macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-05-12
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I thank Ms. WOOLSEY for yielding me this time. It is a privilege to offer this resolution celebrating this resolution recognizing National Nurses Week. which ends today. Nurses have been called the patients first advocate. but their work also encompasses a wide scope of scientific inquiry. including clinical research. health systems research. and nursing education research. Every day. nurses make a commitment to providing quality patient care. growing and adapting to the new challenges that our changing health care system requires. I began my career as a registered professional nurse where I provided handson patient care for 15 years as a psychiatric nurse at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Dallas. Texas. This is why I remain a strong nursing ally today. advocating on behalf of the nursing profession to ensure that they have the means necessary to perform their jobs safely. with the best resources possible. I would like to thank my fellow colleagues. the gentlewoman from California and the gentlewoman from New York . who are also nurses and champions of this resolution and the nursing profession. The Congressional Nursing Caucus was also helpful in promoting this legislation. and I appreciate all of the efforts to generate support for the resolution. Nurses are a key component to our Nations health care system and will become even more vital with the full implementation of health care reform. Nurses work in emergency rooms. schoolbased clinics. community health centers. skilled nursing facilities. hospitals. physician offices. and on the battlefield. Their roles take many shapes from staff nurse to nurse educator. all while remaining committed to patient safety and working to influence the broader health care policy for the benefit of the greater good. Nurses are extremely dedicated individuals who must be intelligent and detail oriented. ready to act at the spur of the moment. A caring and compassionate heart is required for the tough work that nurses perform. usually under duress. As important as the nursing industry is. we still face a nursing shortage. Enrollment rose in 2009 for entrylevel B.A. programs. but the annual increase in student capacity in 4year nursing programs has declined sharply since It is imperative that we expand capacity in B.A. and graduate programs to sustain a healthy nursing workforce and provide patients with the best care possible. As we try to meet the demands of the nursing profession. we must also tackle the challenges related to the impact of faculty shortages on educational capacity. Increased Federal and State support is needed to enhance existing programs and create new programs to educate nursing students at all levels. to increase the number of faculty members to educate nursing students. and to retain nurses in the profession.
Date: 2010-05-12
Speaker: PATRICK J. MURPHY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Penn

sylvania. Madam Speaker. I thank the gentlelady from California. and also the gentleman from Minnesota. Congressman KLINE. my Republican colleague. thank you so much for your service to our country in the Marine Corps and for supporting this bill. I do appreciate it. Madam Speaker. I would also like to thank my colleague from across the aisle. Republican TODD PLATTS from Pennsylvania. He has been my battle buddy and my partner on this bipartisan bill. But his steadfast commitment to our Nations first responders is second to none. Weve worked on this bill together for 3 years now and today. finally. it will come to fruition. and its been an honor to partner with him. Madam Speaker. you know that this is National Police Week and Saturday is National Peace Officers Memorial Day. During these times of recognition and reflection. its critical that we pause and thank those who bravely and selflessly protect us and our families. But unfortunately. Madam Speaker. far too often we never get the chance to truly express our deep appreciation because too often a police officer. a firefighter. an EMS professional is taken from us too soon. Last year. in 2009 alone. 126 law enforcement officers and 90 firefighters were killed in the line of duty. They and their families gave the ultimate sacrifice. These heroes sacrificed their lives for the most noble of causes. serving their community and their country. And Madam Speaker. as so many of us remember. such was a tragedy 29 years ago when Officer Daniel Faulkner was murdered in Philadelphia during a routine traffic stop in Center City. Officer Faulkner served in the Army prior to joining the Philadelphia Police Department. At the time of his death. just a few weeks before his 26th birthday. Danny was working toward his bachelors degree in criminal justice at night. hoping to eventually work in the district attorneys office as a prosecutor. But because of the actions of a coldblooded killer. he never got that chance. Madam Speaker. it was his example of service. of valor and dedication that inspired me to introduce the Officer Daniel Faulkner Children of Fallen Heroes Scholarship Act. Under our legislation. if a child of one of these fallen heroes is eligible for any amount of Pell Grant money. they will become automatically eligible for the maximum grant available. In 2010. this means $5.550 to help pay for college and nearly $6.000 by 2017. This bill is in honor of Officer Faulkner and the thousands of other heroes. including 11 officers. 21 firefighters. and two EMS workers who have lost their lives in Bucks County. Pennsylvania. This bill is for Middletown Police Officer Christopher Jones. killed in 2009. for paramedic Daniel McIntosh. killed just a few months ago in March 2010. and for countless others who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Id like to submit for the RECORD the list of names of Bucks County police officers. firefighters. and EMS workers who did give the ultimate sacrifice. They are our communitys heroes.
Date: 2010-05-12
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Chair. I rise in support of H.R. 5116. the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act. My colleagues and I on the Committee on Science and Technology have held numerous hearings and markups to prepare the legislation that is before us today. It puts the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energys Office of Science on a path to double their research budgets. and its needed. It will prepare thousands of new teachers and provide current teachers with better materials and skills by reauthorizing the Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. It also reauthorizes grant programs to increase the number of advanced placement teachers in highneed schools and provides students in highneed communities with access to laboratory experiences. As women and minorities continue to be underrepresented in the sciences. the America COMPETES Act includes many provisions that will strengthen diversity in our Nations scientific enterprise. I am pleased that during committee we prohibited the consolidation of programs that serve minority institutions and students. I also applaud the committee for including the Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Act. which is important legislation that I sponsored for two Congresses. I also applaud many of the other provisions in this legislation that promise to ensure America COMPETES includes all Americans. These provisions will have schools around the Nation elevate their math and science programs so that they can achieve the standard exemplified by the School of Science and Engineering at Townview in Dallas. This school is rated the best in the Nation among public high schools and has been that for 10 years. Madam Chair. I want to commend Chairman GORDON and Ranking Member HALL for their hard work on this legislation. This bill was put together in a bipartisan fashion. It represents a concerted effort to create a more competitive science and engineering workforce. I support this bill. Madam Chair. and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of it.
Date: 2010-05-12
Speaker: HERSETH SANDLIN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Chair. thank you for the opportunity to offer this amendment to the America COMPETES Act. I am grateful to Chairwoman SLAUGHTER and the Rules Committee for making this amendment in order. Id also like to thank Chairman GORDON for his support for this amendment and for his nearly 26 years of service in this Chamber. I congratulate him on his hard work on this bill and wish him and his family the best as he gets ready to move on to the next chapter in his career. This amendment expresses the sense of the Congress that the National Science Foundation should respond to the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences and National Science and Technology Council regarding investments in facilities. and to make joint investments with the Department of Energy where possible. Currently. the NSF in investing in one such project with the Department of Energy for a joint facility in South Dakota. in response to the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences and National Science and Technology Council. The facility in Lead. South Dakota is known as the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory. or DUSEL. A deep underground facility will shield experiments from cosmic rays that interfere with results. The DUSEL in Lead will be the largest deep underground facility in the world. Russia. Italy. and Japan already have deep underground facilities. Lead is the home of the Homestake gold mine. once the largest and deepest gold mine in North America. The DUSEL will continue a long history of scientific exploration in the Homestake mine. which began with the solar neutrino experiments of the 1960s. Construction is already underway at the mine to accommodate this new 21st century scientific project of national significance. Preparations for a Large Underground Xenon. or LUX. detector are already occurring 4.850 feet below the surface. The mission of the LUX detector is to detect dark matter which makes up approximately 95 percent of mass in the known universe. This experiment will help us better understand the makeup of the universe.
Date: 2010-05-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chair. I rise in support of my amendment to H.R. 5116-"To invest in innovation through research and development. to improve the competitiveness of the United States. and for other purposes." My amendment amends Section 345(e) to mandate the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to report on the economic and ethnic breakdown of "Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics" (STEM) industry internship program recipients. At present. this section mandates the Director of the NSF to submit a report to Congress on the number and total value of awards made under this section. the number of students affected by those awards. and any evidence of the effect of those awards on workforce preparation and jobs placement for participating students. In my opinion. requirements for assessing participation of minority and economicallydisadvantaged backgrounds are conspicuously absent from these reporting requirements. and my amendment seeks to rectify this problem. Mr. Chair. facilitating links between institutes of higher education and the private sector is vital to ensuring that education enables a skilled and relevant workforce. Such links are especially important for minorities and underserved communities because these students often lack alternative avenues to connect their education with an industry. Internship experience is an increasingly vital component of a successful r6sum6. yet the unpaid nature of internships is costprohibitive for many people. As I mentioned. this amendment would mandate that the Director of the National Science Foundation (the organization that oversees this program) report on the economic and ethnic breakdown of this programs recipients. Such data will be useful to ensure that minorities and economicallydisadvantaged students have adequate access to internships that bridge STEM academia and industry. Indeed. I trust that this data will provide evidence of robust participation by minority and economicallydisadvantaged students. however. if such students are not participating. these reporting requirements will provide Congress with the data it needs to facilitate broad participation. Thank you again. I urge my colleagues to support this simple but important resolution.
Date: 2010-05-12
Speaker: DANNY DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H

amendment will ensure that the students enrolled in 2year. certificate. associate. or baccalaureate programs are eligible for STEM programs. It would also call for a report of agency approaches to increase minority participation in STEM careers. Once again. Mr. Chairman. this has been well reviewed. This is a good amendment. and I would recommend it for passage. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2010-05-12
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: Amendment No. 12 offered by Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California: Page 246. after line 8. add the following new section:
Date: 2010-05-12
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. this has really nothing to do with labor law. The question is whether the postdoctorate employees of the university who are involved in running these very sophisticated labs and experiments and research. whether or not they get the information that they are entitled to under the law. It only applies in those areas where there is an agreement. Many universities dont have this. some do. But the point of the matter is that if these young people are not able to provide for themselves. we are going to take talented people and they are going to leave the scientific field. They were given these grants because they are among the best grants in the country. They were peerreviewed. A decision was made that this is the science that is worth pursuing in the interest of this country in a whole range of fields. whether it is in space or energy or food. whatever it is. That is the point. Yet these people are among the lowestpaid people in the country. with the most education. with the most talent. All we are saying is give them the information so they can see if there is any restrictions on passing through a portion of. or whatever they can agree to. of the escalators that are built into these agreements. The university is taking its cut off the top without asking anybody. but somehow the postdocs arent even entitled to that information or the graduate students arent entitled to that information under the current policy. It is simply not fair. and it is going to be very discouraging to extremely talented people that we have placed a bet on. This legislation places a bet on the intellectual talent and the curiosity and the skills of these individuals to drive the next generation of innovation. to drive the next generation of economic growth. to drive the next generation of discovery. That is what this is about. That is what it should be about. But we cant do that by mistreating the very talent pool that is so critical to our success. This is just a simple request for information. It does not provide any additional rights to anyone that dont exist today. And I think it is time that we recognize the needs of these individuals. of their families. if we are going to retain them in the scientific endeavor of which they have spent most of their life pursuing. and they are obviously very accomplished at this and they are a vital. vital asset to this Nation. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. and I want to thank the chairman of the committee for his support of this legislation. The Acting CHAIR. The gentlemans time has expired.
Date: 2010-05-12
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Chairman. I thank the chairman for the time allotted. And what a wonderful bill. and I believe it is just going to really bring our whole Nation up. Today. we face so many mounting global challengesinternational security. reviving the global economy. health. environment. wars going onand American leadership in response to these challenges depends on national policies such as the legislation that we are debating today. The America COMPETES Act strengthens STEM education in order to prepare our future workforce to excel and to exceed in an international economy. Future generations ability to address 21st century global matters efficiently and effectively will depend on their preparation and their responsiveness to international affairs. Today. our schools lack some of the tools necessary to enhance United States competitiveness. essential to our economy and. really. to our international success. And so I firmly believe that our Nations leadership role in innovation depends on the education we provide in todays classrooms. In fact. one of my top legislative priorities is H.R. 3359. the U.S. and World Education Act. that has many of the types of things that this bill has. To this end. the amendment that I am offering today would include the membership of elementary school and secondary school administrative associations to be part of the Presidents Advisory Committee on STEM Education. My amendment would add language to include the expertise of kindergarten through 12th grade school principals and administrators to the Presidents advisory committee created under section 302. The amendment will strengthen section 302 by ensuring the valuable contributions of those who are in our kindergarten through 12th grade system. those administering that. so they can bring back their ideas and tell us what is going on. because evidence suggests that kids lose interest in STEM in those grade levels. So I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
Date: 2010-05-12
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. as a cosponsor of the House version of this resolution. I stand in strong support of S. 1067. This measure expresses the frustration of many members of Congress who feel that efforts to disarm the Lords Resistance Army and to bring its members to justice are progressing too slowly. The LRA is currently branded a terrorist organization by the U.S. government for perpetrating two decades of violence in Uganda. Sudan. Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Led by Joseph Kony. who proclaims himself the "spokesperson" of God and a spirit medium. the LRA is responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in northern Uganda and Congo and the displacement of 2.000.000 more. This resolution requires the president to develop a comprehensive strategy to guide future U.S. support across the region to mitigate and eliminate the threat posed by the LRA. It requires that the strategy include a plan to bolster the efforts of the United Nations and regional governments with the goal of protecting civilians and strengthening regional institutions. Additionally. the resolution recommends that an interagency framework be developed to plan. coordinate and review the diplomatic. economic. intelligence and military elements of U.S. policy across the region. Finally. the measure expresses the sense of Congress that $10 million should be provided in FY 2011 for assistance to the Democratic Republic of Congo. southern Sudan. and Central African Republic to help them respond to the humanitarian needs of populations directly affected by the activity of the Lords Resistance Army. For 20 years. the LRA has led a bloody campaign of murder. abduction. sexual enslavement and mutilation across central Africa. I ask my colleagues to join me in helping to establish a stable and lasting peace in northern Uganda and other areas affected by the LRA.
Date: 2010-05-13
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. I rise today to honor Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. As the Representative of the 47th Congressional District of California. I have a very diverse community. and a lot of them fall into the Asian and Pacific Islander American community. As a proud cosponsor of House Resolution 435. which celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. I would like to first thank the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus for recognizing the important contributions made by their community to our Nation. For the past 14 years. I have witnessed firsthand the rich culture and contributions that the Asian Pacific Islander community brings to my district in Orange County. The community is an integral component of Orange County. and we see leadership all over the place in Orange County from that community increasingly. as leaders in academia and the arts and government and the military and in the private sector. I would like to recognize all of the community partners and their outstanding service in the Asian Pacific Islander American community of Orange County and their continued efforts.
Date: 2010-05-18
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of H.R. 4491. the Buffalo Soldiers in the National Parks Study Act. I commend this legislation which directs the Secretary of the Interior to study the role the Buffalo Soldiers played in the development of the National Park System. It is time more information comes to light regarding the contributions Buffalo Soldiers made to protect our National Parks until 1914. Few know the story of how Buffalo Soldiers once patrolled Yosemite. Sequoia and Kings Canyon parks. As their service has been nearly forgotten. I praise this legislation which will ensure their efforts to our Country are remembered. Buffalo Soldiers remain an integral element in founding our National Parks. These American soldiers carried out mounted patrol duties in the Western frontier and were among the first park rangers and backcountry rangers patrolling parts of the West. Mr. Speaker. the Buffalo soldiers blazed the trails and paved the way for what we now call our National Park System. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H. R. 4491. the Buffalo Soldiers in the National Parks Study Act.
Date: 2010-05-18
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution recognizing the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the East Bay Regional Park District in California. and for other purposes.
Date: 2010-05-18
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
Date: 2010-05-18
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the gentleman from California for his comments. and what he said is one of the reasons why this park district has such a high level of support among its citizens. They voted many times to tax themselves. knowing this money was going to be wisely used and they were going to get a good and a fair bargain for all parties involved. At this time. I yield such time as he may consume to Congressman PETE STARK. another longtime supporter and beneficiary of the East Bay Regional Park system.