macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2002-06-05
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I rise in support of my colleague from Michigans amendment. This amendment seeks to expand educational opportunities for working Americans in the sciences. mathematics. and engineering. NSFs Computer Science. Engineering. and Mathematics Scholarship (CSEMS) Program was established to support financially needy postsecondary students pursuing careers in the hightech sector. The acute shortage of trained scientists and engineers in our country is well documented. and critical sectors of our economy find it necessary to import hightech labor from other countries under the H1 B visa program. NSF is doing a great deal to address the shortage of homegrown scientists and engineers. but currently. the CSEMS program is only eligible to fulltime students. The expansion of the eligibility of the CSEMS program to include parttime students will have two important results. The first is that it addresses our nations need for more scientists and engineers in key sectors of our economy. The second is that it provides talented. motivated. and economically needy students with the resources they need to improve their quality of life and fulfill their dreams.
Date: 2002-06-05
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman. I yield to the gentlewoman from California .
Date: 2002-06-18
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. as Americans picked up their newspapers this morning. they once again learned -that the Enron Corporation was run for the fun and profit of its top executives. not for the benefit of the energy market. and certainly not for most of its employees. In the year that Enron was failing and heading toward bankruptcy. 140 of its top executives took out almost $800 million in bonuses. $800 million. which is about the same amount as its 20.000 employees lost in their 401(k) retirement plans. $800 million that those people will not have for retirement. but which these 100 executives will have for the rest of their lives. . As the Republicans talk about privatizing the Social Security system and insisting that everybody go into the equity markets with their own little account. they had better understand that corporate America is not running this system for the benefit of the shareholders. Corporate America is not running the system for the benefit of the corporations. They are running it for the benefit of the executives. those executives that took out $800 million on the eve of the bankruptcy at Enron Corporation.
Date: 2002-06-19
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. let me thank my colleague from Florida. Congressman ALCEE HASTINGS for offering this motion to instruct conferees. The two instructions that Congressman HASTINGS is offering are crucial to getting our election system in order. First. it is important that conferees make any effective date for election reform be in time for the next Presidential election in 2004. Actually. it should have been in time for our congressional elections. but we will go forward unfortunately with the same system that tore America apart in the November 2000 election. And for the second instruction. it is important that the government have the ability as soon as is it feasible. to legally check to see if States are in fact making the necessary changes that the final election reform bill stimulates. Election Reform is the number one legislative priority for the Congressional Black Caucus. and I sincerely hope that it is a top priority for every Member of the 107m Congress. As a national legislative body. the Congress has the power. authority and absolute obligation to assure that the apparent disenfranchisement. which occurred in several places throughout the United States in our last Presidential election. does not ever happen again. Allegations of voter intimidation. inaccurate voter registration lists. subjective. vague or nonexistent ballot counting standards. and flawed ballot designs. all led to confusion before. during and after the election. What happened is no way to elect the President of the United States bf Americathe most powerful position in the world. This is not a black. white. or brown issue. It isan American issue. It is a red. white and blue issue. It should be of great concern to each of us if any one of us is improperly denied access to the ballot box or if every ballot cast is not counted. The survival of our democracy depends on the accuracy and integrity of our election system. Mr. Speaker. I urge mycolleagues to support this sensible motion to instruct.
Date: 2002-06-20
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in favor of this rule. It is a breath of fresh air that we are getting- this kind of fair and open rule from the Republican majority. But I also rise to support the amendment to be offered by the gentleman from Minnesota . the ranking member. which seeks to prevent the diversion of funds from the Airport Improvement Program. Like the ranking member. I am not opposed to the underlying provisions of the bill. which seek to expand the eligibility of the AIP program to include future construction of contract towers. I am. however. opposed to allowing airports to be reimbursed for work that. has already been completed by airport improvement entitlements that are due for others in the future. As a matter of equity. the 26 airports that would be eligible for reimbursement had no reasonable expectations that Federal funds would cover construction of their contract towers. If we now allow these airports to recover their costs under this AIP program. it sends the message to other airports that any contract fairly entered into with the FAA can be overturned when they get ready. if they can muster the support in Congress. So it is a matter of principle. I also understand that the 26 airports that are eligible to be reimbursed have an estimated $252 million in safety. security and capacity needs. If future airport improvement entitlements are diverted to work on contract towers that have already been completed. these 26 airports could face a major funding shortfall in the future. Essentially what this amendment seeks to do is prevent these 26 airports from doubledipping from their shortsighted attempt to mortgage their future. I ask my colleagues to support the Oberstar amendment and to oppose final passage if the Oberstar amendment is not adopted.
Date: 2002-06-21
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. the committee has completed their markup on the prescription drug benefit last night. and what we are now confronted with is having to pass legislation that may or may not provide prescription drug benefits to the elderly in this country. It may or may not provide the insurance that they need to purchase those drugs. -Those drugs may or may not be available. based upon whether the insurance companies think those drugs are too expensive. We just went through this with our senior population. with the HMOs. People who thought they had health insurance now find out they do not have. health insurance because the HMOs have left the field. People who thought they were covered in rural America now find they are not covered in rural America. Why? Because the insurance companies decided the population was too expensive. and they were not going to cover them and gave them back to the government. That is why the Democrats put forth a program where the prescription drugs were guaranteed. the drugs Members need or their families need to take care of their illnesses in the twilight years of their lives will be there. will be guaranteed. and will be paid for. That is far different from the Republican plan that is made out of Swiss cheese and does not serve the interests of the elderly of this country.
Date: 2002-06-27
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I express my opposition to this bill because it does hurt senior women. in. particular. and is another big windfall for the corporate industry.
Date: 2002-07-09
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. Members of the House. every day the people we represent receive devastating news from the results of the action of the Enrons. the Tycos. the Arthur Andersens. the WorldComs and the Merck Pharmaceuticals. They receive devastating news as employees when they are laid off. as pensioners when they see that their retirement is no longer secure. and as shareholders as they see that their net worth has gone down. It has gone down because of slipshod accounting. illegal activities. bias portfolio management. hundreds of millions of dollars in insider unsecured loans and tens of millions of dollars in golden parachutes for the economic elite in the corner offices. Nothing for the employees. nothing for the pensioners. and nothing for the shareholders. 0I 1215 Mr. President. this is not going to be solved by having the markets voluntarily clean themselves up. You appointed Harvey Pitt. You appointed Harvey Pitt as the lapdog of the industry. as a defender of the industry. What America needs is a watchdog. You are not going to be able to take a lapdog and turn him into a watchdog. Mr. Pitt should leave this office. You should appoint somebody who can get to the bottom of these scandals and protect Americas shareholders. Americas pensioners. and Americas employees in the future from these kinds of scandals.
Date: 2002-07-09
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of H.R. 3130. the Undergraduate Science. Mathematics. Engineering and Technology Education Improvement Act. I want to thank the gentleman from New York . the gentleman from Texas . and the gentleman from Michigan for working with me and my colleagues in a very bipartisan manner to develop the legislation now before the House. This bill focuses on two important issues. The first is to attract and retain more students in associate and baccalaureate degree programs in critical science and technology fields. The second issue is to ensure that all undergraduate students receive a quality. education experience in their science and technology courses. regardless of the career path they ultimately choose. One important component for dealing with the problem of declining numbers of students pursuing careers in science and math and engineering for the long term is to increase participation in these areas by individuals from underrepresented groups. Under the Technology Talent Act. the National Science Foundation is required to ensure that projects are supported that would lead to increases in the numbers of science degrees by individuals from underrepresented groups. The NSF is also encouraged to make use of existing Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program. which has a 10year track record in attracting and maintaining minority students in sciencerelated degree programs. H.R. 3130 also authorizes a new MinorityServing Institutions undergraduate program to build up the capacity for these institutions. In other provisions. the bill will help expand undergraduate education reform efforts at institutions of higher education throughout the Nation that have demonstrated successful records of accomplishment. It provides professional development opportunities for undergraduate faculty and expands the availability of research experiences for the undergraduate students. including students at nonresearch institutions. The bill also encourages the inclusion df innovative publicprivate partnerships by enabling consortia to participate in the grants program which has worked very. very well in the State of Texas and in my area. Mr. Speaker. I believe that H.R. 3130 will put in place a range of programs and activities that will strengthen undergraduate education in science and technology and will help provide the human resources that this Nation will need for economic strength and security in the postindustrial world. I strongly support this legislation. I commend it to my colleagues and ask for their support in the passage by this House.
Date: 2002-07-09
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. let me thank the leadership of this committee. the gentleman from Ohio and the gentleman from Maryland . I know how diligent they have been in working on this. and most especially to the gentleman from Rhode Island for offering the motion to instruct the conferees. Mr. Speaker. whether the policy issue is prescription drug coverage. education. or any other matters within the jurisdiction of the Congress. the most fundamental issue facing all of us is restoring the publics faith in democracy. Congress must make electoral reform a top priority. and we hope to see the conclusion of this bill in conference soon. Constitutionally mandated equal protection of the laws and the Voting Rights Act require an electoral system in which all Americans are able to register as voters. remain7 on the rolls once registered. and vote free from harassment. Ballots must not be misleading. and every vote must count and be counted. In the 2000 election. Florida was not the only State where American citizens were denied the full exercise of their fundamental rights and their constitutional franchise. It happened across this Nation. Moreover. most of those excluded from democracy were Americans of color. As such. election reform is the number one legislative priority for the Congressional Black Caucus. and I sincerely hope that it is a top priority for every Member of the 107th Congress. We cannot be silenced until Congress answers the call for electoral reform. This is not a black. white or brown issue. It is an American issue. It is a red. white and blue issue. It should be of great concern to each of us that if any one of us is improperly denied access to the ballot box or if every ballot cast is not counted. the survival of our democracy depends on the accuracy and integrity of our election system. It is important that conferees make an effective date for election reform in time for the next Presidential election in 2004. Actually. it should have been in time for our congressional elections. but we will go forward. unfortunately with the same system that caused us as much headache as it did in November 2000. For the second instruction. it is important that the government has the ability as soon as it is feasible to legally check to see if States are. in fact. making the necessary changes that the final election reform bill stimulates. I hope each of my colleagues will do his and her part by voting in favor of this sensible motion to instruct.
Date: 2002-07-11
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today with my colleagues to draw attention to. the ongoing HIV/AIDS pandemic. This week. the 16th Annual International AIDS Conference was held in Barcelona. Spain. The conference highlighted the fact that. contrary to previous beliefs. the global AIDS crisis has not peaked and is only getting worse. According to UNAIDS. 40 million people live with HIV/AIDS in the world today. 28.5 million of them are in subSaharan Africa. Three million of those infected are children younger than 15. Last year. five million people were newly infected with HIV. and three million died of AIDS. In Botswana. almost 44 percent of pregnant women visiting clinics in urban areas are HIV positive. In several countries in West Africasuch as Burkina Faso and Cameroonthe adult prevalence rate surpassed 5 percent. a level that many experts agree precedes a larger scale epidemic. This devastating disease is erasing decades of development and cutting life expectancy by nearly half in the most affected areas. These statistics are staggering. but they also obscure the human cost of the epidemic. Infected teachers pass away and are unable to transmit knowledge to the next generation. Business owners die and their enterprises die with them. The deaths of trained professionals. such as nurses. civil servants. and lawyers mean that their skills disappear from their country. By 2010. UNAIDS believes that twenty million children in subSaharan Africa will have lost at least one of their parents to AIDS. Mr. Speaker. entire societies are being destroyed by this terrible virus. There are a fewvery fewsigns of hope. Some countries. such as Uganda. have stemmed the rate of infection and have averted a wider catastrophe. Other countries are finally acknowledging that HIV/AIDS poses a serious risk to their stability and .are beginning to remove the stigma associated with the disease. Last week. the government of Nigeria announced that it had ordered free HIV/AIDS test for half a million of its citizens. And programs that seek to prevent the transmission of the virus from mothers to children are proving to be effective and are being implemented on a larger scale. But Mr. Speaker. there is more that we as the sole superpower can do to stop the spread of this scourge that threatens the stability of many parts of the globe. We can increase assistance for education and prevention efforts and involve more sectors of societies in such prevention campaigns. We can continue to lower the cost of lifesaving antiretroviral drugs so that people in developing countries have the hope of treatment and are more willing to learn their HIV status. We can support the research and development of an effective. practical vaccine for HIV. And we can increase the United States contributions for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS. Tuberculosis. and Malaria. What we are doing simply is not enough to stem this global massacre. As a world leader. we must step up our efforts and contributions in this global struggle.
Date: 2002-07-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. the Republicans have been caught with an embarrassing bill. They passed a securities bill to tell the American public they cared about their pensions and their financial wellbeing. Then the Senate took really tough action. and now the Republicans have been caught with egg all over their face. What do they want to do? They want to put everybody in jail. Fine. we will vote for the bill. But it is the things that people do today that are legal that is causing the heartburn. They pass an embarrassingly weak pension bill. and embarrassingly weak securities bill. It is not the things that they do that are illegal. it is the fact that people under the pension bill are still locked into that stock for 3 years. They still cannot have a representative of employees on the board of their pensions. They cannot have an independent representative of their employees on the board. They cannot be notified on a timely basis of inside sales. So the pensioners absorb all of the financial shock for the illdoings. but they happen to be legal under the law. just as many of the provisions that the Senate outlawed under their securities act continue to remain legal. Now they come along and say if somebody engages in fraud. they should be put in jail. Where is the Attorney General today when they engage in fraud? The Republican bill is going to give it to the Attorney General to come up against these people on whistleblowers. Where does Sharon Watliins go to get her job back if she loses her job? Where does she go to be made financially whole? Nowhere. She goes to John Ashcroft and begs him to bring a case. In the past 6 months as we have been having a meltdown in stock markets and peoples pension plans where investors have lost over $5 trillion. we have not heard a word from the Attorney General. not a word from the Attorney General. The Republican plan puts all of their eggs there. I know they are covering their tracks. They are like the cowboys that did the bank robbery. and now they are dragging the trees behind their horses to cover their tracks. Good try. It will not work.
Date: 2002-07-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself 2 minutes. First of all. Mr. Speaker. on the question of budget authority. the gentleman made a determination that this cost money and there were no offsets. The gentleman said there were no offsets. but he would not even let us look for offsets for these amendments. We also happen to have a number of free amendments. We happen to have a number of free amendments we are willing to offer. The second thing is. the gentleman wanted to do something that was not controversial. where there could be agreement. On that theory. we just went through the securities bill in the House that turned out to be an embarrassment to everybody because. today. people ran down to the floor to add criminal penalties on almost a unanimous vote. So the question on that point. the Republicans were determining what is controversial. They said if we have criminal penalties against people who perpetrate fraud. that would be controversial and they left it out of the securities bill. In the Senate today it was 97 to 0. and this morning it was 400 to something. So. again. my colleagues are setting themselves up as the arbiters of what is controversial. what can be considered. and what cannot be considered. That is not democracy. That looks like forms of government that we fight against around the world. That is not a democracy. In our democracy. we take a vote and we win or we lose. We get excited about winning. and we lick. our wounds when we lose and come back another day. But that is not what is happening here. So this is far beyond that. People were not raising the budget act when the farm bill passed through here. Or. actually. the gentleman was raising the budget act when the farm bill came through here. but the leadership was not raising the budget act when the farm bill came through here. and they are not raising it now in the supplemental. So the notion that somehow loan forgiveness for teachers is completely out of consideration. let the Members decide that. Let the Members decide if we want to make tradeoffs. Mr. Speaker. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey .
Date: 2002-07-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the words of the gentleman from Georgia . except under that theory. why have a democracy?. The other side of the aisle would make a determination what is good. and then that is what is voted- for. That is not the issue of whether we support the underlying bill or provisions of it. it is whether or not under a process that would have allowed us to offer amendments. we were not allowed to offer those amendments. That is called fairness. That is called fairness. It is not a question of whether. as the gentleman from Wisconsin said. we got all we wanted. we simply wanted a debate. We might have won the votes. Maybe we were wrong. That is the process in this House. The other side does not get to unilaterally decide whether we. have enough. The votes in the House decide whether a bill goes too far. We weigh that every day. But that opportunity is being offered to us less and less. That is -why when we have a bill of decent merit. but the suggestion is that is it folks. take it or leave it. that is not our process of government.
Date: 2002-07-16
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I do not think there was. When we started to offer amendments in the full committee. the hearing was cancelled.