macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-03-13
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Madam Speaker. this week. the House Budget Committee chair. PAUL RYAN. laid out his budget plan. Sadly. its just more of the same. Like a bad record. this years Republican proposal is virtually the same document as the one he proposed last spring. It harms the middle class. It harms lowincome Americans. and it is especially bad for women and families. Now they have framed this budget and called it a prosperity one. a prosperity plan. But this budget should be called "the road to austerity." because it is a plan that is most noteworthy for the rather harsh austerity it demands of the many and the lavish benefits it extends to the few. It clearly envisions a rising tide of selective tax cuts that would lift all yachts but leave many dinghies behind. Our Republican friends like to talk about making the hard choices. What they propose here would indeed make things much harder for millions of Americans. but it will also make things much easier for a fortunate few. Thats their plan. Now. specifically under this plan. he has this new goal of balancing the budget in 10 years. To accomplish this. he slashes funding safety net programs that serve seniors. students. children. lowincome families. and women. The budget slashes food stamps and cuts funding for infrastructure investments like highspeed rail. Were falling way behind the rest of the world. We need to invest in our infrastructure to stay competitive. And it does nothing for job creation or to help the unemployed. The Ryan plan replaces Medicare. and really ends Medicare as we know it by replacing it with a voucher system and replaces Medicaid by making it a block grant to the States. These cuts hurt tens of millions of Americans who count on these programs for their health care coverage. But not to just rely on what Im saying. to quote The Washington Post: The 10year spending plan released Tuesday by Representative Ryan is virtually identical to last years GOP budget. It would defund President Obarnas health care initiative and guaranteed Medicare coverage for future retirees and sharply restrain spending on the poor. college students and Federal workers. Now. what I find very hypocritical about this budget is that they say that they are going to repeal ObamaCare. or the Affordable Care Act. yet this bill passed this Congress. It was upheld by the Supreme Court. We had an election where this was the issue that people ran on. and President Obama was reelected. strongly. So they keep flipflopping on this issue. They say they want to abolish ObamaCare. but then they rely on the savings of over $700 million in that program. So when Congressman RYAN was Vice Presidential candidate Ryan. he campaigned against the health care provider cuts of $716 million. the same ones he wants to keep in this budget. The Republicans opposed these cuts when they were part of the Affordable Care Act. then they passed two budgets that included these cuts. And then Congressman RYAN and Presidential candidate Romney campaigned against the cuts in the 2012 election. And now
Date: 2013-03-13
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

I thank you for joining us tonight to share how this impacts on Nevada. an important State that youre representing. And I just want to express my gratitude that you have come back to Congress and that youre a part of our caucus. Another outstanding woman in our caucus is CAROL SHEAPORTER from the great State of New Hampshire. And it is a State thats really unusual now in that all of its elected officials are women: the Governor. the legislature. the State and the assembly. Were so pleased that their Congresswoman is here today. and I know she has a special message from the great State of New Hampshire.
Date: 2013-03-13
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

I want to thank the gentleman for his insight on how this budget is affecting his constituents. and to hear from him that women and men may have an almost perfect score in college and have to leave because they cant afford it. their Pell Grants have been cutits just unconscionable that the wealthiest country in the world is not there to invest in the next generation. in the next leaders. the next teachers and engineers that our country needs. Its not just education. Its not just housing. Were talking about food on the table. Once again. as they did last year. House Republicans are proposing to slash the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. This is commonly called the "food stamps." For people who dont have enough money for their food. this helps them. but they are calling for taking the food stamps and turning it into a block grant. Now. we who have worked in city. State. and Federal Governments know that "block grant" is another way of saying cutpermanently cutand. in some cases. sliding it out of existence. SNAP currently helps. roughly. 47 million lowincome Americans afford the food they put on the tables every day. and during these past few years of the Great Recession. SNAP has been a lifeline to those in need. making sure that in the wealthiest country in the world American families dont have to go hungry. People who apply for food stamps need food. Now women make up. roughly. 60 percent of SNAPs adult beneficiaries. and more than half of SNAP households with children are headed by a single adult. the vast majority of whomover 90 percentare women. That means that single moms on SNAP are already struggling to make ends meet and to take care of their kids. They will be losing these benefits because the Ryan Republican budget refuses to close the $1.1 trillion in tax loopholes. Now. I for one say lets close those tax loopholes and keep the food on the tables of Americas families who need it. I find that outrageous. I am really thrilled that a new Member of Congress. Lois FRANKELa woman with a great record of distinction in the State of Floridahas joined us. I want to thank her for coming and providing the perspective of her State. When its cold. I know all my constituents want to be in Florida. but Im pleased that she is here with us now. Thank you for being here.
Date: 2013-03-13
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

No one. No one. She is going to have to quit her job and stay home and take care of Barbara.
Date: 2013-03-13
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Thank you for putting a human face on what its meaning for people who are coming to your office for help. But also what has to be part of this equation is that the economy is still very fragile. and you cant cut your way to prosperity. These deep cuts could put the economy in a tailspin. Chairman Bernanke. the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. has testified that we need a balanced approach. that we shouldnt slash so severely. Many economists say that the American economy is doing better than Europe because we are not cutting as deeply as Europe is. so giving the economy a chance to recover. So to go in with these draconian cuts. not only does it hurt people. such as with the stories youre telling us. but it could hurt the recovery. the overall economy that for the past 35 months has been growing private sector jobs and digging ourselves out of that deep recession. so it could possibly throw us back into it. Youve raised an important point. and I yield back to you.
Date: 2013-03-13
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Well. I think you pointed out that this budget is not only draconian and unfair. it is filled with contradictions. Why in the world would you let these tax breaks continue for big oil companies that are making a profit. and were subsidizing some of them to the tune of 40 percent. yet youre going to take the future of our young kids and throw them off. It is a total. total contradiction. and its completely wrong. I want to point out the biggest contradiction in this budget. It repeals the Affordable Care Act. but keeps the laws budget savings and uses it to balance their budget. So they say in the budget theyre going to repeal the Affordable Care Act. How are they going to repeal it? It passed the Congress. it is the law of this country. It was upheld by the Supreme Court. We had an election where this was a central point of debate. and. guess what. President Obama won the election. and he ran on the Affordable Care Act. So they say that theyre going to repeal it. They dont have the votes to repeal it. And even if they did. hed veto it. Theres no way they can repeal it. so it is a completereally a hoax. Its a hoax. Then they claim to protect Medicare while ending Medicare as we know it for future seniors and our children and our grandchildren. And the biggest hoax. they sit there and say they are going to repeal the Affordable Care Act. and then they take the savings from the Affordable Care Act. the $718 billion that was put there from the providers. and they use that to balance their budget. So the numbers do not add up.
Date: 2013-03-13
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

The gentlelady is correct. Theyre shifting the burden onto the middle class. the elderly. and the poor. Again. President Obamas budget contains $1.3 trillion in spending. and in that budget is $1.1 trillion in tax breaks. So where are the priorities of this country? Close the tax breaks. keep the food on the table. or close the tax breaks and reduce the deficit. I think theyre not sincere about wanting to reduce the deficit and the debt because if they were. they would take those tax loopholes and close them. Some are important such as the deduction for a familys home. That allows many middle class and moderate middle class Americans to own their own home. They are able to deduct that. But there are all these other deductions that make no sense. Why in the world are we giving a subsidy to companies that move jobs overseas? Its crazy. If anything. the subsidy should be for companies in America making it in America. creating jobs in America. and paying their taxes. their Social Security. and their Medicare in America. So this whole budget is an exercise in contradictions and its an exercise in. really. lack of good judgment or values. and I hope that we are able to defeat it. I hope that the Democratic plan will be the one that is finally the one that passes. This is just the same old same old from the last 2 years: slash the safety net and protect tax breaks. The Ryan approach just isnt a balanced or. I would say. fair or valued approach.
Date: 2013-03-13
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

I want to thank you. Congresswoman. and you raised some important points. And one that was not raised. that is the illnesses that we do not have cures for in this country. And one of the things that Americas always led the world in is scientific research. yet this budget cuts that research. It cuts the National Institutes of Health that could come up with the cures for the diseases that she mentioned. America is a place of innovation and medical advancements. and Congress should be focused on keeping that status. that we dont want to lose our leadership in innovation. To give one example. breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among women. One in seven women will come down with breast cancer. and it is one of the leading causes of death among women of all races in America. In 2009. over 210.000 women in the United States were diagnosed with breast cancer. and over 40.000 women died from the disease. Over the past 5 years. the National Institutes of Health spent more than $3 billion on breast cancer research. which dwarfs any amount we see in the private sector or nonprofit sector. And yet. in the Ryan budget. the NIH would be cut and slashed by billions and billions of dollars. yet these dollars are the hope for saving lives. Theyre the hope for finding cures. And we know that health research has paid off. Another important area is Alzheimers. The number of women and men that contract Alzheimers is huge and growing. and this cut will be cutting the research that we have in Alzheimers and other lifesaving efforts to prevent Alzheimers. Parkinsons. and other diseases. So weve been making a lot of progress in health research and innovative research. and all of that research is really at risk under the Ryan Republican budget. I am very pleased that one of my colleagues from the great State of Texas. SHEILA JACKSON LEE. who is a strong advocate for women. children. and families. has joined us. Thank you so much for being here tonight. I yield the gentlelady as much time as she may consume.
Date: 2013-03-13
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

I want to point out and make sure that our colleagues and the listening public know that the Ryan plan assumes the $85 billion in sequester cuts. So these cuts are on top of that. And according to the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office. the sequester could cause the U.S. economy to lose 750.000 jobs. And the Ryan plan compounds these job losses. The Economic Policy Institute has initial estimates that the House Republican budget would cost 2 million jobs in 2014 alone. relative to current policy. So why in the world would we want to take these steps that are going to result in job loss? I yield back to the lady.
Date: 2013-03-13
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentlelady for that astute assessment. When I give these various points. women are disproportionately placed. Many of them are heads of households. many of them are senior women. Many are going back into the workforce because they have resource shortages. if you will. And the Ryan budget takes in all of these. i.e.. the $85 billion in sequester cuts. By the way. again. I introduced legislation to eliminate the sequester provision out of the Budget Reconciliation Act. I happen to think that it is meritorious because we need to start from a fair point of view. not what I call nickel and diming. ending peoples research. closing doors in the Capitol. and a number of other things that are not good for America. But let me just finish on this. If were interested in R&D. as we indicated. or clean energyslashed. Obviously. it will have an impact on the quality of life of families who are raising their children. What about nutrition assistance. the SNAP program? What an obliterating cut to the SNAP program. which is now serving 48 million people. Let me remind my colleagues that these are military persons. women who are in the military. These are young families. These are individuals who are in school. And so women are disproportionately impacted. And this. I think. is clearly one of the largest conflicts of reason. and that is to underfund or take away the funding for the Affordable Care Act. which has been reaffirmed by the United States Supreme Court and has been documented as having a health care savings and providing for a healthier America. And here we are taking away coverage from 27 million Americans.
Date: 2013-03-13
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

They take away the good aspects of it. all the preventive and the health care. They propose to eliminate that. but then they keep the tax savings from it to balance their budget. It is a hoax. Its not realistic. Its not true. And I really appreciate your words here today on the floor.
Date: 2013-03-13
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

They take all the good things that. might I say. the Democrats have worked on and can really be defined as balanced and fair and utilize it in a budget that is absolutely lopsided. And I thank you for having us on the floor to explain to the women of America why this budget will not be good for them. their children. or their expanded families. and that were committed to standing against this kind of approach that is really not the American way.
Date: 2013-03-13
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

I thank the gentlelady. In conclusion. Americans cant afford more fuzzy math and budget gimmicks. We need real solutions that help grow our economy. create jobs. support the health and economic security of our seniors. and one that will address the arbitrary sequester cuts. Chairman RYANs budget fails to address any of these. Our Republican friends like to talk about making the hard choices. What they propose here would indeed make things much harder for millions of Americans. but it will also make things much easier for a fortunate few. Thats their plan. The reality is that the majoritys Ryan budget harms those who need help and doles out tax breaks and benefits to those who do not. So let me be as clear as I possibly can: the Ryan budget. if it were passed by the House. would risk our recovery. I want to thank all the participants tonight. I thank the likeminded men who came to the floor to support us and the women that have spoken out tonight on how the budget affects women. children. and their expanded families. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2013-03-13
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Thank you so much for organizing this. I want to thank my dear friend and colleague. MIKE THOMPSON. not only for his leadership here on the floor. but the great work that he has done as the leader of the House Democratic Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. One of the things that he underscores at all of our hearings and meetings is that he is himself a gun owner. He enjoys hunting. he enjoys having a gun for protection. he enjoys it for target shooting. But he also understands that certain guns are not for hunting. theyre just for killing people. such as assault weapons. and that there are loopholes in our laws. I regret to inform you tonight that there has been another mass murder in New York yesterday. where a gunman shot down four law enforcement in upstate New York. Now. if we dont make changes. we can only expect more of the same. It was only 10 days after the tragic killing of 20 young innocent children in Connecticut that the tragedy happened in upstate New York. Now. the straw purchaser that bought the gunsthe rifle and the assault weaponfor the felon that murdered two police officers and firemen. I doubt that that neighbor would have bought those guns for him if the law had been on the books that straw purchasers could be looking at 20 years for knowingly buying guns and giving them to a criminal or a person who could not legally have that gun. Now. this bill has been endorsed by 30 different law enforcement organizations. Law enforcement is asking us to give them the tools to get illegal guns out of the hands of criminals. This bill that I authored grew out of a hearing we were having on violence on the border of Mexico. The agents testified that guns were being shipped into Mexico that were then used to kill our border agents. So I asked the question: Why dont we just stop the guns? At that point. the agents testified that they dont even bother to bring charges against straw purchasers because the laws are so weak. They call them a "slap on the wrist." a paper violation. that you wouldnt be punished at all. So what were trying to do with this bill is to make trafficking in guns to felons. to drug cartels. to gang leaders a crimeits unbelievable that its not a crime nowand to increase the penalties for the straw purchasers. I think its reasonable. its common sense. and. fundamentally. it will save lives in our country. It was introduced with Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. MEEHAN and Mr. RIGELL. Mr. RIGELL is a member of the NRA. Also. I think that Mr. MEEHAN was also a former leader in law enforcement. so he had really literally understood the need of it. At our hearing yesterdayand at the hearings weve had in the Government Reform and Oversight Committeelaw enforcement is basically begging us. absolutely begging us to give them the tools to better protect Americans. I hope that we will listen to our chairmans plea. MIKE THOMPSONs plea. that at least on this we can come together and forge a bipartisan effort to pass these two important bills. So I thank the gentleman for his leadership.
Date: 2013-03-15
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas . the ranking member on a subcommittee of the Education and the Workforce Committee.
Date: 2013-03-15
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I yield myself 30 seconds. In closing. I think whats clear from the speakers on the Democratic side who spoke this morning is that it was really quite possible to have a bipartisan bill come to the floor of the House out of our committee. We offered to enter into MembertoMember negotiations. That offer was not taken up. This bill was introduced 1 week in a hearing and reported the next. And the fact of the matter is I think theres a great desire on both sides of the aisle to make this a wellrun. wellfunctioning program for the people who need it so they can get back into the workforce in the American economy. But. unfortunately. that didnt happen. and were now left with a partisan bill. much like we were last year. I think. unfortunately. its going to make it very difficult to get a good jobtraining bill to the Presidents desk for his signature. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2013-03-15
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Chair. I rise today in opposition to H.R. 803. the Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act. H.R. 803 is a poor alternative to the critical reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). and would ultimately limit access to employment resources and occupational training for the most vulnerable segments of the population. Numerous organizations. as well as Members of Congress. have come out in overwhelming opposition to H.R. 803 for its unsystematic approach to consolidate government programs and reduce costs. This legislation would collapse 35 federal job training programs and convert these targeted programs into a single indiscriminate fund administered through the states. H.R. 803 works counter to the original intent of the law. which was specifically tailored to support Americas veterans. youth. seniors. disabled. and underprivileged workers. Instead of H.R. 803. I support H.R. 798. proposed by Representative John TIERNEY. H.R. 798 would preserve these important programs for workers. while taking reasonable and deliberate steps to streamline government operations without ignoring the original intent behind WIA. I am a proud cosponsor of this bill. and will only support legislation that is genuine in its intent. and does not discriminate in terms of how it apportions benefits. Madam Chair. H.R. 803 would dismantle critical support structures that have helped develop the U.S. workforce since WIAs inception in 1998. Despite steady progress. our economy remains fragile. and we must do everything within our power to ensure that workers have the resources and support they need to excel in an increasingly competitive environment. I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 803 in favor of a balanced approach that keeps the best interests of the American worker at its core focus.