mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
THE GREEN NEW DEAL
Todd Young (Republican, IN) \u2014 2019-3-13

I rise today to speak about the so-called Green New Deal and its impact on Indiana's agricultural community and our Hoosier farmers. prgtoken As I said last week, this misguided Green New Deal is unaffordable, unattainable, and unrealistic. In fact, over the next decade, this so- called deal would cost up to $65,000 per American household per year. prgtoken This proposal is a job killer, and it is bad news for hard-working Hoosiers. This is especially true for Hoosiers who rely on our vital agriculture industry for their incomes. prgtoken Allow me to run through a few numbers. In Indiana, agriculture supports more than 107,000 Hoosier jobs. Agriculture also contributes an estimated $30 billion to Indiana's economy. Indiana is the 10th largest farming state in the Nation, and we are the 8th largest ag export. Perhaps most importantly, 97 percent of Hoosier farms are family owned or operated. prgtoken Agriculture is a main driver of our State's economy. It is often said that Indiana feeds the world, and we take a lot of pride in that. We need our ag community to continue thriving. Yet the sponsors of this Green New Deal have spoken about cutting back on the farming practices that employ Hoosiers and put food on the table. prgtoken Imagine the crushing cost to Hoosier farmers of changing out all farm equipment for electric vehicles or the cost of upgrading every single building on every farm in Indiana. This is on top of the sharp climb in energy prices that we would see under the Green New Deal. This bad deal would force the cost of doing business to skyrocket for Hoosier manufacturers and our farmers, which would mean higher prices for consumers and less money in the pockets of hard-working Hoosiers. prgtoken Jim, a small business owner from Muncie, wrote to my office recently. He said: ``Please stop the Green New Deal in its tracks NOW.'' prgtoken I also heard from Patrick in Bloomington, who said: ``As a man who has served my country in combat in Vietnam 50 years ago and someone who loves my country deeply--I am very concerned about the direction our nation is heading.'' Regarding the Green New Deal, he added: ``I hope you won't give this idea a second thought.'' prgtoken Dennis from Greenwood wrote: ``My wife and I are strongly against the `Green New Deal'. . . . We would recommend that you not support this crazy idea.'' prgtoken Well, Dennis, I don't intend to. prgtoken Susan from Lafayette wrote: ``Please hold strong and promote the values of Indiana and many Americans. . . . '' prgtoken The bottom line is this: Hoosiers don't want this harmful Green New Deal. It sets unattainable goals that are bad for Hoosier farmers. It is bad for our economy, and it is bad for our families. prgtoken .
HONORING THE LIFE OF FORMER CONGRESSMAN RALPH HALL
Pete Olson (Republican, TX) \u2014 2019-3-13

on March 7 of this year, 6 days ago, we lost our colleague Ralph Hall. prgtoken Ralph's journey among us here in Congress and our world started on May 3, 1923, in a town called Fate, Texas. Never in American history has a town of birth been more appropriate for a man than Fate, Texas. Ralph's life was all about fate, great faith, and God. prgtoken As fate would have it, Ralph left Fate and moved to wall when he was 3 years old. He started working there at a local convenience store. prgtoken As fate would have it, guess who showed up? Bonnie and Clyde, the notorious killers on a rampage throughout Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, that part of our country. They gave Ralph a 25-cent tip--a quarter--big money in those days. He was so excited, he showed his boss the quarter and noticed a newspaper lying there on the prgtoken floor. Whose picture was on the front of that paper? Bonnie and Clyde. prgtoken He told his boss, ``They just came here. They are in Rockwall. That is their car.'' His boss called the local sheriff. Ralph couldn't hear the conversation, but the sheriff said something to the effect of, ``Thanks for calling about Bonnie and Clyde. I've got two stray dogs I've got to catch. Once I get those dogs, I'm going after Bonnie and Clyde.'' prgtoken After the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Ralph joined our Navy to fly naval aircraft. He went to Pensacola, Florida, for his first training. prgtoken As fate would have it, he met a Hall of Fame baseball player, Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox, the last man to hit over .400 in a season. Knowing he had Ted on his baseball team, Ralph found a young Army sergeant and said: ``Hey, son, I want to bet you my whole paycheck on a baseball game, Navy versus Army.'' prgtoken The day of the game, Ralph knocked on Ted's door. Ted answered with a fishing pole and some gear to go fishing. Ralph said, ``You have to play baseball and beat Army.'' Ted said, ``I came here to learn to fly, defend America, and then fish.'' Ralph held the game up so Ted could go AWOL, absent without leave, and go fishing. prgtoken Of course, that night, Ralph had to go home to his queen, his beloved Mary Ellen, and tell her, ``Honey, I have just lost my entire paycheck betting on a baseball game with the Army.'' prgtoken Ralph got out of flight school and went to war. He flew the F6F Hellcat on aircraft carriers. Now, I was a naval aviator, and I have to tell you, those guys were crazy, crazy, crazy courageous. Right now, if you land on an aircraft carrier, you have what is called the meatball. This ball gives you course and glide slope. In those days, they had guys with paddles. prgtoken Ralph said his proudest achievement in naval aviation during the war was to make sure on his record book that his takeoffs were the same number as his landings. prgtoken As fate would have it, once again, Ralph came home to Rockwall, Texas, to become a lawyer. The local county judge retired, so there was a vacancy. Peopl
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H. CON. RES. 24, EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT THE REPORT OF SPECIAL COUNSEL MUELLER SHOULD BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC AND TO CONGRESS, AND PROVIDING FOR...
Rob Woodall (Republican, GA) \u2014 2019-3-13

I appreciate the gentleman from Rhode Island introducing the bill. prgtoken And I think that is an important distinction, , and that is what you have heard, largely. You heard it in the Rules Committee; you have heard it down here on the floor, that: Listen, there are lots of things that we could be doing here, and if we wanted to pass a law that insisted that the entire report was released--those parts that are prohibited from being released under current law and those parts that are intended to be released under current law--we could do that. That is just not what we are doing. prgtoken What we are doing is saying: Hey, do you know what current law is? Follow current law. Follow current law. We, the House of Representatives, have thought about it, and in our deliberative wisdom, we are prepared to announce that we believe current law should be followed--Signed, U.S. House of Representatives. prgtoken There are those who would have you believe this is something more than that. It is not. There is nothing wrong with what we are doing today except that it is not a particularly valuable use of time. prgtoken When I opened, , you were not in the chair, but I mentioned that I think we do great damage to trust in our Republic when we seek division instead of highlighting our unity. To suggest that we are down here doing something to protect our Republic from its inevitable demise is just ridiculous. No such thing is happening here on the floor today. All that is happening on the floor today is saying that we, the duly-elected Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, believe U.S. law should be followed. prgtoken , I agree, and .
Nominations (Executive Session)
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2019-3-13

yesterday the Senate confirmed a well-qualified jurist chosen by President to serve on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Paul Matey of New Jersey will bring a wealth of experience to the bench, and I was proud to support his nomination. prgtoken We also voted to advance the nomination of Neomi Rao to the DC Circuit. This nominee is yet another of the President's excellent choices to serve as a Federal judge. prgtoken Ms. Rao graduated with honors from Yale and the University of Chicago School of Law. Her record includes a distinguished tenure in academia, public and private sector legal experience, as well as a clerkship on the U.S. Supreme Court. prgtoken Most importantly, in testimony before our colleagues on the Judiciary Committee, she demonstrated a commitment to maintaining the public trust and upholding the rule of law. So the committee favorably reported Ms. Rao's nomination, and soon the Senate will have an opportunity to continue fulfilling our advice and consent responsibilities by voting to confirm her to the Federal bench. prgtoken We will also vote this afternoon on the nomination of William Beach, who has been waiting for over a year to take his post as Commissioner of Labor Statistics. Our colleagues on the HELP Committee recommended Mr. Beach to the floor in December of 2017. A full year later, with no progress, he was returned to the White House. Now he is finally getting a floor vote. This pointless obstruction needs to change, but I am glad we can at least confirm Mr. Beach this week.
WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
Van Taylor (Republican, TX) \u2014 2019-3-13

. Madam , celebrated each March, Women's History Month serves as a time to honor and recognize the momentous achievement of women who have continued to shape the United States today. prgtoken What began as a week-long celebration in 1981 is now a month-long celebration starting in 1995. prgtoken This year, I am especially proud to highlight a group of women making history right now in Texas' Third Congressional District. Collin County, Texas, has 11 State district courts with 11 presiding judges, and 7 county courts at law with 7 presiding judges. prgtoken In 2017, an addition of a new judge brought the total number of female judges serving on district courts to six, meaning that, for the first time in history, a majority of the court seats are now held by women. But just this year, with the election of another woman in Texas' 219th district court, there are now seven women serving on the county's district benches. Making this accomplishment even more remarkable, just 12 years ago, there was only one female judge on the county's benches. prgtoken While only 33 percent of the judges throughout the United States are women, Collin County is leading the way with 64 percent of the district court judge benches held by women judges. prgtoken I salute Judge Corinne Mason, Judge Angela Tucker, Judge Jennifer Edgeworth, Judge Andrea Thompson, Judge Cynthia Wheless, Judge Jill Willis, Judge Piper McCraw, and Judge Emily Miskel.
THE GREEN NEW DEAL
Shelley Moore Capito (Republican, WV) \u2014 2019-3-13

last week, I joined several of my colleagues to highlight the unrealistic and unreasonable and impractical ideas of the Green New Deal--the staggering cost, which is more than the Federal Government has spent in our history; the misguided assumptions about what it prgtoken would take to decarbonize the U.S. economy on such an aggressive timeline; and the sorts of social programs that fundamentally change the United States, and, I would add, not in a good way, in my opinion. prgtoken But the worst part that has been talked about is a point I made last week. This resolution, this green deal resolution, dismisses or ignores the realistic and pragmatic environmental solutions that this Congress and past Congresses have already been working on. prgtoken I serve on the Environment and Public Works Committee with Chairman Barrasso, who just spoke, and we have been working together in many different areas to get the same sorts of ends. prgtoken The supporters of the Green New Deal actually claim Congress has done nothing. Unfortunately, some in the media and some others seem to be reiterating that same message. prgtoken As in so many policy arenas, the latest shiny object distracts from the great bipartisan work that is being done in these Halls--work that sometimes just doesn't get noticed--and that is exactly what is happening here. prgtoken Well, today I would like to highlight some of the practical, realistic, bipartisan efforts that will put us on the right path without killing jobs or overburdening Americans with government spending and higher costs. prgtoken Just yesterday, President signed into law the bipartisan lands package we passed in the Senate last month, and it was an overwhelming vote. As part of that legislation, we permanently reauthorized the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is a critical resource for protecting and preserving some of our country's most beautiful public lands, including those in my State of West Virginia. prgtoken Another example of the legislative solutions that we have advanced is the FUTURE Act, which I led with my ic colleagues, former Senator Heidi Heitkamp from North Dakota and Senator Whitehouse from Rhode Island, along with Chairman Barrasso. That legislation had a bipartisan group of 25 cosponsors and the support of an incredibly diverse and broad coalition of supporters: environmental groups, oil and gas companies, Governors from around the country, and labor unions. prgtoken What cause could bring these diverse stakeholders together? Carbon capture utilization and storage--CCUS. prgtoken The FUTURE Act reauthorized and improved the section 45Q tax credit for CCUS, and it requires the certainty that the carbon stays captured for good and is used in real products for market potential. prgtoken It is not about research and development. There are other Federal programs that are reserved for that important endeavor. It is about establishing real in
DIRECTING THE REMOVAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM HOSTILITIES IN THE REPUBLIC OF YEMEN THAT HAVE NOT BEEN AUTHORIZED BY CONGRESS
James M. Inhofe (Republican, OK) \u2014 2019-3-13

just like last year, I remain deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Yemen, as well as the erratic behavior of Saudi Arabia's leadership. We have all suffered through that. prgtoken However, I oppose the resolution brought forth by Senators Lee, Murphy, and Sanders, which, if implemented, would end all security cooperation with our partners in Yemen against the Houthis. prgtoken First of all, we are not engaged in hostilities in Yemen against the Houthis, and here is what we are doing in Yemen: We are providing intelligence support that helps construct no-strike lists that enable humanitarian efforts and protect humanitarian aid workers. prgtoken Some of these workers are workers we are very close to--our allies. Our intelligence support is also vital to assisting our partners in defending themselves against the Iranian-supported ballistic missile attacks. prgtoken It is important to emphasize that our partners are the tip of the spear, not us. Beyond this, our security cooperation provides leverage that we have used with the Saudi-led coalition to advance peace negotiations. prgtoken If we pull that support, here is what we can expect: Israel loses, Iran wins, and the humanitarian situation will get worse. I think we all understand that. prgtoken Our partners will be less capable to confront the lethal ballistic missile threat, and peace efforts will lose a vital line of support. Moreover, if a ballistic missile hits a population center and kills Americans because we, due to the resolution, withheld intelligence, it would be unforgiveable. That is why I introduced an amendment to specifically protect our civilian population. prgtoken In closing, the vote is not about whether we approve of Saudi Arabia's behavior; I don't. It is about whether we will use our leverage with the Saudi-led coalition to ensure humanitarian access and promote peace, and, more fundamentally, it is about whether we take seriously our responsibility to keep Americans safe. That is really what this is all about. It merely includes that we would eliminate the threats to civilian population centers in coalition countries, including locations where citizens and nationals of the United States reside. I can't imagine anyone would be opposed to that. prgtoken . prgtoken .
FIVE PILLARS OF WHAT WE BELIEVE SAVES US
David Schweikert (Republican, AZ) \u2014 2019-3-13

. The gentleman is one of my buddies from Florida. He actually gets this, but he also knows I actually love the technology disruptions, because none of us has figured out if it is or yet, which actually makes it possible for us to do it. Now, eventually, we will break it into partisan because everything has become weaponized and partisan around this body. prgtoken But, right now, think of this: this is a natural gas electric facility. It can power 5,000 homes. It is up and running outside Houston. It doesn't have a smokestack. All the ACO2, so all the carbon is captured. They actually came up with this brilliant technology that the carbon actually flows through. My understanding of the engineering is it helps spin the turbines, and then the excess carbon that is generated is safe and sold. prgtoken We actually have a tax credit that we adjusted that hopefully made it more robust as we did tax reform that if you want to take some of that carbon you can put it in concrete, or a piece of plastic, or do it for certain types of oil recovery.
THE GREEN NEW DEAL
Mike Lee (Republican, UT) \u2014 2019-3-13

I stand with Senator Sanders and with Senator Murphy as a cosponsor of the legislation before us, S.J. Res. 7, which would remove U.S. Armed Forces from Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen. prgtoken There were 56 Senators who voted in favor of this resolution just a few months ago, in December, or at the end of the last Congress. That vote was, of course, a victory for the Constitution and for the separation of powers, to say nothing of prudence, of peace, and of justice. The House of Representatives passed its own version of this resolution earlier this year. Now it is back to us. Now it is our turn. Now it is our job to get this passed. We have the opportunity today to reassert Congress's constitutional role over declaring war and over putting American blood and treasure on the line. prgtoken In this particular case, the evidence is clear that we ought not be involved in this unconstitutional, unjustified, and, ultimately, immoral war. The Yemeni war has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people, including those of countless innocent civilians. It has created countless refugees, orphans, widows, and it has also displaced countless families. The numbers are nothing short of staggering. prgtoken Since 2015, more than 6,000 civilians have died, and more than 10,000 have been wounded. The majority of these casualties--over 10,000 of them--has been as the result of airstrikes led by the Saudi-led coalition. In one attack last year, the Saudis dropped a U.S.-made bomb on a schoolbus that killed 40 young children on a school trip and wounded another 30 children in addition to that. prgtoken Yemen is now facing rampant disease and mass starvation. An estimated 15 million people do not have access to clean water and sanitation, and 17 million don't have access to food. Photographs from Yemen depict malnourished children who have every rib in their tiny bodies exposed and jetting out as manifestations of their starvation. Over 85,000 children have died of starvation since 2015. prgtoken In short, the situation in Yemen has become the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, and the United States has been abating the horrors of this war. Indeed, our country has actually made the crisis worse by helping one side bomb innocent civilians. I don't say that lightly. It is with great soberness that I raise this very real and very serious accusation. prgtoken So it begs the question: How did we get entangled in this crisis to begin with? How did we get involved? Why and how and under what circumstances did this become our war to fight? prgtoken In March of 2015, Saudi Arabia launched a war against the Houthi rebels. Shortly after the Houthis ousted the Saudi-backed government in the capital city of Sanaa, the administration--without consulting Congress, of course--authorized U.S. military forces to provide logistical and intelligence support to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia-led coalition fighting that war. U.S.
CLOTURE MOTION
Roy Blunt (Republican, MO) \u2014 2019-3-13

. I want to talk a little about the Green New Deal, but I can't pass up the opportunity to point out that we are now starting 30 hours of debate on the Director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. prgtoken It is outrageous. Everybody knows it is outrageous. If you start the clock right now, there will not be an hour of debate--there might not be 10 minutes of debate--on the Director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but what our friends on the other side have done is ensure that we can't do any other business during that 30 hours, and, at some point, once it is too late to do anything else this week, they may even waive some of that time back. prgtoken This has to change. I certainly would like to see Members on the other side of the aisle work with us to make that change. The bill I have reported out of the Rules Committee that we have reported out of our committee to change this is given more verification every single week, as we try to let the President put a government in place, as we try to do our job of confirming judges to judicial vacancies. That has to stop, and I believe it is about to stop. I would like to see some cooperation from our friends on the other side so we can move forward in the way the Senate should move forward. The Green New Deal prgtoken , the Senate has also been talking about legislation called the Green New Deal. A dozen of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have put this legislation in place. When you sponsor a piece of legislation, it usually means you are for that piece of legislation and think it needs to be debated, and it sure does. prgtoken This is a huge piece of legislation. Anything called the green anything would mean you would think it would be mostly about climate change or environmental things, but actually most of it is about other things. I want to talk for a few minutes about what it says about healthcare. prgtoken It is estimated that one part of the Green New Deal would cost $36 trillion over the next 10 years. That is about the same amount of money we would spend for everything else over the next 10 years of the money we appropriate. It is such a big number; it is hard to imagine how you would even describe it, but $36 billion would be 100 times what it would cost to rebuild the entire Interstate Highway System. If you can imagine the entire Interstate Highway System, and you wanted to build it all over again--build it again, go in and tear it up, and build it again--do that 100 times over the next 100 years or however many years it would take, that is $36 trillion. I might have even said earlier $36 billion, but it is $36 trillion, 100 times what it would cost to build the entire Interstate Highway System all over again. prgtoken It is an absolutely enormous figure, but the government is accepting an absolutely enormous new obligation, an obligation that, just in terms of the healthcare part of this bill, woul