mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
ECONOMIC GROWTH, REGULATORY RELIEF, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED--Continued
Heidi Heitkamp (Democrat, ND) \u2014 2018-3-6

. Thank you. I was going to say ``,'' but I guess at this point he is just Senator Crapo. prgtoken , I want to take a moment and personally thank Senator Crapo from Idaho for his incredible leadership. Frequently we are asked: What is wrong in the U.S. Senate? Why can't you seem to get anything done, even though there is common purpose; that is, to protect the American public, defend the American public, and help the American public be prosperous? prgtoken Frequently my response is that many times it is a lack of leadership. It is a lack of willingness to sit down, listen, and prepare a product that can get results. That hasn't been our problem with Senator Crapo. He has been there personally every step along the way, not delegating to staff but working with us one on one--sometimes, maybe, four on one. He may feel a little bit ganged up on, but I think it was fair odds for him, I might say. I also know that this would not be here without the leadership of Senator Crapo and the Banking Committee, a committee that historically has a reputation for being notoriously bipartisan. I want to extend my great appreciation for his work and for his willingness to listen and to work with all of us. prgtoken What are we celebrating today? We haven't quite gotten it over the finish line, but certainly the vote we just had a couple of hours ago, which was broad bipartisan support on a cloture vote, is not something we see very often in this body. I think what we have to say is that this bill is a piece of almost old-fashioned legislating. It is a prime example of how Senators can work together to effectively achieve a result and do it in a bipartisan way. prgtoken Despite the Washington gridlock of partisanship, a group of us on Banking wrote and introduced this bipartisan bill through a good-faith negotiation, which lasted literally years. I have been working on this since coming to the U.S. Senate and being assigned to the Banking Committee. In fact, I have been working on these reforms since 2013. prgtoken The bill didn't come together overnight. It was carefully crafted. It was done not just with these regulators in discussion but also the -era regulators as well. We know that we have an opportunity to do something that no one thought was possible--take a piece of legislation that didn't come through in rule XIV, didn't come through in reconciliation. It came through in the traditional way, through a Banking Committee process where we sat--and I will again applaud the Chairman. No amendment was told it was out of order. No amendment wasn't given an opportunity to be heard or voted on. In fact, we sat for 7 hours and voted on amendments and listened to debate on this bill. Those people who think it came quickly are wrong. This did not come quickly. It came over a long period of time, through extensive discussions. prgtoken I want to talk about why I care so much about this bill. When I was go
REPACK AIRWAVES YIELDING BETTER ACCESS FOR USERS OF MODERN SERVICES ACT OF 2018
Jerry McNerney (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2018-3-6

I thank my ranking member and the chairman for yielding. s on the other side of the aisle for their bipartisan efforts here. prgtoken I rise in support of H.R. 4986, the RAY BAUM'S Act. In the first place, this bill will help ensure that the incentive auction repack can move forward in a timely fashion and that Americans can have access to their local broadcasting stations during this period of time. prgtoken On the other hand, I am very proud that this bill includes a bipartisan provision that Congressman Kinzinger and I worked on. prgtoken This provision will move us forward in closing the digital divide for our Nation's veterans. Access to broadband internet service is critical for the more than 20 million veterans across our country, with the highest population of veterans residing in California. prgtoken Having a broadband internet connection helps veterans apply for jobs more easily, obtain necessary vocational training, communicate with family and friends, keep up with current events, access healthcare services, and get important information about their benefits and military records. prgtoken Without broadband internet access, it is difficult to fully participate in today's society. Veterans face many challenges when they return home, and not having internet access makes what is already an incredibly tough transition process even harder. This is particularly likely to be the case for low-income veterans and veterans living in rural areas. prgtoken Although we lack specific data on the number of veterans with broadband internet access, we know that Americans who live in rural areas are less likely to be connected. This is also the case for Americans who live at or below the Federal poverty level. prgtoken We must find ways to ensure that veterans, especially the more than 1.4 million veterans living below the Federal poverty level and the 5.3 million residing in rural areas, are not left behind. prgtoken This is why my provision directs the Federal Communications Commission to examine the current state of broadband access for veterans and what can be done to increase access, with a focus on low- income veterans and veterans residing in rural areas. prgtoken The findings and recommendations from this report will be important for paving the way to get more veterans connected. I urge my colleagues to vote for this bill.
REPACK AIRWAVES YIELDING BETTER ACCESS FOR USERS OF MODERN SERVICES ACT OF 2018
Frank Pallone, Jr. (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2018-3-6

in closing, I just want to say, again, that this bill is a bipartisan bill. There has been a lot of work done on both sides of the aisle. I appreciate the fact that we are able to accomplish this and also include a lot of initiatives from Members on both sides of the aisle. And, again, as a tribute to Ray Baum and all that he did for us over the many years, I am proud to say that we enthusiastically support the bill and urge its passage. prgtoken , .
ECONOMIC GROWTH, REGULATORY RELIEF, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-3-6

when the majority forced through a $1.5 trillion tax cut to big corporations and the richest Americans, a big question was, What will those companies do with the money? Roughly, $1 trillion of that $1.5 trillion was aimed at the biggest corporations. prgtoken s promised that corporations would reinvest the savings from the tax bill, stimulating jobs and economic growth. We warned that corporations would do what is best for themselves, not necessarily what is best for workers or the economy. There is often a dichotomy, as we have learned over the years. prgtoken It has been only a few months since the tax cut was signed into law, and while a few corporations here and there announced annual bonuses with a whole lot of hoopla from the President and the s, we don't hear a peep now that they have been announcing an avalanche of corporate stock buybacks--an absolute bonanza for corporate leaders and for wealthy shareholders. Over $200 billion in corporate buybacks have been announced since January, putting corporations on pace to spend over $1 trillion this year buying back their own stock. prgtoken This morning, the oil and gas giant Chevron announced it expects to restart its share repurchasing program since halting it in 2015. Why? Because they just reaped $2 billion in savings from the tax bill. Chevron told the Houston Chronicle last week it is planning no major changes or benefits given to its workers. Let me repeat that. Chevron is planning no major benefits to its workers but huge stock buybacks. Is that what America wants? No, but that is what is happening, as we predicted, with this tax bill. prgtoken The Chevron example is not alone, unfortunately, my fellow Americans. An analysis by Just Capital found that 6 percent of the savings companies received from the tax bill are going to employees, while 58 percent are going to shareholders in the form of dividends, share buybacks, and retained earnings. The problem is, buybacks don't really help workers or average Americans. They don't really grow the economy. In fact, the money corporations spend on buybacks crowds out investment in the things that do help workers and help our economy--research, development, new equipment, new hires, better pay for employees. But those benefits are in the long term. The corporate CEOs, the boards, the leaders of the corporations--the big ones--get an immediate benefit when they buy back stock. The stock goes up, the shareholders are happy, but workers and America get no benefit. prgtoken What buybacks accomplish is the funneling of even more money to corporate executives and wealthy shareholders. Buybacks don't help the American workers. They don't grow the economy. By taking stock off the market, corporations inflate the value of their stockholdings. prgtoken Who holds all this stock? Not average Americans. The richest 10 percent of America owns 8
ECONOMIC GROWTH, REGULATORY RELIEF, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED--Continued
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2018-3-6

I will be joined by a series of my colleagues who are coming to the floor this afternoon to talk about the November 2018 elections coming up and the steps we need to take to make sure that the Russian influence effort that bedeviled our 2016 election is not replicated in the 2018 election. prgtoken I guess the first question to answer is, Is this a realistic prospect? Is this something we should concern ourselves with--that the Russians would come back again in 2018 and try to meddle in our elections? prgtoken Everyone in the administration who has been asked about this, perhaps outside of the Oval Office itself, has said: Yes, absolutely. They are coming. The Director of the CIA, the Director of National Intelligence, the head of the FBI, the Attorney General, the Department of Justice--there is no contest. There is no disagreement. There is no doubt, even among the President's senior national security and law enforcement team that they are coming back, that they are going to do this again. That leads us to the question of what we are doing about it. prgtoken It seems that the silence from the Oval Office on this subject is deafening. The White House doesn't ever want to talk about doing anything about this. To the extent that we get signals from tweets and things like that, they are usually nonfactual and highly politicized challenges to the basic facts that all of the President's senior Cabinet staff seem to agree with. prgtoken I don't know why they haven't sorted out why the President says one thing and all of his Cabinet officials say something else, but that is for them. What is for us is to review this in Congress, to do oversight, and to do what legislation might be necessary to raise our defenses to make sure that we can effectively counter what we have been warned is coming at us. prgtoken We have no proposal from the administration. One would think with something like this, where we have an election that has been attacked by a hostile foreign country--one would think that would be the kind of thing that would bring our country together and would get the President's attention. He swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, and last I heard, the elections are a part of our Constitution. Yet there is nothing--crickets. prgtoken Where is the proposal? Where are the congressional hearings on our proposals? Where are the markups? Where are the bills? We are seeing an extraordinary lack of interest and initiative in something about which we have been very forcefully warned. prgtoken The failure at the White House is very profound. Over and over again, we have heard senior officials say that they have not been instructed by the President to take this seriously. My senior colleague, Senator Jack Reed, asked Director Chris Wray of the FBI about whether the FBI had taken specific actions to confront and blunt Russian influence and disinformation activities. On February 13,
COMMEMORATING 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF POLAND'S REEMERGENCE
Marcy Kaptur (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2018-3-6

I am pleased to join my colleague, Representative Jackie Walorski, as co-chairs of the Polish Caucus. prgtoken This year, we commemorate the 100th anniversary of Poland's reemergence as a European nation in 1918. As grateful Polish Americans, we join together on a bipartisan basis to acknowledge this historic achievement of freedom's advance. prgtoken The reality is history has been brutal to Poland. In the late 1700s, Poland was erased from the map of Europe for 123 years by three adjacent predatory empires because it passed a constitution inspired by ours, which included a separation of powers. prgtoken Poland became the first nation in Europe to abolish serfdom by the Polaniec Manifesto on May 7, 1794. Then, in 1918, following World War I, with the support of President Woodrow Wilson, Poland was restored to the map of Europe and resumed its torturous climb to freedom. prgtoken But then, in 1939, World War II began. As Poland was invaded, first by Nazi Germany, and then 3 weeks later by Communist Russia, Poland suffered an unimaginable loss of 20 percent of its population that perished during World War II, the most of any nation in that war. prgtoken Of the 14 million civilians killed by Nazi Germany and Communist Russia, over 6 million were killed in Poland; 3 million Jews and 3 million Christians, as well as Roma and Sinti, the disabled, homosexuals, and other innocents. prgtoken Poland never surrendered. There never was a collaborationist Polish Government. Establishing a free government in exile, Polish armies fought on every front in Europe, including alongside American soldiers at Normandy. prgtoken Despite the Nazi and Soviet campaign to wipe out Poland's most educated and accomplished and, indeed, Poland's history, Poland resisted at home with the largest underground resistance movement in Europe. Poland never surrendered, nor did it ever surrender to Nazi nor Communist, murderous ideology. prgtoken At Katyn, Communist Russia, with bullets to the back of their heads, killed over 12,000 Polish leaders from its military, civil society, their educational community, and their religious leadership. prgtoken 1945 brought allied liberation to a war-torn Europe, but not to Poland, which fell under the Soviet yoke, repressed, and blocked from its own identity, indeed, even denied a true representation of its wartime history of heroism, tragedy, and terror. prgtoken But in 1989, after 43 years of increasing resistance to occupation inside Poland, its fierce love of liberty spilled over into successful resistance and massive electoral victory won by Solidarnosc, the labor movement that yielded ultimate liberty for Poland. This was the first wave of major popular and anti-Communist opposition across the Soviet bloc that resulted in the Berlin Wall's collapse in 1989, the wall that divided liberty from tyranny and, ultimately, communism's demise. prgtoken Poland has accomplished much in the generation of freedom that
ECONOMIC GROWTH, REGULATORY RELIEF, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED--Continued
Joe Donnelly (Democrat, IN) \u2014 2018-3-6

I want to thank Chairman Crapo and my good friend from Kansas, whose statement is so similar to mine in many ways. prgtoken In rural Indiana--you talked about relationship banking. That is, in many ways, the heartbeat of a community. Our small businesses, our farms that are handed down from generation to generation--you find the grandsons of our farmers dealing with the grandsons of the person who developed the bank. It is a privilege to be part of this. prgtoken I thank the chairman of the Banking Committee, Senator Crapo, for leading this debate and for his good-faith efforts to make this a bipartisan process. prgtoken As we debate the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, the Senate is on the verge of doing something significant. We are breaking through the gridlock on a bipartisan legislative package to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens on Main Street banks and credit unions, while also expanding protections for consumers, servicemembers, and veterans. prgtoken This is an example of what we can achieve when we work together. I am proud to have worked closely with my friend the chairman, Senator Crapo, among others, to craft this bipartisan legislation that, as my friend Senator Tester mentioned--13 s, 12 , 1 Independent. prgtoken I have worked on this issue since I came to the Senate in 2013. This bill is prgtoken the result of dozens of meetings, Banking Committee hearings, and a 7\1/2\-hour committee markup, where more than 100 amendments from both sides were filed, and 36 were considered and voted on. This bill is carefully written and narrowly tailored. prgtoken This commonsense legislation is intended to help Main Street community banks and local credit unions to focus more on traditional banking--our small businesses, our farms, our families--while maintaining the safety and soundness of our financial system. prgtoken In rural areas and in many towns across my beloved home State of Indiana, Main Street community banks and credit unions are the institutions that Hoosiers turn to--whether it is a family seeking a mortgage for their first home to make their dreams come true or an entrepreneur with a dream who is looking to start a small business, create more jobs, and make his or her community grow. prgtoken Unfortunately, the 103 community banks and 154 credit unions in Indiana have been unintentionally burdened by rules and regulations that were intended to hold Wall Street accountable, to make sure they would never damage our economy again. Since 2008, the number of small business loans is down 41 percent nationally. That is according to our Federal banking regulators. prgtoken This package includes a number of important new consumer protections as well, including for servicemembers, as I mentioned, for veterans, seniors, and tenants. prgtoken One provision is based on my bipartisan Protecting Veterans Credit Act. It ensures that veterans are
PASSING A STRONG, BIPARTISAN FARM BILL
Jim Costa (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2018-3-6

I rise today to talk about the challenges that we face, not only in my constituency as it relates to California agriculture, but a host of other issues as well. prgtoken We are in the process of trying to reauthorize the farm bill, something we do every 4 years. It used to be--and we hope it will continue this year--one of the more bipartisan efforts we are engaged in. prgtoken I represent not only the heartland of the San Joaquin Valley, but third-generation farmer. prgtoken Last week--as I do every weekend when I go home--I was walking the rows of the almond trees on my ranch outside of Fresno, California. They are beautiful. They are in full bloom this time of year. There is not a time, though, in the year, in the San Joaquin Valley, where the incredible bounty of the 300 crops that we grow are not on display because they are always out there. prgtoken The blossoms in the spring grow into the almonds, walnuts, and pistachios until late summer. Tomatoes are harvested in August and September, followed by cotton in October and November. The dairymen and dairy processors work every day because those cows have to be milked every day year-round to produce the finest quality milk, cheese, and butter. prgtoken As I walked through my orchard, I remembered the countless stories and insights by my fellow California farmers, ranchers, dairymen and - women shared with me over the past year, and I think about my father, who farmed all of his life, and my grandfather. prgtoken In anticipation of the 2018 farm bill, I have held round tables and listening sessions, attended agriculture townhalls, and met with our farmers and farm workers, who, every day, work so hard to put those food products on America's dinner table. prgtoken I have done this to hear firsthand the concerns and priorities of our local producers, farm workers, and nutrition organizations regarding our Nation's food supply. prgtoken I have also had numerous meetings with key agriculture and trade officials, including Agriculture Secretary Perdue, who has been out to California a number of times. prgtoken And as we in Congress move together with farm bill negotiations, we must maintain strong support for the cultivation and production of fresh fruits and vegetables, which are the foundation of a healthy diet. California produces over half of the Nation's fruits and vegetables. It is truly amazing. Three hundred crops. prgtoken We must also make sure that we do not abandon our Nation's most vulnerable through inhumane cuts to the nutrition programs that provide a steady source of food to our Nation's food supply. We are talking about our safety net, we are talking about the SNAP program, and we are talking about Women, Infants, and Children. This has been part of the glue on a bipartisan basis that has kept and s together in the reauthorization of the farm bill. prgtoken But we must have a safety net for those who are most unfortunate in our
PORTFOLIO LENDING AND MORTGAGE ACCESS ACT
Daniel T. Kildee (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2018-3-6

. Madam , the balance of my time to close. prgtoken Madam , just to reiterate, we don't agree on everything. Even some of the debate in this conversation, I think we could find areas of disagreement. But when it comes to the specifics of this legislation, I think it strikes a good balance. The balance, for me, being the notion that we can deem these mortgages held by smaller institutions, as long as they are held in portfolio, as meeting the QM requirements. prgtoken In exchange for that, what we get is, in weak markets, we get a chance for folks who essentially have been locked out of home ownership to be able to get a small mortgage literally on a $25,000, $30,000, or $40,000 home and begin to build equity that will return value to that family and to that community for a long, long time. prgtoken For that reason, I support this legislation and I urge my colleagues to join me in voting ``yes'' on it. prgtoken Madam , .