macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-09-30
Speaker: BONO MACK (republican)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I thank my colleague. Mr. POE. for the time. I am pleased also to rise in support of the Managing Arson Through Criminal History. or MATCH Act. H.R. As a Member from California. I was heartened by the support that our delegation received from this House during the Station fire that recently swept through our State. tragically killing two heroic firefighters. As many of you know and have just heard. some of these fires are being investigated as arson. In what is sadly becoming an annual occurrence. we are faced with the threat of catastrophic wildfires that cause millions of dollars in damage and threaten life. It is when we learn that the first sparks of these fires were caused by arsonists that our greatest fears are realized. that someone would maliciously and purposely start a fire. [- 1245 These events are reminders of the urgency with which we need to act in passing H.R. 1727. as this legislation was inspired by events in my county. Riverside County. which Im very proud to represent. Nearly 3 years ago. my community was devastated by the Esperanza fire. also an arsoncaused fire. that cost five heroic U.S. Forest Service firefighters their lives. I. like all of my colleagues in this House. am anxious to provide all of the tools and support we can to combat despicable acts like arson. Multiple conversations and meetings with firefighters and chiefs in my district led to the creation of this bill. They told me how a central database would provide them with invaluable information in tracking arsonists. more especially serial arsonists. More help is needed in the tracking of this dangerous crime. Even though arson fires account for a majority of the fires in the U.S.. the arrest and conviction rate is only 20 percent. It is our duty as Members of the Congress to provide the tools and infrastructure we can to aid in both the prevention of this crime and speedy apprehension of those who choose to commit it. It is my sincere belief that the MATCH Act will make a meaningful difference in the way that we approach and deal with arson offenders by establishing a registry for law enforcement. I would like to especially thank Chairmen CONYERS and SCOTT and Ranking Members SMITH and GOHMERT of the Judiciary Committee. They worked to ensure that this legislation was expeditiously moved through the legislative process and that legitimate concerns were addressed. I would also like to thank the House leadership on both sides of the aisle for their efforts and hard work in bringing the bill before us today. And finally. I. too. would like to thank my fellow Californian. my dear friend. ADAM SCHIFF for his partnership on this important issue. I can think of no better colleague in the House of Representatives to work with than I found in ADAM SCHIFF. So I thank you very much. and I urge passage of this critically important bill.
Date: 2009-10-29
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. I thank the distinguished gentlewoman and I want to thank Congressman BUCHANAN for bringing this up. Madam Chair. as you have heard before. this is a nightmare. This Chinese drywall is a nightmare. These people cant live in their homes. they cant sell their homes. they cant rent their homes. There are potential health hazards while they are there. This amendment would really provide immediate assistance to a number of homeowners to allow them to repair their homes. Again. Congress has to do everything we can to help these individuals who are stuck in this horrible nightmare situation. This is a very. very good. commonsense amendment. I encourage this Congress to adopt this amendment.
Date: 2009-10-29
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Madam Speaker. on rollcall Nos. 826. 827. 829. 830. and 831. I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present I would have voted "yea" on rollcall No. 826. "aye" on rollcall No. 827. "aye" on rollcall No. 829. "yea" on rollcall No. 830. and "yea" on rollcall No. 831.
Date: 2009-10-29
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. weve all watched latenight television and seen the infomercials that seem too good to be true. Well. thats what we have here on the House floor being presented to us. Yes. we have a health care bill for you that will solve every problem and not cost a dime. And yes. there is only one. so youd better get it right away. Dont have time to examine it. dont have time to look it over. dont have time to turn it over. We dont have time for that because we have to solve your problem right now. And let me tell you. it wont be 2.000 pages long. No. its only 1.990 pages long. But wait. but wait. Youll get something in addition. Youll get the managers amendment. maybe 800 pages long. so that maybe well have something that we have to swallow thats nearly 3.000 pages long. And let me tell you. its not going to cost you $1 trillion. No. no. no. Weve brought it down below that. $999? No. not $999. Weve brought it down now to $894 billion. But wait. But wait. Theres addons. Maybe $250 billion. Maybe $350 billion for the doctors fix. But dont worry about that because that wont cost you anything right now. Well charge you for that later. So remember. only $894 billion. not $1 trillion because we have a deal that you cannot reject. But just remember. Madam Speaker. if this deal lasts longer than 4 hours. you wont be able to call your doctor.
Date: 2009-11-07
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Mr. Speaker. as we are about to deal with this health care bill before Congress. many of us have still attempted to try to improve the bill. I offered three amendments to the Rules Committee last night. and they were rejected. One of them was to say: before we cut $500 billion out of Medicare. maybe we ought to fix it first. There is a great deal of savings that could come from Medicare if we used scientific. evidencebased medicine to help improve chronic care conditions and deal with many other programs. That was rejected. Instead. we will cut the money from Medicare. Another amendment I offered makes sure that if the Senate should move forward with their provision of allowing States to opt out. the States should also be able to opt out of paying the health care taxes. In other words. we should have no taxation without hospitalization. Instead. my fear is that high taxes will remain in the bill to the point where it is going to cost our economy more jobs and cost our small businesses more. There still is much to do in this bill. and it is not yet ready. I still hope there is time in the coming weeks to improve these bills and work on real health care reform.
Date: 2009-11-07
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. if you want to know the ultimate option. open up this bill and look. You are required as an American citizen to buy a health insurance policy that has been okayed and only okayed by the Federal Government. If you dont. you could pay a fine. and if you dont pay that fine. you could go to prison for up to 5 years. Where is the public option? Well. if you are in prison. you are going to get free medical care. I presume that is the ultimate tragedy in this bill. We are changing the relationship of individuals to their government. Now. for the first time in history. as a condition of remaining in the United States. you must purchase something the Federal Government requires you to under the pain of a fine. up to $250.000. and 5 years in prison. What kind of freedom is that? What kind of public option could that possibly be?
Date: 2009-11-07
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Speaker. I rise in opposition to this jobkilling bill thats estimated to cut 5.5 million jobs in America. Its not going to help health care. and the bottom line is Medicare is imperiled as a result of it.
Date: 2009-11-07
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. it is clear that Congress needs to make reforms to expand health care coverage so that everyone in this great Nation has health insurance. The problem with the legislation the majority is bringing to the floor today is that it will seriously and unnecessarily hurt our economy. It will cause severe job losses. and thats most unfortunate. The Republican alternative has some very good aspects. It will expand health care coverage to millions who currently do not have it. and it does not include the fatal flaw in the Democrats billmassive tax increases on small businesses. tax increases and regulations that will kill jobs. The Republican alternative allows small businesses to pool together. allows people to buy insurance across State lines. According to the Congressional Budget Office. it actually brings down the cost of health care premiums. The Democrats bill will raise taxes. according to the CBO by over $700 billion and cut Medicare by approximately $500 billion. It will make much worse our economic situation. increase unemployment. take the country in the wrong direction at a time when unemployment is already over 10 percent. Especially. Mr. Speaker. when you consider that there is a bipartisan consensus in this Nation on the need to increase access to health insurance to those who do not have it today. it is sad that this destructive legislative product is being brought to the floor.
Date: 2009-11-07
Speaker: BONO MACK (republican)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to express my strong opposition to this bill. It is a bill that flies in the face of the Hippocratic oath which both my father and grandfather took as young doctors. which says. "Do no harm." In fact. this bill does a tremendous amount of harm and would inflict an enormous burden on current and future generations of Americans. It would raise insurance premiums. raise taxes. and create huge new government bureaucracies to stand squarely between patients and doctors. This bill does not offer real health care reform. Rather than reduce costs and make health care more affordable and accessible. this bill will increase costs to consumers and put the government in charge of deciding what treatment and care Americans are entitled to. Millions of Americans have resoundingly rejected this shell game masquerading as reform. The very least we can do is listen to the American people and reject this flawed bill.
Date: 2009-11-07
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. today we are voting on Speaker PELOSIS $1 trillion Washington takeover of health care. This bill bulldozes individual liberty and puts the government just where it doesnt belong. right smack dab in the middle of your personal health care decisions. This bill forces every single person in this country to purchase governmentapproved health care or go to jail. Businesses must also offer governmentapproved health care or face hundreds of billions of dollars in jobkilling taxes. Unfortunately. governmentapproved health care will be defined by a handful of bureaucrats around a conference table in Washington. This unprecedented Washington power grab eliminates an individuals right to choose what kind of health care is best for them and their families. Speaker PELOSIs 20pound. 2.000page bill costs $2.2 million per word. The American public have made their voices heard. They are sick and tired of the government sticking its nose where it doesnt belong. They are fed up with Washingtons trilliondollar bailouts. free handouts and special interest paybacks. The Democrats in Congress need to listen and come up with a bipartisan. patient -centered plan. We can do better with a targeted. fiscally responsible approach that makes health insurance more affordable. more accessible. and available. Real health reform protects a patients right to choose their own care. Real health reform gives doctors the freedom to do what is best for their patients. We can do all of this without piling trillions of dollars of debt onto our children and grandchildren. Vote down this deficitballooning. jobkilling. Washington takeover of health care today.
Date: 2009-11-07
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker. the bill before us creates 111 different offices. bureaus. commissions. programs and entitlements. but it only cuts oneMedicare. This bill steals more than $500 billion from our Nations seniors to fund new entitlement programs for the young. the healthy and the wealthy. My colleagues in the majority have boldly decided that cutting $500 billion from Medicare is a good idea. They actually are telling seniors that these cuts will improve Medicare in the future. Well. Grandpa and Grandma might be old. but they are not stupid. You are not going to cut Medicare and tell them that its a good thing. The bottom line is that this bill is not real reform. Congress should be strengthening Medicare. not weakening the program. Just look at how bad the Federal Government has been historically in predicting health care costs. This bill will increase health care costs for all Americans and cut Medicare funding. Americans dont believe that yet another trilliondollar program will cost them nothing. Mr. Speaker. we all hear Speaker PELOSI say that she is a mother and a grandmother. Like Speaker PELOSI. I too am a mother and a grandmother. I can tell you that my constituents believe that this bill is bad for the middle class. bad for parents and grandparents and. even worse. for future generations. I cannot support this bill. I urge my colleagues to reject it as well so that we can work together truly on a bipartisan solution. The Presidents own economic advisors have said that this bill will kill 5.5 million jobs. Americans back home are watching this and saying. What is Congress thinking? Why would they want to further sabotage our economy? This bill clearly is not what America wants. They want an incremental approach. Nobody is defending health care as we know it. We are saying. lets fix whats broken. I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill. It is dangerous for our economy. It is not something that every American needs. wants or can afford at this time.
Date: 2009-11-07
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Betty. a constituent of mine. recently told me that if it werent for Medicare Advantage. she would be dead. You see. Medicare Advantage covers catastrophic costs traditional Medicare does not. The bill before us today seeks to eliminate that coverage for millions of seniors. but you have a chance to make it right here. ladies and gentlemen. The choice on the motion is simple. You can put your seniors first or your trial lawyer contributors. A Member can vote to open up the coffers of the U.S. Treasury to trial lawyers or restore some of the cuts our seniors will suffer under the Pelosi bill and ObamaCare. Remember. this bill creates 111 new bureaucracies and entitlements. but the only one it cuts. ladies and gentlemen. the only one it cuts is Medicare. Its always been my position that any money cut from Medicare should be used to save Medicare. not to bail out the trial attorneys. Democrats have denied seniors the protection they promised. They cut Medicare to create new benefits for the young. healthy. and the wealthy. We know where the Democrat leadership stands on this issue. The Speaker put her trial lawyer cash cows ahead of our seniors. AARP put their profits ahead of our seniors. With this motion. you have a chance to restore some of our cuts. No excuses about this amendment killing the bill can be made. No word games can get you out of this. This has to be a vote for the seniors of America. Please remember your constituents will be watching.
Date: 2009-11-18
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. can anything top this last weeks lesson in absurdity and perversity? Im talking about the administrations decision to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three other terrorist suspects from Guantanamo to New York. Absurd. because they have been charged before military tribunals. where they ought to be. Absurd. because it serves no purpose to bring them to the site of their worst action. just a stones throw from Ground Zero. Perverse. because now. if you kill Americans on the battlefield. you will see justice done when you are captured by a military tribunal. But if instead of being a soldier on the battlefield. you attack Americans in their own home. you attack innocent Americans. you will now be privileged to get constitutional rights. The worse the terrorist. the greater the constitutional rights given to them. What a perverse action by this administration.
Date: 2009-11-18
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to honor a leader in my community. MiamiDade County Police Department Director Bobby Parker. After serving honorably in the Army. Director Parker joined the MiamiDade Police Department in 1976 and worked his way up the ranks. culminating in his promotion to director in April. 2004. The MiamiDade Police Department is the eighthlargest in the Nation. with over 4.700 personnel. serving almost 2.5 million residents and countless visitors to our community. Under Director Parkers leadership. the department has been at the forefront of effective law enforcement. and hes implemented numerous programs that have had a major effect in ensuring the safety and quality of life of our citizens. Director Parker retired from the department earlier this month. His leadership and vision will be sorely missed. but his standard of excellence will surely carry on. On behalf of a grateful community. I wish to thank Director Parker for his outstanding service and wish him well in his future endeavors. May you long enjoy your retirement with family and friends. Director Bobby Parker.
Date: 2009-11-18
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Mr. Speaker. on rollcall Nos. 896. 897. and 898 I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present I would have voted "nay" on rollcall No. 896. "nay" on rollcall No. 897. and "nay" on rollcall No. 898.
Date: 2009-12-08
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. yesterday was a historic day. It will be a day which lives in economic infamy. The EPA administrator yesterday unsheathed the dagger at the heart of our economy when she announced an endangerment finding. Yes. CO2 is now a pollutant. That means everyone in this Chamber. anyone who out there might be hearing us. you are now polluters. With every breath you take you emit CO2. This was never. ever. conceived by Congress when it passed the Clean Air Act. We now have a situation in which administrators are going to effectively control the entire economy and the way in which we live and the way in which we breathe. This is not the idea of freedom. This is. in fact. not an endangerment finding about clean air. This is an endangerment finding about our freedom. Our freedom took a vicious blow yesterday. and we. as representatives of our people. must act.
Date: 2009-12-08
Speaker: BONO MACK (republican)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 2134. the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission Act of 2009. Tackling substance abuse among all age groups will take a domestic and international effort that continually evolves to meet the challenge. The U.S. Governments approach to reducing the supply of and demand for drugs in the Western Hemisphere is a crucial place to start. This is the primary reason I strongly support this legislation. The challenge is one that not only affects so many families across our country. but also everything from our law enforcement efforts to scientific research. and diplomatic priorities. The need to act on all frontsprevention. treatment. research. and law enforcementis crucial. Theres no silver bullet. In particular. I have serious concerns with the trends we are seeing among our youth toward prescription drug abuse. Drugs like OxyContin are being abused across our country. with 2.500 kids a day using a prescription drug to get high for the first time. Just because its sifting in the medicine cabinet doesnt mean it is safe. and these drugs are often used as a gateway to street drugs. The Commission created in the legislation is necessary. as it will allow us to better find the solutions to reducing the numbers of those using these dangerous substances. which are staggering within our own borders. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. in 2008. over 20 million Americans aged 12 or older were current illicit drug users. I hope to continue to work with the Foreign Affairs Committee as well as the Energy and Commerce Committee to create a foundation for a domestic and international drug policy that balances maintaining our vital law enforcement efforts with an augmented demandside effort toward reducing substance abuse and addiction. Finally. I appreciated the time I was able to take with the Chairman and Ranking Member along with other dignitaries to raise this issue at the Summit of the Americas. Well only make progress if we are serious about an international coordinated effort.
Date: 2009-12-08
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. the point of this bill is simple. Social Security and supplemental security income benefits should not be paid to prisoners. probation. or parole violators or fugitive felons. That is why I joined the Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee with JOHN TANNER. who is great about looking into these things. and we cosponsored this bill. And I ask all of my colleagues to support it. This stopgap measure addresses a glitch in the current law discovered when Social Security began to implement a nationwide classaction settlement agreement reached in September in the case of Martinez v. Astrue. That agreement reduced the number and type of felony arrest warrants used to prohibit benefit payments. resulting in retroactive payments to certain recipients. In the first phase of settlement implementation. notices will be issued beginning this week to 28.000 individuals. Of these. Social Security recently identified 150 as prisoners. Current law already prohibits prisoners. fugitive felons. and probation/ parole violators from receiving benefits. The same law should apply to retroactive benefits as well but right now it doesnt. That is why we need to pass this bill. If we dont. prisoners eligible for payments from before they were in jail may soon receive a lump sum retroactive check. some covering back benefits over 3 or 4 years. Thanks in large part to the work of my Ways and Means colleague. WALLY HERGER. those with outstanding felony arrest warrants. known as fugitive felons. have not been able to receive supplemental security income. Social Security. or Social Security disability benefits. According to the Office of the Inspector General. their datasharing efforts with local. State. and Federal law enforcement agencies contributed to over 83.000 arrests since the programs inception in 1996. While wellintentioned. the Martinez settlement nevertheless requires Social Security to pay benefits that had been suspended. And as a result. taxpayers are now on the hook for millions of dollars. We can and we must do better. I look forward to working with Chairman TANNER to right this wrong and draft legislation to suspend payments for those fugitives wanted for the most heinous crimes while permitting lenience in cases where good cause exemptions make sense. I reserve the balance of my time.
Date: 2009-12-08
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

At this time. Id like to recognize and yield to the gentleman from California . a member of the Ways and Means Committee and one of our staunch allies. as much time as he may consume.