macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2001-03-29
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I know that there are a lot of married people in Georgia. As my colleagues know. I am from Texas. and I want to divorce the 1.7 million married Texans from the governmentimposed. IRSenforced marriage penalty tax. It is just plain wrong for the Federal Government to penalize people who choose to get married. When two people stand before God and exchange their vows. it should be a celebration for them. not the IRS. Mr. Speaker. it has been said that America is the land of the free and the home of the brave. and this is true fact. Young couples have to be brave to get married because the Federal Government is going to free them from their hardearned money when they say "I do." I do not think any Member would disagree that we should encourage. not discourage. the greatest institution on earth. marriage. Let us vote today to give married couples a welldeserved honeymoon. the elimination of the marriage tax penalty.
Date: 2001-03-29
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6. the Marriage Penalty and Family Tax Relief Act. I would also like to commend the excellent work of Ways and Means Chairman BILL THOMAS for reporting this important legislation. The marriage penalty represents one of the more onerous aspects of our overlycomplex tax code. It results in more than 21 million married couples incurring an average additional tax liability of $1400. just for being married. In the 11th District of. Virginia. which I represent. it affects over 66.000 couples. It is troublesome glitches such as this that confuse taxpayersthat make them question whether the federal government is really there to help them. or whether it merely exists to exert its power .in capricious and arbitrary ways. Mr. Speaker. I ask you. if we cannot afford to fix problems such as this when we are enjoying surpluses. when can we do it? When can we take the necessary steps to make our tax code fairer. to do away with the unintended consequences of past actions? I say that we can do it now. H.R. 6 is a clear reflection of what our priorities should be. We should encourage couples however we can. We should send the message that staying at home to raise your children has realvalue. We should say that we realize staying married is not an easy task. There are pressures and difficulties which too frequently rend asunder what God. has joinedand most often these pressures are financial. We should wisely use the power entrusted in us by the American people to reduce this financial strain that causes many families to break apart. We should use that power to give them more of their own money to help raise their children. Mr. Speaker. how do we have any hope of stemming the flow of divorce. broken homes. and childhood violence if we do not support marriage and strong families at every turn? This bill will fix the marriage penalty. It will help more couples keep one spouse at home to help raise the children if they choose to do so. It will help with the expenses of raising a family by doubling the child tax credit to $1000 per child. In the 11th District alone. that will help the parents of over 120.000 children buy clothes for school. buy the gasoline to get them there. pay the. heating bill to keep them warm. and buy the food to make them strong. It will send a message to couples. young. and old. that we support them. Mr. Speaker. it is time to divorce ourselves from this unfair tax. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Date: 2001-03-29
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I rise to pay tribute to my friend and colleague from Virginia. NORMAN SISISKY. who served this body with dignity. honor and extreme dedication since 1983. I first met NORM in 1974 when I was an aide in the Virginia�General Assembly. He was a freshman member at that time. and he was known at that time as one of the smartest guys in the general assembly and a gentleman and someone if he wanted to pursue public service could go a long way. and he did. Virginias Fourth Congressional District and the Nation has lost a firstclass public servant. NORM was a true gentleman and a great patriot. I will never forget his kind and valuable tutelage when I first came to Congress. nor will I forget how he demonstrated to all of us the importance of doing good rather than getting credit. He cer-
Date: 2001-03-29
Speaker: JO ANN DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to pay tribute to a patriot and true Virginia gentleman.. our friend and colleague NORM SISISKY. The Commonwealth of Virginia lost a great American today with the passing of NORM SIsIsKY. I had the pleasure of getting to know him when I arrived here in Congress and soon established a friendship and a strong admiration for one of Virginias most honorable public servants. NORM served Virginia with great integrity and honor and consistently put the interest of Virginia ahead of politics. With NORM. it was not a Republican or a Democrat issue. It was a Virginia issue. NORM SISISKYS leadership within the Virginia delegation will be sorely missed. His unyielding support of our Armed Forces served as an inspiration for all lawmakers who embraced the dedication and sacrifices of our men and women in uniform. Congressman NORM SISISKY will always be remembered for his service to Virginia and his devotion to the ideals that he held so dear. His family. staff and other loved ones will be in my prayers.
Date: 2001-03-30
Speaker: HAROLD BURSON (republican)
Chamber: S

Founding Chairman. BursonMarstelier. New York. NY. DEAR MR. BURSON: It is a privilege for me to join your friends and relatives in saluting you on your eightieth birthday. For half a century. you have been a pioneer in the public relations profession. The respected firm you founded has set a high standard as a result of your close attention to integrating integrity and credibility. Your lifetime of good works and professional achievement has earned you the respect of your native state of Tennessee. Please accept my personal best wishes and warmest .regards. Sincerely.
Date: 2001-03-30
Speaker: HAROLD BURSON (republican)
Chamber: S

Founding Chairman. BursonMarsteller. New York. NY. DEAR MR. BURSON: Congratulations as you celebrate your 80th birthday surrounded by family and friends. This special occasion is an excellent opportunity for all who know you to salute your many contributions to the field of public relations and to public service. I hope the future brings you good health and continued success. Laura joins me in sending best wishes. Sincerely.
Date: 2001-04-04
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker. we are hearing a lot of rhetoric in here today. but the key is our bill is to repeal. and the Democrat substitute is not. There are 65 Democrats. and 213 Republicans who supported the death tax repeal last June. I wonder if those people will stand up today. Last year 65 Democrats crossed party lines. ending one of the most unfair taxes today. the death tax. and those 65 Democrats. I wonder if they will vote to end this onerous tax now that they know. the President will sign the bill? For those who do not know. the death tax confiscates up to 55 percent of a family farm or business when a loved one passes away. It is just plain wrong for Uncle Sam to start taking up a collection while families are still grieving at the funeral home. Furthermore. according to the National Federation of Independent Business. onethird of small business owners today will have to sell outright or liquidate part of their business just to pay death taxes. and half of those that liquidate to pay the IRS will have to eliminate 30 or more jobs. In todays chilling economy. that statistic is horrifying. Couple that with the fact that 60 percent of small business owners report that they would create new jobs in this year if the death taxes were eliminated. J.C. Penney. which is headquartered in my district. has laid off more than 5.000 employees. If this death tax repeal goes through. those folks without jobs could go .to work for small businesses who want to hire more people. Mr. Speaker. this Congress has got to stop the IRS from taxing families to death. and we need to do it now. The death tax is just plain wrong. Let us vote for death tax repeal.
Date: 2001-04-04
Speaker: JO ANN DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to address the situation developing in the Peoples Republic of China with respect to our servicemen and women. On April 1. one of our Navys EP3s was involved in a midair collision with a Chinese fighter craft. Tragically. it seems that the life of the Chinese pilot was lost when his fighter crashed into the sea. Our plane was forced to make an emergency landing in the Peoples Republic of China. What could simply have been an accident has now spiraled into an international incident because of the PRCs unreasonableness. Mr. Speaker. international law dictates that the PRC should not have entered our plane as it constitutes sovereign territory. This was ignored. Even after offering our regrets for the loss of their pilot and explicitly offering our assistance in the search. the PRC demands an apology. Mr. Speaker. we have offered our regrets. We have continually. over the past 8 years. time and again. shown patience with unreasonable demands put forth by the PRC. The time has come when we. as a House. should stand firm with the President and support his actions with respect to the PRC. No longer should we shrink at the prospect of standing for what is right. Mr. Speaker. the Chinese still are in possession of our pilots. It is time that they must do what is right. The PRC must release our servicemen now. before they are perceived as hostages of a foreign nation. for that is what they will be if they are not returned in a timely manner. Should the PRC wish to engage in a timely dialogue in the future. it must take constructive actions now. It must return our plane and return our servicemen and women. Mr. Speaker. politics should stop at the waters edge. We need to support our President.
Date: 2001-04-24
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I rise to honor the memories of those who perished in the Armenian Genocide. April 24. 1915 is remembered and solemnly commemorated each year by the Armenian community. On this date. eightysix years ago. a group of Armenian political. religious. and intellectual leaders were arrested in Constantinople. sent further inland. and killed. In the following years. Armenians living under Ottoman rule were deprived of their freedom. property. and ultimately. their lives. By 1923. over a million Arm9nians had been massacred. and another half a million more people had been deported. This genocide. which was preceded by a series of massacres in 18941896 and in 1909 and was followed by another series of massacres in 1920. essentially dispersed Armenians and removed them from their historic homeland. The persecution of the Armenian people left psychological scars among the survivors and their families. No person should haveto endure the trauma and horrors that they did. On May 2. 1995. I had the honor of meeting the former Armenian Ambassador to the United States. Rouben Robert Shugarian. at a Congressional reception commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Ambassador Shugarian introduced me to several survivors of the 1915 genocide. This experience was a deeply moving and personal reminder of the 1.5 million Armenians who perished during the systematic extermination by the Ottoman Empire. It is important that we not only commemorate the Armenian Genocide. but also honor the memory .of others who lost their lives during this time. We must remember this horrific and shameful period in world history so that it will never be repeated again.
Date: 2001-05-01
Speaker: SUSAN COLLINS (republican)
Chamber: S

and JACK REED. Put simply. this is the single most effective action we can take to limit our reliance on foreign oil. save consumers at the pump. and reduce global warming. Today. the U.S. has 4 percent of the worlds population. yet we use 25 percent of the planets energy. So as the worlds largest energy consumer. I believe it is our responsibility to make every effort to be the worlds leader in conservation. Specifically. the results of this bill would be substantial. It would: Save America one million barrels of oil a day. reduce oil imports by 10 percent. and prevent 240 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmospherethis is the single biggest cause of Global Warming. Today. the fuel economy standard for passenger vehicles is 27.5 miles per gallon. while the standard for SUVs and light duty trucks is 20.7 miles per gallon due to a loophole in the 1975 law. The result: SUVs and light trucks now comprise nearly half of new car sales. bringing the average fuel economy of all the nations new vehicles to its lowest point since 1980. The- FeinsteinSnowe legislation would: Phase in fuel economy standards for SUVs and all other light duty trucks on the following schedule: By 2002. SUVs and light duty vehicles must average 22.5 miles per gallon. by 2005. SUVs and light duty vehicles must average 25 miles per gallon. and by 2007. SUVs and light duty vehicles must average 27.5 miles.per gallon. require that vehicles up to a weight of 10.000 pounds must qualify for fuel efficiency standards by 2007. The current limit is 8.500 pounds. increase the fuel economy of new vehicles comprising the federal government fleet by 6 miles per gallon by 2005. Last year. former Senators Slade Gorton. Richard Bryan and I fought an uphill battle to try and find a way to increase these fuel economy standards. But. we were stymied by the auto industry and their supporters in Congress. Ultimately. at the end of the session. we reached an agreement that directed the National Academy of Sciences to study whether. in fact. we could raise fuel efficiency with sacrificing safety or competitiveness. Recently. the automakers have said that they will not actively oppose increases in fuel efficiency standards. The Big Three manufacturers have promised a voluntary increase in efficiency for SUVs by 25 percent by 2005. This is an important step forward. but we need to do more. I believe this bill is the best way to do that. By Mr. WELLSTONE (for himself. Mr. COCHRAN. MS. COLLINS.
Date: 2001-05-01
Speaker: JO ANN DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of House Resolution 112. recognizing the upcoming 100th anniversary of the 4H Youth Development Program in 2002. Mr. Speaker. as you have heard. the four Hs stand for head. heart. hands and health. and the program gives children and youth the opportunity to gain responsibility through handson involvement in challenging projects. 4H began as an agricultural education program for youth. and clubs were formed with .adult volunteers to encourage learning by doing. Mr. Speaker. I am personally familiar with 4H as my youngest son spent most of his teen years in a 4H club and showed quarter horses in local competitions and the State fair. The club developed his leadership skills and made him a more responsible and purposeful young man. As we recognize 4H. I want to commend the dedicated volunteers and county extension agents that have given countless hours of their time to help children and youth develop their skills and learn. while having fun. and to thank them for the good times my son has enjoyed. and to wish the organization another productive century of service.
Date: 2001-05-02
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. Mr. Speaker. I thank our Democratic colleagues for supporting us on this. It is with great pleasure that I rise today. because I think this is the most significant overhaul of retirement law in 25 years. Twentyfive years ago. it was common for someone to work an entire lifetime in one job and retire with a pension. A generation later. America has a mobile workforce. and it is not uncommon for employees to spend just a few years at one job and then move to another. As a result. it is harder and harder for people to add to their nest egg with employer support. It is not that employers do not want to help out. It is just that rules and regulations make it difficult. To these Americans. both employers and employees who want to sock away something for retirement. help is on the way. This Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act of 2001 is going to do just that. As chair of the Subcommittee on EmployerEmployee Relations as well as a member of the Committee on Ways and Means. one of my objectives has been to find ways to expand retirement coverage. and I have had a lot of help from my Democrat colleagues and by small businesses. as well as to search for ways to make retirement plans more friendly. It is no secret that the cooling economy has bothered people. and people have watched their retirement accounts. their balances. fall. Of course. this makes them uneasy. They are saving for their golden years. retirement. and their nest egg is getting smaller and smaller. It is time to act now. This Congress is going to do that. To better prepare for the day when they no longer show up for work every morning. the best way to give these people peace of mind is to enact H.R. 10. If we want to secure Americas future. people have to feel confident about their retirement. and by passing this bill. we have taken a long step toward making them feel that way. I think this step down the road to strengthening our private employerbased pension system for all Americans. especially for all of the 70 million baby boomers who are nearing retirement age. is very important. We have to continue down this bipartisan path to ensure that our American workers can enjoy their golden years comfortably and securely. Let us pass this bill to protect our seniors.
Date: 2001-05-02
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I would just like to comment that this bill has helped small businesses. those with less than 50 employees. right on down to one. So in order to help those -guys who have not in the past been able to fund retirement plans. they now can. if this bill passes. Mr. Speaker. I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New Jersey
Date: 2001-05-02
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 10. the Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act. a bill I consider to be one of the most important pieces of legislatiop we will consider during this Congress. Americans want to be selfsufficient. That desire is at the core of the vast majority of legislation we consider here in Congress. be it taxrelated. healthcarerelated. pensionrelated. or educationrelated. Americans want the resources available in their old age that will allow them to live in dignity. without dependency on the government or the charity of others. and without becoming a burden to their children. This is a simple request. but in order to make it possible. years of careful planning and savings are required. How can we as Members of Congress help in this process. Mr. Speaker? We have social security. but we all realize this is a program -in need of comprehensive -reform in order to remain viable. Many are skeptical that the money they pay into social security will be there to help them when they retire. Whatever is doneor not done with respect to social security. we all realize that depending heavily on social secrity to provide a secure retirement is a bad idea. In fact. it was never intended to be more than one leg. of a threelegged stool. the other legs of which -were personal savings and pension plans. Unfortunately. with the level of personal savings in this country at its lowest level since 1933. this threelegged stool is becoming more of a pogo stick. Therefore. it is paramount that we in Congress give Americans tools to save more of their personal income for retirement. IRAs and 401(k)s have been excellent instruments to accomplish this goal. but allowable contributions need to be raised to more realistic levels. H.R. 10 raises the limit for IRA contributions to $5000 and the 401(k) limit to $15.000. then indexes them for inflation. It gives individuals over 50 years old the opportunity to "catch up" by making contributions of up to $5000 immediately. H.R. 10 also makes it easier for workers to move their pension savings when they change jobs. and eliminates regulatory barriers that discourage small businesses from setting up pension programs. There are other important provisions in H.R. 10. but I would like to summarize by saying that Messrs. PORTMAN and CARDIN have done an outstanding job crafting a comprehensive bill that will help Americans prepare for retirement. I commend them on their outstanding work. and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Date: 2001-05-09
Speaker: GARY G. MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I really enjoyed my friend who spoke last because he said how many Americans know they got a tax cut? The answer is zero. because we have never given them a tax cut. Last year. we came before this body and the leadership who was speaking today talked about our $373 billion tax proposal. and what did our colleagues on" the other side say? It is a risky tax scheme. We cannot afford it. It will hurt Social Security. it will destroy Medicare. it will put homeless on the street. Mr. Speaker. it does not matter what we do. My colleagues do not like it. The problem is. my colleagues say we cut education. the budget allows for an 111 percent increase in education. That is not rhetoric. That is a fact. Read the budget. When my colleagues talk about people needing to pay energy bills. we have people out there who cannot afford the energy bills. Why? Because we confiscate their money through taxation. What is wrong with changing a punitive Tax Code and letting the American people keep more of their hardearned money? This budget sets aside 100 percent. 100 percent of the Social Security Trust Fund over 10 years. It is not -spent. All of the rhetoric in the world will not spend that money. It says we are going to pay off all of the available debt. $2.4 trillion. That is all we can pay off because that is all that is due. The problem is when we talk about educating children. what about allowing people to keep their own money so they can help educate their own children? It is ridiculous. Our Tax Code builds a wall between people who work for a living and success. And my colleagues say we are just benefiting the rich. Let me tell my colleagues. people work. people go to school to become educated. to better themselves in life. what we have is a situation when people move up the ladder. we confiscate the money through taxation. If my colleagues want to help people. want to help them make their house payment. want to. help them make their car payment. want to help them feed their families. try a noble idea. let them keep more of their hardearned money. I believe the American people know where their money should be spent. but my good friends on the other side of the aisle believe that they know where the money should be spent. There is no limit to how large the government should grow from my colleagues perspective. This is a reasonable rule. a reasonable budget. and I ask for an aye vote.