mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, MILITARY CONSTRUCTION, VETERANS AFFAIRS, TRANSPORTATION, AND HOUSING AND URBAN...
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2019-10-29

this isn't part of the remarks I had planned for, but let me just surprise the Senator from Ohio and say I agree with him. We need to pass a transportation bill. prgtoken He mentioned some of the union workers he was talking to this morning, and they want Congress to function as it should, which means we should pass our appropriations bills, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill that the Senator from Maine is the bill manager on. We ought to do all of our appropriations bills, including keeping our commitment to our men and women in the military by passing the Defense appropriations bill. prgtoken Unfortunately, we know that politics has overwhelmed our ability to function here in Congress, and the , for some reason, decided to filibuster the Defense appropriations bill just recently. prgtoken What I worry about is this obsession with politics and dividing the Nation 12 months before the next general election, when everybody who is a registered voter will have a chance to vote on the next President of the United States. We are going to let that dominate our discussions to the failure of our ability to actually pass appropriations bills, fund the military, and fund a highway bill, which would provide much needed infrastructure development all across our country, including the fast-growing States like those the Presiding Officer and I happen to come from. prgtoken So I hope that the growing sense I have that we are simply going to quit functioning a year out before the election, because of the obsession over politics and impeachment mania, does not prove to be true. But the storm clouds are on the horizon, and I am becoming increasingly convinced that, unfortunately, that is the only thing Pelosi and the House care about, and our ability to actually get our work done is going to be tragically squandered. Death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi prgtoken , let me talk about some good news. Of course, this weekend, the world celebrated as the hunt for the leader of ISIS--the latest terrorist organization that has dominated the news--finally came to an end, and President announced the successful raid by U.S. troops that led to the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the world's No. 1 terrorist. This, of course, is reminiscent of that effort under the administration to take out Osama Bin Laden years after he led the effort to kill 3,000 Americans on 9/11 in New York and here in Washington at the Pentagon. prgtoken With the elimination of the ISIS caliphate earlier this year, it was only a matter of time before al-Baghdadi would run out of places to hide. I want to say how much I admire and appreciate the courage and the dedication of the men and women who contributed to prgtoken this raid and who actually made it happen. This is an amazing combination of talent, training, intelligence, and cooperation with our partners in the Middle
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H. RES. 296, AFFIRMING THE UNITED STATES RECORD ON THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Michael C. Burgess (Republican, TX) \u2014 2019-10-29

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , if we defeat the previous question, s will amend the rule to suspend the ongoing impeachment inquiry until we achieve operational control of our southern border. prgtoken As I previously stated, we are experiencing a humanitarian and security crisis on the southern border. In August, Customs and Border Protection apprehended over 64,000 individuals who lacked legal documentation to enter this country. Apprehensions are on track to reach over 1 million individuals attempting to cross into the United States along our southern border this fiscal year. prgtoken The House should prioritize securing our southern border and stemming the flow of irregular migration over a politically motivated impeachment inquiry. Until operation of the border control is achieved, the House should suspend the impeachment inquiry. prgtoken , I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the Record, along with extraneous material, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.
CONGRATULATING THE CHAMBER
John Joyce (Republican, PA) \u2014 2019-10-29

. Madam , it is with great pride that I congratulate the Gettysburg Chamber of Commerce of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on the occasion of its 100th annual meeting. prgtoken In September of 1918, Gettysburg businessman Roy Funkhouser organized a group of local businessmen to support economic development in Gettysburg, commencing the service of the Chamber of Commerce. In the past century, the chamber has expanded its reach to serve the entirety of Adams County. prgtoken Throughout its history, the Gettysburg Chamber of Commerce has led and supported important projects. From helping to establish a county library in 1931 to supporting the victims of Hurricane Andrew and commencing Adams County's Small Business Appreciation week tradition, the membership of the chamber has made a lasting legacy in our region. prgtoken With more than 600 members, the Gettysburg Chamber of Commerce is a strong advocate for entrepreneurs and the workforce of Adams County. It is my privilege to represent the chamber in the U.S. House of Representatives, and I congratulate the leaders and members of the chamber upon this outstanding achievement.
HONORING EDWARD J. MOSES, ESQ.
John Katko (Republican, NY) \u2014 2019-10-29

. Madam , I rise today to honor Edward J. Moses, Esq who was recently named the ``2019 Distinguished Lawyer'' by the Onondaga County Bar Association. prgtoken In his career extending over 50 years as an attorney, Edward Moses has been known for his uncompromising ethic, client-focused approach, and loyalty to his firm Mackenzie Hughes, LLP, where he has spent his entire legal career. Across the legal profession, Edward Moses has garnered admiration from his peers, competing lawyers, and respected judges. For this reason, in 2016 and 2018, Edward Moses received the distinction of ``Syracuse Lawyer of the Year'' in corporate law. prgtoken In 1968, Edward Moses began his career in law with Mackenzie Hughes, LLP, immediately following his graduation from Syracuse University College of Law. However, within only two weeks of his start date, Edward Moses put his career on hold to fulfill the commitment he made to the United States Coast Guard. For ten weeks, he attended boot camp at Cape May, New Jersey, before returning home to Central New York in 1969. prgtoken Edward Moses and his wife, Elana, have five sons and reside in Otisco, New York. He is known for his commitment to his family--and while he frequently works six days a week, he never misses a family dinner or sporting event for his sons. prgtoken Devoted to his faith, Edward Moses is active in St. Patrick's Church in Otisco. Additionally, he is a deeply involved alumni of Christian Brothers Academy and Georgetown University, where he received his undergraduate degree and played football, lacrosse, and baseball. For nearly 40 years, Edward Moses has served with distinction on the Christian Brothers Academy Board of Trustees. In this role, he notably oversaw improvements to its campus and played an instrumental role in transforming the school into a coed institution. prgtoken Madam , I ask that my colleagues in the House join me in honoring Edward J. Moses, Esq. A devoted family-man, and highly respected figure in our Central New York community, Edward Moses has served with great distinction in the legal profession and is highly deserving of this honor.
PROTECT AGAINST CONFLICT BY TURKEY ACT
Gus M. Bilirakis (Republican, FL) \u2014 2019-10-29

I offer congratulations again to Chairman Engel and Ranking Member McCaul for this very important Turkey sanctions bill. prgtoken , for nearly 13 years, I have felt like I have been one of the lone voices in the wilderness decrying the actions of Turkey as it systematically denies its citizens basic human rights by invading and occupying an EU country, the Republic of Cyprus; stripping religious minorities of their religious freedom; persecuting journalists and academics for writing about the Armenian genocide; and invading and provoking hostilities on a daily basis in the Eastern Mediterranean. prgtoken As co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Caucus, I am especially grateful for this PACT Act calling for the administration to outline how it will assist religious and ethnic minorities affected by war crimes perpetrated by Prime Minister Erdogan. prgtoken Additionally, in my role as co-chair of the Hellenic Caucus, I have called for the administration to halt the delivery of F-35s to Turkey, given its purchase of Russia's S-400 missile defense system. prgtoken I am pleased this bill goes further and imposes 231 sanctions for Turkey's intransigence. prgtoken I urge support of this legislation so that we can send a unified, bipartisan message to Turkey that, if you want to be considered a strategic ally of the United States, a true ally, you have to act like one. prgtoken , I want to again thank the chairman, the ranking member, and the entire Foreign Affairs Committee for bringing up this very important bill.
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY AND THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES...
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2019-10-29

this bill is in the jurisdiction of a committee that I am chairman of, the Senate Finance Committee. I think the Senate Finance Committee has a reputation for doing things in a very bipartisan way and moving a lot of important legislation. For example, we moved a bill out of committee to, hopefully, get consideration on the floor. It is a very bipartisan bill that reduces the cost of prescription drugs. We did that on a 19-to-9 vote. prgtoken There are a lot of other things we are working on, including some trade legislation. We want to consider, hopefully, in a bipartisan way the U.S.-Mexico agreement. We also have an agreement out on encouraged savings and things of that nature. prgtoken I want to respond to my friend by reminding him how our committee works. Last night was the first time that I heard there was an interest in moving Senator Durbin's bill. The bill has not been through the committee process, and, therefore, there has been no opportunity to weigh in with what we know and to determine what we need. prgtoken There are a number of programs focused on reducing maternal mortality, and it is unclear how this bill coordinates with those efforts. This bill makes a number of long-term changes to Medicaid, and the policy and budgetary impacts are unknown. prgtoken I am offering a counterproposal in the Medicaid Program to address maternal health and identify underserved areas. Additional funding is provided for existing Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grants. This focus is fully offset by a policy that saves money by focusing our limited resources on moms and babies, rather than spending on prisoners at a higher percentage in our most vulnerable populations. prgtoken I am going to offer Senator Durbin this proposal that I just described. I ask the Senator to modify his request to include my amendment, which is at the desk. prgtoken I ask unanimous consent that the amendment 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.
COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, MILITARY CONSTRUCTION, VETERANS AFFAIRS, TRANSPORTATION, AND HOUSING AND URBAN...
Susan M. Collins (Republican, ME) \u2014 2019-10-29

I am delighted that the Senate is taking up four very important appropriations bills, one of them I discussed at length last week; that is, the Transportation-HUD appropriations bill, which I authored along with my ranking member, Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island. In forging that bill, we gathered information from 75 of our fellow Senators, who had 950 requests. We went through each of the requests very carefully, and we have built a bill that is truly bipartisan, that reflects the priorities of this body, and that I trust will be approved as part of this package later this week. prgtoken I also want to take the opportunity today, as I am managing the four bills in the unavoidable absence of the full committee chairman, Senator Shelby, to talk about some of the other appropriations bills that have been brought before us. prgtoken As the Presiding Officer is well aware, the Appropriations Committee is a committee that makes a real effort to work together to put aside petty partisanship and, instead, listen to one another and work for the common good. We make an extraordinary effort to find common ground. How I wish that could be done throughout Washington today. But the Appropriations Committee remains a bastion of common sense, of collegiality, and of working together to seek common ground. That is why we have had such success in reporting so many of the appropriations bills, and I am very proud that the T-HUD bill, as we call the transportation and housing bill, was one of those that was reported unanimously by a vote of 31 to 0. prgtoken For the next few moments, I would like to talk about another bill that had unanimous support on the committee, and that is the CJS appropriations bill--Commerce, Justice, and Science. prgtoken Let me begin by acknowledging the hard work of the chairman, Senator Moran, and the ranking member, Senator Shaheen, for their work in balancing the many priorities that are included in this bill. Once again, we saw the chairman and the ranking member working together as a team in a bipartisan--indeed, a nonpartisan--way in order to find common ground. prgtoken I would like to comment on a few of the provisions of the bill that I think are particularly important. First, I am encouraged that the bill continues to provide strong support for the National Sea Grant College Program, despite the administration's desire to eliminate this program. The committee actually provided an increase of $7 million over last year's funding level. The University of Maine Sea Grant Program is a prgtoken national leader in ocean research and, as you know, is very important to the Presiding Officer from Florida as well. (Mr. SCOTT of Florida assumed the Chair.) prgtoken Within the sea grant program, there is $2 million for critical lobster research, building on the $2 million that was included last year. The sea grant program recently announced seven research awards supported by this fundi
AFFIRMING THE UNITED STATES RECORD ON THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Christopher H. Smith (Republican, NJ) \u2014 2019-10-29

it is my understanding that there are no further speakers other than the chairman, and I would like to close. prgtoken , such time as I may consume. prgtoken As I mentioned earlier, the Encyclopedia of the Armenian Genocide states: During the march many Armenians were killed indiscriminately by the Ottoman forces, which left a trail of corpses along the route of the march. To break the will of the marchers, they used swords, resulting in great bloodshed. Marchers who survived these attacks faced starvation, as no provisions whatsoever were made. Many elderly and infirm marchers died in this way during the march. This significantly reduced numbers of marchers who, upon finally making it into the Syrian desert, were put into concentration camps and then released into the scorching desert with no food or water and to a certain death. prgtoken , despite having ratified the Genocide Convention back in 1950, the Turkish Government has waged an amazingly deceitful campaign of denial and has done so over the course of decades using a variety of means to bully, intimidate, and punish Turkish citizens who dare to acknowledge the genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1915. prgtoken Ankara also seeks to intimidate nations. Many nations have refused to be intimidated and to be bullied: Poland, Germany, the Holy See, Italy, Russia, France, Holland, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Paraguay, Bolivia, Brazil, Austria, Bulgaria, the European Parliament, Luxembourg, Sweden, Chile, Argentina, Lithuania, Venezuela, Slovakia, Canada, Uruguay, Switzerland, Lebanon, Belgium, Greece, and Cyprus all have come out strongly and acknowledged the Armenian genocide. We need to do the same today. prgtoken Over the years, several U.S. Presidents have acknowledged the cruelty and the carnage. But it was Ronald Reagan who called it an Armenian genocide. He said: ``Like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians, which followed it--and like too many other persecutions of too many other people--the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten.'' prgtoken To be sure, Presidents Carter, , Clinton, and , said strong words. They had strong words to describe it. President called it the ``forced exile and the annihilation'' of 1.5 million Armenians. prgtoken President had promised to recognize the genocide but didn't. A Los Angeles Times story on April 21, 2015, says it all: ``Armenian hopes crushed as decides not to use the word `genocide'.'' prgtoken It does matter, . Genocide is a very precise term. It has real meaning in international law because of the Genocide Convention, and all Presidents and Members of Congress, I hope, will stand up and say that word. prgtoken Let me remind my colleagues, because it is referenced again in the resolution, that back in 1984 we passed a joint resolutio
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY AND THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES...
John Barrasso (Republican, WY) \u2014 2019-10-29

I come to the floor today to once again discuss healthcare in America and, specifically, to oppose S.J. Res. 52, which is the latest congressional disapproval resolution. prgtoken What is happening here is that the are trying to block the efforts s are making to actually lower the cost of health insurance. We are working on ways to lower the cost of health insurance for American families, and the are trying to block it. prgtoken Let me explain. People certainly understand that after the healthcare law was passed, healthcare insurance premiums all across the country went way up. I strongly oppose the passage of this resolution, and I strongly opposed the passage of this law, which many of the running for President are now willing to admit has failed. prgtoken It is interesting that the now just say: Scrap the whole thing, and go with a one-size-fits-all, government-run healthcare program in which people will pay more to wait longer for worse care. prgtoken Ironically, it is the s who, today, are delivering on so many of the ' empty promises about Care because s are actually doing things to lower the cost of care and the cost of health insurance for American families. prgtoken I like to think of s as EMTs arriving on the scene of the Care train wreck. We didn't cause the accident. We are trying to help the victims, and the victims live in States all across this country. For nearly 3 years, s have tried to treat the victims of Care and tried to help people who have been hit by skyrocketing health insurance premiums. prgtoken Last week we saw a major breakthrough. For the second year in a row, on average, we saw insurance premiums on the Care exchanges actually come down. They have actually come down. Well, it is very welcome news for people who have to pay these premiums. Yet, what we see is that the 2020 ic candidates, when you listen to them, don't seem to be concerned about lowering the costs. They are too busy pushing this astronomically expensive $34 trillion Medicare for All health insurance healthcare scheme--one that by s and alike has been called a pipe dream. prgtoken To put the cost into perspective, this total dollar figure has been estimated by people on the side of the aisle, the ic side of the aisle, folks who looked at what promises are being made, and all have come to the conclusion that the cost will be greater than what we spend right now in this country on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security combined. Add it all up, and it does not even reach the point of what the Bernie Sanders-Elizabeth Warren Medicare for All plan would cost. prgtoken Interestingly, when taking a look at the proposal, they actually want to take away from the American people--the 180 million people who have earned health insurance through
PROTECT AGAINST CONFLICT BY TURKEY ACT
Michael T. McCaul (Republican, TX) \u2014 2019-10-29

such time as I may consume. prgtoken I want to echo Madam 's comments. When we stand united on the floor of the Congress, as Americans, that is when we send the strongest message overseas to adversaries. prgtoken I want to thank Mr. Engel for his strong work in working with me to get to a positive place where we can actually get to a solution to what has been a challenging and very fluid situation. It is always an honor to work with the gentleman on the Foreign Affairs Committee. prgtoken In these times of crises we are, I believe, strongest on the world stage when the executive and legislative branch speak in one voice. prgtoken In his testimony before our committee, Ambassador Jeffrey, the Special Envoy to Syria said: I saw firsthand the effect of congressional sanctions when we visited with the Turkish negotiating team; that these sanctions have been helpful in getting the Turks to agree to the cease-fire. prgtoken And I believe the resolution that we passed helped get Turkey to the cease-fire as well. prgtoken Finally, I want to thank our partners in the Syrian ic Forces for their ongoing dedication to countering ISIS. And I want to say to the SDF, from the Nation's Capitol, on the House floor, that the American people are grateful for everything you have done for us, for everything you have worked for, and everything you have sacrificed to keep the world safer. prgtoken , I urge all Members to support this important legislation, and .