mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
TRIBUTE TO MARINE MAJOR ERIC BURKETT
Mike Kelly (Republican, PA) \u2014 2017-12-5

I rise today in honor of one of my constituents, United States Marine Major Eric Burkett, from New Castle, Pennsylvania. prgtoken Major Burkett was deployed as a member of the 24th Expeditionary Force in Morocco as an Osprey pilot. On April 11, 2012, he was nearly killed in a plane crash, which took the lives of two of his brothers- in-arms. prgtoken After coming home to Walter Reed, he lost one of his legs and continues to recover from his numerous injuries to this day. His wife, Melissa, who also is a former marine, has been by his side from day 1, along with their loving six children. prgtoken Major Burkett may never fly again, but already with his recovery he soars high above most of us. It was his spirit of service and patriotism that led him to start a program at Fort Belvoir for adaptive archery for his fellow wounded warriors. prgtoken , I include in the Record a poem penned by Albert Carey Caswell in his honor and in celebration of his new adaptive home, built thanks to the Gary Sinise Foundation. prgtoken At this time, I will read an excerpt from this poem: As his two brothers, angels now up to Heaven would rise . . . Coming back home with only his family upon which to rely . . . So all by his side . . . His fine wife, Melissa, and children giving him the strength to try . . . As he knew it was time . . . Time to rebuild his life . . . Armed with his heart of the strength and iron will . . . Giving him the power and courage to nourish him to instill . . . The strength to rebuild . . . Who against all odds our wounded warriors into that dark night move onward still . . . prgtoken , it is people like Major Burkett, whom we celebrate. It is the people who put themselves in danger and harm's way in order to protect the rest of us. I am so proud and humble today to be able to submit this poem in honor of Major Burkett. Osprey De Corps (By Albert Carey Caswell) Osprey Osprey De Corps What a magnificent presence oh for sure And oh what a Osprey De Force As straight as an arrow heading for Truer than true into that face of war To serve and protect His Country Tis of Thee he'll not neglect To reek havoc upon the enemy a shear train wreck All in those magnificent shades of green Such Strength In Honor seen Soaring to new his courage convenes With such impact this United States Marine. Oh to be a United States Marine Who in Strength In Honor are seen Soaring to new heights to intervene To fight the fight What a Osprey De Force awesome sight Who for all us out on his course took flight Marines with wings, one of the most impressive of all things A sheer work of art this human being Swooping down upon the enemy for the Nation he so loves A bulls eye, hittin
Tax Cuts and Jobs Bill (Executive Session)
John Thune (Republican, SD) \u2014 2017-12-5

relief for American families is on the way. prgtoken Last week, the Senate passed our version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a tax reform bill that will provide immediate, direct relief to hard-working Americans. prgtoken Our legislation doubles the standard deduction, it doubles the child tax credit, and it lowers rates. Under our bill, a family of four making $73,000 a year will see a $2,200 tax cut, or a reduction in taxes of about 60 percent over what they are paying under current law. A single parent with one child making $41,000 will see his or her taxes drop from around $1,865 today to just $488 under our bill, a reduction of nearly 75 percent over what they are paying today. prgtoken That is just the beginning. The tax bill before us today is going to provide immediate relief to hard-working families. It is going to immediately lower their tax bills. It is going to immediately mean more money in their pockets. prgtoken But this bill is about much more than that. This bill isn't just about helping Americans today--although it is most certainly going to do that--the bill is about helping Americans for the long term. It is about giving Americans access to the kinds of wages, jobs, and opportunities that will set them up for a secure and prosperous future. prgtoken The way we do that is by improving the playing field for American businesses. In order for individual Americans to thrive economically, we need American businesses to thrive. Thriving businesses create jobs, they provide opportunities, and they increase wages and invest in their workers. prgtoken But our current Tax Code hasn't been helping businesses thrive. For years now, our tax laws have left businesses of all sizes struggling under the burden of high tax rates and an outdated tax system that has left American businesses at a disadvantage in the global economy. prgtoken Small businesses employ nearly half of American workers and create a majority of the new jobs in this country. But right now, small businesses face high tax rates that can make it difficult for these businesses to even survive, much less thrive and expand their operations. Our bill will fix this. prgtoken To start with, our bill implements a new deduction for passthrough businesses like partnerships, LLCs, and S corporations. This deduction will allow them to keep more of their money, which will allow them to reinvest in their operations, increase wages, and hire new workers. prgtoken Our bill also reforms current provisions in the Tax Code that frequently leave small businesses with very little cash on hand. Under our legislation, small businesses will be able to recover the capital they have invested in things like inventory and machinery much more quickly and, in certain cases, immediately. This, in turn, will free up capital that small businesses can use to expand and to create jobs. prgtoken Our legislation also includes provisions that I helped develop that will
FUNDING THE GOVERNMENT
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2017-12-5

as we all know, we must pass legislation to fund the government before the end of the week. By approving a short-term bill, we can continue the crucial functions of the Federal Government while we work with our colleagues in the House and the administration to finalize a long-term plan. prgtoken The temporary funding measure will come before the House soon, and I expect the Senate to consider it shortly thereafter. It is a clean bill, free from any sort of objectionable policy riders. In addition, it includes a provision to assure States of the future of the Children's Health Insurance Program while a bipartisan reauthorization agreement is completed. All Members should be able to support this noncontroversial, short-term legislation. prgtoken We will continue working to pass a funding agreement that advances a number of American priorities--something we will be discussing with the President on Thursday, along with ic leaders of the House and Senate. prgtoken Yesterday, the Senate ic leader expressed his opposition to a government shutdown. I certainly agree with him. So I hope he and his fellow will continue to work with us in good faith to pass this short-term funding bill and maintain the critical functions of the Federal Government.
SECRET SERVICE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION ACT OF 2017
Jody B. Hice (Republican, GA) \u2014 2017-12-5

I appreciate the gentleman for yielding. prgtoken , we all know that the United States Secret Service is one of the Federal Government's premier law enforcement agencies. prgtoken The agency's critical mission is to protect the President, his family, and other senior government officials. Agency personnel may also provide protection at high-profile events. It has a zero-fail mission; therefore, it is vital that the Secret Service is fully staffed with nothing but the best. prgtoken Unfortunately, the agency has faced tremendous staffing problems. The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released a bipartisan report in 2015, finding the Secret Service has faced challenges related to hiring and retaining personnel. prgtoken The report states that the staffing crisis threatens to jeopardize its critical mission. Staffing issues have persisted, although the agency has implemented a series of reforms to help get its hiring and attrition problems under control. prgtoken The consequence of these hiring and attrition problems is that the agency does not have enough personnel to fulfill its zero fail protective mission. This means existing personnel are working excessive overtime. prgtoken With all the overtime, many Secret Service personnel have reached the cap on premium pay set in law. As a result, agents are not paid for overtime hours if doing so would result in compensation above the cap during any biweekly pay period. These max-outs, as they are known, contribute to the agency's low morale and unsurprisingly cause the rate of attrition to spike. prgtoken Congress first lifted the pay cap for the Secret Service in 2016 to help the agency handle the demands of staffing the Presidential campaign. However, nearly 1,300 employees are at risk of exceeding the pay cap in 2017. prgtoken Due to the extraordinary staffing problems facing the agency, this bill extends the pay cap waiver provided last year until the end of 2018. Employees will receive compensation up to the basic pay currently given to members of the Executive Schedule, Level II. prgtoken Every Secret Service employee who has exceeded the cap or who is at risk of doing so because of excessive overtime will receive additional compensation under this bill. prgtoken I want to be clear. This bill is narrowly targeted to fix a problem currently facing the agency and does so in a timely manner. prgtoken The Secret Service cannot continue to rely on expensive overtime, and Congress fully expects the agency to get its hiring attrition problems under control. To this end, the bill also requires a report by the Government Accountability Office focused on the Secret Service's implementation of recommendations found in the 2014 Protective Mission Panel report.
ENHANCING VETERAN CARE ACT
Markwayne Mullin (Republican, OK) \u2014 2017-12-5

I thank Chairman Roe for allowing this to come to the floor and Leader McCarthy for his leadership in bringing this bill to the floor. I also want to thank my fellow Senators from Oklahoma, Mr. Inhofe and Mr. Lankford, for their great work in getting this passed in the Senate. prgtoken As the sponsor of H.R. 42, the House companion bill to S. 1266, I urge my colleagues to support and vote in favor of today's bill. prgtoken Nearly a year ago, we debated this bill on the floor and saw it passed by voice vote. I look forward to another strong response from the House in sending this bill to the President's desk and it becoming law. prgtoken This bill simply authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs to contract with nonprofit organizations that accredit healthcare organizations in order to investigate VA medical centers. prgtoken This bill would allow the VA to get a second opinion from outside of the agency in order to get the best information and provide the best care for our veterans. Just like how patients sometimes need to get a second opinion on their diagnosis, the VA should not be above bringing in a second opinion. prgtoken Our veterans deserve care equal to the finest civilian hospitals, so let's bring more transparency to the VA by allowing them to invite the people who evaluate those private hospitals to take a look at the VA and make recommendations when problems arise. prgtoken This is a commonsense bill that will help improve the care for our veterans, and I hope all will support it. prgtoken , I urge passage of this bill.
SECURE Act (Executive Calendar)
Thom Tillis (Republican, NC) \u2014 2017-12-5

I want to thank Chairman Grassley for his leadership on this issue and for his willingness to sit down and talk to a diverse group of people who think we have a problem that we should solve and that we must solve. prgtoken Senator Grassley just did such a good job of describing some of the technical aspects of the SECURE Act and the BRIDGE Act and other legislation that actually came together to create the SECURE Act. prgtoken I want to back up and talk a little bit about what we are actually trying to do here. There are two key components to this bill and to efforts that have gone before the point at which we have introduced this bill that I think are very important. prgtoken The first one is the DACA Program. That is Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The DACA Program is something that was implemented in 2012 by President . What President sought to do was to provide some certainty for young adults and children who were brought across the border--not through their own decisions but through the decisions of their parents or a guardian to cross the border illegally--and find themselves illegally present in the United States. Today, they are still protected because they are still protected under DACA, but the President announced on September 5 that on March 5 that program would end. prgtoken Now, you can imagine that there are hundreds of thousands of young men and women who are uncertain about their future status in this country. It is a problem we need to solve. The other side of the equation is something that is also equally important to me and to a number of people in this body. It has to do with our border security and interior enforcement. prgtoken Back in late winter, I spent a week down on the southern border. I went to the Rio Grande Sector and the West Texas Sector. I spoke with a lot of people at the land ports that hundreds of thousands of people cross every day. We listened to their concerns about things we need to do to better secure the border. prgtoken There are two debates in Congress right now. I don't actually embrace either of the two extremes. There is the one extreme that says build a big, beautiful wall that is 2,000 miles long. It is impractical and not necessary. prgtoken There is the other extreme that says we don't need borders; we need bridges. That is impractical and unsafe. prgtoken What we need is a solution to border security so that we know who is in this country and so that we have an orderly way to move between countries for someone who is in our country who prgtoken wants to come to work or visit the United States and return back in a legal fashion. prgtoken The other thing we have to look at in border security that I think is oftentimes overlooked is the humanitarian crisis with an unsecure border. There is one of the numbers that stuck with me. There were so many that we covered when we were down with border security, but this stuck with me--actuall
SECURE Act (Executive Calendar)
Tom Cotton (Republican, AR) \u2014 2017-12-5

I want to associate myself with much of what my colleagues have said about the immigration bill we are working on--or perhaps I should say, to be more accurate, the immigration bill we should be working on, because the at this point simply will not take yes for an answer. We are offering a package that they should support, and in return, they are threatening to shut down the government. prgtoken So let me just dispense off the top with their argument, such as it is, about the so-called DACA recipients. prgtoken No one is eager to deport 690,000 illegal immigrants who are here mostly through no fault of their own. They were left in legal limbo by President , and everyone wants to find a good, durable, long-term solution. prgtoken But if we are going to give legal status to these illegal immigrants in their twenties and their thirties, we have to recognize that there are going to be negative side effects. prgtoken First, we are going to encourage parents from around the world who live in poverty and oppression and war to illegally immigrate to our country with small children. What could be more dangerous and even immoral than that? prgtoken Second, we are going to create a whole new category of Americans who could get legal status for their extended family, to include the very parents who brought them here in violation of our laws. We often hear that children ought not pay for the crimes of their parents. That may be so, but surely parents can pay for the crimes of the parents. They are the ones who created the situation in the first place. prgtoken I offered legislation with Senator Perdue earlier this year called the RAISE Act. It had many features in it to replace unskilled and low- skilled immigration with high-skilled immigration, to limit chain migration, to reform our refugee program, and to eliminate our diversity lottery. This Congress needs to take up our legislation and pass it. But today I want to focus on chain migration in particular because chain migration is one of the biggest categories of immigration that bring unskilled and low-skilled workers to this country to compete for jobs and drive down the wages of working Americans. prgtoken Did you know that once you have legal status in this country, once you have a green card and become a citizen, you can bring to this country not only your spouse and your unmarried minor children but your adult children and their spouses and their children and your adult brother and your adult sister and your parents and their siblings--and it goes on and on and on. That is why it is called chain migration. prgtoken Our legislation would put a halt to chain migration. It is a kind of downpayment on long-lasting legal immigration reform, in addition to things like strengthening E-Verify, improving security at our border, and Kate's Law, named in honor of Kate Steinle, as we heard Chairman Grassley outline earlier today. prgtoken
RECOGNIZING CONWELL-EGAN CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL
Brian K. Fitzpatrick (Republican, PA) \u2014 2017-12-5

I rise today to recognize the players, coaches, and staff of the Palisades High School football team and to congratulate them on an incredible season. With their consistent displays of grit and tenacity, the Palisades Pirates should be proud of what they accomplished: a 13-1 season and the best record in Palisades football history. prgtoken Although their season ended with a tough loss in the playoffs, the Palisades Pirates football team should hold their heads high. They have worked hard, and they have made their community proud. prgtoken To the fans, friends, and families who have supported Palisades, we offer our congratulations. To all those who work with and support organized youth sports in our district, we offer our thanks. To the young student athletes on the Palisades football team, I say: Well done. I hope that you take the lessons of cooperation and determination that you have learned on the field with you when you step off the field. Our community is very proud of you.
EXPRESSING CONCERN AND CONDEMNATION OVER THE POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN VENEZUELA
Edward R. Royce (Republican, CA) \u2014 2017-12-5

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , let me again thank Congressman DeSantis, Mr. Engel, and Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen for their work on this resolution. prgtoken I think it is a heartbreaking situation what is going on in Venezuela today. It is rather astounding that Venezuela sits on the world's largest proven oil reserves, yet here we have a situation where its citizens lack medicine and food at this time. prgtoken I think the recent report that 20 percent of the country's medical professionals have fled Venezuela amid the Maduro regime's self- inflicted political, economic, and humanitarian crisis is indicative of the problem. Inflation right now is reaching 720 percent. prgtoken Support of this resolution will send a strong unified message that Congress stands with the Venezuelan people, that we call on regional leaders and the entire international community to hold Maduro accountable for this crisis and to release political prisoners and, importantly, to hold elections immediately. prgtoken , I therefore urge my colleagues to join me in support, and .
SANCTUARY CITIES
Marsha Blackburn (Republican, TN) \u2014 2017-12-5

I am rising today to talk about an issue that women are talking about every single day, and as I am home and out and about in my district, I hear this repeatedly. They will come up to me and they will say: Marsha, I am becoming a security mom. I fear for the security of my children. I am concerned about what is happening on our streets and in our communities. prgtoken , I will tell you, last week, after the verdict came down in the Kate Steinle trial, the fact that a criminal illegal alien was not found guilty, I received so many comments and calls from people saying something needs to be done about this because justice was not delivered for the life of Kate Steinle. prgtoken That brings us to the issue of sanctuary cities and those policies, the very idea that some elected officials or some cities could choose to say: We will become a haven for those who are outside of Federal law--but not all Federal law, just this particular Federal law. prgtoken That defies common sense. It defies reason because we are a nation of laws, a nation that abides by the rule of law, a nation of law and order--not of anarchy. prgtoken Sanctuary city policies are making America less safe. On this, there should be no doubt. We have to think: What does this example set for our country? What does it say to people who abide by the law, who feel that their lives are endangered, that their security is endangered? What kind of message do sanctuary policies send to the thin blue line, people who stand to protect us every single day? prgtoken I would suggest that sanctuary city policies are cracking the foundation of our democracy. It is why it is important that this body take action. I would suggest it is why it is important that we pass the CLEAR Act, legislation I have authored that would strip sanctuary cities of funding, that would require that criminal illegal aliens be deported from this country.
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
Jaime Herrera Beutler (Republican, WA) \u2014 2017-12-5

on November 28th and 29th, I am not recorded on four votes because I was absent due to illness. Had I been present, I would have voted: Yes on Roll Call 638, the Fowler and Boskoff Peaks Designation Act; Yes on Roll Call 639, the Superior National Forest Land Exchange Act of 2017; Yes on Roll Call 640, ordering the Previous Question on H. Res. 631; and Yes on Roll Call 641, the combined rule providing for consideration of the bill H.R. 3017 and H.R. 3905.
NATIONAL MINERS DAY
Bradley Byrne (Republican, AL) \u2014 2017-12-5

I rise to commemorate National Miners Day. prgtoken National Miners Day is recognized on December 6 each year, and I want to express my deep appreciation to the hundreds of thousands of men and women who work in our Nation's quarries, dredge operations, and other mine facilities to help build and power our Nation. prgtoken These workers do a great deal to extract the materials found in every home, building, road, bridge, and public works project. prgtoken U.S. domestic production and use of stone, sand, and gravel, or aggregates, amounted to 2.5 million tons of crushed stone, valued at $25 billion. The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration has reported that, throughout its 40 facilities, almost 3,000 people in my home State of Alabama owe their jobs to aggregates mining. prgtoken While performing this critical function, workers in the aggregates sector have helped make workplaces the safest they have ever been. In fact, 2016 marked the 16th consecutive year in which the industry reduced its injury rate from the year-earlier level. The rate stood at the record low level of just 1.95 injuries per 200,000 hours worked. prgtoken I applaud the safe practices of the aggregates industry and the hardworking men and women who are helping to continue this positive trend. prgtoken As chairman of the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee, I look forward to continuing to work with the Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration to advance smart regulation and preventive enforcement that can help keep the workplace safe. Honoring the Life of Dr. Laurel Blackwell