macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-04-15
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1053) supporting the mission and goals of National Crime Victims Rights week in order to increase public awareness of the rights. needs. and concerns of victims and survivors of crime in the United States.
Date: 2008-04-15
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker. the National Center for Victims of Crime reports that approximately 23 million Americans are victimized by crime each year. Of these. -more than 5 million are victims of violent crime. Victims of crime can suffer from a broad range of adverse effects. ranging from the physical to the psychological. Some experience financial distress resulting from a disruption in employment. Unfortunately. some of the most vulnerable of our society are also among those who are most commonly the victims of crime. People of color suffer disproportionately from violent crime. The poor and uneducated are often the target of financial schemes. And. sadly. children are victimized more than any other group. A just society demands that we always bear in mind the suffering that crime victims endure and work to reduce the incidence of the crime that causes that suffering. This bill will increase public awareness about the effects of crime on its victims and their families as well as our communities. As part of todays debate. I would also like to point out that the Office for Victims of Crime offers a full array of assistance help for crime victims. By supporting this office and its programs on an ongoing basis we can help ensure that victims are afforded their legal rights and the necessary assistance to overcome the effects of being victimized by crime. I encourage my colleagues to support H. Res. 1053. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2008-04-15
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. it is an honor to recognize my colleague from California. the author o f this bill. Congressman JIM COSTA. for.5 minutes.
Date: 2008-04-15
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I would urge my colleagues to support this resolution. Its bipartisan. Its important. I just recalled. as I was listening to both Mr. POE and Mr. COSTA taking the lead and I thank them both for that. my more than 10 years on the Victim Witness Assistance Board. when I was in local government. and the tremendous need there is for people who have been victims and then who are also witnesses to receive the assistance from society that they need so much. So I appreciate the efforts of both gentlemen and our colleagues who are in this caucus and urge support. Madam Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2008-04-15
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Thank you. Mr. Chairman. However. the promotion I cannot claim. Im still a lowly Member of the House of Representatives. notyet made it to that lofty level of being a reverend. but you are very kind. And I thank you for the many years of work that you have dedicated to this very issue that we have on the floor today. In fact. it can be said that your great work has caused us to have this opportunity to be here today. I also would like to thank the ranking member. LAMAR SMITH. for his work in helping us to bring this to the floor. and the manager of the time. Member STEVE CHABOT. for your services that youve rendered as well. And I appreciate especially the comments that youve made today. In celebrating or commemorating or recognizing the 40th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. we are. in truth. recognizing the efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King because it was Dr. Martin Luther King who went to Memphis some 40 years ago to help what we call sanitation workers today. but back then we called them garbage men. Dr. King had a basic premise of trying to help somebody. And to him. these persons. although known as garbage men. they were somebody. And he went there to help them in their efforts to obtain equal justice. And while there. the unfortunate circumstance occurred. and we lost Dr. King prematurely. But I do believe that he did not live in vain. . There is a spiritual song styled. "If I can help somebody as I travel along. if I can help someone with a word or a song. if I can help someone from doing wrong. then my living shall not be in vain." Dr. King lived not in vain be-. cause this act. the Fair Housing Act. was passed after his demise. There are some historians who contend that it was his demise. in fact. that created the opportunity for it to pass as timely as it did. And I am honored that Dr. King took up the cause of the lowly garbage men. However. 40 years later. there is still great work to be done. as has been indicated by the chairman. because 40 :years later there are approximately four million acts of housing discrimination each year in this country. Forty years later. approximately 27.000 acts of housing discrimination and complaints are filed annually. Forty years later. 13 fair housing groups have closed their doors due to a lack of funding. Forty years later. 26 fair housing centers. or onequarter of all fair housing centers. have either closed their doors or are at risk of closing their doors due to a lack of funding. Forty years later. 87 percent of African Americans. Latinos and Asian Americans meet with real estate agents and experience some form of steering. Steering occurs when the agent willsend a person of one ethnicity to an area where persons of this ethnicity may be residing. whites to white neighborhoods. blacks to black neighborhoods. or neighborhoods that are going into some form of transition. Forty years later. 20 percent of the African Americans and Latinos trying to buy or rent homes have their cause ignored.
Date: 2008-04-15
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Less than 1 percent of housing discrimination acts are reported 40 years later. So we need to do something to change this. We need to fully fund the fair housing programs. FHIP. the Fair Housing Initiative Program. should be fully funded to about $52 million. This program allows us to do what is known as testing. the means by which we acquired the empirical evidence that housing discrimination has actually occurred. There is no substitute for FHIP and the testing that takes place. But also there is a piece of legislation. the Fair Housing Act of 2007. or H.R. 2926. which will give HUD some additional authority. will establish competitive grants. will help us to examine the causes of housing discrimination and talk about what we can do and. in fact. conclude what we can do to make remedies. If we want to live not in vain as Dr. King did. lets help somebody. Lets do something about discrimination in housing and make real the great American ideal of owning a home.
Date: 2008-04-15
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I just want to make a couple of comments. I think it is important to note that the various analyses of this program back in the nineties and early in this century actually preceded reauthorization when Republicans were in the majority. We had a reauthorization with no changes at all in 1994. 1997. 2000 and 2003. So this is the first time we have actually had changes in the bill to address the issue of fraud. and I think is it is appropriate we do so. We want to welcome religious workers to our country. but we dont want to be scammed. So I think we have done the balance on this. I would note that I believe. as does the ranking member. that the Catholics probably do have a low rate of fraud. but there is no way to know that. because -the sample of 220 was so small that there was no way to pull out any one denomipation as being more problematic than another. I would ask unanimous consent that the email from the USCIS making that point to me be included in the RECORD.
Date: 2008-04-15
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I would note also that. anecdotally. the nonaffiliated may in fact be part of the issue. and here is the problem that may have happened. If there is no. site visit to the petitioning church. you dont know whether it is a phony post office box or whether it is St. Josephs Cathedral in downtown San Jose. So now that the Department of Homeland Security has done site inspections. anybody can see the beautiful St. Josephs in downtowfi San Jose. and you can also find out there is something funny here because there is not a real church or it is just a post office box. And I think that is what has led to the dramatic decline in some of these more problematic applications. I would note also. and I look forward to talking to the ranking member about his reciprocity bill. but let me just express a caution. Right now. Russia will not allow our evangelicals into their country to proselytize. I think that is the wrong thing for the Russian government to do. I think it denies the Russian people the opportunity to be exposed to those who believe that Christ is their personal saviour. But I dont think we ought to deny the Russian Orthodox believers in California the opportunity to receive assistance from Russian Orthodox religious workers simply because the Russian government has hostility towards religion and our government does not have hostility towards religion. So I look forward to discussing this further with the ranking member. but I would want to add that cautionary.
Date: 2008-04-15
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 5036 and to include extraneous matter.
Date: 2008-04-15
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. H.R. 5036. the Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act 2008. is a bill that provides State and local governments the opportunity to have safe. secure and auditable elections in this. the election. year. I commend Congressman HOLT and his bipartisan cosponsors for their continued dedication to the issue of election reform. This bill recognizes that 2008 is quickly approaching and options must be provided to ensure the integrity of the vote. Our election process must be open and transparent to ensure public confidence. We are now 8 months from the general election and cannot place State and local governments in a position to require change. Therefore. the bill is 100 percent optional. State and local governments can choose which provisions they can successfully implement. Opting in entitles the State or jurisdiction to reimbursement. In committee. several changes were made to this bill through bipartisan cooperation. and I want to thank
Date: 2008-04-15
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize the author of the bill. Congressman Rush Holt from New Jersey. who has been tremendously diligent in pursuing these reform measures. Really. without his persistence. we would not be here today. I would recognize him for 5 minutes.
Date: 2008-04-15
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. Mr. DAVIS of Virginia is a principal cosponsor and I dont see him here. so I will yield to Mr. HOLT for 1 minute.
Date: 2008-04-15
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I just want to make it clear that the Holt bill is optional for jurisdictions. No one is required to opt in. so no one would be rushed unless they wanted and felt they could take advantage of this legislation. I would note also that several States have undergone very rapid conversion. I would note that Governor Crist from Florida was a witness before the Election Subcommittee in House Administration. and he had the entire State of Florida switch from the electronic machines to optical scan in really a matter of months. This is a matter of intention if you want to do it. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2008-04-15
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I would just like to note that this has not been a hurried effort. In fact. we reported out of the House Administration Oommittee the original Holt bill before last Easter. Easter of 2007. and have been working with interested parties and across the aisle since that time. Its worth noting that these changes can happen responsibly and also quickly. For example. in Lackawanna County. Pennsylvania. theyre going to switch from DREs to optical scan in 7 weeks. before this primary. And I would note that the legislature in Iowa has voted. I understand the vote was nearly unanimous. to transition from DREs to optical scan. and thats going to be done before this November election. So I think that this measure would help cities and counties who want to take those responsible steps. I would yield to the author of the legislation. Mr. HOLT.. an additional minute.
Date: 2008-04-15
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I just want to make a couple of comments. In the last several years. the United States has spent at least $240 million to make sure that democratic elections in other countries met the same standards that were hoping elections will be held to here. And so. obviously. every dollar that we have is precious tax money. but I would hope that we would be at least as interested in protecting the integrity of the elections in America as we are in protecting the integrity of the elections in Pakistan. Afghanistan and the like. Secondly. I was not a member of the House Administration Committee when
Date: 2008-04-15
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I urge that we pass this important legislation today. I will confess that I am disappointed that the ranking member is not today in support of this measure. We. on the majority side. accepted every amendment offered by Republicans in the committee markup on this bill. and I had hoped and expected that we would be able to continue .to work together and support this measure on the floor. We reported the original Holt bill out of the committee over 1 year ago. and in that time. between now and then. we have worked with Secretaries of State. the National Association of Counties. disability rights groups. voting rights groups. civil rights groups. to try and get a measure that could garner broad support across the country. And I believe that we have that measure.before us today. I will say that the White House issuing an SAP today. after a years work. I think. is really bad faith. We have worked very hard. and to come out at the last minute is really very unprofessional. Id finally like to say that the dollar amount estimated by the Congressional Budget Office is a worstcase scenario. Theres no way that that would be the full amount. But even if it were. I would ask Members to think of this: Isnt the American democracy worth as much as the Iraqi or the Pakistani democracy? Arent we willing tb spend as much to make sure that our precious American votes are counted as we are the votes of foreigners in other countries? I would hope that as we consider our responsibility as Members of Congress to our wonderful America and our wonderful country. that the answer to that would be yes and therefore. a "yes" on the whole bill. There have been various quotes made today. but I think back of the second Californian to ever be President of the United States. his phrase was not used about voting. but it was this: Trust but verify. Thats what the Holt bill would do. It would trust but verify. and I hope that Members today can come together and support the Holt bill. I would like to commend once again Congressman HOLT for his enormous efforts that brought us here today.
Date: 2008-04-15
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank my colleague from Georgia and thank him for his leadership on this important issue. Madam Speaker. I rise in strong support of this legislation. the Taxpayer Assistance and Simplification Act. Its a set of commonsense reforms designed to make the Tax Code a little more 6onsumer friendly for hardworking Americans. If the IRS has reason to believe that youve been a victim of identity theft. this bill says the IRS should let you know. If youre entitled to an unclaimed refund. this bill empowers the IRS to do more to find you. And if you need help with your taxes. this bill lets the IRS refer you to a qualified taxpayer clinic that can provide assistance. So whether its from eliminating nuisance paperwork to publicizing the earned income tax credit to clamping down on predatory .refund - anticipation loans." this bill. time and again. sides with the taxpayer. Im particularly pleased that it includes legislation many of us have worked- on to end the practice of bounty hunting and terminate the program of contracting out -the collection of taxes to private debt collectors. Proponents of this program say its necessary to close the tax gap. The facts just say theyre wrong. The program. to date. hasnt returned a single dime of additional revenue to the U.S. Treasury. In fact. so far as we gather - here today. its been a revenue loser. an ideological driven black hole that has sucked $50 million out of the Treasury last year alone. And we would have beenable to raise. and this is according to both Republican and IRS commissioners. we would have been able to raise $1.4 billion in revenue from people who hadnt paid taxes if wed simply hired more IRS agents to do the job. And thats also the testimony of the National Taxpayer Advocate at the Department of Treasury. Thats the person whose job it is to look out for the taxpayers. and she testified this is a bad deal for. taxpayers. We should get rid of it. And we shouldnt be surprised. We had a similar program in the 1990s that was ended because of abusive practices. and it failed to collect the money. Lets learn from history. Lets adopt this legislation.
Date: 2008-04-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. And I thank the Rules Committee for bringing this rule to the floor that will enable us to consider the Continued Access to Student Loans Act to help families and students who are struggling to pay for the cost of education. One of the more successful programs in this country has been the system of student loans that we provide under Federal gdarantees to families and to students to pay for those educations. That program now has been caught up in the decline and the seizing of the American credit markets. and therefore. were worried that there will not be loans available to families and students who are applying for school this coming fall. As a result of that. we have been working with the Secretary of Education and with the entire committee on the Republican side and the Democratic side of the aisle to make sure that we have in place a number of provisions that will allow. if necessary. the Federal Government to step in and assure those families that they will have access to those loans so they will not have to miss classes that they need. miss a semester that they need. and compound their problems by extending the time that they will have to remain in college before they graduate. We have been meeting with the traditional lending 6ommunity within the student loan community. and many of them have told us that they expect to participate in the student loans for the coming year. but they also believe that there will be a gap. that -the supply of those loans will not meet the demands because of the seizing of the credit market. that the credit markets have failed to function over the last many weeks not only for student loans. but for the municipal bond market. for various joint ajencies of the government that have very high credit ratings. In the case of student loans. these are governmentbacked loans. but the markets are not purchasing the old loans as they were in the past. For that reason. we are seeking to activate and have on standby authority the lender of last resort authority that the Secretary of Education has under current law where if. in fact. the money is not available for those loans. she will be able to go to the Secretary of Treasury and make a demand to fund those loans. There will also be available the direct lending program that currently exists. Many universities and students use that program today. We have been talking with them and making sure that they would be able to expand the capacity. Should the universities decide to direct a number of the students to the direct lending program. they have assured us they that could clearly double their capacity and in a short time be able to go beyond that. So we have the lender of last resort program in place because there is not enough money in the banks to provide for student loans. We have the direct lending program in place for those who choose to go there so they can keep their eligibility for school.
Date: 2008-04-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

And then we also. in this legislation. provide for the Secretary to purchase existing loans from those lenders so that they can recapitalize their liquidity situation and be able to make new loans to students and to families seeking those loans. Those three tools should. in fact. provide a seamless system so if the private credit markets fail to provide the necessary resources. or the credit markets fail to provide the liquidity thats necessary. we will be able to stand in their place for a temporary period of time until the credit markets sort it out. We also make provisions in this legislation to increase the amount of money that undergraduates can borrow in the program so that -those students who have been using the. private loan markets. which are in complete shambles. will be able to increase the amount of money that they may need to borrow for tuition and for school expenses and be able to continue their education. I also want to acknowledge the fact that weve made provisions in here so that temporary problems that families may be having with home payments or with health care payments. those would be considered as exigent circumstances so thatthey can continue to be eligible for the loans under the government guaranteed program. Ms. CASTOR will be offering that amendment. And the gentleman from Vermont will be offering an amendment to really look at this link between increased tuition and increased resources made available to students. This is an important package. Its a timely package. We hope that it wont be necessary to be used. but we need to have it in place so that we can backstop the failures of the credit market that are currently existing as an outflow of the subprime mortgage problem that is affecting the entire economy of this country and many other countries around the world. . I would urge my colleagues to support this legisldtion. Again. I want to thank the Rules Committee for recommending this bill to the floor.
Date: 2008-04-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 5715. the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act of
Date: 2008-04-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentleman.. I want to thank all my colleagues who participated in the debate this evening. We will have some time for additional debate tomorrow. but I was also remiss in not thanking Amy Jones of Congressman MCKEONS staff for all of her hard work on this bill. and the individuals on my staff. Denise Forte. Gaby Gomez. Julie Radocchia. Jeff Appel. Stephanie Moore. Brian Kennedy. Joe Novotny. Lamont Ivey. and Margaret Young for all their assistance in bringing this bill to the floor.
Date: 2008-04-16
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I insist upon my point of order regarding this amendment. The Acting � CHAIRMAN. The gentlelady will state her point of order.