mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
JUVENILE JUSTICE REFORM ACT OF 2017
Paul Mitchell (Republican, MI) \u2014 2017-5-23

I rise today in support of the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2017. prgtoken , I believe in opportunity. I believe that, given tools, anyone can change their situation for the better. Too often at-risk youth end up in the school-to-prison pipeline. When designed effectively, juvenile justice programs can help reset a troubled youth's path to successful adulthood. That is why I support the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2017. This legislation will help youth in the juvenile justice system get on the right path by focusing programs on approaches that work using evidence-based strategies and proven track records. It strengthens accountability and oversight to deliver positive outcomes. prgtoken It also provides communities with greater flexibility to deliver services that meet the specific needs of youth in their communities. prgtoken , I am proud to cosponsor this legislation to help youth break from their troubled pasts and turn their lives around and become an asset in their communities. prgtoken , I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
Healthcare Legislation (Executive Calendar)
Bill Cassidy (Republican, LA) \u2014 2017-5-23

obviously, a big problem before the country right now is, What do we do about rising healthcare premiums? prgtoken What we know under the Affordable Care Act--or the un-Affordable Care Act--or Care, as some call it, is that premiums are rising more and more. One of President 's campaign pledges was that premiums would come down and, actually, come down with, as he said in one place, beautiful coverage--that it is actually good coverage and premiums are lower. So let's kind of set the stage. prgtoken I just got a message on my Facebook page. I will read it. By the way, anybody can post on our Facebook page these sorts of stories, if they are interested in them. prgtoken Brian from Louisiana sent a message saying: My family plan is $1700 a month for me, my wife, and two children--so roughly about $20,000 a year. The ACA, or the Affordable Care Act, has brought me to my knees. I hope you can get something done as my credit cards are all maxed out. And 80 percent of my friends are in the same situation. The middle class is dwindling away. Can everyone just come together and figure this out? prgtoken Think about this: $1,700 a month. He did not write this, but what would be standard for this sort of policy is a $13,000 family deductible. prgtoken I say that because I have an acquaintance in San Francisco. San Francisco is so expensive for housing, transportation, and food, and the premium for their young family is $20,000 a year, with each family member with their own separate $6,000 deductible. This is under the un- Affordable Care Act, as I call it, or the Affordable Care Act, as others do. prgtoken A friend of mine back in Baton Rouge, whom I have quoted many times, put this on my Facebook page because people would not believe it: He and his wife, 60 and 61, their quote for their insurance last year was $39,000. Their quote for their insurance was $39,000. prgtoken Then I spoke to a fellow who is an insurance consultant here in Washington, DC--an insurance consultant. If anyone can get their premiums down, it would be he. For his family, their premium is $24,000 a year with a $13,000 family deductible. If they get in a car wreck, their family will be out $37,000 before the insurance kicks in. Who can afford this? We must do something better. prgtoken When President ran for office, President clearly recognized this. On the campaign trail, he said over and over that he wished to lower premiums. It is the President's genius, if you will, that he knew how to do so. You do so by expanding the risk pool. He said he wanted to continue coverage for all. prgtoken He gets away from the Care mandates, which people hate. The American people don't like being told what to do. prgtoken He also said he would care for those with preexisting conditions. This is how it works. When you cover many, you have a bigger risk pool. Those with preexisting conditions have the cost of their illness sprea
VETERANS' COMPENSATION COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT ACT OF 2017
Gus M. Bilirakis (Republican, FL) \u2014 2017-5-23

this truly is a bipartisan committee under the able leadership of Chairman Roe and Ranking Member Walz. prgtoken Again, I am proud to serve on this committee. prgtoken , I rise today in support of H.R. 1329, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act. Passage of this bill gives our Nation's veterans the same cost-of-living adjustment as those receiving benefits through Social Security. prgtoken These brave men and women have sacrificed so much for the freedoms and liberties we enjoy on a daily basis. As a grateful nation, we must ensure that those who put themselves in harm's way are able to receive the benefits they have earned and deserve. Providing for our Nation's true American heroes is not a partisan issue, but simply the right thing to do. prgtoken , approximately 1.6 million veterans reside in the great State of Florida, where so many veterans call home after serving in the military. As vice chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, I am so very proud that Florida is considered one of the most veteran friendly States across the country. prgtoken , I want to thank my colleague, Representative Mike Bost from Indiana, for introducing this very important piece of legislation. prgtoken As a cosponsor of H.R. 1329, I urge all of my colleagues to support our Nation's heroes and pass the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act.
The Internet (Executive Calendar)
Mike Lee (Republican, UT) \u2014 2017-5-23

I rise today to discuss the Federal Communication Commission's welcome proposal to end utility-style regulation of the internet by reversing the 2015 open internet order. prgtoken Anyone who has followed the hyperbolic debate about net neutrality has likely heard that the FCC is moving to squelch competition, limit consumer choice, raise prices, and perhaps even destroy the internet. That is my favorite one. At least that is what some activists and crusading late-night comedians claim. But none of this is true--none of it. prgtoken Rather, the FCC is reviewing the light-touch regulatory environment that, from the outset, facilitated the kind of innovation that produced the internet and expanded internet access to millions of Americans over the course of many years. prgtoken In order to understand this complicated issue, we need to be honest about what led us to where we are today; that is, the FCC's 2015 open internet order. The -era FCC claimed that its order implemented net neutrality, or the equal treatment of all data over the internet, but that isn't quite right. The actual change was far broader than that. prgtoken The FCC reclassified broadband internet access service as a title II telecommunication service, instead of a title I information service. That might sound like a small change, but this soundingly small--some might even say soundingly innocuous--change applied a whole host of New Deal era regulations that were meant to apply to monopolistic telephone companies, monopolistic utility companies, and they applied those to the internet. prgtoken It subjected 21st century technology to the same rules that governed rotary telephones in the 1930s. Why, then, did the FCC do this? It wasn't because a free and open internet was harming Americans. The activists and entertainers clamoring for more government control of the internet claimed that it was under attack by predatory internet service providers but, strangely enough, none of them actually provided evidence for that very serious assertion. prgtoken If you are going to make that claim, back it up, point to evidence. Instead, they speak about imaginary or hypothetical harms. The 400-page order uses words like ``may,'' ``could,'' ``might,'' or ``potentially'' not just here and there, not just a few times but several hundred times. Nor did the FCC issue the open internet order because Congress told it to. prgtoken On the contrary, nearly 20 years ago, our colleague Senator Wyden, along with then-Senator John Kerry and others, expressly argued against the drastic action that would later be taken by the FCC in 2015. After passing the bipartisan Telecommunications Act in 1996, this group of Senators affirmed prgtoken the internet's status as a free and open information service, stating that ``nothing in the 1996 Act or its legislative history suggests that Congress intended to alter the current classification of Internet and other inform
International Data Privacy (Executive Calendar)
Orrin G. Hatch (Republican, UT) \u2014 2017-5-23

I rise today to discuss international data privacy. This is a critically important issue that has become all the more important over the years as we become more sophisticated. It has become all the more pressing in recent months as a result of court decisions impacting law enforcement's ability to access electronic communications overseas. prgtoken I don't think it would surprise anyone to hear me say that our privacy laws have not kept pace with technological developments. The primary statute that governs law enforcement's ability to access electronic data, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, or ECPA, was enacted over 30 years ago--long before most people had even heard of email or the internet. ECPA was drafted in a world in which electronic data was stored on personal computers or on servers located in offices or homes. It presumes a world where data is in one location and where in order to access data, a person simply goes to the relevant location and retrieves it. But that is not the world we live in, at least not today. Nowadays, much of our data is stored not on home or office computers but in the cloud, a network of remote servers spread throughout the world that allows us to access data from literally anywhere. prgtoken The rise of cloud and remote network computing has transformed the way companies and individuals store data. No longer is data stored on sites or in one discrete location; rather, data pertaining to a single individual or even to a single document may be stored at multiple sites, spread across countries or even across continents. This has created all sorts of complications for our laws. prgtoken ECPA requires law enforcement to obtain a warrant before it can access many types of electronic communications. It also prohibits disclosure to foreign entities. Warrants, however, traditionally have stopped at the water's edge. A judge here in Washington can issue a warrant authorizing law enforcement to search an office here in Washington but cannot issue a warrant for searches in London or Paris. prgtoken So what is law enforcement to do in a world of cloud computing where pieces of the same electronic document might be stored in Washington, London, and Paris? prgtoken One possibility is to say that as long as the data is accessible from the United States--that is, so long as you can retrieve it by logging on to a computer somewhere in the United States--that is all that matters; law enforcement can order its disclosure. prgtoken This sort of maximalist approach, however, brings with it a whole host of problems. To begin with, it pays scant attention to the laws and interests of other countries, including our closest allies. Other countries, it turns out, have data privacy laws of their own, and just like ECPA, sometimes these laws prohibit disclosure to foreign entities, including foreign law enforcement. So to say U.S. law enforcement can compel disclosure and data s
RECOGNIZING OMMEGANG AND ROSCOE BEER COMPANIES
John J. Faso (Republican, NY) \u2014 2017-5-23

I am also pleased today to congratulate my predecessor in Congress, Congressman Chris Gibson, for his wonderful service to our country and to Congress. prgtoken Chris will soon be honored by the Columbia County Association in the city of New York as man of the year. I have known Chris for over 30 years, and I am blessed to call him and his family my neighbors in the Village of Kinderhook, where we both live. prgtoken He was truly a great Congressman and an all-around leader to upstate New York in so many ways. He exemplifies service in its many forms. Chris is a proud patriot. He served 24 years in the United States Army, rising to the rank of colonel. He is a highly decorated veteran who received not only the Bronze Star, but the Purple Heart during his combat deployments. prgtoken He was deployed seven times, including four combat tours in Iraq. He made great sacrifices, as did his family, and he fought for our freedom. As a United States Congressman, he continued to fight for the citizens of upstate New York. He served three terms in the 19th Congressional District, fulfilling his pledge to self-imposed term limits. prgtoken His legislative priorities were national security, our veteran community, and combating Lyme disease. He always had his fellow citizens' best interests at heart. prgtoken Chris Gibson was also a scholar. He graduated from Siena College in Loudonville, New York, where he earned his ROTC commission. He went on to receive not one, but two master's degrees, plus a Ph.D. in government from Cornell University. He was an assistant professor for 3 years teaching cadets at West Point at the United States Military Academy. Today he continues his love of teaching at Williams College as a Visiting Professor of Leadership Studies. prgtoken I am proud to call Chris Gibson my friend and colleague, and it is clear to anyone who knows him that he will be successful in all of his pursuits. prgtoken , I rise today to honor former Congressman Christopher P. Gibson. I have known Chris for over 30 years, and I am blessed to call him, his wife, Mary Jo, and their three amazing children, my neighbors in the town of Kinderhook. Chris was truly a great Congressman and an all-around leader to Upstate New York. He has exemplified service in many forms. prgtoken Chris is a proud patriot. He served 24 years in the US Army, rising to the rank of Colonel. A highly decorated veteran, he was deployed seven times, including four combat tours in Iraq. He made great sacrifices, was injured in the line of duty, and fought for our freedom. prgtoken As a US Representative, he continued to fight diligently for the citizens of Upstate New York. Chris served three terms representing New York's 19th District, fulfilling his pledge to self-impose term limits. Among many legislative priorities, Chris acted to protect our national security, veterans, and those who suffer from Lyme Disease. Without question, he has always held his
HONORING PROFESSOR DOUG KRESSE
Edward R. Royce (Republican, CA) \u2014 2017-5-23

I rise today to recognize the contributions and service of Professor Doug Kresse as Director of Forensics at Fullerton College in Fullerton, California. After a decade of dedication to the speech and debate team, Doug will pass on the torch to his colleagues, but remain a devoted professor and mentor at Fullerton College. prgtoken Doug Kresse was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest where he graduated from Eastern Washington University with a Bachelor's degree in English and a minor in Speech Communication. He received a Master's degree in Speech Communication from California State University, Fullerton. He taught as Director of Forensics and Speech and Communications at Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Washington, Tiffin University and Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio, and finally, Fullerton College in Fullerton, California. Doug developed the intercollegiate speech & debate program at Fullerton College and served as Director of Forensics for ten years. He coached hundreds of students into polished speakers and well-argued debaters, helping them to move forward confidently in their studies, careers, and lives. Doug was presented with the ``President's Award'' by the National Education Debate Association in March 2016 for his commitment to collegiate debate and support of his students. prgtoken A life-long learner, Doug is well known for his regular interest in news and reading. He actively participated in C-SPAN's Classroom programs for educators and was a national prize winner for C-SPAN's American Presidents series, designing a chessboard of the George H. W. presidency. He continues to show C-SPAN and other news clips in the classroom as examples in his speech and debate courses, well known for his office full of VHS tapes. prgtoken In his free time, Doug can be found keeping up with the local concert scene in Los Angeles, running, and spending time with his family. He has been married to his wife, Marti, for 37 years and is the proud father to two daughters, Kristin and Carol, father-in-law to Raymond, and grandpa to Mitchell Paige Coates. prgtoken , please join me in thanking Doug Kresse for his dedication to his community and students, creating the leaders and speakers of tomorrow.
Healthcare Legislation (Executive Calendar)
John Thune (Republican, SD) \u2014 2017-5-23

if there is one thing that has become clear, it is that the Care status quo is not sustainable. prgtoken Prices continue to soar while choices are rapidly dwindling. Between 2016 and 2017, the average premium for a midlevel Care plan on the Federal exchange went up 25 percent--25 percent for just 1 year. Let's remember that this is on top of years--year after year--of premium increases under Care. prgtoken How many families can easily absorb a 25-percent premium increase? I would submit that not many. Again, that is just for 1 year. Care rate hikes aren't going anywhere. Numbers for next year are starting to emerge, and they are not looking good. Connecticut's Care insurers are requesting average premium increases in the double digits. One Connecticut insurer has requested an average rate hike of 33.8 percent--33.8 percent. In Virginia, one insurer has requested an average rate increase of 38 percent. Another has requested an average 45-percent rate hike. In Maryland, average increases range anywhere from 18 percent to almost 59 percent. One insurer has requested a staggering 150-percent rate increase--150 percent. prgtoken Obviously, these kinds of price increases are unaffordable for most families, but Care isn't leaving them any options. Along with soaring prices, choices on the exchanges are rapidly dwindling. Roughly one-third of U.S. counties have just one choice of health insurer on their exchange for 2017. Several States--including Alabama, Oklahoma, Alaska, and Wyoming--have just one choice of insurer for their entire State, and things are only getting worse. prgtoken In 2018, a number of counties may lack an Care insurer at all. In February, health insurer Humana announced its decision to completely withdraw from the Care exchanges for 2018, and 2 weeks ago, Aetna, which had already sharply reduced its participation in the exchanges for 2017, announced its decision to fully exit and completely get out of the market in 2018. That leaves the Nebraska and Delaware Care exchanges with just one insurer for 2018. prgtoken UnitedHealthcare is leaving Virginia, and Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is withdrawing from Iowa. In the wake of Aetna and Wellmark's decision, Medica, the last Care insurer for most of Iowa, announced it will likely leave the State in 2018. That would leave 94 out of 99 counties in Iowa with no Care insurer next year--all but five counties in the State of Iowa with no Care insurer. Iowa families with Care subsidies would have no place to spend them. As my colleague Senator Alexander likes to point out, that is like having a bus ticket in a town where there are no buses running. prgtoken Dwindling healthcare choices aren't limited to the Care exchanges, either. Aetna is not only withdrawing from the exchanges. It is also withdrawing from the non-Care individual health insurance markets in several S
RECOGNIZING BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
Glenn Thompson (Republican, PA) \u2014 2017-5-23

I thank you so much for this opportunity. It is great to have a distinguished brother Eagle Scout like yourself. prgtoken , Scouting has been a part of my family--or I have been part of the Scouting family, actually, since I was 11 years old. When I was 11 years old, my mom and dad did an amazing thing; they did what today I would call a good turn. It was really an amazing turn. They actually opened their home up--and this was appropriate since we are talking about a lot of foster youth this week, kids that grew up in foster families. They opened our family up to a boy that was just 2 years older than I, Bob. Bob came as a foster brother, and he is still my brother today. prgtoken Bob has some special needs. Bob had been bouncing around foster care homes his whole life, but when he came to our house, he didn't bounce anymore. He stuck. Like I said, he became my brother and is my brother today. prgtoken My mom and dad made a promise to him. One of the positive things that happened to Bob in the home he had been living in prior to coming to our home was that he got involved in a Boy Scout Troop. That Boy Scout Troop experience did amazing things for Bob. It really did. It was life changing for him because it allowed Bob to have success experiences, to enjoy the outdoors, and to flourish with things that he really developed a passion for. prgtoken As an 11-year-old younger brother, I lucked out. When mom and dad took Bob back over a couple of valleys to the Scout Troop where he was associated with--there was no Scout Troop in my hometown at the time--I got to tag along. I was 11 years old, and I never looked back. prgtoken I have been involved in Scouting since I have been 11 years old. I went on to achieve and earn my Eagle Scout Award. I have served as a Chapter Chief and a Juniata Lodge Chief in the Monocan Lodge in the Juniata Valley Council with the Order of the Arrow. I went on to be a Scout Master for 30 years. prgtoken One of the hardest parts about coming to Congress was the fact that I wasn't going to be home to be able to work with those youth leaders who were leading the troop for Scout meetings, campouts, and events on the weekend. That was the hardest part about taking this job because I had been a Scout Master for almost 30 years. I had trained Scout Masters, I was a course director, and I had served my council as a council president. prgtoken I am still involved with Scouting. I was back at my old stomping ground at the Seven Mountains Scout Camp in Spring Mills, Pennsylvania, on Sunday for an Eagle Scout court of honor. Here is the cool part of that: at that site over 70 years ago, my father-in-law received his Eagle Scout Award. Now, I am not saying it should be a prerequisite for picking out a wife that her dad is an Eagle Scout, but it worked out okay for me. It wasn't a bad thing. prgtoken So Scouting has been a big part of our family. My wife, Penny, has been a Cub Scout leader