mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
SUPPORTING UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT
Bob Goodlatte (Republican, VA) \u2014 2018-7-18

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , I strongly support H. Res. 990 introduced by Clay Higgins to express our support for the men and women of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. prgtoken Recently, nationwide, from the mayor of New York City to Senators Gillibrand and Warren, have recklessly called for the abolishment of ICE, the agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with enforcing Federal immigration laws within our Nation's interior. prgtoken They have used rhetoric that is both bewildering and deeply troubling. New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon has gone so far as to call ICE a ``terrorist organization.'' The ic candidate for the 14th Congressional District of New York just yesterday stated: ``We have to occupy all of it. We need to occupy every airport. We need to occupy every border. We need to occupy every ICE office. . . . '' prgtoken What is remarkable is that these calls would undo what has been our singular bipartisan achievement on immigration over the last two decades--the creation of ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. prgtoken The late Barbara Jordan was one of the most distinguished persons ever to serve in this body. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and NAACP's highest honor, the Spingarn Medal for highest and noblest achievement by a living African American. She was appointed by President Clinton to be chair of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform. Her commission found that: Immigration law enforcement requires staffing, training, resources, and a work culture that differs from what is required for effective adjudication of immigration benefits. Separating enforcement and benefits functions will lead to more effective enforcement. The commission is particularly concerned that although the removal system produced more than 100,000 final removal orders each year, the system did not have the corresponding capacity to remove the individuals subject to those orders. prgtoken It noted that: The system is bogged down with increasing numbers of aliens who are put into removal proceedings, released due to a lack of detention space, and never appear at their hearings, or are never deported after a final order of removal is issued. We must enable the immigration system to deliver better on its commitment to actually remove those who are issued final orders. prgtoken Those are the words of Barbara Jordan's Commission. prgtoken Following upon the Barbara Jordan Commission's recommendation, Sheila Jackson Lee introduced the Immigration Restructuring and Accountability Act establishing an Office of Immigration Enforcement to: Implement the removal of deportable and inadmissible aliens from the United States. prgtoken Ms. Jackson Lee has stated: I hav
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H. CON. RES. 119, EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT A CARBON TAX WOULD BE DETRIMENTAL TO THE UNITED STATES ECONOMY
Dan Newhouse (Republican, WA) \u2014 2018-7-18

the balance of my time. prgtoken , I appreciate the opportunity to engage with my good friend and colleague from the State of Massachusetts, especially on a particularly important issue such as carbon tax. prgtoken It is my feeling and the feeling of the majority of this House that we need to move away from aggressive taxes and top-down Big Government regulation. We need to get behind innovative-centric solutions that remove bureaucratic barriers to clean, affordable, and reliable energy technology and allow for real global carbon emission reductions. prgtoken Our affordable and reliable energy supply must be the focus, along with a cleaner environment and a stronger economy. A carbon tax simply would not yield those kinds of results. prgtoken , I urge my colleagues to support the rule and support the underlying legislation, H. Con. Res. 119, which is simply this: Expressing the sense of Congress that a carbon tax would be detrimental to the United States economy. prgtoken The material previously referred to by Mr. McGovern is as follows An Amendment to H. Res. 1001 Offered by Mr. McGovern At the end of the resolution, add the following new sections: Sec. 2. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution the shall, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of the bill (H.R. 12) to modernize voter registration, promote access to voting for individuals with disabilities, protect the ability of individuals to exercise the right to vote in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes. The first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. General debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided among and controlled by the respective chairs and ranking minority members of the Committees on House Administration, the Judiciary, Science, Space and Technology, Veterans' Affairs, Oversight and Government Reform. After general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. All points of order against provisions in the bill are waived. At the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment the Committee shall rise and report the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been adopted. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instructions. If the Committee of the Whole rises and reports that it has come to no resolution on the bill, then on the next legislative day the House shall, immediately after the third daily order of business under clause 1 o
Opioid Epidemic (Executive Calendar)
Patrick J. Toomey (Republican, PA) \u2014 2018-7-18

I want to reflect on some of the data that has been coming in on our economy in response to our tax reform and deregulatory push. prgtoken Before I do, I want to commend my colleague from Missouri and thank him for his leadership and work on the incredible crisis of opioids we are dealing with. It is not a uniformly national crisis; it is more concentrated regionally, and my State of Pennsylvania is affected as badly as any place in the country. prgtoken I am pleased we have been able to take a number of constructive measures, but we have a lot of work yet to do as we try to deal with this scourge. I want to thank him for that.
MOTION TO INSTRUCT CONFEREES ON H.R. 2, AGRICULTURE AND NUTRITION ACT OF 2018
K. Michael Conaway (Republican, TX) \u2014 2018-7-18

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , the ranking member's motion is very much in the spirit of the House position. I am really appreciative of that. Quite frankly, it makes our bill better. prgtoken H.R. 2 makes the historic commitment to protecting our Nation's livestock herd and, frankly, our national security by establishing and funding forward-looking animal health initiatives that address existing and emerging pest and disease threats. prgtoken , I look forward to continuing this discussion in conference, and .
Nomination of Brett Kavanaugh (Executive Session)
Orrin G. Hatch (Republican, UT) \u2014 2018-7-18

I rise today to discuss the confirmation process for Brett Kavanaugh. By any honest measure, President 's nominee, Judge Kavanaugh, is exceptionally well qualified to serve on the Supreme Court. When he was nominated to the DC Circuit, he already had stellar credentials, a keen intellect, and an impressive knowledge of the law. He was confirmed to the DC Circuit Court in 2006, following years of ic obstruction. I have followed his work closely on that court for over a decade. His judicial record never ceases to impress. prgtoken A nominee with such a sterling reputation should receive wide bipartisan support. But over the years, I have seen firsthand the deterioration of the judicial confirmation process. When Justice Kennedy announced his retirement, I knew the would, again, play politics with the Supreme Court. It is what they have done for more than three decades. It is a matter of grave concern to me, especially with an eminently qualified nominee. They are casting about looking for something--really, anything--to stop Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation. prgtoken Because want political judges, they politicize the confirmation process. This is what they did to oppose Justice Neil Gorsuch when he was nominated. They took a few cases out of the thousands he had decided and distorted what he had said. They attacked him as being unfit to serve. They said he was unqualified to be a Justice, but Justice Gorsuch had an unassailable record as a principled jurist on the Federal bench. prgtoken We fought back against the misrepresentations, the caricatures, and the exaggerations, and the American people saw through the ' ruse. They saw the kind of Justice Neil Gorsuch would be--a Justice who says what the law is, not what he wants it to be, a Justice who respects the separation of powers, a Justice who will stand up to the executive and legislative branches when they overreach. I believe the American people will see the same thing when they look at Judge Kavanaugh. prgtoken The debate over Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation should be a debate over his qualifications. Does he understand the proper role of a judge under our Constitution? Does he have the experience needed? Will he respect our Constitution and the rule of law? prgtoken With hundreds of opinions, Judge Kavanaugh has built a reputation as being one of the most respected and influential judges in the entire country. His incisive reasoning has led the Supreme Court to adopt his positions in at least 12 cases. prgtoken Fidelity to the Constitution and to the rule of law are hallmarks of his opinions. Importantly, his vast body of work shows a deep commitment to the separation of powers. His opinions demonstrate his commitment to the principle that judges should interpret the law, not make it. prgtoken Judge Kavanaugh should be asked questions about his rulings and his approach to the law. As a judge, he has
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019
Markwayne Mullin (Republican, OK) \u2014 2018-7-18

my amendment would prohibit funds from implementing the administration's social cost of carbon rule. Congress and the American people have repeatedly rejected cap and trade proposals. prgtoken The administration continuously used social cost of carbon models, which could be easily manipulated in order to attempt to justify new job-killing regulations. prgtoken The House has a clear, strong record of opposition to the social cost of carbon, voting at least 11 times to block, defund, or oppose the proposal, including H. Con. Res. 119, which we will be considering later this week. prgtoken A carbon tax would be passed along to consumers, undermining the success of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act we passed last year. prgtoken , I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and .
Securing Our Elections (Executive Calendar)
James Lankford (Republican, OK) \u2014 2018-7-18

there has been a lot of conversation again, of late, about election security. It seems to be a frequent conversation in the hallways the last couple of days, and it is an ongoing issue that I think some people have lost track of, but we have not. prgtoken Amy Klobuchar and I and several others have worked very hard for months on this issue of election security, quietly trying to get the language right and to work through the process of what it takes to secure our elections for 2018, 2020, and beyond, learning the lesson from 2016. prgtoken I do want to remind this body that the elections are not something that happens this November. It is already ongoing. Many States' primaries have already been conducted. Last night there was a runoff primary that happened in Alabama. Georgia holds their runoff primaries next week, and Tennessee is the week after that. Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and Washington will be on Tuesday, August 7. It is already ongoing. prgtoken While we watch the indictments that just came down from the Mueller investigation on GRU officers from Russia who were trying to interfere in our elections in 2016, as we have seen the sanctions and the indictments that have come down on some of the oligarchs from Russia and from the Internet Research Agency for what they were doing in social media, trying to be able to interfere with our election in 2016, I think it may be important for us to do a quick lookback at what has happened and what is still going on and what we are trying to accomplish in the next few weeks. prgtoken Let me just give a quick look at what is happening in my State of Oklahoma. In Oklahoma, in the 2016 cycle, the FBI and others began to discover that there were issues with the elections and some interference from what they, at that time, called ``bad actors'' in June of 2016. Later that summer, in August of 2016, the FBI issued what they call a nationwide ``flash alert'' to every State dealing with a threat from a ``bad actor.'' prgtoken The Oklahoma State Cyber Command director received that warning, as did everyone else, but at that time the FBI didn't share any details because no one in my State was given security clearance to be able to have that kind of classified conversation with the FBI. prgtoken It wasn't until September 22 of 2017, a year and a little bit later, that DHS actually notified my State and our State election authorities that we hadn't just been targeted by a bad actor but that we had been targeted by the Russians--a year later--because no one had clearance and there was no one engaged. prgtoken DHS told Oklahoma State Election Board secretary Paul Ziriax, who is doing a great job, that there was evidence that the Russians conducted a surveillance scan looking into vulnerabilities in the State computer network, but they didn't get into the election board computer network, and they didn't get into any of our equipment. prgtoken They basically came an
BUDGET SCOREKEEPING REPORT
Michael B. Enzi (Republican, WY) \u2014 2018-7-18

I rise to submit to the Senate the budget scorekeeping report for July 2018. The report compares current-law levels of spending and revenues with the amounts the Senate agreed to in the budget resolution for fiscal year 2018, H. Con. Res. 71, and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA18). This information is necessary for the Senate Budget Committee to determine whether budgetary points of order lie against pending legislation. The staff of the Senate Budget Committee and the Congressional Budget Office, CBO, prepared this report pursuant to section 308(b) of the Congressional Budget Act (CBA). prgtoken This is the fifth scorekeeping report this year and the second since I filed new enforceable levels on May 7, pursuant to BBA18 requirements. My last filing can be found in the Congressional Record for June 6, 2018. The information included in this report is current through July 16, 2018. prgtoken Budget Committee staff prepared Tables 1-6. prgtoken Table 1 gives the amount by which each Senate authorizing committee exceeds or is below its allocation for budget authority and outlays under the most recently adopted budget resolution and the fiscal year 2019 enforceable levels filing. This information is used for enforcing committee allocations pursuant to section 302 of the CBA. For this reporting period, 10 of the 16 authorizing committees are in compliance with their allocations. prgtoken During this reporting period, Congress cleared two pieces of legislation with significant budgetary effects scored to authorizing committees. The first bill was H.R. 770, the American Innovation $1 Coin Act. This measure requires the Secretary of the Treasury to mint, beginning in 2019, new $1 coins ``in recognition of American innovation and significant innovation and pioneering efforts of individuals or groups from each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the United States territories.'' CBO estimates that H.R. 770 would increase direct spending in the near term by $3 million but would be deficit- neutral over the entire budget window. This bill was charged to the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. The second bill was H.R. 5956, the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act of 2018. This bill modifies U.S. immigration policy regarding the Northern Mariana Islands, thereby reducing the number of people able to claim asylum and receive means-tested benefits. CBO estimates that this bill would save $3 million over the budget window. H.R. 5956 was charged to the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. prgtoken Tables 2-6 remain unchanged from my last filing. prgtoken In addition to the tables provided by Budget Committee staff, I am submitting CBO tables, which I will use to enforce budget totals approved by Congress. prgtoken Because legislation can still be enacted that would have an effect on fiscal year 2018, CBO has provided a report both for fiscal ye
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
Ted Cruz (Republican, TX) \u2014 2018-7-18

I rise in support of the brave men and women of our Immigration Customs Enforcement agency. These are law enforcement officers who risk their lives every day to keep this country safe. prgtoken Rising in support of law enforcement used to be a bipartisan issue. It used to be an issue that brought us together, that unified us. Sadly, as we have seen in the preceding minutes, that is no longer the case. prgtoken I rise today to urge my ic colleagues to say no to the reckless and radical voices within their party that are pulling their party so far out of the mainstream and so far out of touch with the American people that it is barely recognizable. For a long time, when were debating immigration issues, they used to say ``Well, of course, we support enforcing the laws,'' almost as an obligatory throwaway. Instead, we are here today, debating the abolishing of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, the exact antithesis of where most congressional claimed they were. All of this started because a few weeks ago, a longtime ic incumbent, a Member of the House, found himself beaten in a primary in New York State by an avowed socialist. As a result, many of my colleagues on the ic side of the aisle are suddenly terrified of their left flank. Because her campaign focused on abolishing ICE--abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, more incumbent have said that they, too, are open to abolishing ICE. prgtoken I call on this body to pull back from the abyss. On immigration there are areas of good-faith disagreement that this body has debated and will continue to debate. I have long characterized my views on immigration as being able to be summed up in four words: legal, good; illegal, bad. I think the vast majority of Texans and the vast majority of Americans agree with that. There prgtoken are a host of immigration policies that ought to be commonsense bipartisan policies. prgtoken The Presiding Officer has shown great leadership in fighting against sanctuary cities, fighting against jurisdictions that defy Federal immigration law and that release violent criminals without being willing to turn them over to immigration officials. Those violent criminals, in turn, go on far too often to commit even more violent crimes. prgtoken I am the author of Kate's Law, a commonsense proposal which says that aggravated felons who repeatedly enter the country illegally should face a mandatory minimum prison sentence. It was named for Kate Steinle, a beautiful young woman, 28 years old, murdered on a California pier by an illegal immigrant who had been deported over and over and over again and had been in and out of jail over and over and over again and had multiple felony convictions. Yet, because San Francisco is a sanctuary city, they released him yet again, and he committed murder. prgtoken Kate Steinle would be alive if we could come tog
Calling for the Release of Pastor Andrew Brunson (Executive Session)
Thom Tillis (Republican, NC) \u2014 2018-7-18

I think last week or the week before, you were presiding when I did a speech that I promised I am going to do every week we are in session until justice is served in Turkey. prgtoken It is a speech about this man. His name is Pastor Andrew Brunson. He was arrested in Turkey in October of 2016. If you want to sum up his crime, it is for being a missionary. He has been in Turkey for about 20 years, has served the community well, has provided aid and comfort to Syrian refugees, has provided a place for people in Turkey who want to come into a Christian church to do just that. He has a small church in Izmir. You can only seat about 100 people in it, and he didn't even have that when he started his missionary work. prgtoken I should say he is from the Black Mountain area of North Carolina. He was part of the same church that Rev. Billy Graham was a part of. He went to Turkey to really pursue his passion and serve in Christ through missionary work. prgtoken In 2016, after the coup attempt, President Erdogan implemented emergency powers, and he swept up thousands of people and put them in prison. Pastor Brunson was in a Turkish prison for almost 19 months without charges--about 17 months in a cell that was designed for 8 prisoners that had 21 people in it. prgtoken I was in Turkey about 4 months ago--when I first met Pastor Brunson personally--to visit him in prison to let him know that as long as I am in the U.S. Senate, I am going to work hard for his ultimate release. prgtoken Then I went back about 6 weeks later, and I sat in a Turkish courtroom for about 12 hours, and I heard some of the most absurd charges that could ever be levied against someone to keep them in prison for what will now be going on 2 years. I told Pastor Brunson I would be back, and I will continue to be back, until justice is served. prgtoken I don't want to get into too many of the details so I will tell you he was in a courtroom today for another 5 hours. If it bore any resemblance to the time I was in the courtroom, it goes something like this: The defense gets to say nothing. They don't get to introduce witnesses to testify on his behalf. You have secret witnesses, many of them in a Turkish prison, testifying against him about things like a daughter posting a meal she had on a social media application that the Turkish authorities believe linked her to terror because they believe it is a meal certain terrorist organizations like. It also happens to be a meal that a lot of people in the Middle East like, but that was a charge that suggested he was involved in a coup attempt or conspiring with terrorists. prgtoken Having a light on in a church--by the way, in a room that doesn't have a window--that was supposedly observed by one of these secret witnesses who are in prison, saying: Well, clearly if there was a light on in this church, nothing good could have happened because it was in the middle of the night. Maybe somebody just