mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024
Marjorie Taylor Greene (Republican, GA) \u2014 2023-11-7

. Mr. Chair, such time as I may consume. prgtoken Mr. Chair, the DOT Climate Change Center is nothing more than an extension of the Green New Deal and just another waste of hard-earned taxpayer money to enforce the Green New Deal, forcing Americans to be transitioned over to electric vehicles, which they do not want. prgtoken I thought this was the land of freedom. I thought this was the land where Americans can pick and choose what they would like to buy and what they do not want to buy. prgtoken The Green New Deal and the ' willingness to use the government to force Americans against their will to transition over to electric vehicles is nothing more than tyranny. prgtoken Here is an example of what comes out of this Climate Change Center-- the - administration making $100 million available to improve EV charger reliability. That was announced on September 13, 2023. prgtoken Here is a perfect example about how the Climate Change Center is being used to force Americans to drive electric vehicles, which is their goal the entire time. prgtoken The Federal Government's role is not to change how people spend their dollars and what they choose to buy for transportation. prgtoken The Federal Government's role, especially when it comes to the Department of Transportation, should be making sure that our roads are drivable and that our bridges are in good condition. prgtoken By the way, electric vehicles are heavy. That would put an undue burden on our bridges and on our roads. This is what they should be focused on, not the lie that, all of a sudden, climate change is real. prgtoken We have had tornadoes since the beginning of time. We have had earthquakes since the beginning of time. We have had hurricanes since the beginning of time. prgtoken This is not a new change in weather patterns. It is not a climate crisis. It is just called weather, and it has to do with seasons. prgtoken Another thing. The administration has no right to lie to the American people and make the American people fund their lies. prgtoken Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.
Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 6126 (Executive Session)
J.D. Vance (Republican, OH) \u2014 2023-11-7

. I appreciate my colleague from Kansas making a forceful case for why this package is necessary. prgtoken We have been told by the President, we have been told by our Israeli allies, and we have been told by a number of national security experts that Israel is in a fight for its life. It is in a fight for its life against not just an enemy in Israel but an enemy--radical Islamist terrorism--that very often has and is planning as we speak to come to our shores and to attack us. prgtoken This is a commonsense package. As the Senator from Kansas mentioned, it gives the President the exact amount of money that he asked for to support our Israeli allies. What is different about our bill--what is different about the House's bill that had already passed from what the President requested is twofold. prgtoken First of all, this is ready to go. It is ready to go today. If we pass this package today, aid would flow to our Israeli allies immediately. That is reason No. 1 to support it. prgtoken The other difference from the President's $106 billion behemoth of a supplemental is that this is about a single problem, because we should be debating single problems in this country. The world is complicated, of course. The world has intertwined complexities. But we should have enough respect for the American people to debate these issues distinctly because they raise separate questions. prgtoken Many of my colleagues may forget that a matter of weeks ago--a matter of months ago, there were people in this Chamber, there were people in the United States of America demanding that the State of Israel give money and weapons to the Ukrainians--money and weapons that the Israelis are now using this very moment to defend themselves. prgtoken The idea that these policies are not intentioned with one another, the idea that what happens in Russia and Ukraine is separate from what happens in Israel is not just obvious, it is common sense, and it has been borne out by the reality of the last couple of weeks. prgtoken My colleagues would like to collapse these packages. Too many of my colleagues would like to collapse these packages because they would like to use Israel as a political fig leaf for the President's Ukraine policy. But the President's Ukraine policy, just like the Israeli policy, should be debated. We should talk about it. We should discuss it. We should separate the cost and benefits and analyze them as distinct policies because that is what the American people deserve of their legislature. prgtoken There are many questions we could ask about the Ukraine policy, many issues that have gone completely unanswered. prgtoken No. 1: What is our end goal in Ukraine? prgtoken You hear commonly that the goal is to throw the Russians out of every inch of Ukrainian territory. Yet, when you talk to the President's own administration in private, they admit that is a strategic impossibility. Let me repeat that. No rational human being in the Presi
TRIBUTE TO MASTER SERGEANT BOB AMMONS
Tommy Tuberville (Republican, AL) \u2014 2023-11-7

most servicemembers come from a military family like MSgt Bob Ammons of Ozark, AL. Born on an Air Force base to a career airman, Bob decided to follow in his dad's footsteps. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force as an air freight specialist. prgtoken Bob did 14 assignments in 32 different countries during his 24-year- career. His skills in developing safety strategies ensured many American airmen returned home safely from their missions overseas. Bob climbed the ranks to becoming a senior munitions inspector and missile inspector, where he was in charge of ensuring all missile systems were ready for combat. prgtoken After retiring from the military in 1998, Bob decided to make Alabama his prgtoken home. Now, he uses his time volunteering across our State. He started by volunteering as a volleyball, softball, and basketball coach in Dora, AL. Now, he volunteers with veterans and faith groups in the Wiregrass. Bob and his wife are actively involved in Post Oak Baptist Church in Ozark. Bob helps fix donated appliances for the Dale County Baptist Association's thrift store. He also serves as a service officer for Chapter No. 94 of the Disabled American Veterans, where he helps veterans with benefits and medical appointments. prgtoken Bob is also very involved with Friends of Army Aviation, helping inspire future generations of aviators and supporting aviator veterans. Friends of Army Aviation President Doc Holladay says that Bob ``works tirelessly and consistently on any job that he is assigned. There is no hill too high for a climber like Bob.'' prgtoken Alabama is fortunate that Bob chose to use his talents to make our State a better place to call home. I am proud to recognize Bob Ammons as the November Veteran of the Month.
CONGRATULATING DAWN BAKER
Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (Republican, GA) \u2014 2023-11-7

I rise today to congratulate Dawn Baker on her induction into the Silver Circle. prgtoken Ms. Baker is a native of Riceboro, Georgia, and attended both Liberty County and Chatham County public school systems. prgtoken In 1989, Ms. Baker began her career at WTOC and joined the legendary group of past WTOC honorees, including Doug Weathers, Pat Prokop, Mike Manhatton, Jody Chapin, and Craig Harney with this designation. prgtoken The longtime WTOC anchor was recently inducted into the Southeast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' Silver Circle with a ceremony in Atlanta. prgtoken To be eligible for the Silver Circle, one must have 25 or more years of service and have made significant contributions to one's craft in the Southeast region. prgtoken We congratulation Ms. Baker on her remarkable achievement. Her dedication to serving the people in the First District is greatly appreciated, and we cannot think of anyone more deserving of this award.
TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024
Warren Davidson (Republican, OH) \u2014 2023-11-7

. Madam Chair, this amendment will decrease funding for the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS by $505 million and move it to the spending reduction account. prgtoken AIDS is a horrific disease. We have lots of horrific diseases in our country, but we don't have programs for everybody that gets a disease. We don't have programs specifically for people that get cancer, for example. prgtoken We have programs for AIDS because when AIDS was first spreading, people didn't understand it. They thought it would spread like a contagion, that you could get it just because you lived in the same housing development as someone else. Now that we properly understand AIDS, we don't have the same kind of denial of access to housing for people. prgtoken We do have need-based housing, and there are people with AIDS who have needs, and some of them currently are even being housed under this program. prgtoken The reality is they would still have access to housing if they are qualified for need-based assistance just like every other American. It doesn't eliminate the safety net but eliminates the special, favored treatment. prgtoken Why is that important? Well, look. We have to cut something. Ronald Reagan famously recognized that the closest thing to eternal life we will see on this Earth is a government program. There is always a new program, but there is never a time to get rid of an old program. prgtoken This program just continues on without real authorization. It just keeps getting appropriated. It is time. It is time to take it away. prgtoken It is time to curb our spending. This HUD program spends almost $3 billion more than it used to spend in discretionary spending. prgtoken We are going to have to turn something off. We have over $33 trillion in debt, and in the next 18 months, we are supposed to add another $3 trillion. Are we supposed to take spending seriously once we get to $50 trillion? At some point, people recognize that if something can't continue, it will eventually stop. prgtoken It is not compassionate to bankrupt America. We put these programs out there, and we say they are so compassionate, but they are not because they are leading our country toward a crash site. This is going to end in financial ruin. prgtoken This is the same kind of point we tried to make when they said, let's close the economy and print money. We are spending more money than anyone will even lend us. The Federal Reserve became the lender of last resort, prgtoken and their balance sheet grew by $5 trillion. prgtoken We knew that was going to cause inflation. That is why I created the Sound Money Caucus in July of 2020. They said it wouldn't cause inflation. We said it would. They said it wouldn't hit consumers. We said it would. prgtoken They finally acknowledged, well, maybe it will be transitory. That is the phase we are in. How transitory is it? prgtoken All this goes back to policy decisions. You might be able to print money, but you can
TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024
Chip Roy (Republican, TX) \u2014 2023-11-7

. Mr. Chair, I appreciate my friend from Pennsylvania offering the amendments that he has offered. I am offering here an amendment that I have offered to other appropriations bills affecting other agencies that would prohibit any of the funding in this bill, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill, from being used to carry out President 's executive orders on climate change. prgtoken We have had success in moving this amendment on previous appropriations bills because, frankly, it is fairly obvious to most people in the Chamber, certainly to most Americans, that these executive orders are out of step and out of touch with where the American people are. They are pushing a radical agenda that is completely devoid of recognition of what is happening in every American's life right now, that they can't afford to buy even the home they live in, much less the fuel they need for their cars, buy the car that they need, be able to afford to pursue any of the initiatives put forward in terms of solar panels and other things because we are driving up the price of energy, making it impossible for people to live their lives because we are pursuing a radical agenda. prgtoken By the way, it is making us completely dependent on China at a time when we should be decoupling from China. It is at a time that is making it where we are not holding Iran accountable, and we are actually enriching Iran right now with our energy policies. prgtoken We are not sanctioning Iran. We are allowing them to sell oil to China. We are advancing this agenda because my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to put out this notion of climate change as being more important than the inflation that is wrecking the American family. I have had Members on the other side of the aisle testify to this in the Rules Committee. They literally have said that. prgtoken They are prioritizing this agenda over the American family today who cannot afford an automobile, cannot afford the gasoline to put in the automobile, cannot afford the energy prices in their homes, electricity, and can't even afford the houses because of what this administration has done with their policies to drive up the price of energy with a radical agenda. prgtoken In this case, Secretary Buttigieg is on a mission to overhaul the transportation sector saying, ``Transportation ought to be responsible for the biggest share of the solution.'' DOT has established a Climate Change Center with the goal of decarbonizing the transportation sector by 2050. prgtoken In July of 2022, the Secretary said, ``The more pain we are all experiencing from the high price of gas, the more benefit there is for those who can access electric vehicles.'' Right there is the agenda of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. Right there is the agenda of the administration. They want the American people to feel pain. Those are the words of the Secretary of Transportation. prgtoken Mr.
TRANSPORTATION, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024
Kat Cammack (Republican, FL) \u2014 2023-11-7

I rise today in support of my amendment which would restrict funds at the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies from being used to finalize any rule or regulation that would have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more. prgtoken Under the administration, regulatory agencies are out of control. We know this. We have seen hundreds of billions of dollars in regulatory costs fall on the shoulders of average Americans without any input from elected Representatives in Congress, indeed, those Americans' elected Representatives. prgtoken Agencies that fall under the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development create unreasonable hurdles for American citizens in pursuit of a radical climate change initiative and the so-called sustainable housing development programs. prgtoken My amendment seeks to restore congressional oversight over these regulations by requiring that any major rule proposed by these agencies be approved by Congress before they take effect. If Congress chooses to approve them, then so be it. At least the American people's voice will have been heard rather than that of an unelected, nameless, and faceless bureaucrat in a basement somewhere in Washington. prgtoken By including my amendment in this bill, we restore Congress' Article I authority by bringing significant regulatory decisions back to the body that is closest to the will and the voice of the people. prgtoken We will no longer allow unelected bureaucrats to impose these regulatory costs that are so costly and that are done behind closed doors but rather commit ourselves to more open and transparent governance. prgtoken We have already seen the administration's impractical rule to slash greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade inevitably leading to higher vehicle prices for consumers with very little impact on greenhouse gas emissions. This rule is especially burdensome for rural States and districts such as mine where the infrastructure to shift to electrification is not even close to being operable let alone economical. prgtoken We have also seen the recent Department of Housing and Urban Development affirmatively furthering a fair housing rule which imposes a burden on small municipalities and public housing authorities and other entities by requiring them to develop equity plans every 5 years. prgtoken These plans are extensive and expensive endeavors that require housing authorities to submit numerous details of progress and modifications to HUD. The rule effectively drowns these entities in paperwork while doing nothing to further their missions of providing safe and secure housing for hardworking American families. prgtoken Heck, Mr. Chair, we have such a backlog of maintenance through HUD that that is where we should be talking about our moneys going toward rather than another additional burden
Nomination of Julia E. Kobick (Executive Calendar)
Tom Cotton (Republican, AR) \u2014 2023-11-7

last month, Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists slaughtered over 30 Americans and 1,400 Israelis. These depraved savages raped women, murdered children, and executed entire families, burning some of them alive. The dead are still being identified, and families are still grieving unbelievable heartbreak. prgtoken Yet, over the weekend, former President discovered complexity and ambiguity where there is none in these attacks. He said that we ``have to admit nobody's hands are clean, that all of us are complicit to some degree.'' prgtoken What said over the weekend might pass for profound at cocktail parties on Martha's Vineyard or on podcasts with sycophantic former staffers, but it is also delusional and morally obtuse. Put simply, it is the confession of a guilty man attempting to implicate others, because we are not all complicit with Hamas's massacre of Jews, but sure is. prgtoken No American President did more to embolden and enrich Iran and its terrorist proxies than . Indeed, his entire Middle East policy was crafted to appease Iran. As President, he stayed quiet when Iranian protesters took to the streets in the Green Revolution. He sabotaged legislation in Congress sanctioning Iran. He cut and ran from Iraq, knowing that Iran and its proxies would fill the power vacuum. He refused to enforce a self-drawn redline and stood by as Syria disintegrated into a ``geopolitical Chernobyl'' because Bashar al-Assad is an Iranian puppet. He consistently undermined Benjamin Netanyahu-- Iran's chief nemesis in the region--and even refused to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel. And, of course, he negotiated the disastrous Iran nuclear deal, handing the ayatollahs over $100 billion in sanctions relief. singlehandedly saved the Iranian economy and harmed diplomatic relations with our allies in Saudi Arabia and Israel. When he left office, the Middle East was in flames, and Iran was on the march. prgtoken Tragically, 's coterie of Iran appeasers, apologists, and accomplices have returned to the White House. His understudy, , is now President. The man who helped to secretly negotiate the Iran nuclear deal, Jake Sullivan, is now National Security Advisor. His Treasury Secretary, who served as a de facto investment banker for the ayatollahs, is now Ambassador to Israel. 's legacy is alive and well in this administration, and it certainly shows. prgtoken Within days of taking office, the administration removed the Houthis--another Iranian proxy--from the list of terrorist organizations without any concessions. And how did the Houthis reward ? By firing dozens of missiles and attack drones towards Israel just days after Hamas's rampage. prgtoken In his first hundred days, the administration announced that it would send hundreds of millions of dollars to Iran's friends
Government Funding and Border Security (Executive Calendar)
Pete Ricketts (Republican, NE) \u2014 2023-11-8

our Nation is facing many challenges at this point. Yet, this week, the majority leader doesn't have us addressing them. Look around this room. There is nobody here. prgtoken We should be voting Monday through Friday until we get our work done. We have a national debt that is almost $34 trillion. That is $256,000 per household. That is about equal to a second mortgage for homeowners in Nebraska. prgtoken We also have a humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border. I was just down there for the fourth time. What I saw was a humanitarian disgrace. Record numbers of illegal immigrants are crossing the border. Children are being trafficked. People are dying. Cartels are profiting. The administration is directly responsible for this humanitarian crisis. They should be ashamed of themselves. prgtoken The administration's policies are also creating a major security crisis. A record number of encounters with individuals on the Terror Watchlist has gone on when that number used to be in the single digits just in the past few years. prgtoken Washington has an important role in dealing with these challenges. The ideal time to address them is through the appropriations process. As we all know, Congress must pass 12 appropriations bills every year, and this would avoid a government shutdown. This year, for the first time in 5 years, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed out all 12 of those appropriations bills. The first 2 came out on June 22, and the other 10 came in July. prgtoken For months, the majority leader has refused to bring those bills to the floor for votes. We could have been amending those bills, debating those bills, and then voting on those bills. Instead, he has played games with the Senate's calendar to try and force a false choice between a shutdown and more Big Government spending. prgtoken As a result, we have missed the deadline for regular order. The short-term bill that we passed, which funds the government, runs out on November 17. That is just a little over a week from today. Once again, we are on the brink of another government shutdown, and the majority leader is still playing the same games. prgtoken We should be debating. We should be amending. We should be voting on legislation to fund the government and secure our border right now. Instead, we have spent the entire week voting on nominations for a few blue State judges and the employment for someone to the National Institutes of Health. prgtoken If that weren't bad enough, once again, the majority leader will be sending us home on Thursday afternoon for the weekend. The majority leader should have kept us in session Monday through Friday every week until all appropriations bills had passed. Instead, he chose to recess early or start voting late, week after week after week. He could have canceled our October State work period, like the House did. Many of my colleagues joined me in asking him to do so.