macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-04-19
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in opposition to H.R. 9. the legislation before this chamber today that would provide a onetime tax windfall in the tens of thousands of dollars to entertainers. sports franchises. smut peddlers. and other wealthy business owners. while doing little to create jobs for struggling middleclass America and adding $46 billion to the national deficit. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are bringing this legislation before the House in the name of tax relief for small businesses and job creation. I would happily vote in favor of legislation that provided targeted relief to small businesses and spurred muchneeded job creation in my district and throughout the country. Unfortunately. H.R. 9 would do no such thing. In fact. the Joint Committee on Taxation stated. "the effects of the bill on economic activity are so small as to be incalculable." Similarly. a report last year by the Congressional Budget Office rated the approach taken in H.R. 9 to be one of the least costeffective ways to encourage growth or create jobs in a weak economy. CBO estimated that this legislations approach would create one job or fewer per $1 million of budgetary cost. However. H.R. 9. if enacted. would be a boon to wealthy taxpayers. Nearly half of the benefit would go to individuals with incomes of over $1 million. Seventysix percent of small business employers have incomes below $200.000. but this group only received 16 percent of the benefit under H.R. 9. And 55 percent of small business employers have incomes below $100.000 but this group receives only six percent of the total benefit. At a time when our Nation must tackle its growing deficit. and push further job creation. the last thing this Congress ought to do is give expensive handouts to the richest individuals in our society. Instead. this Congress ought to be debating on how to deliver targeted job creation legislation and protect essential safety net programs. like the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program and Medicaid. which this House recently voted to cut in the hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade in the name of "deficit reduction." I call on my colleagues on both sides of the aisle today to stand for commonsense fiscal principles and targeted job creation and vote against H.R. 9.
Date: 2012-04-19
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. on rollcall No. 176. the Democratic Motion to Recommit H.R. 9. had I been present. I would have voted "aye."
Date: 2012-04-19
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. on rollcall No. 177. final passage of H.R. 9. had I been present. I would have voted "nay."
Date: 2012-04-19
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to join with people in the U.S.. in Israel and around the world in recognition of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this day we honor the memory of the six million Jews and the many millions of others who perished during the Holocaust and we celebrate the strength and perseverance of the survivors. By stopping each year to recognize the significance of this day. we also rededicate ourselves to the principles of individual freedom and to a just society and we renew our pledge to Never Forget.
Date: 2012-04-24
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. today I rise to commemorate the 176th anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto. Last Saturday. the State of Texas celebrated April 21. 1836. when Texas forces led by General Sam Houston dealt a decisive blow to General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Several weeks after the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence in March 1836. roughly 900 members of the Texas Army overpowered a much larger Mexican Army in a surprise attack. Texas soldiers ran and shouted. "Remember the Alamo" and "Remember Goliad." Some 700 Mexican soldiers were killed and 730 captured. while only 9 Texans died. General Santa Anna was captured the following day. He signed the peace treaties that ordered the Mexican Army to leave Texas. paving the way for the Republic of Texas to become an independent country and later a State in our great country. The battle was memorialized along Buffalo Bayou and San Jacinto River with the San Jacinto Monument in east Harris County. It is in our congressional district. God bless Texas and God bless the United States of America.
Date: 2012-04-24
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 1 legislative day to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials on the subject of my 1minute regarding Pastor Joel Osteen and CoPastor Victoria Osteen of the Lakewood Church in Houston. Texas.
Date: 2012-04-25
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I rise today to acknowledge a milestone reached by Marquis Alexander. He is the first African American to become commander of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets. Currently. Marquis is a corporal in the U.S. Marine Reserves and a rising senior majoring in international studies. Congratulations. The history of African Americans at A&M University dates back to the founding of the institution. African Americans in the Texas Legislature advocated for and supported the passage of the Moral Land Grant Act in 1866. which established A&M College of Texas between 1876 and 1963. African Americans worked at Texas A&M as laborers. maids. custodians. and various other support staff. however. they were prohibited from attending as students and faculty until 1963. Its been a long time. but here we are today to congratulate this young man. a graduate of Barbara Jordan High School in the 18th Congressional District. my district. in Houston. Texas. He is the oldest of 10 children. and the first in his family to go to college. He is said to be an admirable and mature young man. Alexander is currently a corporal in the Marine Reserves. He has become the first person with military experience to head the corps. Texas A&M University has the proud distinction of having the most graduates to enlist in our Nations Armed Forces when compared to other nonmilitary academies. Mr. Alexander grew up in my home city of Houston. Our city is proud of his achievements. He has always wanted to attend Texas A&M. He was so gung ho for the military that he participated in the Texas A&M Junior Cadet Accessions Program while still in high school. A week after enlisting in the Marine Corps. he received a letter of acceptance from Texas A&M. Yet true to his word and commitment. Alexander attended boot camp at the Marine Corps Depot in San Diego. He is the kind of young American that we can be proud of. I am so proud of him. Congratulations to you and your family. This is a glory hallelujah day. and congratulations to Texas A&M for opening it up to being a student body president and yell leader.
Date: 2012-04-25
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I rise today to speak on H.R. 2146. the DATA Act. I join all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in supporting greater transparency in Federal grants and contracts. But the details in how we reach that goal are important. The bill as reported by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform would have created an extra level of bureaucracy and duplicative reporting of financial data in addition to an administrative tax on scarce Federal research dollars and an unfunded mandate imposed on our already struggling universities. Research universities. the economic engines of our Nation. typically receive research grants from 67 Federal agencies. each with its own financial reporting requirements and data standards. The bill as introduced would simply have added one more agency. in the form of the new Commission. to which universities would have to report. This would have increased the administrative costs on Federal research dollars without providing any new information about funding to those institutions. The amendment being considered today is a big improvement on the original bill in ensuring that financial reporting of Federal grants and contracts is standardized and consolidated to reduce the overall administrative burden on grant recipients such as universities while providing the increased transparency that is the goal of this bill. I want to express my appreciation to Chairman ISSA and Ranking Member CUMMINGS for working closely with the university groups to address these issues. However. I believe that more work still needs to be done on this bill to guarantee that financial reporting is fully streamlined and agencies are required to comply with a consolidated reporting system. I understand that the transition will be difficult for all involved. including both the granting agencies and the grant recipients. but I also believe that a consolidated financial reporting system is good for the government and good for the taxpayer. I share with some of my colleagues other concerns that have been expressed about this bill. but today I speak only in my role as Ranking Member of the Committee on Science. Space. and Technology. I hope that Chairman ISSA and Ranking Member CUMMINGS will maintain their open dialogue with the universities and other Federal grant and contract recipients about the details of this bill as it moves forward. I believe we all share the goal of increased transparency while keeping U.S. research dollars directed to groundbreaking research that is the foundation of our economic growth. rather than to additional paperwork.
Date: 2012-04-25
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Let me thank my ranking member and chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. I rise in support of the provisions included in the Senate version of the reauthorization. It was my hope that we would have a longerterm bill. one that would reauthorize surface transportation. transit. and rail provisions for several years. I support the Senate version because it will provide certainty to the State departments of transportation. to transit agencies. and to contractors. which will help create and sustain jobs for outofwork Americans. Most of the roads and bridges in this country are in serious disrepair. and States and municipalities are unable to address these needs with piecemeal extensions. The Senate bill preserves transit funding and continues funding major transit programs from the highway trust fund. I was very concerned with the elimination of transit funding included in the House version. Transit funds are essential to both urban and rural areas by providing alternative transportation. easing congestion. and reducing emissions. In addition. I support the expansion of the TIFIA program to $1 billion annually. and the modifications that make it easier for public transportation agencies with dedicated revenue sources to apply for TIFIA loans. Madam Speaker. we are currently operating under the ninth extension of SAFETEALU. This really is unacceptable. and we owe it to the American people to address our crumbling infrastructure and to get them back to work. I voted for the most recent extension of SAFETEALU. but for the purpose of getting to where we are now. so we could get to conference and consider the Senate amendment to H.R. 4348 in conference. I implore my colleagues to support the instructions to put the Senate transportation bill before us in conference so that we can bring it to the floor.
Date: 2012-04-26
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. in a global economy. putting a college education within reach for every American has never been more important. but it has also never been more expensive. Our Nations young people have been hit particularly hard over the economic downturn in the last several years. In Texas and all across the country. students and recent college graduates are now facing the highest unemployment rate of any other group. Twothirds of the class of 2010 graduated with an average of $25.000 of student loan debt. Young Americans are rightly concerned about their future. and so am I. Mr. Speaker. on July 1 of this year. Stafford loan interest rates are set to double unless Congress takes action. As we sit here as a Congress. we need to work together to prevent this increase. I. along with my Democratic colleagues in Congress and President Obama. have been working on a number of efforts to make college more affordable.
Date: 2012-04-26
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in strong support of the Tierney motion. the legislation that he and
Date: 2012-04-26
Speaker: DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER (democrat)
Chamber: H

These two gentlemen have changed the nature and culture of our committee. made it far more productive. and theyve done great work getting us to this point. And I want to acknowledge that at the outset. Theres still work to be done in two areas principally. and I want to talk briefly about that. Even before I do that. I want to acknowledge why were here. We do ourselves. I think. a disservice when we talk about a cyberthreat. That sounds like something that may come in the future. something to be concerned about that might take place down the line. Were under cyberattack right now. This is not speculative. This is not intangible. This is happening right now. This needs to be dealt with. and we do need a sense of urgency. But there is a distance yet to go. and in two areas in particular. One is. when we gather cyberinformation and we share it between companies or between the government and companies. as we must do. we want to make sure that we minimize any unnecessary invasion of privacy of the American people. We can do both. and we have to do both. We need to protect ourselves from cyberattack. and we need to protect and preserve the privacy rights of the American people. I think the bill needs a requirement that personally identifiable information be minimized to the maximum extent practicable. All were asking for is what can reasonably be done. Were not asking for the private sector or the government to do the impossible. but we should require of our government that they minimize personal information that is shared to protect us from cybercrime. Thats the first thing. The second item that really needs to be incorporated in this bill that my colleague. Mr. THOMPSON. will talk about as well is the need to protect critical infrastructure. That is a big missing piece in the bill. and I understand from my colleagues that its not within the Intelligence Committee jurisdiction. Thats correct. But as we saw from the Rules Committee. theyre more than capable of incorporating things from more than one committees jurisdiction in the rule. as we see in a rule that incorporates student loan interest and a bill on that subject with a bill on cybersecurity. There is nothing preventing the Rules Committee from bringing into the discussion today and allowing amendments on critical infrastructure. The absence of those two big pieces makes it impossible for me to support the bill today.
Date: 2012-04-26
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Chair. 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 9. after line 5. insert the following:
Date: 2012-04-26
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

What an exaggeration. I know that they have been propelled by all of the media that has given them great support. They know that the underlying bill. in fact. is considered an invasion of privacy. but if you look at my amendment. it is only when the communication is associated with a known or a reasonably suspected cybersecurity threat. It is narrow. but more importantly. it has a privacy provision. I believe in privacy. Let me just say that I was not going to be denied the right to come to the floor to be able to frame what we should be doinglooking at infrastructure and the complement of making sure that privacy is protected. This particular book. even with the amendments they have. will probably not draw this to the point of acceptance. So I would argue that this is a productive debate but that the amendment that Jackson Lee has submitted does not. in fact. at all violate privacy. I would say to them that I look forward to being able to address this question as we go forward. I am going to ask. at this time. unanimous consent to withdraw this amendment for the misinterpretation that my friends on the other side of the aisle have predicted or thought that they were going to put on this particular amendment. The Acting CHAIR. Without objection. the amendment is withdrawn.
Date: 2012-04-26
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: S
State: Texas

From the Committee on Ways and Means. for consideration of sections 141 and 142 of the House bill. and sections 1801. 40101. 40102. 40201. 40202. 40204. 40205. 4030140307. 4030940314. 100112100114. and 100116 of the Senate amendment. and modifications committed to conference: Messrs. CAMP. TIBERI. and
Date: 2012-04-27
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 3834. the Advancing Americas Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act of 2012. H.R. 3834 is a good bipartisan bill which I was pleased to join Chairman HALL in introducing. It is largely based on the 2009 Housepassed bill that was introduced by thenChairman Gordon and Ranking Member HALL. But the current bill also includes some updates from the 2009 bill that appropriately reflect changes to the networking and information technology landscape. as well as policy and management recommendations made by an outside panel of experts charged with evaluating the NITRD Program.
Date: 2012-04-27
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. reserving the right to object. and I will not object. I yield to the gentleman from Washington. the chairman of the committee.
Date: 2012-04-27
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Further reserving my right to object. Mr. Speaker. the bill before us today. as amended this morning. gives the Secretary of the Interior the authority to reopen the wilderness areas in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks to pack and saddle animals for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Earlier this week. I joined with my colleagues. JIM COSTA. MIKE THOMPSON. JOHN GARAMENDI. and SAM FARR. in a letter to Chairman HASTINGS and Ranking Member MARKEY of the Natural Resources Committee. We asked the committee. on behalf of our California constituents. to resolve a situation thats already affecting families and businesses and harming the regional economy. In response to a court order. the National Park Service has not been allowing pack animals into the parks wilderness areas this year. This situation has caused economic harm to outfitters. packers. guides. and other permit holders who rely on the income that the park visitors bring to the area. and its causing visitors to reconsider their trips to the park and the wilderness areas. Today. this House is taking this action. and I want to thank Mr. MARKEY and Chairman HASTINGS. I spoke to Chairman HASTINGS less than 24 hours ago on the content of our letter. and both he and Mr. NUNES came forward and asked whether or not we could do this by unanimous consent. and thats why were here this morning. I want to thank the staffs of both of the majority and the minority side of this committee for all of their work. They worked overnight because very early this morning we all signed off on this legislation. I think that this legislation is a very good deal for families and visitors to the park. Its a good deal for the businesses who depend upon spring and summer wilderness trips for their livelihood. The high country wilderness in the Sierras is one of the premier experiences the National Park System has to offer. and for many. the only way to have this experience is through use of pack animals for whatever personal reasons. either frailty. ageage would be my reason. I think its important. Ive had the honor and the pleasure to hike the high country in Kings Canyon and in Sequoia and Yosemite. and its a unique experience. unique to the American Sierra Mountains system. I hope that the Senate will be able to take this up by unanimous consent quickly so. again. the people planning to take the trips will have certainty. the packers will have certainty. and the surrounding businesses around SequoiaKings Canyon Park will have certainty that the summer trade will be there. Again. I want to thank the chairman of the committee for his immediate response to our letter of concern. I want to thank my colleagues who joined me on that. With that. Mr. Speaker. I withdraw my reservation.
Date: 2012-04-27
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentleman for yielding. I understand the fix that the Republicans are in after just over a week ago almost unanimously voting not to extend the 3.4 percent interest rate to students. and in adopting the Ryan Republican budget. agreeing to let it go out to 6.8 percent. In fact. they use that to pay for the tax cuts for the wealthy they anticipate in their budget. So they took students money. and the families and the savings that they were made out ofalmost $16 billion over the last 4 yearsand they said were going to use this to provide tax cuts for the wealthy. and we assume that the rates will go to 6.8 percent. President Obama went on the road for 3 days. and all of a sudden Republicans have decided that theyre for keeping the interest rates at 3.4 percent. You can say all of this is cynical. and I believe it is on their part. because what they really see now is an opportunity to attack womens health. They see their position of being for student loans gives them cover to attack womens health. to attack the screening for womens health in the areas of breast cancer and cervical cancer. to attack the ability of public health agencies to screen newborn infants for birth defects. to take away the ability to make sure that young people have the immunizations they need when they start school. So now. under the cover of being for student loans. they now are attacking womens health in the most cynical fashion. But you know. every now and then in this placewhere its terribly partisan. it can be very cynical. as we see with this action today with this billa little ray of light comes in of idealism and hopefulness and understanding. We see today that we have statements by almost all of the major student organizations saying we want that interest rate kept at 3.4 percent. but we do not want it kept at that rate at the risk of jeopardizing womens health. jeopardizing our parents health. our mothers health. our sisters health. our friends health.
Date: 2012-04-27
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

So we should understand that these students see this cynical match that is being played here. and they ask for a timeout and they say find another way to pay for this. But dont do it at the risk of birth defects for newborn infants. Dont do it at the risk of a child not being immunized against disease. Dont do it at the risk of young women and older women being screened for breast cancer and cervical cancer. where the difference can mean life or death for those women. Dont attack and abolish and repeal womens health on the backs of our students. Dont do it in our name. In our name. dont do this legislation. Vote "no" against this. Well find another way to do this. but dont do this in the name of students. Thats what theyve asked with their opposition to this legislation.