mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
CHIPS ACT OF 2022--Continued
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2022-7-26

I don't know how many years in a row I have been doing this, but this week in July, I always come to the Senate floor to honor whistleblowers. prgtoken I expect this week that the Senate will unanimously pass my resolution designating this Saturday, July 30, as National Whistleblower Appreciation Day. This year the resolution has 21 cosponsors from both sides of the aisle, more cosponsors than this resolution has had ever before. Now, that should serve as a very important reminder that protecting and celebrating whistleblowers is not a partisan issue. It is just as simple as it being good government. prgtoken This Congress, I have been working on several pieces of whistleblower legislation that also have bipartisan support. One of those bills, which I introduced last December along with Senators Warren and Warnock, relates to money laundering. In 2020, Congress established the first-ever anti-money-laundering whistleblower program. Under this reward-based program, whistleblowers who provide actionable information to the government that exposes money laundering may receive a percentage of the funds recovered as a result of their disclosure. prgtoken While that is an important step forward, the current program has its issues. First, there is no minimum award amount, so the government isn't prgtoken obligated to pay a whistleblower anything at all, even if the information that the whistleblower provides leads to a successful enforcement action. Second, the program doesn't provide the Treasury Department with a mechanism to pay whistleblowers and, instead, relies on yearly congressional appropriations. prgtoken My bill addresses these issues. It raises the cap on whistleblower rewards from 25 to 30 percent, and it sets a 10-percent base minimum on rewards to ensure that if the government collects as a result of the whistleblower's disclosure, the whistleblower isn't left holding the short end of the stick. It also establishes a funding mechanism to ensure that the Treasury Department has funds readily available to pay whistleblowers independent of congressional appropriations. prgtoken These improvements will ensure that whistleblowers have the confidence to come forward and assist law enforcement in cracking down on money laundering. prgtoken The bill also expands the whistleblower disclosures that are eligible for the award. Current whistleblower laws don't offer anything to whistleblowers who report violations of sanctions against individuals. That would include sanctions placed on Russian oligarchs following Putin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. That is a missed opportunity. I have it on good authority that there are some whistleblowers who might have come forward to report sanction violations associated with the Russians if only the reward system were in place to cover their disclosure. My bill fills the gap by expanding the list of covered disclosures to include sanctions violations. prgtoken
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COMMUNICATIONS IMPROVEMENT ACT
Randy Feenstra (Republican, IA) \u2014 2022-7-26

. Madam , I thank Ranking Member Lucas for yielding and for his leadership on the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. prgtoken Madam , H.R. 7361, the National Weather Service Communications Improvement Act, is a bill that was born from a tragedy in my home State of Iowa. prgtoken On March 5, a tornado outbreak in central and southwest Iowa killed seven people. It was the deadliest storm in our State since 2008. prgtoken During this storm, an issue at the National Weather Service caused up to a 7-minute delay from when meteorologists issued warnings to when the public was alerted. In Iowa, we know that even the smallest delays can be a matter of life and death. prgtoken Then, just a month later, in April, eight tornadoes were confirmed during a storm. Luckily, this time around, there were no deaths. Despite that, we had 135-mile-an-hour winds and severe prgtoken building damage. But that didn't stop some National Weather Service websites and NWS Chat, NWS' outdated emergency communications network, from crashing because of increased traffic. prgtoken The bottom line is, NWS must have a functional and reliable emergency communications system that can keep people informed and out of harm's way during severe weather crises. prgtoken H.R. 7361 specifically authorizes an internal messaging service upgrade by giving NOAA the authority to transition from NWS Chat to a commercial, off-the-shelf solution. This type of commercial solution will allow nearly unlimited users, so future growth and increased traffic will not be a problem. It also allows NWS Chat to take advantage of new technologies as they emerge. prgtoken In fact, earlier this month, NWS signed a contract to use Slack as the basis for the next generation of the NWS Chat service. While this is a step in the right direction, the legislation is still needed to ensure the upgrade is fully supported and completed. The sooner this quick and easy solution is implemented, the faster local emergency managers can alert the public to severe weather that will save lives. prgtoken I thank my Iowa colleagues, Representatives Axne, Miller-Meeks, and Hinson, for working with me to put this legislation forward. prgtoken I also thank my Committee on Science, Space, and Technology colleagues for helping me cosponsor this bill as well. I look forward to its passage and encourage all of my colleagues to support it.
NATIONAL HIRE A VETERAN DAY
Glenn Thompson (Republican, PA) \u2014 2022-7-26

. Madam , yesterday, we celebrated National Hire a Veteran Day. In 2017, the nonprofit Hire Our Heroes established the day to highlight the many talented men and women who served our country who are now seeking civilian employment. prgtoken Hire Our Heroes serves as a resource bank for veterans to seek professional advice, discover new training resources, and search for new job opportunities. prgtoken Veterans are an important part of our community. They sacrifice a great deal to ensure that we live in a Nation that is free and safe. While we may never be able to fully repay them for their sacrifice, the very least we can do is help ease the transition back into civilian life. prgtoken A big part of that transition is ensuring there are well-paying, family-sustaining jobs available for our men and women in uniform when they return home. prgtoken Our veterans are highly trained and highly skilled. They deserve our support while deployed and when they return home. One of the best ways to do that is to prepare them for the workforce outside of the military. prgtoken Madam , the best way to thank a veteran is to hire a veteran. The skills obtained during service are invaluable.
CHIPS ACT OF 2022--Continued
Rand Paul (Republican, KY) \u2014 2022-7-26

. Over 6 million people died worldwide from COVID; over a million Americans died from COVID. prgtoken Last year, we passed unanimously an amendment I had to ban any U.S. tax dollars from going to Wuhan, China, to the lab. There was a great deal of evidence that this pandemic arose out of the lab. prgtoken Gain-of-function research enhances the severity of transmissibility of existing viruses that may infect humans. The dangers are so acute that, from 2014 to 2017, the National Institutes of Health suspended funding for all gain-of-function projects. prgtoken The emergence of COVID serves as a reminder that this dangerous research, conducted in a secretive and totalitarian country, is simply too risky to fund. prgtoken I, therefore, ask my colleagues to restore this crucial provision that would prohibit the funding of gain-of-function research in China. prgtoken I ask unanimous consent that it be in order to call up my amendment No. 5159. I further ask that there be 30 minutes of debate, equally divided between the two leaders or their designees; and, finally, that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate vote on adoption of my amendment with no intervening action or debate.
CHIPS ACT OF 2022--Resumed
John Barrasso (Republican, WY) \u2014 2022-7-26

I come to the floor today to talk about the energy crisis that is affecting our country. prgtoken Now, has been threatening to declare a climate emergency. from New England, Members of this body, have been practically begging him to do so. They actually went to Massachusetts with him last week to try to twist his arm. prgtoken say this would give even more legal authority to restrict American energy. So that is what the want these days: less American energy--more expensive American energy, less American energy, and more power for . prgtoken Well, I have got bad news for the . The Supreme Court has ruled very recently, less than a month ago, that energy regulation requires ``clear congressional authorization.'' prgtoken Congress writes the laws. It is the President who is just supposed to carry out the laws that are written by Congress. The President doesn't have the authority to just do whatever he wants by saying we have a climate crisis and then calling it an emergency. But are far too eager to give more and more of the Senate's power to the least popular President in the last 70 years. prgtoken say we have a crisis right now. Well, they are right about the fact that we have a crisis. We have a lot of crises in this country, and they are crises because of and because of the and the policies of this administration. We have an energy crisis. We have an inflation crisis. We have a crisis at the southern border. We have a crisis of crime in the cities. And as we come to the end of another month, millions of families are facing a crisis at home trying to pay their bills. The result is that have a crisis too. It is a crisis in the White House and in the party, a crisis of competence and a crisis of credibility. prgtoken Two-thirds of Americans say that this President and the are focusing on the wrong things. There was a poll last week in the New York Times. It showed that only 1 percent of Americans--1 percent--say climate change is their No. 1 priority. Now, that is of all people. What about ? Only 3 percent of say that the idea of what the President is focusing on and trying to declare an emergency on, a national emergency--only 3 percent of say it is their top priority. What about the young people, the people who the always say: We appeal to the young people? Only 3 percent of people under the age of 30, voters under the age of 30, say that climate is their No. 1 concern. prgtoken The numbers are astonishing, and the President continues to ignore it. Working families aren't thinking about what the White House is calling the liberal world order, which is why the President wants to declare a climate crisis. Working families are trying to balance their checkbooks, trying to make it to the end of the month with some money left over
DYSLEXIA
Bruce Westerman (Republican, AR) \u2014 2022-7-26

. Madam , today, one in five Americans are affected by dyslexia, making it the most common learning disability. Yet, there are still children in U.S. school systems that go without being diagnosed. Instead, they are written off as having a lack of effort, or a plain lack of intelligence. prgtoken Despite misconception, dyslexia is not connected to one's level of intelligence. In fact, where students have a difficult time reading, they often excel in creative thought and critical thinking. My bipartisan legislation, the 21st Century Dyslexia Act, will Federally define dyslexia and label proper treatments and diagnosis, enabling teachers, students, and parents to assist aspiring students to achieve successful academic careers, and to ensure that all children are granted equal opportunity in the classroom. Save Our Sequoias
CHIPS ACT OF 2022--Continued
Rob Portman (Republican, OH) \u2014 2022-7-26

I am coming to the floor today to offer a very straightforward, commonsense amendment that is noncontroversial, that has met all of the requirements set out by the ic leadership--by the majority leader--by the chair of the conference, and by the ranking member of the conference to be accepted. This is language that must accompany the research dollars that are part of the CHIPS+ legislation that we are considering right now. prgtoken When you add it all up, when you add up CHIPS and the CHIPS+ language, which includes research dollars to NSF, NIH, Department of Energy, and so on, we are talking about $200 billion of taxpayer money. prgtoken As part of this process, when we passed the underlying bill, USICA, here prgtoken in the U.S. Senate, we included language that said: You know what, we ought to protect that language. We ought to protect that research. prgtoken It is like we are buying a really expensive new car, and if we don't protect it, it means we are not buying the insurance that goes with it. The insurance is needed for a very simple reason: We know that for the past two decades, that U.S. taxpayer-paid research--just like the research that we are about to both appropriate and authorize in this legislation--has been subject to being taken by our adversaries, particularly China. So that is why we need to protect it. prgtoken We worked painstakingly over the last 4 years on a bipartisan basis to come up with this legislation. Again, it has been fully vetted. prgtoken There was discussion a moment ago about the four corners. What does that mean? That means that the chair and ranking members of the committees of jurisdiction--the four corners--are asked to approve anything that goes into this legislation. prgtoken Well, everything I am going to talk about today is approved by the four corners. prgtoken By the way, everything that is in the underlying legislation--some of the plus in the CHIPS+ Act--has not gone through the four corners process. This has. prgtoken To my colleagues who say: Well, if we put this amendment in, how about these other amendments? Look, I have five or six things in the USICA bill I would love to have be part of this final agreement. I have wonderful trade legislation that should be part of this. It is not. That is with Senator Brown, by the way. I have wonderful legislation that deals with worker retraining that is absolutely related to competitiveness. That is with Senator Kaine. It should absolutely be part of this final agreement. It is not. I get that. There are a lot of things that had to be left out when this conference did not succeed, even though I, like others, worked very hard to get that conference to come to agreement--not just in my areas. I am the ranking member on the Homeland Security Committee. We cleared all of ours but also worked with other committees and other Members, and alike. prgtoken But I said from the start that we
Introductory Statement on S. 4618
Susan M. Collins (Republican, ME) \u2014 2022-7-26

the opioid epidemic continues to claim the lives of far too many people, with record numbers of both Mainers and Americans lost in 2021. While many perceive the face of opioid addiction as young, the epidemic harms older adults as well. In Maine, more than 10 percent of drug overdose deaths last year were among residents 60 and older. prgtoken Each and every opioid death is preventable, but we must ensure the unique needs of seniors struggling with addiction are not forgotten. That is why I rise today with my colleague from Maryland, Senator Cardin, to introduce legislation to improve seniors' awareness of, and access to, opioid use disorder, OUD, treatment covered by the Medicare Program. Our bill, the Supporting Seniors with Opioid Use Disorder Act of 2022, is in response to recent findings from the inspector general that confirm the urgent need to increase the number of Medicare beneficiaries receiving treatment for opioid use disorder. prgtoken The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the increased prevalence of fentanyl, have aggravated this national crisis. Even before COVID-19, however, the number of people age 55 or older treated in emergency rooms for nonfatal opioid overdoses was increasing, with a shocking 32 percent jump in E.R. visits from 2016 to 2017. In 2018, as chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, I chaired a hearing on this very topic in attempt to shed light on this often-overlooked population. One expert witness told the Aging Committee, ``Medicare beneficiaries are the fastest growing population of diagnosed opioid use disorders.'' prgtoken Compounding these disturbing statistics is a December 2021 Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, OIG, report exploring whether Medicare beneficiaries with opioid use disorder receive medication and behavioral therapy. It found more than 1 million Medicare beneficiaries were diagnosed with OUD in 2020, yet fewer than 16 percent of those patients received medication to treat their OUD. The report also concluded older beneficiaries were three times less likely to receive medication to treat their OUD than younger beneficiaries. Even fewer beneficiaries received both medication and behavioral therapy. The conclusion is clear: Medicare beneficiaries are not receiving the OUD treatment they need. prgtoken Our bill, the Supporting Seniors with Opioid Use Disorder Act of 2022, would codify the recommendations made by the HHS OIG regarding how to improve beneficiaries' awareness of Medicare coverage for OUD treatment and how to identify current gaps and opportunities to better meet the needs of this unique population. Specifically, our legislation would require CMS to conduct additional outreach to beneficiaries to increase awareness about Medicare coverage for the treatment of OUD, such as by revising outreach and enrollment materials, making State and national contact information for
FREDERICK DOUGLASS TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PREVENTION AND PROTECTION REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2022
Christopher H. Smith (Republican, NJ) \u2014 2022-7-26

. Madam , I am prepared to close. prgtoken Madam , I thank my good friend from Texas for his very fine statement, and I look forward to a recorded vote. prgtoken I also want to say very clearly that we have a very, very broad bipartisan group of stakeholders who are for this, including, as I mentioned a moment ago, Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, the Douglass Leadership Institute, Frederick Douglass Foundation, prgtoken along with 300 anti-trafficking and human trafficking organizations, over 500 advocates and survivors, and they have worked tirelessly with us over the last 18 months, with both Karen Bass and me in crafting this legislation. We even had more. Some of them did drop out, but we will come back some day in the future to get some of that. But it is a good solid bill. prgtoken Survivor leaders like Bella Hanoukey and Robert Lung provided valuable insights and expertise for this bill. As I said, Kenneth Morris was outstanding in the work that he provided for us. prgtoken As a matter of fact, as the special representative for human trafficking for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, a couple of years ago, I brought him into one of our big parliamentary assembly meetings, and there were at least 100-plus lawmakers from the European space that heard him speak about the importance of prevention. If young people know what is out there and what is waiting--particularly run-aways-- they will be forearmed and forewarned and, hopefully, can mitigate the possibility of being trafficked themselves. He hit it out of the park, and he has been a great friend on this. prgtoken We also have 3Strands Global Foundation; the Safe House Project; America First Policy Institute; End Child Prostitution and Trafficking USA; ECPAT, with whom we work very closely; the American Hotel and Lodging Association; the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking, that is known as ATEST. They have a great group and consortium of groups. prgtoken We have the International Justice Mission, IJM; World Vision; United States Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking; Shared Hope International; Hope for Justice; National Child Protection Task Force; Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, also known as RAINN; the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, who also worked with us closely on it; the National Center on Sexual Exploitation; and the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. prgtoken They all provided valuable insights, as I mentioned a moment ago. prgtoken I want to thank Mark Iozzi and Jamie Jackson from the majority leader's office for working closely with Chairwoman Bass and me and who helped bring this to the floor today; Chris Bien and Will Dunham from the minority leader's office; Janice Kaguyutan--I want to thank her for her help as she has done before on trafficking and legislation; and Doug Anderson. prgtoken I want to thank Mary Vigil who is sitting right behind me. For the last 18 months she has been meeting with a
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
John Thune (Republican, SD) \u2014 2022-7-26

``our experts believe and the data shows that most of the price increases we've seen . . . [are] expected to be temporary''--that is what President said 1 year ago this month, something his administration has repeatedly echoed. prgtoken Unfortunately, it long ago became clear that was wishful thinking on the President's part. Far from being temporary, inflation has become a fact of life in the economy. prgtoken Last month, inflation hit its highest level yet under President , climbing to 9.1 percent, the worst inflation in more than 40 years. The impact of inflation is being felt in every corner of our economy. Businesses of every size are dealing with the effects of inflation. Small businesses, of course, are being hit particularly hard. And 75 percent of small business owners report inflation has had a negative effect on the financial health of their business over the past 6 months. And 75 percent report that inflation pressures are getting worse. prgtoken It is not surprising. Everything from inputs to transportation to electricity has become more expensive in the economy, and that has a huge impact on businesses' ability to pay their expenses and run their operations. prgtoken As one South Dakota business owner who wrote to me noted: It makes it hard for me to grow my USA-made business when I don't have the funds to pay my employees more, add more benefits, purchase more machinery, and buy more material in buck as inflation continues to rise. prgtoken Farmers and ranchers in my State are also struggling. As of March, the price of fertilizer had risen to an astounding 162 percent since January 2021. The prices of two common herbicides have risen more than 50 percent since last year. And the price of diesel, which powers a lot of farming and ranching equipment, has doubled since President took office. Farming and ranching are tough jobs already, often with tight margins and a lot of weather-related risks. Inflation is making things exponentially hard. prgtoken The list of inflation's impacts goes on. For example, last week I talked about how inflation is affecting our military, which is able to do less with the funds appropriated for it, thanks to soaring prices across the economy. That, in turn, can affect troop readiness and the military's ability to keep up with needed programs and purchases from weapons to vehicles to aircraft, and ships. prgtoken Of course, I haven't even yet mentioned the most basic impact of inflation and that is the misery faced by hard-working Americans who confront sky-high prices at the grocery store and the gas pump and wonder how they are going to feed their family this month or whether they will be able to afford to get to work. prgtoken Bloomberg reported last week that nearly 6 in 10 American workers are concerned that their paychecks won't stretch far enough to support themselves and their families. Another re