mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
Border Security (Executive Session)
Bill Hagerty (Republican, TN) \u2014 2024-4-10

in our Nation's 248-year history, the House of Representatives has impeached individuals in 21 cases. Reflecting the grave, highly rare exercise of this constitutional power, the Senate has tried each such case, except where the person resigned office before the Senate trial, rendering such trial moot. prgtoken This includes two partisan ic impeachments of the former President--one in which the s controlled the Senate and one in which it was equally divided. prgtoken Shattering norms, however, is becoming a defining theme for this year. Why are my ic colleagues so eager to shirk their constitutional duty and ignore an impeachment? Because they want to ignore the damning evidence of Secretary Mayorkas's willful violations of immigration law. prgtoken I can think of no better example than the Secretary's decision to willfully and knowingly exceed his parole authority set forth in the Immigration and Nationality Act. That law permits the Secretary to grant parole but only prgtoken on a case-by-case basis, temporarily, and ``for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit''; for example, when a person is in need of urgent medical care or the person needs to attend a family member's funeral. He has even created a new taxpayer-funded parole program to allow aliens from numerous countries to be flown directly into the United States. prgtoken He has abused his case-by-case parole authority beyond any degree imaginable. He is now flying 30,000 illegal aliens per month directly into the United States for resettlement. prgtoken This is a blatant violation of the law, and it is abuse of the parole law in particular. Two weeks ago, every single Senate voted against my appropriations amendment to defund this very parole flight program. That vote is impossible to explain to ordinary Americans. They see the absurdity of flying in tens of thousands of illegal aliens right in the midst of an illegal immigration crisis. prgtoken So, instead, partisan so-called fact checkers have recently been quibbling over which flights or which airports are being used. This is clearly an attempt to distract from the basic problem with this taxpayer-funded program, which is that it is illegal and it is absurd. prgtoken I understand why want to cover it up though. It is the same reason they don't want to consider these impeachment articles. prgtoken Similarly, the Secretary terminated contracts for border wall construction and refused to expend funds that Congress appropriated for this specific purpose. prgtoken Secretary Mayorkas's impoundment of funds is a clear attempt to usurp the will of Congress by refusing their mandate, our mandate, to build the border wall. prgtoken The Secretary has also replaced detention mandates in law with unlawful mass catch-and-release policies that encourage illegal immigration. prgtoken The law requires that illegal aliens are detained
S.J. Res. 61 (Executive Session)
Kevin Cramer (Republican, ND) \u2014 2024-4-10

thank you for the recognition. prgtoken At the outset, let me say thank you to Senators Manchin and Capito for their passionate support and their words today in support of this joint resolution, this Congressional Review Act resolution. I also want to thank the chairman of the EPW, the distinguished Senator from Delaware and my friend. As he just said, we have worked closely together on lots of things. It is a great committee. It is fun to work on. And, again, we just don't see eye to eye on this one, but I just want to offer my respect for the good work that we all do together. . prgtoken , few things are more frustrating in government than unelected bureaucrats asserting authority they don't have and foisting Federal mediocrity on the excellence of States. Shortly, the Senate will take up my bipartisan resolution that overturns the administration's obviously illegal--regardless of how you might feel about the merits, an obviously illegal rule that requires State departments of transportation to measure CO2 tailpipe emissions and then set declining targets for vehicles traveling on the highway systems of their respective States. prgtoken This rule is wrong on so many levels and has already been overturned by courts in Texas and Kentucky. Now we, the elected policymakers in our system, have the opportunity to correct course and spare the taxpayers the gross expense of litigating this demonstration of bureaucratic arrogance. prgtoken When the Environment and Public Works Committee negotiated the highway bill, we considered giving this authority to the Department of Transportation. But after the hearings and the deliberations, the committee chose not to grant such authority to the Agency, and we passed the bill out unanimously. And it became the foundation for the broader bipartisan bill known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. prgtoken When the ``bipartisan gang'' put their proposal together, they, too, chose to leave this authority out of the bill. These decisions were not accidental; they were intentional. prgtoken When we pointed this out during the Department of Transportation's official comment period, the Federal Highway Administration provided a very novel rationale. Get this, now. They argued that since Congress was aware of their plans to promulgate this rule and did not explicitly bar it, ``Congress intended to leave such determinations to''--get this, now--``Agency expertise to be handled via regulatory authority.'' prgtoken That is not just arrogance; that is arrogance on steroids. prgtoken Here is what the late great Winston Churchill had to say about expertise in government: Nothing would be more fatal than for the government of States to get into the hands of the experts. Expert knowledge is limited knowledge: and the unlimited ignorance of the plain man who knows only what hurts is a safer guide, than
Federal Agencies (Executive Session)
Joni Ernst (Republican, IA) \u2014 2024-4-10

despite President begging bureaucrats to return to work, government buildings remain largely abandoned, and Washington, DC, is a ghost town. Heads of Agencies have mysteriously disappeared without a trace. Even the White House was left in the dark when the Secretary of Defense vanished for days. prgtoken I am hearing from folks in Iowa who tried calling Federal Agencies for help but didn't hear boo. A nonprofit serving vulnerable, disabled, elderly, and other Iowans in need contacted my office, frustrated by the growing delays that organization is experiencing dealing with the Social Security Administration. The executive director tells me that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the response time from the local Social Security office was just a few days at most but that now it takes weeks and even months to get a call back. Some of the folks the nonprofit serves have gone without benefits as a result of unreturned phone calls. Approvals to provide support to others seeking assistance are also being delayed. prgtoken The agency's executive director says the lack of communication ``is having an impact on the clients we serve and our ability to provide quality service'' and that ``they are running us out of business.'' prgtoken While the Social Security Administration's headquarters is nearly empty, with just 7 percent of its office space being used, these folks serving Iowans in need are showing up. Because the support they provide is being threatened by the Social Security Administration's unresponsiveness, I called on the Agency's inspector general to investigate. prgtoken And folks, well, that seemed to do the trick. Almost immediately, the phone finally started ringing, and the Social Security Administration is once again working with this agency to make sure my Iowans are being taken care of. prgtoken Another Iowan who worked for the Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Services tells me his former colleagues describe working from home as ``like being on vacation. Very little work was assigned and all they had to do was be available by phone.'' prgtoken But according to another whistleblower within the Department who contacted me, it is even difficult to get in touch with coworkers. Here is some direct quotes from this particular whistleblower: On occasions I have gone to USDA headquarters in Washington, D.C. . . . it resembles a ghost town. As a supervisor, I can tell you that full-time remote work and extensive telework are negatively affecting productivity, efficiency, and cooperation. prgtoken And yet another: Remote work and telework employees are often unreachable and do not respond to simple email questions for hours. prgtoken When I questioned the USDA Secretary recently about these claims, he prgtoken pushed back, insisting his staff are required to be in the office a majority of the week. Yet, according to the nonpartisan Go
Judicial Conference (Executive Session)
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2024-4-10

last month, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas resisted ' latest attempt to intimidate the Federal judiciary. prgtoken This all started a year ago, when Senate Majority Leader Schumer sent a letter to the chief judge of the Northern District of Texas, urging him to change the ways that cases were assigned in that district. In short, the majority leader is unhappy with single-judge divisions in Texas that have handed down rulings that he doesn't agree with. prgtoken Well, forget for a moment the fact that the left has been more than happy to file lawsuits in courts they believe will be friendly to their arguments. Set that aside for a moment. But the majority leader seeks to avoid more liberal losses in the courtrooms. He wants the chief judge to ignore Federal law--literally, ignore the law--which establishes which courts have jurisdiction and venue over a given case. As Senator Schumer sees it, this change, which would create a random selection assignment system, would prevent judges who are nominated by Presidents from hearing as many high-profile cases. prgtoken Well, the majority leader might be forgiven for his naivete or his misunderstanding of actually what controls what venue and what jurisdiction is under the law, but the problem is that he went a step further. He ended his letter with a clear threat. If the Northern District didn't comply with his demands, he said, ``Congress will consider more prescriptive requirements.'' In other words, he said: Do what we want, and, if you don't, we will do it for you. prgtoken Well, for some reason, the Senator from New York thinks he should be the one to decide how cases are assigned in the Northern District of Texas. prgtoken Late last month, Chief Judge David Godbey wrote the majority leader a letter reminding him of something that the leader already knew, which is that assignment of cases is not governed by politics but by existing law. A Federal statute that Congress passed, signed by a President, gives district courts the authority to decide how to assign cases for a given district. prgtoken Unsurprisingly, there is no requirement that chief judges consult with the majority leader of the Senate when deciding how to assign cases within their district. There is this thing called separation of powers that the majority leader may have overlooked or forgotten about. prgtoken As Chief Justice Godbey noted in his letter, the district judges in the Northern District of Texas met to discuss this topic and reached a consensus not to make the changes requested by Senator Schumer. prgtoken While the chief judge of the Northern District was not swayed by the majority leader's implicit threat, that wasn't the end of the story. Regrettably, the Judicial Conference of the United States, in an effort to placate the majority leader, recommended that district courts across the country randomly assign certain cases that s
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY BRIDGE
Andy Harris (Republican, MD) \u2014 2024-4-10

I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. prgtoken Today, I rise, as fellow members of my delegation have, to speak regarding the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and especially to honor the memory of the hardworking men who lost their lives the morning the bridge collapsed. prgtoken These hardworking men were fellow Marylanders: husbands, fathers, brothers, and friends. Their passing serves as a solemn reminder to cherish our own lives and the lives of those we love deeply. prgtoken , the Maryland congressional delegation stands united as we mourn those lost and extend our heartfelt condolences to their grieving families. prgtoken I also want to take a moment to recognize Maryland's brave first responders whose heroic actions saved lives the morning the Key Bridge collapsed. Once that mayday call was issued from the approaching ship, Maryland Transportation Authority Police acted prgtoken quickly and, in less than 2 minutes, stopped traffic from coming over the bridge. There is no doubt these immediate actions saved lives and averted an even greater tragedy. prgtoken We thank those officers who protect us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, even in the middle of the night while most of us are asleep, as was the case that day. prgtoken , the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and the closure of the Port of Baltimore has caused serious economic consequences for our State's economy. The Baltimore Port is the largest U.S. port for handling farming construction machinery. It handles agricultural products. It is also a large export facility for American coal. prgtoken , 15,000 jobs directly depend on the Port of Baltimore. prgtoken I especially thank the Army Corps of Engineers for their quick and tireless work to get the channel cleared so that the port can reopen as soon as possible. prgtoken As we continue to work on the cleanup phase of the bridge collapse, it is important that we seek maximum liability from those foreign companies that owned and operated the ship that crashed into the bridge. As I have long said, American taxpayers in both Maryland and across the country should not be held responsible to pay for the cost to rebuild a bridge if, indeed, there was negligence on the part of foreign-owned shipping companies. prgtoken , in closing, tragedy knows no partisanship. The Key Bridge collapse wasn't a tragedy, and it wasn't a tragedy. The solution to clearing the channel, reopening the port, and building the bridge back even better than it was before won't be a partisan solution. It will be a bipartisan one. prgtoken As we navigate the necessary legislation going forward, we all commit in the delegation to working in a bipartisan way to cut through Federal red tape, clear that channel, open that port, and construct an even better, safer bridge so that our fellow Marylanders, Maryland's economy, and those affected by this tragedy will come back stronger, safer, and united.
NATO (Executive Session)
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2024-4-10

last week, the strongest and most successful military alliance in the history of the world marked an impressive milestone. Seventy-five years ago, at the dawn of the Cold War, with decades of superpower competition on the horizon, the founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization convened here in Washington to formalize a commitment to collective security. prgtoken In the years since, NATO has grown from 12 to 32 allies. The transatlantic alliance has always required management. Alliances always do. But, as Churchill observed, the only thing worse than fighting alongside allies is fighting without them. prgtoken While we have experienced periods of pronounced tension within the alliance, today is not one of them. Nations on both sides of the Atlantic have increasingly concluded that common threats are best met with shared resolve. prgtoken Most recently, of course, the alliance has been proud to welcome Sweden and Finland to our ranks. With highly capable militaries and advanced economies, our newest allies were already taking their own defense seriously. In the face of Putin's brutal escalation in Ukraine, they decided to share the burden of collective security. prgtoken But Russian aggression hasn't just expanded the NATO alliance; it has also prompted longtime allies to take their treaty obligations more seriously. Just last week, the Norwegian Government confirmed that it would meet the NATO 2-percent defense spending target this year and that it would nearly double its defense budget over the next 12. For a wealthy country like Norway, with one of the highest per capita GDPs in the world, this is a big deal. Across the alliance, members are making historic new commitments to strengthen their militaries and expand their defense industrial capacity. European allies have contracted to buy 600 cutting-edge American F-35 aircraft to add to their arsenals. On the whole, they are already meeting the 2-percent target, and NATO leaders expect more individual members to reach it by the July summit here in Washington. prgtoken There is still work to be done. Not every ally is taking its treaty obligations seriously enough. One of the most concerning laggards isn't even a European country, but it is our neighbor to prgtoken the north. Like America, Canada is at once an Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic nation, and it is time for Ottawa to take its obligations to NATO, to NORAD, and to its own defense more seriously. prgtoken That said, for our European allies, the holiday from history really is over. Their greater investments in collective defense also include growing contributions to Ukraine's defense. In fact, 18 countries are making larger relative contributions to helping Ukraine resist Russian aggression than the United States. Of course, this doesn't absolve America from playing a leading role. America is the glue that keeps the alliance together. We are a critical catalyst of allied contr
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 7888, REFORMING INTELLIGENCE AND SECURING AMERICA ACT; PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 529, EXTENDING LIMITS OF U.S. CUSTOMS WATERS ACT; PROVIDING FOR...
Chip Roy (Republican, TX) \u2014 2024-4-10

I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for his kind words for our colleague, Mr. Cole. Those of us on the committee will miss working with the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole). Obviously, as the gentleman from Massachusetts pointed out, he is not going very far. He will be down the hall in the Appropriations Committee. I guess we won't get ahead of things. It has not been formalized yet, but it seems like that is the direction it is going. It has been an honor to work on the Committee with Tom Cole. prgtoken Again, without getting ahead of things, I think there are able folks on the Rules Committee, and Dr. Burgess from Texas very likely might move into that role, and I will look forward to working with him in the Rules Committee. prgtoken , I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Ms. Hageman).
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 7888, REFORMING INTELLIGENCE AND SECURING AMERICA ACT; PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 529, EXTENDING LIMITS OF U.S. CUSTOMS WATERS ACT; PROVIDING FOR...
James P. McGovern (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2024-4-10

this place is so broken, it is pathetic. prgtoken It is interesting to listen to the gentleman from Texas, who is now managing this rule and who regularly lectures us on the importance of regular order and making sure that we have a more open process. prgtoken The rule that he is bringing before the membership today contains four measures. Three of these measures are being brought to us under completely closed rules. No amendments are made in order. Three of the bills weren't even considered by committees of jurisdiction--no hearings and no markup--yet here we are. What a wonderful process to celebrate. prgtoken I mean, this place is not functioning. We don't even know whether this rule that we are spending time debating today will even pass because there is such disarray on the side. It is a pathetic way for this Congress to be run. prgtoken , I could be here all day talking about the dysfunction on the other side, but I rise today to applaud two public servants who I think have made this institution a better place. prgtoken First is our senior professional staff member and director of Member services, Eric Delaney, who will have his last day with us this Friday. prgtoken Eric is a Philly native and alum of Binghamton University, New York. He has spent over 18 years working for the American people here on Capitol Hill. prgtoken Like many staffers, Eric's journey began when he became a legislative assistant working for Representative Ted Strickland and the people of Ohio. He spent 8 years as a senior adviser for Member services under Xavier Becerra, the Caucus vice chair and then chair. He then served as legislative director for Representative Anthony Brown before joining the Rules Committee in 2018. prgtoken Eric has an impressive resume, but let me also say he is also just a great guy and an integral part of our team. His dedication to public service, skill as a coalition builder, fast problem-solving, and quiet leadership have left a mark on all of us, and we will miss him at the Rules Committee. prgtoken We are sad to see him go but excited to see what he will accomplish in his new role at the Department of Energy. On behalf of all of us, I thank him for his hard work and unwavering commitment to this institution. prgtoken , I also want to congratulate my dear friend, Tom Cole, who has officially been selected by the Conference as the next chair of the Appropriations Committee. prgtoken It is no surprise to me given his skill as a legislator, his dedication as a public servant, and his decency as a person. I cannot think of any other person I would rather have chairing the Rules prgtoken Committee except me, but that is going to take change in the majority, and that is up to the American people, not us. prgtoken Tom has consistently demonstrated a tremendous respect for this institution, and he has always conducted himself in a way that demonstrates it, and it is not just in public when