macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-06-19
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. House Resolution 283 is a rule that provides for the consideration of H.R. 660. the Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2003. The resolution makes in order a minority party substitute that provides ample opportunity to discuss this important legislation before us. while addressing certainly the concerns of our colleagues on the other side of the.aisle. The rule provides 1 hour of general debate. evenly divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. This is a bipartisan bill. In fact. the legislation has 162 cosponsors on a bipartisan basis. and many. many groups that are interested in this issue are supporting this legislation. H.R. 660 was introduced by the gentleman from Kentucky . It has the strong support of the Speaker. of the Committee on Small Business chairman. the gentleman from Illinois
Date: 2003-06-19
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. the legislation that we are bringing to the floor today. what it does is that it gives small businesses the ability to come together and have the purchasing power and the leverage. if you will. that currently only large corporations have with the concept. with the goal of bringing down health care costs and offering products. offering health insurance. to those workers who work the overwhelming majority of workers in the United States who work for small businesses. That is what we are trying to do. I heard my friend on the other side of the aisle say that they have other ideas. Well. we granted the Democrats the ability to bring forth to the floor today their substitute. and so let the debate begin. And if the membership believes that concerns are better addressed in their substitute. the membership may be swayed to support the substitute. We happen to believe our legislation is better. But that is why we will have this debate. So we granted the substitute. And we strongly believe that small businesses should have that ability to come together across State lines and acquire much more leverage and much.more purchasing power when they are trying to provide health insurance for their workers. That is what we are trying to do today. So we hear all sorts of things because we live in a wonderful democracy and everything can be brought out under the sun. But that is what we are trying to do. We are trying to lower health care costs. We are trying to provide health insurance to more people in this country by permitting small businesses to come together. That is what we are frying to do today. Democrats say they have a better idea. That is why we granted -their substitute. We do not happen to believe they have a better idea. but we allowed the debate. After hearing all sorts of confusing things. I wanted to. in case somebody is listening to the debate. get back to what we are actually trying to do. Mr. Speaker. We think it is a fair rule. We think it is fair in this case to provide the opportunity to debate by making in order the minority partys substitute and we think we have a good product. A lot of Members have worked hard on this product. So we want to get to the debate and we would urge support for the rule by the membership. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2003-06-19
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. the underlying legislation that we are bringing to the floor today is very important. as I stated before. We believe in small business. We believe in the fact that the overwhelming majority of workers in this country work in small businesses. and we want to incentivate those small businesses in providing health care. health insurance to their workers. I think it is important to reduce the over 40 million number of workers in this country who do not have insurance. We think we are going to do so in a significant way with this legislation. With regards to some of the allegations my friend from Texas. the previous speaker. said with regard to the low income tax credit. we passed that last week and we really do not believe. her words were. "a white whale" we passed. We do not think it is a white whale to pass the legislation that we passed. We do not think it is a white whale to include. as we did. tax breaks for military families. We do not think it is a whale to include tax breaks. as we did. for victims of the Shuttle crash tragedy. We do not think it is a whale to extend. as we did last week. in precisely the low income tax credit legislation. the child tax credit until the year 2010. We do not believe that is a whale. We believe it is important legislation. But back to the point of what we are doing this week. because that we did last week. despite the fact that our friends on the other side of the aisle voted against it. but it is a free country. What we are doing this week is bringing forth with this rule. that permits the Democratic substitute. legislation that will permit small businesses to come together and pool their resources and increase their leverage so that they can provide. so that they can provide to the millions of workers who work for small businesses and do not have health insurance. health insurance at better rates and with better terms. That is what we are doing. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2003-06-19
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I think it is important to point out. because my dear friend who just spoke stated that the President of the United States opposed. that is what the gentleman said. the legislation that we here in the House passed last week to provide precisely the lowincome child tax credit and. In addition to that. provide tax breaks for military families and for families of the shuttle crash tragedy and extending the child tax credit through the year 2010. The President supports the legislation. In fact. I am handed here the statement officially put out by the administration in support of the legislation that the House passed. This official statement of administration policy is dated June 12. So I wanted to make that clear on the record. We are very proud of what we did last week. and we hope and certainly would encourage those who are now resolving any differences that may exist with our friends in the other body that they get that legislation to the floor of both bodies as soon as possible. That is what we did last week. What we are doing this week is we are providing incentives for small businesses to provide health insurance to the millions of Americans who work for small businesses in this country and do not have health insurance. We think there are few issues as important as that issue. That is why we want to bring that legislation to the floor as soon as possible. and that is why we have brought a fair rule to the floor to be able to do so. a rule that makes in order the Democratic substitute and makes in order. in addition to that. a Democratic motion to recommit. So we have been doubly fair in this rule and are very proud of the underlying legislation. the work product of Members that have worked long and hard to reduce the number. those millions of Americans who do not have health insurance and who work for small businesses. We want small businesses to have the same leverage. to have the same opportunities to pool their resources. to come together and do so like large borporations can do so today. That is why we feel so strongly about this legislation and are in support of it. and that is why we have brought it forward under a fair rule. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2003-06-19
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. First of all. I would tell my dear friend the legislation that we passed last week. number one. is not a whale. and. number two. it is not languishing. And I tm informed. I know I am not supposed to mention the other body. but I would wonder how I could get this fact across without doing so. the conference has begun. The conference has begun this morning. Or they have agreed to go to conference. Today there has been the agreement to go to conference precisely on the legislation that is not a whale. And. thus. the whale that is not is not languishing.
Date: 2003-06-19
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. reclaiming my time. again I do not know the answer to that. but I would say the following: I would say to my good friend that. number one. I cannot get into the brain of all the conferees. I think we have to allow them to meet so that there will be a meeting of the minds. number one. But we certainly do not think that it is a whale to increase the child tax credit of $1.000 per child through the year 2010. We do not think that is a whale. We do not think it is a whale to eliminate the marriage penalty in the child credit. We do not think it is a whale to accelerate the increase in the refundable child credit. We do not think it is a whale to provide tax relief and enhance tax fairness for members of the Armed Forces. We do not think it is a whale to suspend the tax exempt status of designated terrorist organizations or to provide tax relief for astronauts families. those who died on the space mission. So we think it is very important what the House did last week. Now. another statement was made before by one of our friends on the other side of the aisle that the President does not support the measure that the House passed last week. Oh. no. no. no. The President is fully in support of the measure that the House passed last week. So the legislation that we passed last week we are extremely proud of and the President supports it. But we are also very proud of and we are also strongly in support of what we are trying to do this week. Mr. Speaker. Because we believe that it should not only be the large corporations that have the ability to use their great leverage of numbers to offer health insurance to their workers with the best possible terms. We think small business. which is the backbone of the American economy. and hires the majority. employs the majority of the workers in this country. that small business also should have the opportunity to pool their numbers to acquire leverage in negotiating terms with those insurance companies and bring down the rates and offer the best possible terms to the millions of workers precisely because they work for the backbone of the American economy. small business. That is what we are doing this week. So. no. what we did last week is not a whale. What we did last week is something we are very proud of. and we have the support of the President of the United States. But what we are doing this week is also very important. Mr. Speaker. and that is why. with all due respect. I tell my friends on the other side of the aisle that we have brought this important piece of legislation.to the floor today with a rule that is fair. a rule that provides the minority party a substitute. the opportunity to bring forth any concerns they may have in the form of a substitute. and. in addition. to be doubly fair. we grant our friends on the other side of the aisle the opportunity to present a motion to recommit with any further and additional concerns they may have. So we are very fair this morning. Mr. Speaker. We are very proud of the legislation that we are bringing to the floor. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2003-06-19
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. precisely because we are concerned about and care about the majority of the workers of this country who happen to work for small businesses. that we want to create the possibility that they will be able to have health insurance just like those who work for large corporations have health insurance. so precisely to mention some of the people who were mentioned by my friend. the previous speaker. yes. we think if someone is a janitor or a maid or work in a restaurant or drive a truck or deliver packages. you should also have health insurance. and your employer should be able to pool its resources to acquire the leverage and the purchasing power that large corporations have when they get into the room to negotiate terms and conditions with the insurance companies. That is what we are trying to do today. I am very pleased that this debate has given us the opportunity to point out to our colleagues and to the American people what precisely the hardworking Members who have brought forth this work product. this legislation today. are allowing the Congress to do for the American people. And that is the majority of workers in this country who work for small businesses should also have the right to have health insurance. should also have the right to have their employer have the purchasing power and the leverage and negotiating terms and conditions for health insurance for the workers of America that the large companies have. So that is the essence of what we are doing this week with regard to what we did last week. which was to provide the lowincome child tax credit and to also provide an increase in the child credit through the year 2010 and eliminate the marriage penalty in the child credit and accelerate the increase in the refundable child credit. provide tax relief and enhanced tax fairness for members of the Armed Forces. suspend the taxexempt status of terrorist organizations. provide tax relief for the families of astronauts who die on space missions. We think it fs important to do that. and that is what we did last week. They have agreed to go to conference today on that important piece of legislation. but let us not focus on one important piece of legislation to the detriment of another important piece of legislhtion. which is the one we are bringing forth today. and that is let us allow small business to ha.e the leverage. have the purchasing power to face health insurance like large companies can. That is what we are doing today. We are proud of it. and we want to get to a debate under a fair rule which provides the Democrats a substitute and a motion to recommit. That is what we are doing today.
Date: 2003-06-19
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. we say vote yes. We say vote yes to allowing small businesses to have the leverage and purchasing power that large businesses have. to increase significantly the number of American workers. the majority of whom work for small businesses. who can have health insurance. We think the issue is that important that we should vote yes. Vote yes on the.previous question. vote yes on the rule. and let us get to the underlying legislation. legislation which is as important as the legislation we passed last week. The material previously referred to b5y Mr. FROST is as follows:
Date: 2003-06-19
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. small businesses across the country face no greater challenge than access to affordable health care. Too often. small businesses are forced to sacrifice growth in order to provide health care to the employees. Many others are unable to meet the. rising costs of health care and force their employees to go without altogether. Over 60 percent of the uninsured in America are srall business owners and employees. Not only are high costs an enormous burden on small businesses and a large danger for employees. but also an unfortunate disincentive for growth. Capital lost on high health care costs limit economic growth of countless small busineqses throughout the nation. No matter the size of business. all Americans deserve access to affordable health care. Small businesses should have the same access to health care as their counterparts In large corporations and unions. There is no rationale for punishing Americas entrepreneurs by blocking the access to affordable health care. As an original cosponsor of the Small Business Health Fairness Act . I stand committed to ending this great injustice to Americas small businesses. As the true foundation of Americas economy. it is essential to ensure small businesses have every incentive to grow and succeed. Without affordable health care for employees. small businesses will continue to be burdened with unfair health care costs resulting in reduced growth. Associated health plans will allow small businesses owners to join together in order to purchase health care for their families and employees. This will not only lower health care costs for small business owners. but will also provide greater choice. I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 660 and helping the 41 million uninsured Americans receive access to affordable health care.
Date: 2003-06-19
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina . a member of the Committee on Education and Workforce and a longtime Member of Congress and a small businessman.
Date: 2003-06-19
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio . the chairman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Date: 2003-06-19
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois . the chairman of the Committee on Small Business.
Date: 2003-06-19
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in opposition to this amendment. We have been hearing all day that it is going to create all this stuff. and it is not going to create anything. Our bill allows for anything to be covered. and it will all be covered. This amendment creates -an incredibly complex $50 billion governmentrun program. The program sets up brandnew health care subsidies. but only for certain small businesses and some workers. Unlike the Federal employee plan. the new program would be subject to thousands of State mandates. As we. have heard time and again. those mandates make up at least 15 percent of the rising cost of health insurance. Now. here is the real kicker. In order to qualify for the subsidy. employers are required to pay at least 50 percent of the cost for the care of their employees. The Democrat substitute will raise health care costs for small employers and then spend $50 billion to subsidize it. AHPs are going to give everybody the ability to obtain insurance. Mr. Speaker. I urge rejection of this substitute.
Date: 2003-06-19
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Committee pn Government Reform. H.R. 2086. A bill to reauthorize the Office of National Drug Control Policy. with an amendment (Rept. 108167 Pt. 1). Ordered to be printed.
Date: 2003-06-23
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. If the gentleman will yield. actually in my district it is more like 50 percent of the seniors have no retirement prescription drug plan. I have many lowincome seniors who have a little bit above their Social Security income. or just their Social Security income. My motherinlaw is a perfect example. She only has Social Security. If it were not for her children helping her. she would be one of those seniors making those very dangerous decisions. But not every family can help and not every family Is willing to help. And so for the sake of the seniors who truly need assistance. this is the right thing to do and it is the right time to do it. I am sure that when we go home over the Fourth of July break that we will be hearing from our constituents throughout the Nation. thanking us for taking this step and keeping our fingers crossed that we come out with a great bill. between the Senate proposal and the House proposal that we truly will have a bill that will help seniors desperately in need of assistance.
Date: 2003-06-23
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

(during Special Order of Mr. GINGREY). from the Committee on Rules. submitted a privileged report (Rept. No. 108174) on the resolution (H. Res. 292) waiving a requirement of Clause 6(a) of rule XIII with respect to consideration of certain resolutions reported from the Committee on Rules. which was referred to the House Calendarand ordered to be printed.
Date: 2003-06-23
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

(during Special Order of Mr. GINGREY). from the Committee on Rules. submitted a privileged report (Rept. No. 108175) on the resolution (H. Res. 293) providing for consideration of the bill making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30. 2004. and for other purposes. which was referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.
Date: 2003-06-24
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. the Homeland Security Act. of 2002 represented a monumental undertaking to reorganize multiple Federal agencies with various jurisdictions. This legislation. as amended by the Select Committee on Homeland Security. is an important step in the committees oversight of the newly created department. Among other things. the technical corrections in H.R. 1416 further clarify the powers and duties of the Secretary of Homeland -Security and the Attorney General. Further. the gentleman from Californias (Chairman Cox) mark addressed concerns raised about the original bills language that would have potentially placed jurisdiction of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services under the Under Secretary of Border and Transportation. These corrections provide guidance and more accountability by creating a clearer chain of command. By abolishing the INS and reorganizing its functions. the Homeland Security Act I think made tremendous strides toward achieving a delicate balance between protecting our country from those who might do it harm and those properly seeking admission into the United States. I look forward to continuing to work through the select committee under the leadership of the gentleman from California (Chairman Cox) and also with the gentleman from Texas and all of our colleagues to H5732 " continue to strike an important balance that we did in the example mentioned of Immigration and Border Control. Under the leadership of the gentleman from California (Chairman Cox). we are taking the first of many steps to ensure that the Department of Homeland Security is appropriately organized to not only help prevent terrorist attacks through heightened security and preparedness but also to respond effectively in times 6f need. Our successes. Mr. Speaker. will depend much on the foundation which we have laid in the framework for this new department. and we will continue to work to ensure that we do so as effectively as possible.
Date: 2003-06-24
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. by direction of the Committee on Rules. I call up House Resolution 293 and ask for its immediate consideration.
Date: 2003-06-24
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. for purposes of debate only. I yield the customary 30 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Texas . ranking member. pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution. all time is yielded for the purposes of debate only.
Date: 2003-06-24
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana . truly one of the most thoughtful and really an extraordinary leader in this House.