macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-07-21
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. at this time I would like to enter into a colloquy with the chairman of the committee. and I would like to address changes made to section 201 of the Tribal Law and Order Act that concern Public Law No. 83280. commonly known as Public Law 280. This law was enacted on August 15. 1953. and Public Law 280 removed the Federal Governments special Indian country law enforcement jurisdiction over almost all Indian lands in the States of Alaska upon statehood. my home State of California. Minnesota. Nebraska. Oregon. and Wisconsin. and permitted these States to exercise criminal jurisdiction over those lands. The act specifically provides that these States "shall have jurisdiction over offenses committed by or against Indians in the areas of Indian country ... to the same extent that such State ... has jurisdiction over offenses committed elsewhere within the State ... and the criminal laws of such State ... shall have the same force and effect within such Indian country as they have elsewhere within the State." Section 201 of the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 allows the Federal Government to reassume criminal jurisdiction on Public Law 280 lands when the affected Indian tribe requests the U.S. Attorney General to do so. If the Attorney General concurs. the United States will reassume jurisdiction to prosecute violations of the General and Major Crimes Acts. sections 1152 and 1153 of title 18. that occur on the requesting tribes reservation. The bill makes clear that once the United States assumes jurisdictions pursuant to this provision. criminal authority on the affected reservation will be concurrent among the Federal and State governments and. "where applicable." tribal governments. I would like to ask the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources. Mr. RAHALL. to make clear that nothing in the Tribal Law and Order Act retracts jurisdiction from the State governments and nothing in the act will grant criminal jurisdiction in Indian country to an Indian tribe that does not currently have criminal jurisdiction over such land. I would yield to the chairman for that.
Date: 2010-07-21
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. I concur with the interpretation of the provision expressed by him. and I would like to thank him for his clarification regarding the intent of the language in section 201 of this important legislation. Mr. Speaker. although I intend to support this legislation. the process under which the bill has been brought up can only be described as stranger than fiction. While it might have been appropriate to consider under suspension an act to protect Indian arts crafts. the guts of that bill have been replaced with language that dramatically affect the criminal justice system on tribal lands. The House Judiciary Committee on which I serve had no markup. either in subcommittee or at full committee. and although we did have a subcommittee hearing on a different bill. H.R. 1924. which I attended in full and found most interesting and helpful. we did not work our will on the legislation. Why am I concerned about that? Because there are some very specific parts of Indian law as it incorporates State law in PL280 States that. frankly. are not fully addressed in this bill. Among other things. it is likely we will need to address the adequacy of the training standards in the bill which are less rigorous than the Police Officer Standards and Training Commission standards in my own State. As the former chairman of that commission. I realize the seriousness of the training requirements of law enforcement officers. Unfortunately. that is not addressed in this bill. Secondly. there is a concern expressed by law enforcement officials in my State about the adequacy of protection of information. Under current law. under the CLETS system. the California law enforcement system dealing with criminal justice information. it is not currently available to tribal authorities because of the lack of training and of a concern about liability. As this now will be made available through the national system with the Federal Governments work. the question of liability if there is misuse of that information remains. and local law enforcement in my State of California have informed me of their continuing concern on this.
Date: 2010-07-21
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. That is not enough for me to oppose this bill because I think the essentials of this bill are necessary for us to help protect those in Indian lands. But. Mr. Speaker. the nature of Indian land is very different in different States. Some States have very. very large reservations and very few tribes. with very large populations in those tribes. California has. by and large. very small geographic reservations and other properties that are sovereign territory of the Indians involved. We have relatively small bands. but large numbers of them. So we have a different set of circumstances with which we have to deal. I had hoped that we would be able to work legislation that would acknowledge that difference. but unfortunately that did not happen here. I will support this bill. but it is unfortunate that true concerns expressed by law enforcement in PL280 States and other areas of the country were not taken into consideration here. and I hope we will have a chance in the future to amend this legislation.
Date: 2010-07-22
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of the 15 percent of my constituents who have lost their jobs. but I also rise in support of the 85 percent who are struggling to hold onto their jobs. Deficits do matter. Debt matters. What we have seen in the threat of default in Greece and what that did to the world economy and our own economy is similar to what we may be entering into. Given our tremendous reliance on borrowing. a similar loss of confidence in the United States would be devastating. The administration may have its cheerleaders and spinmasters out in front telling all the cameras how swell everybody is going to be despite the work ahead. but businesses. those very entities that actually do the hiring. the innovating and the investing. arent buying. They dont have a political motivation behind their analysis. Its simply reality as they see it. Small businesses are not confident about where this country is headed and neither are their customers. Presidents can actually have a huge influence on consumer confidence. but every time this President gives a speech threatening American entrepreneurs. he makes things worse. As for debt. I understand the very childish playground temptation to point fingers and names and say. well. you borrowed too. but I also understand that businesses and consumers dont care about that because it doesnt fix the problem. All we ask is that the unemployment. something we all agree on. be paid for using funds already obligated for the economic recovery. We and the American people point outand not so subtly at timesthat the way you are using the stimulus money is simply a waste of time. effort. and certainly money. Borrowing more when it pushes us ever closer to the edge. just to continue spending money on selfserving stimulus road signs. is certainly unacceptable to them and is unacceptable to me.
Date: 2010-07-22
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. I am sorry that the other side refuses to compromise. but thats where we are today. Americans want us to pay for this bill and not borrow another $34 billion.
Date: 2010-07-27
Speaker: GARY G. MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 4899. the Supplemental Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010. Overall. this legislation provides necessary war funding and essential support for our Nations militarywithout arbitrary benchmarks or timetables that would tie the hands of our military commandersand much needed assistance for several other emergency needs. For the men and women in uniform fighting in the defense of freedom. this troop funding bill is long overdue. Although the President had requested emergency funding in February. House Democrats have finally brought a clean version of the Supplemental Appropriations bill after multiple and convoluted attempts to attach expensive and controversial items on the legislation. Approving this clean supplemental quickly and getting it to our military leaders is a top priority. Inaction would force our commanders to begin making compromising budget decisions that could negatively affect our military readiness. It would also signal to our enemies a lack of resolve that could undermine our mission in several very dangerous areas of the world. In addition to providing our troops with this necessary funding. the bill also contains $162 million to support the victims of the Gulf oil spill. Although I own stock in Transocean. I did not place the funding for the oil spill in the legislation and do not consider it a conflict of interest to vote for this bill. All in all. this funding represents less than .3 percent of the entire funding contained in the bill.
Date: 2010-07-27
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Obviously. weve heard it before. Im disappointed that. frankly. none of the bills that we are considering today are from any Republicans. and I know thats something we need to continue to work on. but I want to refer to this specific legislation. It would direct the administrator of FEMA to review and revise the current the regulations. as we just heard. related to eligibility under its Individuals and Households Program. Again. specifically. it would require FEMA to consider whether a county in one State is adjacent to a State that has been designated in a major disaster or emergency. In other words. there may be a county in a different State that may be affected. and thats got to be considered as well because. again. the impact of disasters are obviously not contained or limited to just manmade geographic boundaries. In many cases. the destruction is significant enough that all States involved are designated in a major disaster emergency. but in some cases thats not the case. So there could be a State right next door that has one county thats been significantly hit but the rest of the State has not. and this would hopefully remedy that. and this would allow FEMA to look at that and remedy that. I think this is a commonsense bill. Its also taking place now while were already in the hurricane season. so I think its important that were doing this now. For those of us who are living in States that are too oftenmore often than we would like. because obviously once is too oftenaffected by storms and the like. this could not come soon enough. So I want to thank the chairman and thank all of you for bringing this forward. Its a commonsense piece of legislation. With that. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2010-07-27
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. as I said before. this is a commonsense bill. As the ranking member of the subcommittee that deals with emergency management and other issues. it would have been nice to have this go through the committee process through regular order. It didnt. It came straight to the floor. But it is a good bill. Its a very good bill. Its a commonsense bill and obviously I do support it.
Date: 2010-07-27
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. I thank the gentleman for the time. Mr. Speaker. in the mid1990s. when I was privileged to serve the State of California as its Attorney General. we looked to New Jersey for inspiration to change our laws. At that time. if you were a sex offender convicted of a sex offense and you had served your time. even though that was public information. it was almost impossible for the public at large to know who you were and where you were living. So we decided to follow the New Jersey law in California and adopt Megans Law. which gave information more readily accessible to the public about where these predators live. It has worked enormously well. The claims of those who thought we would somehow deprive those who had served their time of their privacy rights. or that we would somehow instill the seeds of vigilantism. have been proven wrong. It has worked very. very effectively. Since that time we have adopted laws such as Jessicas Laws. which says that those who are registered sex offenders cannot live near children. they cannot live near schools where children go. they cannot live close to the parks where they may play. And that has worked well. So some of these sex offenders have decided that they will ply their vicious trade. so to speak. beyond our shores. And those are the ones that this International Megans Law directs its attention to. No longer will they have the mask of anonymity when they go looking for children to exploit in foreign countries. This is a simple law. It is a law based on information. It is a law based on the knowledge of those who have already committed and are likely to recommit. It makes eminent sense. We hope there will be a unanimous vote in favor of International Megans Law.
Date: 2010-07-27
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. as was stated by the chairman of our committee. this is a sensible bill to improve administrative operations at the Library of Congress. and Im pleased to support it. The bill improves operations at the Library of Congress related to surplus or obsolete property. the student loan repayment program. and the workers compensation payment program. These are reasonable and sound changes. We discussed them at our committee markup. I support them. I thank my colleague and the staff for their hard work. and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5681. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2010-07-27
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to support this resolution providing for administrative provisions affecting the House. This resolution simply authorizes that any Active Duty member of the Armed Forces who is assigned to a congressional liaison office in the House of Representatives may obtain membership and access to the House staff fitness center. Given the sacrifices demonstrated by the members of our military each and every day. and their requirement to stay in good physical condition. this is entirely appropriate. The resolution also establishes. as was mentioned by our chairman. a revolving fund for the House Child Care Center. and it codifies current practices relating to the CAOs allocation. care. and repair of furniture for use in the House. These are all commonsense and appropriate changes. and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5682. Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2010-07-27
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. H.R. 415. authored by the distinguished gentleman from New York . allows the Representative of the immediate family of deceased emergency personnel who are killed in the line of duty to provide the family with a Capitolflown flag at their request. These families would also receive a certificate bearing an expression of condolence signed by the Speaker. as well as by the Representative providing the flag. Nine years later. the tragic events of September 11 are still a painful reminder of the sacrifices made daily by our first responders. including our firefighters. our law enforcement officers. our emergency technicians. and other rescue workers. These fallen heroes and their families deserve our appreciation. our thanks. and our honor for their sacrifice. and this resolution in a simple way will enable us to show that gratitude. I urge my colleagues to join in supporting H.R. 415. I have no further requests for time. and I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2010-07-27
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I would reiterate my remarks. and say that this is a very. very good idea. Hopefully. it will pass unanimously. I have no further requests for time. and I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2010-07-27
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. First. let me say. Mr. Speaker. both as a Member of Congress and as the former attorney general of the State of California. I have long been concerned with the plight of those who have been victimized by crime. The antistalking law we had in the State of California was one that we worked with local law enforcement on and the agents that worked for me also worked on that in coordination with the local law enforcement officers. Certainly. those who have suffered from the threats of stalkers warrant our concern and our action. I also would like to acknowledge the work. the pioneering work. that was done by the gentleman from California
Date: 2010-07-27
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I do rise in support of this bill. Anybody who has spoken with or in any way had an opportunity to meet with those who have been the victims of stalkers understands the terrible emotional impact that this illegal activity can have. Oftentimes. it is an act precedent to actual physical harm. but even when actual physical harm is not done. the emotional toll is. in fact. real and extensive. This bill. I think. furthers the interest that we have in the Federal antistalking law. but at the same time I do register my reservation about the manner in which it was brought forward without full consultation with those of us on this side of the aisle on the committee. Nonetheless. its a good idea. I urge my colleagues to support it. and I hope it gets unanimous support. Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2010-07-27
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 5827 and yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to support the Protecting Gun Owners in Bankruptcy Act of 2010 because the bill does recognize that an individuals Second Amendment right to lawful selfdefense is not suspended during periods of financial hardship. The Second Amendment confirms the right of every American to keep and bear arms in selfdefense. Neither Federal nor any State legislature is permitted to enact a law infringing on this most basic right. In 2008. the Supreme Court confirmed in its Heller decision that "There seems to us no doubt. on the basis of both text and history. that the Second Amendment conferred an individual right to keep and bear arms." This fundamental right to defend oneself and ones family with lawful and responsible gun ownership was reinforced just this year when. in McDonald. the court prohibited State and local legislatures from passing laws infringing on an individuals Second Amendment rights. Following passage of this bill. gun owners will be protected against overreaching legislatures but also from the harsh realities of the current economic crisis. Americans need not be reminded that our Nation is still mired in some of the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression. In my home State of California. bankruptcy filings in the first quarter of 2010 have increased approximately 41 percent over the first quarter of 2009. The bill were considering today. recognizing that constitutional rights do not halt in the face of financial difficulty. creates a new Federal exemption that places a personal firearm beyond the reach of creditors and allows the debtor to avoid liens on the firearm if they would otherwise prohibit him from taking the new exemption. The Bankruptcy Code already exempts a variety of other basic items like linens and household goods that a debtor needs during a bankruptcy case to live a modest life and reorganize his or her financial affairs. The bill confirms that a debtor can maintain his or her own safety while the bankruptcy case is pending. The Federal bankruptcy exemption we are creating today is consistent with the principles embodied in the Second Amendment. I would urge my colleagues to join with me in supporting the bill. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2010-07-27
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I would just remind my colleague from Ohio that the last time we had a balanced budget on the Federal level was when we had a Democrat in the White House and a Republicancontrolled House and a Republicancontrolled Senate. Perhaps we ought to try that again after November. I support this legislation. I hope that there will be strong support for it. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2010-07-28
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

America. hold on to your wallets. NANCY PELOSI and the Democrats are coming after you with higher taxesin the middle of a recession. Come January. tax rates are going to skyrocket on hardworking. middle class families and small businesses. A new poll says 55 percent of voters in battleground States would be less likely to vote for Democrat congressional candidates if Congress doesnt stop or delay next years scheduled tax increases before election day. Most small business owners file personal income taxes and will feel the tax hike. which will make it more difficult for them when they try to hire more people or give their employees a raise. This is about stopping a jobkilling tax hike on small businesses during tough economic times. Lets stop it for our future and our freedom.
Date: 2010-07-28
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I want to thank my colleague from Pennsylvania for working with me on this resolution. This resolution calls attention to the importance of saving for retirement by designating October 17 through October 23. 2010. as National Save For Retirement Week. With fewer and fewer employers offering traditional pension plans and with Social Security intended to provide only basic income support. saving for retirement is more important than ever before. The good news. however. is that the tax code offers any number of savings incentives that not only are intended to encourage Americans to save but also make it easier for them to do so. For young workers. just putting away a little bit from each paycheck through taxdeferred retirement savings accounts such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA can add up to a sizeable nest egg. While young workers may not start off with big paychecks. they at least have the benefit of time and compound interest on their side. Meanwhile. for older workers nearing retirement. the tax code can help by enabling these workers to make catchup contributions. With this resolution. it is my hope that we can make more Americans aware not just of the importance of saving for retirement but of the available tax incentives to do so. By taking advantage of these incentives and regularly putting away a little bit. Americans can better secure their retirement. Thats why Ms. SCHWARTZ and I have offered this resolution. Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.