mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
TAX REFORM
Jack Reed (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2017-11-29

two weeks ago, I urged my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to reject the partisan and fiscally irresponsible tax proposal in the so-called Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. I asked them to remember that, when it comes to our responsibility to plan for the nation's long-term economic future, we are here to create opportunity and security for future generations--not to serve the short-term interests of partisan politics. Today, I regret to say that the process surrounding the tax bill has only become more rushed, more partisan, more bitter, and less transparent. My colleagues wrote this bill behind closed doors, held no serious hearings or debate, and even now are planning to make substantial changes to the final bill that we will vote on before we have even had the benefit of a comprehensive, nonpartisan score of its cost. prgtoken We all know better than to believe that this irresponsible process will lead to a responsible or sustainable outcome. Therefore, because it is clear that this bill is an unprecedented giveaway to wealthy corporations and individuals at the expense of poor, sick, elderly, and middle-class Americans, and because it will drive our Nation trillions of dollars further into debt, I strongly urge my colleagues to reject this bill and to work with both sides of the aisle to craft tax reform that will help--rather than burden--future generations and the middle class. prgtoken The only future generations that this bill appears to take into account are the children and grandchildren of the wealthiest families in the United States, including President 's family and the families of the wealthiest Cabinet ever assembled by any President. According to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, half of all households, and two-thirds of households making between $54,700 and $93,200 would see their taxes go up under the current bill. Individuals who struggle to get by because of sickness or the unavailability of well-paying job opportunities would lose tax exemptions and advantages that have helped them stay afloat. Many Americans who have played by the rules and persevered through our long recovery from the great recession will open their paychecks to see a little more taken out every month, but not for their benefit. On the other hand, for the 5,000 American families with fortunes in the millions of dollars or more, the plan to repeal or drastically curtail the estate tax could, on its own, funnel hundreds of billions of dollars to those few who need it the very least. prgtoken The mere idea that we would raise taxes on poor and working Americans to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest American estates epitomizes how this tax bill is wholly at odds with our values. The trillions of dollars this bill will add to our deficit will almost certainly lead to deep cuts in earned benefits like Social Security and Medicare,
TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT
Ron Wyden (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2017-11-29

this first motion, the first motion the Senate is going to vote on, is a straightforward proposition. The motion says: Let us send this bill back to the Senate Finance Committee on a bipartisan basis and come up with a plan that actually works for the middle class. prgtoken I am going to wrap up just by recapping the rhetoric on this tax plan. First, it was said to be a guaranteed middle-class tax cut. Then, it was merely focused on the middle class. Next, it was an average tax cut across a variety of income cohorts. Now the numbers are actually in. s want to run up enough red ink to threaten Medicare and Social Security and still raise taxes on more than half of the middle class. The Senate, on a bipartisan basis, can do better than this. prgtoken I urge my colleagues to support this proposal to send the bill back to the Finance Committee and, on a bipartisan basis, come up with tax reform that actually works for the middle class. prgtoken .
TAX REFORM
Robert Menendez (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2017-11-29

I come to the floor today painfully aware of the many reasons to oppose this reckless, wasteful tax plan. It is a shame because I still believe we need smart tax reform that puts working families and small businesses first and that prepares America to compete in the 21st century, but that is not what we will be voting on this week. prgtoken We are voting on the tax plan this week--a plan s hope to ram through the Senate with a simple majority vote, 51 votes. With 51 votes, s will raise taxes on millions of middle-class families and those working to join the middle class. With 51 votes, s will hand huge tax cuts to big corporations with no strings attached and no guarantees that workers will see higher wages. With 51 votes, they will take healthcare coverage away from 13 million Americans and hike premiums for everyone else. With 51 votes, they will saddle our children and our grandchildren--like my new grandchild--with another $1.5 trillion in debt. prgtoken Now, any one of these reasons is reason enough to oppose the tax plan, but, for me, as the senior Senator from New Jersey--a State of nearly 9 million people, a State with the eighth most productive economy in America--I cannot and will not support a tax bill that reads like one giant hit job on New Jersey's middle class. prgtoken Just how bad is the tax plan for New Jersey? Well, take the House version--which is a bill so awful that 11 out of 12 Members of Congress from New Jersey voted against it, many of them s-- take that plan and make it worse in the Senate. The Senate bill is worse because it totally eliminates the State and local tax deduction, otherwise known as the SALT deduction. prgtoken Even President 's external economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, recently said ending the SALT deduction will hurt ``a lot of different people,'' and a lot of these people who will get hurt live in States like New Jersey. prgtoken In 2015 alone, nearly 1.8 million New Jersey households deducted a combined $17 billion in State and local taxes from their Federal tax bills, and over 1.5 million New Jersey homeowners with sky-high property taxes deducted nearly $15 billion that same year. These taxpayers aren't high rollers. They are middle-class families who had to work hard to achieve the American dream. In fact, tax data tells us that 83 percent of New Jerseyans who claim the State and local tax deduction make under $200,000 a year, and about half of those make under $100,000 a year. So the families who get hurt live in every corner of our State--from Ocean County, where it will cost taxpayers $1.3 billion, to Burlington County, where it will cost taxpayers $1.37 billion, to Passaic County, where it will cost taxpayers $1.16 billion in deductions. That is wrong. It is just plain wrong to ask these hard- working families--folks who weren't born with a silver spoon in their mouth, w
RECOGNIZING MRS. ADDIE RUTH FOX PARKER ON HER 100TH BIRTHDAY
Eddie Bernice Johnson (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2017-11-29

I rise today to recognize the birthday of Mrs. Addie Ruth Fox Parker, who will be turning 100 years old on December 14, 2017. prgtoken Mrs. Parker was born on December 14, 1917 in Jacksonville (Calhoun County), Alabama and reared in their home located on the fringe of the town square. Her father was Cassie Fox, a businessman and landowner and her mother was Jennie Taylor Fox, a school teacher. She is a graduate of Cobb High School in Anniston, Alabama and Alabama A&M College (now Alabama A&M University) in Huntsville, Alabama, where she played tennis and sang in the choir. Divorced with a daughter, she then married Rev. (Pastor) Joseph C. Parker, Sr. on July 28, 1951, in Anniston, Alabama and remained married until his death in 1987. Her husband was a pastor, civil rights leader, teacher, principal, faculty member at the Birmingham (Alabama) Baptist College, and Church Relations Director at Bishop College in Dallas Texas. He also served as pastor of churches in Jacksonville, Anniston, Montgomery, and Birmingham, Alabama, as well as Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas, where she served with him as the pastor's wife and occasional pianist, starting in 1951. prgtoken Resident of DeSoto, Mrs. Parker has been a Texas resident since 1972 and is a member of the Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. She retired from a decades-long elementary school teaching career, having taught in Alabama and Texas. prgtoken While living in Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama in the late 1950s and 1960s, she served in the Alabama Civil Rights Movement as a dedicated and hard-working confidante, partner, participant, and supporter of her husband--Rev. Joseph C. Parker, Sr.--who was a founding pastor, servant, racial justice advocate, and leader of the Alabama Civil Rights Movement, starting in 1955 with his involvement in the Montgomery Bus Boycott; Montgomery Improvement Association; Montgomery Inter-denominational Ministerial Alliance (Secretary); NAACP; Selma to Montgomery Marches; the Birmingham civil rights protests; and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and alongside her husband's Morehouse college friend, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, and Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, Sr. and his wife, Juanita Jones Abernathy. prgtoken Mrs. Parker's children, grandchildren, other family members, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances use these words to describe her qualities and attributes that they believe have contributed to her wonderfully successful life and career--character: strong Christian faith, integrity, commitment, and action; personality: warm, compassionate, giving, loving, determined spirit, lively, and humorous; and intelligence: has had and still possesses a keen mind. prgtoken , I ask Congressman John Lewis and Congresswoman Terri Sewell and all my colleagues to join me in congratulating Mrs. Addie Ruth Fox Parker on this remarkable milestone. I wish her a special day shared in t
TAX REFORM
Patty Murray (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2017-11-29

the American people have gotten a lot of lip service over the past 10 months. Remember draining the swamp and fighting for the forgotten families? The President apparently forgot them when he filled the Cabinet with a who's who of Wall Street. How about every single American having better, cheaper healthcare? That was, of course, before s tried to kick millions of people off of their coverage, increase costs for millions more, and gut protections for people with preexisting conditions. prgtoken You would think it would be tough to top all of that, but here we are watching as s, led by President , twist themselves into knots trying to convince hard-working families that the GOP tax plan is anything but a high-priced giveaway to millionaires, billionaires, and the biggest corporations. It is a high-priced giveaway paid for by--you guessed it--the middle class and those who can least afford it. This is so wrong, and I am glad, finally, the phones across the Capitol are today lighting up with constituents demanding to know how anyone promising to represent them could possibly put their name on this terrible, partisan, fast-tracked bill because they see the same nonpartisan reports we all do. They know expert after expert has confirmed what we all know: The tax plan will hurt millions of everyday Americans, including those who are already falling behind in an economy that tilts further and further in favor of the wealthiest few. They know the tax plan takes money out of their pockets. They know it guts their healthcare by spiking premiums and leaving millions and millions of prgtoken Americans without the coverage they need. They know it papers over our Nation's paid family leave problem, instead giving corporations a massive giveaway and leaving families who need to care for loved ones in the lurch. They know it adds trillions of dollars to the national debt, setting up, once again, the perfect foil for s to then come after Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and other middle-class priorities when the bill comes due. prgtoken In case that wasn't enough, the Senate tax bill adds a backdoor attempt to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling for oil, just for good measure. s are even trying to pay for tax cuts for those at the top by sabotaging families' healthcare in this bill in a way that would spike premiums, cause 13 million people to lose their coverage, and creates more chaos in the healthcare system. prgtoken I know they are claiming the bipartisan bill I reached with Chairman Alexander can somehow fix this if it is signed into law and that other bipartisan legislation to help States cover the costs of enrolling very sick patients might help, too, but let me make very clear, that is very wrong. This is the classic example of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole and would be cold comfort to
MINNESOTA'S ECONOMIC RIGHTS IN THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST ACT
Alan S. Lowenthal (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-11-29

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , this legislation is quite simply a giveaway of mining rights on roughly 5,000 acres of public lands right next to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota to a Chilean mining conglomerate so that it can develop a copper mine that will, in all likelihood, leach toxic acid waste into the Boundary Waters for decades, if not centuries, to come. In order to do this, this bill overrides multiple laws that are in place to allow priceless natural places to be protected and it vetoes the scientific conclusions of the U.S. Forest Service. prgtoken Last year, the Forest Service recommended that two undeveloped 50- year-old mining leases in Minnesota's Superior National Forest be allowed to expire, stating that the development of a copper mine on these leases could lead to potentially extreme contamination of the Boundary Waters wilderness from acid mine drainage and leached materials. prgtoken The Boundary Waters isn't just a pristine and unique wilderness, it is also an economic engine for northern Minnesota. Over 1,000 pristine lakes, 1,200 miles of streams, and 2,000 campsites attract more than 150,000 visitors each year to canoe, kayak, fish, bird watch, ski, and simply explore and enjoy the natural beauty and peacefulness that is unlike anywhere else in the United States. These visitors bring in tens of millions of dollars annually, supporting thousands of local jobs. prgtoken The ecological and economic value of the Boundary Waters led the Forest Service to conclude: `` . . . development of a regionally untested copper-nickel sulfide-ore mine within the same watershed as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness might cause serious and irreplaceable harm to this unique, iconic, and irreplaceable wilderness area.'' prgtoken As a result, the leases were not renewed, and the Forest Service began a study to look at whether to protect the area adjacent to the Boundary Waters from mining for the next 20 years. This 2-year study is open. It is a public process designed to gather scientific information and local views on the potential impacts of copper mining, which is immediately adjacent to the Boundary Waters, and it is supported by an overwhelming majority--79 percent--of the voters in Minnesota. prgtoken Even this administration here in Washington has said that it intends to allow the study to run its course before making any decisions, but this legislation would make that study meaningless. It would reinstate the leases and make it almost impossible for them to expire. It would block the Forest Service from acting on its study no matter what it found and how the people in the region feel, and it would make it impossible for the President of the United States to protect this area using the Antiquities Act, all so a Chilean mining company can move forward with a dangerous mine next to one of our most pristine and special natural places.
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 3017, BROWNFIELDS ENHANCEMENT, ECONOMIC REDEVELOPMENT, AND REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2017, AND PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 3905, MINNESOTA'S ECONOMIC RIGHTS...
Wm. Lacy Clay (Democrat, MO) \u2014 2017-11-29

I thank my friend from Massachusetts for yielding. prgtoken , I rise today to offer a special welcome to the President of the United States as he visits my home State of Missouri, which has a great need for brownfield remediation. prgtoken I understand that President 's visit will focus on the indefensible, reckless tax scam that will raise taxes on millions of middle class families. It will rob seniors, punish students, weaken higher education, strip healthcare coverage away from 13 million Americans, and explode the debt by charging an additional $1.4 trillion on the national credit card. prgtoken , the majority likes to talk about family values, and there is no doubt that extremely wealthy families, like President 's, will reap millions from your GOP tax scam. prgtoken But what about real Americans who will pay more and get less? prgtoken I would like President to show me why he wants to raise taxes on over 320,000 middle class families in Missouri. I would like President to show me why he wants to bury 255,000 Missouri students, who hold student loans, even deeper in debt by eliminating the deduction for student loan interest. I would like President to show me why he wants to harm 165,000 seriously ill Missouri taxpayers, who will no longer be able to deduct medical expenses. And I would like him to show me why, when asked about the State level impact of the prgtoken -GOP tax scam, even the chairman of the Missouri House Budget Committee, State Representative Scott Fitzpatrick of Shell Knob, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on November 9: ``We cannot have a billion-dollar hole blown in the budget. We cannot afford that.'' prgtoken I would like President to show me why he wants to impose double taxation on every Missouri taxpayer, who will no longer be able to deduct State and local income taxes. prgtoken And I would like him to show me why he wants to weaken Medicare by robbing it of over $25 billion over the next 10 years to help pay for tax cuts for billionaires. prgtoken And, finally, I would like President to show me how he intends to ever look middle class families in the face again when he promised to lower taxes for every American.
TAX REFORM
Kirsten E. Gillibrand (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2017-11-29

I rise to speak about the tax plan we will be voting on tomorrow, likely in the middle of the night, and definitely without much needed debate, oversight, and transparency, as it should have. prgtoken I think everyone in this Chamber agrees we need to fix our tax system so it doesn't create so much difficulty for the working families in our States. If this bill actually did that, it would be real reform, and it would be bipartisan. However, this plan does not seek anything close to the type of relief regular working people need. Instead, what it does is this: It pays back wealthy donors and lobbyists through corporate welfare, and it does this at the expense of the middle class. In other words, this is a blatant attempt to take millions of families' hard- earned money and hand it over to rich corporations on the Fortune 500 list. prgtoken If the Senate actually goes ahead and passes this bill, corporations and the wealthiest 1 percent of income earners will get massive and permanent tax cuts, and it will blow a $1.5 trillion hole into our deficit. Make no mistake, 3 months from now, leadership will use that new, massive deficit as the reason to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. prgtoken Why are s in Congress so determined to provide massive corporate welfare? Listen to this actual quote from one Member of Congress, which will tell you everything you need to know about whom this tax plan is really for. He said: My donors are basically saying, ``Get it done or don't ever call me again.'' prgtoken This is Washington's culture of soft corruption at its absolute worst. Now, somehow after years of talking about it, a massive tax bill has finally made its way to the Senate floor and, after all that talk, it doesn't even help the middle class. It does the exact opposite. prgtoken Here is one very simple example that sums it all up. This bill eliminates the deduction for local and State taxes, known as the SALT deduction, which so many Americans need to help them stay afloat. The SALT deduction prevents hard-working families from being double taxed on their income. It has long been our policy that when workers pay their State and local taxes, the IRS doesn't tax them twice on the same income, but the tax plan now repeals this. In effect, this plan would make it so you are taxed on everything you make and then you will be taxed again. Why? Because corporations need a big tax break and to pay for the tax breaks for the richest Americans. prgtoken In many cases, the SALT deduction makes it possible for families to afford to buy a home, which is usually a family's largest asset, and it keeps the value of this investment growing. Eliminating the SALT deduction would hurt New Yorkers, and it would hurt millions of Americans. There is literally no other way to spin it. prgtoken When the details of this tax plan were released, we started hearing a lot of dredge
TAX REFORM
Thomas R. Carper (Democrat, DE) \u2014 2017-11-29

9 years have passed since I first joined the Senate Finance Committee. For each of those 9 years, I have looked forward to working on tax reform. In the House of Representatives, a million years ago, I had the privilege of working on tax reform legislation led by President Reagan, led by Tip O'Neill, Dan Rostenkowski, Bill Bradley, Bob Packwood, and others, which actually worked. It got us where we wanted to go, with lower rates and a more simplified code. prgtoken Tax reform takes time. It takes a lot of energy and a lot of effort. There is a lot of give and take. When we did that in 1986, the Congress took 2 years of public hearings, 2 years of meetings, prgtoken and 2 years of bipartisan negotiations. The idea that a permanent and enduring tax reform plan today can come to fruition in mere weeks is what they call in my State ``the triumph of [a man's] hope over experience.'' prgtoken Any tax legislation that is purely partisan, written in the dark, and rushed to the finish line is bound to be poorly designed and riddled with inadvertent errors. A flawed process results in a flawed product. prgtoken When considering any tax policy, I look at it through a prism of 4 questions: No. 1, is it fair? No. 2, does it foster economic growth or impede it? No. 3, does it simplify the Tax Code or make it even more complex? And No. 4, is it fiscally responsible? Those are the four questions. Unfortunately, the tax reform plan fails the test on, sadly, all four of these questions. prgtoken According to the nonpartisan--we just heard this from the Senator from Virginia--Congressional Budget Office, this plan would actually increase taxes on millions of Americans, beginning next year. By 2019, the CBO found that Americans earning less than $30,000 a year will be worse off under this tax bill. By 2021, Americans earning less than $40,000 will be worse off. By 2027, most Americans earning less than $75,000 a year will be worse off, not better. In fact, within 10 years, more than three-quarters of the tax cuts in this bill will go to the richest 5 percent of Americans. Think about that. Within the next 10 years, more than three-quarters of the tax cuts in this bill will go to the richest 5 percent of Americans. In fact, almost two-thirds of the tax breaks will go to the richest 1 out of every 100 Americans. None of this meets the reasonable definition, in my judgment, of fair. prgtoken The second question is, Does it foster economic growth or impede it? This bill does little to foster economic growth, and I fear, in the long run, it will actually impair growth. prgtoken Last week, a survey of top economists--including economists from across the political spectrum, as well as Nobel Prize winners and former presidents of the American Economic Association--found that only 1 out of 43 experts believe this type of tax reform would boost economic growth--1 out of 43--just 1. The truth is, any economic growth