mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
ELECTRICITY RELIABILITY AND FOREST PROTECTION ACT
Daniel Webster (Republican, FL) \u2014 2017-6-21

such time as I may consume. prgtoken Today marks the Committee on Natural Resources' Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans' first step in advancing an infrastructure agenda that aims to improve our Nation's infrastructure and expedite the development of new infrastructure. prgtoken As vice chairman of the subcommittee, chaired by the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn), I have already seen a number of bills advance through the committee that, like the bill in front of us today, employ simple, pragmatic solutions to improve our Nation's infrastructure and advance an all-of-the-above energy and water strategy. prgtoken The Electricity Reliability and Forest Protection Act, a bipartisan bill offered by my colleagues, Mr. LaMalfa and Mr. Schrader, is about avoiding electricity blackouts, preventing forest fires, and promoting healthy habitat for wildlife on Federal lands. prgtoken This bill represents a simple, pragmatic solution to an issue that is born out of a lack of communication and consistency within a Federal agency. prgtoken , I thank Chairman Conaway for agreeing to help expedite consideration of this bill today. prgtoken I commend my colleagues, Mr. LaMalfa from California and Mr. Schrader from Oregon, for bringing up this bipartisan, commonsense piece of legislation. prgtoken I urge my House colleagues to support this bipartisan bill, and . House of Representatives, Committee on Agriculture, Washington, DC, May 19, 2017. Hon. Rob Bishop, Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear : I am writing concerning H.R. 1873, the Electricity Reliability and Forest Protection Act. It is my understanding that, on April 27, 2017, the Committee on Natural Resources ordered the bill reported with amendments. This legislation contains provisions within the Committee on Agriculture's Rule X jurisdiction. As a result of your having consulted with the Committee and in order to expedite this bill for floor consideration, the Committee on Agriculture will forego action on the bill. This is being done on the basis of our mutual understanding that doing so will in no way diminish or alter the jurisdiction of the Committee on Agriculture with respect to the appointment of conferees, or to any future jurisdictional claim over the subject matters contained in the bill or similar legislation. I would appreciate your response to this letter confirming this understanding, and would request that you include a copy of this letter and your response in the Committee Report and in the Congressional Record during the floor consideration of this bill. Thank you in advance for
ISSUES OF THE DAY
Dana Rohrabacher (Republican, CA) \u2014 2017-6-21

. Madam , today a lot of people are looking at Washington more perplexed than ever, thinking that nothing is getting done here. It is easy for them to think that because, when they turn on their televisions or listen to their radios and listen to news commentators, all they seem to be talking about is some very obscure idea. But something that dominates all the communication, or a great deal of communication, is that Russia in some way altered the outcome of the last election, perhaps--what they have been telling us--the Russians hacked into the system. This is the image we are being given. prgtoken All those emails that came out during the election from the ic prgtoken National Committee and the Hillary campaign, those emails were, in some way, a product of a Russian conspiracy with the campaign. Over and over and over again, even though all of the experts who we have seen from the intelligence communities on down the line have said that that is bogus; that did not happen; there is no proof that that happened. And many people who are looking into this don't think that the Russians were involved with that hacking at all, much less their involvement in our campaigns in a way that differentiated from every other government in the world, including our own, being involved in trying to impact other people's elections in a light-handed way. prgtoken In this situation, the Russian Government has not--again, has not-- been proven or even the evidence seems to indicate that they were not involved in a way that actually affected the outcome of our last election. Yet that is all we hear about. That is the massive news coverage, and the American people's attention is being focused on that, or they are being told: Oh, but over in Washington, the Congress is so tied up because of this crisis. We have not been tied up. We have been doing great things here in the Nation's capital, and the administration has been doing great things. We have not been frozen by this unrelenting attack trying to give the American people the idea that the last election was invalid. prgtoken This effort to distract us is a disgrace. And I do believe the American people see, when they hear this over and over repeated but there is no substance being told us that indicates the specific crime, the specific hacking incident that happened. No, we have no incidences where any type of Russian interference, in some way, determined the outcome of the last election. prgtoken But, of course, the distraction that is taking place is basically covering the fact that we have a group of people who lost the last election who have been disrupting, who have a plan, a program of resistance and disruption of those who did win the election. If there is anything more anti-American than that, I don't know what is. Talk about destroying democracy. prgtoken So with that said, what are we doing if we aren't tied up in this Russian problem? And let me note
Introductory Statement on S. 1395
Thomas R. Carper (Democrat, DE) \u2014 2017-6-21

today I am introducing legislation to adjust the boundary of the Coastal Barrier Resources Act, CBRA, map unit for North Bethany Beach, Delaware. I am pleased to be working in this effort with the junior Senator from Delaware, Mr. Coons, who joins me as an original cosponsor. prgtoken This map change implements a recommendation made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Service discovered during its recent digital mapping pilot project that a portion of the North Bethany Beach unit encompassing the South Shore Marina development was included by mistake when the map was created in 1990. The Fish and Wildlife released a report to Congress in November of 2016 on the results of the mapping pilot project required by the 2006 Coastal Barrier Resources Reauthorization Act (PL 109-226). Delaware was part of the pilot project, and the report contains the recommendation for this map change. prgtoken This map change can occur only through an act of Congress. prgtoken CBRA is a map-based law enacted in 1982 recognizing that certain actions and programs of the Federal Government subsidize and encourage development on coastal barriers. This coastal building contributes to the loss of natural resources and threatens human life, health and property. The CBRA system currently contains 859 geographic units in 23 States and territories along the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico coasts. The CBRA units are depicted on a set of maps that is maintained by the Secretary of the Interior through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. prgtoken While CBRA does not prohibit or regulate development, it removes the Federal incentives to build on these undeveloped, unstable and environmentally sensitive areas. CBRA seeks to save taxpayers' money, keep people out of harm's way, and conserve natural resources by restricting most new Federal expenditures and financial assistance (e.g beach nourishment, disaster assistance, and flood insurance) in areas designated within the CBRA system. That is why , it is important to make sure these maps are accurate and that they do not include previously developed property. This bill will achieve that objective for the North Bethany Beach area. prgtoken , I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION
Jeanne Shaheen (Democrat, NH) \u2014 2017-6-21

I am joining my colleagues on the floor this afternoon because I share their concerns about what will happen to women's healthcare. I am concerned about what will happen to everyone's healthcare, but particularly this afternoon we are talking about our concerns with respect to healthcare for women. prgtoken If the Senate passes legislation like the House passed recently--the American Health Care Act--that legislation has been widely described as cruel and poorly crafted. Just last week, President described it simply as mean. leaders in the Senate are now writing a companion bill that reportedly makes mostly cosmetic changes to the House bill. By some accounts, it would make the House bill even more extreme. prgtoken Obviously, any legislation that, by design, takes health insurance away from tens of millions of Americans, I believe, is deeply misguided. I am particularly concerned about the harmful effects this legislation would have on women's health. Indeed, I received countless emails and letters from women who are offended that, once again, powerful men are meeting behind closed doors to make critical decisions regarding women's health, and we have been excluded from the room. prgtoken This bill would take us back to the days before the Affordable Care Act, when insurers could charge women more just for being women, with no other reason needed. It would take away the Federal protections against discrimination based on preexisting conditions. Bear in mind, some of these conditions apply mostly or exclusively to women. prgtoken In the days before the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies treated pregnancies, sexual assault, domestic violence, and cesarean sections as preexisting conditions. Insurers routinely charged higher premiums to women with these ``preexisting conditions'' or they denied coverage all together. For example, more than 30 percent of mothers have a cesarean section. Once again, if this House-passed bill passes, and if we see something out of the Senate that does the same, women would face discrimination, mothers would face discrimination from insurance companies. prgtoken The American Health Care Act would also harm women by allowing insurers to opt out of the 10 essential health benefits that all insurance plans must cover under the Affordable Care Act. These benefits are called essential because that is exactly what they are. They are essential, not only to good health but, in some cases, to actually staying alive. A number of these essential health benefits apply exclusively to women, including contraception, maternity and newborn care, mammograms, and cervical cancer screenings. prgtoken Several months ago on Facebook, I asked people across New Hampshire to tell me their stories--stories about how the Affordable Care Act has made lifesaving difference or otherwise improved their lives. I heard from many women across New Hampshire who have
Healthcare Legislation (Executive Session)
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-6-21

it was about a month ago that the House of Representatives, by a narrow vote, voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and to replace it with their own creation. That effort by the House of Representatives passed by, I believe, 2, 3, or 4 votes. It was very close, and it was a partisan rollcall--all s voting for it and no voting for it. So it came to the floor of the House without any bipartisan preparation. It was only after the vote that the Congressional Budget Office took a look at the measure and reported to the American people its impact. prgtoken Now, that is unusual because, when you take a big issue like the reform of America's healthcare system, historically, traditionally, Members of the Congress--the House and Senate--will send their versions of the bill to the Congressional Budget Office and ask for an analysis: Tell us how much this will cost. Tell us the impact on the deficit. Tell us what it will do in terms of healthcare coverage. But the House s chose to vote before the analysis. prgtoken Well, the analysis still came out, and when it came out, the report was unsettling because it had a dramatic negative impact on healthcare in America. The House repeal, according to the Congressional Budget Office, would mean that 23 million Americans would lose their health insurance. prgtoken Remember, we started this debate 6 or 7 years ago because we were concerned that too few Americans had health insurance and we wanted to expand the reach of health insurance and make sure that it was good health insurance, and that is why we passed the Affordable Care Act. We fell short in some respects, but we certainly achieved our goal of increasing the number of insured Americans with the Affordable Care Act. In my home State of Illinois, the percentage of those uninsured with health insurance was cut in half. In fact, it was even better than that. So more and more people ended up with coverage through Medicaid, as well as through private health insurance. prgtoken Now comes the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and the s in the House decide to not only erase all of that progress in providing more health insurance for more families but to make it worse--to make the number of the uninsured even higher than it was. So if that is the starting point of healthcare reform, you ask yourself: Is that really a worthy goal? Why would you do that? prgtoken Well, they were forced to do it. They really were. The House s really, in fairness to them, had no choice, because they made the initial decision that their highest priority was to give a tax break of about $700 billion to the wealthiest people in America. So by creating this tax break--giving this money back to wealthy people--they took that same amount of money out of America's healthcare system. When you take $700 billion out of America's healthcare system, here is what happens. People who a
RECOGNIZING WORLD REFUGEE DAY
Adriano Espaillat (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2017-6-21

I rise today to recognize World Refugee Day and to stand in solidarity with refugees from around the world. prgtoken June 20th is an opportunity to recognize the millions of people from across the globe who have been forced to uproot their lives due to armed conflict and persecution. We honor their sacrifice and courage when displaced in seeking safety for themselves and their families. prgtoken In particular, I would like to recognize African Services Committee, Inc. an award-winning multiservice agency in Harlem that was founded by Ethiopian Refugees in 1981. Asfaha Hadera founded the agency in his basement in the Bronx after fleeing Ethiopia for refugee camps in Sudan and then emigrating to the U.S. He saw the need for refugee services from conflicted areas in Africa and established the organization, along with Kim Nichols. prgtoken Each year, the center assists 12,500 immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers from across the African Diaspora with health, housing, legal, educational, and social services. The staff comes from 20 countries and speaks over 25 languages, providing access to the ethnically diverse communities that live in Harlem and the Bronx. African Services Committee also works on HIV prevention and access to AIDS treatment in five HIV clinics across Ethiopia. I am proud of the work that this organization is doing to support refugees in New York's thirteenth district. prgtoken Contrary to these services, issued a travel ban from six Muslim-majority countries as one of his first executive orders in March. This action was discriminatory and opposite of our American values. prgtoken On this World Refugee Day, let us remember the words on our dear Statue of Liberty, ``give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.'' That's who we are as Americans. We are a country that welcomes the poorest and most vulnerable among us, and I urge my colleagues to join me.
ELECTRICITY RELIABILITY AND FOREST PROTECTION ACT
Jim Costa (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-6-21

I thank the gentleman from Arizona for yielding me time. prgtoken , I rise today to commend my colleagues for this commonsense legislation. As a result of drought and the bark beetle, there are an estimated over 107 million dead trees in over 33 million acres of forests in California, and it is also throughout the West. Part of this is due to climate change, which is one of the most vexing challenges of our time. prgtoken This unprecedented tree mortality has created serious fire risk of wildfires throughout the West. Today, in California, in the Central Valley, we have record temperatures of 109 degrees and 112 degrees. Obviously, that adds to the concern. prgtoken One thing that can be done, though, to prevent wildfires is to manage and control the amount of vegetation, particularly in areas where we have increased fire risk. We just, bottom line, have to manage our forests a lot better than we are. We are putting way too much of our budget for managing our forests to putting out fires, and that must change. prgtoken But an example of a location with higher fire risk is a utility corridor with exposed electrical lines that we have throughout the West in forested areas. prgtoken In 2015, the Butte fire in northern California, which was the seventh most destructive in California's history, was sparked by a tree that came into contact with a power line. This is easily prevented by removing those trees that could damage lines, reducing fire risk and the cost of repairs to the utility ratepayers, plus the people in the surrounding area, which these fires are devastating, and sometimes lives are lost as well as property. prgtoken H.R. 1873, the Electricity Reliability and Forest Protection Act, if enacted, would create a process to expedite routine maintenance of vegetation along electric utilities in and near utility corridors and would help prevent future tragedies like the 2015 Butte fire in northern California that was devastating, once again. prgtoken The bottom line is that we must do more, and we can. I concur that we should utilize the Stafford Act for forest fires, and that would free up more money to manage the forests. But that is a separate piece of legislation that, hopefully, we will get a chance to act on. prgtoken This is a separate piece, and I urge support of this commonsense legislation, for my colleagues to do the same, and .
ELECTRICITY RELIABILITY AND FOREST PROTECTION ACT
Raúl M. Grijalva (Democrat, AZ) \u2014 2017-6-21

. Mr. Chair, such time as I may consume. prgtoken An example that supporters of this legislation use is from Oregon. It is from 1984. In the 33 years since then, I am aware of no example of a Federal agency refusing to allow a company to do vegetation management work and then holding the company liable for the damages. prgtoken In fact, as the committee report for this bill states, the issue of land managers allowing access to rights-of-way was largely resolved by language in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, stating: Federal agencies responsible for approving access to electric transmission and distribution facilities located on lands within the United States shall, in accordance with applicable law, expedite any Federal agency approvals that are necessary to allow owners and operators of such facilities to comply with any reliability standard approved by the Commission under section 215 of the Federal Power Act that pertains to vegetation management, service restorations, or any situation that imminently endangers the reliability or safety of the facilities. prgtoken If the utility companies feel that BLM and the Forest Service are not complying with the law, they should seek resolution in the court. Instead, they are coming after a backdoor opportunity to affect our public lands. prgtoken Mr. Chair, .
EMMA BUZBEE
Ed Perlmutter (Democrat, CO) \u2014 2017-6-21

I rise today to recognize and applaud Emma Buzbee for receiving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. Emma Buzbee is a student at Pomona High School and received this award because her determination and hard work have allowed her to overcome adversities. The dedication demonstrated by Emma Buzbee is exemplary of the type of achievement that can be attained with hard work and perseverance. It is essential students at all levels strive to make the most of their education and develop a work ethic which will guide them for the rest of their lives. I extend my deepest congratulations to Emma Buzbee for winning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. I have no doubt she will exhibit the same dedication and character in all of her future accomplishments.
HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2017-6-21

we are only a little more than a week away from having to vote on a secret healthcare bill, according to the timelines given by the majority leader to the press-- just 1 week away from voting on legislation that will reorder one-sixth of our economy and impact every single American in this country, and not a soul in America has seen it. prgtoken I have never seen a more radical or reckless legislative process in my time in politics--write the bill in secret; discuss it in secret; send it to the CBO in secret; then rush it to the floor with no committee hearings, no amendments, and just 10 hours of debate for the minority. prgtoken That is not how America ever got big things done. That is not how we do big things like healthcare in the Senate. That is hardly how we do small things, and my friends know it. prgtoken Senator Bill Cassidy, of Louisiana, said: ``I've always said I would have preferred a more open process.'' prgtoken Senator Murkowski, from Alaska, said: ``If I'm not going to see a bill before we have a vote on it, that's just not a good way to handle something that is as significant and important as health care.'' prgtoken I couldn't have said it better myself. prgtoken Senator Moran said: ``My hope is that we treat the bill seriously, that we have hearings, that we have witnesses. I want regular order to work.'' prgtoken In addition, Senators Rubio, Corker, Gardner, McCain, Collins, Paul, Daines, Fischer, Johnson, and Lee have all complained about the lack of transparency in the process. prgtoken Why did they flatly refuse to say to the majority leader: Let's have a hearing. Let's accept amendments in committee. Let's have regular order and real debate on this bill. It is too important. prgtoken If they do not want to say it to the majority leader directly, I hope they express their frustration with this process with their votes on the motion to proceed, which looks like we will have next week. prgtoken We had all of the things they had asked for. They did not vote for our bill, those who were here, but at least they had input. They could offer amendments on the floor or in the committees, if they were in the relevant committees. They could debate. prgtoken Not today. Not next week. prgtoken Now, why is it that my friends have resorted to such secrecy? prgtoken There is only one reason: They are ashamed of their bill. They must think prgtoken they are better off not talking about the bill publicly. We all know, if my friends believed it was a good healthcare bill, one that actually lowered costs and improved care and helped more Americans afford insurance, they would be preaching it from the mountaintops. There would be a brass band down every Main Street in America that would be announcing this new legislation--but no. They are afraid to even whisper about their bill. They want it out in the open