macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-10-28
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. like my colleagues. I mourn the death of Major Owens. but I also want to celebrate his life. My purpose for rising tonight is to do just this: celebrate his life. Major Owens was a person of character who had a great reputation. I had the honor of knowing him through my chief of staff. who was his chief of staff for 16 years. In working with her. she explained to me all of the many things that he was a party to over the course of the years. not only here in Congress. where he worked on legislation to help persons who had disabilities. but also back in his home district. where he was a person who championed the causes of people who were in need. It means something to me to know that he has this great reputation. but it is equally as important for me to share with people that he did have character. When I met with him to discuss the hiring of Jackie Ellis. my chief of staff. because she was working with him. and he was contemplating some other things and moving. he explained to me how important it was in this body to keep your word. He explained that. among your friends and your colleagues. your word is the thing that will give you the opportunity to continue to have support in the Congress of the United States of America. His words about character and integrity are still with me. I suspect that because he was a teacherand as you know. teachers impact eternityI will pass on to others what he has done because he passed it on to me. and what his chief of staff caused me to learn vicariously from him will impact my office eternally. I am grateful to him. I pay tribute to him. I want his family to know that he has been a blessing to me and to my staff and to the people I serve. God bless you. and thank you. Major.
Date: 2013-10-28
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I rise today to pay tribute to our late colleague. Congressman Bill Young. Congressman Young was an extraordinary public servant whose legacy of caring for his constituents and veterans will not soon be forgotten. I am truly honored to have served alongside him in Congress. For more than four decades. Congressman Young championed legislation to improve the lives of Floridians and all Americans and never hesitated to reach across the aisle to find common ground. A veteran of the Army National Guard. Congressman Young used his expertise on defense and security issues to advocate for our men and women in uniform. Throughout his legislative career. Congressman Young worked diligently to ensure that our military had access to the training and equipment necessary to be successful in their missions. He also stood by our brave soldiers and their families at homemaking sure military retirees had access to health care. defending benefits for military spouses. supporting our wounded veterans. and honoring our fallen heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice. Congressman Young was a tireless advocate for Florida. In the 1980s. he established the first moratorium on drilling off the West Coast of Florida. and fought subsequent efforts to repeal this moratorium. Mr. Young also championed landmark legislation to protect the Everglades. raising his voice to break a deadlock amongst his colleagues. His work to establish the National Marrow Donor program and support for biomedical research is another example of how Congressman Youngs efforts will touch lives many years after his public service. I remember shortly after I was first elected to Congress. Mr. Young made it a point to reach out and share his insights with me. During our time together on the Appropriations Committee. I was so fortunate to learn from this experienced Floridian and great statesman. Congressman Youngs leadership and service to all Floridians will be truly cherished and forever missed. He never stopped working for a better nation and a better Florida. and for that. we should all be thankful. Our nation has lost a true champion whose legacy will continue to inspire generations to come.
Date: 2013-10-29
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. 1 year ago today. New York City and the entire eastern seaboard were ravaged by Superstorm Sandy. Entire communities were shattered. families were torn apart. and lives were lost. In New York City. the water level was so high it was covering cars. The Nations largest and busiest mass transit system closed down for the first time in a century. 81/2 million people lost their power and some still do not have it returned. and 125 Americans lost their lives. The gratitude I feel for all those who helped their friends and neighbors is hard to express. There were a great number of heroes and heroines. and we sorely needed them. On the Federal level. with the support of this body. FEMA has approved over $3.2 billion in funding for emergency work and over $1.4 billion in assistance to over 182.000 survivors. The Small Business Administration has approved $2.4 billion in lowinterest loans. The National Flood Insurance Program has provided more than $7.9 billion to policyholders. I would like to thank all of my colleagues and all those who stepped up to help during these difficult times. New York and others are deeply grateful.
Date: 2013-10-29
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

I thank the ranking member for yielding and for all her hard work. and I thank the chairman. Mr. Speaker. I rise in opposition to H.R. 2374. The bill would require the Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct yet another costbenefit analysis of a fiduciary duty rule. apparently in the attempt and hope of derailing a new fiduciary duty rule to protect consumers. The Securities and Exchange Commission has already completed a lengthy study on whether or not to propose a fiduciary duty rule for brokers. That study included an extensive costbenefit analysis. So. my colleagues. outside of trying to derail a new consumer safeguard. what could possibly be the purpose of requiring the SEC to do yet another costbenefit analysis on the exact same issue again? How about we just take the first one and make two copies? The rule also prohibits the Labor Department from even proposing a rule until 60 days after the SEC finalizes its final rule. And what is the harm. my colleagues. in allowing an agencyin this case. the Labor Departmentto release the proposed rule for public discussion. for public input? Since when has Congress been afraid of a debate? If my colleagues believe that the proposed rule gets it wrong. then they have every opportunity to say so. as does the public. as do businesses. and that is exactly what the public comment period is for. That is what happened the last time the Labor Department proposed a fiduciary rule. there were questions raised. They have recalled it to reconsider it. and they are withdrawing that proposal and working on a new one. If the SEC has a better idea for a fiduciary duty rule. then lets debate that one and have that released. but preventing an agency from even putting out a regulatory proposal for public debate is flatout dead wrong. This bill would delay and possibly derail important rulemaking at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Labor Department to protect retirement security and investor protection rights. This is a transparent attempt to slow down the rulemaking process and possibly derail the whole rulemaking process for protections for consumers. For these reasons. I urge my colleagues to vote "no."
Date: 2013-10-29
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Speaker. is that what they are really saying? Is that what American workers want to knowif I dont give you money. for which you can keep secret conflicts of interests that you have with the investment of my money. I have to give you my money anyway if I am looking for this investment? That is absolutely wrong. The American worker deserves better than that. These people work hard to make the decisions to try to save. to add to their 401(k)s. and you want to talk about. oh. we should educate them about the value of a 401(k) and about the value of an IRA. You can educate them until the cows come home. but if they know that somebody is stealing their money because someone can conceal a conflict of interest. all of that education wont make a damned bit of difference because the fact of the matter is theyve worked too hard to hand over their money to those conflicted advisers. That is what this bill is about. This bill would continue those conflicts. make every effort to delay and stop this rulemakingor we change the law. we go forward. we protect working families. we protect the retirees. and we make sure that the financial marketplace is free of these conflicts of interest. Again. I thank the gentlewoman for all of her effort on this legislation.
Date: 2013-10-29
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I am an advocate for consumer choice and appreciate the value of a variety of different business models in a competitive financial services marketplace. I also support full transparency regarding compensation arrangements and believe investors have a right to recommendations based on their best interests when receiving investment advice from financial services professionals. Consistent with these principles. the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Labor (DOL) are currently in the process of coordinating a harmonized "fiduciary" standard of care for financial services professionals offering investment advice to their clients. Rather than allowing the SEC and the DOL to complete their work. todays legislation would prejudge the outcome of the ongoing rulemakings and have the practical effect of delaying implementation of final harmonized rules to protect consumers retirement savings from conflict of interests and potentially deceptive or abusive practices. Accordingly. I urge a "no" vote.
Date: 2013-10-29
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself 3 minutes. Mr. Speaker. the amendment that I am offering along with Mr. CONYERS is the way H.R. 2374 should have been drafted. Instead of shortcircuiting the regulatory process on behalf of Wall Street profits. this represents the appropriate and balanced way forward to advise the Department of Labor in their current rulemaking on investment advice. First. Congress should not be in the business of shutting down any and all efforts by the Department of Labor to make rules for fiduciaries. The fiduciary rule is the cornerstone of pension law. It is what makes sure that. when you hand your money over to someone else to invest it for you. they are going to act in your best interest. Stopping any and all regulatory action to ensure that peoples retirement nest eggs are protected is irresponsible. My amendment would allow the Department to proceed. At the same time. it addresses concerns that have been raised with the Department of Labors proposed rules. Under my amendment. Congress would send a message to the Department of Labor that we want investors protected. not Wall Street brokers or advisers trying to protect their gravy train. This amendment makes it clear that the Department may proceed with better protections for retirement investors in a way that provides for unbiased investment education. ensures that underserved communities are not unduly harmed by basic financial protections for investors. ensures reasonable competition to advisers. and protects employee stock ownership plan appraisals. We want investment advice to be provided in consumers best interests. not in whatever way makes advisers and brokers the most money. Studies show that most Americans who save think their investment advisers are acting in their best interests. In fact. AARP found that overwhelming majorities of consumers thought all advisers were required to act in their best interests. But. in fact. they are not. under the current law. They are not required to disclose that they have a conflict of interest. With poll after poll showing that most Americans are worried about their retirement. they should have the confidence that their investment adviser is working in their best interest. and not conflicted in the advice he gives that person because he may receive additional fees or higher commissions because of recommending a product that is not in their best interest. This amendment is a nobrainer. It supports consumers and their retirement savings. It supports unbiased investment education. It supports reasonable compensation for advisers for the important duties they perform. This is a proper and balanced way forward. I urge my colleagues to support the MillerConyers amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2013-10-29
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself 15 seconds. I just want to say that it is an interesting concept that the only way the investment community can continue to survive and offer advice is if they can have the right to have conflicted adviceconflicted advicebe protected by the law. as opposed to representing the person that they are taking the money from to invest. I now yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan . coauthor of the amendment.
Date: 2013-10-29
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Do I believe that advisers have a fiduciary relationship to the people that they are taking money from to invest? I do. I think the law should reflect that. absolutely.
Date: 2013-10-29
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. let me get this straight. You can talk about the advisers having a fiduciary responsibility and obligation under the law. but then you can have the brokerdealers come in and close the deal. and they can provide conflicted advice and. in fact. conflicted productsin the best interest of this retired individual who is trying to invest their funds? Very clever. But this comes from an industry where we saw the banks sell a tranche of mortgages to their best friends and customers and then immediately bid against the success of that tranche of mortgages. So conflicted advice can be very profitable. They worked it to a faretheewell among the big players. Now you come in with your $100.000. your $80.000. your retirement funds. and you want to make an investment and you want some advice and you want to talk to a broker. and the broker says. Oh. yes. we have exactly the product for you. In fact. he or she has been told to sell this product. even though it is not the bestperforming product. it may not be a match for this couple. but it has the highest commissions for the firm and for the broker. That is what they do. What you are suggesting is that should be written into the law. that conflict of interest. and you talk about all the terrible things that happen. But when the adviser fiduciary study was done in 2013. 68 percent said the fiduciarythis is of the investment industry68 percent said the fiduciary standard will not reduce products or services. 79 percent said it does not cost more to work as a fiduciary. and 65 percent said the fiduciary standard will not price investors out of the market. So the industry says that. but you have a whole theory how this is doomsday for the small investor. It is just not so. What you are doing is protecting the right of brokers to give you conflicted advice about the investment of your money. and they knowingly do it. You are saying that the industry cannot continue unless they are allowed to continue to give conflicted advice. That is why we have conflict of interest laws. because we dont allow people to do this when they have a responsibility. We should vote for this amendment and vote against the bill. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2013-10-29
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Madam Speaker. I want to thank the ranking member for yielding. I hope that we have learned from 3 weeks ago. and that we are not easing down the road to brinksmanship once again. Every American will pay another heavy price if some of our colleagues are able to again trigger another shutdown of the government. I agree with President Obama that the full faith and credit of our country is not negotiable. If there are colleagues who are thinking about it. I would urge you not to do it. Dont create higher mortgage costs. Dont cause investors to lose on their retirement plans. Dont cause doctors and hospitals to wonder whether or not they are going to be paid for treating Medicare and Medicaid patients. Dont cause student loans to go up. Dont create anxiety for more than 10 million seniors who will be wondering whether or not they are going to get their Social Security checks. Dont create concern among veterans who will be wondering whether or not they are going to get their disability benefit checks. Anybody that might be thinking about it. I would urge you not to do it. Dont attempt to hold the debt ceiling hostage. I would say. as it was said in the Book of Isaiah. Come and let us reason together. because if we dont. then the whole country will suffer. Come and let us find the way to work in a way that our problems can be dealt with. I believe that we can do it. It has been done before. I thank the gentleman for yielding. and I end with: lets do it. Lets show the American people that we can work in a bipartisan way and solve the problems and meet the needs of the people of this country.
Date: 2013-10-29
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. in about 2 hours today. in Houston. at the Lakewood Church. we in Houston will honor the famed. the humble. and the especially loved Oail Andrew "Bum" Phillips. our favorite coach. Coach Bum Phillips of the Houston Oilers. our friend. my friend. We lost Coach Phillips October 18. 2013. at his home. his ranch in Texas. I offer to his wife. his son and daughters and grandchildren and greatgrandchildren my deepest sympathy. But I know. as he is honored this evening. there will be a celebration of his life. for Bum Phillips was the kind of characterbuilding leader that led young men into the most winningest franchise of the thenHouston Oilers. He did it because he had a championship spirit. and he had the ability to add quips to anything that you would ask him. When asked one time about Earl Campbell. he said. "What kind of class is Earl Campbell in? He may not be in a class all by himself. but it doesnt take long to call the roll." When asked about the Dallas Cowboys as Americas team. Bum said. "The Dallas Cowboys may be Americas team. but the Houston Oilers are Texas team." Tonight I know there will be many who will celebrate his life and the service he gave. I want to thank Mike Barber for organizing this great effort. I will miss being there. but Bum. I want to thank you. Coach Bum Phillips. I want to thank you for the joy you brought to Houston. the excitement of the team. the spirit of winning and losing. the fairness and the balance that you added to those young men that were under your tutelage. You went on to coach the New Orleans Saints. but you will always be special in our hearts. and I hope this body will offer a moment of silence for our dear friend. the Nations friend. Texas friend. Coach Bum Phillips. I thank you. Mr. Speaker. for allowing this tribute on the floor to this great American. Coach Bum Phillips.
Date: 2013-10-30
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I am very pleased to have heard some of the testimony of Secretary Sebelius and to understand that we should be in this business. all of us. in serving the American public to fix problems and make. in essence. things workput the wheels on. We are going to ensure that this Web site is fixed by the end of November. the beginning of Decemberthe same kind of problems that happened with Medicare part D. In actuality. rather than using anecdotal stories. let me tell you that the President was. in fact. right that you can grandfather and keep your same insurance. But if your same medical insurance was similar to a subprime mortgage loan that had no value whatsoever. as most Americans know. and you are getting an improved medical coverage insurance. then you get new insurance. As in California and other places where States have their own insurance exchange. we have seen a 29 percent decrease in insurance premiums. The real issue is what we are doing in sequester and budgeting and the loss of the researchers at the NIH. It is a disgrace. We need to get to work on serious issues so that we can put this country back to work.
Date: 2013-10-30
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to express my strong support for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In the past. no group has been more negatively impacted by rising health care costs than seniors. Because of the Affordable Care Act. some of the financial burdens have been alleviated. The Affordable Care Act has already helped to close the Medicare part D doughnut hole by saving 6.6 million seniors more than $7 billion on prescription drugs. It also provides a free annual wellness visit and coverage for key preventive services that many seniors avoid because of high cost. As for waste and fraud in Medicare. the Affordable Care Act strengthens the system and gives more effective tools to identify and remove the unnecessary costs. The Affordable Care Act not only provides essential quality care. it does so while lowering costs for our aging population. I am proud to stand with my colleagues and the President to support the Affordable Care Act.
Date: 2013-10-30
Speaker: MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New Mexico

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to honor and thank the brave men and women in law enforcement who risk their lives every day to keep us safe. In the past week alone. seven law enforcement officials in New Mexico have been shot and wounded. It is a pattern of senseless violence that has become all too familiar in this Nation. On Saturday. in Albuquerque. a man armed with an assault rifle and a bulletproof vest ambushed officers. stole a police cruiser. and led them on a dangerous chase. Three Albuquerque police officers and a Bernalillo County sheriffs deputy were shot. Thankfully. they are all expected to make a full recovery. But from that terrifying situation. stories of immense heroism and courage emerged. Officers sprang into action to resolve the situation quickly. prevent more harm. and help their brothers and sisters who had been shot. firefighters from a nearby station ran into danger to help the injured. and New Mexicans have stepped up to donate thousands of dollars to help the officers and their families during this difficult time. To the first responders in New Mexico and all over the Nation. from the bottom of our hearts. thank you.
Date: 2013-10-30
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Mr. Speaker. I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York . the ranking Democratic member of the Subcommittee on Capital Markets and also the former chairman of the Financial Institutions Subcommittee on the Financial Services Committee.