macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 1999-05-19
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I .rise today in strong support of H.R. 1654. the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 1999. 1 would like to thank the sponsors of this bill. the gentleman from California . the gentleman from California . the gentleman from Tennessee . the gentleman from Florida . the gentleman from Utah . the gentleman from Washington - and the gentleman from North Carolina for their leadership on this issue. As a member of the Committee on Science. I am especially pleased with H.R. 1654 because it will be the first reauthorization legislation for NASA spending since 1992. The administration has cut NASAs budget 6 years in a row. leaving the agency to do much more with much less. I commend NASA for rising to the occasion by streamlining and reforming its projects. However. this history of chipping away at NASAs budget is proving to be detrimental to our Nations technological research and development. To reverse this trend. H.R. 1654 provides increased funding for NASAs programs critical to maintaining and advancing our leadership in space. science and technology through fiscal year 2002. for investing in science and technology today serves to create a better tomorrow for everyone. At the same time. H.R. 1654 continues to promote the fiscal discipline in our space programs. For example. this legislation fully funds NASAs request for the International Space Station and Space Shuttle operations but it prohibits funding for TransHab as a replacement for the stations habitation module because of its higher cost. H.R. 1654 also redirects funding for the controversial. untested Triana satellite program. which would transmit new pictures of the Earth to the Internet. toward cuttingedge microgravity research that will be used to support human exploration and development of space enterprise. This is a far more useful investment than the $75 million plus Triana screen saver. A final attribute of this legislation is its commitment of NASA resources to science education. H.R. 1654 allots $20 million for the continuation of the highly successful National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program. This program uses the assets of NASA for education and public service purposes. It has been a highly innovative leader in California. bringing together communitybased alliances composed of educational institutions. industry and government to work together on projects which are both related to space and are of community importance. The studentmentor process involved in this program has shown significant results in workforce preparation and science literacy. Once again I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill.
Date: 1999-05-26
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. i rise in favor of H.R. 1259. the Social Security and Medicare Safe Deposit Box Act of 1999. First. I want to thank my fellow committee member and fellow colleague. the gentleman from California
Date: 1999-06-10
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I would like to commend the House for passing H.R. 1906. the Fiscal Year 2000 Agriculture Appropriations bill. One of the bills provision contains an earmark of $99 million for watershed and flood prevention operations. This is highly important to the dairy producers of my district. primarily located in Chino and Ontario. California. As a result of the upslope urbanization. the Chino Basin dairies. which are comprised of 270 dairies and 350 cows. have experienced increased flooding. This flooding washes manure and other water into the Santa Ana River. which is the source of drinking water downstream for 21/2 million people. Report language contained in H.R. 1906 identifies the Chino dairy preserves as an important project. Madam Speaker. this is one of the many steps which I hope the House will continue to take in resolving this tremendous problem.
Date: 1999-06-15
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. increasing passenger facility charges are. in reality. increased taxes on Americas airline passengers. I think it is kind of ludicrous to say they are not just because they are local. They require a Federal approval. therefore. we do control it. and it does go into the national system. Supporters argue it is just a user fee. We are too fond of using fancy words and arguments to hide our intentions. In Texas. we call it a tax. and that is what it is. Calling this tax a facility charge is like calling airline food dinner. This tax will just force passengers to pay more for their ticket. And any time the government takes more of our hardearned money. that is a tax increase. It is regressive. and it will harm those who can least afford it. namely. families and small business people who use airline service to visit relatives and grow their businesses. We continue to hear the rhetoric about how we must take steps to protect the rights of airline passengers. What better way to start than by not allowing a tax increase and letting Americans keep more of what they earn? This bill is already using up part of the surplus we were going to use for tax relief. I think it is criminal we would deny Americans the tax relief they deserve. We must not pass another tax on the American consumer. Their burden is already too high. We should be pushing for tax relief. not tax increases. I urge my colleagues to support the Graham amendment and stop taxing the consumers paychecks.
Date: 1999-06-16
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I rise in favor of the Hyde amendment in H.R. 1501 as a whole because we need to provide physical safety for our children. and we need to protect our children from the influence of explicit. obscene material. I support the Hyde amendments because we need to do what we can to protect our children from those who would sell them offensive material. Michael Carneal is currently in jail for killing three students in 1997s school shooting in Paducah. Kentucky. Michael was an avid computer user who logged on to the Internet and immersed his brain in the sexually material he found there. Ever since the Clinton administration stopped all prosecution of extremely violent and sexual pornography our children and those who prey upon them have had easy access to the most disturbing. mindimpacting material. This amendment seeks to protect the minds of our children by holding people who sell obscene material to children accountable and by evaluating the impact of violent products on our children. H.R. 1501 attempts to protect the majority of our children who make the right choices from those who make the wrong choices by treating juveniles like adults. when they act like adults and commit violent crimes by keeping guns out of the hands of juvenile criminals. and by making the largest community investnIent in juvenile justice reform in history. Congress cannot make a perfect world. but we can empower families and communities to protect their children.
Date: 1999-06-23
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I rise in strong support of H.R. 2084. the fiscal year 2000 Transportation Appropriations Bill. I would like to thank the gentleman from Virginia
Date: 1999-06-23
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to honor the newest source of pride for north TexasThe Dallas Stars. of Remarks E1379 Although the city of Dallas is no stranger to winning championships. there was something especially exciting about watching the Stars with the Stanley Cup. Hockey was a relatively unknown sport in north Texas when the Stars arrived from Minnesota in 1993. But in the short 6 years since then. the Dallas Stars have developed a loyal following of fans. including myself. As a devoted fan of the Texas Rangers. the Dallas Cowboys. and the Dallas Mavericks I am proud to add the Dallas Stars to my list of hometown teamsExcuse me. Hometown "Championship" teams.
Date: 1999-06-30
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. it is interesting the argument by my colleagues on the opposite side of the aisle in opposition to this bill. They use words like: "Lets get together." However "lets" never includes parents. And. "We need to help young ladies." However "we" never includes parents. Clearly. this is not about adult women. it is about young girls and. in some cases. children. As my colleague said. it is illegal for a school nurse to give a high school student two aspirin without parental consent. Schools obtain permission slips for parents to take students on field trips. It is even illegal for high school students to participate in many high school sports without parental permission. but it is not illegal for a. complete stranger to transport a teenaged girl or even a 12yearold girl across State lines to circumvent State laws so that she can have an abortion without her parents knowledge. There has been a lot of talk about loopholes over the last weeks. If this is not a loophole. there is no such thing as a loophole. The Child Custody Protection Act will close a Macktrucksized loophole by prohibiting anyone from transporting someone elses daughter across State lines for the purpose of circumventing a State parental consent notification law. Many want us to believe this is about a nice little grandmother. This is not. It is about an employee of an abortion industry or a sexual predator who wants to cover up the rape of a young girl under the age of 18. No one should be able to make mockery of legal State parental consent laws. This is not whether or not a woman has a right to choose. This is about a young girls rights to be involved with her parents and the parents rights to be involved with their children. Anyone who opposes this loophole I believe is an extremist. and anyone who does not support this is out of touch with the American people. If my colleagues do not like parental consent laws. they should go to the State capitals where they live and fight to repeal them. but do not oppose a commonsense measure such as this. I urge allmy colleagues to support families. to support children and to support women in fighting this measure.
Date: 1999-07-14
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. last week when the President was in California. he was quoted in the newspaper as saying. "It would be wrong to spend our hardearned surplus on tax cuts." What the President meant by "our" was the governments. So he said it would be wrong to spend the governments hardearned surplus on tax cuts. When did the government ever earn any money? How would the President know what the private producing sector of our country can and cannot afford? His whole life he has worked for government. According to his own biography. the closest he ever came to being paid by the private sector is when he won a college scholarship. Even then. the government gave him a grant to supplement his tuition to Georgetown. When the President says we cannot afford a tax cut. he only speaks from the perspective of government. He does not know any better. I will repeat. he does not know any better. Well. as someone who has signed both sides of a paycheck. I can speak for the private sector when I say he is wrong. What we cannot afford to do is keep the surplus in Washington. D.C. to grow government. It is not the Presidents money. Let us send the American peoples money back to the producing sector of our Nation. the American people.
Date: 1999-07-20
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. on a lighter note. today. I think we ought to pause to remember the triumphant achievement of mans first steps on the moon. Thirty years ago today. my friend. Buzz Aldrin. landed the lunar module on the surface of the moon. Buzz and I went through flying school together and flew combat in Korea together. In 1969. while I was in solitary confinement as a POW in Vietnam. Buzz flew over in orbit. We did not know about it over there. because the Vietnamese told us the Americans were not able to land on the moon. But. Buzz. Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins proved them wrong. and we found out about it later. Buzz was a fellow Air Force flying pilot. and he remembered us by wearing my POW bracelet and taking an American flag to the moon for all prisoners of war in Vietnam. Today. Buzz Aldrin. I want to say thank you and thank you to all our astronauts as the Nation celebrates a tremendous accomplishment. a walk on the moon. Heres to the future. Buzz. and to the astronauts who are working to reach Mars. We salute you. God bless America.
Date: 1999-07-20
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I rise today in support of H.R. 1995. I would like to thank Chairman GOODLING. Representative BUCK McKEON and the other members of the House Education and Workforce Committee who worked very hard on this wonderful piece of legislation. I am please that the language from my H.Res. 153 was included in the Managers Amendment. The Resolution expresses the sense of the Congress that Federal funding for elementary and secondary teacher training be used first for science scholarships for elementary and secondary teachers. As noted recently by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. the growth of our national economy is driven by continuous technical innovation. In order to sustain this trend. we must promote the ability of our students especially in the subjects of math and science. Unfortunately. the lack of academic foundation is profound among high school mathematics and science teachers. More that 30 percent do not even have a college minor in math or -science. Many elementary school teachers admit that they feel uncomfortable teaching science due to the lack of knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts. Without confidence in the subject. or the depth of knowledge necessary to explain new concepts well and answer students questions. it is not surprising that teachers are having difficulty igniting students interest in math and science. It is also not surprising that a large percentage of good teachers are becoming frustrated and leaving the teaching profession. The Teacher Empowerment Act will solve this problem. This bill sends money directly to states and localities. allowing them the flexibility to spend the money on what they need mostadditional. and better trained. teachers. H.R. 1995 focuses on the need for improved math and science education and promotes the professional development of all teachers. The bill allows teachers (especially ones who teach math and science) to choose from among high quality professional development programs in cases where school districts fail to provide such training. All of the professional development programs must demonstrate that (1) they increase teacher knowledge and (2) improve student academic achievement. This ensures that the programs teachers. and the students are held to high standards. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 1995. It is our duty to equip our children with the education and technological skills needed to compete successfully in the new global economy.
Date: 1999-07-20
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I rise today in strong opposition to the Martinei substitute and in support of the Teacher Empowerment Act. This bill demonstrates and defines the basic philosophy regarding education that separates Republicans from the White House. Lets be honestthe President just wants a number. The latest mantra coming out of the White House is "100.000 new teachers." Its a nice big number. and it makes for a good soundbite. Never mind how the teachers are actually trained. Never mind if they truly know the subject theyre teaching or not. That isnt the focus for the Presidentwhat he wants. quite simply. is for the Federal Government to pay for 100.000 extra bodies. Period. Republicans believe its better to have 500.000 better trained teachers than just 100.000 new ones. Instead of telling schools that they must hire teachers. we instead combine the current Federal teacher programs into one grant. With this money. we let the schools decide how best to spend their money on teachers. If they need to hire more. fine. If they need to train the ones they already have. even better. If they want to offer salary increases or merit pay. thats OK too. The point is that we believe local schools and local school districts know their teacher situation better than some bureaucrat sitting in a cubicle in Washington. DC. The Teacher Empowerment Act passed the Education Committee with bipartisan support. even after a strong. yet unsuccessful. lobbying blitz from the highest officials in the White House. I -think our kids deserve something more than just a sound bite from the President. They deserve to be educated .by the besttrained teachers possible. and thats what this bill does. I urge my colleagues to reject the Martinez substitute and support the Teacher Empowerment Act.
Date: 1999-07-21
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. some of these liberal Democrats are attacking the Republican tax proposal as risky. They think it is risky. because they do not trust the taxpayer. Who do my colleagues think the money belongs to in the first place? The taxpayer. Over in the Senate. Senator BOB KERREY said. "Cutting $800 billion." cutting $800 billion. giving it back to the people. "when youve got $3 trillion coming. in is hardly an outrageous. irresponsible move." Twothirds of the surplus should go for retirement security and Medicare. and that is what we have done. and onethird for tax relief. It is a balanced and sensible plan. Americans want. need. and deserve tax relief today.
Date: 1999-07-21
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I just want to say to the previous speaker and to all of those in New York. my Democratic colleague is going to deny about $3.823 per capita to the taxpayers in his State of New York if he votes against this bill. That is not fair. We ought to return that money to the people of New York. and I think you New Yorkers ought to have it. just so Washington cannot spend it on more government programs. For too long the American tax system has been punished the very virtues that we live by in America: hard work. marriage. savings. entrepreneurship. and freedom. Let us look at what happens when we -play by the rules. If you get married. the government punishes you. You pay more in taxes than an unmarried couple. If you save and invest money for your familys future. you pay capital gains taxes on the earnings from those savings. If you work hard to earn more. you end up paying what is called an alternative minimum tax or AMT and lose your family tax credits. Finally. if you build a successful business and try to leave it to your kids. they may have to sell it just in order to pay off Uncle Sam when you die.. That is an assault on American. values. and there are so many examples. and the consequences are devastating. Our sons and daughters cannot afford to marry and thus never truly make a lifelong commitment to God. each other. and their children. Families give up on trying to save and invest because they see it is cheaper to spend their money than pay taxes on their savings and investments. My Republican colleagues and I are committed to ending this assault on our values of family. investing. savings. hard work. entrepreneurship. and freedom. This bill is one giant step forward for freedom and removing the greedy hand of government from your lives. Mr. Speaker. 88 percent of nearly $800 billion of tax relief over 10 years goes to families. Let us give Americas families a break and vote for freedom.
Date: 1999-07-22
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I am appalled at this discussion. I think so much of the gentleman from Pennsylvania and the gentleman from California . I know they are patriots of the first degree. We are all interested in the best for this Nation. For 50 years. every American soldier has gone to war confident that the United States had air superiority. Cancelling the F22. and that is what this is. means we cannot guarantee air supremacy in future conflict. supremacy over the battlefield. and any new aircraft needs it. Without the F22. I do not think the joint strike fighter will be able to carry out its primary mission. and the Air Force backs that. and they say that it will cost just as much to retrofit that airplane as to buy an aircraft that is already there. Our Nations joint forces must be free from attack. free to maneuver. and free to attack on the battlefield whenever. That is what this airplane does. It has already been delayed 9 years. We need it now. as the gentleman from California pointed out earlier. and we should have had it now. There is no alternative to the F22. The joint strike fighter was not designed for air superiority and redesigning it will dramatically increase the cost. We have already done away with some of our electronic warfare defense in the Air Force. We will have to regenerate that. They are planning to do away with the F117 because the F22 is a stealth fighter. They are going to have to keep that around. That is going to cost more. An upgraded F15 does not provide the same dominance that the F22 program wouldprovide. The Secretary of Defense vehemently disagrees with the decision to defund the F22. and he stated he cannot accept a defense bill that kills this cornerstone program. The cancellation of the F22 will adversely affect over 151.000 jobs in the coming years. Billions of dollars in contracts will be canceled. It affects 42 States: I flew the F15 when I was active in the Air Force. That has been over 25 years ago. Can my colleagues believe that we are trying to retrofit an F15 that will be in service for over33 years by the time the F22 achieves initial operational capability? And if a 33yearold aircraft had been used in Korea. we would have been fighting migs with Sopwith Camel biplanes. If the 33yearold aircraft had been used just in the Gulf War. we would have been fighting thirdgeneration Soviet fighters with Vietnam era F4s. Do we think our active fighters would have fled from that threat? I do not think so. The American people will not tolerate parity or an aerial war of attrition. Parity is not acceptable. Our Air Force must have the capability to dominate the sky. Let us build this airplane. It is a stroke for freedom.
Date: 1999-07-27
Speaker: KEVIN MCALILEY (republican)
Chamber: S

President and CEO. Channel One Network. New York. NY. DEAR MR. MCALILEY: I am writing to thank Channel One for its unceasing dedication and steadfast commitment to educating the young people of this country about the dangers of drug use. Channel One has supported the Partnerships mission by extensively covering the drug issue through your programming and by airing more than $25 million worth of antidrug public service announcementspro bonosince your inception in 1990. The incontrovertible fact is that because of Channel One. millions of teens are keeping away from drugs. For- the past ten years. Channel One has been instrumental in supporting Partnership for a DrugFree Americas mission by changing millions of young peoples attitudes about drugs. This is not speculationit is fact. The Partnership conducted the Partnership Attitude Tracking Study. 19951997 and compared Channel One students attitudes towards drug use versus those of students from nonChannel One schools. The study found conclusive evidence that Channel One students had significantly more negative attitudes about drugs and were much more aware of the risks of drugs than students in nonChannel One schools. By utilizing your Web site. Channel One has also been able to expand its reach beyond the Channel One school audience and encourage national youth involvement in this issue. Please accept our thanks and congratulations for Channel Ones important work. Channel Ones passion and concern for Americas children is admirable and your support of the Partnership has been vital in reinforcing antidrug messages to teens. Sincerely.