mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 2017
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2017-1-11

I have crossed through and beyond 150 ``Time to Wake Up'' speeches. People sometimes ask me how I come up with the material. It is actually easy, even week after week after week, because it only takes reading the news. If we look back at the headlines and dubious milestones of 2016, we find plenty to talk about. prgtoken Last year was hot. NASA and NOAA are expected to certify later this month that 2016 was the hottest year in recorded history, exceeding the previous record set by 2015 and the previous record set by 2014. What this means is, 2014, 2015, and 2016 have each succeeded the last as the three hottest years on record. prgtoken The United Nations World Meteorological Organization found that the world was 1.2 degrees Celsius or over 2 degrees Fahrenheit warmer in 2016 than it was before the Industrial Revolution and the dawn of wide- scale fossil fuel use. prgtoken We are careening closer and closer to the 2-degree Celsius mark which scientists say brings, to quote in 2009, ``catastrophic'' and ``irreversible'' climate effects. prgtoken In 2016, climate change continued to make some places almost unrecognizable. Up north in the Arctic things got bizarre. Thermometers spiked in mid-November to almost 35 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than normal, with a 37-year low in the nearby sea ice. The peaks were about 50 degrees above normal, and around Christmas it actually rose above freezing at the North Pole. Imagine, the snow was actually beginning to melt at the North Pole just as Santa was loading his sleigh with Christmas gifts. prgtoken In the tropics, undersea forests of once colorful coral stood bone white as the Great Barrier Reef experienced the greatest bleaching and coral die-off on record. What happens is that the superwarm water stressed the corals. That forces them to expel the tiny algae that lives symbiotically with the coral, providing them their food, and that is what gives coral reefs their beautiful color and their life. When the algae go, the coral structures turn ghostly white. They often do not recover. prgtoken It is not just the Great Barrier Reef. My clips today included a story from Japan, whose biggest coral reef has just been determined to be 70 percent dead. prgtoken The researchers in Australia found severe bleaching throughout the Great Barrier Reef. The Guardian reported in March that ``93 percent of the 3,000 individual reefs [had] been touched by bleaching, and almost a quarter . . . [had] been killed by this bleaching event.'' prgtoken By November, around two-thirds of the northern portion of the Great Barrier Reef had died, with some atolls suffering complete devastation. Warming is at the heart of that catastrophe. prgtoken We also know from the physical laws of thermal expansion that as ocean water warms, it does something else. It expands. The oceans also are taking in melting water from our shrinking glaciers. Together, those factors are causing sea l
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 2017
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-1-11

NBC News compiled a document of activity by Russia and Vladimir Putin. It starts in April of 2007 in Estonia, where the Russians were disabling their Internet; in June 2008, in Lithuania, where the Russian hackers were defacing government Web pages; in August 2008, in Georgia, where the Russian hackers shut down the country's internal communications system; in January 2009, in Kyrgyzstan, as part of an effort to persuade the President there to evict a U.S. military base, the Russian hackers shut down two of the country's four Internet service providers. prgtoken April of 2009 in Kazakhstan. After Kazakh media published a statement by the country's president that criticized Russia, Russian-attributed attacks shut down the publication's Web site. prgtoken August 2009 in Georgia, there was similar activity; May 2014 in Ukraine; March 2014 in Ukraine; May 2015 in Germany; December 2015 in Ukraine; October 2015 in the Netherlands; January 2016 in Finland; December 2016 in Germany. prgtoken Of course, there was also the Russian military seizure of sovereign territory in the nation of Georgia in 2008 and their invasion of Ukraine in 2014. In fact, Russian forces and their proxies still hold captured land in Georgia and Ukraine, and from that spot in Ukraine separatists shot down a civilian airliner 2 years ago, murdering 283 innocent passengers, including 8 children. prgtoken This is our adversary. This is the man who is trying to undermine the American electoral system. We cannot take it lightly. prgtoken Twenty years ago, when I was elected to the Senate, I was a member of the Government Affairs Committee. The first hearing we had was a lengthy investigative hearing. What was the basis of it? We had just concluded a Presidential campaign, and allegations were made that the Chinese Government 20 years ago was trying to insert itself into the Presidential campaign of the United States, specifically in support of the Clinton-Gore ticket. prgtoken Fred Thompson was chairman of that committee, a pretty well-known man who has since passed, but he was a pretty outstanding lawyer in addition to being a pretty famous actor. He was my chairman. He spent months in public hearings investigating whether the Chinese tried to insert themselves in any way, shape, or form in the election of Clinton-Gore. They found virtually no evidence, other than a handful of Buddhist nuns writing checks to the campaign, which nobody ever really explained. But there was no evidence that the Chinese Government was involved in this in any specific way. We spent months on that theory in open hearings, and then published reports--conflicting reports on conclusions from that committee. We took it that seriously 20 years ago. prgtoken What are we doing about this? Well, Senator McConnell, the leader, said that we will do the regular order; we will let the regular committees go about their business and figure out what might
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 2017
Debbie Stabenow (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2017-1-11

I want to talk specifically for a few minutes about mental health care and about an amendment that I will be offering this evening. But I do want to start off by stepping back for a moment and indicating that, from my perspective, I know those of us on the ic side of the aisle understand that we have work to do together to continue to bring down costs for health care and, in some areas where there is not enough competition, in fact, to create that competition. Affordable health care is the goal for all of us. I have concerns in looking at my small business community that we continue to do things that support them. That is different than what we are being asked to vote on here. prgtoken What we are being asked to vote on is a repeal of health reform that touches every American and all of the patient protections that we put in place that have moved total control from insurance companies to people with insurance so that we can't quit a job if we get sick. If you have a preexisting condition, are a diabetic, or have heart disease or you had some other challenge or your child has, you know that you will have confidence that you will continue to be able to find insurance and see your doctor. There are all of the provisions that are here--young people up to age 26, all of the efforts that we put in place to make sure that you have the confidence and the ability to know that you have insurance. We need to ensure that if someone has cancer, they are not going to be capped with the amount of care they can get. prgtoken Yesterday in the capitol in Lansing, MI, there were physicians and pediatricians working with cancer patients, with children and their families, who were talking about the fact that, because of the Affordable Care Act and taking off the caps on the amount and kinds of treatment that children with cancer can get, literally, lives have been saved. Parents are now looking at this body and the Congress as a whole and the new President and are saying: Why in the world would we want to go back to a situation where people can't get the level of care, the quality of care, or, in some cases, the care at all for themselves or their families? prgtoken So we are proposing that, rather than repealing health reform, which unravels the entire health care system because part of it is Medicare, part of it is prescription drugs going back up--it weakens the Medicare system, and it weakens the Medicaid system, where most of the dollars are going to seniors in nursing homes. It creates a situation where someone who is working very hard at a minimum-wage job and hasn't been able to have insurance because their employer didn't provide it can now have the assurance that they can care for themselves and their families and see a doctor without using the emergency room for regular treatment, which, of course, is the most expensive way to get health care and drives the costs up. What is being proposed is
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 2017
Tammy Baldwin (Democrat, WI) \u2014 2017-1-11

if Members of this body care about insurance coverage for young people, young adults up to age 26, then they should vote no on the Heller side-by-side and take the opportunity to support my amendment that we will vote on immediately following the disposal of this amendment. prgtoken In this Nation, we had an uninsurance crisis among young people before the Affordable Care Act was passed--one of the most uninsured demographics in America, and we have an opportunity to protect those young people through my amendment later this evening, but I urge a ``no'' vote on an amendment that would do nothing to protect these young people.
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 2017
Robert Menendez (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2017-1-11

this is not an amendment to protect the elderly and disabled. It guts Medicaid's opportunity by going into a block grant or per capita cut that would sharply cut Federal funding over time and eliminate the States' flexibility to innovate. prgtoken Instead, this proposal only gives States flexibility to make draconian cuts, leaving millions of seniors and individuals with disabilities who rely on Medicaid without the access to needed health care. Instead of the State-Federal partnership that gives States broad flexibility to run their programs but do so with Federal minimum standards that are important consumer protections like mental health parity, early and periodic screening, diagnosis, and testing for children, and network adequacy protection will go to block grants. prgtoken Do you know what happens when there is no more entitlement and you go to a block grant? You cut the block grant, and before you know it, you have no Medicaid. prgtoken This is not protecting seniors, children, and the disabled. I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment. prgtoken I raise a point of order that the pending amendment is not germane to the underlying resolution and therefore violates Section 305(b)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 2017
Joe Manchin, III (Democrat, WV) \u2014 2017-1-11

basically, if you are concerned about your rural hospital or health care system centers, this is the amendment that will save them. This is the amendment that will protect them. You can go home and say, basically, that we have made sure that no matter what happens with the Affordable Care Act, we are going to make sure we protect our rural hospitals and rural clinics. That being said, all of us have rural areas in our States. I urge the adoption of this amendment and the support of this amendment. It has the teeth of the budget point of order. prgtoken So I urge everybody: If you care about your health care providers-- the economic engine, the protection of your people in your areas that have very poor health care coverage right now--make sure you vote in support of this amendment.
DON'T MAKE AMERICA SICK AGAIN
Gene Green (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2017-1-11

the Congressional Budget Office estimated that 22 million Americans would lose their health insurance if the bill from last Congress becomes law. Let's don't make America sick again. prgtoken There should be no repeal of health reform without an immediate, adequate replacement that achieves the same historic goals in coverage, ensures people with preexisting conditions aren't blocked or priced out of the market, and that plans cover a basic set of benefits and consumer protections. prgtoken Repealing the Affordable Care Act without a replacement in place will cause chaos. Millions will lose coverage; the individual insurance market will be in shambles; doctors, hospitals, and States will lose billions; and the economy will be hurt. Without health insurance, people with chronic diseases will lose care and become sicker. prgtoken Every major law that Congress has passed needs oversight and revision to make sure it is as effective as intended. Congress can amend any law, but doing so in a way that will cause 22 million of the newly insured people to be without health insurance is just wrong. prgtoken I urge my colleagues to stop working against the health of American people. We should not be making America sick again.
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 78, SEC REGULATORY ACCOUNTABILITY ACT; PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 238, COMMODITY END-USER RELIEF ACT; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Jared Polis (Democrat, CO) \u2014 2017-1-11

such time as I may consume. prgtoken I thank the gentleman for the customary 30 minutes. prgtoken , I rise in opposition to the rule and the underlying bills. prgtoken I start by, again, mentioning the fact that we have before us, under this rule, H.R. 238, the Commodity End-User Relief Act, and H.R. 78, the SEC Regulatory Accountability Act. I will talk about them in a minute. prgtoken There are 56 Members of this body who are new Members and who had no chance to participate in marking up prgtoken these bills in their committees of jurisdiction. Sure, I am back and Mr. Newhouse is back, but 56 people who were in that Congress in December are not here now, and there are 56 new people. prgtoken Again, a regular order process would allow these bills to go through committee and have ideas and the participation from and s, who represent, collectively, tens of millions of people in this country, in improving these bills. We did not allow it. These bills just appeared fait accompli in the Rules Committee yesterday. Here we are on the floor. None of the new Members had a chance in their committees to offer them. prgtoken In fact, I am not sure where the s are in their process, but are still finalizing our committee assignments. We have some of them, and the rest will be completed shortly. prgtoken For Congress to work well, we need to have regular order. And for regular order to work, we need to make sure that the 56 new Members who represent tens of millions of people are not disenfranchised in this process. prgtoken Now, getting to the bills. H.R. 238, the Commodities End-User Relief Act, has been brought to the floor even before the Agriculture Committee convened or held its organizing meeting. It reauthorizes the Commodities Futures Trading Commission through 2021. It makes a lot of changes to internal changes and modifies a number of provisions that were designed to prevent financial meltdowns. prgtoken Additionally, H.R. 238 includes language on issues that the Commodities Futures Trading Commission has already addressed through its own efforts. For example, the Commodities Future Trading Commission has acted on 16 of 22 provisions in titles I and III. Particularly, many of us are concerned by the cross-border language in the bill, which would undercut efforts already underway by the Commission to negotiate an international system of safe and robust derivative rules. prgtoken H.R. 238 would actually require the Commodities Futures Trading Commission to create a rule that would automatically allow U.S. banks and foreign banks conducting business in the U.S. to do so under the rules imposed by foreign jurisdictions, which can be substantially different than those of our own, removing the confidence in the marketplace that is needed for a commodity market to work. prgtoken Finally, as you know, Congress passed a number of reforms to enable regulators to respond q
REGULATORY ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2017
Steve Cohen (Democrat, TN) \u2014 2017-1-11

. I thank the gentleman. prgtoken , these bills are a group of bills that have been considered for many years and have passed on partisan votes in the House. What you do when you repeal regulations or make it harder to have regulations is you make it better for business, better for the Chamber crowd, better for the manufacturing folk. prgtoken But there is always a cost for everything. I think it was Isaac Newton who said: ``For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.'' You take these regulations off, increase business, and make it easier; but there is an equal and opposite effect in that Newtonian law as the consumer of the products. prgtoken Whether it is food and food safety, whether it is water safety and purity, whether it is air safety, whether it is toys and manufacturers' defects or automobiles and safety in transportation--it could be airplane transportation--there is always a side that loses; and the side that loses is that of the consumers and the folks who will be injured and/or killed because of lack of regulations. prgtoken I don't know how much one life is worth. If it is mine or one of my loved ones or one of my constituents--I am getting a little political here--it is worth a lot, but it is worth a lot no matter who it is, and there are going to be lots of people who will not survive some of these regulations. There are going to be injuries in the workplace because regulations for safety aren't there. There will be food products that are defective because regulations aren't in place, and people will eat food that is not appropriate, not pure. prgtoken I had an amendment I proposed here on civil rights, and I think civil rights is one of our most precious rights--one that has been neglected on many occasions. That amendment would have said that this would not affect any civil rights rules, but it was not put in order; but it includes people with disabilities. Those are areas in which we should have exempted and not had anything stop our steadfastness toward securing civil rights and securing opportunities for people with disabilities. prgtoken I am against the bills. I am for the consumer. I think there might be a measured way to do this, but this is a heavy-handed way to do it, and the consumer loses.
REGULATORY ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2017
Paul Tonko (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2017-1-11

I oppose this amendment which requires that an agency publish a list of scientific information relating to a rule or expected to relate to the rule for each rule that an agency expects to propose for the following year. I am concerned that this amendment would create unintended consequences and operate as a one-way ratchet to slow down and stop the rulemaking process by requiring burdensome disclosures and creating options for procedural gridlock. prgtoken Agencies are already required to publish relevant data in support of a rule during these rulemaking processes. Rules that do not appear to be based on a reasoned analysis of relevant data may be vacated by reviewing courts as arbitrary or capricious. Moreover, data acquired through federally funded research is already accessible to researchers who have a legitimate purpose. prgtoken I am also concerned that because this amendment does not define scientific information or clarify the scope of this publication requirement, peer reviewed materials may be taken out of context or otherwise misused for political purposes. In so doing, this requirement may chill feedback in the scientific community, undermine agencies' ability to adopt the best rules possible, or otherwise manufacture delays in the rulemaking process. prgtoken Any additional requirements in this area should strengthen, rather than weaken, the process of science-based prgtoken rulemaking. Given these concerns, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. prgtoken , .
IMMIGRATION
Luis V. Gutiérrez (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-1-11

as I have said before, we hope for the best from the new President, but we must prepare for the worst. prgtoken Everyone who has looked at the record of the key advisers to President-elect on the issue of immigration has reason for very deep concern that the new President is going to follow the advice of some of the most extreme voices in the immigration debate. prgtoken As for the new President himself, he is a bit of an unknown because he changes his mind on key issues just as quickly as his Twitter feed refreshes. He says he has a plan for this and a plan for that, but they are secret plans, and, as far as we know, they are even secrets to him. prgtoken He knows more about computers and the Internet, ISIS and terrorists, Russia and NATO than all of the policy experts put together, and he thinks of himself as kind of the ultimate Presidential adviser to the new President. prgtoken But it is 's lieutenants who worry most of us. They are the most clearly ideological and dangerous set of leaders ever assembled in American Government on immigration and any number of issues we care about. prgtoken They are vindictive when it comes to our immigrant community. The truth is that among the new President key advisers are some of the staunchest opponents of legal immigration. They are against legal immigration. That is right. prgtoken While we all oppose illegal immigration, and some of us have been working for years to upgrade the American system so that immigrants come with visas instead of smugglers, the people with access to the Presidency disagree, and they don't want immigrants to come here at all from anywhere. prgtoken Look, we have made legal immigration extremely difficult for everyone and simply impossible for most people. And then we have been relying on deportation, walls, enforcement, and curtailing due process rights for immigrants, and that constitutes their immigration control strategy for the past 25 years. And it hasn't worked for 25 years. prgtoken But the American people want a humane, sustainable, secure, and effective legal immigration system and a way for people who already live and work here peacefully in America to be able to do so within the law. prgtoken So, , this is why I will join a few thousand allies here in Washington this Saturday at the historic Metropolitan AME Church on M Street to send a clear message that immigrants and their allies are standing up for immigrant communities. prgtoken And check out the Web site. The D.C. rally will be one of more than 50 public actions and marches across America on or about this Saturday the 14th, where leaders of the immigrant rights' movement will stand alongside elected officials, faith, labor, education, and LGBTQ leaders to say: we will not allow mass deportation or immigrant roundups on our watch. prgtoken That we do not want endless delays that keep families waiting 10, 15, 20 years for a visa. That we don't want people to have