macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-05-28
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act. Over the course of our nations history. one of our greatest strengths has been our ability to innovate. We have led the world in scientific discovery. expanding the boundaries of knowledge and thinking creatively about difficult problems. However. in recent years. we have seen our technological edge diminish as other countries increase their investment in research and development. In 2005. the National Academies released "Rising Above the Gathering Storm." warning that unless the United States made a serious commitment to science and technology. it would lose its competitive edge in the world economy. We responded in a bipartisan way in 2007 with the original America COMPETES Act. a comprehensive investment in education. research. and small business. Todays bill continues and improves upon that approach. It invests in the American innovation economy. providing the resources necessary to create good. sustainable jobs at home and ensure that the United States remains at the forefront of discovery. Importantly. this bill will double funding for basic research at the National Science Foundation. the Department of Energy Office of Science. and the labs at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. NIST. over 10 years. This funding provides the cornerstone of our nations research and development efforts. It is vital that we have a stable. sustainable authorization path and that we fund it reliably so that our nations researchers know that they have dependable support for longterm projects. The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act will continue to assist our nations manufacturers and businesses by strengthening the Manufacturing Extension Partnership at NIST. providing innovative technology federal loan guarantees for small- and mediumsized manufacturers. and coordinating with community colleges to ensure that there are good. regional pipelines of workers with the skills necessary to keep business moving. The Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Department of Commerce will assist businesses with commercializing the results of research to speed market application of new products. The legislation also creates a new program to develop Regional Innovation Clusters. which will build up regional economies working within a given field by bolstering scientific collaboration between businesses and other entities. We will track the progress of these clusters to determine best practices for other regions. And finally. this bill continues to recognize that our nations long term success is dependent on the strength of our education system. It coordinates science. technology. engineering. and math. STEM. education efforts across the federal government. invests in grants and scholarships for college students pursuing STEM careers. and provides resources to diversify our future STEM workforce. Mr. Speaker. I commend the House Committee on Science and Technology and its Chairman. BART GORDON. for their excellent work on this issue. I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for this important legislation.
Date: 2010-05-28
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 5116.
Date: 2010-06-09
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. the research by USA Today shows that Americans are paying the lowest tax rates since the 1950snot the 1990s. not 2001 or 2002. but since the 1950s. The Democrats tax cuts for middle class and small businesses are helping this economy. The economy continues to move in the right direction and it is being sustained. Unemployment is going down in 90 percent of our metropolitan areas. And the President is attacking the BP oil spill in the right way. But as I represent the gulf region where fishermen and oystermen are. as well as oil workers. weve got to ensure that we continue to save jobs. That means the industry has to reform itself. No permit should be issued unless there is a defined recovery plan that is approved and vetted by experts that are independent of the government and the industry. We are saving and creating jobs. but we are as concerned about safety and security. This is the right path. Democrats reduced taxes. The President is in charge. Were going to be able to see America recover.
Date: 2010-06-09
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia changed her vote from "nay" to "yea.. So the previous question was ordered. The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
Date: 2010-06-09
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. on behalf of the bipartisan Women Members of Congress softball team. we want to once again extend an invitation to all Members. staff. and anyone listening to attend the second annual congressional womens softball game. which will occur next Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Guy Mason Field. once again benefiting the Young Survival Coalition. which is a young womens breast cancer organization. We really thank all of the Members and staff who came out last year. Over 400 people attended. We raised $50.000 for the Young Survival Coalition. And this year. captained by myself and my colleague from Missouri. Jo ANN EMERSON. Senator KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND. and LISA MURKOWSKI. the team members are DONNA EDWARDS. GRACE
Date: 2010-06-09
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. before I yield back. we want to emphasize that this is a frustrating process at times. but the women of the Congress. both the House and the Senate. not only know how to have a good time. know how to play softball. but they know how to get along and suggest that our male colleagues could take a page from our book. We look forward to seeing you at the game.
Date: 2010-06-09
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentleman for yielding. And it was an absolute pleasure to join you on the CODEL to the Middle East in January where we learned quite a bit about the progress of the peace process. And it has been noted by a number of our colleagues this evening that we cannot allow. in spite of all the recent controversywhich is unclear to me why a country that is defending its borders. its territory. and its people is controversialbut that we cannot allow it to take our focus off to that of a nucleararmed Iran. One of the things that is unbelievable to me has been the criticism and the questions that have been thrown at Israel: first. that they supposedly boarded the flotilla ships in international waters as if they somehow didnt have the right to do that. That this is a legal blockade. there isnt any disputing that. They are well within their rights and. understandably. are defending their borders and their people. Because what country would not make sure that items coming in from a ship to an area that is run by a hostile terrorist organization would not be checked to make sure that they are the genuine humanitarian aid that the people bringing the goods in say that it is? That is simply common sense. And I would think that the citizens of any nation would expect nothing less than their government. But the other criticism that I have heard during the week is that somehow the people of Gazaand no one denies that there is suffering that has gone on in Gaza. The people of Gaza went through a war. They continue to be ruled by a terrorist organization. and so. as a result. they are definitely suffering. But it is important to note that. over the last 18 months. Israel has allowed a steady flow of humanitarian aid and food to go to the people of Gaza. One million tons of humanitarian aid. to be specific. have been allowed into Gaza over the last 18 months. the equivalent of one ton of aid per man. woman. and child in food and materials living in Gaza today.
Date: 2010-06-09
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

And just a few days later. an Irish ship. the Rachel Corrie. was offered the same thing. to take their goods. And they were also challenging the blockade. yet had a very different response and accepted the boarding and accepted travel to the port of Ashdod and had their goods offloaded. The point is that Israel cannot be expected to stand idly by and allow for goods to be flowing unchecked without making sure that there arent hostile intentions behind those goods. And as Israel continues to face unjust criticism on the world stage. the United States must continue and will continue to support our friend. ally. and partner. And I am so proud to stand with my colleagues today. You have a tragic situation that occurred. but we cannot forget that this blockade exists because Hamas. the ruling party of Gaza. is a terrorist organization with the sworn goal to destroy the Jewish state. A blockade supported by both Israel and Egypt is a means to stop the smuggling of illegal materials and weapons to Hamas. And I am so pleased that you have organized this special order hour this evening and look forward to continuing to stand with you.
Date: 2010-06-15
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to discuss the importance of putting Americans back to work. You know. we cannot overturn and change 8 years of Republican rule with simply a snap of a finger. However. the Democratic Caucus is on its way to restoring this countrys economic wellbeing. The House passed the Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act. The legislation will create 160.000 jobs and extends successful Build America Bonds for schools. roads and bridges. We also passed the Summer Jobs Act which creates 300.000 summer job opportunities for our youth. We have seen an increase in GDP. and weve seen an increase in manufacturing. and weve seen a significant increase in economic indicators. As President Obama said. this is the Nation where anyone with a good idea and the will to work hard can succeed. Dallas. my hometown. is no stranger to good ideas. hard work. or small businesses. I commend Dallas small businesses which have created hundreds of jobs. provide valuable goods and services. and help drive our local economy. I encourage my colleagues in the House and in the Senate to work together to enact policies that creates and saves jobs. House Democrats are committed to create good American jobs. build a strong foundation for the economy. and work to turn around our Nations economy.
Date: 2010-06-15
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I am happy to report that we continue to see steady economic growth in our country. The work that we have done here in this very Chamber and the work that our President has done to ensure our economic turnaround is making a real and positive difference for Americas families. To put this statement into real numbers. here are some statistics that indicate undeniable growth and recovery: An average of 200.000 jobs have been created each month over the last 7 months. Stocks have risen across the board since the passage of the Recovery Act. We have now seen three quarters of economic growth. There are 98 percent of families who are seeing their taxes decrease for tax year 2009. Average refunds are up 10 percent. which is around $3.000. Since January of 2009. we have restored $5 trillion of household wealth. In my own State of Florida. I am proud to report that. for the first time in nearly 4 years. we have seen improvement in the jobs report. with the unemployment rate dropping in May. With these numbers as proof. I can say with confidence that America is on the road to recovery.
Date: 2010-06-15
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I would like to commend Congresswoman WOOLSEY for her leadership on the worklife balance issues in her capacity as Chair of the Workforce Protection Subcommittee. Her commitment on these important issues is a great asset to the Education and Labor Committee in this Congress. I am pleased to serve with her and support her legislation before us today to recognize familyfriendly workplaces. The WorkLife Balance Act will recognize employers of any size for their exemplary worklife balance policies. Not only will the award set a standard for best practices. it will shine a muchneeded light on the concerns of working families. Over the past 40 years. Americas working families have changed dramatically. While once a single breadwinner could support a middleclass family. today that situation appears to be a relic of the past. Women now make up half of the workforce and share a greater responsibility for financially supporting the family. While women now are full partners in providing for families. many remain the primary caregiver for their children and other family members. Balancing the career and family responsibilities can seem impossible at times. But in todays economy. achieving balance is necessary. Women are not doing this alone. Increasingly. men are becoming more involved with child care and elder care responsibilities. Good employers recognize this and understand the importance of providing flexibility to their employees. They have rightly revamped family leave policies to attract and retain best workers. Employers understand that familyfriendly policies not only help workers balance work and family. but also improve employers bottom line. These policies increase retention rates. decrease absenteeism. improve productivity and morale. Whats good for the modern family is good for business. Businesses that are doing the right things to promote a better worklife balance should be recognized. It goes to the heart of our Nations competitiveness and how we value our Nations families. Parents should never have to choose between their paycheck and taking a day off because their child needs to see a doctor. This is precisely why I am a strong supporter of the bill before us today. the WorkLife Balance Award Act. This award will serve as a benchmark for companies who wish to improve their current policies so that they can be more accommodating to the needs of their workers. It will also give prospective employees a leg up when theyre looking for familyfriendly workplaces to go to work. The proof will be in the results. When employers choose to implement profamily policies. they reap the benefits of a healthier. more productive workforce. I urge my fellow colleagues to vote "yes" with me today on this important and necessary bill. Thank you very much. again. to the author of this legislation. Congresswoman WOOLSEY.
Date: 2010-06-15
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. for every American seeking a job. and every small business trying to expand so they can hire them. I rise in strong support of the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 and the Small Business Jobs Tax Relief Act of 2010. These two progrowth initiatives illustrate very clearly that jobs continue to be job one in the 111th Congress. Small businesses are the engines of our economy. and timely. affordable credit is very often the fuel that helps them grow. Since 45 percent of small businesses currently report inadequate credit to support their needs. the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act establishes a new $30 billion fund for community banks. which will leverage up to $300 billion in new private sector lending to small businesses. Importantly. this new lending facility includes performancebased incentives to encourage near term lending by reducing borrowing costs to participating banks that increase their lending over 2009 levels and increasing borrowing costs when lending activity is reduced. The result will be a timely infusion of fresh credit to cashstrapped small businesses looking to create jobs in our growing economy. To make it easier for entrepreneurs to attract capital and launch new companies. todays legislation also provides a zero capital gains rate on equity investments in qualifying small businesses made between March 15. 2010 and the end of the yearand it quadruples from $5.000 to $20.000 the deduction small businesses can take for startup expenditures in their first year of operation. Mr. Speaker. this legislation is broadly supported by the National Small Business Association. the Small Business Majority. the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. the Independent Community Bankers of America. the American Bankers Association and the National Bankers Association. It is fully paid for and deserves my colleagues support.
Date: 2010-06-15
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. first. before she departs the Chamber. let me just say what an absolute pleasure it was to travel to the Middle East with the gentlelady from Wyoming. Mrs. LUMMIS was a pleasure to have as a companion. She was inquisitive. The purpose of that trip was particularly to bring Members who had not been to Israel before so that we could learn about the importance. not just strategically. the importance of Israel in terms of its relative location to its neighbors so that Members like
Date: 2010-06-15
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Since you asked the question rhetorically. Ill actually jump in and answer it with an answer from Mark Zandi. Moodys economist who Mrs. DAHLKEMPER just referred to. As to what would have happened without the Recovery Act. without the TARP legislation. and without making sure that we grabbed a hold of the tiller of this economy. what he says would have happened is we absolutely would have sunk into a depression. that literally the policies of President Obama and of the Democratic leadership in the House and the Senate steered our ship of fate away from a depression.
Date: 2010-06-15
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Youre absolutely right. And I want to jump off what you just talked about. related to the choice that Americans will have. Over the next few months. we are going to get closer and closer to an election. and in November. I think Americans will have a very clear choice. They can go back to the failed policies of the past. They can backslide toward the Bush era. in which we will be in a situation where we will be led by people who think that we should exclusively focus on big business. big corporations. the wealthiest Americans. and that taxcutting policies should only be targeted towards that group of people and use the whole trickledown notion that has been proven time and again not to be effective. in fact. proven to be detrimental to the economy. Or we can continue to move in the direction that the Obama administration and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have been taking us. which is slow and steady progress so that we can reestablish the balance that we need in our economy. particularly. as you mentioned. the balance in terms of regulation. We allowed the fox to guard the henhouse for 8 long years in industry. particularly in the financial services area. which were debating and discussing this week. And its high time that we reestablish some order and balance.
Date: 2010-06-15
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. TONKO. as the parent of twin fifthgraders. I can tell you that my fifthgraders often scratch their heads and wonder. Mom. what the heck are your colleagues on the other side of the aisle doing? They wonder why they only focus on the most narrow view.
Date: 2010-06-15
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Yes. you did. You did. as a matter of fact. And my fifthgraders and firstgrader will be back tomorrow. Im looking forward to that. Maybe we can send them over to the other side of the Chamber. and they can shake things up a little bit. With that. weve been joined by our colleague from Ohio who is doing a fantastic job representing his community and is a real fighter for the values of the Midwest.
Date: 2010-06-15
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Would the gentleman yield on that example? Because lets tell them how they slowed that process down. Its not only that they were not voting for the America COMPETES Act. which by any measure will create literally millions. potentially. of new jobs and definitely tens of thousands of jobs. They added an unrelated. irrelevant pornography amendment to that legislation to try to catch Members on our side of the aisle in a vote for or against pornography. And what they did was they ran an amendment that said that we would vote on whether or not Federal employees would be able to be paid if they viewed pornography on work hours.
Date: 2010-06-15
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

And add to that. on top of that. the Republicans allowing the PAYGO statute and the PAYGO rules to expire. A big part of the reasonunder the budget that was passed by President Clinton. we adopted under a Democratic administration. Democratic leadership a payasyougo rule that said that were not going to spend more than we take in. I mean. just like people have to do in their own households. And when we came back into the majority. we readopted those rules. And now we have the PAYGO statutes reestablished. And what we need to make sure we continue to doexcept for emergency spending. which in an economy thats as dire as this one. weve had a number of different emergency situations. But making sure that other than emergency situations. we pay for the legislation that were passing. whether its including the war costs in the budget and actually having it be real numbers instead of pretending that we dont have an ongoing obligation when it comes to war funding. We included the costs of the Iraq war in the Appropriations Act. in the budget. unlike the Republicans who just pretended year to year that we werent going to actually have that expense. So we have been trying to be responsible. We have been trying to make sure that we can get things back on track. and that. like you said. we can establish some parameters. Unfortunately. our colleagues on the other side of the aisle think that government is always an obstacle. government can never be a solution. I dont think government is the be all and end all solution to all of our worlds problems either. But government certainly can be part of the solution. Governments can help make sure that we can establish some fairness and some balance and also make sure that there is someone minding the store. that there is not an unchecked industry. We have about 60.000 barrels a day gushing out of the ocean floor right now because no one was paying attention.