mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018--MOTION TO PROCEED--Continued
Mike Lee (Republican, UT) \u2014 2017-9-12

I stand to support my friend Senator Rand Paul and to encourage my colleagues in the U.S. Senate to support his proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. prgtoken In the Declaration of Independence, the Founding Fathers lodged the following grievance against King George III: ``He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.'' prgtoken A decade later, the Founders included a safeguard in the Constitution so ``civil power''--in other words, the people and their duly elected representatives--would play an important role in matters of war and peace. The safeguard takes up all of seven words in the Constitution: ``The Congress shall have Power . . . to declare War.'' prgtoken Today this safeguard--this crucial check on government--has been eroded in several ways and in ways many Americans would find downright alarming. prgtoken Congressional authorization for the use of military force is being used in a contorted way to justify wars with an ever-growing list of adversaries without any input from Congress or the American people about whether we should be fighting those wars in the first place. prgtoken Senator Paul has submitted an amendment to sunset two such authorizations: the 2001 authorization of military force against the perpetrators of 9/11, and the 2002 authorization of military force against the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. prgtoken I support my colleague's amendment because the world has changed and our adversaries have changed since those authorizations were passed into law by Congress. Osama bin Laden is dead. Saddam Hussein is dead. In fact, his statue in Firdos Square came down almost a decade and a half ago. Yet thousands of American troops are still serving in the Middle East based on the same authorizations Congress granted more than a decade and a half ago. Instead of changing these authorizations to reflect a changing world, politicians have used the old authorizations to start new wars in countries other than Iraq and Afghanistan against adversaries that had nothing to do with 9/11. prgtoken The 2001 AUMF has been used to justify a drone war across the Middle East without a debate or a vote in Congress. It has been used to justify air wars in Libya and Yemen without a debate or a vote in Congress. It has been used to justify military action against the Islamic State terrorist group without a debate or a vote in Congress. Some of these military actions may be justified, but the best way to determine prgtoken whether they are is to submit them to scrutiny, to debate and vote on the matter in Congress as the Constitution prescribes. prgtoken As many of you know, we are in the midst of sort of a populist challenge to Washington, DC. Senator Paul and I have listened to countless Americans voice many of their grievances against Washington. The gist of their complaint in this area is this: They don't feel as though their interests a
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018--MOTION TO PROCEED
John Kennedy (Republican, LA) \u2014 2017-9-12

let me say that my heart goes out to the people of America who are, right now, dealing with Hurricanes Harvey and Irma and their aftermaths. Tribute to Steve Gleason and Donna Britt prgtoken , ALS, which I think most of us refer to as Lou Gehrig's disease, has hit us hard in Louisiana. It has hit our world hard, but it has hit especially hard in my State. prgtoken A number of my colleagues and a number of Americans, I hope, were watching the night the New Orleans Saints returned to the field after our State was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. That night in the Superdome, a young man named Steve Gleason became a legend. I know it was just a football game, but he blocked a punt deep in the territory of the Saints' opponent, the Atlanta Falcons, for a touchdown. It was more than just a touchdown; it was a declaration that Louisiana was going to come back, that our spirit was not broken. prgtoken Today, Steve Gleason is battling ALS. The medical term for ALS is ``amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.'' We call it, as I said, Lou Gehrig's disease. It is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that destroys nerve cells in the brain and in the spinal cord. Regrettably, there is no cure. Steve, however, is determined to thrive and help others who have ALS. prgtoken Within the past few weeks, we have also learned that another Louisianan has ALS--well-known Baton Rouge television news anchor Donna Britt. I will tell you, like Steve, Donna is showing true grit in the face of this horrible disease. Most of us would probably curl into a fetal position and cry if we were told we had a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is almost always fatal--but not Steve and certainly not Ms. Donna Britt. Their valor and their courage is inspirational to me and, I think, to all Louisianans. As Donna herself put it, she is going to continue living as a living person and not as a dying person. prgtoken There is a famous line in a famous movie in which the main character says: I have a choice here--it is time to get busy living or get busy dying. Donna has chosen to get busy living. She is going to keep going to work, and she is going to keep caring for her family. Donna is educating herself about ALS. She has ordered a state-of-the-art wheelchair with Bluetooth technology, and she is adding words to a voice bank for when she can no longer speak because of this horrible disease. Donna Britt--I am not surprised--is determined to meet every challenge. prgtoken Let me say it again. This is pure valor. It is the type of courage in the face of adversity that inspires us all. It is also Donna. I do not know how to put that any other way. That is Donna Britt. Donna is a person who plays the oboe and who has survived breast cancer. She donates books to school libraries, and for charity she sings outside the Walmart during the holidays. She travels the world, and she delivers the news. She is a voice
AUTHORITY FOR COMMITTEES TO MEET
Ted Cruz (Republican, TX) \u2014 2017-9-12

I have 8 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders. prgtoken Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate: committee on banking, housing, and urban affairs prgtoken The Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 12, 2017, at 10 a.m to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Examining the Fintech Landscape.'' committee on finance prgtoken The Committee on Finance is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 12, 2017, at 10 a.m in 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Health Care: Issues Impacting Cost and Coverage.'' committee on foreign relations prgtoken The Committee on Foreign Relations is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 12, 2017, at 9:30 a.m to hold a hearing entitled ``Nominations.'' committee on health, education, labor, and pensions prgtoken The Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is authorized to meet, during the session of the Senate, in order to conduct a hearing entitled ``Stabilizing Premiums and Helping Individuals in the Individual Insurance Market for 2018: State Flexibility'' on Tuesday, September 12, 2017, at 10 a.m in room 430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. committee on homeland security and governmental affairs prgtoken The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 12, 2017, at 10:15 a.m in order to conduct a hearing on the nominations of Daniel J. Kaniewski to be Deputy Administrator for Protection and National Preparedness, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Jonathan H. Pittman to be an Associate Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia. committee on intelligence prgtoken The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is authorized to meet during the session of the 115th Congress of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, September 12, 2017, from 2:30 p.m in room SH-219 of the Senate Hart Office Building to hold a Closed Member Roundtable. subcommittee on energy oversight prgtoken The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is authorized to hold a meeting during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 12, 2017, at 2:30 p.m in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. prgtoken The Committee will hold Subcommittee Hearing on ``Reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act: Oversight of Fisheries Management Successes and Challenges.'' committee on
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018--MOTION TO PROCEED--Continued
James M. Inhofe (Republican, OK) \u2014 2017-9-12

I want to discuss an amendment, and I am not sure when it will be offered--I understand it will be offered--and I think it is very significant. prgtoken First of all, let's keep in mind what this is all about. The NDAA is the National Defense Authorization Act. It is one that we know is going to pass. It has passed for 55 consecutive years. If something happened and it didn't pass, the troops wouldn't get hazard pay or flight pay, and it would really be a traumatic thing that would happen. But it is not going to happen. It is going to pass. It is the most important bill that I believe we pass every year. As I said, we have passed it for 55 consecutive years, and it is important that we pass it right away. Sometimes it gets stalled until later in the year, but if it isn't done by the end of December, that is when everything falls apart. So we just don't need to do that, and I believe we have the momentum to go ahead and get it done. prgtoken Now, we are facing a threat. I have stood at this podium so many times now to talk about how I look back wistfully at the days of the Cold War when we had two superpowers. We knew what they had. They knew what we had. Mutually shared destruction meant something, but now it is totally different. prgtoken We hear that the two biggest threats facing us right now would be North Korea and Iran. I stand on the side that it is North Korea because North Korea is run by someone with a questionable mentality, and they are developing--I have watched them over the years--the capabilities that they now have. I certainly agree that Iran also is a serious threat. But the fact is that our Armed Forces are now in a condition that they have not been in for a long time. prgtoken I chair the Subcommittee on Readiness in the Senate, and we had the vice chairs testify before us not too long ago. They testified that we are in worse shape now than we were during the hollow force of the 1970s, right after the Carter administration. Many of us remember that, and I certainly do. Our Armed Forces are smaller than in the days of the hollow force in the 1970s, and readiness in the form of personnel, training, and equipment have been degraded, I think, to a breaking point. All the while, we have witnessed an uptake in the training and operational accidents across the Armed Forces. While the risks posed by the readiness crisis are significant, Congress is already taking steps to correct the shortfalls. prgtoken Every amendment considered for the NDAA should focus on increasing readiness across our services. We owe it to prgtoken our troops and our Nation to help ensure that levels are acceptable. That is why it is disappointing and dangerous that we are considering an amendment that would authorize a base realignment and closure round, better known to all of us as a BRAC round. We have had five BRAC rounds since 1989, and I am familiar with all of them. I, along with many of my colleagues
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2018
Tim Murphy (Republican, PA) \u2014 2017-9-12

this is the last of my amendments on this. Although this House overwhelmingly passed the authorization for these, as did the Senate, money was not allocated towards it. prgtoken While I understand there is a priority to treat substance abuse, but even with that, many times there is nowhere for someone to go. prgtoken Back in the 1950s, we had over half a million psychiatric hospital beds in this country. I think at the time the population of the United State was 150 million. Now, with a population close to 317 million to 318 million, we have about 40,000 hospital beds and a shortage of 100,000. The only State that actually has an adequate number of beds is Mississippi. All the rest are at a critical shortage. prgtoken So what happens when a person has a drug overdose and needs to get into treatment? What happens when a person has a psychiatric breakdown? prgtoken Well, generally what happens is the police arrive, not the paramedics. They arrest the person. Many States actually say: Let's put these people in a jail cell, because there is no bed. prgtoken Or, if they take them to the hospital, the hospital says: Let's just give them some medication to stabilize them and let them back out because we can't hold them. We have no place for them to go. prgtoken What happens, many times these people are boarded, that is, they remain in an emergency room bed, which is no place for someone with a psychiatric crisis. Sometimes they will be tied to their gurney; sometimes they are in the hallways; sometimes they are, for days or weeks or several weeks, waiting for a psychiatric bed and nothing opens up. prgtoken I thought when Dorothea Dix said let's close down the jail concept, that was prevalent in our country back then, let's have nice hospitals for them. Historically, they said that was a good move, but what happened is these psych beds closed down starting widely in the 1980s and continuing until now. There simply is no place for them to go. prgtoken Let's remember that President Kennedy's last bill he signed before his assassination was to begin this process of closing the beds but having community-based treatment, but America and Congress have not kept that promise. prgtoken There is a story of a Senator from Virginia by the name of Creigh Deeds. Some may remember in the news when his son Gus had a crisis and Senator Deeds took his son to a hospital. There they waited hour after hour after hour while the hospital tried to find a hospital bed available for him. Finally, he said they couldn't find any beds: Take young Gus home, and let's see what happens in the future. prgtoken When Senator Deeds took his son home, his son stabbed Senator Deeds, trying to kill him; and when Senator Deeds ran to get help, he survived, but his son did not because he shot himself with a bullet-- because there were no beds. prgtoken Now, this particular amendment doesn't create beds, but what happens is sometimes there are beds av
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY CLASSIFIED FACILITY INVENTORY ACT
Lou Barletta (Republican, PA) \u2014 2017-9-12

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , today we are advancing another bill to support the men and women who answer the call to keep their neighbors safe. prgtoken Yesterday we honored the first responders and countless other Americans who were murdered in the September 11 terrorist attacks. We will never forget them, nor their great sacrifices of their families and loved ones. prgtoken I come from Pennsylvania, which has a proud history of service, from the National Guard to police, to fire houses, to EMTs. Even one of our former Governors, Tom Ridge, was a key player in setting up the Department of Homeland Security. prgtoken Today, we, in Congress, continue to work to reduce the blind spots that led to 9/11, and ensure our Nation's newest Department is able to get local law enforcement officers the resources that they need to keep our communities safe. prgtoken Having served as mayor of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, I have long known that it will be the police officer on the streets of Hazleton, Shamokin or Shippensburg, not some analyst in Washington, who will recognize when a member of our community has radicalized or been recruited by a gang or terrorist sect. prgtoken That is one of the reasons why I worked with the committee to introduce H.R. 2443, the Department of Homeland Security Classified Facility Inventory Act. prgtoken My bill strengthens information sharing between local, State, and Federal law enforcement by requiring the DHS to maintain an inventory of facilities certified to store information classified above the secret level. prgtoken This is a follow-up to the Fusion Center Enhancement Act of 2017, which I first introduced last Congress and has successfully passed the committee in the House. prgtoken I come from a State with three fusion centers: the Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center, known as PaCIC, in burg; Delaware Valley Intelligence Center in Philadelphia; and Southwestern PA Region 13 Fusion Center in Pittsburgh. prgtoken This bill is part of my efforts to make the DHS share information with its State and local partners. prgtoken More and more, State and local officials are now getting the security clearances they need to get important national security information that will help them; however, gaps remain. prgtoken This bill will ensure that DHS is tracking the specific location of all the Department's secure facilities and make this information available to the appropriate State and local personnel as well as Department employees. prgtoken To be honest, it is frustrating that this legislation is even needed. Congress and DHS share the same goal of keeping our communities safe. We must make it clear that information needs to be shared to allow for proper oversight both now and in the future. Our State and local law enforcement officials are professionals and leaders of our communities. However, far too often, I have heard complaints that Federal officials do n
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
Steve Daines (Republican, MT) \u2014 2017-9-12

Connor Westlake of Bozeman, MT, is a driven, determined and diligent 19-year-old who has proven to be a leader among his peers and in his community. As an athlete, Connor has had a distinguished career and was awarded the Christian Character Award by the Montana Christian Athletic Association These experiences have led him to apply his leadership in the service of our Nation's defense, continuing the legacy of military service of his grandfathers, U.S. Marines, U.S. Navy; and uncles, U.S. Navy. prgtoken Connor has spent the past year preparing to enter the U.S. Army, where he plans to serve his country in Special Forces with the Green Berets. He will war the uniform for the first time later this month upon arrival at Fort Benning, GA, where he will be among a group of highly qualified recruits who will proceed directly from initial entry training to Special Forces training. Upon completion of the rigorous and challenging 2-year training, Connor will become a member of one of the best and most highly skilled combat forces in the world. prgtoken I join the Westlake family in praying for his success and safety and thank Connor as he pursues this noble calling of service.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2018
Jacky Rosen (Democrat, NV) \u2014 2017-9-12

I rise in support of my amendment to increase funding to the National Science Foundation's Computer and Information Science and Engineering research directorate, commonly known as CISE. prgtoken CISE supports research in computing, communications, information science, and engineering. Through their NSF-supported work, our Nation's scientists have been able to develop innovative solutions to energy, prgtoken advanced manufacturing, national security, healthcare, and personal communications. prgtoken CISE also provides advanced cyber infrastructure for all areas of science and engineering, and it contributes to the education and training of computer engineers, ensuring our future generations are well equipped with the skills they need in an increasingly competitive global market. prgtoken In Nevada and across the country, we are continuing to see a huge demand for workers in the tech industry, including software developers, analysts, engineers, and computer programmers like myself. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the computing industry's rate of job creation in the U.S. is now three times the national average. In order for our workforce to continue to push the boundaries, we must invest in research and training programs at NSF. prgtoken CISE is particularly important because it provides funding for cutting-edge computing and information science research, which is critical to innovation in nearly all lines of work from business to government. prgtoken Simply put, the 21st century runs on computers and constantly evolving technologies. As one of the few women in Congress to build her career in STEM, I know all too well the demand for talent in STEM is real, and we must make smart investments now. prgtoken Current CISE projects across the country include developing unmanned aerial systems technology to help reduce wildfires, creating new clinical modeling techniques to use electronic health records for personalized patient care, and strengthening our cyber infrastructure. prgtoken In my district, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas is using CISE funding for several groundbreaking initiatives. One of their projects focuses on increasing the participation of students with disabilities in computer science courses by creating accessible tools and curricula, preparing professors for diverse students. prgtoken UNLV is also partnering with the local Clark County School District to mentor high school teachers on computer science, cybersecurity, and big data. prgtoken , this current bill maintains fiscal year 2017 level funding for NSF research and related activities, which CISE is funded through. That is admirable, given the fact that President 's proposed budget slashed NSF research. Maintaining level funding shows shared, bipartisan support for scientific research right here in Congress. prgtoken I thank the majority and the subcommittee chairman for recognizing the importance of su
IT IS TIME TO FUND WILDFIRES
Kurt Schrader (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2017-9-12

for the past few weeks, the country has tuned in to watch as catastrophic hurricanes pummel Texas and Florida, but out West we have been facing our own natural disaster, one that doesn't get nearly as much attention but one that can be equally devastating and destructive. I am talking, of course, about wildfires raging, burning a total of 7.8 million acres. In my home State of Oregon, we currently have 26 active fires. prgtoken As a member of this body, I have routinely supported emergency appropriations packages when national disasters strike this country. I have supported funding for Superstorm Sandy. I supported funding last week for Hurricane Harvey, and I will support funding for Hurricane Irma. I have done this because, as an American and as a Member of Congress, it is the right thing to do. I call on my colleagues, now, to also support us in the West. We need to change the way we pay to fight these wildfires. prgtoken My good friend from Idaho Mike Simpson and I have once again introduced bipartisan legislation, H.R. 2862, the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, that will begin to treat wildfires like the national disasters they are. The bill will create a fund dedicated to the costs of fighting wildfires so the Forest Service and BLM will no longer have to spend over 50 percent of their budget on fighting fires that should be spent on managing our forests and their sustainable health. prgtoken This is common sense, my friends. It is time to act, time for this body to recognize the importance of this issue, especially to those of us out West who face these infernos every year.