macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 1993-03-11
Speaker: WALTER P. KENNEDY (democrat)
Chamber: H

c/o Congressman BOB MICHEL. The Capitol. Washington. DC. DEAR WALTER: I just wanted to wish you the best of luck as you seek to prove that there is life after Capitol Hill. Washington has turned over many times the past 44 yearsbut one thing that has Dot changed Is that Republican House members could always count on Walter Kennedy to get the )ob done. I am just one of many who is proud to salute you for your service to the Republican Party. to the House of Reiwesetatlvee. and to America. Elizabeth Joins with me in sending our career. He has announced that he will retire very best to you and your family. May you after 44 years of service on Capitol Hill. have many happy years ahead. fn 1985. when I Was new In Congress. WalBest regards. ter was very helpful to me during that adjustBOa DOLE. ment period. He has been willing to discuss Issues with me and he has offered exceptional HOUSE OP RsPRESENTATEs. advice on various topics. I would like to thank Washington. DC. March 10. 1903. him for all of that advice arid express my
Date: 1993-03-16
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. 0 130 Speaker. I rise today in support of H.R. 1109. the Merchant Seamen Reemploy- ENDING GRIDLOCK ment Rights Act of 1993. (Mr. KLINK asked and was given perThis bill is designed to provide reem- mission to address the House for 1 ployment rights and other benefits for minute and to revise and extend his reany member of a reserve component. marks.) These rights and benefits. shall be Mr. KLINK. Mr. Speaker. I rise today equivalent to those that are provided to say that I believe that the worst by chapter 43 of title 38 under the Unit- that we could do for our economy and ed States Code. whichallows seamen to the deficit is to do nothing. be rehired at their civilian jobs after The budget and stimulus package we they have served in active duty. will consider later this week can begin During Operation Desert Shield there to end gridlock here In the Nations were seamen who were ready and will- Capitol. and the combination of spending to serve On Ready Reserve vessels. Ing cuts and tax Increases and Investbut could not because their jobs were ments contained in those two bills will not protected. This reemployment leg- reduce thedeficit and start to put our islation Is needed so that seamens Jobs country back to work again. will be guaranteed after war. a na- Taken together. the budget and stimtional emergency. activated training. ulus package will provide jobs for or during alertness exercises- Americas workers. improve our NaThis bill does not In any way. shape. tions Infrastructure. and target critior form. demand that a mariner volun- cal resources to the education and teer for service. Nor will labormanage- training needs of out- Nations ihildren. ment agreements be changed or af- youth. and adults. fected. This reemployment right does Mr. Speaker. former President Harry not cost the Government anything and Truman said In his book "Where the it allows them to utilize these dedi- Buck Stops." as he reflected on the cated individuals for military needs. Presidency. "There are not good or bad These dedicated mariners are there Presidents. there are just those who deto protect the United States in time of* cide to do nothing." Our own Presinational crisis. If these Individuals are dent. Bill Clinton. has shown that he is ready and willing to risk their lives willing to take the steps to do someand protect us. then we need to make thing. I think that Congress should sure their jobs are guaranteed and pro- take the lead and help him to lead us tected. down the road.
Date: 1993-03-16
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to add my support to H.R. 416. a bill to extend the effective date of chapter 12 of the Bankruptcy Code until October 1. 1998. In 1985. 1 was an original cosponsor of H.R. 2211. the bill that led to the enactment of chapter 12. At that time. the U.S. agricultural economy was besieged by a number of problems. including shrinking export markets. highinterests rates. and tumbling land values. The combined. effect of these problems forced many family farmers to the brink of bankruptcy. In response to these problems. the Congress passed a number of bills. In March 1985. the Congress passed the Emergency Farm Credit Assistance Act of 1985. Unfortunately. President Reagan vetoed this bill. Subsequently. the Congress passed the Food Security Act of 1985. commonly known as the 1985 farm bill. The 1985 farm bill redirected Federal farm programs to a more marketoriented focus and beefed up programs to help U.S. farmers to compete in international markets. Next. the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 offered sorely needed assistance to farmers and ranchers besieged by the economic conditiOns of the 1980s. In addition. the Congress approved the bankruptcy judges. U.S. trustees. and Family Farmer Bankruptcy Act of 1986. The act amended the Bankruptcy Code to provide. for the first time. bankruptcy procedures specifically tailored to the needs of the Nations family farmers. All of these acts helped Americas farmers and ranchers to bootstrap themselves out of the agricultural depression of the early 1980s. Chapter 12 of the Bankruptcy Code is no exception. Chapter 12 extended a helping hand to Americas family farmers designed to allow farm families to work with their creditors to resolve financial difficulties fairly. and with compassion and dignity. The bill before us today will extend chapter 12 for 5 years and make a clarifying amendment to the act to narrow the circumstances in which a court may extend the statutory 90day period established in chapter 12 for a family farmer to file a debt adjustment plan. The bill represents a reasonable compromise that will allow family farmers to gain the protection of the bankruptcy law under a reasonable plan for debt adjustment. Mr. Speaker. farmers. ranchers. and lenders who have worked to resolve farm bankruptcies since 1986 would probably agree that chapter 12 is not perfect. However. it has been proven to be an effective method for resolving the many Issues raised by family farmers facing severe financial difficulties. I am confident that the sponsors of the bill will continue to work with parties interested in this important Issue toward reauthorizing an improving chapter 12 as the bill proceeds through the legislative process. I ask my colleagues to support the bill.
Date: 1993-03-17
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I thank my colleague for the time and I will be very brief. Mr. Chairman. agriculture is willing to take its fair share of the cuts that we need in order to get this country back on the road again. And all that we ask is a mix of spending cuts and tax increases that are fair and equitable. We will support this budget resolution because overallit points our country in the right direction. What bothers me is the perception around the country. courtesy in part to a news media more eager to tell a slanted story than telling both sides of the story. that there is this big cash cow called agriculture spending. My friends. especially my friends on this side. we in agriculture have reduced expenditures by $57 billion in the last 12 years. $57 billion. If every other committee in the House had done as we did. we would not be worried about having a deficit budget. We have done our part. Our programs are decreasing when everyone else is increasing. We were the first ones to use a chart around here. Now it seems that every speaker has a chart. We will go back to our original one. This big sacred cow called agriculture that people think they can get all of the money from. here to what it looks like when you have the functions of Government. defense. Social Security. interest on the debt. and you are. almost off the chart when you get to agriculture. Now here is the more important one. What is it that agriculture gives us? It gives us almost 20 percent of GNP. But this red is the Federal budget. and the line you do not see is the impact that agriculture has on our budget. Onehalf of 1 percent is what agricultures part of the Federal budget is. Our farm programs will be looked at. I hopefully will put things in perspective. I say to my colleagues in the House let there be no misunderstanding. Agriculture spending and rural programs will have to take their fair share of the budget cuts. We will look at all options. We will look within our jurisdiction. I only ask you that all of us be sensitive to the very substantial and painful. budget reductions already made in the agriculture programs. I ask that you be sensitive to the economic needs of the farm and rural economy which produces the basic food and fiber that all of us consume. It is the only one bringing money back from abroad. But I am here proudly to speak In behalf of agriculture. We will take our cuts. All we ask is that they be fair. that they be equitable.
Date: 1993-03-18
Speaker: DE LUGO (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I rise in strong support of the proposal of the Black Caucus and commend them for a proposal well thought out and a real investment in our country.
Date: 1993-03-23
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I would like to take this opportunity to address the continuing. problems our communities are facing -with drug and alcohol abuse. In particular. I would like to share with you a program that is making great progress in helping individuals with chemical dependency problems. I recently had the privilege of attending an open house at the Inner City Recovery Program of Houstpn. The inner city recovery program 16 a nonprofit substance abuse program which provides drug and alcohol abuse counselIng. The program also provides Instruction in parenting skills and drug awareness and education. While at the open house. I listened to Individuals who had nearly given up on life due to their substanceabuse problem. These people found the help they needed through this program and it is programs like this that should serve as models for our efforts to combat this problem on the Federal level. Mr. Speaker. when we think of the war on drugs we often think of police raids on crack houses and military seizures of drug shipments. What we all should remember is that the war on drugs has two fronts. While the police and military battle on one front. we must assure that the efforts on the rehabilitation front are recognized as well. I applaud the efforts of the Houston Inner City Recovery Program and I ask my fellow members to join me in appreciation for the important work it does in the area of substance abuse.
Date: 1993-03-31
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speakers table the Senate bill to extend the suspended implementation of certain requirements of the food stamp program on Indian reservations and for other purposes. and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
Date: 1993-03-31
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding. This is the Senate bill which delays until January 31. 1994. this coming January. the implementation of regulations that would implement the Food Stamp Act on Indian reservations. Now they are not required to have staggered issuance of food stamps. and also they have monthly requirements of reporting of income. and there is some concern expressed in a GAO report that has been issued on that item. So all this bill does is to delay the implementation until January 31 in order to accommodate further study. Mr. Speaker. I rise In strong support of S. 284. a bill to amend the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to delay until January 31. 1994 first. the Implementation of an exemption from the requirement of households residing on Indian reservations to file periodic reports of income and household circumstances. and second. the requirement for staggered issuance of coupons on Indian reservations. The Food. Agriculture. Conservation. and Trade Act Amendments of 1991Public Law 102237--requires that on April 1 of this year. State agencies Issue food coupons on a staggered basis. On that same date. State agencies are also required to exempt households residing on Indian reservations from monthly reports. The requirement of staggered issuance on Indian reservations in the current law was intended to. discourage retail stores from increasing their food prices on the day that food stamps are Issued. The monthly reporting exemption was intended to overcome the problems many Indian households have in completing the monthly reporting requirements. However. comments from the General Accounting Office (GAO] as well as comments from State agencies and several Indian reservations Indicate differing views on the merits of the current provisions of law. Mr. Speaker. the delay In Implementation of these provisions will allow the Committee on Agriculture additional time to obtain more Indepth information on the pros and cons of staggered issuance and monthly reporting requirements on Indian reservations. Meanwhile. the Committee on Agriculture. both majority and minority members. support prompt passage of S. 284. The Congressional Budget Office advises us the legislation has no direct spending impact on the Federal budget.
Date: 1993-03-31
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. today I am introducing legislation along with Senator BOB KRUEGER of Texas that will promote economic development and environmental protection in and around one of our Nations most important natural resources--the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico is a vital economic and environmental resource for our Nation. Yet the Federal Government has no coordinated policy with the coastal States to monitor the growing pollution and development pressures being experienced along the gulf. Mr. Speaker. the residents and the environment along the gulf deserve better. Our proposal will establish a framework by which Federal and State agencies can work together to better manage and coordinate both the economic development and the protection of natural resources of the gulf region. Our proposal is modeled after the FederalState partnerships In place for the Chesapeake Bay and the Great Lakes. Establishment of a Gulf of Mexico Commission will help all levels of government foster sustainable development. And it will provide a means of dealing with the gulfs pollution problems in a more coordinated and costeffective manner. In addition. this legislation will require the Secretary of Agriculture to compile an inventory of all Federal and State laws and regulations affecting the use of wetlands for agricultural production. This information will help the Secretary formulate recommendations for wetlands policy across the United States. with a particular emphasis on the economic and environmental interests of the Gulf of Mexico and the prudent use of agriculture lands in the coastal States. Finally. creation of a Gulf of Mexico Commission will also complement and enhance the administrations efforts to negotiate a supplemental agreement on the envlrohment with Mexico in conjunction with the proposed North American FreeTrade Agreement. I have urged the administration to ensure that this side agreement includes a bilateral framework to deal with the -problems of Gulf of MexicoIn reality. our other border with MexIcoand I have been assured the administration is committed to that goal. I encourage my colleagues here in the House to review the legislation Senator KRUEGER and I are introducing today and to join us In cosponsoring the Gulf of Mexico Act.
Date: 1993-04-02
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Pexas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to ask for your support of the Equal Education Funding Act of 1993. This bill will change the way the Federal Government funds education for our students who are most in need. The current formula shortchanges more than 3 million students nationwide. There is also a $235. million supplemental appropriation in the stimulus package and not one penny of that money helps to solve the overall problem caused by the current formula. I The bill will: First. provide for annual updates in census numbers used for chapter 1 education funding. Second. creates a formula that recognizes each States ability to pay for education and rewards States who put more of their resources in education. By cosponsoring the Equal Education Funding Act you will be stating the value you place on classroom teachers because their salaries are part of the formula and you will be telling the States that the Federal Government will no longer disregard the differences among the States in funding education. The bottom line is this: chapter 1 education funds should go to the students who most need them. This bill does that far better than our current formula and therefore it deserves your support.
Date: 1993-04-02
Speaker: BOB BYRD (democrat)
Chamber: S

always had the minority organized to tip their hats so that When an American President was meeting with a foreign leader. he did not have to worry about what was going on In the Chambers of the U.S. Congress. that there would be no mischief to undermine his agenda while he was overseas fighting for freedom and stability in the world. I would like the same courtesy extended to Bill Clinton as we extended to Ronald Reagan and to George Bush when they met with their world leaders. We did not do budget summiteering and so on. So as we come to those final hours. I would like to turn to. Senator BOB BYRD. and thank him for what he has done in the advance of this stimulus package. I know that we work with appropriations under the aegis of the budget given to us by JIM SASSER. and we are going to advance that American agenda. Let me tell the American people why we are voting for cloture. Cloture means that you cannot filibuster. People say this is no filibuster. They ask. is that when old. craggy. Senators get up in the middle of night and read from telephone books. and soup recipes. Yankee recipes. lobster pie. chicken potpie? No. That is when people will know what is going on. That is out of date. That is out of line. That is out of step. And everybody will know that. We are into something called a groping filibuster. where we are filibustering one amendment at a time. But guess what? We are combat ready. we Democrats. and we will be here to deal with it amendment by amendment. We are going to try to come up with an orderly parliamentary procedure to bring this to a closure. I am ready to do it. Why? Because I so believe in this package to generate jobs. and we will do it in every State because of something called the Community Development Block Grant Program. one of the anchor chains of the- distinguished package. the one that has been minimized and trivialized as pork barrel. Yet. there were no cries for pork when Jerry Ford invented the program. because in every State in the Union. they knew that those projects were coming in. We know that community development block grants will enable people at local levels to* be able to provide shelters for the homeless. be able to modernize public housing. be able. to do
Date: 1993-04-22
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. on behalf of the Committee on Agriculture. I want to advise the Members that our committee and subcommittees will hold hearings on hunger issues starting April 28. It is also my purpose here to invite any Members that are interested in the hunger Issue. both foreign and domestic. to testify at these hearings. Mr. Speaker. as chairman of the Committee on Agriculture. I strongly support legislation to fight hunger here at home and abroad. and I have worked hard to strengthen the Committee on Agricultures involvement in food and hunger issues. The Committee on Agricultures commitment to domestic feeding programs within its jurisdictionsuch as the Food Stamp Program. our Nations largest feeding programis evidenced by our effort to move the Mickey Leland Childhood Hunger Relief Act. which passed this Chamber in both the 101st and 102d Congresses. The Mickey Leland legislation would strengthen our Food Stamp Program. with a particular focus on ending hunger among lowincome children in our country. The committees interest in overseas food and hunger issues has been expressed through legislative improvements in the Food for Peace Programthe Public Law 480 Programand through authorities we have provided for the donation of surplus American agricultural commodities to needy peoples around the world. I want to apprise my colleagues that the Agriculture Committee is renewing its efforts to address domestic and overseas hunger issues again in the 103d Congress starting next week. We are kicking off these hearings next Wednesday afternoon with Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy. who will discuss the administrations views on the Mickey Leland Childhood Hunger Relief Act and the status of USDA overseas food assistance programs. I would invite any Members of Congress interested in these issues and these programs to offer testimony. And I am extending a special invitation to the former members of the Select Committee on Hunger for their input in this hearing. Also Wednesday afternoon the Agriculture Subcommittee on Department Operations and Nutrition will hear public testimony on H.R. 529. the Mickey Leland Childhood Hunger Relief Act. On Thursday. April 29. the Agriculture Subcommittee on Foreign Agriculture and Hunger will hold a public hearing on overseas hunger issues. Mr. Speaker. it is our intention to bring appropriate legislation before the full House that will increase the effectiveness of our Nations domestic and overseas food assistance programs. We on the Committee on Agriculture are committed to continuing to focus the attention of this Congress on the problems of hunger here at home and abroad throughout this session.
Date: 1993-04-27
Speaker: TIM JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H

Lynn Martin. Bill Frenzel. and DAN GLCCKMAN came together in search of a constructive approach with improved odds for enactment. After input from GERALD SOLO-
Date: 1993-05-04
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I thank the distinguished chair of the Public Buildings and Grounds Subcommittee. I am proud to Join with him as we pass this legislation which will allow Congress to pay its due respect to law enforcement officals who have made the ultimate sacrifice In service to their fellow officers and citizens. Law enforcement has been accurately described as a thin blue line. In recent years we have been asking law enforcement to do more and more. even as the size- of many forces have been cut due to budget problems. Meanwhile. In far too many cases. the thin blue line has been stretched beyond recognition. Today we are honoring peace officers who were slain in the line of duty. An inscription at the National Law Enforcement Memorial reads. "it is not how these officers died that made them heroes. It is how they lived." How true that Is. These officers carried an honorable sense of duty. Their daily lives were geared toward preserving order In our society. Far too often law enforcement officials have been killed In the line of duty. In fact 13.256 times Through 1992. This year. the Dallas Police Department has the unfortunate distinction of placing four of its officers name on the memodal where their contributions to our Nation will be forever engraved. I appeal In the strongest terms possible to my fellow members and the citizens of our Nation. let us work together so that these officers will not have died in vain.