mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 2018
John Barrasso (Republican, WY) \u2014 2017-10-18

last week, the administration took a very important step, the step to end the war on coal and the war on American energy. The Environmental Protection Agency has said that it has begun the formal process to roll back the administration's so-called Clean Power Plan. This plan was a cornerstone of the ic efforts to destroy the reliable forms of energy that the American public continues to use today. prgtoken My goal is to make energy as clean as we can as fast as we can without raising costs on American families. The administration wants exactly the same thing. The steps it announced last week will help provide greater energy security, more jobs, and a stronger economy. This is exactly what President promised he would do. It is exactly what the American people voted for last November. prgtoken Americans said that they were tired of Washington's out-of-control regulators. President took action right away. He issued an Executive order in March, telling his administration to go back and review some of President 's worst energy regulations. One of those was the Clean Power Plan, which tried to regulate powerplants in a way that wasn't even allowed under the Clean Air Act. prgtoken President 's Executive order was the first step in correcting this bureaucratic overreach. Last week's announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency was the next step. With this move, the Agency is saying that Washington will no longer trample on the law. It tells the rest of Washington that there are limits. So I applaud President and Scott Pruitt, the Administrator of the EPA. prgtoken The Agency was created because America needed to do a better job of making sure we had clean air, clean land, and clean water. There is a right way to do this job. For a long time, the Agency did its job well. We can strike and need to strike the right balance. We need to do that again so we can protect our environment while allowing our economy to grow. We can have reasonable regulations that protect Americans while also respecting the law. prgtoken My home State of Wyoming is one of the most pristine, beautiful places in the world, and it is one of the most energy-rich places in the world. Wyoming has struck this balance successfully, and so have many other States. We are addressing threats to our environment through the cooperation of States, towns, Indian Tribes, and Washington. prgtoken The Environmental Protection Agency did not get the balance right with its Clean Power Plan. It overstepped its bounds to fulfill a political agenda. In 2008, when was running for President, he said that under his policies, ``If somebody wants to build a coal- fired power plant, they can.'' But he went on to say, ``It's just that it will bankrupt them.'' prgtoken Bankrupt them. Once he got into office, he did everything he could to keep that promise and to bankrupt as many coal com
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 2018
Tim Scott (Republican, SC) \u2014 2017-10-18

. Thank you, . prgtoken , so often when you hear folks speak in Washington, it sounds as if we are only speaking to ourselves because most people around the country simply cannot understand what we are talking about when it comes to tax reform. We talk about repatriation and going from a global system to a territorial system and preventing inversions and the number of cohorts on the individual side and passthroughs and corporate cuts. We talk about static scores versus dynamic scores. Too often, too many of us speak in a language that no one truly appreciates or understands. prgtoken From my perspective, tax reform is really about two very simple pillars. The first pillar is, how do we increase the take-home pay of the average person in this country, and how do we make sure the jobs of the future are created here in the good old U.S. of A? prgtoken , I was privileged to grow up in a home with a strong, powerful, optimistic mother. She raised two boys on her own. I will tell you, when you think about the challenges of single moms today, I think about the one who raised me. I think back to the times when she was working 16 hours each day 3 days a week and 8 hours a day a couple days a week. She was a nurse's aide. She wasn't an LPN or an RN. She wasn't even a CNA. She was simply a nurse's aide, which means for several hours each day of her shift she changed bedpans, she rolled patients over. prgtoken So when I think about the average single mom, with a couple of kids in the household, whose average income today is less than $36,000 a year, I think to myself, how are we going to make sure that single mother takes home more of her hard-earned money? Tax reform is the fastest way for us here in Washington to actually translate our activities to that household. See, if we take less out of her paycheck, she gets to take home more of her money. prgtoken Some have joked about the fact that I said hashtag ``keep yo money.'' Why do I say that? Well, it is the way we speak at home, No. 1, and No. 2, it simplifies and crystallizes whom we are talking about. We are simply talking about single moms like mine. We are talking about folks who work hard every day, who are strapped, challenged, with very little margin in their schedules and even less in their paychecks. prgtoken The average American--I heard that somewhere around 50 percent of Americans do not have $500 in their savings account. When we are talking about tax reform, we are talking about increasing the margin for a family. prgtoken The second major pillar of tax reform is simply making sure that the jobs of the future are created here at home. Well, simple question: How do you do that? The answer is even simpler. When you look around the globe, you find very carefully and critically and simply that there are countries that have a tax rate on their business production of around 12.5 percent. The competition for countries like our
THE BUDGET AND TAX REFORM
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2017-10-18

it goes without saying that the years were not easy for America's middle class. Many of the men and women we represent felt forgotten over the last decade. They found themselves stuck in a stumbling economy without the opportunity to get ahead, looking on as paychecks stagnated, jobs moved overseas, and government spent far beyond its means while middle-class belts tightened. prgtoken In my State and in so many more around the country, these are the problems that faced many families and communities over the last 10 years, and they are the concerns at the heart of the comprehensive budget that the Senate just voted to proceed to yesterday. This budget is a serious plan to put our country on a more responsible fiscal path and also to set us on a course for a more fulsome economy that lifts up the middle class. prgtoken On the fiscal side, it provides a path to balance with serious reductions to the growth of Federal spending, complying fully with previous spending caps while also providing a way to increase defense resources in the event that a bipartisan agreement on those caps can be reached. prgtoken On the economic side, it clears the way for committees to continue their critical work to spur steady economic growth while providing legislative tools to advance tax reform--the single most important action we can take today to help our economy reach its full potential. prgtoken As we all know, our archaic Tax Code is a significant roadblock standing in the way of America's economic future. It holds back families and small businesses. It makes it harder for those who are not well-connected elites to succeed. It even incentivizes companies to send jobs and investments overseas. That is really, clearly wrong. prgtoken In today's increasingly competitive global economy, we cannot afford a tax code that forces American workers to compete against foreign competitors with one hand tied behind their backs, prgtoken as our current code does. We need to act. prgtoken Under Chairman Hatch's leadership, the Finance Committee has made progress developing commonsense tax reform goals. With further instructions from this budget, the committee will be able to complete its work and report legislation that promotes economic growth, helps keep more money in the pockets of hard-working men and women, and closes special interest loopholes while preserving core middle-class incentives. prgtoken Our tax reform goals center on a few things: bringing more jobs and investments to our country and then keeping them here, making the Tax Code fairer so it doesn't benefit just wealthy elites, and lowering rates so hard-working families are able to keep more of their paychecks. prgtoken The main goal is this: We want to take more money out of Washington's pockets and put more money in the pockets of hard-working men and women throughout our country. These are goals shared by the President, by his team, and by Senate colleagu
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 2018
Roger F. Wicker (Republican, MS) \u2014 2017-10-18

I will be brief, but I want to point out a matter of real concern, and it should be a matter of concern to all Americans. prgtoken When new Presidents are elected, they have always been given the opportunity to put their team in place in short order. Regrettably, this has not been allowed to happen for this new President in this Congress. Here are the facts. prgtoken Now 9 months in office, President has had only 182 of his nominees confirmed. That is an unacceptable, unprecedented 39 percent. It is a grossly low statistic by historical standards. prgtoken At this point in President 's administration, 65 percent of his nominees had been confirmed. At this point in 's administration, 53 percent had been confirmed. Under Bill Clinton, 76 percent had been confirmed. And under President George H.W 70 percent had been confirmed. Yet, because of delaying tactics by our colleagues across the aisle, this President, who needs a team in place, as does every President, has only 39 percent of his nominees in office. prgtoken This has been done through an abuse of the process by our friends across the aisle--a distortion of the rules requiring cloture on noncontroversial nominees, requiring well-qualified nominees to be subjected to a 30-hour debating period for a motion to proceed and another 30-hour debating period, typically where there is only silence on the floor of the Senate, for the actual confirmation. prgtoken This is inconvenient to the administration, but it is injurious to the American people. With more than 1,000 executive positions needing confirmation, we need these people in place. The American people need these people in place. These vacancies need to be filled to work for the American people, to provide hurricane relief, for instance. There are people who would have been part of the administration working on that, had we not had these delaying tactics. People in critical national security positions, people who are fighting against ISIS, are waiting for confirmation, and people who would be a key part of the counterterrorism efforts have been waiting for months to get to work. prgtoken We had a spate of this in July, and I was one of several Senators who called on the leadership to just keep us in session in August to take care of some of these nominations. We demonstrated, by the action of the majority leader, that by canceling part of the August break, we could break logjams. As of the end of July, we had confirmed only 56 nominees. By keeping us in session for one extra week and shortening our work period back home, we confirmed 76 nominees in one week, as opposed to 56 the previous 6 months of this year. We can do that again. prgtoken I would simply say to the Presiding Officer and to my colleagues on this side of the aisle and on the other side of the aisle: I am among those calling on the majority leader to once again adopt an aggressive schedule t
VOTE EXPLANATION
Robert Menendez (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2017-10-18

I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 220, on Hatch amendment No. 1144. Had I been present, I would have voted yea. prgtoken , I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 221, on Sanders amendment No. 1119. Had I been present, I would have voted yea. prgtoken , I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 222, on Nelson amendment No. 1150. Had I been present, I would have voted yea. prgtoken , I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 223, on Heller amendment No. 1146. Had I been present, I would have voted yea. prgtoken , I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 224, on Sanders amendment No. 1120. Had I been present, I would have voted yea.
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 2018
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-10-18

for more than 30 years, we have seen political battles over the Arctic Refuge--with some wanting to open the area for oil and gas leasing and many others believing that this pristine and ecologically important area should be given the highest protections available under the law. This week the fate of the Arctic Wildlife Refuge is again being taken up by the Senate, this time as part of the budget process. prgtoken There is no question that this is a divisive issue, one that deserves to be debated in the Senate, not taken up as part of the budget process with little to no debate, but s are insisting on ramming an attempt to open the Arctic Refuge to drilling through using a partisan process because they know they lack the bipartisan support needed to properly debate the issue. prgtoken The President's budget estimated that leasing in the Arctic Refuge will generate $3.6 billion in revenues, but the President's budget estimates just don't add up. In order to meet that number, oil companies would need to bid an average of $2,400 per acre on every single acre of the 1.5 million acre coastal plain, more than 10 times the average lease sale bid on Alaska's North Slope. prgtoken We know this number is significantly inflated. If we look at other lease sales between 2010 and 2015, the industry bid prgtoken on less than 5 percent of the leases in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve. On top of that, oil supplies are currently at historic highs, so high that we lifted a 40-year ban on oil exports last year, and gas prices remained at long-term lows. prgtoken Today the United States is the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas. We are importing less oil than we have at any point in almost three decades. In addition to the high oil supplies, industry has shown little interest in drilling in the Arctic Refuge. In September 2015, after spending approximately $7 billion to drill and explore the region, Shell gave up on drilling in the Arctic region's Chukchi Sea due to the poor results and the high costs. Energy analysts predict very little interest in drilling in the Refuge for the foreseeable future. prgtoken So before we move ahead with leasing this area for oil and mineral exploration, we need to take a careful look at what we would be losing. The Arctic Refuge is one of America's last pristine, untouched wilderness places, and I think we should preserve it for future generations. prgtoken The Refuge is home to more than 200 wildlife species, including polar bears, musk ox, and caribou. The porcupine caribou herd travels to the coastal plain each summer to give birth to their young. The Refuge is the most important land denning site for a significant population of polar bears. Birds from all 50 States and 6 continents migrate to the Refuge for nesting and staging. Alaskan Native people still rely on the wildlife for basic sustenance and as a basis of their cultures. prgtoken In 2003, I had
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 2018
Benjamin L. Cardin (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2017-10-18

we are now debating the budget resolution for fiscal year 2018. The main reason this budget resolution is before us is to allow for floor consideration of tax reform. So I want to talk a little bit about what I hope will be our guiding principles on the way we would proceed on tax reform, because tax reform is needed in this country. prgtoken Our Tax Code is overly complex. There are significant problems, particularly as we harmonize with the international community. There are things we need to do in our Tax Code to make it a fairer tax code, to make it a simpler tax code, to raise the revenues we need to make sure we don't have deficits. prgtoken There are things we need to do. I hope that we will have three guiding principles, and I will talk about these three and how the budget resolution that came out of committee would violate each of these principles and why I cannot support it as it has been presented by the committee. prgtoken First, we should have an open process on tax reform. The last time we did comprehensive tax reform, in 1986, it took well over a year for us to be able to complete the work. We had numerous committee hearings. We had a lot of public input because, when you change the Tax Code, it has lots of different effects, some of which are not apparent. There are a lot of tradeoffs, and we need to do this in an open manner. prgtoken It is also important that we have a bipartisan product because we want the Tax Code to remain intact so people can plan. We don't want to see a Tax Code pass in one Congress only to be radically changed in the next Congress. That only happens when you have a bipartisan agreement where and s are working together in order to bring about a consensus change in our Tax Code. It doesn't work if it becomes a partisan process. prgtoken The budget resolution that has been presented on the floor by the Budget Committee fails on this first guiding principle. It is not a process that will lead to a bipartisan result. It is one that is a partisan process. Reconciliation, by definition, becomes a partisan process when a budget resolution is passed along party-line votes. prgtoken Secondly, under reconciliation and the rules of the Senate, you cannot enact permanent tax changes because it would create deficits outside of the budget window. For that reason, if we want permanency in our Tax Code, let's use regular order, where we bring the bills up in our committees, we bring them to the floor, we offer amendments without restriction, and, at the end of the day, we can pass permanent changes to our Tax Code that are in the best interest of the taxpayers of this country. Once again, on the first principle of an open, fair process, the budget resolution presented by the committee fails. prgtoken The second principle, which I would argue that all of us should agree upon, is that we don't want to finance the tax changes through debt, that it would
TRIBUTE TO HERSHEL ``WOODY'' WILLIAMS
Joe Manchin, III (Democrat, WV) \u2014 2017-10-18

I would like to take a moment to celebrate the christening of the USNS Hershel ``Woody'' Williams, T-ESB 4. This expeditionary sea base ship, the second of its kind, is named in honor of Medal of Honor recipient and West Virginia icon, Chief Warrant Officer Hershel ``Woody'' Williams, retired. prgtoken Woody Williams was born on a dairy farm in 1923 in Quiet Dell, WV. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served as a demolition sergeant in the Battle of Iwo Jima with the 21st Marines, 3d Marine Division. As a result of Woody's valiant service, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Truman on October 5, 1945. Today, at 94 years old, he is the last living Medal of Honor recipient from the Battle of Iwo Jima. prgtoken What sets Woody apart from so many others who also honorably served is that his brave service on the battlefield was bookended by compassionate service to members of our Armed Forces and their families. Before entering the Corps, Woody had the painstaking task of delivering Western Union telegrams to Gold Star West Virginia families who lost loved ones early in the war. After he served 20 years in the Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserves, he spent 33 years as a veterans service representative in the Department of Veterans Affairs and is still serving on the Governor's military advisory board in the State of West Virginia. He is a fierce advocate for all veterans of all eras. prgtoken On January 14, 2016, during a ceremony in Charleston, WV, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced that the expeditionary sea base ship 4 (T-ESB 4) would be named the USNS Hershel ``Woody'' Williams. On Saturday, October 21, Woody will be joined by his family, five of his fellow Medal of Honor recipients, fellow World War II veterans, and four of the five living USS Arizona survivors from Pearl Harbor for the joyous occasion of the christening. I look forward to the great honor of joining these heroes at the event in San Diego this weekend. prgtoken Perhaps in no other time in our recent history has it been more vital to remember and emulate the heroism, perseverance, and patriotism of those who belong to the Greatest Generation. Woody is the embodiment of the best of his generation. Through the christening of a ship that bears his name, we are both honoring his great service and lifting up a role model to inspire all West Virginians and Americans alike. prgtoken I would like to salute Chief Warrant Officer 4 Hershel ``Woody'' Williams. I also want to thank him for his great service to this great Nation and the great State of West Virginia, for showing us the power of patriotism, freedom, and family.