whence he came. He poesessed and exercised the finest and most basic family values. I am -honored and proud to have known him.