mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
RURAL AMERICA'S CONTRIBUTIONS
Rick W. Allen (Republican, GA) \u2014 2017-7-25

I thank my friend, Congressman Arrington, for this Special Order and for this opportunity to talk about what makes America great. prgtoken , I am a product of rural America. I did learn a lot about work ethic and about values. I can't think of any other way to grow up, to be honest with you. Sure it was difficult, and sure I probably had some times where I thought I would like to be somewhere else. But I will tell you, there was nothing like it, and I take and cherish those memories. I have tried to instill those in my children as well. prgtoken It is the greatest honor of my life to represent the people of Georgia's 12th Congressional District, which is largely rural. We have 18 counties. About 15 of those counties would be considered rural. My district is home to the Masters Tournament and the growing cyber industry in Augusta, but it is our rural farms that are the true heart of my district. prgtoken Georgia's 12th District is rural, and I am proud to say it is truly God's country. You won't find more steadfast, faithful Americans than in rural Georgia. prgtoken Agriculture is the number one industry in my home State of Georgia. It is also the number one industry in my district. Our farmers have been forgotten by out-of-touch politicians and unelected bureaucrats here in Washington, particularly over the last 8 years. prgtoken Farm income, for example, is down more than 55 percent, largely due to what our President has talked about, which is our trade policies. However, as of last November, we are approaching a new day. This is President 's day and President 's America. That is why I am proud to have a President that knows that rural Americans deserve more. prgtoken In April, President created the Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity to be led by Secretary of Agriculture and fellow Georgian, Sonny Perdue. This task force was created with one goal in mind: to promote economic growth and innovation in rural America. As a member of the House Agriculture Committee, I look forward to working with Secretary Perdue on this mission, as well as the next farm bill, which is critical to the lifeblood of our farmers. prgtoken From looking at cotton to peanuts, to specialty crops and the programs they are using, I have participated in numerous hearings on how to make the next farm bill successful for all of our farmers. I am working hard to make sure the commodities most important to Georgia's 12th District are protected. prgtoken We also have a crisis in our community banking system. Community banks are the lifeblood of the creation of small business. We continually lose our community banks. That is why I am so proud of Chairman Jeb Hensarling and his work to pass the CHOICE Act. prgtoken The CHOICE Act reduces the regulatory burden on our community banks. It allows them to thrive and to provide the capital to grow the small business community in our rural areas. Small business in
TRIBUTE TO DEVIN MARTIN
John Thune (Republican, SD) \u2014 2017-7-25

today I recognize Devin Martin, one of my Washington, DC, interns, for all of the hard work he has done for me and my staff at the Senate Conference. prgtoken Devin is a graduate of Huntley High School in Huntley, IL. Currently, he is attending the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, SD, where he is majoring in journalism and political science. Devin is a dedicated worker who has been committed to getting the most out of his experience. prgtoken I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Devin Martin for all of the fine work he has done and wish him continued success in the years to come.
AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT OF 2017
Edward J. Markey (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2017-7-25

. Thank you, . prgtoken , earlier today the Senate voted on a bill to dismantle this country's healthcare--a cruel bill that would affect every single American and one-sixth of our economy; a heartless bill that was crafted in secret, without public debate and without input from the families who will be impacted; an inhumane bill that would make health insurance unaffordable for millions of Americans and leave millions more with no access at all. prgtoken Despite this legislative malpractice, despite numerous independent analyses and nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office findings that millions of Americans will lose coverage and face increased costs, despite Americans from across the country pleading with s not to rip away their coverage or take a machete to Medicaid, despite all that, President and leadership put politics ahead of people and voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act. That is a travesty. prgtoken I have often said that the proudest vote of my career was the one I cast in favor of the Affordable Care Act. The second proudest vote is today, voting no on this cruel, heartless, inhumane bill. prgtoken To all of my constituents in Massachusetts, please know that I vote no with you in mind. prgtoken Massachusetts is the home of universal healthcare. We have a model for the Affordable Care Act. Because of our belief that healthcare is a right and not just a privilege, 98 percent of Massachusetts residents have healthcare coverage. That was a dream of the great Teddy Kennedy, the lion of this Chamber, and it is a reality in Massachusetts. prgtoken We cast this historic vote today to proceed to debate on healthcare legislation, but rest assured, the fight to protect the Affordable Care Act is far from over. prgtoken It is a testament to how divided the Party is over how to replace the healthcare law that we still don't know which version of Care we will proceed to vote on for final passage. It is not because s haven't had time--they have had 7 years to craft a plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Rather, the chaos we have seen so far from Senate s is because millions of Americans are finally benefiting from insurance coverage, many for the first time, and they don't want these protections taken away. prgtoken In many ways, it doesn't matter which bill they bring up for a vote because all versions of the healthcare bill are terrible. s still have no idea how they will go about protecting those with preexisting conditions and ensure that millions aren't kicked off their current insurance plan. prgtoken Senate s have so far proposed three bills that would each devastate the healthcare sector, take a machete to Medicaid, and make the poorest in our country pay for tax breaks for the wealthiest. These bills are the bad, the worse, and the ugly. prgtoken First, the bad. prgtoken Senate Republic
AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT OF 2017
Brian Schatz (Democrat, HI) \u2014 2017-7-25

we just took one of the most reckless legislative actions in this body's history. We are blowing up the American healthcare system, and we don't even know what comes next. prgtoken I want to be clear. The Senate has never before voted on major legislation that would reorder about one-sixth or one-fifth of the American economy and impact millions of lives without actually knowing what the bill would even do. prgtoken There has been no bipartisanship. There has been talk of it, but there have been no real discussions. There have been no public hearings. Let me say something about hearings. This is not a technical point. This is the way a legislative body does its work. This is the way we figure out whether our bill is any good or not. prgtoken This is the way the Senate has always worked. We don't do major legislation without hearings. But that is what we are doing today, and that is because people don't want to disclose what is in this bill. prgtoken It is true that we don't know exactly what is in the bill, but we can be sure of a few things. First, whatever problems there are with the ACA, this bill doesn't even bother to take a swing at them. To the extent people are worried about high deductibles, it will increase the deductibles. To the degree people are worried about the choices on the exchanges, it doesn't even try to solve that problem. prgtoken We don't know exactly how much Medicaid will be cut, whether it is just rolling back the Medicaid expansion or making these radical structural reforms, but we know there will be deep cuts to Medicaid. This will hurt people. It will hurt people in nursing homes. It will hurt people with drug addiction. Medicaid is a program that works for tens of millions of Americans, and it will be slashed massively. prgtoken We don't know whether they are going to get rid of the capital gains tax or just other revenue, but we know they are going to reduce many of the taxes in the original Affordable Care Act, and they are going to pay for it by cutting Medicaid. prgtoken So under the guise of fixing the ACA, they are actually doing nothing about ACA. What they are doing is cutting taxes and cutting Medicaid. We don't know exactly what is in the bill, but we do know that. prgtoken People are going to be hurt--people with preexisting conditions, families with loved ones struggling with opioid abuse, people in nursing homes, people who rely on Planned Parenthood, and the tens of millions of people who will lose their insurance almost instantly. That is why every group--from the American Medical Association to the nurses, to the American Cancer Society, to the March of Dimes, to the National Physicians Alliance, and the AARP--opposes this bill. There are 14 different versions of this bill, but, actually, these organizations oppose them all. prgtoken There are some core elements of the vote we took that are going to be true no matter what. It will cut Medicaid and cut taxe
TRIBUTE TO DR. LEO TWIGGS
James E. Clyburn (Democrat, SC) \u2014 2017-7-25

I rise today to pay tribute to a great South Carolinian and personal friend, Dr. Leo Twiggs. prgtoken Dr. Twiggs hails from St. Stephen, South Carolina, and currently lives in Orangeburg. His artwork has won him fame and recognition across the state and around the world. Recently, he received the Order of the Palmetto, the state's highest civilian honor at a ceremony held at the Statehouse in Columbia. During that ceremony, he also received the highest honor the state presents in the arts--a Lifetime Achievement Award from the South Carolina Arts Commission at the 2017 Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Governor's Awards for the Arts. In 1980, Dr. Twiggs was the first visual artist ever to receive the Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Award. prgtoken Dr. Twiggs' powerful artwork employs batik, an ancient Indonesian technique of manual wax-resistant dyeing applied to whole cloth. He recently spent several weeks manually dyeing and dipping fabric pieces to achieve a texturally rich and deep-toned series titled, ``Requiem for Mother Emanuel,'' to honor the victims of the Charleston massacre of June 17, 2015. His new series of paintings is titled, ``The Nine,'' and focuses on the individual Charleston church. shooting victims themselves. prgtoken , Dr. Twiggs has spoken of the ``powerful kind of catharsis'' of his work, and his fondness for batik includes how the art form draws an individual into a piece. His unique paintings have received international acclaim. Several paintings have been displayed in U.S. embassies in Rome, Senegal, Sierra Leone and elsewhere; and his works have appeared in numerous textbooks, other publications and documentaries. He has designed official White House Christmas ornaments for former Presidents and . Dr. Twiggs is particularly proud that the new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. has accepted two of his paintings for display. prgtoken Dr. Twiggs has served on many important boards and commissions, including the South Carolina State Museum, the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts & Humanities, and the South Carolina Hall of Fame. His tenure in the latter capacity saw the induction of late Judge Matthew Perry, a personal hero of mine, former Governor Richard Riley, longtime former Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, and Ernest A. Finney, the first African American elected to the state Supreme Court since Reconstruction who later became the first African American Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court. Dr. Twiggs also influenced the induction of two pioneering African American women Septima Clark, another personal hero from my younger days and Marian Wright Edelman, a woman whose work I have long admired. prgtoken Dr. Twiggs was the first African American to earn a Doctorate of Art Education from the University of Georgia. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Claflin University and received his Masters of Arts from New York Uni
IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 3178, THE MEDICARE PART B IMPROVEMENT ACT
Terri A. Sewell (Democrat, AL) \u2014 2017-7-25

I rise to express my strong support for H.R. 3178, the Medicare Part B Improvement Act. prgtoken I am proud to be a cosponsor of the bill introduced by Reps. Black, DelBene, and Thompson included in the underlying bill. This policy modernizes Medicare payment policies for the use of telehealth for ESRD related visits. prgtoken My home state of Alabama and the neighboring states of Mississippi and Tennessee are home to the highest rates of kidney disease in the country. Expanding opportunities for home dialysis and telehealth is very important to these patients and their families. prgtoken I've visited with kidney disease patients in dialysis facilities across my district, from small dialysis clinics to the ESRD unit at Children's Hospital in Birmingham. The treatment is taxing for patients and families, who have to go to their clinic to receive treatment 3 days a week for 4 hours at a time to simply sustain life. prgtoken For patients and their families, this bill will have a substantial impact on their quality of life, by expanding access to home dialysis therapy. Technology has allowed for the creation of home dialysis devices. Our Medicare dialysis patients deserve access to these advanced technologies. I strongly believe we must modernize our dialysis payment policies to keep pace with the rapid pace of innovation in so that Medicare patients are not left behind. prgtoken I support the underlying bill and urge my colleagues to vote yes on the Medicare Part B Improvement Act of 2017.
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION RELATING TO ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS
Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2017-7-25

I rise in strong opposition to H.J. Res. 111, which would repeal the Arbitration Rule recently created by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. prgtoken The Arbitration Rule is an important victory for consumer protection, because it prevents banks and other financial institutions from stripping consumers of their constitutionally-guaranteed right to a day in court. prgtoken The ``forced arbitration'' clauses that this rule addresses prevents a consumer from filing a lawsuit against a company, and always forces the consumer into a private and confidential arbitration process that operates outside of the legal system. prgtoken Additionally, these clauses, which are often buried in the fine-print of agreements and do not allow the consumer any authority to change them, frequently prohibit class-action claims. prgtoken This means that even if there are thousands of consumers who have been hurt by a bank or financial institution in a similar way, they would not be able to join their complaints into one case. prgtoken By forcing each and every consumer to endure arbitration on his or her own, outcomes for cases with the exact same complaints will vary unjustly, because arbitration does not set legal precedent. prgtoken , these forced arbitration clauses essentially amount to a rip-off clause. prgtoken It is clear that this rip-off clause is stacked against the consumer and is meant to shield predatory banks, payday lenders, credit card companies and other financial institutions from accountability when they cheat or plunder consumers. prgtoken In April of this year, it was revealed that Wells Fargo opened as many as 149,857 fraudulent bank accounts in my home state of Texas, including many in Houston. prgtoken But the rip-off clause prevented consumers from getting justice. prgtoken The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Arbitration Rule rightfully aims to protect consumers from being forced to sign away their legal rights when doing something as simple as opening a bank account, obtaining a credit card, financing a home, or obtaining a private student loan. prgtoken The CFPB's Arbitration Rule makes it easier for consumers to file a lawsuit if they are harmed by a bank or financial institution, and increases transparency in the arbitration process. prgtoken The Arbitration Rule strongly serves the public interest. prgtoken H.J. Res. 111 is only the latest in a long series of attacks that s have leveled against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since its very creation in 2011. prgtoken The Bureau is a tremendous ally in the fight for consumer protection, and it is imperative that its work be allowed to continue. prgtoken It is unconscionable that s are working so hard to repeal a rule that only serves to protect consumers from harmful and predatory practices by the financial services industry. prgtoken I urge all of my colleagues to join me in rejecting this harmful resolution.
MONROE COUNTY BICENTENNIAL
Debbie Stabenow (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2017-7-25

today I wish to pay special tribute to Monroe County, MI, which is celebrating its bicentennial this year. prgtoken Located on the shores of Lake Erie, Monroe County was founded on July 14, 1817. It is named in honor of President James Monroe, who visited the Michigan Territory in August 1817, shortly after the county's founding. The county has the proud distinction of being the second county founded in Michigan. prgtoken The people of Monroe are proud of their history. This history has inspired generations of hard-working and fiercely independent people who are committed to preserving their history, protecting their natural resources, and innovating for their future. prgtoken Monroe County is home to the River Raisin National Battlefield Park, which commemorates the January 1813 battles of the War of 1812. The battles marked one of the greatest defeats for the United States during the war, and the rally cry, ``Remember the Raisin'' inspired support for the rest of the war. I was honored to help lead the effort in Congress with Congressman Dingell and Senator Levin to pass the legislation that made the park part of the National Park System. The park has now become an economic driver, attracting economic development to the surrounding area. prgtoken Monroe County is also home to La-Z-Boy Furniture, the inventers of the world's first reclining chair. The company was founded in 1927 and employs more than 6,300 people nationwide. The corporate headquarters is still based in Monroe. prgtoken One of the most famous Monroe County residents is General George Armstrong Custer, who spent much of his life in Monroe. One of the youngest Americans to ever be promoted to brigadier general, Custer is known for his successes during the Civil War and his death at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand. prgtoken As a leader of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I am especially proud of Monroe County's agricultural heritage. The county has over 270 historic farms--the most of any county in Michigan. prgtoken Numerous events and celebrations have been planned in the county throughout the year to mark this special milestone. Congratulations to Monroe County on 200 years of impressive history, growth, and success.
PLUM ISLAND PRESERVATION ACT
Joe Courtney (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2017-7-25

I thank Mr. Payne for his leadership on the Homeland Security Committee and also for his hard work on this legislation, which, again, has been closely watched back home in Connecticut and on the other side of Long Island Sound, as Mr. Zeldin indicated as well, in the State of New York. prgtoken Again, I rise in strong support, with my colleague, for passage of H.R. 2182, the Plum Island Preservation Act. This has been an effort that has been ongoing since Congress, unfortunately, took, I think, a wrong turn when they enacted legislation in 2009, with the goal of trying to create funding for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Kansas; but in the process of doing that, it set up a truncated sale of this property, which really deviated from the normal GSA process of trying to exhaust other beneficial uses before putting it up for sale to the highest bidder. prgtoken Again, that has been the struggle for people on both sides of the Long Island Sound, who have been frustrated by the fact that, because Congress mandated a sale without any other options, the incredible, pristine environmental quality of this precious piece of property was basically pushed down the food chain in terms of, again, the way the Federal Government was operating. prgtoken Again, I think it is important to recognize--and my colleagues from New York, Mr. Donovan and Mr. Zeldin, understand this--this still is the most densely populated area of America. The boat traffic, the maritime traffic that flows through Long Island Sound, again, is the busiest in the country. And to have a piece of property that is this precious and this pure--which Mr. Zeldin visited, and I think he can attest to that personally, and I have sailed past it--is really an opportunity that really we just cannot possibly allow to go to a developer that would make that quality forever lost. prgtoken So this legislation, which stops the 2009 process in its tracks, has GAO step in and do a full complete analysis across the board in evaluating all options. In particular, the options of preserving this unique environmental asset is the right move for our country, and, again, it will be to the benefit of generations to come. prgtoken Again, I want to congratulate Mr. Zeldin for his persistence. Again, we did get it through the last Congress, the 114th.
MEDICARE PART B IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2017
Suzan K. DelBene (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2017-7-25

. Madam , I would like to thank the chair and the ranking member for working with me to include a proposal in this bill that I developed with Congresswoman Black, Congressman Thompson, and Congressman Meehan modernizing Medicare and harnessing the promise of telehealth to improve care for patients nationwide. prgtoken Allowing patients with end-stage renal disease to receive dialysis at home can dramatically improve their health outcomes and quality of life. This is something I have heard consistently from providers in my home State of Washington, like the Northwest Kidney Centers, who do incredible work to help patients receive dialysis at home when it is medically appropriate. prgtoken Advances in telehealth hold great potential to extend this treatment option to more Americans, particularly in rural communities, but there are still too many barriers to the use of cutting-edge technologies in Medicare. prgtoken There is a great need to update our laws to reflect these innovations and reimburse telehealth appropriately; otherwise, we won't just be denying access to healthcare today, we could be preventing the next frontier of innovations from even getting off the ground. prgtoken Without the long-term visibility of Medicare coverage, startups and entrepreneurs might never get the funding they need to develop new technologies and bring them to market. It is essential that we unlock the full potential of telehealth. By doing so, we can improve patient care, promote health, defeat heartbreaking diseases, and save lives. That is why I am so glad we are taking this step today. prgtoken Thank you again to the committee for working with me on this important bill, and I hope it is the first of many victories as we work together to expand telehealth. prgtoken I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''