mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
IN RECOGNITION OF MS. JANET W. DAVIS
Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (Democrat, GA) \u2014 2017-12-7

it is my honor and pleasure to extend my personal congratulations and best wishes to Ms. Janet Davis. Janet has been the driving force behind Kinetic Credit Union in Columbus, Georgia for more than 26 years and currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). She will be retiring on January 31, 2018. prgtoken A native of Columbus, Georgia, Ms. Davis was born to the late Jimmy and Rebecca Davis, as one of two children. A product of the Muscogee County School System, she graduated from Kendrick High School in 1977. She went on to attend Columbus State College (now University) where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration. prgtoken For over four decades, Ms. Davis has been a highly trusted leader in the financial services industry. She has built quite an impressive career, which began during her tenure at Columbus Bank & Trust Company. In 1983, she began her career as a Share Draft Officer at The Infantry Center Federal Credit Union (now Kinetic Credit Union). She became the President and CEO of Kinetic Credit Union in 1991 and has since helped it to grow from a $40 million institution into one of the top 10 credit unions in Georgia with more than $380 million in assets. prgtoken Ms. Davis has received numerous honors and awards for her work. These include: the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions Professional of the Year and the Moses C. Davis Award in 1998, the Columbus State University Alumni Service Award in 2005, the Georgia Credit Union Affiliates Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2010, the Columbus State University's Thomas Y. Whitley Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2011, and her induction into the Credit Union House Hall Leaders in 2016. prgtoken Ms. Davis served on a number of boards and was affiliated with several associations. She has served as Chair of the Georgia Credit Union League, Georgia Credit Union Affiliates, Georgia Credit Union Foundation, Georgia Service Corp Board, and CSI, she has been an active board member for the National Credit Union Foundation, National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions, Defense Credit Union Council, and CUNA Mutual Group, and she has served as a member of the Deluxe Collaborative in 2009-10. prgtoken In addition to her professional participation, she served as the president and as a Chair of the Chattahoochee Valley Chapter of the local Better Business Bureau and Muscogee Educational Excellence Foundation, and a board member of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, Columbus Literacy Alliance, Columbus Partners in Education, Chattahoochee Valley Hall of Fame, American Cancer Society, and Columbus Hospice. prgtoken Dr. Benjamin E. Mays often said: ``You make your living by what you get, you make your life by what you give.'' We are so grateful that Ms. Davis has given her time and talents to provide a premier financial institution for the residents of Southwest Georgia and Southeast Alabama. A
IN RECOGNITION OF NORM & ELAINE BRODSKY
Carolyn B. Maloney (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2017-12-7

I rise to pay tribute to Norm and prgtoken Elaine Brodsky in recognition of their long-term commitment to local community and charitable causes. For almost 30 years, this North Brooklyn power couple has helped shape the Williamsburg neighborhood into the vibrant community it is today. prgtoken Elaine and Norm Brodsky have generously supported the local community and its charitable causes since opening CitiStorage, an archival storage and records management company, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 1990. They became full-time residents of the neighborhood in 2001, when Norm fulfilled his promise to build an apartment on the fourth floor of their office building/warehouse. Their family had been residents of Atlantic Beach for 32 years before moving to Brooklyn. The couple sold the company in 2007 but still live in Williamsburg, where they continue to be pillars of the community. prgtoken Norm, who was born in Brooklyn, attended Rider University and received his Doctorate of Law from Brooklyn Law School. He is currently involved in three entrepreneurial ventures--a chain of fast, casual Japanese restaurants in NYC, hotels in North Dakota, and an entrepreneurial, education company called Birthing of Giants. For more than 20 years Norm has written ``Street Smarts,'' a monthly column in Inc. magazine. He is the author of a well-respected business book, The Knack. He provides pro bono business consulting advice to a significant number of entrepreneurs who come to visit him in his office in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Norm is also a strong advocate for the community's transit needs and has hosted meetings for local residents and businesses to weigh in on the impacts of the ongoing L train repairs. prgtoken Elaine, an Elmira College graduate and former teacher, also worked as a mental health professional and conducted family workshops for Inc. Magazine conferences for many years. The Brodskys have won several business awards for their company culture which has been featured in various business books and magazine articles. Elaine is a Board member of the League Education and Treatment Center and the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. She has been the Chair of the North Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce since its inception, over four years ago. The couple is actively involved with the North Brooklyn Angels mobile food truck which delivers meals and offers counseling services to the local neighborhood. prgtoken Elaine and Norm have been married for 48 years and are the proud parents of their two daughters, Beth and Rachel, and grandparents to Sophie, Eitan, and Ava. prgtoken , I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the magnanimous contributions of Norm and Elaine Brodsky, whose dedication to community is truly an inspiration.
SMALL BUSINESS MERGERS, ACQUISITIONS, SALES, AND BROKERAGE SIMPLIFICATION ACT OF 2017
Maxine Waters (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-12-7

5 minutes. prgtoken H.R. 477 seeks to provide a statutory exemption from registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, for certain brokers who facilitate the merger or acquisition of small businesses, known as M&A brokers. prgtoken When Congress first considered this exemption in a similar bill during the 113th Congress, our goal was to prompt the SEC to provide regulatory relief for these brokers from ill-fitting restrictions designed for persons helping companies raise capital rather than facilitating their transfer of ownership. prgtoken We succeeded. Two weeks after the House passed that bill, the SEC issued a no-action letter, which contained staff's view that, if an M&A broker complied with the terms and conditions of the letter, it would recommend that the SEC not take enforcement action against that broker for failing to register with the Commission. prgtoken Specifically, the no-action letter required the M&A broker to abide by certain commonsense restrictions to prevent such an exemption from being misused to raise capital or abused by bad actors. prgtoken According to the bill's proponents, H.R. 477 is still necessary to provide legal certainty since the no-action letter is merely the nonbinding opinion of SEC staff. I understand that concern; however, the bill inexplicably omits several of the conditions contained in the no-action letter that protect small businesses and their investors. prgtoken I am pleased that this Congress, Representative Sherman and Representative Huizenga have worked on a bipartisan basis to add these protections back in through an amendment. If so amended, I will support H.R. 477, which would strike the right balance between regulatory relief and the protection of small companies and their investors. prgtoken In particular, the amended bill would require an M&A broker that represents both the seller and the buyer to provide them with clear, written disclosures and obtain their consent to that conflict of interest; prohibit M&A brokers from misusing the exemption to raise capital rather than transfer ownership of small businesses; prohibit shell companies from using the exemption as a backdoor way to take a small business public; and prohibit fraudsters and other bad actors from using the exemption. prgtoken In addition, the bill would not change the statutory definition of broker, thereby preserving the SEC's ability to investigate and bring enforcement actions for violations of the antifraud provisions in the securities laws. prgtoken The bill also would limit the relief to mergers and acquisitions involving companies with less than $250 million in annual gross revenues, which is the total income of the company, or $25 million in annual earnings, which is the amount of income minus expenses. The amendment would then provide the SEC with the authority to modify these thresholds as necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the
PEOPLE ARE PAYING ATTENTION
Earl Blumenauer (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2017-12-7

as I listened to the House ic whip lay out the case for the American public, I was struck by how stark the choices are and how much we are looking at failure at home and abroad. prgtoken We are watching the reckless action of with his declaration that we are going to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, further isolating America. We are alone in this instance. People who are in the Arab world, European allies, are deeply concerned that this will have a destabilizing effect. prgtoken We are watching the countdown here as we are kind of scrambling to keep government open, when, for heaven's sake, these have been clear for months. s occupy all the levels of power. Why can't they simply act to be able to send clear signals so the appropriators can work and government operates. prgtoken We have watched the expiration of the Children's Health Insurance Program, wildly popular with people across the political spectrum to be able to have this significant enhancement of health for children in this country, even more important because of the s' relentless assault on the Affordable Care Act and destabilizing insurance markets. Yet State after State, including my home State of Oregon, is facing the difficult task of sending out notices to families that they are no longer going to have access to this critical healthcare. prgtoken In the backdrop of all of this, we are watching a tax program which would be the largest transfer of wealth in our Nation's history paid for by mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren a trillion and a half extra debt. When you put in the fact that we will have to pay interest on that, $2.3 trillion to be able to give some of the largest corporations and the wealthiest Americans even more tax benefit, and we are neglecting fundamental responsibilities. $2.3 trillion tax benefits for some who don't need it, and we still don't have an infrastructure plan, which the President promised a trillion dollars of infrastructure spending to rebuild and renew America. prgtoken Well, I will tell you, there would be bipartisan support for any reasonable plan going forward. In fact, we have people in the American transportation industry who are saying: Raise our taxes. prgtoken The fuel tax has been raised in over half the States, including a number of red States. There is a deal to be had when AAA and the American Trucking Associations say: Let's provide the leadership, make the investment, put hundreds of thousands of Americans to work in ways that will enhance the environment, improve the economy, and give people a sense of pride that we can actually come together and get something done. prgtoken It is waiting there. Yet we are spending $2.3 trillion to largely benefit the top 1 percent and the largest corporations, and we are ignoring needs like that. prgtoken The Treasury, we are told, has been doing studies that will prove that this
DACA
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-12-7

as you know, and many do, 16 years ago I introduced a bill called the DREAM Act. The DREAM Act was written to cover young people, brought to the United States by their parents, who have grown up in this country but do not have legal status. They are undocumented. Some of them don't learn that until they are in high school or later. They think they are Americans. They have gone to school with a lot of American kids. They pledge allegiance to the flag. They sing our national anthem. They truly believed they were Americans and didn't learn until later in life that they had overstayed their visas. Their parents had overstayed their visas, is probably a better description, and that has affected their legal situation. prgtoken So I introduced this bill--a simple bill--that reads, if you have children in America who are caught up in that circumstance, we will give them a chance to get legal. They didn't make the decision to come here in the first place, but they ought to have a chance to become legal in America and become citizens. That is what the DREAM Act said, and we set up certain standards. prgtoken How do you become legal in America? prgtoken First, if you have a serious criminal record, goodbye. We don't want you. We don't need you. Second, if you are not going to finish school and are going to drop out, sorry, there is no future for you in this country--or a limited future. Third, would you consider serving in our U.S. military as a way of proving that you want to be a part of America's future? We set that up with the DREAM Act. prgtoken Time passed, and we didn't pass the bill. One of my colleagues in the Senate went on to be elected President of the United States, . prgtoken I reached out to him and asked: , can you figure out a way to protect these young people who are subject to deportation through no fault of their own? He did. He came up with an Executive order called the DACA Program. prgtoken Under the DACA Program, young people, like those I described, came forward. They paid a $500 filing fee, then went through a criminal background check to make sure they had no problems, and they submitted their information. Each of them was given a 2-year renewable protection plan so they could live in America, not be deported, and be able to legally work. prgtoken What happened to those people? There were 780,000 of them who showed up, paid the fee, and got the protection under the DACA Program. prgtoken Then came a Presidential campaign--the last one--in which , as candidate for President, said: I am going to get rid of this DACA Program. I think it is wrong. It never should have been done by Executive order. prgtoken He said that and then was elected and set out to do it. Last September 5, he did just that. It was announced by the Attorney General of the United States. They said that by March 5 of 2018, the program would end. prgtoken What it means is, today and
SMALL BUSINESS MERGERS, ACQUISITIONS, SALES, AND BROKERAGE SIMPLIFICATION ACT OF 2017
Brad Sherman (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-12-7

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , I rise today to offer an amendment to H.R. 477, the Small Business Mergers, Acquisitions, Sales, and Brokerage Simplification Act of 2017. prgtoken I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga) for working with me on this amendment. It has been a pleasure to work with him on this bill over a period of three Congresses. prgtoken With the adoption of this amendment, the bill will be in a form that will secure support from both sides of the aisle, not only my support, but, more importantly, the ranking member's support. prgtoken In the 113th Congress, the House of Representatives supported a similar bill to provide relief to the M&A community by providing that, in certain circumstances, a small business merger or acquisitions broker would not have to register. prgtoken As a result of that action by the House, which was not matched by action in the Senate, the Securities and Exchange Commission understood the wisdom of this House and introduced a no-action letter dated January 2014 to provide the same level of relief requested by the House. prgtoken In their no-action letter, however, the SEC placed several limitations on the exemption from registration that were not included in the House bill, but, with this amendment, will be included in this year's bill. prgtoken These limitations provided additional protections for investors and small businesses. It excluded bad actors and shell companies. It prohibited passive buyers in the M&A transaction to ensure that companies cannot use this exemption from registration as a capital- raising mechanism. It prohibited an M&A broker from providing financing for the transfer. It prohibited M&A brokers from binding a party to a transfer of ownership. I think this is most important: it required that, to be eligible, a broker would have to disclose to both parties and get their consents if they are being paid by both parties. So if there is both a seller's commission and a buyer's commission, you have to tell the buyer and the seller. prgtoken Now, those who want to step outside this safe harbor can simply register. But those who will be exempt from registration need to comply with these six elements. prgtoken The Small Business Mergers, Acquisition, Sales, and Brokerage Simplification Act will codify the SEC's no-action letter and provide certainty to prgtoken small business merger and acquisition brokers. prgtoken In the last Congress, I opposed the bill because it included only two of the six restrictions that were included by the SEC. With this amendment, the bill will include all of the restrictions. This is a bipartisan amendment and it includes all the limitations of the SEC's no-action letter. It has been a pleasure to work with the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga) on it. prgtoken In addition, our amendment provides that the SEC has the rulemaking authority to determine the correct thresholds for gross r
DUCKS UNLIMITED
Mike Thompson (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-12-7

I rise to recognize the great contributions of Ducks Unlimited. prgtoken For 80 years, Ducks Unlimited has played an important role in the wetland conservation process in our country by fighting for critical conservation policies in our national and State capitols and conducting outreach and education to bring the next generation of sportsmen and - women into play. prgtoken They have raised billions of dollars to conserve more than 14 million acres, and they have biologists on the ground working with local partners to bring these projects across the finish line. prgtoken Ducks Unlimited has had great success in making critical habitat improvements to wetlands that support healthy flyway populations, clean air and water, and strong local economies.
DACA
Robert P. Casey, Jr. (Democrat, PA) \u2014 2017-12-7

I rise this afternoon to spend a couple of minutes talking about the Dream Act and the so-called DACA issue. There are so many acronyms here in Washington. Sometimes we rely too much on them, but in this case, a lot of Americans know what we are talking about--the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. prgtoken This policy was put in place in the prior administration. Then in September, in this administration, the President made an announcement to end the program, to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program. The President imposed, I would argue, an arbitrary deadline of March 5 of next year, which is looming now. Something on the order of 20,000 DACA recipients have already lost their protection from detention and deportation, and I believe that it is critical for Congress to act now to pass the bipartisan Dream Act. prgtoken What are we talking about here? prgtoken We are talking about young people who arrived in this country, in many cases, at very, very young ages--some of them babies, some of them young children at the time. When you hear their stories, you come away impressed that they have succeeded, that they have become part of the fabric of American life. prgtoken In a meeting a couple of months ago--sitting in a conference room, around a long conference table with other DACA recipients, because of the looming deadline and the potential that she could lose the status she has now and be deported--one DACA recipient said to me: The only country I have ever known doesn't want me--or at least she was reflecting that the policy the administration had enunciated seemed to send a message to her that she was not wanted. prgtoken This makes no sense at all on a number of fronts, and I will get to each of them in a moment, but I will start with the word ``promise.'' These young people were made a promise by our government. It was made by the President of the United States of America when he said: Come forward, and we will protect you because you have taken that affirmative step forward. prgtoken That promise cannot be violated, in my judgment, by any President or, certainly, by inaction on the part of Congress. If this government is willing to break that promise to what most believe is something on the order of 800,000 young people who have lived in the United States since their childhoods and after our having allowed them to better contribute to their families and their communities, why would any government around the world, let alone our own people, believe any other promise that we would make? prgtoken Would we have that moment, I would hope that we would be confident that a foreign government that happens to be an ally would be able to take our word for something--take the word of the President, take the word of a Federal official or a Member of Congress--when we make an assertion. prgtoken We all remember the story in the context of the Cuban missile crisis, when an American off