macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 1993-06-24
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. wouldnt it be nice if Congress could learn from its mistakes. Instead the Democrats offered the same socalled deficit reduction plan that didnt work in 1990. I dont know about anyone else. but If I grab a hot pan and get burned I certainly would not grab it again. with the same rhetoric of 1990. In 1990. the gasoline tax was raised 5 cents per gallon. in 1993 it will be raised 5 cents again. In 1990. income taxes were raised and in 1993. income taxes will be raised again. Recently. a restaurant owner wrote to USA Today saying he had already planned who to lay off due to the Presidents plan. He is planning for higher energy taxes. higher taxes on small business. more Federal regulations. a health care payroll tax for the Presidents new socialized medicine scheme. and the list goes on and on. Does this sound like an economy boosting plan? Working people. watch outyou are about to get burned again.
Date: 1993-06-28
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. Mr. Chairman. I wanted to share with you a letter I received from Buzz Aldrin. a man who knows. firsthand. what the possibilities of space and the space station can bring to the future of America. I hope you will take his comments into consideration when t funding for the space station is voted on today. More than a generation ago Nell. Mike and I participated in electrifying activities that made humans proud to be alive. Apollo was a defining moment in Earthbound history and initiated our exploration of space. Deployment of a redesigned space station continues the legacy of Apollo. As proposed by the President. the space station builds upon the contributions of thousands of individuals around the globe using previous investments in advancing technology. Although the redesigned space station is considerably scaled back from earlier concepts. it is now more modular in construction. and more adaptable to incorporate future innovations. A more flexible space complex now offers the opportunity to join with an experienced. past adversary as a new and very capable ally in establishing a lasting human presence in space. Turning down a space station now disavows the achievements of the past. the dedications of the present. and robs a young future American generation of its inspiration and hope. History will critically weigh our current decisions. Lets not sacrifice future greatness for present shortterm interests. Buzz ALDRiN. Vote for the future of America. vote "yes" for space station. Mr. Lewis of California. Mr. Chairman. I yield such time as he may consume to my colleague. the gentleman from Maryland. .
Date: 1993-06-30
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I thank the gentleman for yielding. and I rise in strohg support of this amendment. As the gentleman said. we want to ensure that zero. no tax dollars at alltaxpayers do not need to pay for this kind of thing. the Domestic Partnership Act. You know. it now excludes married individuals and singles who live alone. That is kind of discriminatory. I would say. Contrary to arguments raised by supporters of domestic partnership. this act does not address the real problems associated with health care. In fact. it Increases the burden of health insurance and further burdens the system. In San Francisco this same program cost the San Francisco taxpayers an additional $1.1 million In Inflated Insurance premiums and that. too. was only for city employees. Mr. Chairman. the Federal Government cannot afford to allow the fiscally ominous presence of domestic partnership to start. If Members of Congress today decide to endorse funding for the Domestic Partnership Act. they open the health care floodgates before the dam is built. Mr. Chairman. let us keep the lid on spending. A vote for the Istook amendment is a vote for fiscal responsibility.
Date: 1993-07-13
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. have you forgotten where 77 percent of the new jobs created in America come from? Of course. its from small business. But how long can small business last with Clintons tax and spend plan? The administration has proposed new tax increases on business. a Btu tax or gas tax or whatever its called today. and of course new regulations and more paperwork. Small businesses cannot shoulder the burden alone. Our economy needs incentives such as tax credits or reductions in capital gains taxes. Give entrepreneurs the freedom to create jobs and build America. Small business will be stopped cold with up to 49 percent marginal taxes. All small business owners are asking the familiar question "Where is the debt reduction?" This budget reconciliation is better named Americas job destruction plan. Let us cut spending. first.
Date: 1993-07-20
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. In January a new Congress promised a change from tax and spend and business as usual. It is time for a 6month gut check. This new Congress was going to slash spending and balance the budget. but to date the Congress has already voted to increase spending at least $14 billion over last year. This new Congress was going to spur growth in the economy. But so far the only thing growing is the size of our bureaucracy and the national debt. America. it is time to hold our representatives personally responsible for their actions. If Members vote to increase spending we need to let them kno v how we feel about their broken promises. As Edmund Burke said. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." I urge all America to act today to make their Representatives cut spending first.
Date: 1993-07-23
Speaker: JOHN W. BEACH (republican)
Chamber: S

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Rnancial Management. Department of the Air Force. Pentagon. Washington. DC. DEAR MR. BEACH: I am writing in response to your letter of May 13. 1993. regarding the current disposition of my letters of April 29. 1993. to Mr. V. Ray Smith and Colonel Claude M. Bolton. Jr. The two abovementioned letters were directed to Mr. Smith and Colonel Bolton and not to your office. I expect a written. signed response from both officials. Anything short of that is unacceptable. At the same time. I would like to urge you to proceed with a vigorous and thorough investigation of the Antideflciency Act violation by the Advanced Cruise Missile (ACM) program and fix responsibility as required by law. Since directing my letter to Mr. Smith. I have come to the realization that his organization falls under the purview of your office. That being the case. I would like to inquire about your knowledge and awareness of a violation of the Antideficiency Act by the ACM program in November 1991 or at any other time. I have two questions I would like you to answer: At or about the time Mr. Smith signed the attached memoranda. were you aware of any discussion about the need to report a violation of the Antideflctency Act by the ACM program? If so. please provide the names of the personsinvolved in those discusslons or the violation Itself. and what direction. if any. was given as a result of those discussions? A written. sighed response to my questions is requested by May 21. 1993. I would like to remind you that certain financlal officers remain pecuniarily liable under the law (31 USC 3528) for illegal or improper payments from accounts entrusted to their care. I would also like to inform you that during my meeting with Mr. Donley yesterday. he indicated that Colonel Bolton is not solely responsible for the decisions taken to resolve the ACM funding deficiencies in 199192. Mr. Donley indicated that there were a number of more senior officials further up the chain of command who bear responsibility for those actions. I asked him to provide that and any other information that might help me reach a final decision in this matter. He agreed to do that. Your cooperation would be appreciated. Sincerely.
Date: 1993-07-28
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. do you know what happened 38 years ago in 1955? That was the last year that total Government spending decreased from the previous year. Let me repeat that for you. the last time that Government spending went down was. In 1955. 38 years ago. Now. if that is not bad enough. The U.S. Government has not run a surplus since 1969. when it ended $3 billion in the black. But. that was 24 years agoa quarter of a century ago. I cannot believe that Representatives come Into this Chamber everyday and with a clear conscience vote to raise not only spending. but put new taxes on the very people who sent them here. The American people deserve better. If Congress does not start owning up to Its responsibilities. this will be just another taxandspend year. and that is not why we were sent here.
Date: 1993-08-04
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Chairman

I rise today In suppo ure with no additional cuts. be It shows fiscal responsibility wh our Intelligence community to sacrificing the security network takingly put In place. We are in an everchanging the 1980s almost 60 percen Ilgence budget was spent on Soviet Union. That was a tim communism was our greatest fs Now. less than half that am( that region of the world. Our gr now terrorism. nuclear weapc and regional hot spots which d American lives here and abr ligence community must be flex adapt to the changing times in that flexibility comes at price. Regional hot spots Include: Ila. Middle East. Haiti. Cuba. parts of the former Soviet L changes daily. These agencies are already organizations In response to a and new geopolitical forces. These changes in their missi the agencies to make a seies their operations. Sonsenbrenner Some of the changes are: Shaw Focus on terrorism. weapons proliferation. Shuster Staisky regional instability. Skeen Reorganize the CIA and DIA In order to Skelton streamline costs and structure. Slaughter Smith (IA) Cancelling numerous overseas operations Smith (Mr) and activities. and Smith (NJ) Reducing and restructuring our satellite colSmith (OR) ieering Smith (TX) systems. Snowe But. we can only cut so much. Any further Solomon reductions would truly jeopardize the effectiveSpence ness and safety of our Intelligence programs. Stearns Stenolm The Intelligence Committee. under the exStump emplary leadership of Mr. GLICKMAN and Mr. Sundquist COMBEST. have carefully analyzed each proTanner Taein gram and objective of our intelligence budget. Taylor (MS) This Is a time when we must trust their judgTaylor (NC) ment Tejeda I urge all of my colleagues to support this Thoma (CA) Thomas (MY) measure with no additional cuts. Thornton The CHAIRMAN. Are there other Torkildson amendments to the bill? Tpncant If not. the question is on the commitUpton Viclosky tee amendment in the nature of a subVolkmar stitute. as amended. Vucnovich The committee amendment In the Walker Walsh nature of a substitute. as amended. was Weldon agreed to. Whitten The CHAIRMAN. Under the rule. the Wilson Wise Committee rises. Wolf Accordingly the Committee rose. and Young (AK) the Speaker pro tempore [Mr. MCNuLYoung (FL) TY] having assumed the chair. Ms. zeliff SLAUGHTER. Chairman of the Committee of the Whole House on the State of Thompson the Union. reported that that Committee. having had under consideration the bill to authorize approoma changed priations for fiscal year 1994 for intelligence and intelligencerelated activities of the U.S. Government and the RABACHER. Central Intelligence Agency retirement NEAL of and disability system. and for other [FT changed purposes. pursuant to House Resolution ye. 229. she reported the bill back to the ejected. House with an amendment adopted by as announced the Committee of the Whole.
Date: 1993-08-05
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I have a history lesson for this Congress: 1993 was not the first time to hear the American people say cut spending first. In fact. Democrat President John Kennedy developed a plan around. guess what. tax cuts cou . pled with budget restraint. Kennedy said: If Government is to retain the confidence of the people It must not spend more than can be Justified. The best means of strengthening demand among consumers and business * ** tIs to reduce the burden imposed by our tax system. What a novel thoughtcut spending. reduce the tax burden. The only budget plan this administration can come up with is huge tax increases. expansion of all Federal programs. and. of course. more hidden fees. I think it is time for the Democrats to remember one of their own. Take John Kennedys advice. America is saying cut spending first.
Date: 1993-08-05
Speaker: ROBERT L. LIVINGSTON (republican)
Chamber: H

Rayburn House Office Building. Washington. DC. DEAR SIR The tax measure recently approved by the Senate finance committee would place a surtax on people who are productive while exempting athletes and entertainers. Favoring the people who entertain over those who produce and create jobs can not be justification the basis of good economic policy or fairness. I am confident that you will do all in your power to prevent this kind of stupidity. Sincerely.
Date: 1993-09-14
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H

o Texas. Mr. Speaker. I rise in opposition to this rule. This rule before us makes in arder only one amendment. one that extends the life of the RTC for 18 months so that more taxpayer money can be wasted. It appropriates $18plus billion to the RTC. That is all new. borrowed money. debt. It authorizes $8 billion for the savings insurance fund. when they say they need $18 billion. which tells me we are not going to protect the depositors. We are going to give them less protection. And it includes some ridiculous contracting quota provisions. What does that mean? More waste. more debt. less depositor protection and contract quotas. I offered an amendment before the Committee on Rules which would have reduced the funding level of the RTC by $6.5 billion. The RTC currently has $7 billion in cash on hand. not to mention $5 billion in borrowing authority that the gentleman -from Florida mentioned. My amendment simply would fund the RTC at what the GAO says they really need. $11.9 billion. However. this is a close rule and does not allow any amendment to cut costs or save taxpayers money. The reason I filed with the Committee on Rules is because I do not want to waste any more taxpayer dollars. Goodness knows our budget debt now is $4 trillion. and the Congress cannot afford to give anybody an extra $6.4 billion. This restrictive rule is just one more example of the Democratcontrolled Committee on Rules slamming the door in the faces of those Members who are trying to be fiscally responsible and save the taxpayers dollars. The American people deserve better. The American taxpayers are going to be the losers. I just found out that this year alone the RTC. from January to July. spent $119 million on outside legal fees. During that same period. they collected $114 million. Guess what? That is losing taxpayer dollars every day they are not managing our funds. I urge both Democrats and Republicans to vote against this rule. It is not a fair rule. It is not a fair bill for the taxpayers of this Nation.
Date: 1993-09-28
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. after President Clintons health care address. I found that people have just one question: How is this going to affect me? I have one answer: Many Americans will lose their Jobs. Last Friday I held a small business conference in Dallas with over 125 businesses. Their message was loud and clear: no more Government mandates. First it was the Americans With Disabilities Act. then the Family Medical Leave Act. then the largest tax increase In American history. and now health care. the straw that breaks the camels back. Shout it from the rooftops: The primary result of these health mandates will be a reduction In work force. Bust-" nesses are already planning for layoff. Mr. Speaker. it is a good thing the Presidents plan provides coverage for the unemployed. because that plan puts so many people out of work. But. take heart. America. there are only 1.208 days left in this Presidents term.
Date: 1993-09-28
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I think we have to talk more about the Hunter amendment. which seeks to reinstate the ban on homosexuals. Mr. Chairman. it has been stated earlier that we do not do what other nations do. I would respectfully say. other nations do not win wars. Other nations are not the leader of the world. or socalled leader of the world. It is a position that I think we have to protect. at least I hope we do. Mr. Chairman. I think It is important to make this matter very clear. When I was a commander in the Air Force. I spent more time than I needed to dealing with these sorts of issues. And I have to tell you. It was a waste of time. What happenel in the end was those people were drummed out of the service and got out with a bad name. Well. all the gentleman from California is trying to do is say let us ask first. Let us let them off without having to go through the harangue of being drummed out of the service. Furthermore. we have got a lot of innocent kids in the service nowadays. guys that do not understand the world. Really. Until they are out In the military and taken all across the world to the many countries -that we try to defend. then. and only then. do they come in contact with society. for real. C3 1400 I think It Is Important that we protect those kids in our service. I think it Is something we owe the parents of this Nation. I think that it Is just our responsibility as a nation. as the sole leader in foreign policy. We have got to act to ensure the strength. morale and discipline of our armed services as the only surviving superpower and guardIan of freedom in America.
Date: 1993-10-05
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. can we trust this administration? Let us look at Somalia. We have been waiting for 10 months for a plan. Where is the focus? Is It U.N. control. is it nationbuilding. or is it just to put U.S. lives at risk? It tore me up as a POW from Viet.nam to see that POW tortured the way he was. And he was tortured. you could see It. And it tore me up to see those bodies dragged down the streets with ropes around their hands. How do we know they were dead when those guys caught them? We do not. The Department of Defense says now we can fix everything with four tanks. It is a total lack of focus. The totals for America are 23 dead. 75 wounded. 5 missing. and at least I captured. Now. let us switch to the year 1961. the place Vietnam. the second year of that involvement. The totals were 11 dead and 3 wounded. Look where we went. Mr. Speaker. is this the beginning of a repeat performance? We need U.S. leadership. Let us get out of Somalia or get aplan.
Date: 1993-10-19
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I do not think colonialism is the Issue. in deference to my friend. The gentleman from Texas is a good guy. and I appreciate that he is from a good State. but colonialism just is not the issue. The issue here is. can we take care of our guys? The mission keeps changing on us. It started off as humanitarian and then it changed to combat. We would not call it that. It was not called combat. It was called a peace action. When our POW got shot down and caught and when those other guys got dragged through the streets and killed by those Somalia. we did not want to call them POWs. We did not call them missinginaction. We did not call them killed In action. Do you know what that POW was called? He was called a detainee. That is because some general counsel In the Department of Defense said that is what he would be called. Secretary Aspin said. "Lets try to figure out what kind of rules we are going to follow." Let me tell you. there are the rules of combat. which is the Geneva Convention on POW care. that can be followed and should have been followed and were not followed. So what is the issue here? Our administration cannot take care of our people In Somalia. They do not know what the mission is. They do not know how to conduct the mission. the mission being nonexistent with no goal and no opportunity to retrieve our people In good health. Therefore. what Is the answer? The obvious answer is let us get ourselves out of there. What in the world are we protecting. the United States or the United Nations? I do not think our job is to protect the United Nations. It is to protect the United States of America. and that means withdrawal from Somalia.
Date: 1993-11-03
Speaker: DEBORAH PROTHOW-STIRH (republican)
Chamber: S

(Harvard University): Well I think there is good news out there. I travel all over the country. and rm impressed with the number of parents. teachers. outreach workers. teens themselves who are struggling with this Issue. who have started programs. using videotape. using curricula in the schools. doing midnight basketball. doing street outreach work. a number of people. Justpeople have decided that weve got to do more than lock kids up. and they are really taking that to heart. I think we are on the verge of a groundswell. really. of a national movement to prevent violence In our relationships. BROKAW: And Bill BennettIn North Carolina tonighta lot of people do want to lock up more kids. but the jails are already fall. Isthere a role for the federal government in coming up with more proprograms to head off violence in the first place?
Date: 1993-11-15
Speaker: PETE GERM (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Absolutely. As fax as Mexicos current con. sumption or purchase of automobiles. last year In 1992 there were 700.000 new vehicles sold to people in Mexico. Over. 400.000 were automobiles. The rest were trucks and vans.
Date: 1993-11-17
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. listen. We have been hearing a lot of things about misstatements of facts that are going to occur if this agreement is passed. and a lot of it is just not true. As trade increases. so do jobs. Every $1 billion in trade creates 19.000 jobs. and by opening up Mexico we are going to have new Jobs created. Over the past 6 years 400.000 jobs have been created in this country. and to think that that would not increase with increased trade is just crazy. Industries that are going to benefit if NAFTA passes are the computer industry. petrochemicals. financial services. grain producers. telecommunications. manufacturers. paper. steel. pharmaceuticals. and a lot of consumer goods. Without NAFTA problems are going to persist. Mr. Chairman. we need to take on those trading blocs in Asia and in Europe and keep America No. 1 in the economic world. Pass NAFTA. NAFTA is the vehicle that will ensure our economic success in the future.
Date: 1993-11-21
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. first. I must say that I fully support the regulatory relief provisions contained In this bill. However. I must express my disgust with the way in which this measure was brought to the floor. Bringing Jhis measure to the floor under suspension of the rules violates longstanding Democratic caucus rules. If them is a rule that prohibits consideration of bills under suspension with costs over $100 million. then we should abide by It. The leadership of both parties should be ashamed that they have accepted this path and totally disregarded the spirit of this longstanding rule. I understand that we are trying to pass as many bills as possible before the recess. but that is not an excuse to break rules--espedally ones that ultimately hurt the taxpayers. And this bill will cost the taxpayers $382 million In new borrowed money. Instead of decreasing the deficit. this bill increases the Federal debt. I oppose the way this bill has been maneuvered through the process and hope that In the future both sides will stand up for what Is right and defend the Integrity of adopted rules.