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Floor Speeches

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  • Speaking in favor of the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2008

    Thursday July 31, 2008
    Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Chairman Miller, for your work on this very, very important piece of legislation. For the first time in a decade, Congress is going to pass a Higher Education Act, and I'm happy to sport this long overdue improvement to higher education.
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  • Honoring the legacy of Cesar Chavez

    Tuesday April 01, 2008
    I rise with my colleagues today to remember a great American on his birthday. Cesar Chavez would have been 83 years old yesterday. He devoted his entire life to the betterment of this nation and to its people. He gave voice to the voiceless.
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  • Welcoming and Honoring Monsignor O'Keefe

    Thursday February 14, 2008
    Mr. Speaker, it's my pleasure today to welcome Monsignor O'Keefe as our guest chaplin. Monsignor O'Keefe has been tending to the spiritual and human needs of people in Arizona for over 40 years, of which the last 30 has been in Yuma, Arizona. It is fitting that he provides today's blessing as we also memorialize the passing of Congressman Lantos, a great champion of human rights.
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  • Monsignor O'Keefe from Yuma, AZ Offers the Morning Prayer

    Thursday February 14, 2008
    Ditat Deus - "God enrich us". Those magnificent words are found on the seal of the state of Arizona as we celebrate today our 96th birthday as entering into the United States. So, this morning, we thank God for all those enriched graces he has given to each and every one of us.
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  • In Remembrance of the Citizens Unjustly Incarcerated in the WWII Internment Camps

    Wednesday February 13, 2008
    I rise today to commemorate the day of remembrance. This marks the 66th anniversary of the executive order which authorized the incarceration of over 120,000 Americans, primarily of Japanese descent, but also Italian and German Americans.
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  • Honoring Senior Border Patrol Agent Luis A. Aguilar

    Tuesday February 12, 2008
    I rise in support of that resolution -- House Resolution 954 -- and to honor the life of Senior Border Patrol Agent Luis A. Aguilar, who lost his life in the line of duty near Yuma, Arizona, on January 19th of this year. He lost his life on a border filled with dangers for agents who confront organized drug and people smugglers on a daily basis, smugglers who are prepared to go to great and dangerous lengths to protect their profit and to protect the illegal activities they are conducting on the border.
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  • We must not allow EEOC English-only discrimination

    Thursday November 15, 2007
    I rise again today, to once again bring a sense of reality and a clear light to the immigrant and Latino communities of our nation. Six months ago, my family and I went to the wake of a 19-year-old soldier who died in Iraq, from my hometown of Tucson, Arizona. It was very difficult, especially when his mother asked me to tell her why he died.
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  • Recognizing the contributions of immigrant Veterans

    Wednesday November 14, 2007
    Madam Speaker, I rise today also to honor the soldiers and veterans that sacrificed so much for this nation. In this week in which we celebrated veterans day, it is an appropriate and necessary time to reflect on that sacrifice. And in the congress that often feels the need to scapegoat or debase immigrants, this body also forgets how immigrants enrich our lives.
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  • Speaking in support of HR 2262, the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007

    Thursday November 01, 2007
    Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2262. It is an understatement to say that the West has changed dramatically since 1872, but this law that we are reforming today has not kept pace. Those of us from the West need this legislation to pass to protect the health of our communities, our scarce water supplies and our public lands, which are under continuing threat from an outdated mining law.
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  • Speaking in favor of HR 1483, the Celebrating America's Heritage Act

    Thursday October 25, 2007
    Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be here to support H.R. 1483 as chairman of the subcommittee, but also supporting the larger heritage area bill. One section in particular that applies to my community is the designation of a new heritage area in the Santa Cruz Valley of Arizona.
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  • Honoring César Chávez

    Wednesday March 28, 2007
    Madam Speaker, today I rise to celebrate the life of César Chávez, to commemorate his life, to ask for a national holiday.
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  • Speaking in Favor of H Con Res 63, disapproving of the decision of the President announced to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq

    Thursday February 15, 2007
    Madam Speaker, I won't spend a lot of time assessing the blame and the responsibility for the quagmire that our Nation finds itself in in Iraq, but I do find it curious during this debate that the opponents of this resolution want us to believe that the history of the Iraq war begins today, that it has no past, that it has no consequences, just a doubtful future. This head-in-the-sand attitude, while politically expedient, denies reality and truth.
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  • Speaking on HR 6, the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007

    Thursday January 18, 2007
    Mr. Speaker, in 2005, during the debate on the energy bill, I asked my colleagues to strike down provisions that amounted to more corporate welfare for oil companies. At that time the Republican majority voted down that amendment. Now, as news reports continue to mount regarding the billions of dollars in profit oil and gas companies are reaping we have to look seriously at that policy. Why should the American taxpayer continue to shell out subsidies to oil companies when clearly they need no incentives to drill?
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  • Speaking in favor of HR 5, the College Student Relief Act of 2007

    Wednesday January 17, 2007
    Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5, the College Student Relief Act. And certainly what a relief it is. Madam Speaker, for years, students and families have been burdened by growing debt and Congress' unwillingness to budge on any key higher education issues. The fear of student loan debt causes many would-be students to forgo the better quality of life that a college education offers.
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  • Speaking in favor of bringing the troops home from Iraq

    Friday January 12, 2007
    Mr. Speaker, I believe this Congress has a mandate from the voters to start bringing our troops home from Iraq. This is not an option that we can pursue at our leisure. This is a solemn obligation of absolute urgency. As we speak, preparations are being made to send more of our Nation's sons and daughters to Iraq, with or without our consent, and some are already there.
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  • Speaking in favor of HR 2, the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007

    Wednesday January 10, 2007
    Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2 to give the American people who have to work the hardest for the very least a long overdue raise and increase the minimum wage. The current minimum wage has effectively knocked off the lowest rungs of the economic ladder of this country and kept millions of our Nation's working families in a paycheck-to-paycheck life of insecurity and struggle.
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