macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-06-11
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Let me add to that. That is a great base to be moving from that what they do there does need to be these basic rights outlined. because we have a system that stands with huge barriers between doctor and patient and much of that barrier is the government. The government through Medicare and Medicaid. for example. handles cost controls by delaying care. by denying care and by denying or diminishing payment. So physicians and hospitals that are paid. for example. 30 or 40 percent less for Medicare services. or saying you are not allowed to do these other tests. we are not going to pay for it. end up promoting a situation that is more based on quantity than quality. and that actually increases many costs and increases the chances for fraud and abuse. In Pennsylvania. there was news in the paper of just millions of dollars again of abuse in this system. What is so important is if you have the patient and the doctor in charge of their care. you incentivize quality. you make sure the doctor has timely information through electronic medical records. et cetera. Those are important things which we are not doing yet as part of this. But then you look -at other clinics. you look at a Mayo Clinic. you look at the Geisinger Plan. you look at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. ones that have really focused on. We are going to change the quality and delivery of care and focus on outcomeyou actually see those costs go down. That is part of the focus we need to have. With that. I yield back to my colleague.
Date: 2009-06-11
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

As that goes. when we look at the government running a plan that costs $1 trillion. thats several hundred billion more than the Pentagon. And Im not sure that people would say the Pentagon. for all the pride we have of all our soldiers. our sailors. our airmen and marines. I doubt that people would say thats the model of economic efficiency. Would they say that Social Security run by the Federal Government is the best investment system? Would theyI mean. pick a system that the Federal Government runs. and its hardly seen as the best. We know we have a lot of dedicated employees there. but oftentimes they are saddled and handcuffed by regulations. We have a system that is still. after all these years. Medicaid. that has been around since the 1960s. so fraught with inefficiency that it invites waste. fraud and abuse. It has not been revamped. An article that appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine a couple of weeks ago by Victor R. Fuchs was saying weve got to fix this system first. otherwiseand I go back to this article from the New Yorker. It says this: Providing health care is like building a house. The task requires experts. expensive equipment and materials. and a huge amount of coordination. Imagine that. instead of paying a contractor to pull a team together and keep them on track. you paid an electrician for every outlet he recommends. a plumber for every faucet and a carpenter for every cabinet. Would you be surprised if you got a house with 1.000 outlets. faucets and cabinets at three times the cost you expected. and the whole thing fell apart a couple of years later? Thats where we. are with our health care system. It must be focused on quality and on outcome. And I worry that if we have a governmentrun system and this bureaucracy created. its going to. be a matter between you and your doctor and this Congress. To get anything done. its going to take an act of Congress or bureaucracy. Thats going to be such a huge cost on top thatall the peoplewill say. well. its going to be less involved with regard to administrative cost. I dont see how that is possible. given the track record we have.
Date: 2009-06-11
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

As this goes. I mean. I believe the government does have a role in terms of providing regulations. standards of clinical excellence. and pushing companies toward this constantly.. Provide the oversight that says. if youre going to be spending the taxpayers money on Medicaid. Medicare and the VA. we want to see quality measures. So. if the Federal Governments going to put up money for electronic medical records. to say we need to see you driving constantly towards interoperability. towards intelligence systems. towards integrated systems. towards ones that are highly interactive with the physician. If the Federal Government can play a role in pushing people towards higher quality. I worry if the Federal Government is the prime owner of this. will the Federal Government. itself. push things towards that. and thats were I have trouble reckoning that.
Date: 2009-06-11
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

When I look at this. I want Americans and all of us to imagine a system thats based upon cures and based upon outcome. a system where doctors are in charge of your health care. not insurance companies. not the government. And I know that both sides of the aisle are deeply concerned about this. It is not that one side or the other wants insurance companies or the government to win. We all want patients to win. Democrats and Republicans alike. But we must have a system thats focused upon this. not that creates incentives because were paying people so low to do more and more tests. not to promote more and more medical procedures. but to really focus on this outcome. We can do this through these things" were doing. the patient and doctor in charge. Dont create more barriers. Make sure we have all the efficiency there for quality. We can do those things. Imagine what can happen. Imagine the possibilities. And lets just not throw it out and say its too difficult. let the government run it. With that. I yield back to my colleague. Congressman DENT. �
Date: 2009-06-12
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say may be used against you. You have the right to an attorney." Those are things that are said when arresting officers make an arrest in the United States. But now we understand that under the Obama administration. we now have something known as the concept of global justice in which we are now giving Miranda warnings to those that we have found on the battlefield whose only connection to the United States is that they .wish to kill Americans. Isnt that nonsensical? What are we going to do now? Are we going to train our enlisted men and women in -the Armed Forces that when theyre on the battlefield. instead of shooting. they should pull out their card with the Miranda warnings to make sure that if the person theyre encountering is captured. they have to give them those rights? How about preserving the crime scene? This is nonsense.
Date: 2009-06-16
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 403. the Homes For Heroes Act of For ourNations veterans. the fight does not end when they return from battle. Readjusting to civilian life and coping with the physical and psychological effects of war can be a daunting task. Current reports estimate that about 154.000 veterans are homeless on any given night. This statistic is a tragedy. However. Congress is now taking a step in the right direction. The Homes For Heroes Act creates a Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs within HUD. provides at least 20.000 lowincome -veterans with rental vouchers. and aid veterans in applying for and obtaining assistance. Additionally. Im proud that this bill includes help for veterans with mental health disorders and assists lowincome veterans and their families with personal and financial planning. obtaining veterans benefits. and vocational training. As a former member of the Committee on Veterans Affairs. I am aware of the many unique issues that our veterans face. The Homes For Heroes Act will supply our veterans with the toolsthat they need to reintegrate into society. and I thank Representative Green for introducing this bill.
Date: 2009-06-16
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank my friend. the gentleman from New York . for the time and yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in opposition to this unorthodox rule brought forth by the majority. It continues the precedent the majority set last year when they decided to no longer allow the House to consider appropriations rules with open rules and instead use a restrictive rule that requires Members to preprint any proposed amendments in the CONGRES-
Date: 2009-06-16
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I want to thank my friend Mr. ARCURI for his courtesy and all who have participated in the debate on the rule for bringing this appropriations bill to the floor. Mr. Speaker. I will be asking for a "no" vote on the previous question so that we can amend this rule and allow Members who have preprinted their amendments. as specified in the rule. to make germane modifications to their amendments. As I mentioned in my opening remarks.-this restrictive rule we are considering today will notallow Members from amending their own amendments. even if they are simply trying to correct a minor drafting error or make changes to the amendment to comply with the rules of the House. One of the reasons we have so many amendments filed is because Members have filed duplicative amendments to avoid the possibility of errors such as this. In order to make sure an amendment complies with the rules of the House. Members must consult with -four different offices: the Office of the Legislative Counsel. the Parliamentarian. the Congressional Budget Office. and the Budget Committee. If any of those offices find an issue with an amendment. then the Member has to make changes to the amendment. This becomes particularly difficult when Members are only given an average of 2 legislative days to draft their amendments and consult all the- relevant offices and make changes and then consult with the offices again. Given this sc6nario. it is quite plausible that a Membet didnt have enough time and included a minor drafting error and that. for example. is not caught until it is too late. We saw it last year with an amendment by Mr. BUYER on the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill. So as to not have a repeat of that unfortunate incident. I propose to change the rule to allow Members to make germane changes to their amendments. I remind Members that by voting "no" on the previous question. Members will not be voting to kill or to delay the underlying Commerce. Jus-" tice. Science Appropriations bill. I encourage all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote "no" on the previous question so.that Members will be given the opportunity to make changes to their amendments if necessary. Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment and extraneous materials immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.
Date: 2009-06-17
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

I rise" today to congratulate my friend Rolando Ochoa. vice president and branch manager of the Sunny Isles branch of BankUnited. upon earning a Doctor of Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University in South Florida. As part of the program. Dr. Ochoa completed a grueling program of at least 68 credit hours in difficult disciplines. Although already greatly respected for his career in the banking industry. Rolando Ochoa has continued to deepen his knowledge of business and the banking industry. His admirable pursuit of excellence in his field will be of great assistance to our South Florida community. On Saturday. Dr. Ochoa will graduate from Nova Southeastern. having been granted his doctorate. It is my privilege and honor to congratulate you. Dr. Rolando Ochoa. on this great achievement. I know that your dedication to excellence will continue to serve our community well. 01345
Date: 2009-06-17
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Madam Speaker. Id like to thank my friend. the distinguished gentlewoman from New York for the time. And I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker. I sincerely believe the majority will come to regret this decision to close down the deliberative process of the House on appropriations bills. Yesterday. the House passed an already unorthodox rule that broke the precedent. It was restrictive. And pursuant to that rule. 127 amendments were filed by Members of this House. After debate on the first Republican amendment. the first one. the majority decided to halt consideration of the legislation. and called an emergency meeting of the Rules Committee. which began at 10:45 p.m. last night. In response to that first Republican amendment. the majority is now bringing forth this rule that will block consideration of most of the amendments that were made in order under the previous rule proposed by the majority and passed by this House. So all those Members who followed the rule previously passed and filed their amendments by the deadline will be left without the chance to represent the interests of their constituents. I think this rule is unjust. I think its unnecessary. I think the majoritys making a big mistake. During yesterdays latenight meeting. the distinguished chairman of the Appropriations Committee cited the large number of amendments that were preprinted pursuant to the previous rule as a reason for shutting down the appropriations process. He went on to cite what he considers to be his obligation to move the appropriations bills on schedule. As a matter of fact. he was kind enough to hand out to the members of the Rules Committee this copy of a proposed schedule. I understand his concern. But the reason. precisely. for the high number of amendments that were filed yesterday was because the majority had abandoned the use of the traditional open appropriations rule. and they had required Members to preprint their amendments. and that forced Members to submit all of the amendments that they conceivably thought they might wish to introduce. to consider. rather. even if they eventually did not plan to offer them. Under the previous rule. Members were also barred from making germane amendments to their amendments. changes to their amendments. so Members submitted duplicative amendments to cover all possible angles. Members have an obligation to their constituents -to represent them on appropriations bills and to represent the interests of their communities. Now. yes. even though over 120 amendments were set for debate. the reality. Madam Speaker. is that we never would have considered all of those amendments. Members were hedging their bets. They were submitting duplicative amendments that. in most instances. they didnt plan to actually offer for debate.
Date: 2009-06-17
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. at this time I yield 1 minute to the distinguished Republican leader. Mr. BOEHNER. I Mr. BOEHNER. Let me thank my. colleague for yielding and remind my colleagues that the Constitution provides that the Congress of the United States shall determine spending. The Constitution of the United States also empowers our citizens to send their elected representative to Washington to represent them. and collectively we represent the American people. If you think about where weve been this year. we had the nearly trillion dollar stimulus plan. when you look at the interest thats going to be paid on it. We had the over $400 billion omnibus appropriation bill that had 9.000 earmarks in it. We had a budget that came through here that has trillion dollar deficits for as far as the eye can see. We bailed out Wall Street. Weve bailed out the auto companies. And were spending money and racking up debt at record levels. So here we are. We are starting the annual appropriations process. 12 appropriation bills that will spend nearly $1.5 trillion that we do not have. $1.5 trillion that weie going to have to go borrow from the American people and further imprison our kids and grandkids. And you would think that as we are debating the spending of this $1.5 t illion that the majority would do as it has done for most of our history and allow foran open debate. allow for a process that protects the franchise of each Member of this body. But. no. we couldnt do that. There were conversations over the last couple of weeks about how to limit this process. and I made it clear to the majority leader and to the chairman of the Appropriations Committee that I wasnt going to agree to limit the ability of Members to participate in this process as we try to control spending in this body. I made it very clear to
Date: 2009-06-17
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Again. I ask for a "no. vote on the previous question so that we can uphold the tradition of openness on appropriations bills and fairness. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2009-06-18
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Mr. Speaker. think if the government runs all health care it will be easy for your doctor to make. decisions to get you the right care at the best price? Well. Congress doesnt think so. In the 110th Congress. 452 separate .bills were introduced to fix problems of Medicaid and Medicare. What if your doctor prescribes home care rather than send you to a nursing -home at three times the cost? It takes an act of Congress to change the rules. Screening for glaucoma? Well. it depends on who you are. Otherwise. ask Congress to change the law. Maybe you have multiple sclerosis that prevents you from working and you cannot afford the medication. You have to wait 2 years to qualify for help. unless Congress changes the law. When less than one in four Americans think Congress is doing a great job. should Congress really be in charge of your health insurance? Lets fix the problems. Focus on value not volume. quality not quantity. and stop wasting hundreds of billions of health care dollars. There should be no bureaucracy between you and your doctor. Reform. yes. Oversight. yes. Accountability. transparelcy. absolutely. But becoming an insurance company. lets think about it.
Date: 2009-06-19
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

The Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. the socalled "supreme leader." is the ruthless dictator of Iran. Ahmadinejad is his puppet. In this farcical election. Khamenei overstepped blatantly. The others in the dictatorship who aspired to the puppet presidencyare upset.- � The. i anian lpeople ae. utilitinh this m tyi ) of division inthe dictit6rship to heroically express their opposition to the dictatorship. The issue is not one of who is entitled to be the puppet president in the Iranian dictatorship. The issue is the Iranian -people are entitled to an end of the dictatorship and to live in selfdetermination and freedom and democracy. The President of the United States has been silent and confused. The Congress of the United States clearly stands with the Iranian people. and they will prevail.
Date: 2009-06-19
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Mr. Speaker. on rolicall Nos. 416. 417. and 418. I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present. I would have voted "aye."
Date: 2009-06-24
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Chair. some may wonder why someone from California would be here supporting an amendment that appears to be directed towards assisting the other side of the country. It is because of the success of the program to this point. That is. this is not only for the City of New York. but it is for that entire region. and I believe it has shown how it can be replicated in other parts of the country. Also. the greatest concert I have of an attack by terrorists who wish to -do us ill would be a nuclear attack of some sort in one of our major metropolitan areas. The interdiction capabilities of this program could prevent a bomb from entering New York or from leaving the city to head to other parts of the region or Nation. And its lessons. I think. - can help other cities around the country. where similar initiatives could be implemented. And importantly. and this was used .as a point of criticism I believe by the chairman. this amendment would provide $10 million for the procurement of radiation portal monitors. not just in the New York area. but from around the country. It seems to me that because of the success of this program. "because of its opportunity for duplication and replication in other parts of the country. this is a worthy amendment. I believe that these initiatives are designed to save lives. They are. in fact. not just regional but national in scope and deserve national support. Radiation detection cannot be taken lightly. We must ensure that the federal commitment to a dedicated funding stream is there. So I would urge support of this amendment in restoring funding to the Securing Our Cities project. a critical national initiative and one of a kind.
Date: 2009-06-24
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. it is my privilege to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished Republican whip. the gentleman from Virginia .
Date: 2009-06-24
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I simply wanted to point out to my friend that despite the fact that we support the committee having maintained the production line for the F22. we made a motion in committee for an open rule that would have permitted the gentlemans amendment.
Date: 2009-06-24
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

I thank the gentleman for his debate. Despite the fact that were in disagreement on this issue. he is a great parliamentarian and its an honor to serve with him. At this time. I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Washington .
Date: 2009-06-24
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H

of. Florida. I thank my friend from Maine and I thank you. Mr. Speaker. for your courtesy. and I want to thank all who have come to participate in this debate. This legislation enjoys extraordinarily wide bipartisan support. Its unfortunate .that the rule that. brings it to the floor is not fai?. As I pointed out. it makes about twothirds of the- amendments that were introduced to the Rules Committee from the majority party in order and only about onethird of the amendments presented or introduced. proposed. for debate by * Members of the minority party. Thats -not fair. And it maintains a pattern that obviously we have seen deepened. augmented signifibantly in a very worisome way in the appropriations process. where for the first time all of the appropriations bills are being brought to the floor under restrictive rules. We have had significant debate. but thats something that isalso unfair and unfortunate. and it diminishes the rights of each of the Members of this House. So I do think its important we get t9 debate oh legislation. in this case. this authorization of the Armed Forces legislation %hat enjoys- such widespread bipartisan support. So once again. opposing the rule and opposing the previous question. I yield backthe balance. of my time.