macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-03-25
Speaker: JAY P. LEFKOW1TZ (democrat)
Chamber: S

P.C.. Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Citigroup Center. New York. NY. DEAR JAY: Christopher Hill testified today before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In response to a question by Senator Lugar. he failed to specifically address whether he invited you to participate in the Six Party Talks to address North Korean human rights. As you recall. in his testimony before the Senate Armed Service Committee on July 31. 2008. he promised to invite you to participate in all future negotiation sessions. without qualifying the nature of those sessions. Based on my knowledge of the situation. I believe he violated his commitment. Can you please respond to me as to whether or not Christopher Hill or anyone acting on his behalf invited you to the Six Party Talks subsequent to July 31. 2008? I look forward to your swift reply. and appreciate your cooperation in this matter. Sincerely.
Date: 2009-03-25
Speaker: COST SHARE (democrat)
Chamber: H

(1) IN GENERALThe Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter referred to as "Secretary"). in consultation and cooperation with the City of San Diego and the Sweetwater Authority. is authorized to undertake a study to determine the feasibility of constructing a four reservoir intertie system to improve water storage opportunities. water supply reliability. and water yield of the existing nonFederal water storage system. The feasibility study shall document the Secretarys engineering. environmental. and economic investigation of the proposed reservoir and intertie project taking into consideration the range of potential solutions and the circumstances and needs of the area to be served by the proposed reservoir and intertie project. the potential benefits to the people of that service area. and improved operations of the proposed reservoir and intertie system. The Secretary shall indicate in the feasibility report required under paragraph (4) whether the proposed reservoir and intertie project is recommended for construction. (2) FEDERAL COST SHARE.-The Federal share of the costs of the feasibility study shall not exceed 50 percent of the total study costs. The Secretary may accept as part of the nonFederal cost share. any contribution of such inkind services by the City of San Diego and the Sweetwater Authority that the Secretary determines will contribute toward the conduct and completion of the study. (3) COOPERATION.-The Secretary shall consult and cooperate with appropriate State. regional. and local authorities in implementing this subsection. (4) FEASIBILITY REPORT.-The Secretary shall submit to Congress a feasibility report for the project the Secretary recommends. and to seek. as the Secretary deems appropriate. specific authority to develop and construct any recommended project. This report shall include(A) good faith letters of intent by the City of San Diego and the Sweetwater Authority and its nonFederal partners to indicate that they have committed to share the allocated costs as determined by the Secretary. and (B) a schedule identifying the annual operation. maintenance. and replacement costs that should be allocated to the City of San Diego and the Sweetwater Authority. as well as the current and expected financial capability to pay operation. maintenance. and replacement costs. (b) FEDERAL RECLAMATION PROJECTS.-Nothing in this section shall supersede or amend the provisions of Federal Reclamation laws or laws associated with any project or any portion of any project constructed under any authority of Federal Reclamation laws.
Date: 2009-03-25
Speaker: HERSETH SANDLIN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. today. the House of Representatives passed H.R. 146: Omnibus Public Land Management Act 2009. Included in this bill is the authorization of Preserve America and Save Americas Treasures. I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation of and support for the role that State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices play in national historic preservation efforts. In 1966. Congress passed the National Historic Preservation Act. This Act charged State Historic Preservation Offices with several responsibilities. from locating historic resources to providing technical assistance to federal agencies. Furthermore. the National Historic Preservation Act emphasizes the need for cooperation and coordination among federal. tribal. state. and local governments as well as private organizations and individuals. In South Dakota. State and Tribal Historic Preservation Officers play a crucial part in many projects and initiatives. such as preserving significant buildings and landmarks and ensuring that Native American sacred sites are protected. South Dakota has received a handful of grants through. both the Save Americas Treasures and Preserve America programs. However. .the majority of our preservation funding comes from. and I expect will continue to come from. the State and Tribal Historic Preservation Programs. While I support the Save Americas Treasures and Preserve America programs. it is imperative that we also recognize the statutory responsibilities of State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices to carry out federal historic preservation activities. In turn. I want to state my support for ensuring that State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices have the funding and resources that they need to carry out their multifaceted missions. I anticipate that authorizing Save Americas Treasures and Preserve America will complement the work conducted by State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices across the United States. My hope is that Congress recognizes that the Preserve American and Save Americas Treasures programs are meant to supplement the baseline activities of State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (S/THPOs) which carry out the mardates of the National Historic Preservation Act. The work of the States and Tribes provides the necessary foundation for the supplemental assistance provided by Preserve America and Save Americas Treasures grants.
Date: 2009-03-25
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to remember Christine Sarbanes and offer my heartfelt condolences to former Senator Sarbanes and our colleague. JOHN SARBANES. and the entire Sarbanes family. They have lost a cherished loved one. and our State of Maryland has lost a good. kind and gracious friend. Christine Sarbanes was a dedicated wife and loving mother who worked tirelessly with her husband to serve their beloved State of Maryland. She was an educator. improving the lives of her students with her incredible enthusiasm and her intellect. which she brought to the classroom every single day. Christine Sarbanes believed with every fiber of her body and her being that we all have the potential to be great. and she channeled her pagsion into a career in education which touched the lives of thousands of Marylanders. I will always remember Christine Sarbanes as a pillar of strength and the embodiment of grace. She accompanied her husband and -family on countless Labor Day. Memorial Day and Fourth of July parades that she faithfully participated in as the spouse of a Member of Congress. Charming her way through the crowd. stopping to share her special concern with young people in our great State. she had a special eye for young people. and young people came to her and understood that this was a special person who cared about them. Whether it was in Baltimore at a bull roast or a crab feast in Crisfield or a folk festival in Takoma Park. Christine Sarbanes felt at home. and she made all the people she touched feel special. Her loss is felt not only by her family and friends. but by the thousands of lives in Maryland and around the country that she touched and the countless others she inspired. Mr. Speaker. please join me in honoring the life of Christine Sarbanes. Her kindness and legacy of public service serves as an example to all of us. and she will be deeply missed.
Date: 2009-03-26
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. possibility that if we fail to resolve or Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that come to agreement on the budget by my name be removed as a cosponsor of the time we hope to before the close of H.R. 1319. My name was mistakenly business day next week. that we possubmitted by the bills sponsors. sibly could work into the weekend to
Date: 2009-03-31
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Today. I. along with several of my colleagues. will be sending ba letter to major Internet service providers. including Google. Microsoft. and Yahoo. expressing our concern regarding the worsening Internet restrictions in Vietnam. It has come to our attention that the Vietnamese Government intends to further restrict Internet access by asking major Internet service providers to assist them in policing the Internet. The letter strongly urges the Internet service providers to protect the Vietnamese peoples freedom of speech and expression by providing technologies in a manner that respects individuals rights and their privacy. The Internet has become a major source of communication and information for the Vietnamese citizens. As Members of Congress. we must continue to advocate for Vietnamese citizens freedom of speech and their freedom of expression. Upholding these freedoms is a corporate social responsibility. and Internet service providers must do everything they can to provide Internet freedom for the people of Vietnam. despite the pressure that is coming from the Vietnamese Government.
Date: 2009-03-31
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. pursuant to House Resolution 296. I move to take from the Speakers table the bill to reauthorize the reform of the national service laws. with the Senate amendments thereto. and I have a motion at the desk.
Date: 2009-03-31
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

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 the matter under consideration.
Date: 2009-03-31
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Thank you. Chairman BRADY. for yielding. As vice chair of the Committee on House Administration. as well as chair of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. I find myself in kind of a unique position of dealing with this funding resolution both as a member of House Administration. where we heard the testimony of every chair and ranking member. read the budgets of every single committee. but also as chair of the Committee on Standards. 1. along with the ranking member. Congressman BONNER. gave testimony and made a bidget request. So I am pleased to note that the committee funding resolution today is not just about how much money a committee receives. its about resources necessary to meet and fulfill duties and obligations. Now when it comes to the socalled Ethics Committee. obviously. we knowand this is bipartisanwe have. a very strong responsibility to ensure that the House adheres to and upholds the highest standards of ethics. To that end. the Ethics Committee annually produces thousands of written advisory opinions and informal opinions. it educates Members and staff and other employees of the House. it reviews annual financial disclosure filings. and. when necessary. conducts investigations into possible violations of the House rules. In the last Congress. the House greatly expanded the duties and responsibilities of the Ethics Committee. It has required that the committee conduct mandatory annual ethics training for every officer and employee of the House. That means we must train roughly 10.000 employees each year. The House also requires that the committee review all staff and Member travel requests that are privately funded. which I can tell. you is a voluminous task. In addition. the House voted to establish the Office of Congressional Ethics. which we expect will increase our workload. As you can see. the committees mandate has grown significantly. The resolution before us does provide some additional funding for additional staff and for the adoption of new technologies to allow us to fulfill our expanded mandates. I very much support the resolution. not only for the Ethics Committee. but for the other committees. This is a tight budget. Its not everything that everyone wanted. but these are tough times"as well. I think the chairman and the ranking member have done a marvelous job. I. for one. would like to thank them for listening to the plea of the Ethics Committee and our increased responsibilities.
Date: 2009-04-01
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chair. I rise in support of H.R. 1664. the Pay for Performance Act. Im honored today to join my colleagues in supporting the Pay for Performance Act. a measure designed to ensure that taxpayers dollars are used wisely to protect our financial institutions. and I want to applaud the work done on this issue by Representatives GRAYSON and HIMES. The recently disclosed AIG bonuses highlight the potential for abuses of the public trust by companies rewarding employees with excessive compensationall on the taxpayer dime. This legislation will ensure that companies receiving TARP funds tie pay to performance. I am particularly pleased that this bill includes a provision I authored requiring full disclosure of compensation and perks for the family members of employees working for these companies.
Date: 2009-04-01
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. as an original cosponsor. I rise in strong support of the bipartisan Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. I want to thank Chairman WAXMAN and so many others for their H4344 CO leadership in bringing this legislation to the floor after so many years and so many battles. This is an -important day for the American people. Granting the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco products is long overdue and is a critical step in the protection of the publics health. As we know. the FDA has the power to regulate and oversee all sorts of products that are sold today. Many products that they regulate are not addictive. Yet we do not have the FDAs regulatory authority when it came to the very addictive products of tobacco and nicotine. Because of the Jack of regulatory authority on tobacco products. the FDA has been sidelined and the result is that the big tobacco companies have taken advantage of that opportunity and exploited it by marketing their deadly products to young people. For far too long. the tobacco companies have been tar-. geting our kids. deceiving all of us about the harmful effects of their products and manipulating the ingredients in their productsall to ensure that their profit levels remained high. In order for them to continue to make their profits. they had to continue getting one generation after another hooked on tobacco products. Lets make surethat future generations of young people do not get addicted. Addiction to tobacco products has had a huge cost to our society in terms of lives and money with over 400.000 American deaths every year. We have a chance today to put an end to that cycle. In my home State of Maryland. I am very proud of the steps we have taken to curb the effects of tobacco use. We increased the tobacco tax and youth smoking has declined. We also passed a comprehensive smokefree indoor air law in 2007. But we cant have every State fighting alone to have a successful national program to curb tobacco use. We need one entity that has this power to help protect the American people. especially the young people of our country. from the deadly effects of tobacco products. Mr. Speaker. this bill is a crucial step in protecting -the health and wellbeing of our constituents from the deadly effects of tobacco use. It will save lives and money. I urge my colleagues to join me in a yes vote on this muchneeded legislation.
Date: 2009-04-01
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentleman from Florida and the gentleman from North Carolina for posing these questions. and I know that we will be able to work together as my committee and this Congress consider proposals to reform the Federal student loan program. Access to Federal financing for higher education is a top priority. As you know. last year. we passed a stopgap measure to ensure that students and their families continued to have access to Federal student loans even in this economic climate. This stopgap measure was never intended to be a permanent solution. and we need to look at reforms to make sure that we have a reliable. efficient and sustainable program. Iexpect that there will be a role for private fenders in the future of the student loan program. Private lenders. for example. have played a significant role in ensuring high standards for servicing. and future reforms must harness this expertise. Also. lets not forget that. no matter what reforms are enacted. there is over $500 billion outstanding in loan volume in the current FFEL program that will need to be serviced as borrowers repay their loans. My staff and I have met with a number of private lenders. and we will continue to do so as we move forward. I look forward to continuing this dialogue with the gentleman from Florida and with the gentleman from North Carolina.
Date: 2009-04-01
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Thank you. Mr. SCOTT. And I want to thank you. and I want to thank the budget chairman. Jom SPRATT. and all of the members of this committee for this budget. This budget does what business leaders have come to Washington year after year over the last 8 years during the Bush administration and asked us to provide resources for a quality education in K12 to provide the.resources so our children will graduate from high school prepared to go on to college. prepared to go into careers. prepared to go into the job market in a globalized world. but they failed to do that for 8 years. Now we finally have a budget that gives us the resources so that we can provide that quality education. so we can invest in teachers. we can invest in the professional development of those teachers. we can provide the resources and the technology that our classrooms across this country scream out for on behalf of our children. so that they can participate in the technology advances in our society.. We also make sure that when they graduate from college. that the college will be more affordable than anytime in history because of the actions of this Congress last year and the actions of this budget. Since last year. we increased the Pell scholarship by over $1.500. We cut the interest on needbased Federal student loans in half. We enacted loan forgiveness so people can follow their careers and their desires whether they want to be a teacher or a firefighter or a public prosecutor or a public defender or a public health nurse. They have the opportunity to be able to do that because of the loan. forgiveness that has been provided. And this year. because of the changes. that the President is asking for. the direct. loan program will be able to provide tens of billions of additional dollars to make sure that people can afford college at this time when its most necessary that they receive a college education to compete in this globalized economy. And I want to thank the Budget Committee for making this budget available so we can vote "aye" on this budget tomorrow.
Date: 2009-04-02
Speaker: LINDA T. SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Chair. I rise this morning to state my strong support for the budget resolution. Im excited to see that American working families will once again be prioritized. It is a sight for sore eyes to see the President present an honest budget. putting an end to years of masking the costs of things we have to pay for. like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is good news for working and middleclass families who have been struggling to keep their heads above water. For far too long. these families have. been bearing the brunt of misplaced priorities. above all. the everrising cost of healthcare. Too many never see a doctor until they visit an emergency room. The cost to employers. local. state and the federal government is unsustainable. It is shameful that while the United States spends more than every other nation in the world on health care. we fail to care for everyone. This budget makes a down payment on health care reform. invests in working families. and sets America on a fundamentally new course. I urge my colleagues .to support this critical investment.
Date: 2009-04-02
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank my colleague. This budget is a carbon copy of the failed policies we have seen over the last 8 years. It is a budget that looks in the- rearview mirror in the past. it is not a budget that looks to the future. In fact. this budget. like the next Republican budget we will see. is going to slam a brake on the economic recovery plan that this Congress passed and is now working its way through our economy. through all the communities in this country. While that economic recovery plan is putting shovels in the ground and putting people back to work. this budget puts up a big stop sign and says. we are not going to provide any funds after the first year. We are going to take those shovels away. We are going to take those jobs back. I think anybody who thinks that the economic recovery plan should be stopped after only 1 year does not have a clear understanding of the economic pain that is being experienced throughout this country. On health care. President Obama has said that we need to reform our health care system to provide universal coverage. quality care. and reduced health care costs. This approach takes a meat ax to the Medicare program. cutting hundreds of billions of dollars in an automatic way. It doesnt tell us how to do it. it just says you have got to find a way to do it. cut hundreds of billions of dollars. If you are going to do that. tell us what your plan is so people know how it is going to affect them. l 1500 The Republican plan goes back to the same old tax cutting for the wealthiest Americans. whereas the Democratic plan provides tax cuts of $1.5 trillion for working Americans. not just the wealthiest. We invest in clean energy. They. again. give big tax breaks to the oil companies when we need to be diversifying our sources of energy. We have seen this plan before. It is the plan that has been given to us for the last 8 years. This is the Bush administration program all over again. I think the American people have learned that those policies that are reflected in this budget helped get us intothis fix that we are in today. Lets not look to the past. Lets move to the future. Lets adopt the Spratt budget.