mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
IN RECOGNITION OF ST. LUKE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN LANESBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS
Richard E. Neal (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2017-6-23

I want to take this opportunity to recognize St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Lanesborough, Massachusetts as they celebrate their 250th Anniversary on June 25th. The continued dedication of the congregation of St. Luke's was pivotal in the church becoming the oldest active Episcopal parish in Western Massachusetts. prgtoken The origins of St. Luke's Episcopal Church begin in 1767 when a small group of Church of England members would meet in a private home to worship together. From there they moved to a school house where they continued their worship until they were able to move their small congregation to a wooden church located in the center of town in 1769. During these early years, the church seldom had a pastor and was kept alive by the dedication of its lay members. In 1862, the parish built the ``Old Stone Church,'' an impressive Gothic Revival structure that was added. to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Along with many of its original 19th century fixtures, the Old Stone Church also boasts a 450-pipe, hand-pumped organ that was crafted by William Johnson of Westfield, Massachusetts. The organ has gone through several restorations and is currently the fifth-oldest organ in use in Massachusetts. prgtoken In 1898, the congregation moved into a new structure called the Village Church and temporarily ceased operating out of the Old Stone Church. A major restoration effort in the 1980s, aided by the Massachusetts Historical Society, and returned the church to functional condition. Since then, the Old Stone Church serves as the parish's summer home as a place of worship for parishioners during the summer months, while a second building, the Village Church is the parish's winter home. prgtoken , St. Luke's Episcopal Church serves as a vital link to our region's history and still has much to offer to its parishioners even after all these years. As they celebrate their semiquincentennial, I wish them all the best in continuing to preserve their rich history and community involvement that has been the legacy of St. Luke's.
HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION
Brian Schatz (Democrat, HI) \u2014 2017-6-26

you might think that for the last 7 years, the major complaint people had about the Affordable Care Act was that it hurt rich people, because they seem to be the only people who stand to gain with this Senate healthcare plan. They get a giant tax break. The rest of America, on the other hand, is in trouble. prgtoken With Care, healthcare will cost more, and 22 million people are going to lose their healthcare altogether. Some healthcare bill. To put this in perspective, imagine if everyone lost their healthcare in Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Alaska, West Virginia, Ohio, Idaho, and Wyoming. That is what Care does. That is 22 million Americans. It also devastates one of the best healthcare programs this country has. prgtoken With this bill, Medicaid is going to lose nearly $800 billion. If your only worry is that your investment income gets taxed at 3.8 percent every year, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Let me drill down on that because one of the most egregious tax breaks in this bill--and this is mostly a tax cut bill and not a healthcare bill--is the following: If you are making $200,000 as an individual or $250,000 as a couple, capital gains income is currently taxed at 3.8 percent. If you are making $200,000 as an individual or $250,000 as a couple and you have capital gains, not regular income, it is taxed at 3.8 percent. This bill zeros that tax out. This bill zeros that tax out. On top of that, it is retroactive. Think about the absurdity. prgtoken Here we are. I am looking at the Senator from Pennsylvania and how much he has advocated for children and especially for children with disabilities. I am looking at the Senator from Connecticut and the work he has done for people with chronic diseases and mental health challenges and the resources we need for that. And in the middle of a supposedly oriented toward healthcare piece of legislation, we are giving a retroactive capital gains tax cut to people who make over $250,000 a year in combined income. It is absurd. It is not a healthcare bill. prgtoken If you have a loved one in a nursing home, if you are pregnant or thinking of having a baby, if your kid has a disability that requires costly care, if you work two jobs but your employer doesn't provide health insurance, then this bill does not take care of you. Instead of less taxes, you get less care, and you are going to pay more for it. prgtoken This is what happens when legislators don't have committee hearings or they refuse to meet with patients, doctors, nurses, advocates, their own constituents. There have been so few townhalls about healthcare. There have been so few real Senate debates about healthcare. prgtoken I have seen every single ic Member of the Senate come here and prgtoken talk about this piece of legislation. I have seen every single Member of the Senate talk about legislation that they are proud of. I have seen very few people on the R
HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION
Christopher Murphy (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2017-6-26

I want to pick up where my colleague from Hawaii left off. There is a wonderful analogy that President used after the 2016 election. As you could imagine, were pretty dejected the day after, and President put it pretty simply. He said: Listen, just remember, these elections are intramural scrimmages. We put on temporary pinnies, s and , but in the end, we all belong to the same team. We are all Americans. prgtoken Elections and legislative fights are temporary skirmishes before we recognize and realize our greater identity, which is that we have this commonality. Clearly, that is not what the American people see here. They think our primary identity is our partisan identity, and there is a lot of days in which we give them fodder for that belief. prgtoken It really is amazing, when it comes down to it, that when you think about the healthcare system, we do have the same goals in mind. There are actually lots of other issues on which we don't have the same goal. s want to go left, and we want to go right. s want to go right, and we want to go left. On healthcare, we actually all want to get to the same place: More people have access to health insurance, the cost of that insurance is less than it is today, and the quality of the care people get is better. It is funny because underneath that, it is just mechanics. It is not actually ideology. It is a decision as to which lever you press and which you don't. prgtoken I get that a lot of my colleagues don't think we are sincere when we say: If you put this monstrosity of a bill aside, we will work with you to do something better. But it is sincere. We don't want to blow up Medicaid. We are not with you on that. We don't want to pass along big tax breaks, only going to the very wealthy. But we get that you want some more flexibility for States. We get that you want maybe an additional plan offered on the exchanges that doesn't have all the bells and whistles the existing plans do. But you get that we want stability in the exchanges. We want some certainty in the markets going forward. prgtoken There is an important conversation to be had here. Our hope is that, with this CBO score, maybe it will be the straw that breaks the camel's back, that will cause our colleagues to give up this nonsensical approach to healthcare reform and work with us. prgtoken I am going to repeat some of the ground that has already been covered here in the next few minutes, but I want to go over some of the highlights of this CBO report. prgtoken Senator Schatz previewed this, but it is hard to get your head wrapped around what it means for 22 million people to lose insurance. prgtoken This is an old chart from the CBO score on the House bill that held that under their approach, 23 million people would lose insurance. I X'd that out. We now have 22 million people who would lose insurance under th
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
Christopher A. Coons (Democrat, DE) \u2014 2017-6-26

I wish to honor the remarkable service of the Polytech School District superintendent, Dr. Deborah Zych, and to recognize her commitment and service to the district. Throughout her career, Debbie has been an outstanding leader and innovative thinker, serving in many positions throughout Delaware's school districts. Her hard work, perseverance, and dedication will truly be missed by students, parents, and Delawareans up and down our State. prgtoken Since 2011, Debbie has played an active and integral role within the Delaware Department of Education, the New Castle County School District, and the Polytech School District, serving as a teacher, administrator, director of curriculum, assistant superintendent, and superintendent. Throughout her time in Polytech School District, Debbie has been a major leader, instrumental in guiding POLYTECH through facility enhancements, the expansion of educational opportunities for students, as well as a marked growth in student certifications. She also played a significant role in establishing a more visible link between Polytech's highly recognized high school and adult education programs. I join the many Delawareans who have had the opportunity to work alongside Debbie, and we are truly grateful for all she has done to improve the lives of Delaware's youth and adults. prgtoken In addition to ensuring that Kent County students got quality educations, I got to know Debbie through a lot of the work she and her staff did with manufacturers in Delaware and with their impressive apprenticeship programs they ran. She came down to a ic Steering and Outreach Committee meeting we hosted on workforce training, and last year, she hosted an event I helped organize on National Manufacturing Day. Debbie and her staff recognized that what manufacturers in Delaware needed was for the training to be done on the shop floor rather than in the school, and they have made dozens of companies stronger as a result. Under Debbie's leadership, Polytech School District also expanded the number of English language learners in Delaware. prgtoken Beginning her career in Maryland, Debbie has always been an advocate for students, teachers, and the local community. She was committed to ensuring that each student--no matter their age--was equipped with the tools and skills necessary to go out into the world and take advantage of each opportunity that came their way. prgtoken We cannot simply attribute Debbie's long service in Delaware's school systems to her hard work and advocacy, but also to her genuine passion for seeing each student and program participant excel. Her forward- thinking ability and insight into the value of incorporating all district resources has undoubtedly laid the foundation for helping all students succeed. prgtoken Debbie's work has been nothing short of incredible, and I am sincerely grateful for all that she has done on behalf of the students and families acr
HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION
Amy Klobuchar (Democrat, MN) \u2014 2017-6-26

from Oregon for his words. prgtoken I rise today to give voice to the concerns I am hearing from so many people in my State and across the country about this repeal bill. prgtoken First, I want to recognize my colleague from Hawaii, Senator Hirono, who spoke earlier tonight about her personal battle with kidney cancer, as she is an example to all of us of determination and grit when the going gets tough. She not only is going to the hospital for surgery tomorrow--which isn't an easy surgery--but she decided she wanted to spend the night before she went into the hospital here because she is so passionate about this issue. prgtoken I know she is going to fight this disease and win and come out stronger than ever. I have been so moved by how she has taken on her personal fight against cancer at the same time that she has kept this fight going in the Senate. She is doing it not just for herself or for her State but for people all over the country. prgtoken As Senator Hirono has said, her experience shows how quickly a routine visit to the doctor can turn into a serious diagnosis--a diagnosis that becomes a preexisting condition. prgtoken Everyone who faces a serious illness, no matter who they are, should be able to focus all of their energy on getting better, not on how they are going to pay their medical bills. Unfortunately, the bill we are considering doesn't allow everyone to do that. prgtoken As the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office noted earlier today, this bill could mean the return of annual or lifetime limits on what insurance would cover for people with expensive conditions like cancer or Alzheimer's, and some key healthcare benefits might be excluded from insurance coverage altogether. prgtoken It is no surprise that the Minnesota Hospital Association has said that this proposal ``creates a lot of chaos.'' prgtoken I was just at Northfield Hospital this weekend. It is a college town, but it is in the middle of a very rural part of our State, with a lot of farms surrounding it. In fact, they call the town ``Cows, Colleges, and Contentment.'' In that town and in that hospital, there wasn't a lot of contentment during my visit. prgtoken The CEO of the hospital told me that he was worried that this bill could drive more of his patients to bankruptcy. I met with a number of people who were on the board and work at the hospital, and they were all very concerned about what the bill would mean. prgtoken This did not mean that they didn't want to see changes to the Affordable Care Act. They do. They see the issues with premiums in our State. That is why our legislature worked with our ic Governor to pass a bill for reinsurance, to try to use something to leverage the risk for the people in the exchange. We could do something similar on the Federal level, and we should, but that is not what this bill is about. prgtoken The head of another hospital in my State
HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION
Edward J. Markey (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2017-6-26

I would like to thank my friend and colleague Senator Hirono for her words and her willingness to share how this bill could impact the millions of Americans with preexisting conditions. I, along with everyone else in this Chamber, wish her the best and a speedy recovery so she can continue to fight for the people of Hawaii and the people of the United States. prgtoken After weeks of secret meetings, Senate s released their healthcare legislation last week. In many ways, it is even worse than expected. It is no wonder that the Senate s kept this legislative malpractice hidden behind closed doors. For working families and the elderly, for the disabled and for those suffering from opioid addiction, this legislation is a death sentence. This bill takes a machete to Medicaid. It abandons people with preexisting conditions. It punishes Grandma and Grandpa, who live in a nursing home, and 25,000 seniors in Massachusetts' nursing homes who are on Medicaid. prgtoken It causes the single greatest rollback of civil rights for people with disabilities in a generation, by taking away the funding for those with disabilities. It creates an age tax for those over the age of 50. It shreds a critical healthcare program for the disabled, working families, and children just to bestow billions in tax breaks for the wealthiest in our country. prgtoken This is an amazing number. The richest 400 billionaires in the United States will get a tax break of more than $33 billion, which is roughly equivalent to the cuts from ending Medicaid expansion in four States. That is more than 700,000 people in just those four States who could be kicked off of their health insurance coverage to benefit just 400 billionaires in America who do not have to worry about their healthcare or their family's welfare. But for those who are going to lose the coverage--people with cancer, people with Alzheimer's, people who need opioid addiction treatment, people with diabetes--they will have their healthcare coverage slashed so that 400 billionaires can get a tax break, which they don't need and they don't deserve. That is at the heart of this healthcare bill. It is what it is all about. This legislation is of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich. prgtoken It is a ``wealth care'' bill for the upper 1 percent in our country, and it says to everyone else: Your healthcare is going to suffer in order to take care of that 1 percent with their tax breaks. It is a more than $500 billion tax break to corporations and individuals making $200,000 or more. It is no wonder that President has kept his tax returns secret, because he knew he was about to get a massive tax break through this legislation from slashing healthcare for people with cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's, heart disease, and substance use disorders. This selfish Senate legislation will increase premiums and out-of-pocket costs, while decrea
Healthcare Legislation (Executive Session)
Jack Reed (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2017-6-26

I come to the Senate floor, once again, to urge my colleagues to work in a bipartisan, transparent fashion to improve our healthcare system and help bring down costs. prgtoken Over the weekend, members of the American Medical Association--the Nation's largest organization of doctors--had a chance to finally read the proposed bill and found it violates their ``do no harm'' principle. According to a letter they wrote to Leaders McConnell and Schumer, ``Medicine has long operated under the precept of Primum non nocere, or, `first do no harm.' The draft legislation violates that standard on many levels.'' prgtoken That is the conclusion of the American Medical Association, and they are correct. This bill will not lower costs, and it will not improve our healthcare system. Instead, it will remove health insurance coverage for millions of Americans. Indeed, the CBO has just released their estimate that 22 million Americans will lose their health insurance coverage. It will increase costs for everyone and decimate State budgets, creating a ripple effect throughout our economy. prgtoken The bill my colleagues worked in secret to craft is, in a sense, a sham. It will not lower costs, and it will not improve our healthcare system, as they insist. Instead, it will remove health insurance coverage for millions of Americans--22 million, according to the CBO-- increase costs for everyone, as I said, and decimate State budgets. In fact, their bill essentially is a huge tax cut for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans at the expense of everyone else. prgtoken If you need any further proof of the real driver of this bill, one of its biggest giveaways is a retroactive tax break on investment income for people making at least a quarter of a million dollars. Dozens of leading economists, including six Nobel laureates, have criticized this plan as, in their words, a ``giant step in the wrong direction'' that prioritizes tax breaks averaging $200,000 annually per household in the top 0.1 percent of Americans over the well-being of working families. In fact, President himself will get an estimated $2 million tax break each year from the giveaways in this bill. Let's call this bill what it is: a massive giveaway to the wealthiest Americans. Meanwhile, the rest of the country--all of our constituents--will be the ones paying the price for these tax breaks for those well-off. So much for the President's claim that he would end a rigged system. prgtoken Now, how do s pay for these tax breaks? For starters, they are proposing to end the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, which is providing health insurance to nearly 15 million Americans, but then they go even further by effectively block-granting Medicaid, cutting hundreds of billions of dollars from the program over the next decade. These are not reforms designed to lower costs. This is a cut, pure and simple, which will sharply
WEALTH CARE OVER HEALTHCARE AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF CARIBBEAN AMERICANS
Stacey E. Plaskett (Democrat, VI) \u2014 2017-6-26

I find it very interesting for myself that we have Congresswoman Yvette Clarke and the next Member to come up is also from New York. Both of them have been Representatives of districts that I have lived in and that my family lives in. They represent what I think of when I think of my parents who live now in Congressman Meeks' district, and my mother who was partly raised in Congresswoman Clarke's district. My parents represent most Caribbean Americans who come to this country--people who come here with not much, who are willing to work hard, who believe that the sacrifice toward education and support of their families and helping others to come and find good, stable jobs and create middle class is what America is about. prgtoken We have contributed so much, and we can talk about so many of the Caribbean Americans who have done amazing things in this country. But it is those individuals who we do not talk about--our parents, our families--who come to this country, who provided the stability for others. It is why we are so concerned about the temporary protective status of Haitians--the 50,000 Haitians who are hardworking Haitians in this country, who are being sent back, who are now here working hard and sending so much money back that is the backbone of the economy of Haiti, who we cannot let go back because that country will collapse with them, leaving this country, and being good citizens--as much as they can be citizens--yearning for the American Dream. prgtoken , Mr. Meeks represents Queens, which is one of the backbones of Caribbean Americans. He is my parents' Congressman. The gentleman has been so good to the people that he represents as well as all the American people. The gentleman sits on the Committee on Financial Services. He also prgtoken sits as a member on the Foreign Affairs Committee, where he advocates and speaks for those individuals who cannot speak for themselves. prgtoken , from New York (Mr. Meeks).