macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 1996-05-30
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman. the ATP program was established in 1990 by President Bush. It seems to have worked very well. I do not know what has caused the chairman of this committee to just turn against it and seem like to have closed his mind on it. When the amendment was offered in committee. the majority of the committee members bipartisanly supported it. But he literally went over in committee and intimidated a Member to change his vote. It failed because it was a tie vote. It really says that most of us on this committee really do think about what the future is all about. We really do understand that we have to be a partner in creating these jobs and getting technology that saves money. You know. there are a lot of success stories of the ATP program. They are many. they are varied. But in the health care industry. for example. the ATP program for information infrastructure is assisting the industry in laying the foundation for the efficient use of technology in doctors offices. hospitals. and clinics by costsharing with industry in the development of technologies. to reduce paperwork and bring better health care to rural areas. Many of our rural hospitals are at risk for closing. Mr. Chairman. this is the kind of technology we neqd. Health care costs about $1 trillion a year in the United States. and the process of information accounts for about 20 percent of that total cost. or about $200 billion annually. If we can get technology to reduce that cost. thereby reducing the cost to individual patients. it is worth that small investment. There are other examples of the ATP process. In Plano. TX. just outside my district but in the district of the gentleman from Texas. Mr. SAM JOHNSON. there is Microfab Technologies that hired 18 people. But they have come up. a very small company. I do not think you consider 18 people a large company. a big corporation. They have come up with product development from major. other companies. This new technology will significantly reduce hazardous waste. That is significant because soon we will be talking about Superfund reform and reauthorization. I should think we want to save dollars when we have that technology. I think it is not pennywise but it is poundfoolish for us to just decide arbitrarily. almost singlehandedly that we must not partnership for developing technology. bringing about more jobs and reducing costs on things that are done in a way that could be improved with technology. I really regret that we have forgotten that we hold the trust of the people in this country. and we ought to try to bring about these changes because other countries will pass us by and we will pay more for it. Rather than reducing ourselves to personality battles to show who is bigger than the other. that is irresponsible. I think that it is time for us to stop that and decide that we are here With the trust of people. We ought to stand and be responsible for what we are here about. and we cannot do it without these partnerships.
Date: 1996-06-11
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. here we have the second verse same as the first but with a lower in tone. Mr. Speaker. the Republican majority is continuing its attack on Medicare. Last year they wanted to cut the growth in Medicare $270 billion and provide for a tax cut of $245 billion. While they still have their sights set a little lower this year. they still want to cut Medicare $168 billion. Now they say that it is cutting Medicare or that it is cutting the growth of Medicare. but again let us reason that if you have more people getting to be 65 and people 65 living longer. you have to have growth even more than inflation that they say. At the same time they want to give this tax cut of $176 billion only to some of the wealthiest. For the second year in a row the Republican majority is using the trustees report to talk about how bad they need to do it. If Medicare is in trouble. then let us take that savings and plow it back into Medicare. and not use it to give tax cuts or to balance the budget. I hope that our Republican majority will change their second verse.
Date: 1996-06-12
Speaker: PETE GEREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. from 12:30 to 2 in the Canon Caucus Room. Members of the Congress will gather with the VANational Medical Musical Group for the first Congressional Flag Day Prayer Concert. VANMMG will be joined by singers Judy Collins. Wintley Phipps. Detra Battle. and Naoko Okada. and by various Members of Congress who will narrate the program with patriotic and Inspirational readings. NBCs Tim Russert and Adrian Cronauer. the military broadcaster who inspired "Good Morning. Vietnam." will act as masters of ceremony. The program. which will focus on prayer for our troops in Bosnia and for peace in the Balkans. was developed by the VANMMG. a highlyacclaimed chorale and symphony group made up of doctors. nurses. scientists. veterans. and students. These individuals come from veterans and other medical centers and medical schools across the United States. VANMMG. which formed in 1983. has performed at the Reagan. Bush. and Clinton White Houses and for such dignitaries as Pope John Paul II and members of the United Nations. Mr. Speaker. I urge my colleagues to join us today. join us in this occasion of prayer. join us in this celebration of Flag Day.
Date: 1996-06-12
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. yesterday this House sent to conference committee a health care reform bill and hopefully we will see a bill come out. But the one that was in conference committee now allows for what is called MSAs. for most folks medical savings accounts. It would be a Federal tax deduction for someone who can afford to buy a high deductible insurance policy. $4.000 or $5.000 deductible a year. This Congress removed the deductibility for health insurance premiums. for the average working stiffs. in the 1980s. The average working stiff who pays it by the month will not be able to deduct their premiums. Yet we are going to give it to the wealthiest who can afford $5.000 a year. As my colleague from Ohio says. beam me up. We are going to let the wealthy. are helping the wealthy more by the $5.000 deductible buy MSAs. but we are not letting the average person who pays their health insurance by the month deduct it. We ought to do both in this Congress.
Date: 1996-06-12
Speaker: PETE GEREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. if I could comment on this briefly as well. I just want to express appreciation as a cochair of the Sportsmens Caucus for" your looking into this matter. The Conservation Reserve Program is a top priority for the Sportsmens Caucus. something we have worked on for the last 2 years in this reauthorization. It is so important to the development for habitat for wildlife in our country. It has been tremendously successful as a habitat development program. It is an issue that the caucus has worked on very hard. and we appreciate very much your interest in working to assure that the concerns are addressed.
Date: 1996-06-12
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise and thank my colleague from Massachusetts for yielding me the 1 minute. and oppose the resolution. for many reasons. including the unnecessary deep cuts in the Medicare needs totaling $168 billion. I also oppose the resolution because it increases the budget deficit by enacting fiscally irresponsible tax cuts costing $176 billion. After 3 years of progress on deficit reduction in which the President kept his promise in cutting the deficit in half. the Republicans now want to reverse the trend and add $23 billion to the deficit next year. Three years ago Republican after Republican came to this well to talk about the sky would fall if we passed the Presidents economic plan in 1993. Since then the deficit has been cut in half and millions of jobs created. Instead of continuing the work that was started in 1993. the Republicans want to give tax cuts and raise the deficit. Mr. Speaker. I think the Republicans should listen to the majority leader now in the Senate. TRENT LoT. who said that one solution to the budget problem is to reduce the tax cut. I would hope that we would remember that the budget is so important. We need to make sure we prioritize.
Date: 1996-06-12
Speaker: RONALD JOHNSTON (democrat)
Chamber: H

SecretaryGeneral. OECD. DEAR MR. JOHNSTON. As you know. the target date for the ratification of the OECD Shipbuilding Agreement is fast approaching. In this regard. I am pleased to report that Japan is making steady progress towards ratification of the Agreement. and we hope to have Diet approval by 15th June. Despite this optimistic picture. recent developments in the United States are clouding the horizon and are a source of grave concern to us. On 29 May. the US House National Security Committee passed an amendment to the OECD Shipbuilding Agreement which would change the terms of the US participation in the ban to subsidise global shipbuilding. This amendment provides for the extension of the Title XI Loan Guarantee Programme until January 1999. Title XI. which provides subsidised financing for maritime vessels. is in contradiction with the provisions of the Agreement. and its prolongation by the House of Representatives would clearly jeopardise the entry into force of the Agreement. Let me make it very clear that Japan is opposed to this amendment which goes against the spirit and letter of the Agreement. and would be unwilling to reopen negotiations. The Agreement. fruit of five long years of negotiations. was initially proposed by the United States and had as objective the elimination of all forms of government subsidies to shipyards. a principle supported by the United States. It is clear that the Agreement will bring longterm benefit to all signatory countries whereas passage of the Bateman amendment will open the door for a new round of subsidisation and antidumping movements. actions that will hurt all countries. Japan is using all available channels to directly convey our concern to American lawmakers on this issue. As the OECD as the home of the negotiations. we believe that you. as SecretaryGeneral of the OECD. share our displeasure. We would therefore ask you to use all your influence to convey our own concern to the United States. Sincerely yours.
Date: 1996-06-13
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. on rollcall vote No. 238 earlier today I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present. I would have voted "aye."
Date: 1996-06-18
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. now that the leadership in the Senate has changed. we are beginning to see some real movement on the KennedyKassebaum health care reform bill. Unlike Bob Dole. the current majority leader in the Senate understands the urgency to bring this bill to a vote and is working toward an agreement. For months and even years. Americans have been asking for portability in health insurance and coverage for preexisting conditions. But House Republicans have demanded the inclusion of fullfledged medical savings accounts. the socalled MSAs. malpractice reform and the taking away of State regulation over multiple employer welfare plans. or the MEWAs. That inclusion of issues will kill the bill. Americans want the ability to take their insurance coverage with them when they change jobs and they want to be covered for preexisting conditions. The KassebaumKennedy bill makes this possible. It is time to stop playing games with the American people and pass reasonable Jiealth care reform now.
Date: 1996-06-19
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. the House Republican plan on Medicare calls for $168 billion in cuts in the growth. as they say. They say they need to cut this much in order to save Medicare. but the Presidents budget saves Medicare for $44 billion less in the cuts in growth. Perhaps this is the Republican majority way of paying for financially irresponsible tax cuts. These are the same tax cuts that increase thp deficit for the next 2 years. We will not hear that from that microphone over there. But there is more. In the Speaker Gingrich House Republican Medicare plan there is a provision that would allow health care providers to bill seniors more now than they are for current services paid for by Medicare. So. .in other words. not only are we going to cut Medicare but seniors are going to have to pay more for services that have been provided by Medicare. The Gingrich plan would weaken the provision. thereby opening the door for higher outofpocket expenses for our seniors. The Republican majoritys first priority is tax cuts. even though they increase the deficit. Then they want to cut Medicare. education. and all the rest in order to pay for it. These are not the priorities of the American people.
Date: 1996-06-20
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I am honored to follow my colleague from Arizona because I can tell that they are more interested in election year politics than they are in balancing the budget. Mr. Speaker. for years the Republicans have complained about Democrats being taxandspend liberals for causing the runup in the budget deficit. I submit their annual budget. The budget that was passed last week actually raised the deficit. After 40 years in the political wilderness the Republican Party in consecutive years have shut down the Government and now passed a budget that will increase the deficit. Again I say. increase the deficit. At the heart of their budget are cuts in Medicare and tax breaks for the wealthy. They want to cut taxes $122 billion while at the same time increasing the deficit. Maybe they need to worry about the FBI investigation. Maybe they need to worry about something other than what the folks elected us here to do. to balance the budget. provide health care for seniors. provide education for our children and to make sure our country is defended.
Date: 1996-06-25
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Speaker. I thank the chairman for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker. I join in the sadness of the loss of BILL EMERSON. and I join my colleagues in the joy of celebrating his life and all that he did. As a Member of Congress. as a citizen. as a husband. as a father. as a friend. I had the fortunate opportunity to serve with him in the committee. to work on many of his endeavors. to share with him the zest for the underprivileged. for the hungry. not only here but around the world. He dedicated his effort and his life. but for the grace of God. he was not on the plane with Micky Leland. He traveled to all of the corners of the world where most Members do not go. He traveled to where there was hunger. to where there was famine. to where there was a problem. We had a very pleasant relationship because I never could spell. and I do not think that I can spell now Cape Girardeau. so that was a constant thing with us. As we recalled some of the personal relationships. my wife made me a present of a beautiful tie with continental type dfums. The day that I wore it with great pride. he came straight to it and said. that is a beautiful tie. about three times. That evening I told my wife. I said: Do you know who liked your tie? BILL EMERSON. Can we get him one. She said: I got this in New York someplace. It was the last one. I do not know if we can. And I said: Well. if you do not mind. I am going to give it to him. And she said: Well. I think it would be nice. We already knew that he had this ailment. So the next day I gave him the tie. May you wear it in good health. That afternoon he was on the floor showing me the tie. Those are the things that we will remember. What we cannot forget is that we cannot say all these thingsabout BILL EMERSON today and forget him tomorrow. We need to dedicate our lives. our service here to that which was his first interest. beyond his family. beyond his country. were those that needed nutrition. the hungry of the world. the hungry of our country. I hope that we as a House and we as individuals dedicate ourselves and remember BILL EMERSON when we work. not necessarily on the budget or the priorities but that there are people hungry who need. to be fed. That is what his purpose in life turned out to be. I hope we honor that. I thank the gentleman from Missouri for allowing me the time.
Date: 1996-06-26
Speaker: HARRY REID (democrat)
Chamber: S
State: Nevada

for their work on this bill. It is within its 602(b) allocation. and conforms very closely to the provisions of the Department of Defense Authorization bill which is pending before the Senate. I know the subcommittee has worked hard to ensure that its provisions are authorized. and at the same time that the budget request of the President has been given full consideration. Mr. President. the bill. at $9.8 billion. is some $1.3 billion below last year. In addition. it is some $200 million below the level as passed by. the House. At the same time. it is about $700 million above the Presidents request. but $368 million of that amount is for additional National Guard and Reserve accounts which have been badly underfunded by the Administration. and $189 million of that is for badly needed additional family housing for our troops. The committee has taken the right step by adding needed funds for the Guard and Reserve. in that the Administration traditionally under funds these accounts. in the expectation that the Congress will add the money. I hope that the Administration will. in next years request. adequately fund the Guard and Reserve. and relieve the Committee of the responsibility of completely rewriting that part of the budget as it is now forced to do. Again. this year. as last year. the military appropriations bill is the first of all the appropriations bills to be passed by the Senate. The subcommittee is to be commended. and. as usual. the bill has wide support in the Senate. I believe all Senators interests and requests have been considered fairly and impartially by the Committee. I commend the staff of the subcommittee. the staff director for the Chairman. Mr. Jim Morhard. and his assistant. Warren Johnson. the minority staff director. who is also the counsel to the full Committee. and on loan to the subcommittee. Mr. Dick DAmato. and his assistant. Mr. B.G. Wright. as well as Peter Arapis and Jerry Reed of Senator REIDs staff. all of whom have done excellent work in delivering this measure in a timely manner to the full Senate.
Date: 1996-06-26
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I do agree with my colleague from Texas. majority leader DICK ARMEY. in that the ethics committee members have a tough job. one that a lot of us do not want. But they also need to know when they need to refer it to a higher authority and in particularly a special counsel. Let me quote todays Los Angeles Times when it says: In cases involving the Lincoln and West Georgia -foundations. money that was intended to support troubled innercity teenagers and atrisk third graders was used Instead to benefit GOPAC and to compensate a Gingrich confidant. Six taxexempt foundations were used to funnel money for political purposes. I know we have talked about tax cuts in this Congress. but that is the ultimate tax cut before we have even voted on it. We get a tax cut to contribute to political campaigns. Not even average folks can do that. That was taken away a good while back on tax reform. But I think that is why we need to vote today for these special resolutions. the privileged resolutions by our colleague. the gentleman from Florida. HARRY JOHNSTON. to make sure that we have an independent counsel to investigate this use of the IRS tax deduction.
Date: 1996-06-26
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I rise in opposition to the Hostettler amendment. Mr. Chairman. my colleagues amendment is misguided and shortsighted. We should be engaged in expanding AmeriCorps. not in its elimination. Almost 3 years ago. when Congress created the AmeriCorps Program. we expected great things from national service. The Congress expected AmeriCorps to help communities meet their public service needs with real results. We expected AmeriCorps to unite individuals from different backgrounds in the common effort to improve our communities. We expected AmeriCorps to encourage its members to explore and exercise their responsibilities to their communities. their families. and themselves. Today. almost 2 years after the first 20.000 AmeriCorps members hit the field in over 1.000 communities across the country. the Corporation for National Service and its AmeriCorps Program has met every one of these expectations. And in many cases. its exceeded them. The essence of the Republican opposition lies in the fact that they dont want to support. something. so closely identified with PresidentClinton. especially something thats been proven as successful as AmeriCorps. Mr. HOSTETTLER. and the rest of my Republican colleagues know that the President will veto this bill if this amendment passes. I believe that the attacks on AmeriCorps are not based on merit. In 1995. the General Accounting Office reported on the status the Na-. tional Service programs. In the GAOs yearlong review of AmeriCorps the GAO confirmed the corporations statements about its funding for each AmefiCorps member. The GAO said that the corporations resources total. about $17.600 per member.- In testimony before the Congress earlier this year. the corporation projected its. costs at approximately $18.800 per member This is precisely in line with what the Congress directed the program to spend. The GAO also saw accomplishments that are consistent with the purpose of the national service legislation. concluding that AmeriCorps is fulfilling the mission we gave it in all of its detail and complexity. Finally. the GAOs figures show that the AmeriCorps programs have far exceeded anyones expectations regarding their ability to raise nontaxpayers dollars to support their programs. Congress told AmeriCorps that it had to meet our commitment to national service with $31 million in locally based matching funds this year. From the private sector alone. the AmeriCorps programs raised $41 million. Every cent of this money came from private donations--not taxpayer dollarsfrom individuals and over 600 companies and foundations. The decision on whether or not to continue national service will tell us a lot about ourselves. We should put partisan politics aside. Lets work together to continue to provide young people an opportunity to help themselves. as they help our communities and learn service as a way of life. AmeriCorps has kept its promise to the American people. The Congress should. too.
Date: 1996-06-26
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman. I rise in support of the Bentsen amendment. and I commend my colleague from Houston for his leadership on this important issue. On March 15. the EPA issued a final rule to amend the Federal PCB regulations and allow the import of PCB waste for disposal in permitted facilities in the United States. This rule allows the importation of foreign PCB waste for disposal in the United States. The EPA has estimated that the United States disposal industry would receive $50 to $100 million annually if PCBs are imported into the United States from Canada and Mexico. And where would PCBs be disposed? In Kansas. Utah. Pennsylvania. Port Arthur. TX. and Deer Park. TX.