mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
Appealing Ruling of the Chair (Executive Calendar)
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2019-4-3

earlier this week I introduced the bipartisan Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 2019, and the acronym for that is RESA, or R-E-S-A. prgtoken I am pleased to be joined by my colleague, Ranking Member Wyden of the Finance Committee, in introducing this very important piece of legislation. The workplace retirement system provides an effective way for employees to save for retirement. Not all workers have access to retirement plans, and some workers who have access to a plan don't always participate. prgtoken The committee felt that we needed to do more to encourage and facilitate retirement savings. That is why we are providing new incentives for employers to adopt retirement plans. The bill also helps to reduce costs of operating these plans and creates new provisions to encourage workers to plan and to save for retirement. prgtoken This bill has been a long time in the making. Work on it actually began shortly after the passage of the Pension Protection Act of 2006. So when I say a long time, if it actually started back there at that time, that is 13 years ago. prgtoken Over several Congresses, the Finance Committee has held hearings on the retirement system and reviewed a number of proposals to improve the system. Many ideas were put forward. We examined each of them carefully, including through the work of the Finance Committee's Tax Reform Working Group on Savings and Investment, which did most of its work during the year 2015. prgtoken The resulting proposals were brought together to form this bill that we call RESA. It was unanimously approved by the Finance Committee in 2016. In the last Congress, many of us worked closely with former Senator Hatch, and chairman at that time, to advance this package. We came very close to an agreement last December, but, as a lot of times happens at the end of the year, it fell short due to politics and the process at that time. Passage of this important bill remains a top priority for me. I have continued working closely with Senator Wyden, the ranking , other committee members, and even colleagues in the House to maintain the momentum from the end of last year so that improvements in this bill can be signed into law without further delay. prgtoken The RESA bill would reform our retirement savings laws in several important areas. For example, it would improve on an existing type of plan called a multiple employer plan, or as we say in finance, MEP. The bill would expand these plans so that employers can join together to sponsor a single retirement plan for their workers. These open MEPs would make it far more feasible for businesses of all sizes, and especially small businesses, to offer retirement plans by harnessing economies of scale and reducing unnecessary administrative burdens on employers. prgtoken More importantly, these open MEPs would open the door for millions of Americans to save for retirement. Speaking of small businesses, the
Order of Business (Executive Session)
John Thune (Republican, SD) \u2014 2019-4-3

. Yesterday afternoon, Senate voted against a rules change that would have reduced needless delay in the Senate and ensure that future Presidents of both parties could staff their administrations in a timely fashion. prgtoken chose partisanship over principle and political advantage over the well-being of the Senate. How do I know that this was a partisan decision on ' part and not a principled one? Because 34 currently serving Members of the ic caucus supported a very similar rules change measure when President was in office. Yet not one Member--not one Member of the ic caucus--voted in favor of the rules change yesterday. prgtoken Worse, privately, many had indicated a willingness to support the rules change but only if the effective date were pushed to 2021, when hope they will have a in the White House. Apparently, it is reasonable for ic administrations to be staffed up in a timely fashion, but administrations should have to suffer endless partisan delays. That is a pretty offensive position. prgtoken It is disrespectful to the American people, who deserve a fully staffed administration, even when their choice of President isn't the ' choice. It is disrespectful of our system of government. prgtoken apparently think the system should be rigged in favor of their party, no matter what election results say. Don't like the fact that a President got to choose Supreme Court Justices? Pack the courts. Don't like the fact that your candidate didn't win the election? Change our electoral system. prgtoken In a democracy, you win some elections and you lose some elections. Sometimes you like the individual in the White House, and sometimes you don't. Sometimes you succeed in passing your legislation, and sometimes you just don't have the votes. That is the nature of life in a democracy. prgtoken No one likes being in the minority. It is not fun to lose votes or elections, but that is the price of freedom. That is the price of democracy. prgtoken The other option is for one party to try to rig the system in its favor so that everything goes its way no matter what election results say. There is a name for that. It is called tyranny. prgtoken Back in 2013, a majority of s, including the leader and me, supported a rules change to streamline the process of approving lower level administration nominees, such as district court judges and assistant secretaries. We voted for this rules change even though we knew it would benefit only President since it would expire at the end of the 113th Congress, but we signed on because we supported the principle behind the change. We believed that Presidents should be able to staff their administrations in a timely fashion, yes, even if they weren't Presidents from our party. We believed that whether the President was a or Demo
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
James E. Risch (Republican, ID) \u2014 2019-4-3

my colleagues Senator Mike Crapo and Representative Mike Simpson join me today in recognizing the 100th anniversary of Jerome County, ID. prgtoken Established February 8, 1919, by the Idaho Legislature, the county was named for either Jerome Kuhn, son of William S. Kuhn, or Jerome Hill, who was commissioned by Kuhn to find a suitable town site north of the Snake River Canyon. With the city of Jerome as the county seat, the small farming communities of Eden and Hazelton also make up the eastern portion of Jerome County. prgtoken One of the early pioneers of Jerome County, I.B. Perrine, was looking for a place to winter his cattle, and Charles Walgamott showed him a spot with beautiful clear blue lakes bubbling up from an underground aquifer. Mr. prgtoken Perrine settled this area and called it the Blue Lakes Ranch. These blue lakes continue to provide water for irrigation, raising rainbow trout, and pristine drinking water to the residents of this area. It also features the beautiful Blues Lakes Country Club with one of the most scenic 18-hole golf courses in the State. prgtoken Although not officially recognized, local historians have documented the Hudson Bay Trail as an alternate route of the Oregon Trail, which goes through Jerome County. The traders of the Hudson Bay Company seemed to have preferred the trail going north of the Snake River Canyon to make their way to Fort Boise in the West and Fort Hall in the East. prgtoken With water, Mr. Perrine saw the magic this area produced and, with the help of Eastern United States Financiers, created the Milner Dam along the Snake River. The Milner Dam and subsequent irrigation system opened the Southern Snake River Plain to farmers, ranchers, and new communities. As a result, the communities of Jerome, Eden, Hazelton, and Greenwood were established between 1905 and 1911. prgtoken In 1919, the Idaho Legislature took the south portion of Lincoln County and the western portion of Minidoka County to carve out Jerome County. As one of the youngest counties in Idaho, it is the 43rd county, out of 44, in the 43rd State. prgtoken A notorious part of Jerome County is the Minidoka Relocation Center north of Eden; it is one of the 10 Japanese internment camps created by the U.S. Government during World War II. Currently, it stands as the Minidoka National Historic Site as a memorial of the sacrifice and suffering of the Japanese-Americans during this period of our history. prgtoken Today, Jerome County boasts a thriving economy lead by the dairy industry, producing more than 100 million pounds of cheese, whey protein, and other dairy products. They also produce the agricultural commodities of alfalfa hay, silage corn, barley, winter wheat, sugar beets, potatoes, beans, and spring wheat. prgtoken Senator Crapo, Representative Simpson, and I are proud to recognize this landmark anniversary. We congratulate Jerome County residents on this centennial, and we wish its
ORDERS FOR THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2019
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2019-4-3

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 11 a.m Thursday, April 4; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Calabria nomination.
Appeal Ruling of the Chair (Executive Session)
Roy Blunt (Republican, MO) \u2014 2019-4-3

in the last vote today we established a new precedent. The rules of the Senate are a combination of the rules of the Senate, the standing orders of the Senate, and the precedents of the Senate. Senator Lankford and I had hoped to do this with a permanent standing order that basically would have put the Senate exactly where the bipartisan vote was in 2013, which included my vote, to have the same kind of rules that we are encouraging now. This process is designed to speed up not only nominees for Presidents but also nominees for Presidents who are . prgtoken In the last 2 years, we have seen an extraordinary use of every tool available to the minority. The Senate is designed to be a place where the minority is heard. In fact, at one time, any Senator could stop everything forever, and when Senators started doing that to excess, that rule was changed. The protections of the minority often have to be looked at again when the minority abuses those protections. That is what has happened in this case. prgtoken Now we have 2 hours of debate on the nominee we are debating right now. If we hadn't just taken the vote we took that overruled the Chair, we would have 30 hours of debate. I guarantee that there will not be 2 hours of debate about this nominee. There may not be 2 minutes of debate about this nominee if we see what we have seen happened in the last 2 years. prgtoken The rules of the Senate currently say that if any Senator wants to hold up consideration of a nominee, then, the Senator can insist that we go through the process of invoking cloture. In the first 2 years of the administration, that process was used 12 times, and that was more than had been the case in the past. In fact, the previous 3 Presidents had cloture invoked on their nominees a total of 12 times. That is 24 times in 4 Presidencies. In the first 2 years of President 's time in office, the majority leader had to come to the floor 128 times and say we are going to have to invoke cloture to have a chance to vote on this nominee. prgtoken It is the first week of April. Eleven times this year already the Senate has had to invoke cloture on a nominee for a government job--for a judgeship or some other government job. While that debate time was seldom used, occasionally, at the end of the week, we would say: Well, OK, we will just go ahead and do the last one. Each time, we had to assume that 30 hours would be used up for those people to be processed and to have a chance to do the jobs that they were going to do. prgtoken The history of the Senate is exactly as the majority leader described here earlier. In the first 200-plus years of the Senate, while the Senate often used a delaying tactic to delay legislation and require the Senate to think about it more, the Senate virtually never used the rules of the Senate to slow down the process of putting people in the Cabinet. prgtoken In fact, several Presi
Order of Business (Executive Calendar)
John Hoeven (Republican, ND) \u2014 2019-4-3

I rise to discuss why we needed to reform the confirmation process. It was absolutely necessary to ensure that the Senate is able to approve the President's nominees in a timely manner. prgtoken Delays and obstruction have prevented qualified nominees from being confirmed. In fact, at the pace the Senate has been going, it would take more than 5 years to process the remaining nominees. Clearly, the process isn't working. prgtoken In the Senate, we take our advice and consent role very seriously. We all want to ensure that we have capable and qualified individuals serving in important positions. Delays in the confirmation process often have nothing to do with the qualifications of the candidate. prgtoken These nominees have been vetted and approved by the appropriate committee, only to spend weeks or months waiting to be considered by the full Senate. Currently, there are more than 100 nominees awaiting confirmation on the Senate calendar. That is because our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have been using the filibuster to delay all of the nominees--even routine, highly qualified nominees. prgtoken In past administrations, a cloture vote was only required for high- level or controversial nominations that required additional deliberation or debate. Under President , our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have required cloture on hundreds of nominees, which means instead of approving these nominations in a timely manner, it often takes 3 days on the Senate floor before a final vote is taken. That is because, following a vote to invoke cloture, there is an additional 30 hours of floor debate after an intervening day. prgtoken During the first 2 years of the previous 3 Presidencies, there were a total of 24 cloture votes. During the first 2 years of President 's Presidency, the Senate forced a cloture vote on 128 nominations. Think about that--24 for the prior 3 Presidents and 128 cloture votes on President 's nominations. For President , during his first 2 years--to compare President to President 's first 2 years--12 for . There were 12 for President and 128 for President . prgtoken So let me provide another example. During the 8 years of the administration, the Senate confirmed 272 district court judges. Since President has been elected, the Senate has confirmed 53 district judges--272 to 53 district court judges. At that pace, only 195 district court judges would be approved over a full 8-year period, far less than the 272 during the administration. prgtoken These delays impact qualified individuals across the Nation. For example, Peter Welte, the nominee to be the U.S. district court judge for the District of North Dakota, was nominated by President more than 77 days ago. It has been about 230 days since Drew Wrigley, nominee to be U.S. attorney for the District of North Dakota was originally reported by Presid
CONGRATULATIONS TO ENDEAVORS
Will Hurd (Republican, TX) \u2014 2019-4-3

. Madam , I rise today in recognition of the 50-year anniversary of Endeavors. Since its start in 1969 as Urban Ministries, Endeavors has provided comprehensive and effective support services for children, families, and our nation's veterans. prgtoken As an organization, Endeavors aims to empower people to build better lives for themselves, their families, and their communities through services like career training, crisis intervention, homelessness prevention, childcare, emergency case management and employment assistance for individuals with disabilities. The organization provides critical support to over 16,000 people each year and makes a positive difference in communities across the country. prgtoken On behalf of the Twenty-third Congressional District of Texas, congratulations to Endeavors on their 50th anniversary.
COLORADO RIVER DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN AUTHORIZATION ACT
Martha McSally (Republican, AZ) \u2014 2019-4-3

. I thank Chairman Murkowski. Yes, the Senator is exactly prgtoken right. The Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan, or DCP, consists of the Agreement Concerning Colorado River Drought Contingency Management and Operations and additional agreements that appear as attachments Al, A2, and B to that agreement. It is an emergency response to 19 years of severe drought and is designed to get us to 2026 without a serious crisis. In the lower basin, this will be done by increasing the contributions and providing incentives to leave water banked in Lake Mead as intentionally created surplus, among other things. My bill reflects the urgency of the situation through its directive that the Secretary of the Interior act without delay to sign the agreements upon execution by the seven Colorado River Basin States. prgtoken As Chairman Murkowski mentioned, it is expected that the Secretary will sign these agreements without delay since the actions to be undertaken are within the analyses and range of effects reviewed in the environmental documents prepared pursuant to the Endangered Species Act, ESA, and in the 2007 final environmental impact statement, EIS, on Colorado River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead; and the EISs and ESA documents prepared for operation of the Colorado River Storage Project Act initial storage unit reservoirs. Additional environmental compliance is only applicable should Federal actions be undertaken that are outside the range of effects analyzed in those documents or the applicable records of decision. prgtoken I ask Senator Cortez Masto, does she agree with this characterization of our bill? prgtoken Ms. Cortez Masto. from Arizona. I agree with her assessment. I would also add that this legislation was developed to ensure water conservation activities in the Colorado River Basin are able to begin in 2019 and be built into the planning of operations for 2020. For this to happen, there can be no delay between execution of the DCP by the States and the signing and implementation by the Secretary of the Interior. prgtoken I ask Senator Gardner, is this also his understanding from the upper basin perspective?
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1585, VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2019
Vicky Hartzler (Republican, MO) \u2014 2019-4-3

I rise today in opposition to this rule and the underlying legislation. prgtoken The Violence Against Women Act was originally enacted to strengthen law enforcement's ability to help women suffering from domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking, and to bolster their efforts in preventing future violence. I fully support VAWA's original intent; however, this rule and the bill under consideration no longer focus on the women suffering from violence. Instead, H.R. 1585 has been politicized. prgtoken This bill was written to use women to overhaul several unrelated areas of law, such as unemployment benefits, housing requirements for nonwomen populations, and the Second Amendment. prgtoken In short, the original intent of this measure, to protect women from abuse, has been hijacked. Not only does this legislation lose focus on the matter at hand, which is women suffering from violence, it fails to prioritize a woman's right to privacy, to safety, and to healing from sexual violence. prgtoken Specifically, H.R. 1585 continues a misguided policy adopted under President , forcing domestic violence survivors to share female- only shelters with men. Unfortunately, we have already seen litigation in women shelters caused by this type of problematic policy. prgtoken For example, as was mentioned by my friend from Arizona, the Naomi's House women's shelter in California is facing a lawsuit on behalf of nine women who were sexually harassed by a transgender individual. Staff at the shelter did not take any disciplinary action due to the fact that, as a Federal grantee, they are required to take in transgender men who identify as females. prgtoken The women suffering from sexual violence were not only subjected to additional sexual harassment, but were threatened to be removed from the shelter if they refused to share a shower and coexist with the transgender individual. prgtoken In a similar case in Alaska, the city of Anchorage is investigating the Downtown Hope Center, which is a faith-based, nonprofit organization. The reason? They are allegedly violating a local law because they provide shelter to only women. prgtoken Anchorage is trying to force the Hope Center to house transgender- identifying men alongside women in its overnight, shared-sleeping facility. However, part of the Hope Center's mission is to provide women suffering from rape, physical abuse, and violence a safe place to sleep at night without the presence of men. prgtoken I would ask my colleagues: How does this policy advance our goal of helping women suffering from abuse when it denies them a safe place to heal? The answer is: It doesn't. These new housing provisions not only diminish the Violence Against Women Act, but also enable more violence against women. prgtoken While there are many other concerns with the VAWA language, I will mention just one more. prgtoken A 2018 Government Accountability Office report found that Planned Parenthood rec