mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
CLARIFICATION OF SOURCES OF AUTHORITY TO ISSUE REGULATIONS REGARDING CERTIFICATIONS AND OTHER CRITERIA APPLICABLE TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES UNDER WOUNDED WARRIORS FEDERAL LEAVE ACT
Gregg Harper (Republican, MS) \u2014 2018-6-28

I include in the Record the following exchange of letters between the Chair of the Committee on House Administration and the Chair of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. House of Representatives, Committee on House Administration, Washington, DC, June 27, 2018. Hon. Trey Gowdy, Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Gowdy: I am writing to you concerning H.R. 6160, the Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act Amendments bill. There are certain provisions in the bill that fall within the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. In the interest of permitting the Committee on House Administration to proceed expeditiously for floor consideration of this important bill, I am writing to request a waiver of your committee's right to a referral. I request with the understanding that by waiving consideration of this bill, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform does not waive any future jurisdictional claim over the subject matters contained in the bill which fall within its Rule X jurisdiction. I will place this letter into the committee report and into the Congressional Record during consideration of the measure on the House floor. Thank you for the cooperative spirit. Sincerely, Gregg Harper, Chairman.
IMMIGRATION
Francis Rooney (Republican, FL) \u2014 2018-6-28

our inability to pass either of the immigration bills yesterday was a disappointing failure to solve two of the largest problems we face: routine illegal border crossing and abuse of the asylum system. prgtoken In addition to wall-building and border security bills, I have sponsored legislation to get the workers we need to drive a growing economy: prgtoken Change our system of immigration from family-based to skill-based, like Australia and Canada. We need legal, verifiable, and skilled or the educatable to be workers coming in all ranges of skills. This is the RAISE Act. prgtoken I have also introduced a bill to prevent claiming amnesty from anyone who is already inside our borders. Amnesty is supposed to derive from ``credible fear'' of persecution, not flight because the country of origin is dangerous, lawless, or offers little economic opportunity to its citizens--not our problem. prgtoken These proposals would go a long way to solving the immigration crisis and creating a workforce to drive a growing U.S. economy in the 21st century.
SUPPORT THE PEOPLE OF IRAN
Doug Lamborn (Republican, CO) \u2014 2018-6-28

I rise today to highlight the people of Iran, who are sick and tired of living under the mullahs' rule and have courageously taken to the streets across their country to demand freedom and sound governance. prgtoken The Ayatollah's regime duped the administration into a nuclear deal in which they received a tremendous payout. The people of Iran expected to benefit financially from the deal, but the regime squandered everything on foreign wars at the expense of their citizens. prgtoken The Islamic regime funds the ongoing deadly tactics of Hamas and the Palestinians, supports Bashar al-Assad of Syria, finances the ongoing war in Yemen, builds rocket factories in Lebanon and Syria, and I could go on and on. prgtoken Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are ideals that America champions, the same ideals that the Iranian protestors are risking their lives to achieve. prgtoken To this end, I support the Iranian people, as do the administration and the free world.
FARM BILL
Susan M. Collins (Republican, ME) \u2014 2018-6-28

I rise to commend Agriculture Committee Chairman Roberts and Ranking Member Stabenow for their leadership in crafting a bipartisan farm bill that will help support our Nation's farmers and growers, provide funding for critical agriculture research programs, and make important investments in nutrition and food security programs. prgtoken It is an exciting time for agriculture in Maine. In fact, according to a recent study, Maine ranks first in the Nation for farming outlook, which considers factors such as farmer age, percentage of beginning farmers, and number of farms per 100 residents. According to the most recent Census data, the share of Maine farms owned and operated by farmers under the age of 45 is steadily growing. These factors show that Maine farms are poised for continued growth and long-term success. prgtoken The bill we have just passed includes a number of provisions from the Next Generation in Agriculture Act, which I introduced with Senator Heitkamp, including a reauthorization of the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Grant Program at a higher funding level. Since this program was established nearly a decade ago, it has supported more than 60,000 beginning farmers across every region of the country. In Maine, these grants have helped to build the capacity and skills of beginning farmers, as well as implement a dairy farmer apprenticeship program. prgtoken Maine's agricultural resurgence has also been bolstered by a rapidly expanding organic sector. According to the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, Maine's organic agriculture sector has grown 76 percent over the past 5 years alone. In 2017, the association certified 535 farmers and producers representing more than 90,000 acres of farmland. The strong support for organic agriculture in this bill will help ensure that this sector continues its growth. prgtoken Federal investment in organic agriculture research, however, has not kept pace with the growth of organic producers. This bill incorporates legislation I introduced with Senator Casey that will increase funding for the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative, OREI. These additional resources will help ensure our farmers and producers benefit from the rising demand for organic products. prgtoken In addition to experiencing a resurgence in agriculture, Maine is also in the midst of reorienting its forest products industry following the downturn of traditional pulp and paper production in our State. I am encouraged to see that the bill supports innovative wood products research and development at institutions of higher learning. Based on provisions of the Timber Innovation Act, which I have cosponsored, the bill would authorize grants to advance the use of innovative wood products. Priority would be given to proposals that include the use or retrofitting of existing sawmill facilities with higher-than-average unemployment rates, which could b
TRIBUTE TO GARRET CALTRIDER
David Young (Republican, IA) \u2014 2018-6-28

I rise today to recognize and congratulate Garret Caltrider of West Central Valley High School. Garret was recently honored for outstanding academic achievement at the Sixteenth Annual Governor's Scholar Recognition on April 29, 2018. prgtoken This statewide program is sponsored by the Iowa Governor's Office, the Iowa High School Athletic Association and the Iowa Farm Bureau. Each Iowa High School was invited to select a senior with the highest academic ranking. Not only are they academically gifted, but the selected students are often the youth who are successful in extra- curricular activities and community endeavors. prgtoken , it is a profound honor to represent leaders like Garret Caltrider in the United States Congress and it is with great pride that I recognize and applaud him for utilizing his talents to reach his goals. I invite my colleagues in the United States House of Representatives to join me in congratulating Garret on receiving this esteemed designation, and wishing him the best of luck in all his future endeavors.
INSISTING DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE COMPLY WITH REQUESTS AND SUBPOENAS
Lee M. Zeldin (Republican, NY) \u2014 2018-6-28

I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 970. prgtoken I would like to thank my colleagues, Congressman Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan. prgtoken First off, from my conversations with members of the Justice Department, I have been very impressed with their feedback of seeing just how high morale has gone over the course of the last year and a half because they are able to do their jobs again. prgtoken You were seeing prosecution numbers and certain metrics in these different U.S. Attorney Offices going down. Their hands were being tied behind their back. We talked about the military having their hands tied behind their back, the rules of engagement. We saw our Justice Department, our U.S. attorneys, and our FBI with their hands tied between their back. And their morale is going up. prgtoken Now, I'm not going to subscribe to those in this Chamber and in this country who want to resist, oppose, obstruct, and impeach this President on everything and anything. That is their top priority in life; that is not mine. My priority is, when I see that there is misconduct at the highest levels of the Department of Justice and the FBI, as a Member of Congress, taking my oath seriously to my own constituents and to this country, I demand answers. It is about transparency and it is about accountability. prgtoken I have a 12-page resolution that we introduced, H. Res. 907. It has up to 33 cosponsors. What is interesting about this resolution is it is 12 pages outlining and detailing all this misconduct, calling for a second special counsel, and not one person has been able to poke any hole and a single bullet in this entire 12-page document. prgtoken I have a problem with it when those in the Justice Department say that they can't provide a document because it risks national security. You read the document and find that nothing in there risks national security. Actually what the problem was is that it might cause embarrassment to someone in the DOJ and the FBI. That is why it wasn't provided. prgtoken I don't like it when you see FISA abuse that results in a United States citizen being spied on: going to a secret court with secret documents to get a warrant without due process and providing the full story. prgtoken It is all about justice, transparency, and accountability. Mark Meadows has been leading the fight to get more documents. I support him with it. The Justice Department needs to comply. prgtoken We have an oversight function, and I do not subscribe to those in this Chamber who want to oppose, obstruct, resist, and impeach. That is not the path forward for America.
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H. RES. 970, INSISTING DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE COMPLY WITH REQUESTS AND SUBPOENAS
Doug Collins (Republican, GA) \u2014 2018-6-28

the balance of my time. prgtoken , we can discuss this and continue to discuss it, as we have. prgtoken I respect my friend from Massachusetts and his opinion and the issues of transparency. I want to see that same transparency. I want to see us work. And I think we have an opportunity to do that. By saying that we bring this rule and this resolution here today, to disparage this institution, when we are asking for what we are required and can't get, I am not sure how that is. prgtoken Now, we can discuss other issues you want to investigate and other areas you want to go to, and you can do that and we can discuss things, but there is nothing undermining the investigation. The Mueller investigation is still going on, the FBI investigation. All of that is still going on. Nothing is undermining it except the DOJ that has had obvious issues of telling the truth and obvious issues of not giving us the documents we have requested. This is Article I, Article II. prgtoken We can have discussions about everything else. And I know if I were in a position on the other side, I would want everything investigated, because when you have seen what we have been able to do in the last year and a half with the economy, with jobs, with regulations, with small business, when you start looking at that, I would yell at everything else, too, , because the President has done what he said he was going to do. And our economy is better, our jobs are better, and we are working toward a system in which America is safer. prgtoken But I would also want to investigate everything else, too, because if I was going into a cycle, I would want to throw off and look other places and tell the American people things aren't really right when they know that it is. prgtoken Also, the American people, when I go back home to Georgia, want to know: If the Congress asks an agency for documents, why do they not get to produce them? prgtoken And don't go to the fact, well, it is classified. prgtoken We have SCIFs up here. We have got classified areas up here. What is problematic here is we are hiding behind the fact of things that look like--after they are produced, after they are compelled to produce--it looks like they are just trying to keep it from us to hide embarrassment, and that is not a reason to hide documents. prgtoken So we have a simple proposal here. Do what you are required to do. Let Congress be the oversight that it is supposed to be, and we can discuss whatever else we want to for oversight. That is the part of two parties working. prgtoken But in this one, this is pretty simple. You can vote ``no'' and say no, Congress shouldn't do that, in an area in which we have responsibility and oversight protection. If you want to do that, go right ahead. prgtoken Again, when you want to throw off everything else in the world--I think it is when you look at the President and you look at the administration and you look at what we have
AGRICULTURE AND NUTRITION ACT OF 2018--Continued
Lisa Murkowski (Republican, AK) \u2014 2018-6-28

I would like to take a few minutes while we have an interlude here with the farm bill to speak along with my colleague Senator Sullivan about the nomination of, in my view, an extraordinary Alaskan--Tara MacLean Sweeney, who has been nominated to serve as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of Interior. prgtoken It is certainly my very strong hope that Ms. Sweeney can be confirmed to this position before we leave for the Fourth of July recess. I see no reason why this body should delay confirmation. prgtoken I want to give just a little bit of background and share, along with my colleague Senator Sullivan, some of the attributes we are talking about here. prgtoken Ms. Sweeney is truly a noncontroversial nominee. She has support across prgtoken the political spectrum. She was reported out of the Committee on Indian Affairs by a voice vote. There was no dissent. She is endorsed by the National Congress of American Indians, and she enjoys strong support across Indian Country--not only from Alaska Natives up in our State but truly across Indian Country. She is Inupiaq. She is a very distinguished leader, respected among indigenous peoples not only here in the United States but abroad. She is truly eminently qualified for the position. prgtoken So I want to share briefly the history of how we got here. It has been many months--many, many months--and I think it is important to know the process she has gone through. The President announced his intent to nominate Ms. Sweeney on October 16, 2017. We received it in the Senate about a week later, and from there she entered into this frustrating bureaucratic purgatory is probably the best way to describe it. prgtoken So I mentioned that Ms. Sweeney is an Inupiaq from the North Slope, and like every other Alaska Native who was born before December 18, 1971, she is a beneficiary of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Under that legislation, Ms. Sweeney received 100 shares of stock in the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. This is one of the 13 corporations that has been created by Congress. Ms. Sweeney also inherited some additional shares from her mother who died in 1996. prgtoken The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act prohibits Ms. Sweeney from disposing of those shares. Why is that? These are not shares that are like shares in IBM or General Electric. These shares are her birthright as an Alaskan Native. The Department of Interior has concluded that Ms. Sweeney's continued ownership of those shares creates no ethical impediments to the discharge of her duties--none whatsoever. She has also entered into an ethics agreement under which she will recuse herself from matters involving the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, where she served as a corporate officer prior to her nomination. prgtoken Really, there is no conceptual difference between Ms. Sweeney's service with her Native corporation and the service of her predecessor Assista
THE WAR ON COAL IN MONTANA
Greg Gianforte (Republican, MT) \u2014 2018-6-28

I rise today to bring this body's attention to a war on coal that jeopardizes our Montana communities, jobs, and economy. prgtoken Environmental extremists want to eliminate the diversity of Montana's energy generation. Their radical agenda threatens our Montana way of life, particularly in eastern Montana. prgtoken This week, the Montana Chamber Foundation released a report that reveals the alarming impact a continued war on coal would have in Montana. prgtoken If Colstrip's Units 3 and 4 were closed prematurely, the impact would be devastating to Montana. Montana would lose about 3,300 jobs. Our State's population would shrink by 7,000 individuals. Montanans would lose over $5 billion in income and all Montanans would face higher electricity prices. Also, the loss of this source of reliable baseload power would threaten the stability of our electric grid. prgtoken , it is time to end this war on coal once and for all. Montanans, our communities, and our economy require that we not raise the white flag.
AGRICULTURE AND NUTRITION ACT OF 2018
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2018-6-28

I want to take another opportunity to pay tribute to Justice Anthony Kennedy, who announced yesterday that he will retire from active service and assume senior status at the end of July. prgtoken Justice Kennedy deserves our sincere thanks for his service and our congratulations on a truly remarkable career. He served our Nation on the Federal Bench for 43 years, 30 of which he spent as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. prgtoken His contributions to American jurisprudence have been many. In particular, he has earned our gratitude for his steadfast defense of the vital First Amendment right to political speech. prgtoken We congratulate Justice Kennedy, his wife Mary, and their entire family on this well-earned retirement. We wish them every happiness during the additional time they will get to spend together in the years ahead. Filling the Upcoming Supreme Court Vacancy prgtoken As I stated yesterday, the Senate stands ready to fulfill our constitutional role by offering advice and consent on President 's nominee to fill the vacancy that Justice Kennedy's retirement will create. The Senate will vote to confirm Justice Kennedy's successor this fall. prgtoken This is not 2016. There aren't the final months of a second-term, constitutionally lame duck Presidency with a Presidential election fast approaching. We are right in the middle of this President's very first term. prgtoken To my knowledge, nobody on either side has either suggested before yesterday that the Senate should process Supreme Court nominations only in odd-numbered years. The situation today is much like when Justice Kagan was confirmed in 2010 and when Justice Breyer was confirmed in 1994 and Justice Souter in 1990. In each case, the President was about a year and a half into his first term. prgtoken So just as on numerous other occasions, the process to confirm Justice Kennedy's successor will take place this year. As in the case of Justice Gorsuch, Senators will have the opportunity to meet with President 's nominee, examine his or her qualifications, and debate the nomination. I am confident Chairman Grassley will capably lead the Judiciary Committee prgtoken through the confirmation process that lies before us. prgtoken The President's nominee should be considered fairly and not subjected to personal attacks. Unfortunately, far-left special interest groups are already calling on Senate to oppose anyone--anyone--on President 's long list of potential nominees. The ink wasn't even dry on Justice Kennedy's resignation letter before my friend the ic leader seemed to echo that right here on the floor--that none of the exceptional legal minds on this list would be tolerable to him. prgtoken Think of that. These are 25 Americans from all over the country who have excelled in their professions. The idea that any of them--let alone all of them--would be automatically unacceptab
RECOGNIZING THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF PLEASANT VALLEY BAPTIST CHURCH OF SALEM, MISSOURI
Jason Smith (Republican, MO) \u2014 2018-6-28

I rise today to honor Pleasant Valley Baptist Church of Salem, Missouri on the occasion of its 150th Anniversary. The church was founded in 1868, when a small group met in southern Dent County at the home of J.F. Halbrook. The church began with 11 charter members and Rev. John A. Summers was selected as the first Pastor. The church continued meeting at the home of J.F. Halbrook during the early years. Later they moved to a log school house in the Miner community and in 1878, thanks to Mr. and Mrs. J.M. Orchard, the church moved to its present location in the Doss community. Today, the church has 308 members and is involved in local and nationwide missions. For continuing its work of proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ through 150 years of change and challenge, it is my great pleasure to honor Pleasant Valley Baptist Church today before the United States House of Representatives.
TRIBUTE TO JOSH BROWN
John Thune (Republican, SD) \u2014 2018-6-28

today I recognize Josh Brown, an intern in my prgtoken Sioux Falls, SD, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks. prgtoken Josh is a graduate of Dell Rapids St. Mary High School in Dell Rapids, SD. Currently, he is attending Morningside College, where he is majoring in political science. He is a hard worker who has been dedicated to getting the most out of his internship experience. prgtoken I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Josh for all of the fine work he has done and wish him continued success in the years to come.