macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2001-05-23
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Let me say this about this amendment to cut these education monies for the poorest children in our society and the poorest school districts in our society. Mr. Chairman. we have to put it in context. We have to put it in context. Weare going to finish this bill in the next hour. Then we are going to have a motion to go to conference on a tax bill. a $1.3 trillion tax bill that is going to spend 13 times as much on the top 1 percent of taxpayers in this country than we are going to spend in all of this legislation. Some on that side of the aisle would think that the rich do not have enough money and the poor have too much. This money is absolutely essential in this bill if in fact we are going to bring about the reforms that almost every Member in this body has said that he or she wants for their school districts for the children who reside in those school districts. and if we are in fact going to have those reforms result in the results that we all say we want in terms of the performance of our students. They can chop the money. but they should not come telling me they want the same results. They cannot bring about these reforms on the cheap. They cannot do that. So if we put it in the context of what else this Congress is doing. we tried to explain. it would be difficult to do a first class job on education and also to have a $1 trillion tax cut. but they have made those choices. However. we ought not now. in the same night we are going to do the $1 trillion tax cut. take away from the poorest children in this country their one chance at education. opportunity. and accountability that they have been denied for so very long. That is what we have to understand. That is why we have got to reject the Cox amendment and stay with the bill that was reported from the committee. that was reported out with overwhelmingly bipartisan support.
Date: 2001-05-23
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I want to begin by thanking everybody in the House for their patience as we deliberated this bill. I also want -to begin by thanking staffs on both sides of the aisle for all of their very difficult and hard work. We have spent 2 days deliberating this bill on the floor. The staff of this committee has spent 4 months. along with members of the working group on both sides of the aisle. I want to thank the Members of the working group on our side of the aisle. the gentleman from Michigan . the gentlewoman from Hawaii (Mrs. Mu\K). the gentleman from Indiana . for all of their help on this and on the other side. the gentleman from California and the gentleman from Georgia . the gentleman from Colorado
Date: 2001-05-25
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent to withdraw the following names of Members as original cosponsors of H.R. 1990. These names were inadvertently included as cosponsors of H.R. 1990. I also ask that the first printing of the bill reflect these changes: SANFORD BISHOP. Georgia. LuIs GUTIERREZ. Illinois. DENNIS KUcINICH. Ohio. PATSY MINK. Hawaii. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON. Districtof Columbia. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY. Illinois. DAVID BONIOR. Michigan. ELIJAH CUMMINGS. Maryland. BENJAMIN GILMAN. New York. RUBEN HINOJOSA. Texas. SHEILA JACKSONLEE. Texas. STEVE LATOURETrE. Ohio. CONSTANCE MORELLA. Maryland. MAJOR OWENS. New York. and ROBERT C. SCOTT. Virginia.
Date: 2001-06-05
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. Americans of all political stripes place a very high value on the protection of our environment and public lands. President Bush recently visited the Everglades National Park in Florida. and previous to that he visited Sequoia National Park in California. These photo opportunities are intended to portray an image of a President who cares about the environment. But these Presidential visits are inadequate. and they are also inaccurate because. while the President visits two of our most treasured parks. he and his administration are planning to throw open the door of the public lands of this Nation to increased drilling. mining. logging. road building and contamination of these very public lands. Madam Speaker. these public lands are every bit as important as the national parks that the President has visited. His administration continues to threaten the very stewardship of those public lands and opportunities for American citizens to enjoy them not only throughout the summer months but year around. His administration continues to threaten the Sierra Nevada Conservation Plan. which is about the integrity and the survival of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. and the forest in those mountains in California. Madam Speaker. the President refuses to move forward on the Giant Sequoia National Monument proposal. Mr. President. what we need is your vision for the environment. not just another visit.
Date: 2001-06-12
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker.. I rise today to pay tribute to an innovator. trailblazer. and contributor to the advancement of African Americans. Shirley Chisholm. who in 1968 became the first Black woman elected to Congress. During her seventerm career. Chisholm worked diligently on several committees including Agriculture. Veterans Affairs Committee. Rules. Education. and Labor. The Brooklyn native has truly touched the lives of her fellow Americans. Chisholm is truly an exceptional person for many reasons. Her positive impact on issues involving healthcare. education. and daycare has implemented changes throughout various areas of the community. In 1976 she urged the House to override President Fords veto of a $125 million bill to assist states in meeting federal health. safety and personnel standards for day care centers. Her fight to tougher fair housing legislation is a continuum in America today. Because of her victory in this fight. today millions of children spend their days in safe and decent daycare facilities. Her conscientious efforts have truly left indelible imprints upon society. Mr. Speaker. Chisholms contributions to society and this institution were truly spectacular. As an African American woman in this Congress. I stand on her shoulders and hope to honor and continue her legacy.
Date: 2001-06-13
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. it is not bad enough that the energy wholesalers selling energy into California have been able to continue to gouge the California consumer. California families and small businesses. but now we see that the energy companies have joined with the White House. joined with the Republicans in Congress to launch a campaign that. according to CNN. may spend upwards to $50 million by the energy companies to convince Californians that price caps on wholesale energy costs would be bad for them. The suggestion is that somehow the price gouging that is going on now in California and in the western United States is good for consumers. Yet. we see that. in California. more and more households are unable to pay their energy bills. More and more small businesses are at risk or have already gone out of business because of energy costs. We are starting to see individuals make decisions about locating businesses in California. The White House and its buddies in the energy business ought to stay out of this. What they ought to do is stop gouging the people in California.
Date: 2001-06-14
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. after months and months of watching the Bush administration do nothing to help the California consumers and the California business community with the price gouging that is going on in energy. after months of having the White House act as the puppet of the oil industry. after months of watching an administration that is full of exoil industry executives give private meetings to the oil industry on their energy plan. and seeing the very people who are making the decisions about our energy future hold stock in the energy companies. after months of this kind of activity and insensitivity to the Western energy users in this country. the Republicans and the White House now understand that the American people are no longer going to continue to accept this administration doing nothing about the price gouging that is going on in the western United States with respect to energy while at the same time those very energy executives of the companies that are punishing the California consumer. punishing California businesses. punishing the workers and punishing our economy are cashing stock options worth $300 million as they gouge the people in the western United States.
Date: 2001-06-20
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentlewoman from Minnesota for managing this legislation on the floor. and I thank the gentleman from Delaware for bring this measure to the floor. And I thank the gentleman from California
Date: 2001-06-21
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. and we must support this amendment. We must support this amendment so the energy crisis in California and the West Coast is not allowed to be used as a battering ram by this administration to batter down the designation of national monuments and some of the most valuable and most prized and most beautiful and sacred lands in this entire country. This administration now wants to come in. after all the effort was made to delineate and to make determinations about the values of these lands in terms of their cultural and historic significance. and after the designation of the monument has been given in the name of the people of the United States of America. this administration would try to batter down those designations at the very time when millions of Americans are taking their children and other members of their family and traveling across this country visiting monuments of this country. recognizing the historical importance of these. the cultural importance of these lands. the Craters of the Moon. the Effig.y Mounds. the Little Bighorn Battlefield. Scotts Bluff. the Statute of Liberty. Bandelier National Monument. Gila Cliff Dwellings. White Sands. Governors Island. Oregon Caves. These are all different. In the West we have some monuments. in the East we have different monuments. but this is about the culture of this Nation. You tried to use the energy crisis in California to batter the California consumers. Mr. President. and that did not work. And now we see finally you are taking some actions to help those consumers. You should not use this energy crisis to batter down the designation of these lands. These lands belong to the people of the United States. And when your Secretary of the Interior sends a letter suggesting to consult with just local officials. these are not local parks. these are not local districts. these are national monuments. Why are we not consulting with all the people of this Nation? That is what President Clinton did before he made the designation. There were public hearings. there was a process. because we knew the significance and the importance of a monument designation. We should not cower behind our energy problems in California to try to change the status of these great public lands.
Date: 2001-06-25
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. as a Member of Congress from the great state of Texas and a former nurse. I am particularly concerned about this Houses ability to pass a Patients Bill of Rights. We have all heard the horror stories of patients denied treatment or hospitalization as a result of the assessment of an insurance company or HMO. We have all heard questions from our constituents *about federal action on the Patients Bill of Rights. We all know there is a desire and a need to have a system which allows patients a voice in their health care. Yet because of the fear that the cost of lawyers will drive up the cost of health care. we have failed to act. Mr. Speaker. it is time to replace fear with facts. In Texas. we passed a Patients Bill of Rights in 1997. This bill was passed over the veto of thenGovernor George Bush. Since that time. the Texas Patients Bill of Rights has provided patient protection for many of the residents of my state. The bill of rights allows Texans with health insurance to have direct access to specialists. When a patient sees a doctor. the medical professional is allowed to discuss all treatment options. even those not covered by the plan. If there is a disagreement between patient and provider. there is a strong Independent Review Organization that ensures that patients have an appeal process that recommends solutions. All of these protections have been accomplished with only a slight increase in health care premiums. America deserves the kind of patient protections that Texans currently enjoy. Mr. Speaker. I hope that Members of this House can explain to their constituents. why they cannot have the standard of care currently enjoyed in Texas.
Date: 2001-06-28
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. -I rise in support of ensuring that all warmblooded animals used in research receive the protection for which the Animal Welfare Act entitles them. and therefore oppose the language that has been included in the bill before us which will continue to deny those protections to those species that constitute the majority of the animals used in research. In 1970. the Congress specifically amended the Animal Welfare Act to provide for the protections of all warmblooded animals used in experiments. Since then. however. the U.S. Department of Agriculture has unfairly and illegally denied those modest safeguards to a majority of the research animals. over 20 million birds. rats. and mice used each year. When Congress amended the law. we certainly did not intend to exclude 95 percent of the animals used in research. This is confirmed by our esteemed former colleague from the other body. Senator Bob Dole. who. along with my great friend. the late Congressman George Brown. further improved the treatment of lab animals in 1985. E5 1545 I wish to enter into the RECORD the letter from Senator Dole on this subject. To correct this 30yearold wrong. USDA committed the beginning of the rulemaking process to extendthe Animal Welfare Act regulations to these animals. I am disappointed that the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee chose to add language that prohibits USDA from going forward with this rulemaking which is long overdue. The scientific community must be held accountable to the public for its treatment of animals. The American public expects animal research to be conducted as humanely as possible. We in Congress cannot assure them that if we not only allow. but also encourage. USDA to exclude the majority of research animals from this laws protection. Mr. Chairman. I urge that this language be stricken in the conference committee between the House and the Senate. The letter referred to previously follows:
Date: 2001-07-12
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. it is most unfortunate that the Committee on Rules of this House is thwarting the will of the Members of this House and of the American people to clean up our campaign finance system in this country. For all too long we have seen the flow of special interest money into the coffers of politicians on both sides of the aisle. in the House and the Senate and the White House. and we have seen the effect of this flow of money. It is now corroding the very pillars of our democracy. It is undermining the foundations of our deliberations in the House and the Senate and at the White House. It means that the peoples business does not get done on a fair and level playing field. It means that there is special access for those who can give huge amounts of money. but there is very little access for those who simply have their voice. This is not about the first amendment. this is about whether or not this House. this Congress. this Presidency. will return the Government of the United States back to the people and take it away from those who have no end to the amount of money that they can contribute to Members of Congress or the President. those who have so often distorted the debate about the real needs of the American people at this time in our history.
Date: 2001-07-18
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of the motion to go to conference. We have a historic opportunity to come out of this .conference with an education reform bill that will benefit Americas children. In May we passed an overwhelmingly bipartisan bill -to ensure that all schools are held accountable for producing real results for our children. I want to particularly thank the members of our Committee on Education and Workforce. the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman BOEHNER). the gentleman from Michigan . the gentleman from Delaware
Date: 2001-07-18
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I thank all of the members of the committee on both sides of the aisle andthank all of the professional staff of the committee. which is the entire staff. who have spent an incredible amount of time working through all of the difficult matters that are of concern and controversy and where there were differences of opinion and helped the membership arrive at this bipartisan legislation. Mr. Speaker. I look forward to going to conference under the leadership of the gentleman from Ohio . the chairman.. and believe that we can bring back to the House a bill that will continue to have bipartisan support that again will dramatically change the outcomes and the results in this education system. in the title I system. and that will dramatically improve our opportunities to have qualified teachers. accountability and have the resources necessary to carry out the educational mandates that are contained in this legislation. . Mr. Speaker. I thank my colleagues for all who joined in this discussion. Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.
Date: 2001-07-18
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

changed their vote from "no" to "aye." So the amendment was agreed to. The result of the vote was announced as above recorded. Stated for:
Date: 2001-07-19
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. as Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. I want to share with my colleagues that we have a unanimous vote to vote against this bill and to support the substitute. It should not be a surprise why. We all are victims of. discrimination. We do not want to roll back the clock. We are recipients of faithbased leadership throughout our history. We are -not afraid of faithbased organizations. We support them. We work with them. All of the ministers who were brought here were snookered to think that they were getting something. until they found this clause in the bill. Mr. Speaker. they unanimously decided that it was not worth rolling back the clock and codifying discrimination again in the year 2001. I would ask all of the Members to please support the substitute and vote down the main bill.
Date: 2001-07-23
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Finally. under my reservation I again want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey and the Committee on International Relations for bringing this- matter to the floor. I appreciate their cooperation. Mr. Speaker. I withdraw my reservation of objection.
Date: 2001-07-25
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. on rollcall Nos. 268 and 269Inslee amendment and Hinchy amendmentI was detained in a Senate meeting on Election Reform. Had I been present. I would have voted "yea" on both.
Date: 2001-07-27
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. and I certainly want to join my colleagues on this side of the aisle who have spoken in support of the gentlemans amendment to preclude this administration from weakening the arsenic standard. The chairman of the subcommittee suggested that if this amendment passes. nothing changes. Oh. yes. something changes. What changes is we will stop seeing the EPA administrator. as she did yesterday. suggesting that she may weaken the standard. because if Congress overwhelmingly supports this amendment. the message will come from the House of Representatives that we want the standard to go forward. we wanrt a standard to go forward that protects the American people from increased arsenic in their water supply. and we want the administration to quit fooling around with the special interests for the purposes of weakening this standard. Because that is what the EPA administrator. Ms. Whitman. said yesterday in the newspaper. that quite possibly this standard will be weakened. That is exactly what the National Academy of Sciences suggested we not do. What the National Academy of Sciences suggested we do is the arsenic had to be reduced. and it had to be reduced as promptly as possible. Now what we see after years of work. after years of scientific study. after years of public comment. after years of the process going forward as it should. now the suggestion is somehow that we need good science. Nobody has suggested that this is bad science. Nobody has suggested that. But the offering is now somehow we need good science so we can further delay this activity. The suggestion is somehow this amendment should not go forward because it Would be a rider. Well. let me say. it would be nice to have a rider once in the public interest. because what we spend most of our time doing around here is fighting off riders that are added on to appropriations bills that are there for the special interests. that attack the environment. that attack the kind of regulation to protect the health and safety of the American people and their families in this country. So. yes. I would hope finally we support a rider that defends the public interest and seeks to protect children and to protect families from increased arsenic in the water supply.
Date: 2001-07-27
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent to remove my name as cosponsor of H.R. 1745. My name is mistakenly added as a cosponsor.
Date: 2001-07-30
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 100. I commend the gentleman from New York . the gentleman from Michigan . and the ranking member for bringing this legislation forward. It works in concert with the bill we just passed and brings attention to the very important link. and that is to make sure that very wellqualified teachers are available. Students need this type of expertise in a classroom.