mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands Recovery Effort (Executive Calendar)
Al Franken (Democrat, MN) \u2014 2017-10-25

I rise to talk about the devastation in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and the need to rebuild the electric grid in a more resilient and sustainable way. prgtoken Over the last few months, communities around the country have been devastated by natural disasters. We have had terrible hurricanes in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as tragic wildfires across the West. These communities need immediate help, and that is why the disaster supplemental appropriations bill we passed yesterday is so important. I am glad this bill provides nearly $19 billion to replenish FEMA's emergency disaster accounts that help communities start to rebuild, but it is just a downpayment. As we know, it will take a lot more Federal assistance. prgtoken One thing we need to focus on is the electric grid. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria demonstrated the risks the electric grid faces from extreme weather. The communities hardest hit in Texas and Florida underwent days--sometimes much longer--without any power, and when this happens, it is a serious risk to the safety and health of everyone in the area. prgtoken Now, American citizens in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are facing a major humanitarian crisis, and the Federal Government needs to do everything it can to assist. prgtoken More than a month after Hurricane Maria hit, only 25 percent of Puerto Rico has access to electricity, and it will take many months to get power back to those communities. That is completely unacceptable. Without electricity, pumping stations can't supply drinking water to households. In fact, 25 percent of the island still lacks access to potable water. Without electricity, wastewater treatment facilities can't operate, which means raw sewage is contaminating rivers and streams. Without electricity, cell towers cease to function, making communication with first responders difficult. Without a stable electric grid, hospitals have to rely on backup power to keep lifesaving equipment working. That backup power is often diesel generators that require fuel, which is in short supply. prgtoken Given the dire situation, it is no surprise that we have already seen tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans leave the island, with nearly 60,000 arriving in Florida alone. prgtoken The majority of the transmission and distribution lines were destroyed in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. We need to rebuild them, and I think we can all agree they should be rebuilt to withstand the next disaster. So let's rebuild the electric grid in a more resilient and sustainable way that reduces future threats and future costs. I have been talking with my colleagues and members of the administration, and everyone agrees this is a good idea. That is why I want to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to include language in the next supplemental disaster aid package that does exactly this. prgtoken
Healthcare (Executive Calendar)
Jeanne Shaheen (Democrat, NH) \u2014 2017-10-25

I am delighted to follow Senator Alexander and was very pleased to hear the news from the CBO that this Alexander-Murray proposal not only doesn't bail out insurance companies, as we all agree we should not do--we want to make sure savings go to consumers--but it also will save taxpayers $3.8 billion. prgtoken This is a bipartisan agreement. I applaud the work of Senator Alexander and Senator Patty Murray to craft this bipartisan agreement to address the challenges we have in the short term with healthcare. Senators Alexander and Murray have given us a template for bipartisan negotiations not just on healthcare but on other critical matters that are going to come before this Senate--tax reform, reauthorizing community health centers and the Children's Health Insurance prgtoken Program, reaching an agreement on the 2018 budget. These are all major issues facing this country and issues we should be working on in a bipartisan way. The Senate is at its best when we observe regular order and we follow the committee process, when we work across the aisle and make principled compromises to get things done for the American people. I believe that is exactly what this health insurance bill does. prgtoken In a Senate that is nearly equally divided between s and , this is the only productive way forward for us to address the challenges that face this country. Too often we have seen people use bipartisan negotiations as a last resort, but bipartisanship should be the Senate's first resort, not the last resort. It should be the foundation of our work in this body. This is how the great majority of Americans want us to conduct the Senate's business. prgtoken When I travel around New Hampshire, this is the consistent comment I hear everywhere I go: Why can't you all work together to get things done for this country? This is especially true on matters like healthcare and tax reform, which affect families throughout the country. prgtoken I am encouraged that the Alexander-Murray bill has earned strong bipartisan support and, as Senator Alexander said, has 24 original cosponsors. That number is equally divided between s and . This is a balanced agreement that has been negotiated by both parties over many months, and I think it is our best bet for stabilizing marketplaces in the short run so we can continue to work on long-term issues around healthcare. prgtoken I am especially pleased this agreement provides for the continuation of cost-sharing reduction payments for 2 years. These payments are necessary to keep premiums, deductibles, and copayments affordable for working people. Without these payments, the cost of coverage will skyrocket, insurers will leave the marketplaces, and millions of people will lose their healthcare coverage. I have been working on this issue of cost-saving reduction payments since earlier this year, when I introduced a bill that would permanently ap
MEDICARE BUY-IN OPTION
Brian Higgins (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2017-10-25

Medicare is the best public option that already exists to improve the Affordable Care Act and to provide immediate relief to Americans on the individual market. prgtoken Next week, the Nation's State insurance commissioners will make public insurers' price gouging increases for next year, including a 60 percent increase in Georgia, a 50 percent increase in Florida, and the remaining States up to a 50 percent 1-year increase. prgtoken A Medicare buy-in option for younger Americans is the only hedge against these price spikes that every American will look to Congress for relief from. Congress has been negligent in their 7-year near obsession with repeal and replace. You can no longer blame Care. prgtoken , I urge every Member of Congress to support the Medicare Buy-in and Healthcare Stabilization Act and Medicare X legislation. It is time to unleash the market power of Medicare to lower costs, improve quality, prgtoken and push back on private insurers' aggressive pricing.
Healthcare (Executive Calendar)
Joe Donnelly (Democrat, IN) \u2014 2017-10-25

for years, I have been calling on and s to work together to improve the healthcare law. There are some, like me, who recognize the benefits of the existing healthcare law, as well as the areas that need fixing, and I have proposed that we partner together to strengthen our healthcare system. prgtoken For the first time, we have legislation in the Senate that has broad bipartisan support and would improve issues with our healthcare system by stabilizing the individual marketplace and lowering premiums for Americans. This is what I have long pushed for. Today, it is more important than ever that we act to pass this bipartisan legislation. I would like to take a few minutes to explain why. prgtoken Beginning next week, on November 1, millions of Americans, including Hoosiers, can sign up for healthcare coverage through the individual marketplace. Unfortunately, as consumers prepare to shop for health insurance plans, there is uncertainty and instability in the marketplace and confusion and higher prices for consumers. That wasn't the case earlier this year, as both public and private analyses showed that individual marketplaces were relatively stable and improving. prgtoken For the last 10 months, though, the administration has worked to make it harder for Americans to access affordable healthcare and destabilized the markets. For many months, the administration refused to commit to continuing important cost-sharing reduction payments that reduce costs for consumers and, even worse, played politics with these payments. This culminated with the administration's announcement earlier this month that it would discontinue cost-sharing reduction payments. This decision came only weeks before open enrollment. prgtoken There is no disputing a simple fact: The administration's actions created uncertainty for insurers, causing some to significantly raise rates and others to leave the market altogether. As a result, many Americans will be forced to pay more for healthcare plans through the individual marketplace. prgtoken For example, CareSource, an insurance company that offers insurance to Hoosiers through the individual marketplace, told me earlier this year that rates would rise 2.2 percent if the Federal Government committed to continuing cost-sharing reduction payments. Because the administration refused to do so, rates for CareSource plans are on average now 20 percent higher for Hoosiers than last year. prgtoken Centene, the other insurer offering coverage in the marketplace, will have average rate increases of nearly 36 percent. In addition to higher rates, it will be harder for Hoosiers to find help enrolling in healthcare plans because the administration slashed 82 percent of Navigator Program funding for my home State of Indiana--the deepest cut of any State in the country. prgtoken Consumers also have a shorter period to enroll than in past years. The administration plans to do
Healthcare (Executive Calendar)
Tom Udall (Democrat, NM) \u2014 2017-10-25

s have spent months trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act. They knew that tens of millions of Americans would lose their care, they knew it would betray our Federal trust responsibility to Native Americans, and they knew it would throw one-fifth of our economy into chaos. Care failed because the American people opposed it. Americans spoke out against it in record numbers. Care failed to pass four times. We hope that now we have put that to bed and we can move on. prgtoken But rather than listening to millions of Americans, President has responded by sabotaging the Affordable Care Act. His reckless behavior is already causing chaos in the marketplace. His actions have hyped up the cost of premiums. He has sent out-of-pocket costs through the roof. Instead of helping Americans get better healthcare, he has put it out of reach for millions. prgtoken I commend my colleagues Senator Alexander and Senator Murray. They have found a bipartisan solution to this new healthcare crisis caused by our President. I urge Leader McConnell to put it onto the floor. prgtoken The Affordable Care Act isn't the only healthcare program at risk. The President and s are letting funds run dry for other critical health programs. Last month, the Children's Health Insurance Program expired. CHIP insures almost 9 million children across the country, including over 11,000 kids in my home State of New Mexico. The Community Health Centers Program also expired last month. prgtoken s failed to extend the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Services. That is one of the most effective health programs that we have. Without it, more than 1,000 New Mexico parents could miss out on home visits. They will not get crucial information about how to nurse their newborns, recognize healthy behavior in infants, and teach basic skills to their children. The Special Diabetes Program for Indians is also set to expire in December. prgtoken I urge s to work with us to reauthorize these critical healthcare programs. We need to act urgently. We can get this done by Thanksgiving or earlier if we work together. prgtoken , I want to talk about CHIP first. prgtoken CHIP provides comprehensive health insurance for kids whose families do not quite qualify for Medicaid but who cannot afford private insurance. CHIP covers basic medical care, like immunizations, prescriptions, routine checkups and dental visits. Thanks to CHIP, the rate of uninsured kids in America has dropped from 14 percent to 4.5 percent. prgtoken CHIP has been a lifesaver for some families. This is Colton. He is from the small town of Anthony, NM. Colton was 8 years old when he was diagnosed with cancer. Fortunately, the cancer was treatable, and he was insured by CHIP. So the cost of his treatment and medications were covered. Without CHIP, Colton's family would have had to have paid hundreds of do
SANCTIONING HIZBALLAH'S ILLICIT USE OF CIVILIANS AS DEFENSELESS SHIELDS ACT
Eliot L. Engel (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2017-10-25

the remainder of my time to close the way I always do. prgtoken , I want to thank my colleagues on both sides for their hard work on this bill. I want to remind my colleagues that, just a few years ago when the last war was raging in Gaza, the other terrorist group, Hamas, used civilians as human shields. We had a resolution on the floor of this House condemning it, and I was very, very proud that that resolution passed unanimously. prgtoken We need to condemn these terrorist groups no matter what they do, but when they use people as human shields--innocent people--and then try to blame the other side for the death, it is not something that we can countenance or stand for at all. I hope that we rise to the occasion this time, as well, because I can think of nothing more despicable than using innocent civilians as human shields. prgtoken These bomb factories are built in mosques, they are built in schools, and they are built in playgrounds. They are built where children are. They are built because they are daring Israel and the United States to go after them when we know that there will be human casualties. It is really a despicable position. prgtoken Here you have two terrorists groups, Hezbollah and Hamas. One is Shia; one is Sunni. It doesn't matter. They are both out to kill people. They are both out to terrorize people. They are both out to do the opposite of what we try to do in the United States: lifting people up. prgtoken They need to be stopped, and this Congress needs to keep sending strong messages with teeth behind them to the world that we will not sit idly by and allow these terrorist activities to happen. prgtoken Using civilians as human shields is really the lowest of the low. The fact that Hezbollah would put innocent men, women, and children in harm's way as human shields tells you everything you need to know about this organization. It is a cowardly practice by a gruesome group, and it cannot and shall not be tolerated. prgtoken This measure puts us on record again condemning this terrorist group, and it gives the administration more tools to deal with one of Hezbollah's worst tools, more tools to deal with Hezbollah to stop its terrorist activities. So I urge a bipartisan ``yes'' vote. prgtoken I thank Chairman Royce again for his collaboration with us on both sides of the aisle. That is one of the great things about the Foreign Affairs Committee because we realize that partisanship stops at the water's edge. When we are talking about terrorist groups and we are talking about antidemocratic groups, they affect us all. It is important that this Congress sends strong bipartisan measures and a strong bipartisan voice to say we will not tolerate these atrocities. prgtoken , I urge a ``yes'' vote from all my colleagues on both sides, and .
Puerto Rico (Executive Calendar)
Christopher Murphy (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2017-10-25

I rise today to talk about the dire humanitarian situation in Puerto Rico and to challenge this country to end a century of discrimination against the Puerto Rican people. prgtoken While the fleeting media attention may have waned, the desperation of the people of Puerto Rico has not. The lackluster response from the administration is an outrage. It has been more than a month since the hurricane, and 80 percent of the island's electricity is still out. Roads and bridges have collapsed. Homes have been destroyed. Of the 67 hospitals that are open, less than half of them are operating with electricity. Families are searching far and wide for clean drinking water, and some have been drinking water from wells at a Superfund site. prgtoken This kind of inhumane response would never ever be permitted in a U.S. State. But one doesn't even have to look at other States to evaluate this response; we can look abroad. Within 2 weeks of the earthquake in Haiti, there were 17,000 U.S. military personnel on the ground in that country. Two weeks after Hurricane Maria made landfall in the United States, the United States had deployed only 10,000 troops to respond to the disaster in both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. prgtoken News broke yesterday that the state-owned electric company on the island, PREPA, refused to operationalize mutual aid agreements with electric companies on the U.S. mainland. That is a standard step in normal disaster response. Fault lies with PREPA, but how on Earth did FEMA and the administration allow that to happen, leaving millions of Puerto Ricans in the dark and in danger for almost a month? It is beyond comprehension, and it speaks to the failure of the U.S. Government's response. prgtoken The truth is that Hurricane Maria exposed far more than just immediate physical damage; the hurricane also laid bare a very simple truth that is plain to every resident of the island and every Puerto Rican living in my State. The truth is this: The United States has been screwing Puerto Rico for over 100 years, and this is just the latest, most disgusting chapter. prgtoken There is an undercurrent in the discourse about Puerto Rico that is as pernicious as it is ahistorical. You will hear people, like President , say that Puerto Ricans are wholly responsible for the financial mess they find themselves in and that Puerto Rico should just pull itself up by its bootstraps. The rewriting of history ignores the fact that the Federal Government and Congress have had our hands tightly wrapped around those very bootstraps since 1898. prgtoken The United States acquired Puerto Rico from Spain through the Treaty of Paris in 1898, when the United States defeated Spain in the Spanish American War. Puerto Ricans didn't ask to be part of the United States; we acquired the island. A century ago, Congress extended U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans. In 1950, Congress recognized the i
SUNSHINE FOR REGULATIONS AND REGULATORY DECREES AND SETTLEMENTS ACT OF 2017
Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (Democrat, GA) \u2014 2017-10-25

I rise to support my amendment to H.R. 469, and to advocate for rural Georgians and Americans across the country who don't have dependable access to broadband internet services. prgtoken We are here today debating H.R. 469, a bill that would require burdensome and unnecessary processes that would delay the enforcement of Federal regulations. H.R. 469 undermines the ability of government agencies to protect public health and safety by prohibiting them from using consent decrees and settlements to enforce the law that we pass by allowing private industry to intervene in opposition to regulations that they deem unfavorable to them. It requires the publishing of the personal data of those who bring complaints against the government, thus deterring complaints. prgtoken My amendment would ensure that future actions taken by Congress to increase broadband access in rural areas are not stymied by these excessive regulatory burdens. My amendment would exempt any future legislation, or any future rules that may be enacted to bring this technology to underserved areas from the requirements put in place by H.R. 469. prgtoken It shouldn't be groundbreaking news that, in many of our districts, a gap exists between urban and rural communities insofar as broadband connectivity is concerned. The Fourth District of Georgia has some rural pockets that are facing this challenge today. prgtoken According to a study done by the Pew Research Center in 2016, rural Americans are still 10 percentage points less likely than average citizens to have broadband access at home. Although we have seen improvements since the 16-point gap in 2007, we have much work to do to ensure that all families have access to what is now a modern necessity. prgtoken My home State of Georgia ranks 21st in the Nation in terms of access to 25 megabit per second broadband, according to a report put together by the Georgia House and Senate Study Committee on High Speed Broadband Communications Access for all Georgians. In rural counties where this problem persists, we have seen local development stall without access to telehealth services, educational materials, and other digital resources. prgtoken Broadband connectivity brings with it countless learning opportunities and exchanges of information that are not possible in isolated communities without broadband. The issue of broadband access is inextricably linked to the vitality of these rural areas, and it is in our best interest as a Congress to give rural communities all of the modern tools they need to succeed. prgtoken The FCC's 2016 Broadband Progress Report identified 24 million rural Americans throughout the country who don't have a broadband connection--24 million Americans whose access would be delayed even further by the implementation of H.R. 469's elimination of consent decrees. prgtoken I hope Congress can agree on the importance of achieving full broadband access, and I hope that this amendmen