mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
ECONOMIC GROWTH, REGULATORY RELIEF, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT
Richard C. Shelby (Republican, AL) \u2014 2018-3-14

I rise today, as my colleague from North Dakota has just done, to speak in support of Senate bill S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. prgtoken In response to the 2008 financial crisis, many individuals overreacted to the role that smaller institutions played. In the rush to react, these institutions became overregulated. But since the drafting and enactment of Dodd-Frank nearly 10 years ago, Congress has looked for ways to lessen the damaging effects it has had on our financial system in America. As a result of the Dodd-Frank Act, thousands of pages of Federal mandates were imposed upon even the smallest of financial institutions. prgtoken Community banks all across the country are the key source of lending and other financial services on Main Street throughout this Nation. I believe we should not, and must not, continue to require them to comply with the same regulations as our largest financial institutions that are, perhaps, subject to systemic risk. prgtoken This bill before us today fixes that by offering a commonsense approach to ensure that our small and medium-sized financial institutions are no longer subject to excessive regulation that has choked the life from them in the country. prgtoken Senate bill S. 2155 is a result of almost 10 years of negotiations among Members of both parties. This legislation was negotiated in good faith between s and to find common ground. In a time when partisan politics have derailed many efforts, the bill before us moved through regular order out of the Banking Committee, where a lengthy and robust amendment debate occurred. Many of us in this body, including the Presiding Officer, have spent hours upon hours negotiating since the enactment of Dodd-Frank to get to this point today. This is a bipartisan bill. This is a good product. prgtoken Time and again, I have advocated for conducting thorough cost-benefit analysis on financial regulations. I believe it is Congress's role, when tasked with oversight authority, to ensure that the costs of rules from Washington do not outweigh the benefits for consumers. However, even a simple examination of the activities of small and medium-sized banks shows that their practices provide no systemic risk to our financial system. prgtoken Many Dodd-Frank regulations are inappropriate for these institutions in the country. This has become abundantly clear to most of us. As regulatory overreach progressed, community banks and, in turn, local economies began to fall on hard times. prgtoken In the 115th Congress, I believe the dynamics have shifted. Beginning with our work to reform our Nation's tax system, the economy has been performing well. Unemployment has dropped; the total number of individuals returning to the workforce has increased. In the Senate, we now have a unique opportunity to unlock the chains of stagnation that have halted the growth of a lot of
ECONOMIC GROWTH, REGULATORY RELIEF, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT
John Hoeven (Republican, ND) \u2014 2018-3-14

I want to associate myself with the comments of the esteemed Senator from Wyoming. I think he described very well the extremely positive impact that tax relief is having on our country, on economic growth, on job creation, and on higher wages and incomes for hard-working Americans. prgtoken I rise today, however, to talk about the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act and the important reforms we are making to spur economic development, facilitate more lending, and reduce burdensome regulations on our community banks and credit unions. prgtoken The Dodd-Frank Act was enacted in 2010 following the financial crisis in an attempt to reduce systemic risks the financial sector posed to the economy. This far-reaching law touched every aspect of the financial system, including many small community banks and credit unions around the country and in my home State of North Dakota and across this Nation, in North Carolina and in every State in the Union. These community banks and credit unions are not what pose the systemic risks that Dodd-Frank was passed to address. prgtoken At almost 850 pages long, Dodd-Frank required more than 10 regulatory agencies to write almost 400 new rules, which added more than 27,000 new Federal restrictions on American businesses. Think about that regulatory burden--more than 27,000 new Federal restrictions on American businesses. prgtoken Compliance costs to implement these Dodd-Frank rules have exceeded $36 billion--I repeat, $36 billion--which is ultimately passed on to consumers. It required nearly 73 million paperwork hours. In fact, agencies were still writing Dodd-Frank regulations after the law was passed. These costs hit small banks and credit unions especially hard, harming the driving forces of economic growth in rural areas and in our underserved areas. These financial institutions provide critical funding for credit for families and small businesses, especially in rural areas and in underserved areas. Rural States particularly feel that impact, like my home State of North Dakota. prgtoken Because of their small size, community banks and credit unions have a more difficult time complying with excessively complex reporting and paperwork requirements. Compliance costs have hastened bank closures in small towns, leading to a growing number of places with no bank branches--meaning, not having financial services for consumers. prgtoken Nationwide, more than one in five U.S. banks have disappeared; that is more than 1,700 institutions--or more than one small bank or financial institution every business day--that have shut down since Dodd-Frank was enacted. That means less access to financial services for consumers across this country, particularly those who don't live in our large urban areas. prgtoken Since Dodd-Frank was signed into law, North Dakota has lost over one- fifth of its credit unions, with the number of credit unions in North Dakota
TAX REFORM
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2018-3-14

on one final matter, this afternoon President will visit a Boeing production facility in St. Louis. He will hear from local business leaders about how tax reform is giving them room to invest more and hire more. prgtoken Missouri's senior Senator tried to block tax reform on a party-line vote. Fortunately, their Senator voted to let them realize this prosperity. prgtoken For months now, the headlines have been filled with businesses large and small using tax reform to give workers bonuses, pay raises, and new benefits. But raises and bonuses aren't the only ways that tax reform will help hardworking families. prgtoken Thanks to the efforts of Senator Heller and others in the committee, tax reform doubled the child tax credit and extended it to more middle- class families. When they file their taxes next year, families will be able to take $2,000 off of their tax bill for every qualifying child. prgtoken My friend the ic leader said repeatedly that tax reform would do nothing to help American workers. The ic leader in the House said the law would bring about ``Armageddon.'' I am not sure where they get their predictions, but I don't think they will carry much water with middle-class families in Missouri or Indiana or West Virginia or certainly in Kentucky. prgtoken For brand-new parents facing one expense after another, the $2,000 credit will more than cover the cost of a brand-new washer and dryer set or a new refrigerator. For a middle-class family of four, the credit is $4,000. That more than covers the standard down payment on a used car, priced at the national average, or it could kick off a college savings fund. prgtoken Just ``crumbs''--really? Maybe adding thousands of dollars to family budgets looks like crumbs in New York or San Francisco, but to most Americans around most kitchen tables, that is real money, and so is the adoption tax credit, which keeps the IRS's hands off more of the hard- earned money that adoptive families need to cover expenses. prgtoken Last autumn, I met a wonderful family from Franklin, KY, who adopted their son from Ethiopia in the face of many hurdles and difficulties. His mother wrote my office. She told me: Our sweet boy is worth every dime and tear. prgtoken They were counting on that tax credit, as were many other families. s made sure this credit was preserved. prgtoken Here is how that Kentucky mother described the impact. She said: The tax credit we will receive . . . has allowed us to pay off the last remaining debt we owed. Such a weight lifted off our shoulders. prgtoken New pro-family tax cuts and new pro-family tax credits, all while protecting existing pro-family provisions that Americans rely on--that is what every voted against, but fortunately, it is what every Senate voted for. So the American people won in the end.
STUDENT, TEACHERS, AND OFFICERS PREVENTING SCHOOL VIOLENCE ACT OF 2018
John H. Rutherford (Republican, FL) \u2014 2018-3-14

I thank the chairman for yielding me this time. prgtoken , today the House of Representatives has a chance to take an important first step towards keeping our students and our teachers safe by passing the STOP School Violence Act. prgtoken This bill is the result of bipartisan work of Representative Hal Rogers, Representative Ted Deutch, and also Representative Kilmer. We also incorporated, as we mentioned earlier, excellent ideas and key elements from legislation by Chairwoman Granger, Representatives Susan Brooks, Chabot, Rodney Davis, Messer, and Bost. I want to thank all of them for their work and commitment to this very important issue. prgtoken I would also like to recognize in a very special way the dedication and passion of the parents and members of Sandy Hook Promise, who have been integral to us moving this bill forward. I really cannot say enough about that organization. prgtoken As a career law enforcement officer and sheriff for 12 years in my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, I know firsthand the importance of communities working together to spot early warning signs of violence. prgtoken This is why this bill invests in early intervention and prevention programs in our local schools, so that our communities and law enforcement can be partners in preventing these horrific acts from occurring. prgtoken We need to give students, teachers, and law enforcement the tools and training they need to identify warning signs and to know who to contact, and prgtoken provide them an anonymous tip source to provide that information. prgtoken Now, I should point out here that those receiving the tips, the agencies that are charged with providing due process, are the ones who should provide due process here, not the tipster, not the child who may be calling in to talk about an issue that he thinks is important to law enforcement. prgtoken That is their responsibility to provide due process to the individuals involved. prgtoken This bill also gives funding for physical enhancements to help harden the target on our school campuses. I know from my law enforcement experience that security does require a multilayered approach. Our bill supports one very important layer of security for our schools. There is still much more work to be done, but the best way to keep our students and teachers safe is to give them the tools and the training to recognize those warning signs to prevent violence from ever entering our school grounds. This bill aims to do just that, . prgtoken As I used to tell my community in northeast Florida when I was sheriff, I do not want to be the best first responder to an active shooter event. I want to prevent that occurrence before it happens, and that is the goal of the STOP School Violence Act.
ECONOMIC GROWTH, REGULATORY RELIEF, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT
Susan M. Collins (Republican, ME) \u2014 2018-3-14

I rise today to speak in support of the Senior$afe Act, which I am pleased is included in the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. My good friend Senator Claire McCaskill and I have been working on Senior$afe for several years now. This bill originated with testimony offered by Maine Securities Administrator Judith Shaw in a hearing before the Senate Aging Committee in 2015. I am the chairman of that committee, and Senator McCaskill was the ranking member at that time. We introduced the bill that year, and reintroduced it in January of 2017. Today, the bill is cosponsored by almost a third of this body, balanced nearly evenly on both sides of the aisle. prgtoken I am disappointed to learn that my colleague Senator Warren has filed an amendment that would seriously undermine the Senior$afe Act by restricting its provisions just to liability that may arise under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. If this amendment were to pass, financial service providers that report suspected frauds against seniors could still face liability under other laws or causes of action, which would discourage providers from making these critical reports. I understand that the proponent of this amendment contends that Senior$afe could somehow shield a financial service provider from its own fraud. That is simply not correct. prgtoken In order to receive the protections of the Senior$afe Act, financial service providers must train their employees to spot suspicious activity that may indicate fraud targeting seniors, and make good faith, reasonable reports of that suspicious activity to the proper authorities. The bill is clear that it only shields reporting a suspected fraud; there is no protection for committing a fraud. prgtoken Combating financial abuse of seniors requires consumers, regulators, law enforcement, and social service agencies at all levels of government to work collaboratively with the private sector. The stakes could not be higher. According to the GAO, financial fraud targeting older Americans is a growing epidemic that costs seniors an estimated $2.9 billion annually. Stopping this tsunami of fraud is one of the top priorities of the Aging Committee. Over the years, we have held numerous hearings exposing an endless variety of financial abuses targeting our Nation's seniors. These range from the notorious IRS phone scam that burst onto the scene in 2015, to the incredible ``drug mule'' scam, where trusting seniors have been tricked by international narcotics traffickers into unwittingly serving as drug couriers, and then find themselves arrested and locked up in foreign jails. prgtoken Just last week, our committee heard the story of Stephen and Rita Shiman from Saco, ME, who lost more than $1,200 in the notorious grandparent scam. In this scam, fraudsters call a senior pretending to be a family member, often a grandchild, and claim to be in urgent need of money to cover an emer
STUDENT, TEACHERS, AND OFFICERS PREVENTING SCHOOL VIOLENCE ACT OF 2018
James Comer (Republican, KY) \u2014 2018-3-14

earlier this year, I joined my colleagues from the Kentucky delegation here on the House floor to lead a moment of silence for the victims of a tragic school shooting at Marshall County High School in my district in Kentucky on January 23. prgtoken Today I am proud to rise in support of the STOP School Violence Act, which I believe will be a critical step forward in preventing future school shootings like the tragedies we witnessed in Marshall County, Kentucky, and, of course, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. prgtoken In the wake of the Marshall County shooting, I heard from the families of victims and other members of the community that their top priority was enhancing physical security, whether that means installing metal detectors, hiring school resource officers, or making other evidence-based improvements to prevent and mitigate school violence. prgtoken This bill will provide resources to schools so that they can do just that while also supporting training for students, teachers, and local law enforcement to identify and prevent violence in our schools. prgtoken The Marshall County community is resilient. As we continue to mourn the loss of two young lives in our community along with those in Parkland, we will also fight to protect our students, educators, and communities. I believe the STOP School Violence Act will help defend our schools from those who wish to inflict harm on others, and I urge my colleagues to support this important and bipartisan bill.
NIFLA V. BECERRA
Bill Huizenga (Republican, MI) \u2014 2018-3-14

I thank my friend from Maryland for his leadership and my friend from California on this. prgtoken , I can't think of anything that is more important than what we are talking about here in Washington. There are three critical foundations which our Nation was built upon: the freedom of speech, the freedom of conscience, and the right to life. prgtoken Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence and our third President, said: ``No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority.'' prgtoken What he means by civil authority is government. prgtoken , as I stand here today in the well of the House Chamber, Americans' freedom of conscience and our right to life is, once again, under attack, and this time in California. This law at issue in California is a classic example of government using its power to force citizens to promote messages that conflict with their personal beliefs. prgtoken Pro-life pregnancy centers are a valuable asset to women, to men, to the families, and certainly to those babies. Not only around the country but certainly in Michigan, these centers provide, at no charge, practical advice and resources, information, emotional support for expecting mothers and those fathers and families in need. As leaders of this Nation, we should be offering support, resources, and praises for their efforts, not forcibly targeting these PRCs with unconstitutional government mandates. prgtoken Through the work of my wife, Natalie, who served for a number of years on the board of a local pregnancy resource center in west Michigan, I have seen firsthand the overwhelming positive impact that they have on the community. My sister-in-law still serves on that board. This is real impact in real lives, to women and certainly to their babies. prgtoken Now, maybe even more importantly, even after that baby is born, these resource centers will oftentimes provide care and clothing and education and emotional support. I know in my own church in west Michigan we regularly have those dresser drives where we fill a dresser for that pregnancy center, and we are providing those diapers and providing that formula. We are there to help those mothers make it through. prgtoken Well, the Federal Government should never force or attempt to coerce medical professionals, employers, or resource centers to perform or promote abortions against their beliefs. Our basic freedoms and founding principles were established to protect us from that exact sort of intimidation. prgtoken , I want to again thank my friends for leading this effort, but these pregnancy resource centers work. We know that. They offer compassionate care to those who need it the most and should be treasured by the government and not targeted by them.
TAKING ACCOUNT OF INSTITUTIONS WITH LOW OPERATION RISK ACT OF 2017
Barry Loudermilk (Republican, GA) \u2014 2018-3-14

again, I appreciate the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) for allowing me this time to speak in strong support of the TAILOR Act and for my colleague, Mr. Tipton, for bringing this legislation forward. prgtoken I am an original cosponsor of this bill, , not just because it is just one of these bills that you want your name on. It is because I really believe in the concept that right-sizing prgtoken regulation of our community banks and credit unions is what they need to be able to survive and succeed. prgtoken Now, I want to make something clear. The other side has argued that if one bank wants a regulation one way and another one wants a regulation another way, it is almost impossible. It is the regulators that are doing the tailoring. It is the regulators, not the banks, that would tailor the rules. And if the minority side does not trust the regulators enough, they should not have extended all this power to them through Dodd-Frank. prgtoken The truth is, , every time I meet with community banks and credit unions in my district, they tell me about the excessive regulatory compliance burdens that this one-size-fits-all regulatory scheme has on them, and they describe it as a death by 1,000 cuts. In other words, it is not one single regulation that makes it difficult to do business; it is the combination of many under this one-size-fits-all scheme. That is why this TAILOR Act is so important for the small guy prgtoken Since the financial crisis, our Nation has lost one community bank or credit union a day.
NIFLA V. BECERRA
Steve King (Republican, IA) \u2014 2018-3-14

I thank Dr. for leading on this Special Order here this evening and appreciate the opportunity to be recognized. prgtoken There are a number of things that I would point out. For starters, I chair the Constitution Committee for a reason, and the delivery by Mr. LaMalfa on California's horrible Reproductive FACT Act law--it is not facts, by the way, but it forces pro-life pregnancy centers to provide free advertising for the abortion industry. prgtoken I don't think there is any question, if you coerce people to advertise for something that, in the first place, is immoral and directly runs against the convictions of the people who are volunteering their time and those who are contributing their resources to bring about a crisis pregnancy center, which is driven by the hearts of the pro-life community in America--I can hardly think of anything more important than having that happen. prgtoken Now, freedom of speech is one thing. You can't limit speech. But for a State to impose speech, that is another level. That goes beyond. That is beyond the pale of the constitutional First Amendment rights. prgtoken So as I think about crisis pregnancy centers and what it matters and how it matters to me and the district that I represent: Not long after I was elected to Congress, I went to Gabriel's Corner in Council Bluffs, Iowa. I walked in there, a crisis pregnancy center, a building that was built in what was an empty lot across the street from Planned Parenthood's abortion center. As I walked in there, they had a big picture window they had set up and a kneeler there so that you could be there to look out through that window and pray for those mothers who were going into the Planned Parenthood. prgtoken And they said to me in that briefing that if a mother was able to have a 4D ultrasound then--this would be about, say, 13, 14 years ago-- that 70 percent of the mothers would decide, once they had seen the ultrasound, to keep the baby. prgtoken As we walked through there, we finished the tour, and I said: Where is your ultrasound? prgtoken They said: Well, we don't have one. prgtoken I said: Why not? prgtoken They said: We can't afford it. prgtoken They told me the price on it then was $100,000 for a refurbished ultrasound. I said: Let's raise the money for the ultrasound so that you can save 70 percent of the lives of the babies who come in here because of their mother. prgtoken So we set about the fundraising effort. I hardly got started and an anonymous benefactor showed up and said: Why are you waiting? Why don't you have the ultrasound? prgtoken I answered: We're raising the money. prgtoken He said: Well, go buy the ultrasound, but don't tell anybody who I am. prgtoken So he wanted to be an anonymous benefactor. We did that; set up the ultrasound. The annual dinner for Gabriel's Corner, the first little baby that was saved by Gabriel's Corner that we knew was brought along to that dinner. And I looked back in that d