mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
FEDERAL REGISTER PRINTING SAVINGS ACT OF 2017
Jeff Flake (Republican, AZ) \u2014 2018-1-20

for yielding. prgtoken On the 5th, as I understand it, the DACA Program will no longer apply. prgtoken Those who have already registered, that registration will continue until it runs out. There are some now--I think the figure is some 150 a day--who are losing status, and there is a question about whether they can renew. Courts have been trying to weigh in on that, and the administration has asked the courts to finalize--asked the High Court to. prgtoken The problem is, even if it is not deportation on March 5, there are real questions. They can't get work permits. They will not be able to register for school, in certain circumstances, so they are left in limbo, and that is not fair to them. prgtoken for working on a solution, and I thank him for yielding time.
REPUBLICANS' CYNICAL EFFORTS
Frank Pallone, Jr. (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2018-1-21

I just want to address the cynical effort by the s to link the shutdown to Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. prgtoken The fact of the matter is, if the s cared about children's health insurance or anybody's health insurance: prgtoken They wouldn't have tried repeatedly to repeal the Affordable Care Act. prgtoken They wouldn't have put the provision in their tax scam that says that people don't have to buy insurance, which we estimate will result in about 13 million Americans losing their health insurance. prgtoken They wouldn't have put a CHIP bill on the floor earlier this month, or earlier this year, that basically eliminated or cut back on the prevention fund and, at the same time, said, if you didn't pay your health insurance within the first 30 days, you would lose it, which the CBO says would cause another half a million people to lose their health insurance. prgtoken If you care about children's health insurance, which you clearly don't, then you don't want to eliminate and cut back on health insurance for the American people in general, which is what you are doing by sabotaging the Affordable Care Act every day. prgtoken The only reason why you linked the CHIP bill to the CR this week is because you don't have to pay the subsidies for people's health insurance because they are going to lose it.
LET'S END THE TRUMP SHUTDOWN
Janice D. Schakowsky (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2018-1-21

well, it is day two of the shutdown, the first government shutdown in history when one party has control of the House, the Senate, and the White House. But I believe that the issues at the heart of this debate actually have support from a majority of Americans and a majority in Congress. So I ask my colleagues: prgtoken Who are the 218 s who would vote against funding community health centers as well as the Children Health Insurance Program? prgtoken Who are the 218 s who oppose addressing veterans' programs, workers' pensions, and the opioid epidemic? prgtoken And, yes, who are the 218 s who would vote against the young DACA recipients and the Dream Act? prgtoken We don't lack votes. We lack willingness from President and leadership to negotiate. prgtoken I am here. We are here ready to work. The want to come together with the s on a bipartisan deal to end the shutdown. prgtoken , I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 4872, the End the Shutdown Act of 2018, a continuing resolution that would immediately reopen the government through Tuesday while negotiations continue on a budget agreement that adheres to parity and on other critical issues.
REPUBLICANS IN SPIN MODE
Mark Pocan (Democrat, WI) \u2014 2018-1-21

there is a lot of rhetoric out there about why there is a government shutdown and who is to blame. Well, let's look at the facts. prgtoken The GOP is, indeed, in charge at all levels of Federal Government yet has not been able to do much of anything since then. They can't fund the government, and now they are asking for their fourth continuing resolution of only a few weeks yet again. prgtoken The only major, concrete thing they have really done is give tax breaks to their wealthy donors, and now they are in full spin mode trying to say the government is shut down because we want to let certain people into our country. prgtoken Please. prgtoken Look, we are fighting for parity on non-defense funding for things like schools, Head Start, and programs like Meals on Wheels and homeless veterans' assistance. We want to get funding for community health centers and CHIP. And, yes, repairing the DACA agreement that has allowed a lot of good, talented young people to stay in this country is important to many of us as well. prgtoken Let's remember, the only thing the s have to show for their last year is a giant, wet, sloppy tax break for their donors and a way too extended honeymoon with the President. prgtoken It is time to step up and put our country before our party, and we need to do that now. prgtoken , I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 4872, the End the Shutdown Act of 2018, a continuing resolution that would immediately reopen the government through Tuesday while negotiations continue on a budget agreement that adheres to parity and on other critical issues.
REPUBLICANS WILL NOT TAKE YES FOR AN ANSWER
Steny H. Hoyer (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2018-1-21

we are in the second day of this shutdown because s won't take yes for an answer. prgtoken Senator Schumer went to the White House and had a deal with President until the Freedom Caucus vetoed it and forced the President to go back on his word again. prgtoken Senator Schumer offered President his border wall. s said no. prgtoken Senate offered short-term continuing resolutions to keep the government open. s said no. prgtoken , I offered a 4-day CR to keep the government open while we work on reaching a budget agreement that adheres to parity. Mr. Meadows objected, and the s again said no. prgtoken When, I ask, will s take yes for an answer? prgtoken I ask: Will the leadership allow its Members to vote for a clean CR to reopen the government instead of giving its most extreme Freedom Caucus faction a veto in order to perpetuate the shutdown? prgtoken , I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 4872, the End the Shutdown Act of 2018, a continuing resolution that would immediately reopen the government through Tuesday while negotiations continue on a budget agreement that adheres to parity and on other critical issues.
FEDERAL REGISTER PRINTING SAVINGS ACT OF 2017
Christopher Murphy (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2018-1-21

I appreciate the Senator from North Carolina offering apologies on behalf of other Members of this body, so let me return the favor. prgtoken Let me offer an apology on behalf of the majority for the governance disaster that has occurred in the U.S. Congress over the last year. prgtoken Why are we here today? We are here today because last year s spent all of their time and energy trying to steal health insurance from 30 million Americans, trying to rescind protections for people with preexisting conditions. They spent the first half of the year trying to take insurance away from 30 million people. They were not successful because the American people rose up and told this Congress that was a terrible idea. prgtoken They spent the second half of the year trying to push through-- successfully this time--a massive tax cut for the wealthy; 80 percent of that tax cut going to the richest 1 percent of Americans, equally as unpopular as the healthcare repeal. That one was successful. prgtoken Meanwhile, during 2017, three disasters hit the United States--in Texas, prgtoken Florida, and Puerto Rico--and the Congress forgot to pass the assistance package that is normally automatic after a disaster hits. Meanwhile, s let the Children's Health Insurance Program expire, and millions of frightened parents got notifications that their toddlers' healthcare would cease to exist. Meanwhile, health centers in this country, which provide some of the most important care to the indigent, had their funding expire and all of a sudden had to make budget plans for 2018 with half as much money as they thought they were going to get. Meanwhile, s didn't pass a budget, forgot to pass a single appropriations bill, and CRs after CRs were required. prgtoken I am sorry, on behalf of my friends, that they didn't do their job in 2017. I am sorry that the American people gave control of the House and the Senate and Presidency to the Party and they didn't pass a budget. They didn't pass disaster assistance. They didn't reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program. They didn't provide assistance to health centers. prgtoken We are trying to be the adults here and say that it is time to do our job. It is time to get assistance to these disaster areas. It is time to pass children's healthcare reauthorization for the long term and get the money the health centers need to keep their doors open. The Department of Defense needs a budget, not just for 4 months but for a full year. prgtoken We are not asking for much. We are just asking for Congress to do its job. At some point, somebody has to be the grownup. Somebody has to be the adult. We are saying: Let's keep the government open for 1 day, 3 days, as long as it takes for us to do our job. But to pass another monthlong continuing resolution with no hope in sight for the Department of Defense, which needs its
DEMOCRATS CAN'T GET A VOTE ON ENDING THE TRUMP SHUTDOWN
Ted Lieu (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2018-1-21

I served on Active Duty. I want a functioning government. But yet we are in day two of the shutdown. prgtoken How did we get here? prgtoken Well, s control the House, they control the Senate, they control the White House, and they could not come up with a bill that would pass both Houses, signed by the President. In fact, the harmful House CR was rejected by the U.S. Senate on a bipartisan basis. It couldn't even get to 51 votes. prgtoken But have a variety of ideas to reopen government, and we can't even get a vote on it because we don't control the floor, we don't control the agenda, and we do not control this government. prgtoken And watch this: my request to reopen the government won't even get a vote. Watch this request get shut down. prgtoken , I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 4872, the End the Shutdown Act of 2018, a continuing resolution that would immediately reopen the government through Tuesday while negotiations continue on a long-term budget agreement that adheres to parity and on other critical issues.
GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-1-21

we now enter day 2 of the first real government shutdown ever to take place when one party controlled the Presidency, the House, and the Senate. Under this unified control, it was the s' job to govern. It was their job to lead. It was their job to reach out to us and come up with compromise. They have failed. prgtoken Our democracy was designed to run on compromise. The Senate was designed to run on compromise. We are no dictatorship subject to the whims of an Executive, just as we are not a one-party system, where the winner of an election gets to decide everything and the minority nothing. prgtoken We are a government that can only operate if the majority party--the governing party--accepts and seeks compromise. prgtoken The majority, however, has forgotten the lessons of the Founding Fathers. They have shown they do not know how to compromise. Not only do they not consult us, they can't even get on the same page with their President from their own party. The congressional leaders tell me to negotiate with President . President tells me to figure it out with the congressional leaders. This political catch-22--never seen before--has driven our government to dysfunction. prgtoken Americans know why the dysfunction is occurring: a dysfunctional President. Hence, we are in a shutdown with party leaders who will not act without him. It has created the chaos and the gridlock we find ourselves in today. It all really stems from the President, whose inability to clinch a deal has created the shutdown. prgtoken I agree with Majority Leader McConnell. The shutdown was totally avoidable. President walked away from not one but two bipartisan deals, and that is after he walked away from an agreement in principle on DACA that we reached way back in the fall of last year. If he had been willing to accept any one of these deals, we wouldn't be where we are today. prgtoken On Friday, in the Oval Office, I made what I thought was a very generous offer to the President--the most generous offer yet. The President demanded for months that a deal on DACA include the wall. Most don't think the wall is effective. We think it is expensive and a waste of money. We are all for tough border security, but every expert will tell you that drones, sensory devices, roads, and personnel are far more effective than the wall. prgtoken Because the President campaigned on the wall--even though he said it would be paid for by Mexico--and demands the wall, for the sake of compromise, for the sake of coming together, I offered it. Despite what some people are saying on TV--and mind you, these folks were not in the room during the discussion--that is exactly what happened. The President picked a number for a wall. I accepted it. It wasn't my number. It wasn't the number in the bills here. He picked it. It would be hard to imagine a more reasonable compromise. All along, the Presid
FEDERAL REGISTER PRINTING SAVINGS ACT OF 2017
Tammy Duckworth (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2018-1-21

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 36, H.R. 1301; that the amendment at the desk, providing for continuing appropriations for pay and death benefits for members of the Armed Services, be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
FEDERAL REGISTER PRINTING SAVINGS ACT OF 2017
Cory A. Booker (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2018-1-21

I think we have just witnessed here what the problem is. This should not be a situation where Americans are being hurt, and right now Americans are being hurt. We have heard it from the Senator from North Carolina. We have heard it from my colleagues from Connecticut, from Ohio, and from Hawaii. We all agree that Americans right now are getting hurt. We don't have to do that, but we have just heard one Senator--and I imagine other s agree--reject a simple idea. prgtoken Let's not hurt folks. Let's stay here for 3 days and just extend the U.S. Senate. We can stay in our seats and get this work done and work something out. It is an easy way to go forward, and nobody gets hurt. That was objected to. prgtoken We said 1 day, a 24-hour period. Let's do 1 day. That was rejected. prgtoken The Senator from North Carolina made a suggestion that maybe we stand up straight. I love that suggestion. He suggested that we stay through the night instead of having people stressed and worried and some people missing work and missing paychecks. Let's stay here all night. Let's make everybody feel uncomfortable. I would work on that unanimous consent as well. But it seems the Senator from North Carolina has rejected his own idea. prgtoken This is what I don't understand, because I agree with the Senator from North Carolina, who keeps commenting about the military, when the military itself--the Secretary of DOD, through the spokesperson--has said a 4-week CR, if I remember the quote exactly, would be wasteful and disastrous. So military leaders are saying what we are doing is wrong. prgtoken Let's not kick the ball down the road for four weeks and instead stop hurting people and get the work of the Senate done. I am willing to stay here all night. It is not like the Senator from North Carolina is not willing to stay here all night. prgtoken So we stand together today to say: Let's minimize the damage of this. Let's do what we can to not hurt people. prgtoken That brings up the unanimous consent that I would like to propound. If 3 days is rejected, if 1 day is rejected, if just staying here through tonight and working on this as a Senate, facing discomfort, facing exhaustion is worth it, then let's take some of the worried people in the U.S. off the table. prgtoken That is why I have an amendment to permanently extend the Children's Health Insurance Program and provide funding for community health centers. The reason why I say this is because, somehow, our children-- the most vulnerable children in our country--have been pushed into a political debate, which is a political debate because nobody denies that they are in favor of providing healthcare for our children. prgtoken This program expired 112 days ago. For those of you who think that this is prgtoken going to cost us money to provide health insurance for children, it doesn't cost any money. The CBO actually said it saves the government money. Why? Because it
COMMANDING MAJORITIES IN CONGRESS
Jamie Raskin (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2018-1-21

a century ago, William Butler Yeats wrote a poem called ``The Second Coming,'' in which he said: ``Things fall apart; the centre will not hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.'' But in America, that is not our destiny. We can make sure things don't fall apart. We can make sure that the center will hold. prgtoken Let's move beyond the blame game, and let's identify the moral center and common ground for reopening the government and moving America forward. prgtoken Commanding majorities in Congress and in the public want to reauthorize and fund the CHIP program and guarantee healthcare for our kids. We should do this for a 10-year period and save $6 billion over a mere short-term extension. prgtoken Commanding majorities in Congress and the public favor reauthorization and funding of the community health centers which are indispensable for both children's and adult health. prgtoken Commanding majorities in the public and in Congress favor passing a clean Dream Act for 800,000 DREAMers who are contributing to our communities and in school and serving our country. prgtoken And all of us must favor a return to regular order and a fair and transparent budget process that allows all of our agencies, from NIH and NOAA to the DOD, to plan for the effective delivery of public services. prgtoken , I ask unanimous consent now to bring up H.R. 4872, the End the Shutdown Act of 2018, a continuing resolution that would immediately reopen the government through Tuesday while negotiations continue on a budget agreement that adheres to parity and addresses the other critical issues facing the country.
DEMOCRATS ARE FOCUSED ON TAKING CARE OF FAMILIES
Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2018-1-21

first of all, to the men and women of the United States military, how shameful it is to use you. You will be paid. And it is important to note that the ic Party, our leadership, is focusing on making sure your families are taken care of. prgtoken This is a debate about ensuring domestic spending so that you have education dollars for your children--sadly, some of our soldiers are on food stamps--the CHIP program to be fully funded and made permanent, and veterans benefits to continue. prgtoken It is shameful. prgtoken When I was growing up, the way to use language against a person running for office was for them to be called an ``N lover'' or for them to advocate for integrated schools or use the race card. prgtoken Now, today, the person who has the highest office in the land is using the race card; and, sadly, congressional Members and leadership are using it by way of illegal immigration in a political ad that has just come out to say that we are responsible for killings by illegal immigrants. prgtoken DREAMers are not illegal immigrants. They are Americans. They are soldiers. They are doctors and lawyers. They are my neighbors. They are my interns. prgtoken And I am saddened by this. I want the American people to know that the best moral stance to be is where the ic leadership is because we are standing for all of America, and we will continue to do so. prgtoken , I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 4872, the End the Shutdown Act of 2018, a continuing resolution that would immediately reopen the government through Tuesday while negotiations continue on a budget agreement that adheres to parity and on other critical issues to stop the shutdown.
FEDERAL REGISTER PRINTING SAVINGS ACT OF 2017
Jeff Merkley (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2018-1-21

. So, repeatedly, the majority that controls this Chamber and has locked up the amendment box--the opportunity for anyone to put forth any proposals--they have locked it up. We have asked unanimous consent to essentially unlock that and put forward a proposal to keep the government open--because it hadn't yet shut down when it was first put forward--and now to reopen the government. They are absolutely refusing to entertain the prospect of this amendment being heard.
HERE ARE THE FACTS
Pramila Jayapal (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2018-1-21

here are the facts: the first shutdown in modern history when one party has controlled the House, the Senate, and the White House; the fifth shutdown in 30 years; and four continuing resolutions since September. prgtoken Four s joined in voting ``no'' on the House bill last week because it is not a solution. prgtoken , this shutdown is no way to govern. s had plenty of time to pass CHIP reauthorization, but instead, they want to use it for hostage taking. They have the will to act on the GOP tax scam to benefit corporations and the wealthiest, but not on pensions for working families. prgtoken And they certainly had no interest in a solution for DREAMers, an issue that 87 percent of the American people agree on, and s right here would vote with to pass a solution to. prgtoken There are two bipartisan bills in the House to protect DREAMers and one in the Senate, but this isn't about real solutions. s just want to continue to use immigrants as a scapegoat and end legal immigration as we know it. prgtoken , as an immigrant myself, I am tired of being called the worst of the worst. I am tired of hearing Mexicans be called rapists or Africans called vulgarities that I cannot even repeat on this floor. prgtoken , let's end the shutdown now with real solutions for the American people. prgtoken , I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 4872, the End the Shutdown Act of 2018, a continuing resolution that would immediately reopen the government through Tuesday while negotiations continue on a budget agreement that adheres to parity and on other critical issues.