William F. Smith

The Public Record

Quotes by year · 1994–2024291 total · peak 2004 (43)

★ Featured Quote

May 7, 2024

We urge Congress to take this obligation seriously and provide the urban Indian organizations and IHS with all the resources necessary to protect the lives of the entirety of the native population.

— William F. Smith

Most widely reported

by number of sources

Mr. Speaker, I support House Concurrent Resolution 35 which recognizes the 100th anniversary of the NAACP. For a century now, the NAACP has fought to bring justice and racial equality to all of America. In 1917, the NAACP won a legal victory in the Supreme Court which held that States could not restrict and officially segregate black Americans into residential districts. The same year the NAACP fought for the right of black Americans to be commissioned as officers in World War I. In 1935, NAACP lawyers Charles Houston and Thurgood Marshall won a legal battle to admit a black student to the University of Maryland. During World War II, the NAACP led the effort that resulted in President Franklin Roosevelt's ordering a nondiscrimination policy in war-related industries and Federal employment. And in 1948, the NAACP convinced President Harry Truman to sign an executive order banning discrimination by the Federal Government. In 1954, under the leadership of Special Counsel Thurgood Marshall, the NAACP won one of its greatest legal victories in Brown v. Board of Education, which found segregated schools and other educational facilities in the United States to be unlawful. In 1960, in Greensboro, North Carolina, members of the NAACP Youth Council launched a series of nonviolent sit-ins at segregated lunch counters. The segregation ended.2 sources2009govinfo.gov
Beginning in the mid-1950s, a number of private colleges and universities agreed to award financial aid solely on the basis of demonstrated need. These schools also agreed to use common criteria to assess each student's financial need and to give the same financial aid award to students admitted to more than one member of that group of schools. From the 1950s to the late 1980s, the practice continued undisturbed. In 1989, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice brought suit against nine of the colleges involved that engaged in this practice. After extensive litigation, the parties reached a settlement in 1993. In 1994, and again in 1997, Congress passed a temporary exemption from the antitrust laws that codified that settlement. It allowed agreements to provide aid on the basis of need only, to use common criteria, to use a common financial aid application form, and to allow the exchange of the student's financial information through a third party. It also prohibited agreements on awards to specific students. This exemption expires on September 30, 2001. H.R. 768 would make the exemption passed in 1994 and 1997 permanent.2 sources2001govinfo.gov
Mr. Speaker, the Visa Waiver Pilot Program allows aliens traveling from certain designated countries to come to the United States as temporary visitors for business or pleasure without having to obtain the nonimmigrant visa normally required. The program authorizes the Attorney General to waive the ``B'' visa requirement for traveling aliens coming from those certain countries that have qualified. There are currently 29 countries participating in this program. Since its initial enactment as a temporary program in 1986, the Visa Waiver Pilot Program, often referred to as the VWPP, has been regularly extended by Congress. The current legislation expires on April 30. Fourteen years is a long time for a pilot program. It is time to make the VWPP permanent. H.R. 3767, the Visa Waiver Permanent Program Act, will make the visa waiver program permanent, more secure, and end the need to permanently reauthorize the program. H.R. 3767 is a bipartisan bill. It was passed unanimously by the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims and the Committee on the Judiciary. The tourism and travel industry strongly supports this legislation. Visa-free travel under the program has increased tourism in the United States from participating countries. More than 17 million visitors enter the United States under the visa waiver program each year.2 sources2000govinfo.gov
Frivolous lawsuits bankrupt individuals, ruin reputations, drive up insurance premiums, increase health care costs, and put a drag on the economy. Frivolous lawsuits are brought, for example, where there is no evidence that shows negligence on the part of the defendant. These nuisance lawsuits make a mockery of our legal system. Of course, many Americans have legitimate legal grievances, from someone wrongly disfigured during an operation to a company responsible for contaminating a community's water supply. No one who deserves justice should be denied justice. However, gaming of a system by a few lawyers drives up the cost of doing business and drives down the integrity of the judicial system. Let me give some examples. The Chief Executive Officer of San Antonio's Methodist Children's Hospital was sued after he stepped into a patient's hospital room and asked how he was doing. Of course, a jury cleared him of any wrongdoing. A Pennsylvania man sued the Frito-Lay company, claiming that Doritos chips were 'inherently dangerous' after one stuck in his throat.2 sources2004govinfo.gov
this nonbinding resolution is really a nonsensical political statement. It would deprive the generals and the troops of the reinforcements they desperately need. How would you feel if you were an American soldier in Iraq and Congress passed this resolution? It is like telling you to fight with one arm tied behind your back, and that is no way to defeat a terrorist. Let's trust the men and women in uniform who are sacrificing their lives to protect ours. There is a reason there has been no terrorist attack on America since 2001. It is not because some want to second-guess our military, it is because our troops want to win.2 sources2007govinfo.gov

Jul 18, 2012

It is important to stress that congressional oversight of Executive Branch actions is justifiable only as a means of facilitating the legislative task of enacting, amending, or repealing laws.

congress.gov

Feb 13, 2009

in the interests of transparency, because Republicans, the media and the American public were shut out of negotiations, I am suggesting a new name for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, this so-called stimulus bill. Based on what…