mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
HONORING FRED AND BETTY ROEDER
Larry Bucshon (Republican, IN) \u2014 2019-6-26

. Madam , I rise today to ask all my colleagues to join me in honoring two outstanding Hoosiers--Fred and Betty Roeder--on the occasion of their 70th wedding anniversary. prgtoken Fred and Betty epitomize what it means to be a Hoosier--kind and gracious; with big, warm hearts; and a love for their state and country that is borne out by their commitment to bettering the lives of their neighbors and community. prgtoken Fred and Betty--high school sweethearts--were married seventy years ago this month, on June 30, 1949, at Evansville Emanuel Lutheran Church. prgtoken Fred Roeder served in the U.S. Army (1952-54) and concluded active service as a Corporal. He served 6 years in the Army Reserve and was honorably discharged in 1960. A Korean War veteran, Fred remains proud of his service to our nation, and that of the many friends he made while in the Army. He worked at Dale Sales warehouse and later at Niehaus Industrial Parts in Evansville. prgtoken Betty Roeder is a graduate of Benjamin Bosse High School in Evansville. She dedicated much of her time to leading music and Christian education programs at local Lutheran churches. Betty was beloved by her students and took great pride in her work. prgtoken I came to know the Roeders at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Evansville, where we have worshiped together for many years. Despite moving to the Indianapolis-area to be closer to family members, the Roeders remain devoted members at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church. prgtoken Fred and Betty are the proud parents of their son Michael F. Roeder and daughter-in-law Lee Ann, and their grandchildren--John and granddaughter-in-law Taylor, Tim and Kurt Roeder. They celebrated their historic milestone a bit early this year with a small group of family and friends on June 22. prgtoken Madam , I encourage my colleagues to join me in extending to the Roeders the well-wishes and congratulations of the U.S. House of Representatives on the occasion of their 70th wedding anniversary.
EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND SECURITY AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER ACT, 2019
Rob Portman (Republican, OH) \u2014 2019-6-26

I would like to speak about the legislation that is before us right now on the floor. It is the annual National Defense Authorization Act, incredibly important legislation that the Senate, pretty much every year, is able to pass on a bipartisan basis. prgtoken It is really an exception. There is so much else that we are locked up on here with partisan gridlock. With regard to our troops, we tend to come together, s and , and make commitments to them that we are going to give our men and women serving in the Armed Forces the resources and support they need to carry out their critical mission. prgtoken We have now proceeded to that legislation. I want to talk a little about it. It has a lot of incredibly important things in it. It is really important to Ohio. prgtoken In my State of Ohio, we have a lot of defense installations. They are very important to our national security because they do important work. They are also important to our Ohio economy. Ohio's defense spending now accounts for more than 66,000 direct jobs, more than $4 billion in salaries, and more than a $14 billion economic impact. Forty-three of our 88 counties in Ohio are impacted by these facilities. So they are critical to our State, to our economy, to our soldiers and their families, and to tens of thousands of civilian employees as well. prgtoken Again, because of the good work being done in Ohio, including at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which is our largest single employer in Ohio, it is really important to our military readiness and to our national security. This bill has proceeded through the Armed Services Committee in the bipartisan manner in which it usually is done. I love seeing that. It is legislation that every Member of this body, I hope, will be able to support at the end. prgtoken It has a lot of important initiatives and some much needed reforms-- including, by the way, this year, a 3.1-percent pay raise for our troops. I think that is necessary. They are in harm's way around the world. They are ensuring our safety, and we should ensure that they are fairly compensated for their hard work and their sacrifices. prgtoken One of the bill's other important initiatives that has a big impact on my State is authorizing $1.7 billion to increase the rate of production for both our M1 Abrams tanks and also for upgrades to 165 tanks that are already in service. That is an increase from last year's figure. It also authorizes about $249 million to upgrade the Stryker armored fighting vehicles. prgtoken This is great news for the men and women who are out in the field in our Armed Forces. They love these vehicles, and they need them. The Abrams prgtoken and the Stryker are the most advanced and lethal tanks and armored vehicles on the battlefield today. One of our priorities in Congress should be to ensure that we are providing our troops with what they need to be able to do their duty and to protect t
EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND SECURITY AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER ACT, 2019
Richard C. Shelby (Republican, AL) \u2014 2019-6-26

I believe there is no longer any question that the situation along our southern border has become a full-blown humanitarian and security crisis. I think that is a given. Leader McConnell has firmly established that fact right here on the Senate floor, and charges from the prgtoken other side of a manufactured crisis have fallen silent. At this juncture, there is little need to recapitulate the case for action. prgtoken We know what our professionals on the frontlines need in order to get a handle on the situation. The only question is, Will the Congress come together and act or fall prey to partisanship while the crisis escalates further? prgtoken I am pleased to say, last week, the Appropriations Committee charted a course for strong bipartisan action. By a vote of 30 to 1, the committee approved an emergency appropriations bill to address the crisis at the border--30 to 1. Such an overwhelming bipartisan vote would not have been possible without the cooperation of my colleague and good friend, Vice Chairman Leahy. I thank Senator Leahy for working with us to find a path forward. prgtoken This bipartisan committee product, which it is and which I will soon offer as a substitute amendment to the House bill, provides $4.59 billion in emergency supplemental appropriations to address the humanitarian and security crisis at the border. prgtoken It does not contain everything that Senator Leahy wanted, and it does not contain everything that I wanted. More importantly, it does not contain any poison pills from either side, which is remarkable. That is why it passed the Appropriations Committee by a vote of 30 to 1, and that is what gives us the best chance today, in the U.S. Senate-- without further delay--of passing a bill that is badly needed. prgtoken I will take just a few minutes to briefly outline for my colleagues the particulars of the package reported by the Appropriations Committee. prgtoken Of the total funding provided, the lion's share--$2.88 billion--will help the Department of Health and Human Services to provide safe and appropriate shelter and care for children in its custody. prgtoken An additional $1.1 billion is included for Customs and Border Protection to establish migrant care and processing facilities; to provide medical care and consumables; and to pay travel and overtime costs for personnel. prgtoken There is $209 million provided for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to fund the transportation costs and medical care for detainees; to conduct human trafficking operations; and, again, to pay travel and overtime costs for our personnel there. prgtoken There is $30 million for FEMA in order to reimburse States and localities for expenses that they have incurred related to the massive influx of migrants in their communities. prgtoken There is $220 million included for the Department of Justice to help process immigration cases and provide badly needed resources to the U.S. Marshals Se
EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND SECURITY AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER ACT, 2019
Dan Sullivan (Republican, AK) \u2014 2019-6-26

it is Wednesday. Now, normally it is Thursday when I come down here to talk about somebody who is making a huge difference in my State, somebody we refer to as the Alaskan of the Week, someone who is doing something for the community or the State or the country or maybe all of the above. I know we have a new set of pages, but I think it is commonly known that this is the most anticipated speech of the week by the pages. I see the heads nodding, so that is great. prgtoken You guys are learning well, early, so that is wonderful, and I know that the Presiding Officer really enjoys it as well. prgtoken I am going to talk today about Calvin Williams, whom everybody in Alaska knows as Cal, who is our Alaskan of the Week, who lives in Anchorage via Louisiana. I am going to talk a lot about Cal here and why he certainly deserves this great honor, but also when I give these remarks, I like to talk just a little bit about what is going on in Alaska at the time. prgtoken We have just celebrated the summer solstice, which in a lot of States isn't a big deal, but in Alaska, it is actually a huge deal. It is the longest day of the year, which was last week, and that really means something. You get the 12 midnight Sun energy, and everybody is out. There are celebrations throughout the State. Friends and neighbors gather at parties and community events well past 12 midnight. I had the opportunity to spend last weekend in Fairbanks, AK, where there was a 12 midnight Sun baseball game and a 12 midnight Sun 10K run. I got to participate in some of that. There was just great energy and a great feeling and a lot of sunlight all night. prgtoken Across the country and in Alaska, we also just celebrated Juneteenth, which marks the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Anchorage celebrated the weekend before last, and Cal Williams, our Alaskan of the Week, was there, as he has been there nearly every year since the first celebration in the 1980s. Cal is a staple at that event and has been at so many other events in Alaska over the decades where people get together, where he has been a community leader and has tried to do good things for our communities throughout the State. So let me tell you a little bit about Cal and how lucky we are to have him in the great State of Alaska. prgtoken He was born in 1941 in Monroe, LA. I know we have some Louisianans as pages here. That was the segregated South, and he was born 7 days before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He is from a very patriotic family. His parents immediately joined the cause of fighting and supporting our Nation during World War II. His mother worked in the factories to help out the war effort, and his father joined the Army and was sent to the Pacific theater to defend America. prgtoken Basically, Cal was raised by his grandmother, who happened to live across the street from church and a K-12 Catholic school, built and run by the Franciscans to ser
BUDGETARY ENFORCEMENT LEVELS
Michael B. Enzi (Republican, WY) \u2014 2019-6-26

section 251 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, BBEDCA, establishes statutory limits on discretionary spending and allows for various adjustments to those limits. In addition, sections 302 and 314(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 allow the chairman of the Budget Committee to establish and make revisions to allocations, aggregates, and levels consistent with those adjustments. prgtoken The Senate will soon consider S. Amdt. 901 to H.R. 3401, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act, 2019. This measure provides supplemental appropriations to address humanitarian assistance and security at the border. The measure contains spending that qualifies for cap adjustments under current statute. prgtoken This measure includes $4,586 million in budget authority that is designated as being for emergency purposes pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of BBEDCA. Of that amount, $145 million is for spending in the security category and $4,441 million is for nonsecurity spending. CBO estimates that this budget authority will result in $1,048 million in outlays in Fiscal Year 2019. prgtoken As a result of the aforementioned designations, I am revising the budget authority and outlay allocations to the Committee on Appropriations by increasing revised security budget authority by $145 million, revised nonsecurity budget authority by $4,441 million, and outlays by $1,048 million prgtoken in Fiscal Year 2019. Further, I am increasing the budgetary aggregate for Fiscal Year 2019 by $4,586 million in budget authority and $1,048 million in outlays. prgtoken I ask unanimous consent that the accompanying tables, which provide details about the adjustment, be printed in the Record.
EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND SECURITY AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER ACT, 2019
James Lankford (Republican, OK) \u2014 2019-6-26

I want to rise today to speak to the Senate and compliment two of my colleagues, Senator Jim Inhofe from my State of Oklahoma, my senior Senator, and Senator Jack Reed, for their leadership and bipartisan work on this year's National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2020. prgtoken This is a complicated bill. It has had hundreds of amendments, both in committee and in the initial managers' package that came out of committee that has already been debated, and there are a lot more amendments that are still being debated in the process. prgtoken It is an incredibly complicated issue to bring the authorization and information for all military for the next year. It is something that Congress has done for a long time. But for Jim Inhofe, this is his first year to chair this committee and to actually be the driver for this, and I think he has done an exceptional job of walking through this piece of legislation. prgtoken It is a $750 billion authorization. There will be additional appropriations that have to be done to be able to designate that, but that is exactly what President had asked for and said is what is needed, and it is what the Department of Defense has said that they would need to keep our country safe and to prepare for the future. prgtoken There are a lot of elements in the bill. I want to identify a few of them, beginning with a 3.1-percent pay increase for our troops. That is something that is much needed. The pay for our troops has been very, very behind for a long time, and this starts an initial process of getting them a little bit above inflation to start trying to catch up. prgtoken It also deals with an issue that is very important to our military families, and that is their housing. There are many areas and many bases and posts around the country and around the world where the housing has fallen behind: mold issues, plumbing issues, electrical issues, roofing issues, and flooring issues. It is important for the members of our military to have a safe place that they come home to that really feels like home. They are traveling around the world. They are in difficult places, and as much as their families can be kept safe and have a place that they can make home as a family--that is exceptionally important. For those single men and women, it is important that they have a place where they can actually get rest and have connection with each other. This bill deals with additional funding to deal with housing, which is much needed. prgtoken This bill also deals with spouses, in their transition from facility to facility, being able to pick up an additional job. For many of the spouses who are traveling with our men and women in the military, when they move to a new base or post, they also want to pick up a new job in that place. It takes months to do that transition now. prgtoken There is also an issue with licensing. If they have a professional skill in one State, when they
FINANCIAL SERVICES AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2020
David Kustoff (Republican, TN) \u2014 2019-6-26

I want to thank my colleague from Georgia for yielding. prgtoken , I rise today in support of my amendment to highlight the importance of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program that is known as HIDTA. prgtoken I have had a fair number of conversations with law enforcement throughout my district in west Tennessee, and they have told me time and time again that drug trafficking continues to be one of their main concerns. Along Interstate 40 in Tennessee, we continue to see an increase in drug trafficking. prgtoken I think we can all agree that the spread of illegal drugs leads to higher crime rates which ultimately increases the financial strain on our local, State, and Federal law enforcement. prgtoken The HIDTA program provides funding for additional equipment and man- hours to carry out investigations required to arrest these criminals and ultimately stop the flow of drugs. prgtoken , I know that many of my colleagues are experiencing similar situations back home, and they understand just how serious of an issue this is becoming for the safety and security of all Americans. prgtoken The bottom line is that our law enforcement needs the resources offered by the HIDTA program to help keep us safe. The HIDTA program is also a good first step to combating the opioid epidemic that is plaguing our communities. We must be proactive now because prevention is the best long-term solution. prgtoken Law enforcement at the local, State, and Federal level have all expressed support for this amendment, and I urge my colleagues to do the same today. prgtoken I also want to thank my colleague from Illinois (Mr. Foster) for joining me on this bipartisan amendment, and I do appreciate the support of the chairman and also the ranking member for including my amendment.
PROTECTING PEOPLE FROM UNEXPECTED MEDICAL BILLS
David P. Roe (Republican, TN) \u2014 2019-6-26

today our bipartisan group led by Dr. Ruiz is introducing Protecting People from Surprise Medical Bills Act. prgtoken This commonsense piece of legislation will give patients peace of mind that an unexpected medical bill will not leave them in financial ruin, while setting up a fair, neutral process to resolve billing disputes between insurers and providers or hospitals. prgtoken For far too long, costly unexpected medical bills have caused financial stress, negatively impacting patients and their families all across the Nation. That is why our bill bans the practice of billing patients for unanticipated out-of-network care. It is not fair. prgtoken The patients may be incapacitated in an emergency or may have selected a facility that they believe is in network, to be met with a costly medical bill, all because one provider was out of network. prgtoken Similarly, providers are between a rock and a hard place because a Federal law called EMTALA requires them to provide care regardless of their ability to pay. Our bill resolves this by setting up a baseball- style arbitration between the medical provider and the insurer to compensate providers for care. prgtoken A similar New York State law has been proven successful with out-of- pocket billing records declining by 34 percent after 3 years. prgtoken It is time that all States have these protections. I urge support for this approach.
HONORING THE MOUNT UNION HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL TEAM
John Joyce (Republican, PA) \u2014 2019-6-26

. Madam , I rise today to honor the Mount Union High School baseball team who recently won the PIAA Class 3A state championship with a 9-1 victory over Notre Dame-Green Pond. prgtoken The Trojans took an 8-0 lead through the first two innings and held that lead for the rest of the game. Ethan Carbaugh went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Seth Smith, Kobe Hand, and Quinton Posey added six combined RBIs. This is Mount Union's fourth title and their first since 1995. prgtoken The Trojans had a strong regular season, winning the District 6 championship with a record of 25-3. prgtoken The team was led by Coaches Tim Hicks, Ryan McGanigle, Nick Imperioli, George Goodling, Ron Blair, Jeff Brown, and Kyle Atherton. prgtoken The team was comprised of seniors Steve Brumbaugh, Quinnten Fultz, Dylan Gearhart, Matt Harshbarger, Quinton Posey, Seth Smith, and Bryce Stinson. Juniors Ethan Carbaugh, Kobe Hand, and Grayson McClain. Sophomores Clayton Arnold, Colten Benson, Ian Brodbeck, Vince Lear, Tyler Renniger, Casel Walter, Klayton Willaughby, Blake Woodward, and Brock Woodward. As well as freshman Dauvon Wilson and Equipment Managers Braylan Knable and Blaine Hunsinger. prgtoken High school athletics is a great way for students to build character and form a lasting bond with teammates. prgtoken Please join me in congratulating the Trojans baseball team.
HONORING THE SERVICE OF MASTER SERGEANT DONCARLOS PAGAN
Paul A. Gosar (Republican, AZ) \u2014 2019-6-26

. Madam , I rise today to honor Master Sergeant Doncarlos Pagan who served his country in the United States Army for 28 years. Master Sergeant Pagan's service in Afghanistan and his work for the State of Arizona and the United States Army exemplify his strong devotion to duty and country. prgtoken While in Afghanistan, Master Sergeant Pagan's experience as a construction engineer enabled the 158th Infantry Battalion to plan, and build, construction projects that included bridges and roads that enabled villagers in Najil, Afghanistan to bypass destroyed roads. In addition, he developed an artillery battery munitions storage bunker for the Afghan Army and he helped train Afghan Combat Engineer Soldiers in Force Protection Operations. His expertise in construction and developing force protection efforts was recognized by the 82nd Airborne, All American 6, General Rodriguez and earned him a Combat Action Badge. At times coming under direct enemy fire, Master Sergeant Pagan held firm and completed the mission. prgtoken Master Sergeant Pagan was also crucial in the development of planning for multiple construction projects valued at over $2.5 million to support multiple counties, government agencies and the State of Arizona. prgtoken Madam , this is only a fraction of the numerous accomplishments that span the 28 years of Master Sergeant Pagan's service to our country. His leadership has left a profound legacy that will continue to positively impact the United States Army for years to come. His proudest accomplishment however is his wonderful family. He and his wife Shawna have 4 children and 8 beautiful grandchildren. prgtoken I thank Master Sergeant Pagan for his service and leadership to our country. May his leadership continue to inspire generations of men and women who serve in the United States Army.