mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
Healthcare (Executive Calendar)
Orrin G. Hatch (Republican, UT) \u2014 2017-7-18

the final pieces of Care were signed into law a little over 7 years ago. Since that time, s--not just in Congress but throughout the country--have been united in their opposition to the law and our commitment to repeal it. This hasn't been simply a political or partisan endeavor. We are not just trying to take a notch out of President 's ``win'' column. The simple truth is that Care is not working. prgtoken The law was poorly written, and the system it created was poorly designed. Even a number of Care supporters have come to acknowledge that it hasn't been working the way it was promised to work. As a result, millions of Americans have suffered astronomical increases in their health insurance premiums and fewer and fewer insurance options to choose from. That is Care's great irony: The law requires people to buy health insurance while also making it impossible to do so. prgtoken For 7\1/2\ years, s have fought to expose the failures of Care and have pledged time and time again to repeal it. Every single Member of the Senate has expressed support for repealing Care. Most of us have made promises to our constituents to do just that. And those promises, coupled with the obvious failures of Care, are a big reason why we now find ourselves in control of both Chambers of Congress and the Presidency. prgtoken For the last 6 months, s have worked in good faith to find a path forward to both repeal and replace Care. The released discussion drafts attempted to bridge the divide between our more conservative and moderate Members, so the products were never going to be perfect. Such is the inherent nature of compromise. The draft released last week included additions to address Member priorities and was likely the best chance we had at a compromise bill to repeal and replace Care with significant entitlement reform. But last night a handful of our Members announced they would not support the compromise bill, even though it would have repealed Care's taxes, reformed Medicaid by putting it on a sustainable path for future generations, and included the largest pro-life protections on Federal spending I have ever seen. prgtoken This was the opportunity we had been working toward. All we had to do was come together and compromise, and 7\1/2\ years of promises would have been much, much closer to being fulfilled. But last night we blinked. And, frankly, I think the Members who opted to scuttle the compromise bill will eventually have to explain to their constituents why they left so many Care fixes on the table and walked away from this historic opportunity. prgtoken So where does that leave us? The majority leader has announced his intention to shelve the effort to repeal and replace Care with a single piece of legislation. Instead, the Senate will move forward to vote on legislation to simply repeal Oba
HONORING FULBRIGHT SCHOLARS
Brian J. Mast (Republican, FL) \u2014 2017-7-18

I rise today to congratulate the four Fulbright scholarship recipients from Florida's 18th Congressional District. prgtoken The Fulbright scholarship is a competitive, merit-based grant program for international educational exchange. Each year, the program grants students the opportunity to study, research, or teach abroad. prgtoken Dr. Nancy Ackles of Juno Beach, Amanda Fleming of West Palm Peach, Dr. Jan Fritz of Palm City, and Laura O'Connor of Jupiter are all recipients of this prestigious honor. prgtoken Dr. Ackles will be traveling to Uzbekistan to teach English; Ms. Fleming will be living in Asia, working to enhance communication with the Vietnamese people; Dr. Fritz will be spending her time in Hungary as a sociology scholar; and Ms. O'Connor will be working in Spain as she teaches English to the local community. prgtoken On behalf of the 18th Congressional District of Florida, I want to again congratulate these outstanding students and scholars for receiving the prgtoken 2018 Fulbright scholarship. I am proud to represent them in Congress.
HEALTHCARE
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2017-7-18

one of the Senate's very first acts this Congress was to pass the legislative tools necessary to repeal Care. We did so because the American people, who had suffered for years under the failures of Care, were calling out for relief. prgtoken Everyone knows about Care's skyrocketing costs and its plummeting choices. Too often, however, this discussion seems to veer into the abstract. These are not just numbers on a page. These are the lives of real people. These are the men and women we represent, Americans who are hurting, middle-class families who deserve better than Care's failures. We worked hard to provide them with a better way. We did so in the knowledge that this task would not be easy. We understood it would not come quickly. But we knew it was the right thing to do, so we pushed forward anyway. I believe we must continue to push forward now. prgtoken I regret that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failures of Care will not be successful. That doesn't mean we should give up. We will now try a different way to bring the American people relief from Care. I think we owe them at least that much. prgtoken In the coming days, the Senate will take up and vote on a repeal of Care combined with a stable 2-year transition period as we work toward patient-centered healthcare. A majority of the Senate voted to pass the same repeal legislation back in 2015. President vetoed it then; President will sign it now. prgtoken I imagine many were celebrating last night. I hope they consider what they are celebrating. The American people are hurting, they need relief, and it is regretful that our ic colleagues decided early on that they did not want to engage with us seriously in the process to deliver that relief. prgtoken But this doesn't have to be the end of the story. Passing the repeal legislation will allow us to accomplish what we need to do on behalf of our people. Our ic friends have spoken a lot recently about wanting bipartisan solutions. Passing this legislation will provide the opportunity for Senators of all parties to engage with a fresh start and a new beginning for the American people. prgtoken , .
YEARS OF TERROR IN EUROPE
Joe Wilson (Republican, SC) \u2014 2017-7-18

it is sad many Americans have forgotten the ongoing global war on terrorism declared against Western families by war fatwas in 1996 and 1998, as displayed at the entrance of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City. prgtoken In the last year, there has been a year of terror in Europe, as reported by The Washington Times on Friday. Beginning in defiance of the anniversary of Bastille Day on July 14, 2016, at Nice, France, with 86 people murdered, it continued with attacks in Berlin, Germany, on July 18; Ansbach, Germany, on July 24; Reutlingen, Germany, on July 24; Normandy, France, on July 26; Berlin, Germany, on December 19; Istanbul, Turkey, on January 1; London, England, on March 22; Stockholm, Sweden, on April 7; Paris, France, on April 20; Manchester, England, on May 22; and London, England, on June 3. prgtoken In conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never forget September the 11th in the global war on terrorism. We will never forget the 85 men and women murdered in the AMIA Jewish Center bombing in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I am grateful President is taking actions to protect American families.
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 806, OZONE STANDARDS IMPLEMENTATION ACT OF 2017
Michael C. Burgess (Republican, TX) \u2014 2017-7-18

the balance of my time. prgtoken , today's rule provides for the consideration of an important piece of environmental legislation to protect the lives and health of all Americans while providing smart tools to the States to implement the EPA's standards. prgtoken I thank my fellow Texan, Pete Olson, for his work on this legislation, which I know affects his district in the Houston area as much as it does mine in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. prgtoken I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on today's rule and to support the underlying bill.
RECOGNIZING WORLD YOUTH SKILLS DAY
Glenn Thompson (Republican, PA) \u2014 2017-7-18

Saturday marked World Youth Skills Day. The United Nations General Assembly started this initiative to raise awareness about the importance of investing in youth skills development. prgtoken Young people are almost three times more likely to be unemployed than adults. Young people around the world are exposed to lower quality jobs, greater labor market inequities, and a longer school-to-work transition period. prgtoken That is why I am pleased this House voted in favor of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act last month. Too often we have seen students pushed down the college- for-all pathway that just doesn't work for some students. prgtoken CTE has established itself as a path that many students choose in pursuit of industry certifications and hands-on skills they can use right out of high school in skills-based education programs or in college. prgtoken By modernizing the Federal investment in CTE programs, we will be able to connect more educators with industry stakeholders and close the skills gap. prgtoken On World Youth Skills Day, I encourage everyone to consider a career in technical education.
Healthcare (Executive Calendar)
Michael B. Enzi (Republican, WY) \u2014 2017-7-18

in our job, we get a lot of books, probably two or three a week at least, and for the last year most of those have been on prgtoken healthcare and healthcare reform. A book I received recently is one called ``Demystifying Care,'' by David G. Brown, who is a doctor. It was helpful enough to me that I thought I would share a part of it with anybody listening. It always fascinates me when we are here talking and maybe somebody is listening. prgtoken Page 7 starts out by talking about, ``How Does Care Look After Seven Years?'' Incidentally, this one is all well documented and footnoted, which is one of the unusual things about this book. It is not just speculation on his part--it is a lot of research that he has done and shared. He says: Care actually reduces insurance market competition by strict rules, regulations, and mandates. Care significantly increases healthcare cost by the way it attempts to assist those who cannot afford coverage. Care does not tackle the underlying causes of increased costs. Instead, it worsens the factors that drive up the cost of healthcare with the addition of mandates, regulations, and taxes. Care does nothing to decrease the factors that increase costs. Care has increased the total number of healthcare spending. The cost is not $938 billion dollars, but now is $2.6 trillion dollars over 10 years, or almost 3 times the original figure. Care increases cost for families, businesses, and individuals for their healthcare. This includes not simply Care exchanges but health insurance across the board. Associated with this, there has been a marked increase in healthcare premiums, costs for medications, deductibles, and copays. There has been reduction of access to care in Care plans, i.e. Care exchanges (insurance does not equal access). Care, to some extent, has reduced the number of uninsured but not handled the problem of the uninsured population. Care does not effectively address the problems of the safety net system, i.e. putting new people into Medicaid has exacerbated the problems for Medicaid, and removes its original safety net function. Care has reduced funding and thus care for programs for the elderly, Medicare. Care has taken the decision making process out of the hands of patients and their families. It has done so by removing their freedom to make those decisions. prgtoken This is from the book, ``Demystifying Care,'' by David Brown, who is a doctor. prgtoken It goes on later to say: The individual mandate was instituted as a way to force patients into having health insurance or else pay a financial penalty for not having it. The employer mandate, which was just instit
OZONE STANDARDS IMPLEMENTATION ACT OF 2017
Mark Sanford (Republican, SC) \u2014 2017-7-18

. Mr. Chair, from Illinois for his hard work, and I thank Mr. Olson for his hard work. They have worked, I think, tirelessly and in an awfully well-intended way to craft a balance between the different competing points of view on this whole issue of ozone. prgtoken I know that he is concerned about people's health. I know that he is concerned about the environment. But on this particular issue, I am going to respectfully disagree and agree with my ic colleagues to say that I think that the time to act is now, because at some point there becomes the question: If not now, then when? At some point, delay moves to the point of obstruction of moving forward on an idea that has had its different wrinkles, in fairness to my colleague from Illinois. But at some point, you have to act. prgtoken Given the fact that people's health does hang in the balance, given the fact that there are another 2,000 cases a day of asthma that are protracted, we need to have a bias for action. I think it is a time for action. prgtoken I think it is reasonable. Moving from 75 to 70 parts per billion is not exactly a gargantuan change, given what is at play with regard to health. And finally, simply, I believe it fits with the conservative philosophy that I believe in. The conservative philosophy says that my rights end when they begin to infringe upon yours. prgtoken This notion of privatizing gain and offsetting costs to the public is something I think we always have to watch out for when we talk about this notion of free markets and having them truly work. prgtoken I, as a boy, grew up down the creek from a place called Campbell Creek, and there was a chemical plant that ended up dumping some stuff in the creek. It turned out not to be so good. It made a lasting impression on me as a boy. They were externalizing their costs, but they were internalizing their profits. prgtoken Mr. Chair, I think we need to be true to that theme whether we are talking about air or water or anything else. I think that this bill fits under that larger description. For that reason, I do say, with all due respect for the hard work that has been done, that it is time to act on this particular bill.
Order of Procedure (Executive Session)
Sherrod Brown (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2017-7-19

today's vote to move forward the President's nominee to join the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals is a new low. It is a new low that sets a dangerous standard for judges who have power to make critical decisions that impact the everyday lives of the people we serve. prgtoken John has a clear record--think about it. He is going to be a judge if this place moves forward tomorrow. John has a clear record of promoting bigotry and discrimination that have no place in our courts. We can't let this nomination slide through this body. prgtoken Mr. advocated to the U.S. Supreme Court that women should be barred from attending our military institutions--in this case, Virginia Military Institute. Think about that. There are people in this body who just voted on the motion to proceed--a very small majority that passed this--they are prgtoken voting for a judge who says to the Supreme Court that women should be barred from attending military institutions like VMI. He went so far as to call the legal standard allowing women to attend ``destructive.'' And we are going to put him on the court? That wasn't 1950. That wasn't 1960. That wasn't in the 1970s. That wasn't even in the 1980s. It was in the 1990s when he said that. Luckily, our Nation's Supreme Court disagreed with 's retrograde and sexist opinion by a vote of 7 to 1. prgtoken But, alas, wasn't deterred. To this day, he is still a member of an organization that doesn't allow women to join. He has been a member of groups that have a history of barring Jews and African Americans. Maybe we see some signs of that at the White House, but we shouldn't be affirming that on the Senate floor. One of these groups actually changed its street address after the city of Louisville renamed the street where the front entrance sits for the boxing legend Muhammad Ali. Think about that. prgtoken Senator McConnell himself resigned from that same organization because, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader, the majority leader said he ``thought it was no longer appropriate to belong to a club that discriminated, and my impression was that the club did.'' But we are bringing to the floor a vote for a judge who still belongs. prgtoken Leader McConnell went on to reference a commonly accepted Senate standard that Federal judges should not belong to discriminatory organizations, saying: ``I thought if it was inappropriate for a federal judge to belong to an all-white club, it certainly was something a United States Senator shouldn't do.'' prgtoken So I guess the logic here is that Senators shouldn't belong to a Whites-only club, but Senators should vote for Federal judges who can belong to a Whites-only club. prgtoken I agree with Senator McConnell that a Senator shouldn't belong, but no Federal judge should belong to a group with a history of discrimination, especially a recent history of discrimination. prgtoken regularly contributed to a conservative
PROMOTING INTERAGENCY COORDINATION FOR REVIEW OF NATURAL GAS PIPELINES ACT
Paul Tonko (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2017-7-19

I thank the gentlewoman from Florida for yielding. prgtoken I rise in opposition to H.R. 2910, the Promoting Interagency Coordination for Review of Natural Gas Pipelines Act. prgtoken This bill is a solution in search of a problem. prgtoken We heard from FERC that 88 percent of projects are certified within 1 year following a completed application. It is clear that, under the existing process, these projects are moving forward without significant delays. prgtoken We have not seen good evidence that we need to further tilt the process in favor of pipeline companies, which is what the bill before us today would do. prgtoken While I am concerned about a number of provisions in this bill, I specifically want to highlight the section that would require Federal and State agencies to accept aerial survey data, such as data collected by drones, and allow these agencies to grant conditional approvals based on that data. prgtoken Aerial data have limitations and can be insufficient. These data may not account for historic sites, endangered species, or wetlands. But, under this bill, agencies would be required to consider the project. prgtoken Granting conditional permits based on inadequate data will ultimately not speed up the process, but what it does instead is circumvent the rights of landowners. prgtoken We also should be more thoughtful about changing this process, given the implications that will impact private landowners' rights. prgtoken Under the law, pipeline companies are able to use eminent domain authority, allowing these corporations to take private property to build their pipelines. This bill would further restrict the already limited opportunities that private landowners and concerned citizens have to weigh in on proposed projects. prgtoken Streamlining is fine, but we are considering expediting a process that can result in the use of eminent domain. The bar for seizing private property should be high, and lowering that bar is to the detriment of private landowners. prgtoken Historically, when considering the use of eminent domain, the question has been: Is it in the public's interest? prgtoken But this bill is forcing the question to shift to: Is it in the company's interest? prgtoken That is not acceptable to me, and it certainly isn't acceptable to the general public. prgtoken If we continue to expedite and rubber stamp these projects, consumers will be on the hook for unviable and, eventually, stranded assets. prgtoken We need to look at our energy infrastructure based on holistic, regional needs that take into account how many projects are under consideration and how it would impact existing infrastructure. prgtoken , I ask my colleagues to oppose this bill.
BUDGET FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2017-7-19

many of us are engaged in the budget process today. prgtoken A budget for Americans should be the playbook for improving the quality of lives for all Americans. Yet this draconian budget, which is worse than the budget, cuts $250 billion-plus out of quality of life issues for Americans. It cuts education, healthcare, Medicaid, Medicare, and the environment, undermining the fight against climate change. prgtoken Where is the relief for the American people? prgtoken We have the fact that wages are slow in growing corporate America is doing well, and all that is needed, as some corporations have already done, is to raise the salaries of Americans. prgtoken We also need to make sure the government does what the American people need, to shore up the Affordable Care Act, but not cut billions from it. Shore up national defense, but not cut from diplomacy and engagement in peacekeeping activities, as well as USAID. Shore up America's national security. Give a quality of life to our young people so that jobs are created. prgtoken How do you do that? prgtoken You do that, , by ensuring that the climate and quality of life issues are there for corporations to grow. Growth is important for the American people, not draconian cuts to leave Americans without healthcare, without good climate, and without education. We want a budget for the American people.