macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I yield myself 30 seconds. I appreciate that the gentleman wants to make this comparison between a public option and the private sector. Lets run down what happened over the last 10 years. The private sector took $100 billion in subsidies. and as they became the most profitable sector of the American economy. they couldnt give back any of those subsidies. While they were getting the $100 billion in subsidies. they were engaged in pricefixing. anticompetitive practices. briberies. conflicts of interest. improper disclosure. And. at the end of that. they needed a bailout. Sound familiar? Want to invest again?
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I yield myself an additional 30 seconds. Or. you can look at the public option here. The public option offered a product of equal value. very low cost. easy to administer. attractive to the people who used it. Major universities have used it for years with any problems. very complimentary about it. and it is in fact saving the loan industry at this very time because the private system has collapsed. I yield 4 minutes to a member of the committee. the gentleman from New York .
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Hawaii who has put an awful lot of work into the early childhood education section of this legislation.
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I just want 10 seconds to say that Im glad the gentleman mentioned the California EdFund. The EdFund supports this legislation. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Iowa . who was very involved in writing this legislation.
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentleman for his attention to this issue. I recognize that the Bank of North Dakota is an important institution in North Dakota and is different from any other lending institution in the country.
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

If the gentleman will yield. yes. I will work with you. as this legislation moves to conference. to ensure that State banks have a continued role in the Federal student lending program.
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu). a member of the committee. Mr. WU. Thank you. Mr. Chairman. Madam Chair. what is truly Orwellian is the distortion of argument presented by the other side in this debate becausedo you know what?-any bank that wants to make a student loan can continue to make a student loan. What will not happen anymore is making those student loans with a taxpayer subsidy. a subsidy where not only is there a guaranteed interest rate but where the deal is that the taxpayer keeps the bad loans and the private sector. the bank. gets to keep the good loans. Thats not going to happen anymore. Who is going to benefit? Students. I want to rise in support of this bill. not only because of the tremendous advances in student financial aidin Pell Grants and in working toward a better loan rate for studentsbut also because of the assistance to local schools to build safer. more energyefficient schools. which would be better learning environments. Also. it will return jobs. and it will be more energy efficient for local communities. So many of our communities are in urgent need of renovated schools. and recent estimates show that Americas schools need billions of dollars in retrofitting and repair just to have safe and healthy learning environments for our kids. The funds in this bill will also help our schools return money to our communities by saving energy and creating jobs. I want to especially thank Chairman MILLER for working with me to add seismic retrofitting. better storm water runoff systems and additional clean energy sources as permissible uses under this bill for our local schools. In a place like Oregon. where better. sound science has found that we have a much higher earthquake risk than we originally thoughtand that science has just come out in the last 10 or 15 yearswe urgently need the seismic retrofits and other safety measures. So I want to commend the Chair for working with me on this. I urge support for this legislation with all of its important components to create healthy and safe schools and also to financially assist college students through school.
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Chair. I believe that many of those facts just cited are in dispute but I just want to say this: We got off to a rather fast start this afternoon. and I want to take a moment just to thank all of the members of the committee who worked so hard on this legislation. and I want to thank the Rules Committee for making the rule in order. I want to thank the minority. I know they dont agree with this legislation. but I appreciate the work that they have done with us on facilitating the markup of this legislation and bringing it to the floor. I just wanted to acknowledge that. We kind of just got right into the bill. But I wanted to say that on behalf of all of the staffs that have worked together. Again. they dont agree on the outcome or the bill in this fashion. but we still have to work together to meet our obligations as a committee to this House. and I wanted to take time to thank everybody.
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: RUBEN HINOJOSA (democrat)
Chamber: H

for his leadership and efforts in bringing this legislation to the floor. Madam Chair. this bill provides many benefits to our schools and families across the United States. Especially in these dire economic times. H.R. 3221 provides muchneeded assistance. not only to make education more affordable and accessible. but also assist us to increase the number of degrees and certificate completion rates. Madam Chair. I want to thank the authors and sponsors. especially for recognizing the value of community colleges throughout our Nation. This legislation gives authorization to the Secretary of Education to award grants to States and territories for the construction of new community college facilities and for the modernization. renovation and improvement of existing facilities. This is a fantastic bill. and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Chair. I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Chair. just to quickly run through the managers amendment. in addition to the technical changes. my amendment would also refine provisions regarding grants authorized under title I of the bill. It ensures that services for veterans are coordinated with those existing under current law. and it provides educational financial assistance for children of public safety officers and other first responders killed in the line of duty. It creates a program to promote teacher excellence. and it requires the Secretary to consider a States financial commitment to early learning when evaluating certain grant renewals and specifies that Tribal Colleges and Universities are eligible to receive American Graduation Initiative grants. I would urge all the Members to support the managers amendment. I would also like to draw attention to one part of this legislation. and that is really the unprecedented $10 billion investment to make community colleges part of our economys recovery. For years. business leaders have told us that there werent enough workers with the knowledge and the expertise for their specific industries. Community colleges do and can play an even more significant role in addressing this shortage. This bill will help us build a 21st century workforce by strengthening partnerships among community colleges. businesses. and job training programs that will align community college curricula with the needs of highwage. highdemand industries. It will help provide community colleges with the tools to replicate programs that are successfully educating and training students and workers for these skilled jobs. And it will fulfill an important priority for the business community. which has continually understood the value community colleges have in training highly skilled workers and meeting local employment needs as economies change and move from one kind of economy to another. Thats why this historic initiative has strong support from the business community. including the Business Roundtable. The Business Roundtable recently wrote to me and to the members of the committee. "On behalf of the Business Roundtable. I want to commend you for inclusion of the Community College Initiative in H.R. 3221. This Community College Initiative and the Presidents American Graduation Initiative reflect the fact that community colleges have emerged as important institutions where acquiring skills for new jobs and new careers will take place � . . That is why the Community College Initiative is so important. For community colleges to reach their potential and become more effective. they need to increase graduation rates. adopt innovations to help them better serve their customers. and develop partnerships and closer cooperation with the private sector." For that reason. they support that provision of the bill. and Im delighted we worked long and hard on both sides of this committee with the business community to try to develop a program to strengthen our community colleges. Madam Chair. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I rise in opposition to the amendment. The Acting CHAIR . The gentleman from California is recognized for 5 minutes.
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I yield myself 2 minutes. What this amendment would do. while the author has talked about a lot of other things he doesnt like in the bill. this amendment would strike the school construction money that is in this legislation for elementary. secondary. and for the community colleges. I think this is a very important part of this legislation. Many. many Members have supported the efforts that we have had before to try to have the Federal Government help local communities address school construction needs. When we see now that the community colleges are under tremendous pressure because of the economic dislocation from the recession that has taken place and continues to take place in so many communities and so many families. as people are going back to the schools. we recognize the shortage of facilities that are there and what we are saying is this time we will lend a hand to those community colleges and to those K12. elementary and secondary school districts so that they can modernize their school facilities and make the investments that will save them money. As we see reports of schools making investments in solar and insulation and energyefficient buildings. what we see is a dramatic drop in the ongoing operating costs of those schools in terms of the utility bills that are really quite dramatic. We ought to do what we can to facilitate. We have the opportunity with this legislation to help facilitate local school districts meeting that demand. This also comes at an important time for these local school districts because. as you know. they are under siege from the loss of revenues in many local districts because of the economic downturn. In some cases they have had to postpone these projects even though they are desperately needed. They have had to postpone these modernizations that are desperately needed. And we know the fact that when children have the availability of a clean. welllit place. modern facilities. they in fact do better in school. It is a statement of values and also a statement about their community and their children. I would hope we would vote against this amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I yield myself 15 seconds. We should not punish local school districts or schoolchildren because a Republican President. George Bush. broke his promise to this country. to families. and to students and teachers when he failed to deliver on his promise of 77 billion additional dollars that school districts had to make up while living under No Child Left Behind. Lets not punish our kids today because a President could not keep his promise. I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from New York .
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in support of his amendment. I think he makes a very important point in terms of the priority that we have to give to those areas that have really received very harsh treatment in this economic dislocation. We know and we believe and the President has made it clear that community colleges are one of the engines to change those outcomes and to reinvigorate those local economies. So I strongly support the gentlemans amendment and thank him for offering it.
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I yield myself 1 minute. This is really sort of a redo of where we were with the previous amendment to strike the construction funds that would be availablein this case. the K12. The gentlewomans amendment. as its drafted. would. if they receive those funds under the Recovery Act. of which one of the allowable costs originally started out with the line item for construction. it became an allowable costif they received any of those funds. they would be ineligible to receive these construction funds. The fact of the matter is the record is starting to develop that very few if any of the school districts were able to use those funds for construction because of the fact of the cuts that took place in almost every State across the country where those funds have been used to try to mitigate the firing of teachers. to continue to try to develop a reasonable class size. and all of the other costs that were going as local school districts were really very hard hit in this economic recovery from the downturn in local revenues. in State revenues. And thats why this amendment is necessary. The opposition to this amendment is important so that these school districts can receive these funds to build clean. modern. and energy -efficient facilities. I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas .
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I yield myself the balance of my time. Its a very clever amendment. What it says is. if you got money from the stimulus package. you cannot get money for school construction. Mind you. the money in the stimulus package did not provide for school construction. It provided it as an allowable expense. But whether you used it or didnt. under this legislation you wouldnt get it because it was an allowable expense under that legislation. The fact of the matter is that we have far too many children in this country and every region of this country going to antiquated. outdated. unsafe schools. And the backlog for school modernization. for energy modernization. for trying to clean schools up and repair them and renovate them is as long as the road from here to the West Coast. And the fact of the matter is that this government has the ability to help those schools to do that. So that those children that youre worried about learning. we know that they learn better if theyre in a clean. well lit. warm place to learn. as opposed to a place where the rain is coming through. the lavatories dont work. the windows are broken. That sounds like thats extreme. No. thats the case in far too many schools all across this country in all different settings. We should reject this amendment. I would urge my colleagues to vote "no." The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Washington
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I want to thank the gentlewoman for offering this amendment. I know how hard she has worked on this problem and the impact that a BRAC closure can bring to all of our communities. Many of us have experienced that in the past and even again currently. I want to thank her for this amendment. and I would hope that we would accept it. We plan to accept the amendment on this side. and apparently the Republicans will accept it on their side. Thank you so much for offering this.
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman and Members of the House. this amendment should be overwhelmingly rejected. Not only does it destroy the Obama administrations initiative on community colleges. but it destroys what almost every Member knows. that as much as the community colleges are doing today. as many students as they help. theyre being asked to do even more. And the fact of the matter is we need them to do more. and we need them to do a better job. We still have too many students who are starting community colleges but are not successfully completing it. either with a certificate for a career or an AA degree or transition to a 4year school. whatever path they take. We have got to strengthen those pathways that those students take. We have got to strengthen the ability of the community colleges to make sure that they can provide that kind of opportunity. They are becoming the catalyst for economic innovation. economic change. economic revitalization and flexibility in all of our communities. And what the Obama administration is suggesting with this initiative is that we should help them do that because were vitally in need of their success so that people can change the careers as we move from one economy to another. As energy becomes modern and innovative and new. we need a different type of energy worker. We must defeat this Foxx amendment. We must stick by this initiative and support the community colleges. The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).
Date: 2009-09-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I demand a recorded vote. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII. further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from North Carolina will be postponed.
Date: 2009-09-17
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that. during the proceedings today in the House and in the Committee of the Whole. the Chair be authorized to reduce to 2 minutes the minimum time for electronic voting on any question that otherwise could be subjected to 5minute voting under clause 8 or 9 of rule XX or under clause 6 of rule XVIII.
Date: 2009-09-17
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank him for offering this amendment. Madam Chair. we would strongly support this amendment. As he is well aware ofand as. I think. most of the Nation isthe young men and women who have joined the Armed Forces over the last 8 or 9 years left this country to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere in the trouble spots of the world. Many of them left as high school graduates. some of them not high school graduates. They even left an economy that is very different today than it was when they left their homes to serve this Nation. Clearly. we want to make sure that they have the opportunities to integrate back into the economy after leaving the service on terms that are helpful to them. to their families and to their local communities. So thank you very much for offering this amendment.
Date: 2009-09-17
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentleman for offering this amendment. Its a good amendment and its important. These agencies have a track record in helping students and in helping the taxpayers with default diversion activities. but also. we look forward to their having an expanded role in financial literacy and in helping students as they contemplate going to college and. while theyre in college. helping them manage their debt and helping them make decisions about whether they need all of that debt or not and also as they leave. because this Congress. on a bipartisan basis. has passed a number of loan forgiveness programs and the income determinant repayment program. So the students really can start to see how they can manage the debt and make career choices at the same time. Unfortunately. many students dont realize it until they graduate. they really would have liked to have done something else. but they didnt think they could have that career and manage their debt. So these agencies are going to take on an even more important role for young people as they start and progress through college.
Date: 2009-09-17
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I want to thank the gentleman for yielding and thank the gentleman from Ohio. This is obviously a very important component of this legislation. His amendment substantially improves it. because the whole Nation is aware of the needs of dislocated workers. and certainly in the Midwest. where workers are leaving one generation of technology and seeking jobs in communities or seeking the next generation of manufacturing and technology. This is very important that they be included in these State plans.
Date: 2009-09-17
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Thank you very much. I rise in support of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act and the HimesMcCarthy- Schwartz amendment on financial literacy. Statistics from my State show that there is a staggering 50 percent drop between the number of persons that are high school graduates and persons that have a bachelors degree or higher. This is below the national trend. I represent a district with a large percent of underrepresented groups in postsecondary education. Preparation for a postsecondary education starts far in advance of a students enrollment in college. In fact. it is this preparation that got them accepted into college. The same should be said for student financial literacy in preparation for higher education. Our people as well as our country are benefactors of broadbased financial literacy initiatives. We are only as rich as our poorest citizens. Enactment of this bill will go a long way toward ensuring that our young people do not fall into the current adult financial trends. including delinquency in paying bills. maintaining high credit card debt. as well as not establishing budgeting priorities for the most needs basic. including housing and food. I encourage my colleagues to vote for this legislation and this amendment. The Acting CHAIR. All time having expired. the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Connecticut .
Date: 2009-09-17
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I realize that the BRAC process has a multitude of consequences for local communities. both those facing base closures and those dealing with base expansions. As we move forward. we can take a look at how we might assist these communities under existing avenues as well as in conference on this legislation.
Date: 2009-09-17
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I ask unanimous consent to speak out of turn for 2 minutes. The Acting CHAIR. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from California?
Date: 2009-09-17
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. it is now time. as the Chair has noted. to move to amendment No. 22 by Mr. SOUDER. My understanding is that Mr. SOUDER will not be offering that amendment and that he and the gentleman from Colorado have had discussions around this amendment. and they have agreed that we should work this out in the conference committee. I have agreed to their discussions. and they are pursuing those at this time.