mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2810, NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018, AND PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 23, GAINING RESPONSIBILITY ON WATER ACT OF 2017
Jacky Rosen (Democrat, NV) \u2014 2017-7-12

if today's vote on the previous question fails, instead of voting on a partisan bill that rolls back key environmental laws, overturns State law, and ignores real solutions to our water supply shortages in the West, we will have the opportunity to vote on my bill, H.R. 1868, the Restoring American Privacy Act of 2017. prgtoken This bipartisan legislation will reverse the President's decision to assign a disastrous resolution allowing internet providers to sell their customers' personal information without their acknowledge or without their consent. prgtoken As a former computer programmer and someone who has firsthand experience writing code, I can tell you that the first step towards protecting vulnerable and sensitive data is to make sure it remains private. prgtoken S.J. Res. 34, which now, unfortunately, is the law, prevents vital online protections for millions of Americans nationwide from taking effect later this year. The resolution, signed by the President, negating FCC broadband consumer privacy rules is not only wrong and a blatant violation of privacy, but it jeopardizes Americans' personal data and puts them at risk of hacking. prgtoken The October 2016 rule was the only rule that required internet service providers to obtain consumers' permission before selling their private internet browsing history and other sensitive information, including geolocation and amp usage. prgtoken I am simply shocked that most of my colleagues across the aisle voted for a prgtoken measure that violates Americans' privacy by selling our most intimate and personal information, all without our consent. prgtoken Repealing the FCC rule with S.J. Res. 34 now allows broadband providers to turn private personal information over to the highest bidder--or anybody they want, including the government--without a warrant and without ever telling you. prgtoken That is right. Without this rule that President and most s in Congress blocked, internet service providers don't need to ask for permission to collect and share sensitive personal information. Even worse, the passage of this resolution also told providers they no longer have to use reasonable measures to protect consumers' personal data. prgtoken This is absolutely unacceptable. We are living in a time where identity theft and internet hacking have become the new norm. Shortly after President and s repealed these consumer protections, we experienced a massive ransomware attack that caused major damage to businesses and companies around the world. No American wants their most personal information to be up for grabs. prgtoken By using the Congressional Review Act to eliminate this rule, the FCC is now prevented from publishing rules that are substantially the same absent additional legislation, establishing a dangerous precedent for private citizens. prgtoken Americans should have the right to decide how their internet providers use their personal i
Tax Reform (Executive Calendar)
Orrin G. Hatch (Republican, UT) \u2014 2017-7-12

I rise to once again discuss the ongoing effort to reform our Nation's Tax Code. Over the past several years, I have come to the floor often to make the case for tax reform by highlighting the many shortcomings of our current tax system and prgtoken discussing the benefits we could reap by making the necessary changes. prgtoken Over the last years while I have been serving as chairman or the lead on the Senate tax-writing committee--both as ranking member and as chairman--I have made tax reform my top priority, and right now, I believe there is more momentum in favor of tax reform than we have seen in decades. prgtoken To capitalize on that momentum, reform advocates like myself need to continue to make the case for updating and fixing our broken tax system. Toward that end, I intend to come to the floor often in the coming weeks and months to discuss various aspects of our tax system and make the case for reform. In my view, we need to go back to the drawing board and fundamentally rethink our entire tax system. This includes both the individual, as well as the business side of the tax ledger. prgtoken Today, I want to talk specifically about our Nation's business tax system, with a particular focus on the corporate tax. prgtoken Let's get the obvious out of the way first: The United States has the highest statutory corporate tax rate in the industrialized world. Looking at the effective corporate tax rates tells an equally gloomy story of the lack of American competitiveness. I will have more to say on that in a minute. prgtoken I know some like to rail on corporate America and claim they aren't paying their fair share, but the facts tell a different story. Companies doing business in the United States are saddled with statuary tax rates that are higher than any other industrialized country. This isn't just a talking point; Members and commentators from both parties and across the ideological spectrum have acknowledged that this is the problem. prgtoken For example, just last year, former President Bill Clinton argued for a reduction in corporate tax rates, noting that he had urged for the corporate tax to be raised to 35 percent when he was President because ``it was precisely in the middle of OECD countries. It isn't anymore.'' prgtoken Early in his Presidency, President said: ``Our current corporate tax system is outdated, unfair, and inefficient.'' He also said that our corporate tax system ``hits companies that choose to stay in America with one of the highest tax rates in the world.'' I might add, he did nothing about it, though. prgtoken In addition, my counterpart on the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Wyden, has introduced legislation that would reduce corporate tax rates by more than 10 percent. prgtoken In a Finance Committee report in 2015 on international tax reform, put out by a working group cochaired by my friends and colleagues Senators Portman and Schu
Getting Our Work Done (Executive Calendar)
John McCain (Republican, AZ) \u2014 2017-7-12

as we know, yesterday the majority leader announced that he plans to delay the start of the August recess by 2 weeks. He stated that this delay is necessary in order to ``complete action on important legislative items and process nominees that have been stalled by a lack of cooperation from our friends on the other side of the aisle.'' Those are the majority leader's words. prgtoken I have no problem with the leader's decision. I will happily stay here an additional 2 weeks. I will stay 3, 4, or even 5 weeks as long as we have a plan to address the serious issues that face this Nation. prgtoken My friends, when the Senate completes its work this week, we will have considered a whopping total this entire week of three nominations, one of them being a noncontroversial district judge nominee on which the majority leader was forced to file cloture. That cloture vote was unanimous, 97 to 0. Yet we were still forced to burn postcloture time-- 30 hours--before being allowed to vote earlier today on his confirmation--a vote that was again unanimous at 100 to 0. What? That is the way we are doing business in the Senate? I will repeat. The vote to stop debate was 97 to 0 after 30 hours. After we burned 30 hours, then we were allowed to vote earlier today--a vote that was again unanimous at 100 to 0. Why? prgtoken We have a war on. We have men and women in harm's way. We have nominees stacked up, and so we are spending an entire week with three nominees. So with an incredible act of another chapter in ``Profiles in Courage,'' rather than say, OK, we will stay here prgtoken Friday, we will stay here Saturday, we will stay here Sunday, but by God we are going to do the people's business--we are not doing the people's business. prgtoken I can't go through all the machinations between the ic leader and our majority leader, and I can't go through all the tos and fros and all of that, but I am supposed to go back and speak to a high school civics class and say: I am happy to be here. I have had a very tough week this week in the Senate, my young friends who may want to be engaged in public service someday, and we voted on a district judge 97 to 0. Thirty hours later, we were allowed to vote on his nomination, and the vote was 100 to 0. prgtoken That is what the Senate is supposed to do? There was no reason why we needed to take 3 days on this nominee. prgtoken I say to my friend the ic leader and I say to the leader: This type of obstruction has gone on long enough, and it has to stop. prgtoken As I said, I am happy to stay here for the entire August recess to do the work the American people sent us here to do, but we must first have a plan of what we are going to do and how. What are we to say to the American people if we stay here for several weeks, have no legislative plan, and accomplish nothing? We have been in for 6 months now. What have we done? We have done Gorsuch, and we have don
HONORING COLONEL RALPH L. SCHWADER
Sam Graves (Republican, MO) \u2014 2017-7-12

I proudly pause to recognize Colonel Ralph L. Schwader, Commander of the Missouri Air National Guard's 139th Airlift Wing. Colonel Schwader has dedicated years of service to not only the people of Missouri, but in defense of the United States of America. It is with great honor that I take a moment to recognize Colonel Schwader today. On paper alone, Colonel Schwader is an incredibly impressive man. His list of various commands, deployments, decorations and awards could fill volumes. However, what you will never see on paper are the people he has touched while on those deployments or commands. The lives he has touched while earning those decorations and awards. Colonel Schwader may never know the lives he has saved delivering supplies to soldiers in the field while deployed for Operations Desert Shield, Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring Freedom, among many other deployments and service stations. The lives other airmen he saved through training provided under his command by the Advanced Airlift Training Center. He may never fully know the gratitude for aid he helped provide to other Missourians during a flood or tornado or internationally to Haiti following the earthquake of 2010. It is on behalf of those people who haven't been able to give their thanks, myself and everyone in the Sixth Congressional District that I give my deepest thanks to Colonel Schwader for his dedication and service I proudly ask you to join me in recognizing Colonel Ralph L. Schwader for his decades of service to Missouri, the Sixth Congressional District and to the United States of America.
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018
Dana Rohrabacher (Republican, CA) \u2014 2017-7-12

. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of a very important part of this en bloc proposal, which is filled with important parts. prgtoken Dr. Afridi is a Pakistani doctor who risked his life to help our special forces identify the hiding place of Osama bin Laden, the planner and commander of the slaughter of 3,000 Americans on 9/11. prgtoken Dr. Afridi, clearly an American hero, has languished in a Pakistani dungeon for the past 6 years and has been sentenced to spend another two decades in captivity. prgtoken Dr. Afridi is a courageous hero. He is not forgotten. His plight is not ignored. prgtoken Tonight, I am pleading that this language be retained in the final version of this en bloc amendment. This man is suffering for us. prgtoken Making my amendment in order acknowledges Dr. Afridi's sacrifice and demands Pakistani authorities release him immediately. prgtoken If we turn our backs on such a noble friend as Dr. Afridi, shame on us. prgtoken And I thank the Members who put this bill together for including this very moral statement.
BUDGET SCOREKEEPING REPORT
Michael B. Enzi (Republican, WY) \u2014 2017-7-12

I wish to submit to the Senate the budget scorekeeping report for July 2017. The report compares current-law levels of spending and revenues with the amounts the Senate approved in the budget resolution for fiscal year 2017, S. Con. Res. 3. This information is necessary for the Senate Budget Committee to determine whether budget points of order lie against pending legislation. The staff of the Senate Budget Committee and the Congressional Budget Office, CBO, prepared this report pursuant to section 308(b) of the Congressional Budget Act (CBA). prgtoken My last filing can be found in the Record on June 7, 2017. The information contained in this report captures legislative activity from that filing through July 10, 2017. prgtoken Budget Committee staff prepared tables 1 through 3 of this report. They remain unchanged since my last filing. prgtoken In addition to the tables provided by Budget Committee staff, I am submitting CBO tables, which I will use to enforce budget totals approved by the Congress. prgtoken CBO provided a spending and revenue report for fiscal year 2017, which helps enforce aggregate spending levels in budget resolutions under CBA section 311. CBO's estimates show that current-law levels of spending fiscal year 2017 are below the amounts assumed in the budget resolution by $303 million in budget authority and $6.4 billion in outlays. CBO also estimates that revenues are $1 million above assumed levels for fiscal year 2017, but $21 million below assumed levels over the fiscal year 2017-2026 period. Social Security levels are consistent with the budget resolution's fiscal year 2017 figures. prgtoken CBO's report also provides information needed to enforce the Senate pay-as-you-go, PAYGO, rule. The Senate's PAYGO scorecard currently shows increased deficits of $226 million over the fiscal year 2016-2021 and $227 million over fiscal year 2016-2026 periods. For both of these periods, outlays have increased by $201 million, while revenues decreased by $25 million over the 6-year period and $26 million over the 11-year period. The Senate's PAYGO rule is enforced by section 201 of S. Con. Res. 21, the fiscal year 2008 budget resolution. prgtoken Finally, included in this submission is a table tracking the Senate's budget enforcement activity on the floor. No budget points of order have been raised since my last filing. prgtoken All years in the accompanying tables are fiscal years. prgtoken I ask unanimous consent that the tables be printed in the Record.
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018
Austin Scott (Republican, GA) \u2014 2017-7-12

. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of Mr. Rogers' amendment allocating additional base funding for one of our nation's most critical battle management command and control platforms: the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, or JSTARS fleet. prgtoken JSTARS' critical mission is enabled by leveraging its extremely capable active radar system providing invaluable moving target indicator (MTI) intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance targeting information to multiple users both on the ground and in airborne attack platforms. prgtoken The demand for MTI capability within each geographic combatant commander's area of responsibility far exceeds what JSTARS can currently provide due to its limited legacy fleet size of 16 aircraft and strained crew resources. prgtoken Thankfully, FY18 NDAA includes JSTARS Recapitalization funds, but the legacy fleet of 16 aircraft still has issues and challenges that the Air Force must successfully navigate to maintain viability until the current fleet is replaced by the Recapitalization program beginning in the late 2020s. prgtoken Despite these issues and challenges, we are confident that the Secretary of the Air Force can develop a successful legacy JSTARS to JSTARS Recapitalization transition plan that would not prematurely retire E-8C aircraft, reassign crews or maintenance personnel, or otherwise increase the MTI ISR capability gap from what existing levels of aircraft are currently experiencing. prgtoken To do this, we need strong support and necessary resources. That's why I'm here tonight in supporting additional resources for the JSTARS legacy fleet to update and maintain their critical battle management capabilities. prgtoken As the premiere military in the world, we cannot afford to let this important military capability deteriorate before our eyes, putting our warfighters and strategic campaigns at risk around the world. prgtoken One of the greatest duties we have as Members of Congress is to provide for our nation's defense, and I urge my colleagues to support this measure as well as other provisions supporting our warfighters and ensuring our men and women in uniform have the resources they need to meet the unique security needs of the 21st century.
ORDERS FOR THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2017
David Perdue (Republican, GA) \u2014 2017-7-12

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 12:30 p.m Thursday, July 13; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; finally, that following leader remarks, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Hagerty nomination, with all postcloture time expiring at 1:45 p.m.
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2810, NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018, AND PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 23, GAINING RESPONSIBILITY ON WATER ACT OF 2017
Bradley Byrne (Republican, AL) \u2014 2017-7-12

such time as I may consume. prgtoken If I may make sure that we are all clear about where we are on the START; the START runs through 2021. That is 4 years from now. What the bill says is that if we find that Russia is in violation of the INF Treaty--and there is some indication that that is true--that we wouldn't extend it beyond 2021. But that is 4 years from now. prgtoken So what does that mean? prgtoken This is a shot across the bow to Russia. We are telling Russia: If you continue to violate the INF Treaty, we are not going to extend with you on START. prgtoken This is telling them: We are not going to let you get away with this. prgtoken And I would think, at this point, after all that we have heard, we would want to stand up to Russia, and this is a very vital way to do that. prgtoken Secondly, about the GTMO issue that he brought up, there are two amendments made in order by this rule for us to discuss GTMO, and I believe we are going to have that debate tonight. Now, I don't agree with the amendments, but we made them in order so we can have that debate on this floor. prgtoken So we are going to debate GTMO. My prediction is that we are going to defeat both of those amendments, but the people on the other side of the aisle have been given a great opportunity to make their argument that we shouldn't do that. prgtoken Nukes. Why are we trying to modernize our nuclear force? prgtoken Because our adversaries are modernizing theirs, and if we don't, we are not doing the proper thing to protect the people of the United States. prgtoken And then the gentleman talks about the budget bills. Now, there is a budget bill coming. Now, the budget bill is for the next fiscal year, October 1, 2017. That is several weeks from now. We have got time to pass a budget for next fiscal year. prgtoken But the way we have everything set up here, we try to move these defense bills about this time of year so that we can do what we have got to do to make sure we have communicated to the military what they are going to have to do their jobs. prgtoken If I may walk briefly around the world to remind us about where we are. Kim Jong-un has continued to test missiles throughout last year and this year, and he is getting better. And what he seeks is not just to strike South Korea or Japan, he wants to strike America. That is why you have an ICBM if you are in North Korea. prgtoken We need to step up to the plate and do more in missile defense and more in other things to make sure we are doing everything we can to protect America from an attack from North Korea. prgtoken China wants to take control of the South China Sea and the East China Sea. What does that mean to us for America? prgtoken Forty percent of the trade in the world moves through those two oceans. The greatest population center in the world is right there. It is where we want to do more business, where people there want to do more business with us; and not having
FDA REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2017
Michael T. McCaul (Republican, TX) \u2014 2017-7-12

I thank Chairman Walden for including my bill, the Research to Accelerate Cures and Equity, or RACE, for Children Act, in this FDA reauthorization. I introduced the bill with my colleague, Mr. Butterfield, to strengthen the FDA's ability to require pediatric studies of cancer drugs during development. prgtoken Despite current programs in place to require similar studies, they have never been undertaken for cancer drugs. This bill will require a study into any cancer drug that uses ``molecular targeting,'' which attacks specific cancer cells rather than the part of the body where the cancer resides. By requiring these studies, doctors can determine whether a drug is safe and effective in children and, ultimately, provide accurate labeling for pediatric use. prgtoken I founded the Childhood Cancer Caucus when I first entered Congress to give a voice to the 15,000 children diagnosed with cancer every year and the hundreds of thousands of survivors who face a lifetime of medical challenges. Passing this bill will provide these children access to the treatments they deserve. prgtoken I thank all those involved for their tireless work in bringing this bill to the House floor. As my good friend, little Sadie Keller, who is battling leukemia as I speak, once said: ``Together, we can make a difference.'' prgtoken To Sadie and all the children who are in the fight of their lives, I want you to know that today we are making a difference.