macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-05-08
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in opposition to the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013. The bill would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to authorize private employers to provide comp time or compensatory time off to private employees at the rate of 1.5 hours per hour of employment for which overtime compensation is required. Essentially. workers would be promised comp time instead of overtime pay. Many families depend on overtime pay to make ends meet. The Fair Labor Standards Act guarantees workers will receive overtime pay for over 40 hours per week. The bill only promises the potential for future comp time without any real protections for the workers. Hardworking Americans would be unprotected against long hours and less pay without the guarantee of any compensation. H.R. 1406 falsely promises more time with their loved ones by allowing them to choose paid time off. Unfortunately. workers will only get more time with their families after theyve spent long hours. for less pay. at the approval of the employer. I stand with Americas workers to oppose this legislation. and I encourage my colleagues to do the same. The 40hour week has stood for 75 years. and it should continue.
Date: 2013-05-09
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I rise today to introduce the Keeping All Students Safe Act to protect schoolchildren from abusive seclusion and restraint practices. These practices are at best cruel and at worst deadly. and they continue to be used in schools on children across the country. In Indiana. an 8yearold girl with Down syndrome had her shoes ducttaped painfully to her ankles because she refused to put her shoes on. In North Carolina. a 14yearold boy with a traumatic brain injury was confined inside a cardboard box as a form of timeout. In Minnesota. a 10yearold boy with autism was pinned face down on the floor for 57 minutes by three staff members at his school after a tantrum he had while working on a puzzle. And in Virginia. a 13yearold boy was placed in solitary confinement for 3 hours after he threw his lunch. In some cases. children have even died with these improper restraints. My bill would stop these abusive practices. Congress needs to act. Theres no room for torture in Americas schools.
Date: 2013-05-09
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I thank my friend and colleague from Michigan. I strongly oppose this bill which. as our colleagues have said. says we should pay the government of China before we pay our troops. before we pay our veterans. and before we pay other bills here in the United States. Of all the bad ideas that have come to the floor of this House. this one is one of the worst. Its a reckless. irresponsible proposal that says the United States of America is not going to pay all the bills that are due and owing. That will have a terrible impact on our creditworthiness. it will undermine the full faith and credit of the United States. and it would wreak havoc in the economy. Look. Madam Speaker. our constituents dont have the luxury of waking up one morning and saying: Do you know what? Im only going to make my mortgage payment. Im not going to make my car payment. and Im not going to make my credit card payments. If they did that. what would happen? They would lose their creditworthiness. For the United States of America to say were going to pay some bills but not all would have hugely damaging impacts on the economy. And it gets worse. because when they say. Weve got to pay some. but not all. youve got to decide whom youre going to pay first. And what they decide here is theyre going to pay China first. and they have to decide who is not a priority. In this bill. our veterans are not a priority. and our troops risking their lives in Afghanistan are not a priority. China is a priority. theyre not. Now. Madam Speaker. what will happen here is that people will lose faith in whether or not the country pays its bills. People need to understand very clearly that this is not about expanding the debt ceiling in order to take on new obligations. This is about paying our existing obligations. And if we announce to the world that were planning on not paying our obligations. whether theyre to bondholders or to our troops. guess what happens? People will lose faith in the United States Government. and the economy will get hit hard. Lets vote against this bill that says China comes before our troops and our veterans.
Date: 2013-05-09
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

not only offered a budget. but he offered four amendments. Each time we considered the CR and other legislation. four times he offered an amendment to substitute the same savings so we would get to those budget deficit reductions to which the gentleman spoke. but would not do so in the irrational. acrosstheboard fashion that sequester requires. So I want to make it clear. if there was any confusion on your side of the aisle. we are not for the sequester. I voted for the CR to keep the government open. but I voted against the CR. when it left this House. which had sequester in there. I. frankly. thought shutting down the government was even worse than the sequester. but I think the sequester is having a harmful effect. not only on government. but a harmful effect on our economy. I think its a drip. drip. drip. It wasnt a "shut the door." It wasnt black and white. It wasnt overnight. but it is a drip. drip. drip that is harming our economy. I understand what the gentleman has told us. but I would hope that we would seriously consider trying to see if we could reach agreement either outside the context of the budget conference or inside the context of the budget conference that would give us an alternative which would be more rational. more positive. and more helpful to our economy. The next subject is simply the debt ceiling. We just passed a bill on the prioritization. We unanimously opposed that on our side. We think that is not a good policy. Obviously. there is a disagreement on that. May 19 is the date that the debt ceiling extension expires. Can the gentleman tell me whether there is any proposal to act in the near future other than On debt prioritization. which will have no chance in the Senate and is roundly opposed by many Republican economists. as the gentleman knows. and by the former economic adviser to the Bush administration. who said that it would not work. should not work? Can the gentleman tell me whether there is any alternative plan. before we leave here for the Memorial Day break. to give confidence to the economy and to creditors and to the American people that we will deal responsibly with the debt limit extension? And I yield to my friend.
Date: 2013-05-15
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Mr. Speaker. I rise today to acknowledge the fourth anniversary of the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka on May 18. 4 years ago. Although the war has ended and all of those who care about the wellbeing of this country are indeed glad and delighted. there remain high levels of suspicion among many Tamils who still feel that they are being denied equal rights. equal protection under the law. and are being treated as secondclass citizens. A large number of Tamils fled the country. left their homeland. during the war. and many have not returned to their homes. Peace is present. but there still exists many hard feelings. Therefore. I urge that the government and the Tamil community find as many ways as possible to promote peace and live in harmony with equality. equal justice. and equal protection under the law. Mr. Speaker. I wish the country well on its peaceful coexistence.
Date: 2013-05-15
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. today Im reintroducing the Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act. This legislation will protect teenagers attending residential treatment programs from abuse by staff personnel. These programs range from boot camps to behavior modification facilities. They are often a last resort for parents trying to help a child deal with behavioral or other issues. But investigations by our committee found that these programs are not always run in a safe manner. Just last year. the Tampa Bay Times confirmed that problems continue. with stories of children being bruised. bloodied. and choked to unconsciousness at these programs. all in the name of discipline. My bill would make it illegal for a residential facility to deny a child essential water. food. clothing. shelter. or medical care. whether under the guise of discipline or therapy. It would also ensure that parents have the information needed to make safe choices for their children about these programs. When a parent turns to these programs for help. they should trust that their child will not suffer neglect. injury. or even death while undergoing therapy. I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation.
Date: 2013-05-15
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. today I rise in support of the Homes for Heroes Act of 2013 . This bill would establish within HUD a Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs to ensure veterans receive fair access to housing and homeless assistance programs and serve as a HUD liaison to the VA. I am fully committed to strengthening the benefits and fulfilling the obligations a grateful nation owes to its veterans. The men and women of our Armed Forces unselfishly answer the call of duty to defend our freedom. Congress has a moral obligation to support their returns with housing and other necessities. I am proud to live in a country that has such brave men and women. and a country where citizens recognize and appreciate the sacrifices our military makes to defend us. I urge my colleagues to stand with our Veterans and support this bill.
Date: 2013-05-15
Speaker: BEN RAY LUJAN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New Mexico

Mr. Speaker. the news that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere passed 400 parts per million for the first time in human history should serve as a wakeup call that we can no longer ignore the threat of climate change. Now. I know there are some that still dont believe in science and still believe that climate change isnt real. but we should all agree that this is a problem that we have to confront. Addressing climate change is not only important for our environment. but also for our economy. Creating a clean energy economy powered by solar. wind. and other renewable resources will spur new jobs. new technological advancements. and grow our economy. In order to ensure that we can compete and win in the global market to develop clean energy technologies. it is vital that we have a trained workforce ready to work. Thats why this week I reintroduced the Community College Energy Training Act. legislation to support clean energy jobtraining programs in our community colleges. Community colleges play an integral role in training and retraining Americans who want to get ahead and learn the skills that will open up new opportunities. By investing in training programs in the clean energy sector. we can lay the foundation for success in a field that holds such great potential and prepare our students for the good jobs of tomorrow.
Date: 2013-05-15
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. this almost seems like the "Curious Case of Benjamin Button." a movie that went backwards. particularly when tomorrow. for the umpteenth time. well be debating the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. when over 10 States in the United States. including Texas. have uninsureds up to 28 percent. What are we thinking? Its a curious state when. in the Judiciary Committee. someone can come in and offer an audio as testimony that the person who is on there happens to be someone who worked in the Department of Justice with no affirmation of who it is. and then expect the Attorney General to answer questions. And in the instance of who it was supposed to be. Mr. Perez. who has been cited by the OIG as restoring integrity to the voting rights section. or in fact blaming the administration for the Associated Press incident when were talking about trying to protect the Nation from a terrible attack as it relates to terrorism. And everyone knows that were unified in protecting the First Amendment rights and shielding reporters. Were not looking for reporters. were looking for those who leaked something dangerous enough to undermine the security of the United States of America. This is a curious place. Its nothing but a blame game without revealing any truth whatsoever.
Date: 2013-05-16
Speaker: DANNY K. DAVIS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Illinois

Madam Speaker. I rise to pay tribute to one of Americas most prominent African American businessmen and financiers. Mr. Jacoby Dickens was born and grew up in Panama City. Florida. one of six children in a lowincome family. The family moved to the south side of Chicago when Mr. Dickens was a teenager. He attended Wendell Phillips High School. After school he worked as a building engineer. saved his money. and began investing in real estate. He eventually purchased and managed a large number of apartment buildings before selling them in 1971. After investing in several bowling alleys in the Chicago area. he was asked to join the board of Seaway Bank in 1979. In 1983. he became chairman of the board and remained until his death earlier this year. Under his guidance and leadership. Seaway Bank and Trust Company became the largest Blackowned bank in Chicago with assets of $547 million. Mr. Dickens was a great civic activist and contributor to public causes. He served on the boards of Chicago State University. the School of Business at Florida A&M University. and the Chicago Urban League. He donated more than $1 million to Chicago State Universitys athletic center. which bears his name. He was a trustee at the Museum of Science and Industry and DePaul University. where a scholarship and loan program are named for him. In the 1980s. he was a key supporter and fundraiser for Harold Washington. who was elected the first African American mayor of Chicago. Jacoby Dickens was a man of vision. courage. and determination. He used his wisdom. business acumen. and money wisely. not only for himself and his family. but also for the uplifting of humanity. My condolences and well wishes go out to his wife. Ms. Veranda Dickens. their family. and all of the trustees and employees of Seaway Bank and Trust Company. Mr. Dickens was. indeed. a man for the times and the seasons in which he lived. His bank gave loans in depressed communities and neighborhoods where people were hardpressed to find resources. He will be sorely missed and always remembered.
Date: 2013-05-16
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. according to the Pentagon. about 26.000 servicemen and -women were subjected to sexual assault while serving in this Nations military this past year. In fact. last year. Congress saw the Lackland Air Force scandal unravel as instructors were accused of engaging in sexual relationships with 32 recruits. Earlier this month. an Air Force lieutenant colonel overseeing the sexual assault prevention programs was arrested for sexually assaulting a woman while he was under the influence of alcohol. Two days ago. the Pentagon revealed yet another sexual assault allegation against an Army sergeant at Fort Hood who is currently under investigation for multiple charges. including prostitution solicitation charges. Mr. Speaker. we are talking about instructors. about lieutenant colonels. about sergeants. about people who have moved up in the ranks. I believe this highlights the underlying issue of leadership. or the lack of. in military leaders. and we must hold them accountable.
Date: 2013-05-16
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

I thank the gentlelady for yielding. and for her extraordinary leadership. I rise today. Mr. Speaker. in opposition to the Patients Rights Repeal Act and in opposition to the rule. Mr. Speaker. at a time when the American people would like Congress to focus their attention on increasing and growing the economy and job growth. we are instead. for the 37th time. involved in partisan politics. It is especially troubling that our Republican colleagues have chosen to celebrate National Womens Health Week by attempting to undo the important gains that were made for womens health in the Affordable Care Act. A study issued by the Joint Economic Committee while I was chair found that across this country. under the old status quo. an estimated 64 million women lacked adequate health insurance. and 39 percent of all lowincome women had no health insurance coverage at all. A repeal now of the Affordable Care Act could mean that millions of American women could find it nearly impossible to gain insurance if they had a preexisting condition. such as pregnancy. A repeal now would take away benefits women are already receiving such as free mammograms. A repeal now would mean the end of lowercost prescription drugs for our seniors. A repeal now would yank young people between the age of 23 and 26 off their parents policies. A repeal now would send us back to the bad old days. to the days of preexisting conditions. gender ratings. and lifetime caps. It would mean that in this next year alone. over 1.9 million people would not have access to quality. dependable health insurance coverage. Vote "no" on this repeal.
Date: 2013-05-16
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise today in opposition to the Patients Rights Repeal Act. This is the Republicans 37th callous attempt to derail health care reform. Rather than work to create jobs and to improve our economy. Republicans are focused on taking away key patients rights and benefits that are already improving countless American lives. With this vote today to repeal the Affordable Care Act. House Republicans are saying that they dont mind if insurance companies drop patients as soon as they get sick. or if our seniors cant afford their prescription drugs to stay healthy. Three years after the Affordable Care Act was passed by Congress. signed into law by the President. and upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court. millions of Americans. particularly our Nations women. are seeing meaningful protections for their health and wellbeing. As a cancer survivor and as a mother of three young children. this law isnt about politics for me. Its personal. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 41. 5 years ago. it was like my world was coming down around me all at once. My colleagues must understand. and we were reminded again this week. there is nothing in the world more gutwrenching as a parent than not being able to assure your children that their mom is going to be okay. or that they wont have to worry about getting cancer someday themselves. I was fortunate to have exceptional health care coverage. but too many women in our country have never had the ability to see a doctor. and so many face true financial hardship with a diagnosis like mine. Over the past 5 years. Ive had so many women come up to me and confess that they havent had a mammogram in years because they cant afford the expensive copays or they fear the prohibitive cost of treatment. That is unacceptable in the United States of America. Imagine how many millions in our country face terrifying health care decisions every day. This Congress has the power to protect them from uncertainty. instability. and financial ruin. That power lies in the provisions of the Affordable Care Act. tools like free preventative care and cancer screening services that help save womens lives. We cannot waste another minute with more of these meaningless attempts to repeal a law that has already made a difference for so many of our constituents. For our children. and all families across this Nation. we must come together and work to implement this historic health care reform that is the law of the land and that is not going to be repealed.
Date: 2013-05-16
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

I thank the gentlelady for her leadership. I rise today in opposition to the Patients Rights Repeal Act. I want you to see the face of those who have been served across America. They are. yes. lowincome. some are impoverished. but many are middle income. In fact. there was an article in the Texas newspaper that said. part of what drives the need for health care are Medicaid. expanded Medicaid. which is part of this great bill. the Affordable Care Act. is the fact that people are impoverished. And so here is what my friends want to do today for the 37th time. They want to take away from 13 million Americans the health insurance that they need. that they were able to secure with rebates from the health insurance companies. They want to take away from 105 million Americans. 71 million Americans in private plans. who have received free preventative services. They want to be able to tell the women who needed mammograms and additional tests for breast cancer that you cant go in and get the preventative care that you need to save lives. Oh. yes. They want to tell 17 million children with preexisting disease you cannot go in anymore and be covered. The conversation over here is plain foolish. Theyre only talking about their economicstheir economics of wealth. Yes. maybe their districts have not felt the pain of racial disparities which theyre going to eliminate if they get rid of this bill. Maybe they are not in one of these States. 10 States like Texas that has 28.4 percent uninsured. along with the Louisiana. Arkansas. Georgia and many others. Florida. that have uninsured people who need this. Maybe theyll tell the 6.6 million children that have taken advantage of the law today to obtain health insurance for preexisting disease that they cannot do that. or maybe theyll tell the seniors that you can go back into the doughnut hole again. I dont know why were doing this. but I will tell you that I see that lives are saved. I introduced an amendment to make sure that we didnt lose the federally qualified health clinics. When you repeal this bill. you will dash the hopes of those who have been walking into their neighborhoods. going into federally qualified health clinics and getting the good care that they need. All this is is spoiled grapes. Thats what this is. Drink the wine and leave us alone. and make sure that we keep the Patients Bill of Rights and Affordable Care Act.
Date: 2013-05-16
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in opposition to the Patients Rights Repeal Act. Here we go again. and my colleague from Georgia knows it: 37 times. counting today. that the Republican majority has tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act. a law that was upheld by the Supreme Court. a law that will help not only millions of uninsured but everyone with health insurance because the Affordable Care Act improves coverage. "Repeal" means that insurance companies can once again deny coverage for preexisting conditions. It means collegeaged dependent children will be kicked off their parents insurance. Medicare beneficiaries will lose access to vital preventative screenings. Also. insurance company practices of the past. which frustrated the insured and drained their savings. will be allowed to return. The Affordable Care Act means more than 80 percent of premium dollars are spent on health care. That was in the Affordable Care Act. The law prevents insurance companies from providing their executives extraordinary perks while failing to provide health care to their customers. But this will never happen again. The repeal of the Affordable Care Act will not be successful. It wasnt successful the first 36 times. It wont be today. Thats because the American people need it. The law isnt perfect. The medical device excise tax and the Independent Payment Advisory Board should be addressed. This majority refuses to work with our side to fix the problems. The American people want to see Congress work together to fix problems. What they dont want is more political theater.