mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
TRUTH WITH MATH
David Schweikert (Republican, AZ) \u2014 2023-9-13

Mr. Hoyer has been kind to me. There was a while back when we were beating each other up on the floor, I think he gave me more time to finish. Sometimes you remember those things. prgtoken , I am well caffeinated, and I am angry, so let's actually have some fun on the truth with math. I am terrified what is going on around here because we are making crap up. So let's actually do math. prgtoken , this is what we were borrowing per second over the last 12 months. Every single second we were borrowing $72,932. Every second we borrow 72,000, and 20,000 of it is just interest, and it gets dramatically worse between now and the rest of the decade. prgtoken There is a punch line here I need you to understand. How many times have you listened to Members walk behind these microphones and do this: Well, I don't get to vote on mandatory spending, I only vote on discretionary. Seriously, you have been here how long, ? It is our mantra. Well, I vote on defense and nondefense discretionary, and that is like 30 percent of the budget. It is actually closer to 27. prgtoken Well, guess what? Every dime we as Members of Congress now vote on is borrowed. It is all borrowed money. Look, I threw together this chart-- thank you to the staff--but in the current budget year the appropriation was about $1.8 trillion, 1.8, 1.3, and in the July update we have spent about $1.7 trillion on discretionary. This is not Medicare. This is not Social Security. That is this orange part here. We have functionally in the last 12 months we have borrowed $2.3 trillion. prgtoken Does anyone see the math problem? prgtoken The 2023 discretionary spending budget was going to be 1 trillion, 831 billion, and we are going to borrow, when this fiscal year is over--my math is encroaching in on $2.2 trillion, so my staff thinks it is going to be 2.1. You know, what is $100 billion between friends? prgtoken I need you to process what I am saying. If anyone out there is listening, if there is any staffer sitting in your office watching the television, understand everything your Member of Congress votes on, everything is borrowed money. prgtoken Tell me, do you remember, it was a year--actually, let's go back where I can say something personal. In February, March I came behind this very microphone and I predicted saying, do you know I think we are actually heading towards borrowing $1.8 trillion, and I got mocked. I have to apologize, I was wrong. It wasn't $1.8 trillion. We are heading towards 2.1, 2.2. It is much worse. prgtoken You just heard the left talking about how wonderful everything is. Explain to me how in May last year, a year ago, May 2022, we thought the budget deficit for this year would be about mid-800s, 860, $870 billion, and now we are heading toward 2.2. What happened? prgtoken Medicare costs went up dramatically. Tax receipts have fallen. You heard about how wonderful this economy is. Isn't it neat? We are doing all these subsidized projects.
HONOR FLIGHT OF SOUTHERN OREGON
Cliff Bentz (Republican, OR) \u2014 2023-9-13

I rise to recognize the Vietnam and Korean War Veterans from Oregon's Second Congressional District who, through the efforts of Honor Flight of Oregon, are visiting their memorials on the National Mall. When I meet these heroes, I am reminded of the enduring words of George S. Patton, Jr who said, ``The highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is that of bearing arms for one's country.'' These words, , still ring true today. Those who value liberty are indebted to these heroes, for each one of them defended our freedom through acts of service, sacrifice, and bravery on behalf of our country. It is my privilege to include in the Record their names. prgtoken The Veterans on this Honor Flight from Oregon are: Joshua Alvarez, Army; Dennis Anderson, Navy; Thomas Beckley, Army; Jerry Chartier, Sr, Marine Corps; Fredd Conn, Marine Corps; David Cunningham, Navy; William Duncan, Army; Richard Gehrke, Navy/Marine Corps; Edward Goodman, Navy; Roger Haynes, Air Force/Army; Robert Howerton, Navy; Michael Hoffman, Navy; David Johnson, Army; Earl Kilpatrick, Air Force; Jesse Redding, Navy; Paul Lofland, Army; Robert Long, Marine Corps; Jesus Lopez, Air Force; Preton Manville II, Marine Corps; William Mathews, Army/Air Force; Lawrence Mixon, Jr, Army; Charles Owen, Army; Robert Rammin, Army; Steven Rolston, Army; Loyd Thurman, Army; Jerry White, Army; and Otto William, Air Force. These heroes join over 260,000 Veterans, who since 2005, have been honored through the nationwide Honor Flight Network of volunteers. I would also like to recognize the volunteers and guardians traveling on this trip: Janet Wilkerson, and the guardians who have also served our country: Kathrine Berg, Army; Jody William, III, Marine Corps. prgtoken , in his 1983 Memorial Day address, Ronald Reagan said, ``We are forever indebted to those who have given their lives that we might be free.'' As a Nation, we must never take for granted the liberties we enjoy today, recognizing that these freedoms have been hard-won by the honor, commitment, and sacrifice of our Veterans. Each Member in this chamber and citizen in these United States should be humbled by the courage of the brave Veterans who voluntarily underwent the dangers necessary to preserve our country. Colleagues, please join me in thanking these Veterans and the volunteers of Honor Flight of Oregon for their remarkable service and devotion to our great country.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Cynthia M. Lummis (Republican, WY) \u2014 2023-9-13

I begin my remarks today with the words from a song: There's this one particular Harbor, so far but yet so near, where I see the days as they fade away and finally disappear. prgtoken When a timeless, iconic American passes away, reflection sets in, perhaps more so for those of us who are contemporaries, to that timeless American's gift to our culture, to America as we know it, live it, and find joy in it. prgtoken Today, I rise to pay tribute to Jimmy Buffett, a legendary singer- songwriter, author, and iconic American who created an incredible and uniquely American musical genre that inspired us to celebrate life with joy, to celebrate everything from a ``Cheeseburger in Paradise'' to a ``Pencil Thin Mustache,'' to this ``One Particular Harbor.'' prgtoken Jimmy Buffett's unique contribution to American culture spans his early career, Bourbon Street performances in New Orleans, to sold-out Red Rocks Amphitheatre, inspiring generations of Parrot Heads that were drawn in by his extraordinary American perspective. prgtoken From remarkable creations like ``One Particular Harbor,'' ``Fins,'' ``We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us About,'' ``Son of a Son of a Sailor,'' ``Jolly Mon,'' ``Cowboy in the Jungle,'' ``Stars on the Water,'' ``Livingston Saturday Night,'' and, of course, ``Come Monday,'' and ``Margaritaville,'' Jimmy Buffett chronicled an American life of sunny gulf coast days, the sound of steel drums, extended happy hours, and all the joys of the seas and the islands. prgtoken Commuting from Cheyenne to Laramie during law school and in need of a break from law school lectures on cassette, I would pop in Jimmy Buffett, roll down the windows, and be lost in lyrics like ``forget your blind ambition and learn to trust your intuition, plowing straight ahead, come what may.'' prgtoken In an instant, Jimmy Buffett could transport a ranch girl in Wyoming to a sandy beach in a wave-licked paradise, surrounded by friends, sporting a tan earned over countless days of deep-sea fishing. He invites us to escape the weight of the world, reminding us that it is always ``5 o'clock somewhere.'' When you are by yourself and you cannot wipe the smile off your face because of a song, that is pure Jimmy Buffett. prgtoken What is so remarkable about Jimmy Buffett's music is its ability to reach and relate to generations of people from all different times of life. To be with Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band in concert, the sound of steel drums floating on a breezy summer night sky, watching giant beach balls bouncing among Parrot Heads wearing Hawaiian shirts and shorts, parents and grandparents with children on their shoulders, all of whom are singing every word to every song--that was also pure Jimmy. When so many voices are driving Americans apart, Jimmy's voice called Americans back together. prgtoken So here is to Jimmy Buffett and his enduring legacy, sailing in the sky alongside dolphi
IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY NEEDED TO COMPLETE INVESTIGATIONS
Russ Fulcher (Republican, ID) \u2014 2023-9-13

. That is true. H.R. 1435 is not the only answer, but it certainly is a step in the right direction. Just keep our internal combustion engines alive and going. prgtoken By the way, the cleanliness of the vehicles that we have, the internal combustion engines we have now have been getting continually better and better and better and more efficient. So this whole ruse about climate change being the purpose that this needs to happen is just totally flawed.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2023-9-13

in June, Congress passed a bipartisan bill to increase the debt limit and impose meaningful fiscal controls. That law was appropriately titled the ``Fiscal Responsibility Act.'' Its passage marked a long-overdue step toward fiscal sanity. I assume you have to go back about a dozen years until Congress had taken such a fiscally responsible step. prgtoken The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, as we call it here in town, projects the Fiscal Responsibility Act could save Americans $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years. I say ``could save'' because for this to hold true, Congress must adhere to the spending caps that it has imposed. The CBO's latest long-term budget outlook shows that in 30 years, our national debt will be $11 trillion lower than previously projected. This is, in large part, thanks to this bill passed this year, the Fiscal Responsibility Act. prgtoken While $11 trillion is certainly a large sum, it is a drop in the bucket compared to the $118 trillion in debt that the United States is expected to chalk up over those same 30 years. So, of course, the fiscal path we are on is not sustainable. prgtoken If you take debt held by the public, today public debt is about as large as the annual U.S. economic outlook. Within 6 years, public debt will reach a historically high 107 percent of GDP. The previous record was set in the wake of World War II. Once that dismal record is broken, public debt will grow faster than the economy with no end in sight, as you can see from the chart on display here. prgtoken When the public holds large amounts of debt, well, it naturally slows the economy; it naturally reduces national income; and it naturally increases inflation. It also leads to ballooning interest costs, which are already at a 22-year high. prgtoken Based on the current trajectory, here is a snapshot of the years ahead. So pay attention to the chart, please. Within 5 years, the United States will spend more on interest than on national defense. Within 8 years, interest payments will surpass our spending on nondefense discretionary programs. Over the next 10 years, interest on our debt will cost taxpayers more than $10.4 trillion. That is $10.4 trillion that could be used to improve the lives of Americans. Now, instead, it will pad the pockets of our Nation's creditors, even including foreign adversaries like China, which considers investment in the national debt of the United States to be a good investment. prgtoken Finally, within 30 years, interest payments will reach over $5 trillion a year. That would make interest the single largest annual government expenditure, surpassing both Social Security and Medicare. prgtoken Now, everybody listening and everybody not listening knows that we can't keep swiping our Nation's maxed-out credit card while we cross our fingers for prepandemic interest rates to return. prgtoken Families, farmers, and small businesses make tradeoffs every day
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Deb Fischer (Republican, NE) \u2014 2023-9-13

China is on track to triple its nuclear arsenal by 2035. Russia continues its saber-rattling in Ukraine. North Korea is hell-bent on developing the capability to deliver nuclear weapons at longer ranges, conducting dozens of missile tests in this last year, and Iran is weeks away from obtaining nuclear weapons. But on Sunday night, President said, and I am quoting him: The only existential threat humanity faces even more frightening than a nuclear war is global warming going above 1.5 degrees in the next . . . 10 years. prgtoken The leader of the free world believes that global warming is a bigger threat to global security than nuclear war. prgtoken Now, I am not dismissing the importance of our climate. We should continue to take responsible, commonsense action to address climate change, and we should support an ``all of the above'' energy strategy. We should promote policies to ensure that we have clean air, clean water, and we should do that without hindering economic prosperity or burdening hard-working Americans and their families. But the President's claim that global warming is more frightening than nuclear war sends the wrong signal to our adversaries and to our allies. It demonstrates a total ignorance of the instability of today's global threat environment. prgtoken The Strategic Forces Subcommittee, where I am ranking member, specifically oversees our country's nuclear prgtoken forces, and based on the hundreds of official hearings, briefings, and documents we have analyzed, I can tell you with all confidence that the most frightening threat to global security today is the Chinese Communist Party. prgtoken The CCP made it crystal clear that it wants to fundamentally alter global deterrence dynamics. China's relentless military buildup has outpaced anything that we could have imagined. Like I said earlier, China wants to triple its nuclear arsenal over the next decade, and it is well on its way to meeting that goal, if not exceeding it. prgtoken U.S. Strategic Command, or STRATCOM, is located in my home State of Nebraska, and they confirmed earlier this year that China possesses more intercontinental ballistic missile launchers than we do here in the United States. China is developing a subsonic stealth bomber that is essentially a copycat of our B-2 bomber. It is continuing work on Jin-class submarines capable of carrying over 12 nuclear missiles at a time. prgtoken To the people of the United States, let me say this: For the first time in history, the United States will face two adversaries who are peer nuclear powers--China and Russia--and that is the biggest national security threat we face. prgtoken When the President says that climate change is more frightening than nuclear war, he is downplaying the serious, terrifying possibility that China puts its nuclear weapons to use. prgtoken This administration neglects our nuclear arsenal while our adversaries, w
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
John Kennedy (Republican, LA) \u2014 2023-9-13

I appreciate Senator Lee's remarks. prgtoken I know he has concerns, as well he should. prgtoken I am sorry. I will start over. prgtoken , I appreciate Senator Lee's remarks. His objection does disappoint me; but I appreciate his remarks, and I share his concern about reforming the Federal replenishment program. prgtoken It doesn't look like someone designed it on purpose. It should look like someone designed it on purpose. It should be reformed. There aren't 60 votes right now to reform the program, and we don't have time to do it in the next 17 days. We could, if our majority leader would vacate all other business on the floor and we worked like most Americans work, but you and I both know that is not likely to happen. prgtoken As imperfect as the program is, I will be back to reurge this unanimous consent. This is the worst possible time to allow our National Flood Insurance Program to expire for my State, imperfect as it is, because we are right in the middle of hurricane season. prgtoken I also want to point out, as I told Senator Lee before, I am certainly willing to discuss with him putting a cap on the amount of insurance offered. And I will tell you why. prgtoken A mischaracterization--that is probably the wrong word. A characterization that is irrelevant to my State with respect to flood insurance is as follows: that flood insurance just benefits a lot of multimillionaires who live on the coast and could afford, frankly, to even be uninsured. And that may be true in some States. Certainly, if it is true, I am certainly not denigrating the folks who were successful enough to be able to buy a beach home. My only point is that is not true of Louisiana. prgtoken Insurance of 500,000 people who rely on flood insurance in my State are just like you and me. They just get up every day. They go to work. They obey the law. They pay their taxes. They try to save a little bit for retirement, and they try to do the right things by their prgtoken kids. They are not millionaires. They are working women and working men. They have to have this insurance. I just wanted to make that point for the record. prgtoken .
SAVING THE REPUBLIC
Bob Good (Republican, VA) \u2014 2023-9-13

the Constitution gives the responsibility for the Nation's finances to the House of Representatives. It is the House's responsibility to pay the Nation's debts, to manage the Nation's finances, to protect our ability to borrow, when necessary. The Founders warned us about the dangers of excessive debt, the dangers of perpetual debt, and yet we find ourselves with the highest level of debt to our GDP that we have had since World War II. prgtoken The World War II generation came out of a literal battle, a war to save the world from imperialist Japan and Nazi Germany, which caused significant borrowing to fund that war, to fund that conflict, but that generation paid that debt down to a manageable level shortly thereafter. prgtoken Here we are today with $32 trillion in debt, nearly $100,000 per American citizen. I have said that many times on this floor, in committee hearings, in speeches and interviews, $100,000 per American citizen. prgtoken One time when I said that on this very floor, it was opposite the then Budget Committee chairman from the other side, . When his time came to speak, he said, stop saying that. We are not asking anybody to pay it back. As if it was not real, as if it was monopoly money, and if it didn't matter. prgtoken However, the days of spending without consequence are now over. I believe the American people are beginning to connect the numbers, the stats, the dollars, what they hear about with Federal spending, the deficit and the national debt, to their own very lives, because the American people are suffering from 40-year high inflation. prgtoken As a matter of fact, the consumer price index showed today that prices have risen 17 percent in the 2\1/2\ years since President took office. That means $1,000 in 2020 is now worth just $832 today. Americans are experiencing record-high inflation, 40-year high inflation, but it is even higher than the 17 percent for the essentials, for groceries, for gasoline in the tank, for utilities, and, yes, for housing costs. prgtoken The average mortgage today payment is $1,218, which is more than double what it was when President assumed office. That is a direct result of Federal spending causing massive inflation, which was then reacted to by the Fed that has raised interest rates to 20- year highs, further exacerbating it. Of course, we have had our credit rating lowered for just the second time in our history. prgtoken Americans are suffering under this debt. Americans' futures are more bleak financially because of this debt. It is a terrible threat to our children and our grandchildren, and we, as the majority, must do something about it. prgtoken We, as the majority, elected by the American people after running on a platform of fiscal responsibility, are leading a House of Representatives that will have a $2 trillion deficit this year. prgtoken We are here tonight with this Special Order time to talk abo
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Mike Lee (Republican, UT) \u2014 2023-9-13

I appreciate my friend and colleague's words, and, yes, I want to be very clear--under no circumstance did I suggest that this benefits only wealthy people. Quite to the contrary, my whole point was that we can reform this program so that it doesn't have $20 billion in debt at the same time that it has $30 billion in liabilities. That is not a good way to run this, because, he is right, there are a whole lot of people who are not in the wealthy, million- dollar-plus homeowner category. But for those who are, they should not be in the same position because they are not in the same position. So that is why I would be happy to work with my friend and colleague. We can get this done. This one does not have to be difficult. Sure, it takes a lot of time to put a bill on the floor and subject it to a full process. prgtoken I am not the only one with concerns about this legislation, but for my own purposes, as far as I am concerned, if we can get agreement on that, I would be happy to let your measure pass if we can incorporate that reform. We can incorporate that reform very easily, do another unanimous consent request, and if no one else objects, I am happy to let that one go with a simple reform. I already have the legislation drafted from previous Congresses. We can get this done. prgtoken .
REMEMBERING JAMES "JIMMY" SHAW
Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (Republican, GA) \u2014 2023-9-13

I rise today in remembrance of Jerry Willis Keith. Jerry was born on March 28, 1937, in Waycross to Warren Lott Keith and Mary Emma Corbett Keith. prgtoken He was a lifelong member of the First Baptist Church of Jesup and a member of the Golden Rulers Sunday school class. prgtoken He spent his adult life managing and operating retail grocery stores for several national food chains. There, he was always praised by many loyal employees as the best boss they ever had. prgtoken He was a very active member of many community organizations including the Elks Club, the Pine Forest Men's Golf Association, a Jaycee Member, and an elite member of the Pond House crew. prgtoken He was a loving husband, a caring father of 7, a doting grandfather of 15, and a great-grandfather of 6. prgtoken Mr. Keith's legacy will live on in the positive impact that he had on his community, and I extend my deepest sympathies to his family.