mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
MINNESOTA'S ECONOMIC RIGHTS IN THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST ACT
Paul A. Gosar (Republican, AZ) \u2014 2017-11-29

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , the charge is Minnesotans strongly oppose mining near the prgtoken Boundary Waters, so let's go back, remind everybody back at home about the red. We are not talking about the red or the yellow in the previous document. Let's go through what we see. prgtoken Minnesota's ic Governor was for mining in the area before he was against it. Several polls over the years consistently show strong support for copper-nickel mining in general and for allowing companies to explore and propose projects. prgtoken In November of 2016, a poll of 400 registered voters in the Eighth Congressional District found, among other results, by greater than a 3 to 1 margin, survey respondents support environmentally responsible mining in the region. prgtoken By greater than 2-to-1 margins, respondents support the building of a new copper-nickel mine and believe copper-nickel mining can be done in an environmentally responsible way. They demand that. More than 60 percent support an underground copper-nickel project, the Twin Metals mine. prgtoken In October 2013, a poll of more than 600 registered Minnesota voters statewide found, among other results, a majority of voters, 56 percent, favor expanding Minnesota's mining industry. prgtoken A plurality of voters, 48 percent, support expanding the nickel- copper mining industry in the State. prgtoken All mayors, State legislators, the county commissioners that represent the Iron Range region, and the area proposed for the withdrawal are pro-mining advocates. Fifty-three bipartisan State legislators, including leadership of both parties, have endorsed the bill and support the passage. prgtoken Why is that? prgtoken These aren't just your average jobs. They don't pay service wages of $20,000. These are $100,000 plus and, additionally, have benefits. Those are jobs that Americans sink their teeth into. That is what built America. prgtoken Stay tuned. I am going to show you some other photos of how they really look at mining. prgtoken , .
TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT
Deb Fischer (Republican, NE) \u2014 2017-11-29

I rise this evening to speak about tax reform, which is so important for families in Nebraska and throughout this country. The last time Congress comprehensively reformed the Tax Code was in 1986, and we all agree it is long overdue. My priorities for tax reform have always been threefold: delivering relief to the middle-class, unleashing small business growth, and making our country competitive globally. This bill before us accomplishes these goals. prgtoken American families have struggled over the past decade, and too many in our country have found themselves living paycheck to paycheck. Wages for workers have stagnated while the prices of goods and services have continued to climb. Things are only just starting to turn around and, as I travel across my State, Nebraskans have begun to tell me they are finally feeling confident about the economy again. That needs to continue, and the best way to do it is by putting more money back into the pockets of regular Americans. This bill does that in one of the best ways possible, by doubling the standard deduction and protecting the first $24,000 that married couples earn and the first $12,000 individuals earn from Federal taxes. prgtoken Increasing the standard deduction is pro-family, and it helps to foster the American dream. It not only leads to Americans keeping more of their hard- prgtoken earned money, but it also means that simplifying the code will help them save money in tax preparation as well. According to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, a married couple with two kids making $85,000 per year, will see their taxes decrease by $2,224. This reform provides money that will allow Americans to plan for their future and to pay their bills. It can be a downpayment on a house or it can be put away for future college tuition or for retirement. It gives millions of earners more empowerment to use these savings for their lives as they see fit. prgtoken Simplifying the code isn't the only family-focused provision included in this legislation. The Senate bill doubles the child tax credit from $1,000 to $2,000 per child. According to the Department of Agriculture, parents of a child born in 2015 are likely to spend more than $233,000 raising a child to age 17. That doesn't even include college tuition. Doubling the child tax credit will allow families to keep up to an additional $4,000 every year if they have two children or more. This credit builds a stronger future by helping families all across our country keep more money to raise happy and healthy children. prgtoken In addition to these changes, this legislation will preserve many other popular deductions. This includes the charitable deduction, medical expense deduction, the student loan interest deduction, the mortgage interest deduction, and the low-income housing tax credit. This bill also continues popular savings programs such as the 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts. These saving i
MISSILE DEFENSE
James M. Inhofe (Republican, OK) \u2014 2017-11-29

for 20 years now, I have viewed the development and deployment of a layered ballistic missile defense shield as vital to our national security. The experience that we witnessed yesterday is something we have been talking about for a long time that was going to happen. Sometimes our DIA, or Defense Intelligence Agency, has said it is going to happen 5 years from now and then 4 years from now. The question is this: When will North Korea have the capability of a weapon and delivery system that would reach Washington, DC, or any of the States of the United States? The adversaries like North Korea are developing ballistic missiles with increasing range and accuracy. It is important for us in the Senate to communicate to the American people the credible, grave, and immediate threat that we face. prgtoken Today the world is more dangerous than it has ever been before. I have said so many times in the past that I look wistfully back at the days of the Cold War when things were predictable. We had two superpowers. We knew what they had, and they knew what we had. It is not that way anymore. Every time we have someone coming in to our Defense Committee to testify, they talk about the fact that North Korea is not predictable. So we don't know what is going to happen and what they are capable of doing. prgtoken I have been here on the floor on this issue in 2001, 2009, 2012, and this will be the third time this year. Over the last 30 years, we have witnessed our missile defense programs go through dramatic investment changes from administration to administration, depending on who is President. Remember how everyone ridiculed President Reagan about ``Star Wars,'' hitting a bullet with a bullet. They felt that it was pretty funny at that time. Right now, everything he said that was going to happen is happening and happened yesterday. prgtoken In 1993, they cut out of the Reagan budget and from the budget the missile defense budget request for fiscal year 1994. They terminated the Reagan- Strategic Defense Initiative Program and downgraded the national missile defense--this is all during the Clinton administration--to a research and development program only and cut 5 years of missile defense funding by 54 percent, from $39 billion to $18 billion. prgtoken In 1996 they cut funding and slowed the development of the THAAD program--the THAAD program we are so dependent on right now to defend against an incoming missile in many parts of the world with our allies. They cut the Defense authorization bill, which required accelerated development. prgtoken In 1999 they delayed by at least 2 years our Space-Based Infrared System satellites, designed to detect and track missile launches, necessary to coordinate with any effective national missile defense system. prgtoken Then along came . By the end of 2008, the administration had succeeded in fielding a missile defense system that was capable of defe
THANKING DR. ROBERT MARTINO
David B. McKinley (Republican, WV) \u2014 2017-11-29

today I rise to honor Dr. Robert Martino of Clarksburg, West Virginia. prgtoken In 2013, Dr. Martino began a unique program, generously providing one day of free dental services to local Active-Duty military and their families. He wanted to give back to those who have sacrificed so much, and he has continued to do so each and every year, thereafter, and has spread this idea throughout his professional network. prgtoken This day of service has now swept across the Nation, with over 500 businesses now offering our soldiers everything from dental services to accounting. It has become known as Freedom Day. prgtoken But that isn't enough. I want to challenge more businesses to participate. Visit freedomday.usa.org to find out how to get involved. prgtoken Dr. Martino, thank you for the example you set for America. You are truly a great American.
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 3017, BROWNFIELDS ENHANCEMENT, ECONOMIC REDEVELOPMENT, AND REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2017, AND PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 3905, MINNESOTA'S ECONOMIC RIGHTS...
Liz Cheney (Republican, WY) \u2014 2017-11-29

such time as I may consume. prgtoken I want to thank my colleagues, Mr. McKinley and Mr. Emmer, for their work on these important bills. I want to thank my colleague, Mr. McGovern. I am glad to hear him say that they want to put people first. prgtoken , that is exactly what we are doing; whether we are talking about our tax bill, which is going to put money back in people's pockets; whether we are talking about repealing and replacing Care, which we have passed through this House; whether we are talking about defense spending that is going to protect the people of this Nation. prgtoken All across Wyoming, , I know my constituents are very grateful that we are now suddenly putting people first after years of putting the government first. We are not doing that anymore, Mr. . prgtoken It is true, this is the people's House. And in this House, Mr we ought to always live by and remember the rules of Alexander Hamilton: ``Here, sir, the people govern.'' prgtoken In this House, , we are charged with carrying out the obligations of the people who elected us. The bills and the rule that we are debating today do just that. Both of these bills are absolutely critical for spurring economic development across our country. prgtoken Therefore, , I urge adoption of both the rule and of these underlying bills.
TAX REFORM
Roy Blunt (Republican, MO) \u2014 2017-11-29

s who are on the Senate prgtoken Finance Committee and the Senate Budget Committee for getting us to the point we are at today. I think we are approaching a vote to move to a full debate on the tax bill, which is absolutely amendable with every idea that has anything to do with taxes and raising money, so people will have every right to be heard. prgtoken It has been a process that has gone on for a long time. But what we have seen happen over the last three decades--after an incredible effort in 1986 to simplify the Tax Code, to bring it up-to-date and make it competitive, what we have seen is a tax code that gradually has become more and more complicated. prgtoken There are too many loopholes that don't seem to be fair to everyone involved. Sometimes, it is not as much the tax rate you are paying, as your understanding that somebody else has figured out--in a competitive business or not even the same business--how to find that tax loophole, which meant they weren't paying their fair share of taxes. prgtoken Our Tax Code depends on a sense of fairness. It depends on a sense of equity. The out-of-date Tax Code means that some of the rates-- particularly in international competition that might have been just fine 30 years ago--simply aren't fine today. Other countries have continued to reduce their taxes. They understand, as many of our States do in this country, that a tax policy that works means an economy that grows. Many of our competitors have figured that out. Right now, we have a chance to join them and figure it out as well. prgtoken There is a chance here to make a generational change that will last, I would hope, at least for a generation, as the structure. We can do that by lowering corporate rates. In 1986, 35 percent was kind of in the middle of the countries we compete with. In 2017, it is at the very top of the tax structure of the countries we compete with. Even though they are well below us now in terms of the tax burden they put on companies that compete with us, they are lowering their corporate rate already. Even the middle will soon be the top, as it turned out to be in the last three decades. At least this gets us back to the middle. prgtoken We will shift to a territorial system where, if you make money in another country, there is no penalty to bring it back here. There is no doubt that we will bring hundreds of billions of dollars back to the U.S. economy if we pass this bill. Some of the estimates say that we may bring $2 trillion back. prgtoken We have had a stimulus plan in the past decade in which every family got $100 or something like that and thought that was a big stimulus. So a $1 trillion stimulus or $2 trillion stimulus is unbelievable. That money has been sitting someplace else; companies have wanted to invest it here but weren't going to bring it back under the old tax system. If they had brought it back, their shareholders would probably have
STOP GOVERNMENT SPYING ON AMERICANS
Ted Poe (Republican, TX) \u2014 2017-11-29

in this situation, government seizes the information without a probable cause warrant. Then they search the information to see how many times Bobby Oglethorpe maybe has violated other laws, and they do it without a probable cause warrant. prgtoken That is allowed under 702 of the FISA legislation. We are getting ready to reauthorize FISA. This 702 provision should require a warrant to search that information, a warrant to take the content of that information and make it public, and file on Bobby Oglethorpe. prgtoken , Congress must set the standard for privacy, not the courts; and we are called upon to fix this spying on Americans and not allow it. prgtoken And that is just the way it is.
CONGRATULATIONS TO BUCKTAIL MEDICAL CENTER'S TIMOTHY REEVES
Glenn Thompson (Republican, PA) \u2014 2017-11-29

I rise today to congratulate Bucktail Medical Center CEO Timothy Reeves for receiving a Community Star from the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health. prgtoken Community Stars recognize men and women nationwide who work to improve, protect, and advance health and wellness for those living in rural America. prgtoken Timothy Reeves is the chief executive officer at Bucktail Medical Center, which is a critical access hospital, skilled nursing facility, community clinic, and BLS ambulance service in Renovo, Pennsylvania, in Clinton County. It is the only medical facility for more than 30 miles in any direction. Bucktail Medical Center is believed to be the most remote hospital in Pennsylvania. prgtoken When Timothy came to Bucktail, the small hospital was on life support. The organization had significant financial issues, but it had a dedicated, strong-willed staff and supporting board. Through a carefully planned financial restructuring process, Timothy has helped bring the facility back to life. It is growing, modernizing, and acquiring the equipment, technology, and provisions needed to advance healthcare for the community. prgtoken , thanks to Timothy and his team, Bucktail is looking towards the future, and the community is grateful for it. Congratulating Dr. Lorraine Rosamilia
TAX REFORM
David Perdue (Republican, GA) \u2014 2017-11-29

. Thank you, . prgtoken When President took office, he said that job No. 1 this year was getting the economy growing again. As a business guy--I am going to speak very quickly because I think the majority leader is on the way down to the floor--he said the first thing we had to do to get the economy going were three things: No. 1, pull back on the onerous regulations. Well, so far this year 860 rules and regulations have been reversed. No. 2, he said we have to unleash our God-given energy potential. So far, Keystone Pipeline, the Clean Power Plan, and ANWR are underway. prgtoken Finally, we have to change the Tax Code, and that is what we are here debating this week. I am very optimistic that this plan will absolutely put people back to work, put money back in their pockets, and make our American economy and the people who participate in it competitive with the rest of the world. prgtoken With that, I notice that the majority leader is on the floor, and .
TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT
Cory Gardner (Republican, CO) \u2014 2017-11-30

I ask unanimous consent that Senator Casey be recognized to offer a motion to commit, which is at the desk; that the time until 2:15 p.m. be equally divided in the usual form for debate on the motion; and that at 2:15 p.m the Senate vote in relation to the motion with no intervening action or debate. I further ask that following disposition of the motion, the majority leader be recognized.
TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT
Michael B. Enzi (Republican, WY) \u2014 2017-11-30

on behalf of the majority leader, I ask unanimous consent that Senator King now be recognized to offer a motion to commit, which is at the desk; that the time until 4 p.m. be equally divided in the usual form for debate on the motion; that at 4 p.m the Senate vote in relation to the motion with no intervening action or debate. I further ask that following disposition of the motion, the majority leader or his designee be recognized.
TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT
Lisa Murkowski (Republican, AK) \u2014 2017-11-30

I appreciate the fact that I am able to follow my colleague from South Carolina, who has, I think, described and encapsulated in pretty simple terms this proposal before us. prgtoken This tax proposal is good for the country. It is good for American families. It is good for Alaskan families and South Carolina families. I am pleased to be able to join my colleagues this afternoon in support of the reconciliation legislation that we have pending before us. prgtoken I happen to believe that the tax reform title will help our families keep more of their hard-earned dollars. I think it will make American businesses more competitive. I am also proud to be the author of the energy title contained within this measure that works to strengthen our long-term energy security. I think it is important that we recognize the magnitude of the moment. Once in a generation we have an opportunity to really take a hard look at our economy, the role that Congress can play in encouraging new growth, and then take the action that we need to get the economy back on track. prgtoken Our historic tax reform effort will grow Alaska and the Nation's economy. When you look at it from the broader view--from a thousand- foot view--the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is pro-economy, and it is pro- growth. It is a pro-jobs proposal that reduces taxes and puts dollars in the pockets of hard-working Americans at every income level. prgtoken Think about all that it does in terms of boosting the economy to create jobs--jobs that feed our families and that help put our kids through college, jobs that allow you to save for the unexpected events, to be able to retire with peace of mind, and the flexibility to be the great innovators that we are in this country. prgtoken What we see in this proposal are meaningful developments in the tax code to provide substantive relief to Americans across the economic spectrum. prgtoken In Alaska, if you take a family of four with two kids, earning $50,000, that uses the standard deduction, they are going to see a tax decrease of $1,400. If the same family earns about $75,000, that tax liability would be reduced by $2,000. The child tax credit benefit that we see from doubling or nearly doubling that tax credit is from $1,000 to $2,000--$1,000 of which is refundable. It also expands the eligibility of children under 18, providing significant assistance to the 22 million Americans who use the child tax credit. prgtoken In terms of simplifying the tax code, how often do we hear our constituents say: Just make it simpler for us? By making it a simpler, fairer tax treatment for individuals in every income bracket, again, this is a proposal that delivers. prgtoken Most Americans take advantage of the standard deduction, and this act doubles the standard deduction, resulting in a $12,000 deduction for single filers, and $24,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly. prgtoken I focus a lot on the families in Alaska. We don't h
TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT
Bill Cassidy (Republican, LA) \u2014 2017-11-30

I would like to take a short break from talking about the tax bill to talking about something equally as important and much more poignant. prgtoken I will first recognize and honor fellow Americans serving overseas in our military--men and women dedicating their time and effort to keep our country safe. Working far from home and often in danger, every day they risk their lives to defend our freedoms. prgtoken Today, I will talk about one in particular, U.S. Naval Airman Matthew Chialastri, who not only risked his life but gave his life. prgtoken Matthew was born and raised in Louisiana. He graduated as the valedictorian from Woodlawn High School in Baton Rouge, class of 2013. There, he was a member of the JROTC Program, and after graduating, he chose to enlist in the Navy. prgtoken After completing his training, he began his Active-Duty service with Patrol Squadron 30, a P-8 training squadron. Then he served aboard the aircraft carrier USS America, from December 2015 to October of this year. He was then sent to Commander Fleet Activities in Japan to begin preparing to join the USS Ronald Reagan. During the course of his service, he earned the National Defense Ribbon and the Navy Battle ``E'' Ribbon. prgtoken Sadly, on November 22, during a transport flight to the USS Ronald Reagan, Matthew's cargo plane was forced to make an emergency landing in the Philippine Sea. Eight survived. Three did not. Matthew and two of his fellow Navy servicemen lost their lives in service to our country. prgtoken This is a terrible tragedy. Our hearts go out to Matthew's family-- his mother, Marty, and father, Phillip, his fellow sailors, and his friends in Louisiana. We grieve with them. prgtoken As one of his former high school classmates said, Matthew could have had any scholarship he ever wanted to any school. He could have gone anywhere he wanted. He just believed that serving our country was first. That was his everything. Others who knew him described Matthew as smart, dedicated, and a strong leader. They said he could always make those around him laugh with his dry sense of humor and smile. prgtoken As Americans, we mourn the loss of Naval Airman Matthew Chialastri. As folks from Louisiana, we mourn the loss of one of our own, but we honor his memory and the example he set for those of us who benefited from his willingness to sacrifice. We thank him for choosing to serve, for his sacrifice. We are forever grateful. prgtoken .