macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-09-29
Speaker: JUDY CHU (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. another day. another attack by Republicans on womens health care in the House of Representatives. But this one is different. It goes beyond the typical attacks on women and endangers their health and the health of entire communities. By holding Medicaid hostage. this bill seeks to intimidate doctors and hospitals into not providing a safe and constitutionally protected service. I am appalled by how far Republicans are willing to go. The language in the bill is so vague that it would allow States to exclude entire providers from the Medicaid program. Minority and lowincome women would be disproportionately impacted and would stand to lose access to critical health services like birth control and family planning. It is time to stop the attacks. Women must be free to make their own healthcare choices in consultation with their doctors and without threats from Republican politicians in Washington. and we must have as one of those choices Planned Parenthood. For many. it is the only place they can turn to for even the most basic care. Womenespecially lowincome womenturn to Planned Parenthood for affordable and dependable primary care services. They fill a vital gap that community health centers cant fill by themselves. We are all better off because of their cancer screenings. STI testing. and wellness exams. Republicans are trying to hold our health care hostage by using baseless attacks to shut down Planned Parenthood. using heavily doctored videos. It is time to stop using health care as a weapon to bully women. We must vote against this bill.
Date: 2015-09-29
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank my colleague from Colorado for yielding to me. Madam Speaker. I rise in opposition to H.R. 3495. the socalled Womens Public Health and Safety Act. Womens health care is more than mammograms. I know at the Planned Parenthood in my district over 80 percent of the care they provide is for womens health and not abortion. This bill would give States the right to exclude a healthcare provider who performs abortion care from their Medicaid program. Medicaid provides premium care to millions of lowincome women and families alike. Excluding providers from Medicaid without cause is another illmasked attempt to impede reproductive rights. This bill. as it is named. is claiming to provide safe public health care for women. By excluding quality healthcare providers. such as Planned Parenthood. the quality of available services will drop. As a result. womens health will be detrimentally harmed. That was proved in a study by a Texas agency after 2011. This is yet one more attempt to defund Planned Parenthood which. if successful. would hurt millions of women in communities across the country. H.R. 3495 is contradictory to the views of the majority of Americans. Three out of four American women support publicly funded family planning centers and believe these centers have a positive impact on public health. By passing this bill. we are harming the millions of women who rely on publicly funded family planning care. I urge my colleagues to vote against this damaging bill.
Date: 2015-09-29
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. as our eyes turn toward New York both in terms of the Popes visit last week and his call for us to address the mandatory needs of refugees around the world. in the last 24 hours. we heard from the President of Russia. Mr. Putin. and our President on Syria. I think it is important for this Congress to begin to look again at a man by the name of Assad. who is not only poisoning his own people. but bombing hospitals and ambulances and creating a situation of devastation. I think the President is correct that Assad must go. and there must be a reconciliation as to how that proceeds. To Mr. Putin. who has a stake in this area. through Syria. you have to come with the world family and begin to think of those who are suffering. We can work together. but Assad cannot stay. We must find a way for the good people of Syria to be able to return in peace and justice and equality. The United Nations must take a stand. We must come together in this Congress. working with the President and working with world leaders to restore tranquility and peace to this region with Assad gone and certainly ISIL done away with. if you will. to provide stability in the area.
Date: 2015-09-30
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. as a responsible Member of Congress concerned for the American people. today I voted for a continuing resolution that will take us to December 11. but that is not the responsible way to handle the business of this Nation. It is time now for this Congress to put aside partisanship and to begin to have the Republican leadership and Republicans to sit down with members of the Democratic Caucus and talk about a real funding bill. Yes. we have kept the doors open and provided for our employees. but we have undermined defense and the preparedness of our men and women. We have cut $1.7 billion from the Childrens Health Insurance Program. and we are barely hanging on for other necessary items. Yes. we have allowed for wildfire funding and disaster funding. Other items dealing with law enforcement and provisions for transportation and the environment are all cut by something called the sequester. Mr. Speaker. the American people deserve better. and we need to get busy starting next week and put forward an appropriations process that funds this government. responds to those who are in need. prepares our young men and women in the military. and as well restores that childrens health insurance money. Shame on us. We need to do it now.
Date: 2015-10-01
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Let me thank my good friend from Colorado for managing this bill. Let me also thank the majority manager as well for coming to the floor and doing the peoples bidding. Although we disagree in both the purpose of the underlying bill and its effectiveness. there is no doubt that this bill has a good cause. None of us take a backseat to protecting the American people. to seeking compensation. to bringing those who are missing or those who have been captured on false terms back home to American soil. And I stand here to make that commitment. As well. I recognize that we are going down the trail. Mr. Speaker. that we have done for the Affordable Care Act. one more attempt to undermine a legitimately debated initiativethe Iran nonnuclear proliferationwhere Members made a conscious decision. personal decision. on reflecting on the best direction for the American people. In both the Senate and the procedures set out for this Congress to determine whether this bill. this initiative. will be turned back. it did not work. So it is the law of the land. It is an effort to ensure peace. to reconcile in the area. to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons by Iran. It does not in any way diminish the United States stance on Irans terrorist activities. It does none of that. But this legislation. under the pretense of not allowing the sanctions to be relieved. has a very key component and a number of measures in that initiative. It has a number of measures. another roadblock. before those sanctions will be removed. It is under the pretense of dealing with the individuals who we all want to be brought home. I dont know how this Congress does not know of the negotiations and the engagement that is going on. but they know that this is legislation that will be vetoed by the President. I say this in the backdrop of the Madison Papers. No. 51. that says. "Justice is the end of government." It means that we on this floor must do things that really get us in the direction of justice. the end result for the American people. The reason why I am so disappointed is I listened to my two colleagues speak eloquently about the ExportImport Bank. I can tell them that I was in Africa with the President. and an American stood up and pleaded that he was going to lose 400 jobs if we could not get that ExportImport Bank. I hesitate to think that his contract and his engagementwhat we asked him to dohas collapsed. Mr. Speaker. let me repeat again. "Justice is the end of government." So here we are on a bill that is going to be a copycat of what we are doing with the Affordable Care Act.
Date: 2015-10-01
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I am so disappointed. Mr. Speaker. because here I am on the floor discussing justice and we have yet another disappointing representation of this Congress when a leader of the Congress can speak and say that the Benghazi Committee is only a farce. it was only used to besmirch a public servant. That is not what Madison wanted for this Nation. They didnt want us to stop the economic engine for the ExportImport Bank. They didnt want us to over and over attack the Affordable Care Act that has been passed and upheld by the Supreme Court. They didnt want us to pass a bill like the underlying deal blocking the Iran sanctions process of the bill that we passed to stop nuclear proliferation. They didnt want us to do that. Mr. Speaker. They wanted us to have justice established. and they wanted us to do what is right for the American people. I ask for a vote against the rule and the underlying bill. Justice should be the end of government. not what we are doing here today.
Date: 2015-10-01
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I was absent for the second vote in the series of votes that we just took on rollcall vote No. 532. If I had been present. I would have voted "nay."
Date: 2015-10-01
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to recognize the growing humanitarian crisis in Syria. As a result of the Syrian civil war and continuing military operations against ISIL. over 4 million people have been forced to seek refuge outside of Syria. The Syrian crisis has quickly become an international crisis. and it requires the attention and the assistance of every nation. Many may see this crisis as a distant problem. but the reality is this is a global world now and everyone is interconnected. As each nation continues to resettle refugees. we must ensure that they are provided the best resources. and this requires international cooperation. It is not just about providing financial assistance. but understanding that these refugees are people. They are people who have been forced out of their country. might have left their families. and are struggling to survive on a daily basis. Mr. Speaker. as the U.S. is committed to accepting more refugees. I urge our country to have compassion and to commit to providing the necessary resources to address this ongoing crisis.
Date: 2015-10-01
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I have a great deal of respect for this institution that I have had the privilege of serving. As a member of the Judiciary Committee. I am very grateful for the extent of our jurisdiction that embraces the Constitution. and I believe justice is important. Mr. Speaker. I rise in great consternation. concern. and condemnation of the statement made by the Republican leadership that the Benghazi Committee is not for factfinding. it is not for recognizing the tragic loss of four Americans. but it is really to insult and degrade a public servant who happens to be a Presidential candidate. How tragic that we would engage in such tomfoolery. In spite of the Constitution and the Madison Papers. it talks about doing justice. As a member of the Judiciary Committee. I was engaged in impeachment proceedings. the investigation of Waco. investigation of antitrust issues. held a trial for a judge who acted improperly. a Federal judge. That is the factfinding role of this Nation. While we are fooling around with a committee that is there to do nothing but deal with political aggrandizing and we have not passed a Zadroga Act that helps our 9111 first responders. I would only ask that we stop and end this committee because it is not doing justice as the United States calls us to do. Mr. Speaker. the Constitution gives us our guideposts. Why dont we follow it?
Date: 2015-10-06
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I support H.R. 2091. the Child Support Assistance Act. because it will help child support enforcement agencies do their job and will make child support payments more efficient. When a State child support enforcement agency wants to locate a parent who is delinquent on his or her child support payment. the agency requests the parents consumer report from one of the consumer reporting agencies. This allows the agency to verify the parents employment and income. which are key factors for child support payments. Current law. however. requires the agency to provide the delinquent parent 10 days notice before it can even request the consumer report from the credit bureaus. This 10day head start serves no legitimate policy purpose. In fact. the only thing it does is give delinquent parents time to manipulate their financial position to evade paying their child support obligations. The consequences of this 10day notice requirement is that some delinquent parents who should be paying child support are not paying all they owe and the money they do pay isnt getting to the families as quickly as it should. This bill would eliminate this loophole by doing away with the 10day notice requirement. Providing 10 days notice before pulling someones consumer report might make sense in some circumstances. but in this situation. it only slows down the wheels of justice and gives delinquent parents an opportunity to further avoid paying their child support obligations. I support this bill that was reported out almost unanimously. with only two people voting against it. I would like to thank the gentleman from Maine as well as Mr. ELLISON on the Democratic side for their hard work on this commonsense bill. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2015-10-06
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. I have no further speakers. I just urge my colleagues to support this commonsense bill that Mr. POLIQUIN pointed out can make a real difference in the lives of single parents and their children. Again. I thank him for his leadership on it and his very eloquent statement today on the floor. Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2015-10-06
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 1553. the Small Bank Exam Cycle Reform Act. This bill allows more small banks to qualify for a longer. 18month exam cycle. This means that these banks would only have a full. onsite examination every 18 months. rather than every 12 months. The logic behind this bill is simple: small community banks that are both well capitalized and well managed do not need as much regulatory scrutiny as larger. more complex banks. In addition. regulators need the ability to focus their limited resources on the banks that present bigger risks. That is why we have long allowed wellrun small banks to have less frequent examinations than larger. more complex banks. This bill simply increases the threshold for banks that qualify for the 18month cycle from $500 million to $1 billion. Onsite examinations are timeconsuming endeavors both for the regulator and the bank. and if the regulator is conducting exams of these wellrun banks more frequently than he really needs to. then he is wasting precious government resources. In addition. he is also wasting the banks resources. because the frequent exams require the time and attention of the banks executives and staff. and it is costly. Therefore. banks with assets between $500 million and $1 billion that are well capitalized and well managed will receive real. meaningful regulatory relief as a result of this bill. Not only is this bill supported by small banks. it is also supported by the regulators. The OCC has in fact advocated for this change for some time now. I am very glad that we are moving this bill through the House today. and I hope that the Senate will act quickly on the bill as well so that we can get regulatory relief to some very deserving community banks. I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I congratulate my colleague. LACY CLAY. for also being the lead Democrat and working very hard on this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2015-10-06
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri . who is also the ranking member on the Financial Institutions Subcommittee and the lead Democrat on this bill.
Date: 2015-10-06
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of this bill. I thank Mr. GARRETT for his hard work. We worked together on this in the last Congress. and I added an amendment to improve the bill in the markup last year. Markets are constantly evolving. and so too must our regulatory regime. This is especially true when it comes to reporting requirements for small public companies. The process of scaling and streamlining the reporting requirements for these small companies is something that. in order to keep pace with the everevolving marketplace. has historically been revisited roughly once every 10 years. It requires vigilance by the SEC and. also. by Congress. The Disclosure Modernization and Simplification Act directs the SEC to simplify the reporting requirements for small companies in regulation SK. First. the SEC would be required to revise regulation SK to take care of any lowhanging fruit. that is. make any improvements to regulation SK that they have already identified as helpful for small companies. Next. the SEC would conduct a study of the best way to simplify and modernize the disclosure requirements in regulation SK while still providing all the necessary information to investors and to also make specific detailed recommendations to Congress for how to achieve this. Finally. the bill allows companies to submit a summary page on their form 10K annual reports in order to make these annual reports easier to understand by investors. In testimony before the Financial Services Committee last year. Colombia Professor John Coffee called the idea "simple and unobjectionable" and said that he "didnt see how anyone could be opposed to it." I agree that this is a commonsense idea that could make lengthy annual reports. which are often hundreds of pages long and difficult to navigate. significantly more investorfriendly. So I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I thank my colleague. Mr. GARRETT. for his leadership. He has worked on this for several Congresses. Mr. Speaker. I have no additional speakers. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2015-10-06
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of H.R. 1839. which is an excellent example of bipartisan compromise that I think we should do more of in this body. I would like to thank Mr. MCHENRY and Ranking Member WATERS for all of their work on this bill on which I am pleased to be the lead Democrat. This bill codifies a longstanding rule that has been recognized in the securities law. known informally as rule 4(1)(1/2). which allows investors to resell private restricted securities without registering with the SEC. Rule 4(l)(12) has long been recognized by the SEC and has been recognized by the Federal courts on numerous occasions as well. But no one has ever bothered to codify this rule. even though everyone is okay with it and supports it. with investors relying on this informal rule. The reason that the SEC and the courts have long recognized this rule is that it fully complies with the spirit of the Securities Act of 1933. These sales are really just transactions between two sophisticated investors. As a result. different law firms have different interpretations of what rule 4(1)(1/2) requires and the market has become very fragmented. So I think it is a very good idea to finally codify rule 4(1)(1/2) so that everyone knows the rules of the road and investors can have confidence that they are complying with the law when they resell private securities to other sophisticated investors. But this bill doesnt just codify rule 4(1)(1/2). It actually improves upon it by establishing minimum standards for disclosure. marketing. and a holding period that will protect investors. foster transparency. and make this market even stronger. This bill addresses several concerns that we heard from investor groups and regulators: First. it requires that the seller provide the buyer with some basic information about the company. which ensures that buyers have the standard information they need before making an investment decision. Second. it prohibits bad actors. such as people who have been banned from the securities industry. from taking advantage of the rule. Third. it prohibits the securities of shell companies from being sold under this new rule. 4(1)(1/2). So I am pleased that we were able to work together with the gentleman from North Carolina on this bill and that we were able to add these important investor protections because now we have a bill that will enjoy strong bipartisan support. I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2015-10-06
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. I have no additional speakers on the floor. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.