macleginn/stanford_congress_record_longer_speeches huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-04-25
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. as every other Member. I have just returned from my congressional district. which includes a major part of the Dallas metropolitan area. and they have some of the highest gas prices in the Nation. Recent reports revealed that gas prices have shot up nearly 25 cents per gallon over the past 2 weeks. In December of 2003. gas averaged $1.50 a gallon. Now gas is reaching $3 a gallon. While I agree that supplyanddemand forces are part of the reason behind the escalating gas prices. I also believe that price gouging is a fundamental problem. Congress must act and enact innovative policies such as windfall profit tax on the gas companies and greater investments in alternative fuels. fuel efficiency. even public transportation. Madam Speaker. I urge the Republican leadership to stop the rhetoric and start thinking about the real change.
Date: 2006-04-25
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of this bill. I believe it provides critical privacy protections to the more than 180 million Americans who use cell phones. It will also protect the privacy of more than 100 million American homes with wired telephones. And it will protect Voice over IP users. now more than 2 million Americans and rapidly risi ng. I think weve heard too many stories of how easy it is to fraudulently obtain cell phone call records and even cell phone locations. Weve heard of how one political blog bought Wesley Clarks cell phone records. but the fact is lots of ordinary Americans have reason to be concemed about the privacy of their phone records. Imagine what a criminal organization could do with the cell phone call records of an undercover law enforcement agent. or what an abuser could do with a spouses cell phone location. No one should be able to get another persons phone records through fraud. and this bill makes it a crime to purchase or use phone records obtained through fraud. I want to thank Chairman SMITH of the Intellectual Property Subcommittee and Ranking Member CONYERS of the Judiciary Committee for their leadership in drafting this legislation. which I believe represents a sensible. bipartisan solution to a growing problem. I urge my colleagues to join me in voting to pass this bill.
Date: 2006-04-25
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

It is insulting. In January. the three of us. along with our colleagues. sat in this Chamber and listened to the President deliver the State of the Union and the line he had in the State of the Union about Americas addiction to oil and that we needed to end it. You know. it is insulting. It is insulting on so many levels. Number one. it is insulting that just last year. and I have made this reference before. I have only been here 14 months now. and in the last 14 months just while I was here. we have voted on two different energy bills that gave away the store to the energy companies. to the oil companies. So it was just so obnoxious when in the Presidents State of the Union he is talking about us. the United States. needing to end. Americans needing to end our addiction to oil. Where have his proposals been? Where has his agenda been? Suddenly today or yesterday he comes up with his five points that we need to move on to address the energy crisis that we are in? I mean. give me a break. The American people understand when their leaders are genuine and when they are scrambling because politically they know there is no other choice.
Date: 2006-04-25
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

This is something that I think the Members who are hearing us should really be able to see while we are talking about it. And following. I mean. the comparison on the heels of what we have just been talking about with two pieces of Republicanled energy legislation giving away the store last year to the oil companies. forgiving taxes. allowing for drilling rights tax free. with taxes being forgiven. In the time that President Bush has been in office. when he took office January 20 of 2001. gas prices. Americans paid $1.45. a gallon. Now. fast forward to today. and we now pay an average price of $2.91 a gallon. Now. in 5 years. a little more than 5 years.
Date: 2006-04-25
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

That is okay. So people understand what we are talking about. those two billslast year cost taxpayers more than $12 billion. with a B. billion dollars in giveaways to big oil companies. That was in the legislation where essentially taxes they were required to pay they did not hav6 to pay because those pieces of legislation forgave those taxes
Date: 2006-04-25
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

In the evolution of gas prices that you have on that chart. 2002. $1.39. 2003. $1.57. and $1.90 in 2004. $2.37 in 2005. andnow an average of $2.91 in 2006. in between that time. because I have not been in Congress all those years. and you have. have the Republicans who have controlled Congress all of this time. and President Bush who has beenPresident all of this time. have they put forward any proposals to fund. significantly fund. alternative energy sources? Has there been anything that has been initiated by the Republican leadership here. by this White House maybe that I didnt see since I was still in the State legislature to fend this off. to make it less likely that the situation we are in now we wouldnt find ourselves in? Because the President did say in his remarks and commentary in the last several days about what control he did or didnt have over gas prices. that he really wasnt able to control market forces. I mean. I heard him say that. Well. no. he probably cant control market forces. but there are certainly things that they could have put forward. But I havent seen it. Did they?
Date: 2006-04-25
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Some people might be concerned about our commentary here and you referring to profits as being obscene. because. obviously. in a capitalistic society we understand and think profit is a good thing. So I think it is important that people understand what we mean. .While giving away the store. while giving away $12 billion in tax breaks.
Date: 2006-04-25
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

My experience with tax breaks as a State legislator and now a Member of Congress is that you generally give those kinds of breaks to help a business get back on its feet. thrive. to maybe bridge them through a difficult time. In 2002. the oil companies made a combined profit of $34 billion..In 2003 it was $59 billion.
Date: 2006-04-25
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

That was only the tip of the iceberg. because if you continue down the road. and remember. I just got here. and so we will get to 2005 in a minute. But it was 2005 that the $16 billion was granted that we have been talking about. But you go to 2003: $59 billion in profits. Also the same oil companies.
Date: 2006-04-25
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Not bad if you can do it. And then you go to 2005. In a year where we passed two major energy bills that gave away $16 billion in tax breaks and subsidies to the oil companies. they made. last year. $113 billion. and one of those companies made more money in one quarter than any company in U.S. history.
Date: 2006-04-25
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Can I ask you a question. Mr. DELAHUNT. again because you have more direct experience with this than I do? My understanding is that the oil companies. they do not own the areas of the gulf and the other places that they drill for oil. The Federal Government sells them essentially. through payment of taxes. the rights to drill. that these are essentially public lands. whether they are .in the Gulf of Mexico or wherever they are drilling. I mean whether it is Texas or any portion. I do not believe any of the area is private land. any of the significant area. So when we forgive the oil companies taxes. we are basically giving away the ownership rights to a private company that the government owns and just saying. here. take our oil stores for free. Is that right?
Date: 2006-04-25
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you for your generosity. What we are saying. I want to underscore what we are saying when we say we are not opposed to profit. because that profit we had up there a minute ago. if it happened and the oil companies were being asked to pay their fair share. if they were paying the royalties and the taxes that they are supposed to be under the law to the Federal Government for the rights to drill. you know what? You cant begrudge them the profits. because that is the free market system. But they are not. They are being given these oil rights for free. for no remuneration or very little remuneration whatsoever. And they dont need it. They are not struggling. Far from it. The people who are struggling now are Americans who need to go to work. who need to get their kids to school.
Date: 2006-04-25
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. DELAHUNT. given that I am from Florida and have a particular sensitivity to not using much heat. can you explain what the LIHEAP program is?
Date: 2006-04-25
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. DELAHIUNT. can I just describe the difference between the Alice in Wonderlandlike policy that is made here. where down is up and down is up. and reality? At the end of Alice in Wonderland. Alice woke up and it was a dream and she could go back to what reality really was for her.
Date: 2006-04-25
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

I just want to ask you another question. As we went through last year and we debated those energy bills. and I remember when they went through -the committees and then actually came. at least one of them did not even go to committee. it just came to the floor. And ilcame out on this Chamber. One of those bills was yet another example of the red lights changing to green lights. and the board being held open. I think the energy bill that I am referring to. I know the board was held open for at least 40 minutes. until the Republican leadership got the vote that they wanted. Now. we have asked repeatedly. where is the outrage? Where was the outrage then when Republicans. rankandfile Republicans. who not only needed some courage. but could have gotten some advice from the Scarecrow and the Tin Man then. too. for some heart and some brains. but where was the outrage? And what did that mean? Essentially what did it mean when they had the opportunity. when they put their no vote up on the board. yet the leadership came to them on the floor. wrenched their arm behind their back. and what did they do? They were rubberstamp Republicans yet again. Rubberstamp Republicans. And I just. time after time I have noticed that that is really the best way t9 describe the vast majority of Members of the Republican Caucus. because they have the opportunity to have some courage. they- do not. have any. What do they have? They have the ability to just say. uhhuh. sure. I will do it exactly the way you want it. Mr. Republican Leader.
Date: 2006-04-25
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

He has never been forced to veto any legislation or sent anything that they were afraid he would not like. And I want to know. where are our colleagues on the other side of the aisle. where is their line? Where is the line that we know we all have. that says. you know. this far and no farther? I just cannot do it. They do not have that line.
Date: 2006-04-25
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

In our final minute or so. I can tell you that what I learned from my constituents when I went back home is that they know that together America can do better. It does not have to be this way. We do not have to keep going. And through our efforts and the efforts of our" other Democratic colleagues. our 30something Working Group will continue to take the floor each night. I yield to my colleague from Florida to close us out. We do have a Website.
Date: 2006-04-26
Speaker: HARRY WINGO (democrat)
Chamber: S

Counsel. Committee on Commerce. Science. and Transportation. U.S.. Senate. Russell Senate Office Building. Washington. DC. DEAR MR. WINGO: On behalf of Gold Star Wives of America. Im writing to support the "Call Home Act of 2006" which directs the FCC to seek to reduce telephone rates for Armed Forces personnel deployed overseas. Gold Star Wives has a chatroom for new widows of the Iraq and Afghanistan Conflict. Our survivors of the Global War on Terrorism know first hand how important it is to have frequent contact with their loved ones deployed overseas. With reduced phone rates for those serving overseas. it would certainly help permit more frequent phone calls to keep in touch with loved ones. It would be a great morale booster. Thank you for this bill. and if we can help in any way. please dont hesitate to contact me. Gold Star Wives of America.. Inc. is a member of The Military Coalition. Sincerely.
Date: 2006-04-26
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. I urge my colleagues to join me today in supporting H.R. 282. the Iran Freedom Support Act. I want to thank Ms. RoSLEHTINEN and Mr. LANTOS for drafting this bill that has gathered great support from our colleagues to address the urgent and problematic situation in Iran. This bill will extend and strengthen existing sanctions designed to cut off funds Iran could use for its illicit atomic programs. Inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over the past three years have turned up evidence that Iran has been pursuing nuclear technology for nearly two decades. Despite recent rulings by the IAEA Board of Governors that found Iran to be in noncompliance with its Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty safeguards agreement. and a presidential statement last month by the United Nations Security Council that called upon Iran to reinstitute its voluntary suspension of enrichment and reprocessing. Iran has stated that it will continue development of its nuclear program. The U.S. and our allies cannot stand by and watch Iran develop nuclear capabilities. and this legislation is just a first step in what must be done to address this problem. A state that has vowed to continue supporting terrorist activity against the West and the U.S.. has openly stated that Israel must be wiped off the map. and has threatened to retaliate to international pressure and sanctions by giving nuclear technology to other states. must be dealt with before it has a robust nuclear program. Irans pursuit for weapons of mass destructionand nuclear technology in particularalong with its outright support for international terrorism require a strong response from our government. Passing H.R. 282 is a first step in addressing this urgent situation. and I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill.
Date: 2006-04-26
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. Members of the House. it is a pleasure to be here tonight as the 30something Working Group takes the floor each night to talk about our. concerns. both as it relates to our generation and our generations perspective. and also as it relates to the issues that are important to America. I can tell you that our thanks goes out to our minority leader. Ms. PELOSI and Mr. HOYER. We have been given the privilege to come to the floor and talk about the concerns of all Americans. And. boy. Mr. RYAN. who I am pleased that you have joined me once again tonight. we have been spending quite a bit of time together in the last 14 months since I joined you in the United States Congress. and it has truly been an honor and a pleasure. There is sure a lot to talk about. We are facing so many different crises. so many different crises of the confidence of Americans. that it is hard to know where to begin sometimes when we take the floor each night. But I know that the thing that is most on the minds of at least the constituents that I represent. and I am certain the ones that you do. because no matter where we go now. particularly in the last 2 weeks when we were home. gas prices and the energy crisis. because there is no other term you can apply to it. that we are in right now is foremost on the minds#)f Americans. It is virtually impossible for many Americans to be able to afford to get themselves around their communities. Even when they have mass transit. we are literally stuck in the present. We are stuck in neutral. and it is time to shift into overdrive when it comes to looking towards the future and pursuing alternative energy sources. I mean. when is there going to be some leadership on the Republican side of the aisle here? When is there going to be. instead of political scrambling at the last minute. which is what we have seen in the last several days when now we know they have reached the point of no return in terms of being forced to respond to what is going on with gas prices. when are we going to see some leadership step up? When are we going to see some backbone? It is just astonishing to me that I guess our Republican colleagues are willing to ignore the concerns of their constituents. ignore the plight that they are facing. You cant turn on the news anywhere in this country and not see a reporter sticking a microphone in one of our constituents faces and saying. ydu. know. how are you able to afford to fill up your tank? It is mindboggling. I yield to the gentleman.
Date: 2006-04-26
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

And you sort of scratch your head and wonder who is it that he is listening to? Who is it that he is hearing? Because it is certainly not the average American. I am a mini van mom. as you heard me say here on this floor. I drive a mini van and I am schlepping my kids all over the place. soccer and baseball and dance class and all that stuff. and let me tell you it is no less than $50 to fill up my minivan every single time I need to fill up. And fuel economy is one thing and one could argue. okay. DEBBIE. you should drive a smaller car. you should do what you can. take some ownership and some accountability and try to consume less gas. But when you have three kids. I have twin almost 7yearolds and a 2-/27yearold. There is only so small a vehicle that you can drive with all the stuff and getting your kids around and having to carpool and throw other kids in the car with you. I mean some of the external advice is just not doable. So when you need to drive a vehicle of a certain size. out of necessity. it is going to cost you $50.
Date: 2006-04-26
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

If the -gentleman would yield for 1 second. there is a little bit of irony here. Today is April 26. 2006. and we are about 6 months from the election. Isnt it interesting that today.* suddenly 6 months before the election. as the heat is intensifying. and elections get closer. and the concern. increaseq on the part of our Republican colleagues. about the likelihood of their losing quite a few seats as a result of their not doing what they should have been doing. it becomes more and more of a likelihood and a reality that hearings are beginning to be held. the President is rolling out plans to address the energy crisis and gas prices? You know. the American people are a little bit smarter than that. They get it. They get when scrambling is going on. when people are trying to. hmmm. I guess the best way to put it is to save their tuchases. That is a Yiddish term. for those of you that dont know what it means.
Date: 2006-04-26
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

I was just going to suggest that you put some of the comments from the generals up on the easel.
Date: 2006-04-26
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

While you are putting up the other very damning commentary from the myriad of generals that have called for either Secretary Rumsfelds resignation or for the President to ask for that resignation. I think it is important to point out that in the face of that unprecedented pressure and unprecedented nonpolitical motivation. because certainly the motives of retired generals could not be questioned. the status quo is being preserved. a steadfast. benign status quo. and that is just yet another example of the bobblehead. rubberstamp Republicans.
Date: 2006-04-26
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

You know what else I noticed in the last 14 months since I have been here in my experience is that we havent had a single Republican come to the defense of these generals or agree. step forward and agree with them. My belief in terms of our role here as public servants is that sometimes you cant be afraid to stand alone. You have to be willing tostand up for the courage of your convictions. even when no one is behind you. because you are the one that has to wake up and look at yourself in the mirror in the morning and know you have done the right thing. and you are only with yourself at the end of the day when you put your head on that pillow. What I have noticed is not a single colleague of ours on the Republican side of the aisle has stepped forward and said. yes. it is time for Secretary Rumsfeld to resign. it is time for some fresh blood. for some new ideas. for some acknowledgment that it is not going in the right direction. Why? Because this is what we have on the other side of the aisle in this Chamber. We have bobblehead Republicans. We have people who just shake their head up and down and up and down anti are willing to just rubberstamp whatever it is that they are asked to support. or oppose. for that matter. It is astonishing.
Date: 2006-04-26
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

I know the answer. For the same reason that there has been no accountability. for nothing that Congress should have been exercising its role of oversight of this administration. Where were the independent hearings as far as Katrina? Where were the hearings for the culture of corruption? Where is the Ethics Committee and its total lack of operation in investigating case after case of Members on the other side of the aisle who have violated and been accused of violating the public trust? Where has the outrage been? The answer is the same. Mr. DELAHUNT. They do not care. on the Republican side of the aisle. to exercise Congress oversight role. They have. ceded. willingly. the legislative branchs oversight role. ceded the authority to the executive branch. And you know. I have been a legis- later for 13 years. it is almost 14 years now. It is the thing that I believe we should most jealously guard. our oversight role. the system of checks and balances. our ability to hold the administration. the executive branch. accountable. even when it is our own administration. I mean. there certainly was not any hesitation on the part of this Republican Congress to hold the administration accountable and have plenty of hearings from the most minute and unimportant to the significant when there was a Democratic President. But oh. no. as soon as there is a Republican President. we do not need to ask him any questions. we are just going to let them do whatever they want. Why? Because they are perfectly happy to be a rubberstamp Republican Congress. I think the American people are sick and tired of not having people here that serve in the Congress that they send here to stand up and do the right thing. express outrage. understand what they are going through. I mean. I do not know how some of the constituents. the citizens in America. are tolerating their Member that they have elected staying silent on all of these important issues. I do not get it.