mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
Martin Heinrich (Democrat, NM) \u2014 2017-2-15

it is an honor to join musicians and music lovers in recognizing Albuquerque's Pimentel family for their 65 years of building handcrafted instruments that are sought after by guitar players and collectors around the world. prgtoken Pimentel & Sons is a successful family-owned small business that was started from scratch and has been sustained with innovation, hard work, and a commitment to excellence. prgtoken As the ranking member on the Joint Economic Committee, I am proud to recognize successful entrepreneurs and small business owners like the Pimentels. prgtoken Lorenzo Pimentel learned the craft of building guitars as a teenager in Ciudad Juarez. After marrying his wife, Josefina, Lorenzo moved his family to Albuquerque after falling in love with the Sandia Mountains. Over his lifetime, Lorenzo Pimentel accumulated an incredible list of accolades for his guitars. prgtoken Four of Lorenzo's sons, Agustin, Ricardo, Roberto, and Victor, have continued their late father's work as master guitar makers in their own right. They have each played an integral role in shaping New Mexico's music scene for decades. prgtoken Pimentel & Sons has earned the Hispanic Heritage Month Distinguished Honor Award, the Governor's Award for Excellence and Achievement in the Arts, and an invitation to the Smithsonian Institute's Festival of American Folklife. prgtoken In 2009, Governor Bill Richardson signed a bill designating Pimentel's Sunrise model as the official State guitar of New Mexico. prgtoken Generations of musicians have played and appreciated the world- renowned Pimentel guitars that capture the spirit and culture of New Mexico.
DISAPPROVING RULE SUBMITTED BY DEPARTMENT OF LABOR RELATING TO SAVINGS ARRANGEMENTS BY STATES FOR NON-GOVERNMENTAL EMPLOYEES
Maxine Waters (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-2-15

I thank the gentlewoman for the time. prgtoken , I rise today in opposition to H.J. Res. 66, which is just a continuation of the House s' attack on working families and their retirement security. prgtoken H.J. Res. 66 would dismantle the Department of Labor rule allowing for State-based retirement savings programs. This does nothing more than make it harder for this country's roughly 40 million private sector workers who do not have a way to save for retirement directly out of their regular paycheck. prgtoken Under the current Department of Labor rule, State administered retirement programs can allow employees, who do not have access to a workplace savings plan, to establish an IRA through a payroll deduction. In my State of California, we have the California Secure Choice retirement savings program through which the State is working to provide a savings option to roughly 6.8 million low- to middle-income workers. prgtoken Last Congress, House s unanimously voted to undermine another Department of Labor rule designed to protect retirement security for working families. In that case, the rule ensured that workers receive retirement investment advice that is in their best interest, referred to as the ``fiduciary rule.'' Now congressional s want to prevent workers from participating in voluntary savings programs. prgtoken The Department of Labor rule that the s are now seeking to roll back provides clarity for States and employers so that California, and the several other States that have already enacted similar plans, can provide a simple savings tool for millions of working families. prgtoken , I just don't understand the arguments that are being made against the average working person who would like to have retirement savings. I don't know who is going to benefit if we do away with their ability to have a savings plan, even if they don't have one under the job that they work on. Who benefits? Is it Wall Street again? What is happening here, and why is it that we have H.J. Res. 66?
THE BLUE COLLAR CAUCUS
James E. Clyburn (Democrat, SC) \u2014 2017-2-15

I thank my friend, Congressman Veasey, from the great State of Texas. prgtoken , I rise today as part of the observation of Black History Month to continue my series of remarks recognizing HBCUs, Historically Black Colleges and Universities. I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina. prgtoken Founded in 1870, just 5 years after the end of the Civil War, by the American Baptist Home Mission Society, Benedict was originally named Benedict Institute, after Stephen and Bathsheba Benedict of Rhode Island, Baptist abolitionists who had donated the funds to acquire the property on which the campus sits. Formerly the site of a pre-Civil War plantation, the first classes were held in a dilapidated mansion on the grounds. Benedict Institute was formerly chartered by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1894 and renamed Benedict College. prgtoken From its founding through 1930, Benedict was led by northern White Baptist ministers. In 1930, Reverend John Starks, an alumnus of Benedict, became the school's first African-American president. The heart of its campus has been designated the Benedict College Historic District, consisting of Morgan Hall, Pratt Hall, Duckett Hall, Antisdel Chapel, and Starks Center. prgtoken Like Allen University, its neighbor, Benedict College has a long legacy of activism for civil rights and social justice. One of the very first civil rights campaigns in South Carolina was organized at Benedict College in 1937. Students participating in a national NAACP campaign led a demonstration in support of antilynching legislation pending in Congress. prgtoken One of Benedict's early graduates was Reverend Richard Carroll. Born into slavery in Barnwell, South Carolina, Reverend Carroll was a prominent Baptist minister in the late 1800s who received honors and appointments from both President William McKinley and President Theodore Roosevelt. Other prominent alumni include Modjeska Simkins, a prominent civil rights and public health champion; General Matthew Zimmerman, who served as Chief of Chaplains of the United States Army; and I.S. Leevy Johnson, the first African-American president of the South Carolina State Bar Association. prgtoken In the modern era, under the leadership of President David Swinton, Benedict has grown to a student body of more than 2,800 undergraduate students. In 1995, Swinton revived the football program and marching band 30 years after they had been shut down. He also championed a new sports complex on Two Notch Road in Columbia, which includes a football stadium, tennis courts, baseball fields, and fitness facilities. The liberal arts curriculum now offers degrees in 30 different disciplines. President Swinton also has led the efforts to preserve and restore many of the historic buildings on the campus, in part paid for with Federal funds from the HBCU Historic Preservation Program that we in this Congress have championed
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR (Executive Session)
Bill Nelson (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2017-2-15

we are moving forward now on the consideration of Congressman Mick Mulvaney, the President's nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget, which is an enormous responsibility and which often directs the traffic of what is going to happen in all of the agencies and directs traffic as to what legislation the White House is going to be working on and working with the Congress on. This is an enormous responsibility and a very powerful position. prgtoken When looking for someone to lead this agency, we have to carefully consider the person's record. The Presiding Officer is someone who is practical, who is a military officer, and who understands a lot about human nature, as I hope this Senator from Florida does, and what I suspect that both of us have found is that you can often tell where a fellow is going by where he has been. prgtoken Let's look at Congressman Mulvaney's record on everything from things like Social Security and Medicare. Let's look at what his record is on climate change and sea level rise, and, oh, by the way, of particular note to the gentleman presiding in the Chair, what is his record on defense spending. Office of Management and Budget is going to have a great deal to say about what is in the budget with regard to any kind of spending, but let's see what he has said with regard to defense spending. prgtoken Congressman Mulvaney has advocated for raising the retirement age for Social Security to 70. He has also said he wants to raise the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67, both of which would require senior citizens to work longer, even though they have worked a long time and have paid into these programs in good faith. prgtoken Take, for example, Medicare. People have tried to provide for health insurance, if they have enough money, or otherwise through the ACA, getting subsidies to afford health insurance or, if they don't have enough money, having Medicaid, and they are waiting for the day they turn 65 to be eligible for Medicare. prgtoken It is the same thing with Social Security. Social Security over time has been raised from 65 to 67, but Congressman Mulvaney has talked about raising the eligibility for Social Security to age 70. I don't think this is going to go over too well with a population of senior citizens who have paid into Social Security, who have paid in to finance Medicare and now are being told they are going to have to wait until later. prgtoken I know how you can dress it up. You can say: Oh, it is not going to affect anybody who is currently eligible, but what about all the young people who are paying in? Well, time flies, and suddenly they find they are approaching that age in their midsixties. I don't think people are going to take very well to Congressman Mulvaney's position. prgtoken Let's see what else he has said. He called Social Security a Ponzi scheme. He further has said he supports turning Medicare into a voucher system. That, under
THE EVOLVING THREAT OF TERRORISM AND EFFECTIVE COUNTERTERRORISM STRATEGIES
Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (Democrat, GA) \u2014 2017-2-15

the House Armed Services Committee held a full committee hearing on The Evolving Threat of Terrorism and Effective Counterterrorism Strategies. The hearing featured three witnesses, Professor Bruce Hoffman, Mr. Brian Jenkins, and Ambassador Michael Sheehan, all of whom are well-known counterterrorism subject matter experts. prgtoken There is no question that terrorism is a serious problem that requires holistic solutions, and there is no doubt that countering terrorism at home and abroad at times requires using hard power. This is a point that we can all agree. However, I am concerned that we have spent the overwhelming portion of our federal resources and national attention on the security dimensions of terrorism since 9/11 while largely ignoring the intangible elements, such as those requiring soft power solutions. This approach has led our government to adopt policies which only exacerbate the problem of terrorism rather than solve it. prgtoken President 's recent Executive Orders (EOs), in particular the Muslim ban and the virulent language being promulgated by senior officials, will only bolster the narrative which terrorist groups such as the Islamic State (IS) seek to spread, i.e. the West is at war with Islam. In his testimony in front of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly called the EO barring individuals from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States a ``temporary pause.'' While I will not question the sincerity of this remark, the vast majority of counter-terrorism experts, including Michael Leiter, the former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, agree that at best the EO completely ``misses the point.'' At worst, the EO is ``stupid,'' and ``counterproductive,'' according to Patrick Skinner, a former CIA counterterrorism case officer. prgtoken As Skinner and other counterterrorism experts note, we currently rely upon local partners in Syria, Libya, and Iraq with whom we work side by side to expel IS terrorists from Mosul and Al Bab and other areas. With the Immigration EO, we are effectively telling our partners now that we won't need them and will abandon those who have sacrificed greatly for our cause. This is false. We do need them. It is also worrying that this EO supports the hateful West vs. Muslim World narrative terrorists are trying to propagate. As Jessica Stern, a counterterrorism expert, recently reported, ``jihadis are already celebrating 's executive order as a `blessed ban.''' Let me repeat that: terrorists are celebrating 's Immigration Executive Order. prgtoken It does not stop there. Late last month Reuters reported that the administration is moving away from using the neutral term, Countering Violent Extremism (or CVE), to Countering Islamic Extremism. Reuters further reported that the administration is focusing the work of a CVE Task Force on programs solely tackling radical
Andrew Puzder (Executive Calendar)
Claire McCaskill (Democrat, MO) \u2014 2017-2-15

most Americans don't know who the Director of OMB is, but I want to stand today and explain what an important position in our government it truly is. prgtoken The Director of OMB is responsible for not only implementing and articulating the President's budget but also safeguarding the regulatory process. I would say there is another part of the job because when you are Director of OMB and you are putting the budget out, you also have to understand the checks and balances of our government, including that there are two Houses in Congress and there are different opinions in Congress. Sometimes, in order to get a budget, the word ``compromise'' has to be utilized, which, by the way, was one of the favorite concepts of our Founding Fathers in our Constitution. That is why they embraced checks and balances, because they wanted to foster compromises and consensus. prgtoken That is why Representative Mulvaney is not the right person for this job. He is someone who has been a disrupter. There is a place for disrupters in government. I am not casting aside all disrupters, but I don't think a disrupter belongs as the head of the OMB. prgtoken Some people are going to talk a lot about his career and quote him: ``We have to end Medicare as we know it.'' Others will talk about how he has agreed with the characterization of Social Security as a Ponzi scheme; that he has advocated raising the Social Security eligibility age to 70, even for people who would be as old as 59 right now and maybe having worked in physical labor all of their lives. Yes, he has advocated dramatic changes in dismantling Medicare and Social Security in many ways. I would like to focus on the fact that he thinks it is OK to default on the debt, that he thinks a government shutdown was good policy in terms of making a point, and that he has supported indiscriminate cuts to our defense budget that were a blunt instrument based on an ideology and not a thoughtful position based on our national security. prgtoken I listened to Mr. Mulvaney as he said to me in a one-on-one meeting how he would prioritize the debts he would pay if he defaulted on the debt. Wouldn't that be a great addition to the chaos we are all feeling right now; that the U.S. Government would be Turkey or Greece or another country that is having trouble meeting its obligations. prgtoken We have been a beacon on the Hill not just for freedom and not just for liberty but a beacon on the Hill in terms of economic strength. The notion that we would not rise to our obligations--understanding, as Congressman Mulvaney does, that this is not a spending issue; this is a meeting-our-obligations issue. This is like buying a pickup truck and halfway through the payments you decide you don't want to pay anymore. This isn't a matter of deciding whether you are going to buy the pickup truck in the first place. That is the appropriations process. Raising the debt limit is merely decid
TRIBUTE TO BILL C. HUNTER
Danny K. Davis (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-2-15

I wish to take a moment to pay tribute to Bill Hunter, the father of one of my long-time staff. I did not have the privilege of knowing Bill personally. However, I know how deeply he was loved and how greatly he is missed. I offer my condolences to his family as they both mourn his loss and celebrate his life after his home-going on January 17th of this year. prgtoken Known to many as Hunter, Bill was raised in West Texas and embodied many classic American traits--independent, driven, and fiercely loyal. His childhood was not easy, and it engendered in him his lifelong drive to work hard, fight for the underdog, and aid those in need. Bill lost his father when he was only 5, causing him to grow up early to help his mother pay the bills, whether as a paperboy, grocery clerk, or telegram courier. He recalled how it was cold in West Texas and his family couldn't make the gas payment. So, at only 7, he biked a paper route around 5 in the morning and then wore his cold, wet shoes the remainder of the day at school just to do his part. Bill put himself through college at Texas Tech and law school at Southern Methodist University. Key accomplishments for a boy from Monahans, Texas. prgtoken Bill lived, loved, and practiced law for over 50 years. Legal adversaries and allies agree that Bill was a brilliant attorney and a formidable opponent who earned the respect of his peers for his innovative legal arguments and his vigorous advocacy for his clients. Bill was tough as nails but soft as a kitten. He could aggressively fight a bully in court or quietly teach Sunday school or speak in silly voices to show his pets how much he cared for them. Bill deeply enjoyed providing high-caliber legal assistance to those who couldn't afford it. However, he didn't announce his efforts to help others. Rather, his family and friends learned of his extensive pro bono work when community members would share how much Bill had helped, be it the staff of his favorite restaurant or the workers at his retirement village. prgtoken Dallas was Bill's true home. He was President of the Dallas School Board, a member of Highland Park Presbyterian Church, a part-owner of the ABA basketball team the Dallas Chaparrals, a frequenter of Dallas' wonderful museums, and an avid Cowboys fan. He loved God and his family. He was very proud of his children and delighted in watching his grandchildren and step-grandchildren grow. prgtoken Bill leaves behind many who loved him: his wife, Pati, her 5 children and 5 grandchildren; his three children--Sam, Chris, and Jill, and his 9 grandchildren; and hundreds of attorneys, judge and friends who know that Dallas and the legal community lost an important member. prgtoken Although I did not know Bill personally, I know how much his family and community miss him. I imagine that his family can take comfort in knowing that Bill can still enjoy many of his favorite past times in heaven--engaging in some healthy argu
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
Ron Wyden (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2017-2-15

today I, along with my colleagues Congressmen Chaffetz from Utah and Conyers from Michigan, am introducing the Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance Act, a bill that protects Americans from seeing their phones and other devices turned into location trackers without so much as a warrant or a warning. While law enforcement agencies can and have obtained, and should obtain, probable cause search warrants from a neutral judge authorizing them to track the location of Americans, in many other cases, government agencies obtain sensitive location information without a warrant. My colleagues, Mr. Chaffetz and Conyers, and I intend to fix that. prgtoken This is a situation where government agencies' use of new technology has gotten ahead of the laws in ways that would surprise many Americans. Federal, State, and local agencies routinely track Americans' locations through a variety of methods, most of the time without people knowing they are being tracked. Some tracking demands go directly from the government to phone companies. In the first 6 months of 2016, law enforcement agencies submitted at least 86,000 demands to telephone companies for subscriber location data. Some of these demands were for the records of hundreds or even thousands of customers at a time. prgtoken Law enforcement agencies also regularly track cell phones with the use of a surveillance technology known as a cell site simulator or Stingray. A recent bipartisan report by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in the House of Representatives found that the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security have spent more than $95 million to buy over 430 Stingrays. Although Federal agencies now obtain warrants before using this technology, many State and local agencies do not. prgtoken There is currently no uniform legal standard that regulates how Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies are able to spy on the location of Americans. Instead, there exists a confusing patchwork of State laws, policies adopted by law enforcement agencies, and legal precedents set by Federal and State courts. As a result, Americans in one part of the country may enjoy less privacy, based on the policies adopted by their local police department, privacy laws passed by their State legislatures, or the willingness of their phone provider to push back in court, than Americans who happen to live in a privacy-superior jurisdiction. This patchwork quilt of rules and regulations has led to confusion among law enforcement, prosecutors, and service providers, who waste valuable time and resources litigating and appealing what should be clear-cut rules--clear-cut rules that start from the premise that privacy is an inviolable right, not a convenience granted by local law enforcement. prgtoken Under President , there was a policy in place that required Federal law enforcement officers to get a probable cause warrant before tracking an America