macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-07-18
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I thank the gentleman from Texas for his comments about the supercommittee. I think we all wished it had succeeded. It did not. but it was a privilege to serve with my colleague from Texas. Let me just make a quick correction on the math. I think everybody knows. under the Budget Control Act. which was enacted last September. we cut $1 trillion from the budget. 100 percent cuts. The alternative that the Democrats have proposed to the sequester takes a balanced approach of additional cuts. but also revenue. In fact. the 1year proposal that we put forward puts additional cuts in direct payments. excessive subsidies under the farm bill. Yes. we also eliminate taxpayer subsidies to the big oil companies. Former President Bush testified that. when oils over $50 a barrel. you dont need taxpayers shelling out dollars to encourage big oil companies to invest. So we think we should eliminate those subsidies to help remove the sequester. including the sequester on defense. Lets make no mistake. The reason were here is that our Republican colleagues deliberately chose. as part of the sequester. to put defense spending on the chopping block along with other spending. That was the choice above an offer to deal with revenue as part of a sequester. And when the choice boiled down to cutting tax subsidies for oil companies and other special tax breaks or cutting defense. Republicans chose to put in the sequester cutting defense. Now. I know we have a hearing today in the Armed Services Committee. I see the distinguished chairman on the floor today. I have to commend him because he has said before that if he were faced with that choice he would take that mixed. more balanced approach. And that ultimately is what were going to have to do. Thats the approach thats been taken by every bipartisan commission thats looked at this challenge. With that. I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania . a member of the Budget Committee.
Date: 2012-07-18
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

There was one other gentleman who said he was on his way. Hes not here yet. If he is not here by the time you finish. we will close.
Date: 2012-07-19
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker I rise in support of the Make It in America plan. a series of bills set forth by House Democrats to put America back to work. In the 29th District of Texas. we hold job fairs throughout the year to help our constituents find a job and make better lives for themselves and their families. The American public continually cites job creation and economic growth as the top concerns in the Nation. The Make It in America plan aims to strengthen the economy and boost the middle class through continuing to grow our manufacturing and energy production sectors and creating jobs in America. Make It in America focuses on competition. investing in infrastructure. clean energy jobs. increased education. smart tax policies. and smart regulations. Unfortunately. the majority in the 112th Congress has failed to bring these jobcreating plans to the floor for a vote and continually refuses to put forward a comprehensive jobs plan. Congress must focus our legislative priorities. invest in our future. create good middle class jobs and increase Americas competitiveness around the globe. By creating these jobs for hardworking Americans. the other areas of our economy will be stimulated. I urge the majority to take up these bipartisan bills and help the American people get back to work.
Date: 2012-07-19
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. every citizen deserves an equal opportunity to make it in America. Last week. I. along with Democratic Whip STENY HOYER and other members of the Democratic Caucus unveiled a plan to jumpstart growth in the United States manufacturing industry and support job creation that we so desperately need. My bill. the Advancing Innovative Manufacturing Act of 2012. makes investments to spur innovation and increase the competitiveness of American manufacturers. In order for America to make it. we need to maintain the capacity to manufacture new and innovative products right here at home in America. The Make It In America agenda will do just that. Mr. Speaker. I would say: Let all of us face and focus on our responsibility to Americas business and press ahead to make it all in America.
Date: 2012-07-19
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I move to strike the last word. The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Maryland is recognized for 5 minutes.
Date: 2012-07-25
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman. the bill before us today is nothing more than a cynical attempt to put the profits of wellconnected special interests above the interests of working families and middle class Americans. But this is nothing new. In this House. ideology prevails over bipartisanship. the powerful over the middle class families. politics over job creation. and brinksmanship over cooperation. Congress has paid the price in its approval ratings. but low approval ratings do not compare to the damage that this sort of politics inflicts upon the American people and our economy. Indeed. our Nations working families are paying the price. There was a chance for the House to put working people first by allowing the full debate and vote on a number of amendments filed by Democrats that would have put people first. Unfortunately. the House Republican leadership blocked many of these amendments from being considered for this legislation. One amendment would have ensured that "Buy America" provisions could be implemented. Another amendment would have facilitated job protection and family leave for military families. [] 1650 Another would have insured that Federal contractors recruit and employ veterans. Another amendment would have allowed health and safety officials to continue their efforts to better protect the Nations miners from black lung disease. The facts are indisputable. Black lung is on the rise again. and some mine operators are exploiting loopholes and obsolete rules to evade compliance. The present system is badly broken. and the improvements are desperately needed. Its time to move forward with modern protections based upon years of careful scientific study. Blocking efforts by the Mine Safety and Health Administration to modernize miner protections will only cost the lives. careers. and family income of those who go underground every day to provide the energy that this country needs. Mr. Chairman. this bill puts the lives and the wellbeing of working people in serious peril. It threatens the effort to protect American jobs. Its not what the American people sent us here to do. It is well past time to put these transparently political efforts behind us and work together to reenergize the economy. to grow and to strengthen the middle class. And I urge my colleagues to vote against this very special interest bill.
Date: 2012-07-25
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Chair. I seek to offer an amendment. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: Page 8. line 10. insert after the period the following: "Such term does not include a rule that would prevent or reduce deaths or injuries caused by explosions and fires related to the ignition of combustible dusts in the workplace.". Page 10. after line 13. insert the following: (c) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTION.-Section 202 shall not apply to a rule that would prevent or reduce deaths or injuries caused by explosions and fires related to the ignition of combustible dusts in the workplace. Page 10. line 14. strike "(c)" and insert "(d)". The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 738. the gentleman from California and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
Date: 2012-07-25
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Chair. my amendment would allow the Occupational Health and Safety Administration to continue efforts to prevent combustible dust and fire explosions in the workplace. Combustible dust explosions threaten lives. limbs. jobs and property across this country. And its abundantly clear that Federal regulatory action is needed. but the bill before us today threatens to block that action. Beginning in 2003. the Chemical Safety Board investigated three major explosions caused by combustible dust in North Carolina. Kentucky and Indiana. where 14 workers lost their lives. As part of its investigation. the board identified hundreds of other combustible dust fires and explosions. causing at least 119 fatalities and 718 injuries over 15 years. The board recommended that OSHA issue rules to protect against these hazards because the existing OSHA protections were inadequate. The investigators were not alone. Family members have also asked that action be taken. Tammy Miser of Kentucky testified before Congress how her brother. Shawn Boone. was killed in a metal dust fire in an aluminum wheel plant in Huntington. Indiana. in 2003. She told us how Shawn suffered from this horrific event. She said that Shawn did not die instantly. He laid on the smoldering floor after the explosion while aluminum dust burned through his flesh and muscle tissue. His breaths burned his internal organs as the blast took his eyesight. Shawn was still conscious and asking for help when the ambulance took him. He lived for a number of hours before he finally succumbed to his injuries. Shawn wasnt the first to die at work this way. and he hasnt been the last. Its been more than 4 years since the Imperial Sugar explosion in Georgia. That explosion killed 13 workers. It caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. The tragedy was the result of unchecked accumulation of sugar dust that ignited and caused a chain of explosions. and Port Wentworth sugar refinery was leveled. These workplace explosions have not stopped. There have been 23 major combustible dust fires or explosions that have killed 15 and injured 35 since that Imperial Sugar explosion in Georgia. The response of OSHA has been to begin the development of a rule to reduce the risk of combustible dust explosions. That rule should be allowed to go forward. and this bill threatens the opportunity of that bill to go forward. I reserve the balance of my time. [] 2030
Date: 2012-07-25
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Chair. I demand a recorded vote. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII. further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from California will be postponed.
Date: 2012-07-31
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to recognize and celebrate the achievements of VietBao Daily News. They are celebrating their 20th anniversary in the Vietnamese American community. For 20 years. VietBao Daily News has served its readers with comprehensive news. current affairs. as well as information from the broader community and from Vietnam. VietBao Daily News is also a venue for the Vietnamese people to preserve the Vietnamese language and cultural values through the Writing on America Award initiative. This is a writing competition that they hold every year that allows the Vietnamese American community to write short stories about their experiences. whether their experiences are those of coming over from Vietnam or of their experiences here. They judge it. They have winners. Then they make a compilation of these written stories. Its for the archives. Its for the future. Its for their community to understand where they come from. Its also for the broader American community to understand. So I would like to congratulate all of the winners and the participants of the 2012 Writing on America and Teen Writing awards for submitting so many incredible stories. some of which I have had the opportunity to read. Again. congratulations to your staff and for your dedication towards the community on this 20th anniversary.
Date: 2012-08-01
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. although I have great affection for the gentleman from South Carolina. I am so enthusiastic that Ranking Member SLAUGHTER is managing this bill. I rise in great opposition to H.R. 8. but in enthusiastic support for H.R. 15. This is a gift to Americas women. working women. mothers. And let me give you the role: every taxpayer will get tax relief on $250.000. That. by the evidence of this letter from small businesses. will be 97. 98 percent of small businesses. And they are womenmost of them. many of themwomen who are in their homes having a oneperson small business. women who have hired people in a fiveperson small business. women who are thinking of getting ready to start their small businesses. Then. of course. the child tax credit. What a boon for working mothers and others who need that desperate relief. And then. of course. the marriage tax relief. EITC. if you come from the gulf region. we were saved by the earned income tax credit for Hurricane Katrina victims. They were able to get some minimal relief to carry them through. The higher education tax credit. The adoption tax credit. And as I indicated. the child care tax credit. A tax credit. as well. for expensing in small businesses. What are my colleagues and my friends on the other side talking about? A jobkilling. economykilling. deficitbusting H.R. 8 is not the way to go. So I am enthusiastically here to tell the women of America that this is a vote for you today. Those women who get up every day. who design a way to make a living when there is no jobthese women. along with men. who have come into understanding what small business can do for America. Im excited because I consider the 18th Congressional District to be a host of small businesses. Everywhere I go. individuals are talking about their small businesses.
Date: 2012-08-01
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank the ranking member and the chairwoman of this committee for bringing us together. I dont like sanctions. Mr. Speaker. but I rise in strong support of this legislation. And when I say that. I understand what sanctions can do to women and children and families. In fact. Im reminded of a debate on apartheid and sanctions in South Africa. That debate was a question of whether you undermine that nation. But we saw what happened with sanctions when we came together as a Nation to bring down the dastardly structure of apartheid. Iran. right now today. can stop this legislation by shedding itself of all signs of building a nuclear weapon. The regime change is not by war. This bill does not suggest war. It means that voluntarily. by election. their government can change. But what I believe is most important is that we recognize. having seen that fallen woman bleeding in the street. that human rights abuses are massive. Theyre massive in their influence on Iraq. where theyre influencing the treatment of residents of Camp Ashraf. That must stop. So this legislation is crucial because it impacts the human rights abuses. it indicates that there is no giving on a nuclear weapon. and it gives Iran. right now today. the ability to stop this legislation and sanctions by owning up to eliminating any sign of a nuclear weaponization. treating its people with dignity. and responding to the needs of the people in Camp Ashraf. I support the legislation enthusiastically.
Date: 2012-08-01
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of the conference report to H.R. 1905. the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012. This bipartisan legislation represents the strongest set of sanctions to isolate any country in the world during peacetime. It is imperative that our nation takes all steps necessary to isolate Iran. force them to end their dangerous pursuit of nuclear weapons. and secure that the regime in Teheran will no longer be a threat to peace and prosperity in the Middle East. Once this legislation is passed and signed into law. virtually all of Irans energy. financial. and transportation sectors would be subject to U.S. sanctions. Companies conducting business in these industries would face the possibility of losing access to U.S. markets. I also applaud the inclusion of sanctions against human rights abusers in Iran and Syria in this legislation. The deplorable actions by the political and military leaders in Iran and Syria against their own people must come to an immediate halt and deserve global condemnation. Important allies. such as the European Union. Canada. Australia. Japan. South Korea. India. and Israel. have joined the American people in enacting sanctions against Iran. It is important that this Chamber say with a strong. unified voice that we stand with Israel during these difficult times. As cochair of the Democratic Israel Working Group. I call on Members from both sides of the aisle to vote in support of this bipartisan resolution. I would also like to take a moment to thank the President for his leadership on sanctions on Iran. Yesterday. President Obama signed an Executive Order that imposes new sanctions against the Iranian energy and petrochemical sectors. as well as sanctions against those who are providing material support to the National Iranian Oil Company. Naftiran Intertrade Company. or the Central Bank of Iran. These measures will help strengthen the existing sanctions regime and bring Iran that much closer to ending its heedless quest for nuclear weapons.
Date: 2012-08-01
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. its very important everyone understand the choice thats facing the House today. The Democrats will offer an amendment that will immediately extend tax relief to 100 percent of American people. The Senate has already passed that proposal. and if our Republican colleagues vote for it today. we can send it down to the White House. the President will sign it today. Someone asked what were going to do today. We could provide immediate tax relief to 98 percent of the American people. Now. lets be clear. The Democratic proposal provides tax relief to everybody up to $250.000. What our Republican colleagues are saying is they will deny tax relief to 98 percent of the American people. unless people making over $250.000 get a bonus. an extra tax cut. In other words. unless the top 2 percent get an extra tax cut. nobody else gets anything. It gets worse. Weve heard a lot of talk here about small businesses. that we need to adopt the Republican plan in order to support small businesses. Its just not true. The Democratic proposal. according to the nonpartisan Independent Joint Tax Committee. provides tax relief to 97 percent of the businesses that were talking about here. In fact. they point out that the other 3 percent of businesses include about 20.000 passthrough businesses that make over $50 million a year. Now. they may be good businesses. but these are not momandpop businesses. The language were hearing from our Republican colleagues would use small businesses as a cover to providing breaks for firms like Fortune 100 Pipeline Company Enterprise Products Partners. PricewaterhouseCoopers. good business. not a momandpop. KKR Investment Banking. and guess what. Bain Capital. Bain Capital. the kind of small business that our Republican colleagues are trying to protect. This is all really in service to the trickledown ideology. We tried it in the Bush administration. At the end of 8 years we actually saw a net job loss.
Date: 2012-08-01
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

We tried trickledown. We lived it. we saw a net job loss. But who picked up the tab? The rest of the country because it drove a huge hole in our deficit. and in order to deal with that. if we dont ask folks at the top to pay a little bit more. the rest of the country ends up picking up the tab. Thats just not right. and it doesnt help the economy.
Date: 2012-08-01
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of H.R. 15. and ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to come together in support of H.R. 15. the Democratic alternative offered by our colleague from the Ways and Means Committee. Mr. LEVIN. I have consistently supported and voted for middle class tax cuts. as I did two years ago when I voted for the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2010. and the extension of unemployment benefits. The intelligent Democratic substitute offered by my Ways and Means colleague temporarily extends for one year. through 2013. the reduced tax rates and other tax benefits enacted in 2001 and 2003 that expire on Dec. 31but only for income levels below $250.000 for joint tax returns and $200.000 for individuals. This is smart tax policy which acknowledges the deficit problem but does not squelch tax benefits for those most in need. It also extends the expanded education tax credit. child tax credit and earned income tax credit benefits that were included in the 2009 stimulus law and extended in the 2010 tax extension law. those provisions unfortunately are not included in H.R. 8. On the other hand. the Democratic proposal does the following:
Date: 2012-08-01
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Thank you. Representative ESHOO. and thank you to all who have brought this important bipartisan resolution forward. I remember. as the Internet was beginning to take off commercially. that we had a discussion here in the government. Again. it was bipartisan. and there was an understanding that the Commerce Department was not going to be able to run the Internet. We did something that was a risk. but it worked out pretty well. We created ICANN. which basically allowed a multistakeholder. nongovernmental organization to do the technology. to assign the names and numbers. Theyve not been perfect but not half bad. What is before us today is a threat to what has been. as my colleague Mr. MARKEY has said. the greatest force in modern times for communication. for growth. for lowbarrier entry into innovationthe Internet. Whether it is to tax it or to censor it for political or cultural reasons. we are aware that there are those around the world who wish to burn the Internet. We need to take a stand in this body and with our administration to say "no" to that. Whether the attempts to control the Internet from the top down come from an international body like the International Telecommunication Union or from international trade agreements and treatiesand there have been many threats to the Internet that have been included in our international treaties or even sometimes from our own governmentwe need to stand up and protect the Internet and the freedor that it embodies. We know that the multistakeholder approach is critical to the continued robust growth of the Internet. We also know that the transparent. multistakeholder model has made the Internet such a hugely successful global platform for economic growth. human rights. and the free flow of information. Im proud to stand with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to say that America is going to stand up for freedom. were going to stand up for technology. and were not going to allow anyone. whatever their intentions may be. to threaten the freedom of the Internet to succeed. I appreciate Mrs. BONO MACKs efforts in this regard. along with Ms. ESHOOS. and the entire committee. Im proud to be a cosponsor of the measure. I look forward to its resounding success in a vote tomorrow.
Date: 2012-08-01
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today to encourage all of my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 2446. the RESPA Home Warranty Clarification Act. Before I explain exactly why this legislation is so important and vital. let me first take a moment to thank my friend and colleague. and my fellow Financial Services Committee member and the sponsor of this legislation.