mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
SECURING AMERICA'S FUTURE ACT OF 2018
Lamar Smith (Republican, TX) \u2014 2018-6-21

let me thank the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte), for all that he has done to advance immigration reform during this Congress. prgtoken I do support H.R. 4760, Securing America's Future Act. This legislation ensures that our immigration policies put the interests of Americans first. prgtoken We need to thank not only Chairman Goodlatte, but others who have put so much time and effort into this legislation. We appreciate Mr. Goodlatte's diligence, expertise, and commitment to improving our immigration system. prgtoken Any immigration reform considered by Congress must, at a minimum, secure our borders, implement workforce verification to end the illegal jobs magnet, reduce chain migration, bolster interior enforcement, and prevent abuse of our asylum laws. Securing America's Future Act includes all of these necessary provisions. prgtoken The bill delivers on the President's pledge to voters to complete physical barriers along our southern border, penalize lawless sanctuary cities, and end the administration's catch-and-release policy that returns dangerous criminal immigrants to our streets to prey on innocent Americans. prgtoken Of special interest to me is the inclusion of the Legal Workforce Act in the bill, which requires all new employees' work eligibility to be verified. This will reduce illegal immigration and save jobs for American workers. prgtoken Also important is the deadline to finally implement an entry-exit tracking system to identify visa overstayers. They comprise half of the almost 1 million new illegal immigrants every year. prgtoken Securing America's Future Act helps keep our communities safe and protects American workers. It deserves our enthusiastic support. prgtoken Madam , again I want to thank Chairman Goodlatte for offering this legislation.
ENERGY AND WATER, LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, AND MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019
Lamar Alexander (Republican, TN) \u2014 2018-6-21

. for his support. prgtoken , in addition to this, for those on this side of the aisle who oppose the waters of the United States, remember that the courts have enjoined it, and President has rescinded it. President 's EPA rewrote the rule and sent it to the OMB last week. So there will be a new rule, but it is not now in effect. prgtoken Finally, a small part of the bill is dealt with in the Interior appropriations bill. prgtoken I thank the Members for being here. I respect the Senator from Utah, but following the leader's remarks, I am going to move to table his amendment. I urge all Senators to do that. We want an appropriations process. We do not want an Omnibus appropriations bill, and that is what we will get if we offer amendments like this during the appropriations process. prgtoken .
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 6136, BORDER SECURITY AND IMMIGRATION REFORM ACT OF 2018
Mia B. Love (Republican, UT) \u2014 2018-6-21

in the past few years, we the American people have been presented with false choices: between following the rule of law or showing compassion to people in need. prgtoken I have had the privilege of being born in the United States, but I grew up with parents who faced the hardships of living under a dictatorship. They came to America hoping that the peace and the opportunity they heard about really did exist. They worked hard jobs, scrubbing toilets, they learned our language, studied our history, learned our system of government and our Constitution. And after many years, when they finally had the privilege of taking the oath of citizenship and pledging their allegiance to the American flag, they knew exactly what they were saying and they meant every word of it. prgtoken They were not just enjoying the blessings of what this country had to offer, but they were willing to take on the responsibilities that came with it. They gave me an appreciation for this great Nation and told me every day that I was blessed to be born in it. prgtoken , I urge everyone to attend a naturalization ceremony and see the journey and the sacrifices that people have made to achieve citizenship. I think every American should take that oath of allegiance. prgtoken The goal of any immigration reform should be about family, safety, economic and community stability. The practice of separating loving families from their children at the border is heartbreaking to watch, which is why we should support this bill. prgtoken We are a Nation of laws. We should provide laws that create certainty about the fate of these families. prgtoken Although H.R. 6136 is not a perfect bill for everyone, it does end the policies that make it easier to be here illegally than it is to be here legally. And it hits the sweet spot, allowing us both to follow the rule of law and show compassion to those who seek freedom and the blessings this country has to offer. prgtoken We cannot hide behind procedures and posturing. We must take a vote. We must be accountable to the people who we represent. It is our turn and our time to follow what the Constitution says in Article I, Section 8, to create a uniform rule of naturalization. prgtoken I am a daughter of immigrants. We are a proud American family of patriots. We believe that this country is worthy of all of our greatest efforts. prgtoken , I urge my colleagues, all of us, to support the rule for this bill.
ENERGY AND WATER, LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, AND MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019
Mike Lee (Republican, UT) \u2014 2018-6-21

it is not entirely unusual to have policy in an appropriations bill. It happens with some regularity. In fact, it happened in the corresponding House appropriations measure. prgtoken What we are talking about here is some of the worst kind of lawmaking that occurs here in the swamp, in Washington, DC. Congress sets forth a broad, vague standard, and an executive branch agency figures out the rest, sometimes with disastrous consequences. prgtoken In 2015, the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers came up with a clean water rule, also known as the waters of the United States rule, one that effectively dramatically expanded the jurisdiction of the Federal Government over land in the United States, in some instances saying that if a plot of land is wet some of the time, some of the year, during any particular year, you can be subject to massive fines totalling millions of dollars if you do anything on that land, subject to the arbitrary determinations of Federal bureaucrats. prgtoken This is something that garnered bipartisan support in the 114th Congress. We had 49 cosponsors and ended up having 53 people vote to undo this under a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval. That was s and . Tragically, President vetoed that measure, and we were unable to secure the votes to override that veto. prgtoken This particular measure is in the House appropriations bill that corresponds to this one. I urge my colleagues to support it and to oppose the motion to table.
ENERGY AND WATER, LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, AND MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019
Orrin G. Hatch (Republican, UT) \u2014 2018-6-21

I rise today to pay tribute to a man who was a loyal and diligent staffer on the Senate Finance Committee for nearly three decades--Mark Prater. prgtoken Mark began as a tax counsel with the committee in January of 1990. During his 28-year tenure with the committee, Mark has been a shining example of a bipartisan policy staffer. He is a proud Portlander, where he graduated with his accounting degree from Portland State University. He went on to receive his law degree from Willamette University and then his LLM in taxation from the University of Florida. prgtoken After practicing law for a few years in Portland, Mark thought he would take a 2-year break from practice to work in public service, but after he started working for his home State Senator, Bob Packwood, Mark became consumed by the work on the Finance Committee, which was easy to do but especially for somebody like Mark. prgtoken This was a time when America had a President and both the Senate and House were controlled by . Yet the tax staff, including a fresh-faced counsel from Oregon, found ways to get bills across the finish line. Some of those bills included significant budget and energy deals that helped jump-start the economy in the early 1990s. prgtoken After a few years, Mark was promoted to chief tax counsel in October of 1993--a post that became synonymous with Mark Prater for nearly 25 years. In 2007, Mark was named deputy staff director of the Senate Finance Committee. prgtoken For the next decade, Mark's legislative management and institutional knowledge were crucial in virtually every bill that was passed out of the Senate Finance Committee--and there have been a lot of them--but Mark's impact in Congress did not end there. In 2011, Mark was appointed as the staff director of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, or the Super Committee, as it was more commonly known. prgtoken As many of us remember, September of 2011 was a trying time for America and Washington. Just about any stray statement or suggestion seemed to throw spark on the dry kindling of political frustrations. The Super Committee was created to find a solution to America's debt crisis but also to act as an example of bipartisan and bicameral cooperation. The first step was selecting a director who would be able to handle an immense workload while also dealing with unknown forces and Members of Congress who were unfamiliar with those forces. Mark was the man for the job and shepherded the committee through a process that resulted in many work products that would be used over the next several years. prgtoken But my personal work with Mark is when I really learned to trust and appreciate him the most, although I trusted and appreciated him before. From the moment I became the ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee and even more so after I became chairman in 2015, I leaned on Mark to help develop and negotiate a reform to our
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 6136, BORDER SECURITY AND IMMIGRATION REFORM ACT OF 2018
Rodney Davis (Republican, IL) \u2014 2018-6-21

I wish I could use that picture that my colleagues had up because we are debating a solution to an issue that Congresses for decades have not addressed. prgtoken Immigration is a difficult issue. It invokes strong feelings on both sides. But it is an issue that is long overdue. This vote today is important for showing the American people that we can govern. prgtoken The President supports it because it is strong on border security, provides a permanent solution for the DACA population, supports merit- based legal immigration, and codifies the law to allow families to stay together. prgtoken Frankly, these are all issues I have heard s and talk about fixing. I hope some of my friends on the other side of the aisle will vote for this bill, and I think, if we were in a different time, many would. prgtoken But I am not sure that is going to happen. That is why we need every to be with us. prgtoken It is not an easy issue, but we were elected to lead. By passing this bill, which has the best chance of making it through the Senate and being signed by the President, we could be the leaders who finally secure our borders, provide certainty for people who were brought here as children through no fault of their own, move our legal immigration system to a merit-based process, and keep families together--all issues that both sides have talked about solving, but today, with this vote, we could be the ones who solve these problems for decades. prgtoken I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' because it is a vote to govern. Governing is hard, but I am confident that we can get it done.
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 6136, BORDER SECURITY AND IMMIGRATION REFORM ACT OF 2018
Pete Sessions (Republican, TX) \u2014 2018-6-21

I want to thank the distinguished gentleman from Washington, a member of the Rules Committee, for yielding me time. prgtoken , I really came down here to take part in this debate because, yesterday, for 7 hours, we were at the Rules Committee laying out what are known as Goodlatte 1 and Goodlatte 2, these two bills. prgtoken This is the rule on what might be called Goodlatte 2. This is a rule and a piece of legislation that represents several years' worth of work that was done by Members of the majority to approach an issue that is known as DACA. It is to take some 700,000 young people, and slightly older, who came to America not because they did it on their own fruition as even a young adult, but as a child, where they could not make a decision. They came with their parents to this country. prgtoken We have been struggling for years to find the right answer on how to answer the question of how to deal with these Dreamers. prgtoken It is the Party that was challenged by our President who said: I would like for Congress to tackle this issue. It was the President of the United States that began debate and discussion on a bipartisan basis with s and , Senators and House Members, down at the White House. prgtoken It found itself at a point where, then, Members came back here and began working together. It did fall apart, but it did not end. It did not end because the Party in our majority have groups of people who are from all across this country, as we have a Congressman Curbelo from Miami, Florida, as we have a Dan Newhouse from the State of Washington. Each of these Members have care and concern about people who live in their district and who have come and petitioned them: Please, Congressman Newhouse, do something. prgtoken What did they ask for? They asked for two things, very simply. They asked: Please allow us to come out of the shadows and recognize us. And, secondly: Give us legal status.
ENERGY AND WATER, LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, AND MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019
Rob Portman (Republican, OH) \u2014 2018-6-21

today, I want to talk about an issue that has gotten a lot of attention in Washington and around the country over the past week or so, and that is the issue of children who cross our border, both those who cross the border illegally with their parents and those who come alone. Those who come alone are known as unaccompanied children, or UACs. prgtoken First, I want to reiterate something I have said a number of times over the past few weeks, and that is that I oppose the policy of separating children from their parents. I think it is counter to our American values. As we will talk about this afternoon, though, it is also inconsistent with the infrastructure we have in place to be able to deal with it. prgtoken I was pleased to see the administration agree that we should keep families apprehended at the border together, and I was pleased to see the Executive order the President issued to that effect yesterday. prgtoken I cosponsored legislation on this issue, which has now been cosponsored by 32 of my Senate colleagues, I am told. It has the support of almost one-third of this Chamber, which would, in effect, take the Executive order and put that into law but also make some other changes that are necessary to ensure that we can have a sustainable policy with regard to children coming across the border. prgtoken I believe we can have strong border security without separating families at the border. I believe we can enforce our Nation's laws, and we should, while remaining true to our values. Children should be kept in a safe, caring environment with their parents while immigration officials quickly assess each family's individual immigration case. That is the best solution. prgtoken Beyond the moral argument for holding this policy, by the way, the logistics of separating families is just not practical. Let me talk about what currently happens with unaccompanied children. prgtoken We talked earlier about two categories. One is children who come with their parents, which has been the issue we have been discussing the last week. But there is a bigger issue with regard to those children-- in the sense of the number of children who are in the system--and that is those children who come on their own. prgtoken As chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, or PSI, I have been investigating over the past couple of years the handling of UACs. Again, these are kids who come unaccompanied. I have done this, therefore, both during the administration and during the administration. From the work we have done over the past 2 years, I can tell you that the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security are not prepared to effectively deal with even more children, unaccompanied minors or those who come in with their parents. prgtoken There are two key issues that we need to address with unaccompanied children who enter the United States. First, we need to ens
ENERGY AND WATER, LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, AND MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019
Marco Rubio (Republican, FL) \u2014 2018-6-21

few issues have bedeviled our country and our political process more than immigration. It is well known by now how difficult it is to get anything done on the topic. Later today, the House will have a vote. I don't know how that will turn out, but we have seen how difficult it is to even get to that point. prgtoken The reason it is a difficult issue is multifaceted. The first is, it involves people. It is easy to throw around numbers--100,000, 1.1 million a year, 2,000, but these are human beings who, by and large, want to come to America because it is the best country in the world. That is one of the things that makes it difficult; we are talking about human beings. It is not trade. It is not dollars. It is people. The other reason it is difficult is because we are a nation in which few, if any of us, are but a few generations removed at most from someone who came here from somewhere else. The closer you are to that reality, the more you identify with those who want to come here. I was blessed to be born in the United States, but I didn't do anything to earn that. I happen to have benefited from the fact that my parents lived 90 miles away from the greatest Nation on Earth. They could have been born somewhere else. They could have made a different decision in their lives. I am not sure what would have happened, quite frankly, since my parents had me in their forties, and I am not even sure I would have been born. I am a beneficiary of that incredible blessing. prgtoken The flip side of it is, I am also a lawmaker, and I understand that every Nation on this planet has immigration laws. Mexico has immigration laws. Canada has immigration laws. Canada, earlier this week, sent out a statement to TPS recipients in America that if your TPS expires, don't come to Canada because we are not going to let you in. prgtoken I have personally witnessed the immigration laws in places like Honduras--one of the source countries of some of our migration. I was there 2 years ago, and I visited a migration place. Basically, Honduras's policy is this: We detain you, we feed you, and we give you 48 hours to get out of the country. prgtoken Every country in the world has immigration laws, and anytime those laws are challenged by large numbers of people who want to enter outside of those laws, it creates friction and problems. It has throughout the history of this country, and it is doing it all over the world right now. The governing coalition in Germany could collapse over the issue. Multiple elections in Europe have been decided. In fact, the very future of the EU itself is under duress over the issue of migration and a common border. prgtoken So this is not just a difficult issue in America. It is a difficult issue around the world. One of the reasons that it is so difficult here is that we have long prided ourselves on being a nation of immigrants, and we remain that. One of the things that isn't repeated eno
ENERGY AND WATER, LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, AND MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019
Dan Sullivan (Republican, AK) \u2014 2018-6-21

it is Thursday, and it is one of the best times of the week for me. I know the Parliamentarians and others who work in the Senate know, and now the pages are going to learn this, too, because it is the time every week when I get to talk about what I call the Alaskan of the Week. I am referring to someone who has made a difference in my State, someone who is doing a great job, and someone who is oftentimes an unsung hero and doesn't get a lot of attention but deserves it. That is what I do here. prgtoken As I like to say, Alaska is a very beautiful State. I think it is the most beautiful State in the country, probably the most beautiful place in the world. Now summer has arrived, and the Sun hardly ever sets. The fish are running. The air is drenched in the energy of summer, so now is the time to visit. Everybody who is watching or watching on TV, you have to come visit. The Presiding Officer came a couple summers ago. We had a great time. Her father was out there during World War II, which was a great honor. So you will have the trip of a lifetime. prgtoken By the way, you will also have the best food in the world. Interestingly enough, in the Senate on Thursdays, one Senator typically hosts a lunch. Today, I am hosting. I think my colleagues will like this. You can almost smell the aroma. Right now, we are making it in the kitchen here--salmon, halibut, reindeer sausage. We are all going to be treated to that in a little bit. prgtoken What is truly amazing about my State is the people who call it home-- smart, creative, energetic, caring people, folks helping each other. prgtoken Today, I want to talk about our Alaskan of the Week, Mr. Greg Brown. He comes at the suggestion of quite a few members of my staff, who call him Mr. Brown. The lobbying campaign in my office for Mr. Brown to be the Alaskan of the Week has been intense. prgtoken Mr. Brown, as he is known far and wide among those who went to Anchorage's Dimond High School, is a legend among his former students at Dimond, where for 25 years he taught European and U.S. history, art history, philosophy, and student government. prgtoken Many of us are fortunate enough to have had that teacher or person-- usually, it is a teacher--who really changed our lives and showed us the pure joy of learning; as my director of constituent relations, Rachel Bylsma, put it, that person ``that made history come alive,'' that person who made an ``indelible impact'' on someone's life or many lives. For Rachel, Andrew--one of my interns, who is here with me on the floor--and five members of my staff in DC and back home in Alaska, that person is Mr. Brown. So let's talk a little bit about Mr. Brown. prgtoken Originally from Texas, when he was 15 years old, his family moved to Alaska when his father, who was in the oil business, got transferred to Alaska. A lot of Texans up in Alaska fall in love with it, as he did. He moved back to Texas as a teenager, but Alask