macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2001-11-01
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I rise in support of this bipartisan substitute. More than a month ago. this Congress acted expeditiously to provide financial relief to the airlines in order to help them withstand the crushing blow that they took September 11 and to make sure they did not go into bankruptcy. That. however. has not caused people to get back on the planes. Passengers will not fly until they feel the plane is safe. If the system we have in place now continues. they might not ever fly at the rates again. Even since all the talk about the increasing safety and security. the checkers that we have have already missed a loaded- gun that was in a briefcase for a passenger. The turnover with these private companies is so high that even training is inadequate because there is no time. It is constant training. Mr. Chairman. I rise in support of the bipartisan OberstarLipinskiGanske substitute amendment. More than a month ago. this Congress acted expeditiously to provide financial relief to the airlines in order to help them withstand the crushing blow that they took in the September 11 attacks. However. we all knew that helping the airlines to avoid imminent bankruptcy would only be a pyrrhic victory if we did not act further to reestablish an environment that enables the airline industry to prosper in the long term. Airline passengers have still not returned because many do not have full confidence in security at our nations airports. The recent revelation that Argenbright Corp. which handles security at 46 of our nations largest airports. continues to violate the terms of its probation by hiring criminally convicted baggage screens. certainly does little to allay those fears. The American people are now demanding a level of security at our nations airports that simply cannot be provided by private contractors who insist on hiring minimumwage. illtrained workers. America is now in a state of war against terrorism. At the front lines of this conflict are security personnel who screen passengers and luggage. This is a national security matter and a fundamental responsibility of the federal government. Just as we depend on professional pilots to bomb Taliban positions and professional troops in our special forces to perform surveillance operations in Afghanistan itself. we must have a professional police force at airports to ensure that terrorists do not succeed in inflicting harm to airline passengers. The YoungMica bill meiely continues the status quo. The OberstarLipinskiDeFazio bill is the only bill being considered today that addresses the fundamental flaws in the way we handle airport security. Moreover. it is the exact text as the bill which passed unanimously in the Senate. Every Senatorfrom the most conservative to the most progressivevoted for it. They understand what the American people are demanding. I hope enough of my colleagues in the House will understand that as well. I ask my colleagues to vote for OberstarLipinskiDeFazio language and against the YoungMica language.
Date: 2001-11-13
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. while no one can quarrel with what the supporters of this resolution suggest they want. and that is for reflection and time for children to consider what is going on in this country. once we suggest that the school is going to set aside time for the children to pray or reflect quietly. it does not say that they shall pray quietly. it does not say they shall pray silently. I believe we are now treading into the question of the school setting the content of that prayer. There is nothing todaythat prevents schoolchildren from praying voluntarily at their own time on behalf of this Nation or people in harm or the victims of terrorism. but what we should not do is. we should not have the school dictating that should take place at an appointed time and place. If the schools want to have a moment of silence. the child may then pick that moment of silence to reflect in any manner or pray in any manner that they want. but this resolution goes beyond that. I am afraid that this resolution is really about. once again. trying to introduce some form of content or prayer into the schools under the guise of the tragedies of September 11 and the events that have occurred since then. We should really not do that. We should really understand that we are very clear about the rights of children to pray in school. If the student groups meet on student property. then religious groups have an equal right to meet on school property and to pray. and the courts have protected students individual rights to pray in a nondisruptive manner and have approved attempts by school districts to accommodate students in this resolution. But this resolution is different than that. because while it is voluntary from the Congress and it is voluntary for the school to do it. but once the school sets aside time to pray for the country in that manner. then I believe they have crossed the line. I wish that we would understand that we .have every right to call for people to reflect "and to pray in the interest in this country. and they will or they will not. Hopefully they have. and millions and millions of Americans and their children and their families have made that decision to pray in their places of worship. to pray around the dinner table. to pray in their homes before they go to sleep at night or when they first wake up in the morning or whatever suits them. I hope that that would continue. But I think that this resolution is mistaken. And I think that this resolution is illconsidered and I would hope that the Congress would not pass it. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2001-11-13
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself 1 minute. Let me just say these two points. One. I have supported for a long time a moment of silence. and I think it is quite proper and quite helpful to young children. Two. this Nation was founded on ChristianJudeo principles. It was -also founded on constitutional principles. and we live under the Constitution. and there is a clash from time to time. What my colleagues do not get to do is to have the State organize the prayer. A moment of silence could not be more important than at this time. and more and more schools can do it. and as my colleague pointed out. the court clearly has said that that is. in fact. allowable. But what the schools do not get to do is they do not get to organize the times and conditions of that prayer as called for. and this may be nonbinding. but the Congress on a binding or nonbinding. they ought not to be calling for unconstitutional acts. That is not imeeting our charge under our responsibilities in this office. Mr. Speaker. I yield 8 minutes to the gentleman from Texas .
Date: 2001-11-13
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I grew up as a Catholic believing that God was allknowing and everpresent. and it was not until I came to Congress and listened to these debates that I thought anybody would ever believe that a superintendent of schools or a teacher or a congressman could separate me from .my God. My Gbd was always present. I could reach out and converse with God. rely on God. pray to God. Then I came to the Congress. and there were Members saying people could drive God out of school. drive God out of Congress. drive God out of here. drive God out of there. Maybe. I do not know. but it was never the God I understood that would travel with me throughout my life. that would always be there for me. I find it interesting that somehow people believe -childrens faith is so weak that it can be dismissed like that by some school official. despite the teachings of their families. church and peers. I. find it interesting that somehow God just disappears. It is an incredible statement that I do not understand regarding the underestimation of the American peoples faith in their God.
Date: 2001-11-14
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I thank the gentleman for holding this special order so we can pay tribute to Eddie Boland. I want to mention a small episode. There was a time when many of us were involved in tryihg to end the violence in Latin America. in Guatemala. El Salvador. Nicaragua and elsewhere. It was a struggle that was consuming those individuals and those countries. It was an uphill struggle. Finally. justice came. and in the case of El Salvador. a democratic government has been established and a series of elections have been held. but that was not the history of the region and that country at the time when I served in this Congress with Mr. Boland. I always thought that the reason that justice came to Central America in large part was because the generals in El Salvador made a huge mistake and the intelligence community in this country made a huge mistake. The generals in El Salvador made a huge mistake in lying to.Joe Moakley about their involvement in the killing of the Jesuits at the university. From that day forward. because he recognized the lie when it was uttered. and I was with him on the trip to Latin America to investigate that. Mr. Moakley recognized that lie the minute it was presented on that military base by those generals. He pursued it along with our nowcolleague. the gentleman from Massachusetts for many. many months until that lie unraveled and we realized the incredible role that the Government of El Salvador played in the murder of those Jesuits and its military. Eddie Boland. while he did not agree with us necessarily on the policy in Latin America or what some of us were trying to achieve. believed that the laws of the land were the laws of the land. When he later found out the in.volvement of the intelligence agency in Latin America and when it became clear that they were fudging the laws. we passed the Boland amendment that made it very clear that having Eddie Boland stand before this Congress and support the Boland amendment and having this Congress pass the Boland amendment as he did in his role as the chairman of the Intelligence Committee changed the dynamics and changed peoples attitude to what was taking place in Central America and the deep involvement of this country in really horrific events and abuses of human rights in those countries. Mr. Speaker. I think we owe him a great debt of gratitude because he insisted that people not play fast and loose with the laws of this country. that this country not be involved in the abuse of human rights of the people in El Salvador. and we all should thank him very much and remember him for that important role that he played on behalf of humanity who. without Eddie Boland. would not have had a champion of that stature to bring about that kind of change. I thank Eddie Boland for his service to this country.
Date: 2001-11-27
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. due to the faltering economy. State education budgets are being squeezed all across the country. According to last weeks report of the House and Senate committees which deal with education. this year States will cut $11 billion in real education re.ductions. More cuts are likely. since State budgets are now showing a deficit of some $25 billion. and this does not take into account the full impact of the September 11 attack. Elementary and secondary education is onethird of the States budget. so obviously they are going to have to be cut. But we ought to do all we can in the stimulus package to make sure that we support education. Over the last couple of years. schools have started to make progress in closing the achievement gap between poor and minority children and majority children and suburban children. We have made efforts on education reform. Children are doing better on the State exams and on the national exams. We ought to make sure that we do not lose this progress that we have made. We must understand that we cannot allow our childrens education and the educational resources of this Nation to be set back because of the shortterm recession. The Federal Government ought to do all it can to help States out at this time so we do not lose the advancements that have been made. California faces a $4.5 billion budget shortfall this year. Californias revenues are projected to fall by 12% this year. the largest decline since World War II. To balance the budget. Governor Gray Davis has been forced to propose $843 million in education cuts. including afterschool programs and initiatives to help lowperforming schools. The cuts are likely to be worse next year. when the state projects a $12.4 billion shortfall. According to Brett McFadden of the Association Of California School Administrators. "It took years to recover from the budget deficits in the early 90s. !f we have to go through that again. that is going to create lasting damage to the entire system." (San Francisco Chronicle. Nov. 15. 2001). Yesterdays New York Times described the impact the cuts will have on Harvey Elementary School in Santa Ana. Afterschool literacy classes for nativeSpanish speakers has helped increase the proportion of fourthgraders reading above grade level from 7% to 25% in two years. One teacher called the progress her students had made in just three months "remarkable." But state and local budget cuts may force the program to replace certified teachers with college students. and cut the number of students served in half next year. According to the schools principal. "There was a window of opportunity here. and that is closing." Congress is planning to spend tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars to respond to the economic recession and the effects of Clearly. we must make sure that we provide adequate assistance to our public schools so that they may continue the advancements in quality that we expect them to make. [From the Washington Post. Nov. 20. 2001]
Date: 2001-11-28
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. reserving the right to object. I have a lot of people who said they want to speak. Could I ask that we do that after we have our opening statements. I think I will only take 3 or 4 minutes.
Date: 2001-11-28
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I understand that. 30 minutes a side. as I understand it. I would like to make my opening remarks. and then have the time limit take effect. If the gentleman wants to do the same on his side. we would have maybe 70 minutes. It may not be that long. I do not know if Members will come to the floor or not who said they want to speak.
Date: 2001-11-28
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I am asking if the gentleman would amend that to let the opening statements be made by myself and by the gentleman and then have the 60 minutes.
Date: 2001-11-28
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I thank the gentleman for his agreement on the time. and I appreciate the additional time. Mr. Chairman. this is a very difficult amendment to offer. but it is a very essential amendment to offer for a number of reasons. First and foremost. those of us who represent States and localities that have suffered dramatic increases in unemployment. both before and since September 11. with people who are unemployed and were hoping to get a job. who had their chances of a job being secured greatly diminished because of the September 11 attacks. and those who were immediately unemployed after September 11. we have an obligation to those people to make sure that money will be available to help with extended unemployment benefits. unemployment benefits. COBRA benefits or health care supplements. and that is what this amendment does. What this amendment does is essentially try and reverse what the amendment of the gentleman from New York
Date: 2001-11-28
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I yield myself 30 seconds just to say when the gentleman says that we are taking the money back that he took to New York out of all of the other unemployment funds and he says we did not do it in a technical way with the waivers. it is a little bit like a person who robbed my wallet and then when I took it back. he says I put it in the wrong pocket. No. it is my wallet. And these benefits go to the unemployed. This is not about divide and conquer. This is about this country meeting its obligation to New York and to unemployed Americans. and we can do both. Mr. Chairman. I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Washington .
Date: 2001-11-28
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I yield myself the remainder of my time. The events of September 11 were uniquely cruel. were uniquely cruel against the victims. people who chose to do nothing more than get up and go to work in the morning. and by the thousands they were slaughtered. unique� in their cruelness. in the history of this country and the history of the world. From the moment after September 11 and even as it was unfolding. we saw something uniquely American. and to the wonder of the rest of the world. we erased all of the boundaries. all of the characteristics. all of the identities. and we pulled together. People drove across country so they could put in a 12hour shift. children sent money. people were out on the streets asking for help for New York. People raised billions of dollars. Uniquely American. That is what Robert Frost wrote about. about our boldness. our greatness. our strengths. about our broad shoulders. about our integrity. That is what America saw. It saw strength and it saw compassion. It saw a sharing like we have never witnessed in this country. in this generation of those of us who are alive now. It saw people who said I will do anything to help those people in New York. People went to enlist to help the fight overseas. People gave blood. They stood in line here at the Cannon Building. stood in line to give blood. more blood than they needed. What a tribute to our country. Now we -have got to finish the job. but we have got to finish it as the United States of America. as the American people. When we had hurricanes in Florida. we did not say to the earthquake victims in California that they must contribute. and only victims. We did not say to the victims of the floods in Texas that the people devastated by the ice storms in Maine could only contribute. We did not say to the people in the tornadoes in Kansas. in Tennessee and Arkansas that they would have to get their help from the victims of the hurricanes. No. We came and said this is an American problem. this is a natural disaster.- it is an act of God and America will take care of this problem. We will all join together. We got emergency funding for the floods in Texas. if my colleagues will remember the gentleman from Texas
Date: 2001-12-06
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in reluctant opposition to H.R. 3005. the Trade Promotion Authority Act. Words probably cannot fully convey how disappointed I am in being forced to vote "No" on H.R. 3005. Up to now. since coming to Congress in 1993. I have compiled a protrade voting record that is second to none. I have supported NAFTA. U.S. entry into the WTO. normalizing trading relations with China and Vietnam. expanding trading. relations with the countries of subSahara Africa and the Carribean. and most recently to establish free trade with Jordan. I strongly believe that. our nation has the most to gain from opening new markets and improving upon a rulesbased trading system. I am also disappointed because I fully appreciate the extraordinary effort put forth by my friends. Mr. JEFFERSON. Mr. TANNER. and
Date: 2001-12-11
Speaker: ALAN HANTMAN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Architect of the Capitol. Capitol. Washington. DC. DEAR SIRS: I am deeply disappointed that you have decided once again to close tours of the Capitol. this time precipitously just before tours were to begin again after many weeks. I write now to ask you to reconsider this decision within the next week by finding ways to keep the Capitol safe while normal activities proceed and to inform you that if you are unable to do so. I intend to appeal your decision to the leadership of the Senate and the House. and. if necessary. to introduce an appropriate resolution. Letters to the Editor The Washington Times. Washington. DC. To THE EDITOR: John McCaslins December 7. Cops Cant Win column had to be trying hard to get the entire Capitol Police issue as wrong as he did on both of the points he made. (1) I never criticized the Capitol Police for closing Capitol tours. My letter of December 5. attached to a release from my office. was addressed to only the three officials who made the decision. the Capitol Police Board consisting of the SergeantsAtArms of the House and Senate and the Architect of the Capitol. (2) I have never requested. never had. and hope never to need the excellent services of the Capitol Police for 24hour security. I have taken a special interest in the work of the Capitol Police ever since coming to Congress and have a very special affection for these men and women. With the strong support of the Capitol Police and their union. I wrote PL 102397. the Capitol Police Jurisdiction Reform Act. which. expanded. their jurisdiction for the first time to include more than a few blocks *around the Capitol. These officers not only protect me as a member of Congress. they protect city neighborhoods. The Capitol Police deserve the nations highest respect. They certainly have mine. Sincerely.
Date: 2001-12-12
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. let me quickly express my appreciation for the leadership of the gentleman from Ohio and the gentleman from Maryland
Date: 2001-12-12
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. -Speaker. several universities and news organizations have conducted studies. and every study has found that votes cast are not being counted. The House Committee on Government Reform minority staff conducted a study in 40 congressional districts and found that the highest percentage of undervotes were in places which had poor and minority populations. Mr. Speaker. there are volumes of evidence which clearly and convincingly prove that the election system in this country is broken and must be fixed. E] 1500 We deeply believe in a need to safeguard the rights and liberties of the American people. I join the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez). the gentlewoman from Connecticut and the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays) in offering this motion to recommit. I joined them in requesting that the Committee on Rules. once again. allow the amendment" which would only allow purged voters from the voting rolls through means consistent with national voter registration and for the handicap to have the ability to vote. and provisional voting. Mr. Speaker. I will submit the rest of my statement. This is so basic and fundamental to our democracy. I just cannot imagine anyone not being in. support of these recommendations that we made to make this democracy real.