macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-06-23
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. If I might respond. through the Speaker. I would say. Madam Speaker. the only person I know that has suggested that we nationalize oil companies. including refineries. is the gentleman from the other side of the aisle. Its worked so well around the world. I think you could go through all the countries with a nationalization. Maybe Venezuela is a trend setter here. but I dont think thats exactly where we want to go. So the answer to the gentleman. through the Speaker. is no.
Date: 2008-06-23
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Madam Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Once again. I rise in support of H. Res. 1293. David McCullough. the distinguished writer and historian. said. "We run the risk of being a Nation of historic illiterates." And he was referring to our lack of knowledge of the beginnings of this. country. the lack of knowledge of the Founding Fathers and that generation. But he need not look back that far. All he needs to do is to look back 40 some years. as the gentleman from Georgia has mentioned to us and the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia and the gentleman from Michigan. We cannot allow these reallife tragedies. events. sacrifices to be lost in the midst of memory. We have to make sure that not only do we understand them but that we understand their import and that we teach our children that this is part of Americas history and America is what it is today because of the sacrifices of many great men and women. these three included among them: Goodman. Chaney. and Schwerner.
Date: 2008-06-23
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. I thank the chairman. In response to the question. I am sure the gentleman may be aware of the fact that 52 percent of the exploratory wells that were drilled by American companies in America over the last 5 years were dry wells. So. in some cases. they have taken leases on land offshore. and that has proven not to be a successful well. The problem is that those that have the greatest prospect for yielding real petroleum and natural gas have been prohibited by this Congress. As the gen tleman may know. they pay for those leases. They continue to pay for those leases. I have not heard anybody on this floor accuse the oil companies of paying for something for nothing. They pay for those leases. There is a limit on the time that they can have those leases when they do not produce them. So. in all cases. they have made judgments as to whether or not the leases they hive are yielding leases. and in many cases. 52 percent. they have tried tio find oil. and they havent found it. So I thank the gentleman for yielding. I appreciate his courtesy.
Date: 2008-06-23
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Mr. Speaker. on rolicall No. 438. H. Res. 1242. Honoring the life. musical accomplishments. and contributions of Louis Jordan on the 100th anniversary of his birth. had I been present. I would have voted "yea."
Date: 2008-06-23
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Mr. Speaker. on roilcall No. 439. H. Con. Res. 372. Supporting the goals and ideals of Black Music Month and to- honor the outstanding contributions that African American singers and musicians have made to the United States. had I been present. I would have voted "yea."
Date: 2008-06-23
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Mr. Speaker. on rollcall No. 440. H. Res. 1051. Congratulating James Madison University in Harrisonburg. Virginia. for 100 years of service and leadership to the United States. had I been present. I would have voted "yea."
Date: 2008-06-24
Speaker: DAVID DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Tennessee

Mr. Speaker. I stand to talk to the American people today.. The American people are hurting. Young families are hurting. senior adults are hurting. those that are on fixed incomes are hurting. small businesses are hurting. all because we dont have an energy policy that actually includes energy. Let me tell you about one such person. Over the weekend I met with a young family. The gentlemans name was Vern Long from Jefferson City. Tennessee. Vern told me he makes $8 an hour. He has to drive to work to Knoxville. Tennessee. It costs him $90 a week to drive. to work. Vern told me that he may not be able to continue working. he may have to go on welfare. because we dont have an energy policy that has American energy. This has to stop. It is time for no more excuses. Vern doesnt want to go on welfare. Vern is a United States veteran. He spent time in Iraq. -We owe people like Vern Long a better future for he and his family. We need an energy policy that uses American energy now. No more excuses. It is time for us to pass a policy where we drill for American oil. natural gas. and use clean coal technology. The time is now. No more excuses.
Date: 2008-06-24
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. there is an old saying that goes: Water. water everywhere. but not a drop to drink. Well. what we have in the United States is oil. oil everywhere. and not a drop to drill. That is the slogan of the Congress led by our friends on the other side of the aisle. If you look at this map. you will see -we have made offlimits some of the most potentially productive oil reserves and natural gas reserves not only in this country but in the world. It makes no sense whatsoever. This week. instead of us addressing the problem this way. our friends on the other side of the aisle are going to bring us sue. sue. sue laws. That is. we are going to not drill our way out of this problem. we are going to sue our way out of the problem. The American people understand thats not the way to get us going. Lets use American ingenuity. American creativity and technology to safely drill off our shores here in the United States so that we can become energy independent. As we are coming up close to July 4. lets strike a blow for independence. Lets do something meaningful.
Date: 2008-06-24
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. I thank the gentleman from Texas. Florida 5 is the district that I repregent. and it is not a wealthy area. I have the highest number of people on Social Security of any Member of this Congress. and obviously a huge number on Medicare. Medicare Advantage is a very popular program. And why is it popular? Its popular because many of the programs. and by the way. theres a large variety of programs for the seniors to choose from. many of the programs will actually pay the seniors part B cost. When you represent a district that ignt wealthy. let me assure the Members of both sides of the aisle that this is an important medical program and it does give them choices. Nobody is forced into the Medicare Advantage plans. but they join them because it saves them money. while offering quality health care. Yes. we all want to fix the cuts to the doctors. Yes. we want to make sure that the DME program is revised. and revised well. But we all know that it has already .been said the Senate wont accept it. the President has just issued a veto threat on it. and so my question is: Why are we here? Obviously. July 1 is right around the corner. and to take this up at the last minute when the bill was only available at 10 oclock this morning. I think is an insult. Its an insult to the people who like the Medicare Advantage program and it certainly is an insult to every Member of this Chamber. 278 pages of a bill that we really dont know everything that is in it because its now a little after 11:30 in the morning. So obviously nobody has had the time to adequately review the bill. Medicare Advantage is a good program that helps so many lowincome seniors. People have to ask: Why does the Democrat Party want to do away with this program? Shame. shame. shame.
Date: 2008-06-24
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia changed his vote from "yea" to "nay." Messrs. CHABOT. WHITFIELD of Kentucky. FRANK of Massachusetts. GRAVES. HASTINGS of Washington. WELLER of Illinois. LATTA. FARR.
Date: 2008-06-24
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present..
Date: 2008-06-24
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Madam Chairman. I thank the gentleman from California for yielding. and I thank the House for taking up this important bill. In my 25plus years of practicing as a child psychologist. I have treated many of the types of children that were talking about today: young men and women. young boys and girls. who oftentimes characteristically really have reached the point in living with their family where the family has lost all ability to control these children. As one group of parents told me when I was working them once in a group. the mother said. You know. its like walking on eggshells when youre around my son. Another mother said. No. its like walking on glass. You have to be so careful. You never know when youre going to have harm. And so it is. I know so many of them move me so much when I wrote my book about thesechildren called "The Angry Child." I recognized what many of their Qharacteristics are: They have difficulty solving problems. they tend to blame other people for their problems. their primary emotional reaction to difficulty is anger. they believe that anger is a source of power for them. and they have a great deal of destructive selftalk. It is so very. very difficult to change these children. And thus it is important that we have residential treatment programs available as an option because these parents have certainly gone through the whole gamut of possible treatment options through psychotherapy. counseling. sometimes hospitalizations. medication. et cetera. And theyre so moved by their love and affection and hope for their child theyre willing to try anything. But we have to make sure that "anything" does not involve situations that can lead to more harm and abuse. One of the reasons this bill is so important is because parents have to know at a time when they feel they can no longer trust their child to control themselves and they no longer can trust their own ability to parent. they have to trust someone. And sound. residential treatment programs that are there with proper staff properly trained in therapy. not there to physically abuse or harm the child. of which a majority of these programs are good programs. but parents have to know there is something they can trust. It is so terribly. terribly heartbreaking to work with these families and work with these children and know that they have destroyed a family. Their threats of violence. the risk for drug and alcohol abuse. their attacking other children. all just on this side of law so they dont end up in jail. Parents are desperately trying to help them. Im pleased this legislation is taking some steps to help restore some sense of trust for p~rents to know that the child can get some treatment to know the risks of harm are eliminated for them. But still we have to recognize we must keep options open for these families who no longer know how to handle their very. very angry and difficult child.
Date: 2008-06-25
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I have been informed that the rules of the House do not allow me to wear a lapel pin or a lapel sign. so I had to take this off. I was going to use this chart. but I thought. maybe. since the rules allow it. I would take this pin off and put it here so people can see what it says. It says. simply. "Drill here. Drill now. Pay less." It is also symbolic of the smallness of the area that would be affected if we went offshore or if we went to ANWR. It would have to be about a pin dot here of this size to display what it. would actually represent in ANWR versus all of Alaska. Drill here in the United States. American resources. Drill now. not 20 years from now. not 30 years from now. Now. Pay less. As the futures market would look at the change in policy and would recognize that were no longer going to hamstring ourselves. they would begin to understand that prices would not go up as fast as they have been going. and we would begin to pay less. Drill here. Drill now. Pay less for the American people.
Date: 2008-06-25
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. while we wait to find out what we are going to do tomorrow and whether there will be a real energy bill presented to this floor. or some more energy fluff. I do rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 377 which would authorize use of the rotunda of the .Capitol to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the integration of the United States Armed Forces. On July 26. 1948. President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981. which provided for the equal treatment of blacks serving in the military. We should remember that previous attempts had been made to integrate the Armed Forces. In fact. during our Revolutionary War. approximately 5.000 African Americans served in integrated units. They served in many different capacities. including as artillerymen infantrymen. laborers. and even entertainers. .Each served our Nation proudly. protecting the freedoms that they themselves had not yet come to know. With a new century. though. came political realities that would once again segregated the military. Nearly 50 years passed until once again blacks and whites were able to stand shoulder to shoulder. as a unit defined not by color. but by a commitmentto freedom and love of country. President Trumans executive order to integrate the military also laid the groundwork for other minorities to gain those same rights. paving the way for the diverse group of men and women of all backgrounds who today serve in our military. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H. Con. Res. 377. so we may mark the historicoccasion of the integration of our Nations Armed Forces with a ceremony here in our Nations capital at the Capitol rotunda in a manner that would truly honor the sacrifice that men and women of all backgrounds have made to our Nation throughout history. As I understand the gentlelady has no further speakers. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2008-06-26
Speaker: TIM MURPHY (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Pennsylvania

Madam Speaker. I know much of our concern is on energy and gas prices. but I want to remind Members of some grim statistics on other issues. If an airplane crashed today and 250 people died. we would send the FAA and every other Federal agency to investigate. If the same thing happened tomorrow. our concerns would escalate. too. If it happened a third day. we would shut down the airline industry. We dont seem to do that same thing. and we have that many deaths each day from infections in hospitals. In April of 2005. when I first started talking about infections in hospitals. we have had since that time over 6 million cases. over 320.000 deaths. and have wasted $162 billion. Just in 2008 alone. 969.000 cases. 47.000 deaths. and $24 billion. When I introduced my Healthy Hospitals Act. H.R. 1174. the aim was to have hospitals declare their infection rates so people could compare hospitals so we could do something about it. Hospitals can clean up their act. They can reduce their infections. and Congress needs to make sure there is a law of the land requiring them. People have a right to know if they are going to leave a hospital at all.
Date: 2008-06-26
Speaker: DAVID DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Tennessee

Thank you for yielding time. Its interesting that we stand here and talk about public transportation. I represent northeast Tennessee. a rural area. and I tell you the people who live in northeast Tennessee dont have access to public transportation. People in rural America are hurting. Young families are hurting. Senior adults are hurting. Small businesses are hurting. Sheriffs departments and police departments are hurting. Let me tell you about two groups. The first is Vern Long. Vern lives in Jefferson County. Tennessee. I met with him last Saturday when I was back home in the district. Vern is an Iraqi war veteran. He has a wife and a child. He lives in Jefferson County and drives to Knoxville. Tennessee to work every day. He makes $8 an hour. Hes an apprentice electrician. He wants to go on to be an electrician. He has to drive into Knoxville. and it costs him $90 a week. $90 a week to fill up his tank. He told me. "Congressman. if the Congress doesnt pass an energy bill to bring these gas prices down. I may have to go on welfare and quit my job. And I want to protect my family. I want to be there to protect my future." Let me tell you about Sheriff Steve Burns. Sheriff Burns is from Greene County. Tennessee. I met with him last Saturday. He told me he put his budget together for Greene County this past February and March. He said. if it passes in the county commission as he presented it. he will be $50.000 in the hole because of high gas prices. Public transportation bills to send bureaucrats to work in Washington will not help rural America. America is hurting. We need an energy policy. We dont need more excuses. and we dont need more bills that make it sound good and look like were trying to do something here. We need an energy that actually uses American oil. natural gas. coaltoliquid technology. clean coal technology. We need to use nuclear power. Yes. we need green energy. We need all of the above. The American people are demanding action. real action. not excuses from Washington. Please. I beg the majority. Lets take this burden of high gas prices off of people like Vern Long and off of sheriffs departments like Sheriff Steve Burns. Lets pass some real energy legislation. No more excuses.
Date: 2008-06-26
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Madam Speaker. I yield myself the balance of my time. I thank again my distinguished friend for having yielded me the time this morning. and I thank all of those who have come to debate on this important legislation. Madam Speaker. the problem is. when the process by which legislation is brought to the floor is unfair. especially when the issue being dealt with by the legislation is as important as is the issue today. many Members ideas are shut out. oftentimes ideas on which they have worked for months or years. and in this instance. they are ideas and proposals to bring down the cost of energy and the cost of gasoline. Thats why process. something that may sound often theoretical. can have a significant impact on policy. In this instance. an unfair process is denying Members the opportunity to bring concrete ideas to the floor. for debate. to lower the price of energy. Thats one of the reasons we are so disturbed. why we think its so unfortunate that the process on an issue as important as this that the majority has chosen to utilize to bring this legislation to the floor is so unfair. On almost a daily basis. Madam Speaker. the cost of gasoline is breaking new records. Americans are now paying over $4 a gallon for gasoline. Yet the majority fails to bring legislation to the floor that will actually lower gas prices or decrease our dependence on foreign sources of energy. We believe its time for the House to debate ideas for lowering prices at the pump and for addressing the skyrocketing cost of gasoline. So. today. I urge my colleagues to vote with me to defeat the previous question so this House can finally consider real solutions to rising energy costs. If the previous question is defeated. I will move to amend the rule to allow for consideration of H.R. 5656. which would repeal the ban on acquiring advanced alternatives fuels. introduced by Mr. HENSARLING of Texas. This legislation would reduce the price of gasoline by allowing the Federal Government to procure advanced alternative fuels derived from diverse sources like oil shale. tar sands. and coaltoliquid technology. Madam 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: 2008-06-26
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Madam Speaker. by voting "no" on the previous question. Members can take a stand against high fuel prices and in favor of debating legisla-. tion to actually deal with that crisis. I encourage a "no" vote on this previous question. Madam Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2008-06-26
Speaker: GINNY BROWN-WAITE (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Madam Speaker. I rise today in opposition to H.R. 6251. the Democrat "use it or lose it" plan. Leases and drilling permits are not awarded with any certainty that oil or gas will be found. Just because my Democrat colleagues say oil and gas is there. does not necessarily make it so. The Democrats in the majority need to stop playing geologist and start representing the American people. Seventysix percent of the American people believe Congress should expand domestic production. Gas prices are high because demand is greater than supply. In fact. U.S. oil production has steadily decreased since 1970. Reports by the Bureau of Land Managemerit and the Minerals Management Service place potential federally managed areas for oil and gas exploration at 1.3 billion acres. Currently. only 68 million acres of Federal land are being explored for oil and gas. This Congress should be more concemed with opening up Federal land to energy production than wasting time arguing over the 5 percent of land that is currently available. Democrats have pushed for higher gas prices for decades. Now that they have finally succeeded. Democrats seem determined to keep them that way. Madam Speaker. we know increasing supply will lower the price of gasoline and we have the means to do so. Drill here. drill now. pay less.