macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Or the mother who gave hydrocodone and alcohol as a prom gift to her son and his date. That date wound up dead at the end of that prom. The rate at which the occurrence of heroin overdose deaths increased is cause for alarm. In the 4 years between 2010 and 2014. heroin overdoses more than tripled. This legislation encourages the development of alternatives to incarceration that provide treatment as a solution to the underlying motivation for criminal behavior or conduct associated with mental disorders. We must make our best efforts. It puts police in a position to be trained to use those drugs that will help when they come upon an unconscious person. like naloxone. It allows the criminal justice system to talk to the substance abuse system. In essence. it increases the use and availability of those drugs. Addiction is a disease. we recognize that. Finally. if I might say. I started with children. children. children. Just today. Dr. Phil is here discussing the foster care system. He said that most children are taken away because of neglect. and that neglect is based upon the use of drugs. That is a wrong direction. The direction should be that we keep families together. we invest. and we provide the training to provide them parental skills and. if they are addicted. to get them off of those addictive ways to be able to keep families together. Today I will introduce a bill that provides for nurseries in the Federal prison system for women in shortterm nonviolent offenses. mostly drug offenses. to reinforce the value of mothers and children being together. This bill. even though it may not point to that. is an overall change of attitude that looks to America and says: We want you not to be addicted. We dont want you to be on prescription drugs and lead you to addiction after your illness is over. We want you to be cared for medically. but we dont want you to become addicted. In order to do that. we are not going to criminalize you. We are going to give you treatment and allow the criminal justice systempolice. prosecutors. and othersto have an alternative to ensure that that can be done. I am very pleased that we are on the floor today. I know that we will have an omnibus tomorrow. I hope that you will support the underlying bill.
Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I claim the time in opposition. although I do not oppose the amendment. The Acting CHAIR. Without objection. the gentlewoman from Texas is recognized for 5 minutes.
Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. let me congratulate the proponents of the amendment and indicate to the gentleman from New York that I think many of us are on the same page. The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to State and local governments for prisonbased family substance abuse treatment programs for the incarcerated parents of minor children. These programs can provide a comprehensive response to the needs of incarcerated parents of minor children. not only substance abuse treatment. but also a range of familyrelated services. These can include child early intervention services. family counseling. medical care. mental health services. parental skills training. pediatric care. physical therapy. and prenatal care. The importance of the value of these programs to pregnant women who find themselves incarcerated as well as to women who are already mothers is beyond dispute. We want to give our childrenno matter who they are and where they are born in this countrya great and wonderful pathway to success. This amendment makes pregnant women equally eligible to participate in such programs. As indicated earlier on the floor today. I am planning to introduce the Stop Infant Mortality and Recidivism Reduction Act of 2016. which is to respond to women who have children while they are incarcerated. to provide them with some sort of support system where their babies are not separated from them. Those babies may be born addicted. I think it is important that this amendment looks at those pregnant women who may be incarcerated. and in this instance. this looks at pregnant women to provide them alternatives. It can be of tremendous benefit to these motherstobe as well as their children and families. This effort has my wholehearted support. and I strongly urge my colleagues to support this amendment to the underlying bill. Mr. Chairman. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Mr. Chairman. I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: Page 2. line 14. strike "and". Page 2. line 17. strike the period at the end and insert ". and". Page 2. after line 17. insert the following: "(F) a focus on parents whose incarceration could result in their children entering the child welfare system.". The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 720. the gentleman from Illinois and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois.
Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to join with my colleague from Indiana. Representative TODD YOUNG. in offering our amendment to strengthen families by addressing parental substance abuse and decreasing the number of children entering foster care. Our amendment is common sense. It simply allows the CARA substance abuse treatment diversion grants to focus on parents whose incarceration could result in their children entering foster care. I am deeply troubled that almost 8 percent of children placed into foster care each year enter due to parental incarceration. This is approximately 20.000 young children every year. In some States like Arkansas. Idaho. Indiana. and South Dakota. over 20 percent of children enter foster care due to parent incarceration. We also know that substance abuse underlies a substantial percentage of child welfare cases. [ 1345 Aside from neglect. alcohol or other drug use is the number one reason for removal from the home. In 2014. over 77.000 youth were removed from their homes due to drug abuse. What is exciting is that we have strong. empirical evidence that working with parents experiencing substance abuse significantly helps children and families experience fewer days in foster care. higher reunification rates. less recurrence of child maltreatment. and better permanency over time. Neither the Senate nor the House CARA bill addresses this critical intersection of criminal justice. substance abuse. and foster care. Yet. this intersection underlies the surging numbers in both the judicial and child welfare systems. The Annie E. Casey Foundation. an amazing champion for foster youth. just released a report 2 weeks ago that recommended that judges consider the impact on kids and families when making sentencing and confinement decisions. Our amendment is necessary to demonstrate congressional intent that the Department of Justice improve our judicial system to decrease the horrible family impact of incarceration that swells our child welfare system and undermines child wellbeing. That is why over a dozen key child welfare advocates support our amendment. including the American Public Human Services Association. the American Psychological Association. Childrens Defense Fund. Childrens Home Society of America. Child Welfare League of America. National Association of Counsel for Children. National Foster FamilyBased Treatment Association. National Foster Parent Association. North American Council on Adoptable Children. Ray E. Helfer Society. Voice for Adoption. and Zero to Three. I urge support of our amendment that will do much to strengthen families and improve child welfare.
Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Mr. Chairman. I yield back the balance of my time. The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Illinois .
Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: BRENDAN F. BOYLE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsyl

vania. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to commemorate National Police Week and to honor police officers killed in the line of duty. Sobering stories of everyday heroes lost in the line of duty led me to introduce H.R. 2350. Children of Fallen Heroes Scholarship Act. along with my fellow Pennsylvania colleague. Congressman MIKE FITZPATRICK. This is a commonsense bill that would ease the financial burden of families of fallen law enforcement as well as other first responders by increasing Federal student aid opportunities for those children to pursue a college education. Every child should have a fair opportunity to pursue a college degree. especially those who have suffered the unimaginable loss of a parent in the line of duty. I commend the Senate for passing our companion bill earlier this week. and I call upon the House to pass our bill immediately.
Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. it is a special privilege to be able to come to the floor and acknowledge the giants that live among us. Today I want to honor a giant in my community. the 18th Congressional District. which I have the privilege of representing. That giants name is Carl Whitmarsh. If one were to think of those like Franklin Delano Roosevelt. John F. Kennedy. William Jefferson Clinton. President Obama. and many other leaders who invested in America. you would think of Carl Whitmarsh. He invested in the process of democracy. He invested. yes. in the Democratic Party because he was known as a democratic activist. but he had a sincere heart. being one of the members of the Texas Young Democrats. But in the course of being a democratic person and an activist. Carl worked with one of the first African Americans to integrate the Young Democrats in the name of Doris Hubbard. They worked together to say that. in this Nation. we are all equal. Yes. he was feisty. He was strong. He made us stand up and acknowledge our responsibilities of service. We lost him this past weekend. I want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Schlett for the great work that they have done to answer his need in the place he lived. I thank the Schletts for all they have done. Let me thank all of his friends for all they have done. Certainly. he was a friend of Hillary Clinton. He was a friend of mine and a friend of those who now mourn him. So among those of us who count ourselves as activists. let me simply say that he was a public servant and he believed in helping people. Let me also give my sympathy to the Oak Forest Area Democrats and all of his friends and family. Because we know that not only is a voice of democracy silenced. but we realize that a person who loved all of us and loved life and was willing to sharethat person is Carl Whitmarsh. May he rest in peace. We have lost you. but not your spirit. your memory. and your legacy.
Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: WATSON COLEMAN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: WATSON COLEMAN (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentleman from Minnesota. I appreciate the remarks that he has made and the issues that he has brought before this body this evening. particularly his illuminating for us and reminding us of the disparities of the criminal justice system. of the way we dealt with drug addiction in the past. But we are in an enlightened period now. as evidenced by the work that we did just today. and I hope that we look at the issue of drug addiction and those addicted in the same humane manner. even if it is not an addiction to just heroin or an addiction to opiates. but it is an addiction to a drug that is harmful to their wellbeing. Mr. Speaker. I yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. CAROLYN
Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: WATSON COLEMAN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentlewoman from New York. Mr. Speaker. I now yield to the gentlewoman from the great State of Texas. the Honorable SHEILA JACKSON LEE.
Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: WATSON COLEMAN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentlewoman for always sharing with us in our Special Order Hour her wisdom. experience. unique observations. recommendations. and proposals. I thank the gentlewoman very much. Mr. Speaker. let me add just one more thought to this topic. This week we demonstrated that bipartisanship is still possible on issues that matter to the American people. We need to take that same spirit and apply it to the countless other issues that have always been bipartisan. Restoring the Voting Rights Act. for one. addressing the significant dangers of a virus. in this instance. of the Zika virus is another illustration. and passing a budget that creates jobs and grows paychecks for American workers. As we now shift topics here. Mr. Speaker. there is another issue that this body has been avoiding for decades. A few months ago. I joined my colleagues on the floor of the House to urge the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. We are here again. Mr. Speaker. and we will keep coming back until it is done. We have been avoiding ensuring protection for women in the Constitution for almost 100 years. and with enduring biases and discrimination against women. there is no better time than now. The ERA would give Congress the constitutional grounds to pass legislation that gives women victimized by genderbased violence recourse in Federal court and restoring elements of the Violence Against Women Act that have been deemed invalid by the Supreme Court. The ERA would give women a stronger legal platform from which to protest gender bias discrimination at work. giving cases like Betty Dukes 2011 suit against Walmart the standing they would need. When you prove statistically lower pay and slower promotion. the biases are obvious and shouldnt be allowed to continue just because they havent been specifically expressed. The ERA would keep women from being forced out of work during pregnancy. a protection that currently does not exist. Those are just a few of its benefits. For a long time. the push for the ERA has been viewed from a single perspective. But it is time for a coalition of women of every ethnicity. every religion. every nationality. and every race to stand united in the call for the ERA because it is for all of us. There are unique issues that every minority group faces. but they are all compounded when you add the gender to that plate. We can and we must work together to level the gender playing field. and the ERA is the best route to that goal. Mr. Speaker. I now yield to a fierce fighter for women and the ERA. the gentlewoman from New York
Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: WATSON COLEMAN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the gentlewoman from New York. I welcome our partnership on this endeavor. We committed to one another that we are going to continue to raise the issue of the ERA on a monthly basis so that people will be reawakened to just how significant and important this is. I was very struck by the information that she shared with us with regard to the unequal pay as it relates to women versus men. While we cited sort of the general knowledge or norm that is associated with the ERA and with unequal pay. we recognize that there is an even greater disparity when it comes to African American women and Latin women to the tune of 63 cents on the dollar and 54 cents on the dollar. Mr. Speaker. I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas . who is also a fierce fighter for equality for all people.
Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: WATSON COLEMAN (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentlewoman from Texas for joining us in this discussion as well. Mr. Speaker. it has been almost a century. so the time for the ERA is right now. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentlemen and sheriff. and I would also like to thank President John F. Kennedy for his proclamation recognizing our peace officers. I want to say that I am grateful that the gentleman has chosen to come to the floor and have this Special Order honoring those who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. I have heard persons talk about the virtues of peace officers. I dont have to have it explained to me because I have a personal experience that I can relate to. My uncle was a deputy sheriff. My uncle was a peace officer. He was well respected in his community. I adored him. My uncle and I were together in his patrol car. and I was asking a lot of questions. His comment to another person with us was: This boy is asking a lot of questions. He is going to be a lawyer because he is asking so many questions. I did not know what a lawyer was. but I knew that. if my uncle. who was a deputy sheriff. said I was going to be a lawyer. then a lawyer I would be. From that day forward. I had one mission in life when it came to my education and my career. That was to be a lawyer because my uncle. the deputy sheriff. the peace officer. proclaimed it as such. So I am honored tonight to pay tribute to him. His name was Dallas Yates. He served in Florida in a small town called Gifford. near Vero Beach. He lived into his nineties. became a minister. and passed away just recently. It was not in the line of duty. but it meant something to me to know that he lived and made a difference in the lives of others. With reference to the phrase itself. this terminology. "in the line of duty." it takes on new meaning if you go to the homegoing ceremony of a peace officer. It will take on a new meaning. When you see that riderless horse with the boots in the stirrups. it takes on a new meaning. When you see the family grieving. it takes on a new meaning. When you understand this is a person who was willing to sacrifice so that others might have life. it takes on a new meaning. So I am honored to be here tonight. and I want people to know that there are many of us who believe that we have to support our law enforcement officers and stand with them and recognize that "in the line of duty" means more than going to work. It sometimes means not coming home.
Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I am honored tonight to stand here in the U.S. House of Representatives to call to the attention of my colleagues. my friends. H.R. 5025. a bill that will bring some relief to much suffering in the Houston area in the State of Texas. But before I get into the bill itself. I think it appropriate to thank some people for what they have done to help us get to this point. I thank my colleague who will be speaking in just a moment. the Honorable GENE GREEN. who serves in the 29th District. which is adjacent to the district that I serve. I want to thank my friend GENE GREEN because he is the original cosponsor of this legislation. He was there to help shape it. and it means something to know that you have a friend that you can work with to this extent. I want to thank my friend Congressman JOHN CULBERSON. He is the first to make this legislation bipartisan. This is not a partisan issue. Flooding is not a partisan issue. The homes that are damaged. the lives that are lost. none of this is partisan. I am grateful to Congressman CULBERSON for signing onto this bill. I would like to thank the 60plus cosponsors of this legislation who have said that they want to see what has been authorized materialized. such that. in Houston. Texas. we cannot only eliminate a lot of floodingand we will. We cant eliminate all of it. but we can mitigate that which we cannot eliminate. I thank Chairman MCCAUL of the Homeland Security Committee. He published the letter for us. the members of the delegation. to sign and send to the President of the United States. asking that Texas have certain areas within the State declared disaster areas because of the horrific flooding that took place on what we call Tax Day. I thank the leadership for allowing us to have this team on the floor tonight on both sides. The leadership makes these things possible. and I am grateful to all leadership for doing this. Finally. I want to thank President Barack Obama because he did. Mr. Speaker. declare certain areas in Texas disaster areas so that we might receive the help of FEMA and funds to help people recover and to restore their lives and continue with their lives. So tonight I will say more about some of these things mentioned. but now I am asking to ask the gentleman from Texas . my colleague. who is the lead cosponsor of this. to have his commentary. Because his district has suffered greatly not just this time. but in the past. from these floods. I will not go into it. I will leave all to be said about it to him. But I think it appropriate that I acknowledge his great work in the Congress of the United States of America not only on this issue. but on many other issues impacting people within his district and across the length and breadth of this great country.
Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank the gentleman very much. I greatly appreciate all that he has done to help us. especially coming into my district. and being there with the mayor. if you recall. who was there. We had a county commissioner in attendance. County Commissioner Gene Locke. Mayor Sylvester Turner. and persons from that neighborhood. This was not your district. but the people were people that the gentleman cared about. and they are grateful. as am I. for the gentlemans coming in and visiting with us.
Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

If the gentleman will yield to me. we also had the press conference. and everybody was confused. We also have the gentlemans city council member. Larry Green. So they had Congressman AL GREEN. Congressman Eugene Green. and City Councilman Larry Green. They can call all of us and we will help them.
Date: 2016-05-13
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I stand today in the well of the House to pay tribute to a great and noble American. a person who gave a lot to his country. He was a loyal Democrat. He was a Democrats Democrat. but he was more than that. He was a person who was a voice for the voiceless. He was one of those persons who had a publication that was widely circulated in Houston. Texas. and this publication was the means by which those of us who could read the front page. but not understand the rest of the story. we could acquire that intelligence by simply reading his words. He made things not only clear. but perspicuously clear. He was a person that went out of his way to get truth to those who would be confused. if not but for what he would do. So I am honored to say that Carl Whitmarsh was a great and noble American. But I am also honored to say that he was a person who made it very much possible for the Democratic Party to thrive in Houston. Texas. Lane Lewis. who is the current chair. benefited from his presence. He and Lane worked closely together. In fact. it is very difficult to think of him and not think of Lane Lewis. Carl Whitmarsh. Lane Lewis. Carl. may you rest in peace. I will now ask for a moment of silence in his honor.