macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-02-25
Speaker: TED LIEU (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. this is a final amendment to the bill which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If adopted. the bill will immediately proceed to final passage. as amended. Let me start by thanking my Republican colleagues for introducing this bill. It makes changes to 529 plans that many on my side of the aisle have also been calling on for years. I support 529 plans. as do many of my constituents. It helps people plan and pay for college. and my wife and I currently invest in 529 plans. There is one amendment to this bill that. I believe. will make it far better. and that is disclosure. The motion to recommit would put in an amendment that says that there has to be a separate report that talks about the types and numbers of fees and how much these fees are and how they impact the performance of the product over 10 to 20 years. Prior to entering politics. I served as a corporate vice president at a financial services company. and it is clear that the foundation upon which Wall Street rests is disclosure. It is the social compact that Wall Street has with Main Street. It is the compact that they have with investors in that they will describe a producthow it works. the fees on that product. and how it performs. By having a separate report that parents can see. one that talks about the fees on these products and how these fees impact the performance. it will allow middle class families to better gauge for themselves how their investments are doing and which investments to select. Does this makes a difference? Yes. it does. Let me give you an example. Savingforcollege.com offers this scenario: If an annual return for a 529 account is 7 percent and if one account charges 20 basis points and another charges 40 basis points. here is the difference on an investment of $5.000: over the course of 18 years. the 529 plan charging the lower fees will save the investor $542. The underlying bill would change existing law to allow 529 funds to be used to purchase a laptop computer for school. and $542 would allow you to buy a laptop. Right now. every State has different rules for disclosure. and they have different fees. For example. in my State of California. we have relatively low fees that range between $142 to $154 over 10 years. but then you have States like Montana and Arkansas. which have some of the highest lowend fees. which could range between $1.100 to $1.200 over 10 years. That makes a huge difference to middle class families. I urge my colleagues to support this motion to recommit. which merely provides disclosure to middle class families so they can better understand their 529 plans. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2015-02-25
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chair. I rise today in opposition of H.R. 5. the illnamed Student Success Act. H.R. 5 would undermine significant gains made by No Child Left Behind. and eviscerate the Elementary and Secondary Education Act by dismantling its foundation of equity and accountability. Under this bill. school districts with the highest concentrations of Hispanic students would lose more than $1.9 billion in federal funding. Los Angeles Unified School District which is more than 74 percent Hispanic faces the largest cut in Title I funds. over $80 million. which amounts to nearly 25 percent of their budget. School districts with a high concentration of students living in poverty could lose $700 million in funding and highpoverty districts could see cuts as large as 74 percent. The portability of Title I funds would divert and dilute limited funds from schools with high needs and high concentrations of poverty. This undermines the fundamental purpose of Title I: to assist high needs and high poverty schools. With 35 percent of Latino children under the age of five living in poverty. this is the time to increase. not decrease funding. Education is our nations great equalizer. I would not be where I am today if it were not for the quality public education I received. For over 50 years. ESEA has been our nations driving force for educational equity. Unfortunately. this Republican bill would dismantle the foundation of equality and accountability that ESEA has built over the last halfcentury. If we want our nation to remain a leader in the world. we must improve equal access to quality education for the next generation. Our students are the future of tomorrow. and we simply cannot let them down. The Acting CHAIR. All time for general debate has expired. Pursuant to the rule. the committee rises. Accordingly. the Committee rose. and the Speaker pro tempore having assumed the chair.
Date: 2015-02-25
Speaker: BRENDAN F. BOYLE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsyl

vania. Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the previous speaker for exercising tremendous leadership in helping to forge this. the Future Forum. I am proud to join him in being a founding member of this important caucus. one that I hope will go out and touch the lives of many young people throughout the country. In having a conversation with the previous speaker about what brought him to public service and what brought me to public service. I was relaying my personal story. and that happened to involve September 11. I was not one of the heroes by any means. just one of the ordinary Americans working in the private sector straight out of college. attempting to pay off a ton of student loans. and right here in the Washington. D.C.. area. just a couple miles from the Pentagon. that bright blueskied beautiful morning when the world suddenly changed. Mark Twain had said a long time ago that Americas two best friends in the world are Miss Atlantic and Mr. Pacific. September 11. 2001. proved that that was no longer the case. that we were not a separate fortress unto ourselves and completely removed from the problems around the world. That was. as the previous speaker mentioned. such an important event in my life and in the lives of so many people in their thirties and younger. As a member of this September 11 generation. I decided right then that I would devote my life to public service. The very next year. actually. on September 11. 2002. I began my graduate program in public policy and embarked on a path that about 14 years later has led here to serving in the Halls of the House of Representatives. attempting to make a difference. solve problems. and do so on a bipartisan basis. I know there are many people on the other side of the aisle. good Republicans. who feel the same way I do. that we can have our legitimate debates. that we can have our debates on public policy. but that when it comes. of all things. to the security of the American people. we need to put the nonsense aside and actually focus on protecting our people. So. Mr. Speaker. when we had come down here and planned to speak about the Future Forum. I had expected that my speech would be about the student loan debt crisis. something that is deeply affecting our generation. a generation that is more indebted than any other in our Nations history. But. instead. we are here to talk about the fact we are just 3 days away from seeing the Department of Homeland Security completely shut down. seeing the furloughing of 35.000 employees of the Department of Homeland Security. On the very same day that information was released. three American citizens attempted to join ISIS. which should be called Daesh. the socalled Islamic State. who truly are evil and would do whatever they could to harm any one of the 310 million of us living in this country.
Date: 2015-02-25
Speaker: BRENDAN F. BOYLE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsyl

vania. The gentleman asks a great question. Actually it is the exact opposite of the sort of spirit that was invoked on September 11. I remember seeing the pictures ofI believe it was a spontaneous gathering of both Democratic and Republican Members serving in Congress at that time who came together on the Capitol steps to sing "God Bless America." I think it is a sad commentary that just a decade and a half later that we are here at an incredibly dangerous time. mind you. in some ways actually more dangerous than the days immediately following September 11. and instead of talking about how we can come together in an overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion. pass this what should be noncontroversial bill to fund our Department of Homeland Security. the fact that we are right here caught up in a partisan fight over this is deeply disappointing and does not at all jibe with the spirit of September 11. and I think the spirit of a generation that was called to serve in the wake of those events.
Date: 2015-02-25
Speaker: TED LIEU (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. let me start off by saying elections have consequences. I respect the American voter. I respect what the voters in our Nation did last November when they gave Republicans control of the United States Senate and control of the U.S. House of Representatives. My sincere plea and request to my Republican colleagues across the aisle who control Congress is: Please do not shut down the Department of Homeland Security. The Republican leader in the U.S. Senate is now poised to delink the issue of funding for security for our homeland from immigration reform. I hope my colleagues across the aisle will do the same. That is because immigration reform has very little to nothing to do with protecting our homeland. I would love to have a debate on immigration reform. I think we need to do that. I would love to vote for bills on immigration reform. But they are not linked to funding for Homeland Security. Let me just give you an example. Lets talk about DREAMers who came as children to our Nation and who can serve in the United States military. I served in Active Duty in the Air Force. and I am still in the Reserves. So DREAMers can serve in the U.S. military. To say that we are going to deport them because they are a homeland security risk and we are not going to fund Homeland Security because of that is ridiculous. There is no reason to link those two issues. If you dont like DREAMers. if you want to deport DREAMers. fine. Lets have a debate on that. But they are not a homeland security risk. To link these two issues doesnt make any sense. The Republican leader in the United States Senate has figured that out. I hope that this House does it as well. There are some grave consequences to this. In my State of California alone. nearly 27.000 employees of Homeland Security will either be furloughed or will get no pay and cannot come to work. These folks are folks that protect our homeland. It is unacceptable that this is going to happen. The other way Homeland Security works is they provide grants to local first responders across the Nation to law enforcement. to firefighters. On Friday. if Homeland Security shuts down. those grants stop. and these local responders stop. This is a very real issue. and we. in Congress. our first priority is to protect the American public. Shutting down Homeland Security will be the exact opposite of that. I really hope that the Republicans who control both Houses do not shut down Homeland Security.
Date: 2015-02-25
Speaker: TED LIEU (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

That is a great question. Let me just explain a little bit what are some of the professions that the DREAMers do in the military. Because of their language skills. the U.S. military needs some of these language skills. so that the U.S. military knows what these terrorists are doing in other parts of the world. To have the language skills that DREAMers possess. that is one reason that we have them serve in the U.S. military. They have a direct effect on trying to prevent terrorist attacks into our homeland. To say that "we are not going to fund Homeland Security because we want to deport you" is ridiculous.
Date: 2015-02-25
Speaker: TED LIEU (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

That is a fantastic question. Having now been in the military for 19 years. it is very clear that their main criteria for military service is: Can you complete the mission? How good you are at completing the mission has nothing to do with whether or not you have a piece of paper that says if you are documented or not. The U.S. military is losing out on a significant amount of talent. people who otherwise would do great things for our military to protect our homeland and so on. Again. it makes very little to no sense to link these two issues. which really shouldnt be linked. really. that is what this is all about. Lets just have separate debates on both issues. The U.S. Senate is about to do that. I hope the House can do that as well.
Date: 2015-02-25
Speaker: BRENDAN F. BOYLE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsyl

vania. It would be. in a word. devastating. I am proud of the fact that a part of the district I represent is the city of Philadelphia. Philadelphia Fire Department. one of the largest and oldest in our Nation. also a number of volunteer fire departments in Montgomery County. Pennsylvania. There are so many of them around the country. To put them in this position is just deeply unfair. I am also thinking. as I am looking to my friend to the right. fellow freshman. Mr. MOULTON. he happens to be from Massachusetts. They right now are devastated with mountains of snow that fortunately most of us in the rest of the country. while we have had snow. not nearly the way they have had it in New England. It is important to note that a number of those who work in FEMA are the officials who receive those grant applications. those emergency applications that so many in Massachusetts and Vermont and other parts of New England and other parts of the country are applying for right now because they have been so overstretched. given this incredible winter that we have had and record breaking in terms of snow. So they can keep on doing the applications and applying for assistance. The only problem is. come Saturday. we shut down the Department of Homeland Security. there will be no one on the other end to receive them. I want to make one final point. and I think that this really strikes at the heart of why we are here and why the Future Forum was created. This is my first year in the House. I might end up serving one term. might end up serving 10. who knows? For anyone who serves here. they all talk about the fact that it goes by extremely quickly. We. right now. are Members of a body with an approval rating of approximately 9 percent. I dont want to dedicate my life to public service in an area that is so poorly regarded by the American people. That is not something I want to do. I dont think that is something that other Members on the other side want to do. It is important to our American democracy that whatever your ideology may be. whatever political positions you may have. we have to show the American people that their institutions of government can work. The American people. the overwhelming majority of Democrats and Republicans. have lost confidence in us. in all of us. I dont think this kind of a political fight. frankly. benefits either side. I think it is only a race to who loses less. We can end this now. Lets do the responsible thing. the mature thing. the right thing. Fund Homeland Security. and then get on to the important debates that we must be having.
Date: 2015-02-26
Speaker: BEN RAY LUJAN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New Mexico

Mr. Speaker. we are only days away from a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. When Republicans took control of the House and Senate. they pledged to avoid more government shutdowns. Instead. we have. sadly. learned that Speaker BOEHNER and Leader MITCH MCCONNELL went nearly 2 weeks2 weekswithout talking. and their failure to govern us has us. once again. on the brink of a shutdown. I have been shocked and disappointed to hear some of my Republican colleagues say that a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security would not be a serious issue and try to minimize its impact on people. minimize its impact on workers. and even try to minimize its impact on America. In my home State of New Mexico. a border State. where we have many men and women who proudly serve our country as employees of the Border Patrol. the TSA. and other agencies. getting furloughed or working without a paycheck is a serious issue. If Republicans continue down this path. paychecks will stop. but rent and mortgages and utility bills for these workers will not. Time and again. House Republicans have failed to govern. moving only from one crisis to the next. Sadly. the failure to fund DHS is the latest manufactured crisis that will have a real impact on working families in New Mexico and across America while needlessly putting our national security at risk. It is time for congressional Republicans to stop putting their political security ahead of national security and pass a clean bill. It is time for House Republicans to stop catering to the extreme antiimmigration wing of their party that is willing to sacrifice our Nations security in order to attack DREAMers who are going to college and serving our great Nation. Mr. Speaker. the eyes of the American people are watching this Republicanled Congress. and so far. all they have seen is gridlock and dysfunction. Mr. Speaker. the United States Senate is moving forward to fund the Department of Homeland Security. House Democrats are ready to support a clean bill. The only ones standing in the way of preventing a Department of Homeland Security shutdown are House Republicans. For our countrys sake. let us hope that changes. Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up H.R. 861. the clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill that will keep the Department open so it can carry out its mission of keeping the American people safe.
Date: 2015-02-26
Speaker: JUDY CHU (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. 27 years ago. as the lines of the Soviet Union were fading. the people of NagornoKarabakh were united in a call for a say in their own futures and greater independence from Azerbaijan. This peaceful movement for selfdetermination and freedom was followed by premeditated and governmentsponsored attacks. Over the next 2 years. the Armenian population in the territory of Artsakh was repeatedly victim to brutal and raciallymotivated pogroms. darkly reminiscent of the days of the Armenian genocide. Hundreds were murdered. thousands were displaced. and the Armenian community. both in Artsakh and in exile. continues to bear the scars from the brutal attacks in Sumgait. Kirovabad. and Baku. When the people of NagornoKarabakh officially declared independence on December 10. 1991. they were met with fullscale war lasting until 1994. Even today. the people of NagornoKarabakh are still forced to live under constant ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan. As we commemorate the somber anniversary marking the struggle of the NagornoKarabakh people. we wish for the peaceful resolution of this conflict and hope that its citizens will be free to determine their own future.
Date: 2015-02-26
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. last week Speaker BOEHNER stated that the Republicans were certainly prepared to shut down the Department of Homeland Securitya shutdown that would force thousands of TSA. Customs. Border Patrol. and Secret Service agents to work without pay. Now. Mr. Speaker. I am going to tell you. I come back and forth every week from Orange County. California. I usually go up to Los Angeles. to LAX. I was talking to my TSA guys as I went through the line. taking off my shoes. They said: Really. Ms. SANCHEZ. are they really going to do that to us? Are they really going to put our security at stakeAmericas security at stake? I said: They have done it before. and they are going to do it again. I believe that it is time to pass a clean Homeland Security bill. Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up H.R. 861. the clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill that would keep the Department open so it can carry out its mission of keeping America and Americans safe.
Date: 2015-02-26
Speaker: AL GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up H.R. 861. the clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill that will keep the Department open so that it can carry out its mission of keeping the American people safe.
Date: 2015-02-26
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up H.R. 861. a clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill that will keep the Department open so that it is able to protect the American people.
Date: 2015-02-26
Speaker: JUDY CHU (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up H.R. 861. the clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill that would keep the Department open so it can carry out the mission of keeping the American people safe.
Date: 2015-02-26
Speaker: TED LIEU (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up H.R. 861. the clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill that would keep the Department open so it can carry out its critical mission of keeping the American people safe.
Date: 2015-02-26
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I am pleading and asking unanimous consent that the House bring up H.R. 861. the clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill that. in this climate of terrorism. would keep the Department open so that it can carry out its mission of keeping the American people safe.
Date: 2015-02-26
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that the House bring up H.R. 861. the clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill that would keep the Department open so it can carry out its mission of keeping the American people safe.
Date: 2015-02-26
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman from Colorado for the time. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to oppose H.R. 5. the Student Success Act. I think it is a damaging reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Why are we here? What is the role of the Congress? It is to protect America and to ensure Americas future. The best way to ensure Americas future is to educate our children. In 1965. when the ESEA was originally developed. the exact declaration of that policy stated that it was "in recognition of the special education needs of children of lowincome families." I know a lot about that. I know because I am a Head Start child. a public school kid who went under ESEA. I know that when America makes the right policies to educate its people. we thrive. I know that people can come to America without an education and because of our public school system can believe that their children can grow up to be successful in America. I know that because my parents came without much education and without any money. Oh. by the way. they are the only parents in the history of these United States to send two daughters to this House of Representatives. Lets do the right thing.