mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
Introductory Statement on S. 276
Jeff Flake (Republican, AZ) \u2014 2017-2-2

one of the most important elements of the rule of law is the promise of swift access to the courts, but that promise has been broken in my home State of Arizona. That is because Arizona falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, a circuit that is both oversized and overworked. prgtoken With the jurisdiction encompassing 13 districts spread across nine States and 2 U.S. territories, the Ninth Circuit covers 1 in 5 Americans. It hears roughly 12,000 appeals each year. The next busiest circuit doesn't even hear 9,000, and for the thousands of cases under its consideration, the average turnaround time exceeds 15 months. prgtoken Now, if excessive delays weren't bad enough, it turns out the Ninth Circuit is overturned by the Supreme Court 77 percent of the time when the Supreme Court grants cert--77 percent of the time. That is obviously higher than any other court. So not only is the court excruciatingly slow, but in many instances it is simply wrong. prgtoken The court, itself, is unusually large. It has 29 authorized judgeships. That is 12 more than the next largest circuit. prgtoken The Ninth Circuit is so big that it can't even rehear cases as a whole body, like every other appeals court does. Instead, cases are reheard with limited en banc; these are panels of 11 judges each. That means that only one-third of its judges are deciding law for the entire court--only one-third. prgtoken Of the States suffering under the weight of the Ninth Circuit's crushing backlog, Arizona shoulders a uniquely heavy burden. Per capita, Arizona has the busiest Federal docket in the circuit. That puts Arizonans at the back of an already long line just to get their day in court. prgtoken As if the deluge of cases continues to fill the Ninth Circuit's docket, the line keeps getting longer and longer if you happen to live in Arizona. prgtoken With problems like these, we are left to ask: Is the Ninth Circuit simply too big to succeed? If you are an Arizonan, the answer is unquestionably yes. prgtoken Arizonans deserve better, and that is why today I am introducing a bill to break up the Ninth Circuit. prgtoken With the support of my colleague from Arizona, John McCain, and the support of Gov. Doug Ducey, I have introduced the Judicial Administration and Improvement Act. This bill would create a new Twelfth Circuit by moving Arizona, as well as Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Washington, out of the Ninth Circuit. Doing so would create two smaller appellate courts where one dysfunctional court stood, all the while establishing stronger local, regional, and cultural ties. This would help alleviate the Ninth Circuit's enormous caseload and ensure a more timely and accurate judicial process for both circuits. prgtoken Now, importantly, the bill would also free the new circuit from the Ninth Circuit's precedent. That means States like Arizona would be able to chart their own legal course,
DISAPPROVING A RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, THE GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION, AND THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
Lamar Smith (Republican, TX) \u2014 2017-2-2

I rise today in support of House Joint Resolution 37, which annuls a poorly-written regulation put in place by the administration. prgtoken We need to clean up the regulations that the previous administration imposed upon American business. We need to reform them, and ensure that they serve a useful purpose. This is especially important for the Department of Defense and NASA. prgtoken The regulation in question does not allow contractors to exercise their right of due process. Rather than letting our legal system provide justice, American companies could be blacklisted by contracting agencies if ``preliminary determinations'' had been made against them. prgtoken This is not how our justice system works. Perhaps that is why this regulation was halted by a nationwide injunction. prgtoken We should protect American workers. The regulation we strike today was poorly crafted, and it would ultimately do America's workforce more harm than good. prgtoken As Chairman of the Science Committee, I know that such a regulation would impede NASA from carrying out its mission of exploration and place an unnecessary cost on taxpayers by diminishing competition. prgtoken NASA should not be hampered by such unnecessary regulations and needs to focus its resources on the challenges of outer space exploration. prgtoken The Federal procurement process cannot afford to be bogged down with defective regulations. Congress must clean up how our government does business to ensure that it is just and efficient. prgtoken I encourage my colleagues to support this important legislation.
NOMINATION OF NEIL GORSUCH
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2017-2-2

I was surprised by a statement my friend the ic leader made right here yesterday. I am glad he came back to the floor to correct himself, though. I think we all appreciated the ic leader making clear that s did not--let me repeat, did not--insist on 60-vote thresholds for either of President 's two first-term Supreme Court nominees. Did not. We thank the ic leader for clearing that up. His statement also reminds us that both of the Supreme Court Justices President Clinton nominated got straight up-or-down votes as well. There is no reason someone like Judge Gorsuch, who has received widespread acclaim from both sides of the aisle, should be treated differently now. prgtoken When he was nominated to his current seat on the court of appeals, Judge Gorsuch received the American Bar Association's highest possible rating--unanimously ``well qualified.'' At his confirmation hearing, no one had a single negative word to say about him--not a single negative word. At his confirmation vote, no one cast a negative vote against him--not then-Senator , not then-Senators Clinton, , or Kennedy, and not my good friend Senator Schumer, either. Judge Gorsuch was confirmed in exceptionally fast time for a court of appeals nominee--just 2 months. So you have to wonder, if this nominee was so noncontroversial in 2006 that a rollcall vote was not even required, what could possibly have changed since to justify threats of extraordinary treatment now? What has happened in the last 10 years? If the ic leader or anyone else in his conference did not raise a concern in committee or cast a single negative vote then, let alone even ask for a rollcall vote, what could possibly justify these so- called grave concerns--grave concerns--he claims to have now? prgtoken Professor Laurence Tribe, President 's law school mentor, called Judge Gorsuch a ``brilliant, terrific guy who would do the Court's work with distinction.'' This is Laurence Tribe, the President's constitutional law professor, one of the best-known liberal professors in the country. prgtoken Neal Katyal, President 's top Supreme Court lawyer, lauded Judge prgtoken Gorsuch as ``one of the most thoughtful and brilliant judges to have served our nation over the last century.'' Over the last century. That is President 's Supreme Court lawyer. prgtoken The left-leaning Denver Post recently highlighted Judge Gorsuch's reputation as a ``brilliant legal mind'' who applies the law ``fairly and consistently.'' prgtoken I am happy to report that we have even been assured by liberal talk show host Rachel Maddow that Gorsuch is ``a relatively mainstream choice.'' Rachel Maddow. prgtoken Turns out, in the years since Judge Gorsuch's unopposed Senate confirmation, he has shown himself to be the very kind of judge everyone hoped he would be, one who demonstrates a ``sense of fairness and impartiality'' that Demo
THIDWICK BOOKS
Ted Poe (Republican, TX) \u2014 2017-2-2

Thidwick Books is a small, 865-square- foot bookshop that has been in the same building since 1999, but now it is being forced to either close its doors forever or move away. prgtoken Serial plaintiff Craig Yates has sued multiple other merchants, including Thidwick Books. He generally makes vague claims about the designs of retail stores and claims that they violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. prgtoken These small businesses do not have the resources to contest unfounded lawsuits or, in many cases, even know what the alleged violations are. The businesses are told to either pay a settlement or get sued with further litigation. Oftentimes, small businesses choose to pay the extortion rather than to defend the expensive, unfounded drive-by lawsuit. prgtoken The bipartisan bill, the ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017, improves access to public accommodations for the disability community while preventing well-meaning businessowners from falling victim to drive-by lawsuits. prgtoken , the ADA was designed to improve access for the disabled, not to enrich unscrupulous lawyers and the plaintiffs. prgtoken And that is just the way it is.
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF A RULE SUBMITTED BY THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
Adrian Smith (Republican, NE) \u2014 2017-2-2

I rise today in support of this resolution to repeal a rule which would arbitrarily revoke the Second Amendment rights of certain Social Security beneficiaries. The inability to manage one's Social Security benefits does not correlate with the capacity to judiciously use firearms. prgtoken By adding Social Security beneficiaries to the NICS list with no judicial review and forcing them to go through an appeals process to be removed, this rule would also violate the due process rights of these Americans. prgtoken I would also like to focus on the component of this rule which would inhibit the ability of Social Security disability beneficiaries to be approved by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to work with or around certain materials. prgtoken , there is bipartisan agreement we should be investing in and rebuilding our infrastructure. There is also bipartisan agreement we should be empowering people receiving benefits, like disability insurance, to return to work if they are able to do so. prgtoken However, this rule will create a new barrier for beneficiaries seeking to return to work in industries like construction by forcing them to navigate a complex appeals process before they can be reemployed. prgtoken Let me say again, if we do nothing about this rule, it will prevent law- prgtoken abiding Americans who are able to do so from getting off the disability rolls and returning to work. prgtoken We can work together on constructive ways to prevent those who would do us harm from having access to firearms and explosives. This rule is not the way to do so. prgtoken I urge support for the resolution.
ORDERS FOR FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2017
Mike Crapo (Republican, ID) \u2014 2017-2-2

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 6:30 a.m Friday, February 3; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; further, that following leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of H.J. Res. 41, with no debate time remaining; finally, that following the disposition of H.J. Res. 41, the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the DeVos nomination, rule XXII notwithstanding.
DISAPPROVING A RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2017-2-2

yesterday the Senate took up legislation to block the stream buffer rule, which is a job-killing regulation from the administration--something the administration will be long remembered for--a regulatory overreach that strangled the growth of our economy and the jobs that come along with it. This is a prime example of a misnomer, though. It is not really about protecting streams, as it claims, but about killing the coal industry and energy production in our country. prgtoken One of the things that have caused our economy to grow historically has been access to low-cost energy, but unfortunately this regulation has made that not possible in coal country, taking many jobs along with it and I think in part, at least, responsible for the vote President got in many parts of the country that felt left behind by the economy and because of job-killing regulations like the stream buffer rule. Nomination of Neil Gorsuch prgtoken , yesterday I had the chance to meet with Judge Gorsuch personally, the man President nominated to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. prgtoken It is plain to me now why President selected him to be the nominee for the seat vacated by the death of Justice Scalia. Judge Gorsuch's experience, intellect, and background make him uniquely qualified and qualify him as a mainstream nominee. That seems to be the nomenclature that has been embraced by our colleagues across the aisle. They said they hope President nominates a mainstream nominee. Well, he did. But I fully expect our colleagues across the aisle to try to paint him as some sort of extremist, which they can't do based upon his distinguished record on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals for the last 10 years as a Federal judge or his previous life. They are going to have to make things up in order to cause people to believe this nominee is not a mainstream nominee. prgtoken I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Judiciary Committee to do our job of advice and consent and to see the nomination come to the floor, where I hope he will be confirmed. I trust he will be confirmed one way or the other. prgtoken Unfortunately, Senate --particularly their leader, the Senator from New York--have already announced that they will fight tooth and prgtoken nail against any nominee put forward by President . Predictably, the minority leader has made clear that he will try to filibuster the President's choice. It has been ironic to watch him come here and extol the virtues of the 60-vote cloture requirement for confirming a Supreme Court Justice when he and the rest of his colleagues invoked the so- called nuclear option to change the Senate rules by breaking those rules and reducing the cloture requirement for lower Federal court judges and Cabinet members to 51. prgtoken We see what happened as a result of that action. Now they find themselve
NATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK
Joe Wilson (Republican, SC) \u2014 2017-2-2

I was grateful yesterday to join my friend, Congressman Steve King, to introduce the National Right to Work Act. prgtoken At least 80 percent of Americans favor barring the forcing of employees to pay dues as a condition of their employment, and this bill would protect workers by eliminating the forced-dues clauses in federal statute. It still allows workers to unionize if they chose to do so-- but makes membership voluntary, not mandatory. prgtoken Right-to-work states, like South Carolina, have seen first-hand that job creation and economic growth comes from expanded freedoms. Right to work was crucial for South Carolina becoming the leading manufacturer and exporter of tires, with Michelin, Bridgestone, Continental, and Giti, while also being America's largest exporter of cars with BMW and soon Volvo. prgtoken I appreciated joining Congressman Steve King, with Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Committee, on this important issue that will positively promote jobs. prgtoken In conclusion, God Bless Our Troops and we will never forget September 11th in the Global War on Terrorism.
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF A RULE SUBMITTED BY THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2017-2-2

I want to take a few minutes to comment on some of the initial reactions that I have heard from my ic colleagues on the President's nomination of Judge Gorsuch to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. prgtoken First of all, even before we had the nominee, there were many of the ic Members vowing to filibuster the nominee, site unseen. That, of course, is very unfortunate, as well as being ridiculous--in other words, saying you are going to filibuster somebody before you even know who the nominee is. But of course, given prgtoken how the minority has treated the President's Cabinet nominees so far, it is not exactly surprising that they would say this before the President even nominated somebody for the Court. prgtoken Then, of course, this week the President announced his nominee. Judge Gorsuch, of course, was confirmed by the Senate in 2006 without a single ``no'' vote and is universally respected as one of the finest and most fairminded judges in the country. In fact--get this--one of President 's Solicitors General called him ``one of the most thoughtful and brilliant judges to have served our Nation over the last century.'' prgtoken Now, if an Solicitor General says that and that is not mainstream enough, I don't know what is. After the President's announcement, something very interesting happened. Right out of the gate, there were a number of Senate calling for ``a hearing and a vote.'' Well, that certainly sounds very encouraging. The press picked up on these comments, and one newspaper even reported that after learning who the nominee was, there were already seven Senate opposed to filibustering this nominee. prgtoken At first glance, it appears those were trying to be consistent with their stance from last year that a nominee deserves a hearing and an up-or-down vote. But of course, now they conveniently seem to have dropped the up-or-down portion of that stand. prgtoken Now, isn't that a nice trick, a new trick. Take, for example, one of my colleagues, who last year said: ``The Constitution says the Senate shall advise and consent, and that means having an up-or-down vote.'' But oddly, just yesterday, that same colleague said: ``I support a 60- vote margin for all Supreme Court nominees.'' prgtoken That is a very nice sleight of hand. But most of the Senators are not that gullible. The Washington Post Fact Checker certainly took notice of their wordsmithing. That has earned them two Pinocchios. When you look at the facts, a 60-vote threshold has never been a standard, as the minority leader said yesterday. Otherwise, we would not have two of the current justices sitting on the Supreme Court. prgtoken Of course, my colleagues tried unsuccessfully to filibuster Justice Alito. The Senate voted 72 to 25 to invoke cloture. He was then confirmed 58 to 42 on an up-or-down vote. prgtoken Justice Thomas, now on the Supreme Court for 25 y
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF A RULE SUBMITTED BY THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Rob Portman (Republican, OH) \u2014 2017-2-2

I rise tonight to talk about a problem that is affecting every single one of the States represented in this Chamber and every one of our communities. It is one that folks back home are, unfortunately, experiencing and, frankly, we don't talk enough about this in Washington. It is this epidemic of heroin and prescription drug abuse. prgtoken How bad is it? We just learned very recently that for the first time in 23 years, life expectancy in the United States has gone down, and there is no question that the surge in heroin and prescription drug addiction is one of the reasons. In fact, the demographic that saw the biggest drop in life expectancy was among middle-aged White women--the very group that has been hardest hit by the heroin and prescription drug epidemic in overdoses and overdose deaths. Unbelievably, this epidemic is actually driving down life expectancy in our great country. prgtoken It has been pretty dramatic. The number of heroin users in the United States has tripled since 2007, and the number of heroin overdoses has tripled just since 2012. It has gotten to the point where we are now losing one American life about every 12 minutes to this epidemic. So during this talk today, which will be about 12 minutes, we expect another American to die of a heroin overdose. prgtoken Congress has begun to act, and I applaud the House and the Senate for that. We have acted over the last year to do a couple things. One is that, in the appropriations bill that passed at the end of last year, we put more money aside for treatment. So States are now receiving grants--$500 million this year, $500 million next year. These grants are needed. It is going to the hardest hit States. It is going to States based on their need, which I think is very important, because some States are hit harder than others. My colleague from Ohio is here on the floor, and he has been very involved in this issue as well. My State has been one of those States hardest hit. Some think that Ohio now has the highest number of overdoses when we add prescription drugs, heroin, and synthetic heroin, like fentanyl. prgtoken Second, last summer Congress took what I think is the biggest step we have taken in decades in terms of fighting this issue when we passed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. The President signed it into law. It is already helping with regard to providing more prevention efforts, treatment, and long-term recovery. It is also helping our law enforcement and other first responders to be able to handle this growing crisis. prgtoken We fully funded this Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act--also called CARA--this year, and now we need to ensure that the new administration that has just come in continues to effectively implement this program as quickly as possible. prgtoken Just in the last few weeks, three of CARA's grant programs got up and running. One is funding for drug courts. Those who are involved