mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
EMERGENCY HOUSING PROTECTIONS AND RELIEF ACT OF 2020
Bill Huizenga (Republican, MI) \u2014 2020-6-29

I appreciate that. prgtoken I just wanted to clarify and make sure that we are all on the same page. prgtoken And I might add that I deeply respect my colleague and friend from Georgia, and we have worked on some issues. prgtoken I will note that HUD has not been able to get the money out the door to those families that need the help with what they have already been given, and yet we are trying to put more into that pipeline. prgtoken , I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
STATE HEALTH CARE PREMIUM REDUCTION ACT
Brad R. Wenstrup (Republican, OH) \u2014 2020-6-29

. Madam , I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding and for his leadership. prgtoken Madam , I rise today in opposition to this bill. prgtoken I grew up watching a show called ``Medical Center'' as a kid. It led me to wanting to become a doctor because I wanted to help people. prgtoken After I graduated and completed my surgical residency, I owned a small practice with two employees. Eventually, I merged with a larger provider group, in part because the administrative burdens of complying with new laws and regulations were just too costly for my solo practice. prgtoken That wasn't the end, though. Costs continued to rise, and my physician-owned surgery center was ultimately sold to a local hospital. Medicare reimbursement rates nearly doubled overnight, including an increase in patient co-pays. prgtoken When I got to Congress, I joined the GOP Doctors Caucus, and I am now proud to serve as the vice chair. Most of us in the Doctors Caucus agree that one of the reasons we came to Congress is because of the mountains of red tape, red tape involved in practicing medicine that has killed much of the joy of providing care to patients. prgtoken Now, the bill we are debating today is another perfect example of an attempt to expand Big Government, making it harder on the medical community. In this case, it is patients who rely on prescription drugs who stand to lose the most. prgtoken In the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak and responses, we rush toward finding treatments and a vaccine. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to pass a bill that will result in fewer cures for Americans in need. prgtoken That is right. The CBO analysis concluded that this bill would result in fewer cures coming to market to help the American people. Drug manufacturers that may feel government isn't willing to pay a reasonable price for their product would have their revenue taxed at astronomical rates, essentially coercing the drugmaker into submission or cease to exist. prgtoken The reason America leads the world in producing new medicines is because we allow competition, competition to drive innovation. prgtoken Right now, Congress needs to be fostering innovation through competition, not imposing one-size-fits-all Washington mandates that accomplish just the opposite. prgtoken We have already proven that we can do some work together. Last year, the Ways and Means Committee marked up a bipartisan drug-pricing legislation bill only to have it die because of partisan leadership. I know the Energy and Commerce and Judiciary Committees have done the same. Let's debate and find compromise on that legislation, which actually stand a chance of becoming law. prgtoken I urge my friends on the other side of the aisle to work with us on bipartisan legislation that would result in finding more cures for the American people because cures save money and save lives. I oppose this legislation.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
James M. Inhofe (Republican, OK) \u2014 2020-6-29

for 59 years in a row, Congress has passed the NDAA--almost always on a bipartisan basis. This year will be the 60th year in a row. I am proud to say the fiscal year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act continues in that long bipartisan tradition. prgtoken There is not much around here anymore that passes every single year, let alone with the support of both parties. But we all know what the bill is all about; it is about support of our troops and our national security. I hope we will all keep that in mind, as we discuss the amendments to this bill, to keep them on topic. prgtoken Last week, I talked a little bit about how we are falling behind China and Russia and how those two countries are now our biggest threats. I think we all know how that happened. It happened in the last 5 years of the administration. During those last 5 years, the President's budget took 25 percent of the military budget away from the military. This has never happened before. Yet that is what happened. prgtoken What happened at the same time--I don't think a lot of the Members are aware of this, but China and Russia--they are the enemies out there. During the time that our President had defunded the military by 25 percent, Russia actually increased theirs by 34 percent. We went down 25 percent; Russia went up 34 percent. prgtoken What was China doing during this time? China, while we were going down 25 percent, went up 83 percent. prgtoken You see what the problem is. They just passed us up in a lot of areas. We can name those--hypersonics and other areas where they were building. prgtoken They are building up their military capabilities and positioning themselves strategically around the world. We know they are showing up in places they have never been before. prgtoken Fortunately, we have a strategy to counter them. It is called the national defense strategy. I meant to bring that down with me because I make reference to that. The national defense strategy is a document that is put together by 12 and 12 s--all very top people in terms of their knowledge of the military--who get together and say: What should be our roadmap? What we are going to do to put ourselves in a position where we can counter Russia and China? prgtoken We have the national defense strategy. It came out in late 2018. At that time, the military services had been implementing this plan with the support of Congress in previous NDAAs. This is the third year now that we have that. prgtoken What we did this year was speed up the implementation. We set America on a course to make sure that we are setting ourselves up for success no matter what threat comes our way. We do that by using this document, the NDS, the National Defense Strategy Commission report. prgtoken What this says is that we need to create a credible military deterrent that tells Russia and China and anyone else who would do us harm: You just can't win. We are going
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2020-6-29

as the whole country knows now, in my State of Texas, we have recently lost some ground in our war against COVID-19. After seeing serious progress in flattening the curve, we have taken what Governor Greg Abbott has called a ``swift and dangerous turn.'' prgtoken Over the last couple of weeks, the data has trended in the wrong direction. We have seen an increase in daily new cases, hospitalizations, and overall positivity rates. In response to these growing numbers, I have been working with leaders at every level of government to ensure we have the resources necessary to continue to win this fight. prgtoken Yesterday, I was privileged to travel back to Texas with Vice President for a briefing on Texas coronavirus response efforts. We were joined by Dr. Deborah Birx and HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson--two Coronavirus Task Force members--for a meeting with Governor Abbott at UT Southwestern Medical Center. prgtoken Governor Abbott discussed the concerning picture painted by these growing numbers. We went from 2,000 cases a day to 5,000, and the positivity rate soared from 4 percent to more than 13 percent. Some of our largest cities have experienced single-day records of new cases. prgtoken We have relied on our growing testing capability and capacity to understand how quickly this disease is spreading. In several Texas cities, community-based testing sites have been integral as part of this effort. These locations are a partnership between the Department of Health and Human Services, local public health authorities, and pharmacy and retail companies, and have been a major driver of our large-scale testing increase. Many Texans have gone to locations and received no-cost coronavirus testing, and this information has been crucial to understanding the community spread of the virus. prgtoken As case counts have recently climbed, the concern has only been magnified by an approaching deadline. Federal support for these testing sites was set to end tomorrow. The goal, of course, is to eventually shift these from Federal to State and local partners, but, to be frank, Texas was not yet ready to make that transition. Until we are, shutting down these sites would leave us without valuable information about the growing number of infections. prgtoken Last week, Senator Cruz and I sent a letter to the administration to urge continuing Federal support for community-based testing in Texas. Our cities need more time to prepare to take on the financial responsibility of these testing sites, and it would have been a tremendous risk and an unnecessary risk to cut off funding before that transition was complete. prgtoken On Friday, we got some good news. The administration agreed to extend these operations in Texas for at least 2 more weeks, with an ongoing evaluation period after that. This will make sure we can maintain the testing capacity our public and private partners have worked hard to establish. N
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2, INVESTING IN A NEW VISION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND SURFACE TRANSPORTATION IN AMERICA ACT
Rob Woodall (Republican, GA) \u2014 2020-6-30

such time as I may consume. prgtoken I think my friend from New York is right that in the time of a healthcare pandemic that having a closed rule could have been a possibility. In fact, I prgtoken have no doubt that the only reason we have any amendments at all available on the floor of the House today is because my friend from New York, and particularly my chairman from Massachusetts, fought on behalf of having a more open process. prgtoken I have no doubt that there are folks all across this institution who would have loved to have shut out all the voices altogether. And had we moved this bill out of committee with my ranking member's consent on a voice vote the way we did it last time, I would have supported the majority in trying to be more expeditious on the floor, because when you move things in a bipartisan way you get bipartisan partnership to get them across the finish line. But that is not the way this bill has moved. prgtoken It is a valuable thing to be the chairman of a bipartisan committee, , and I would tell you it comes with a stewardship obligation to make sure it remains so. prgtoken I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves), who will be the next chairman of the Transportation Committee, the current ranking member.
INVESTING IN A NEW VISION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND SURFACE TRANSPORTATION IN AMERICA ACT
Michael Waltz (Republican, FL) \u2014 2020-6-30

I thank the gentleman for yielding. prgtoken , I rise today to highlight a glaring deficiency in this bill and a missed opportunity to improve America's clean water infrastructure. prgtoken The infrastructure package before us today, unfortunately, fails to modernize the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, or the Clean Water SRF. This program allocates Federal money to States and to communities through the States for clean water initiatives. prgtoken , this bill, H.R. 2, finally reauthorizes the program for the first time since 1987. For that reason, a debate on improving the program, creating efficiencies, and investing more in clean water infrastructure is certainly warranted. Unfortunately, that debate has not occurred in this bill. prgtoken What this bill does do is increase spending for the program fivefold, from the $1.6 billion appropriated in fiscal year 2020 to an $8 billion authorization for fiscal year 2021. However, we have not done any evaluation of how that money has been distributed to States through a formula that EPA calls the allotment. prgtoken The allotment determines how much funding each State receives on an annual basis, and that hasn't changed since 1987. Frankly, no one really knows all the components that make up this formula. prgtoken So let me reiterate: The bill before us this week increases spending for the program by five times without even a discussion or a debate at the committee or on the House floor about how that money should then be provided to the States. prgtoken , I offered a bipartisan amendment with Representative Brown of Maryland that would implement the EPA's 2016 recommendations prgtoken to Congress for updating the allotment by considering population, considering infrastructure, considering other needs, considering water quality. prgtoken , I urge the chairman to work with us to address this issue in conference or on the water resources bill. If the Congress authorizes the program for the first time in over three decades, we certainly must address the antiquated and unclear allotment to States.
HONORING GROCERY AND CONVENIENCE STORE WORKERS
Glenn Thompson (Republican, PA) \u2014 2020-6-30

America found itself in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a crisis, the likes of which many have not experienced in their lifetimes. There are those who run from the crisis, those who run toward it, and those who find themselves right in the middle without any say in the matter. prgtoken Today, many of those in the middle are the men and women stocking, sanitizing, and serving our communities in grocery and convenience stores throughout our country. These employees are among the unsung heroes in the fight against COVID-19 who have been overlooked not only in appreciation, but also in our support. prgtoken Grocery stores and convenience stores play a critical role in our Nation's food supply chain, and reliable access to healthy foods is essential for all Americans, as we have seen throughout this crisis. prgtoken To thank them for working around the clock and putting themselves at risk throughout the pandemic, I would say that the employees working our grocery stores and our convenience stores have probably had more exposure to the public than any other position out there. prgtoken To thank them for what they do, I have introduced the Giving Retailers and Our Convenience Employees Relief Act, or the GROCER Act. The GROCER Act would alleviate the Federal tax burden for grocery store and convenience store workers from February 15, 2020, to June 15, 2020, for individuals making less than $75,000 a year. The bill also gives the Treasury Secretary discretion to extend this benefit for an additional 3 months. prgtoken The hardworking men and women stocking our shelves are among the unsung heroes during the COVID-19 pandemic. These frontline workers are putting in overtime to ensure that we have the resources we need to weather this storm. prgtoken In times of crisis like these, we learn to fully appreciate these workers who play a valuable role in our food supply chain. Food is something that connects all of us, and access to food is something we all depend upon. prgtoken I am proud that this is a bipartisan bill, and I would like to thank my colleague, Congressman Dwight Evans from Philadelphia, for joining me to lead this effort. prgtoken The GROCER Act is a simple way to say thank you to these workers who leave their families each day, risking exposure to the virus, in order to ensure that our families and constituents have access to the food and resources we need. Without these workers, millions of Americans would struggle to access necessities. prgtoken The GROCER Act is a commonsense way to compensate and support our grocery and convenience store workers. The Federal tax holiday for these workers would put more of their hard-earned money back into their pockets to support themselves and their families. prgtoken I would like to urge my colleagues to join me in thanking these frontline workers by supporting and cosponsoring the GROCER Act.
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2021--Continued
Lamar Alexander (Republican, TN) \u2014 2020-6-30

I am glad to see my distinguished friend from Vermont of many years, and what I would like to say to him is that we, all together, appropriated a record amount of $3 trillion-- another $3 trillion in credit--most of which, much of which has not even been spent yet, and some of which hasn't been distributed to States yet. We are in the midst of reviewing the spending of that money. I know our own committee has had five hearings this month on COVID and its consequences, and I think the wiser course with the taxpayers' money is to wait until the $3 trillion we have appropriated has been distributed to States, has been spent, and is carefully reviewed. In the meantime, we will work very closely with our friends on the other side to determine what else needs to be done during the month of July. So I object.
INVESTING IN A NEW VISION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND SURFACE TRANSPORTATION IN AMERICA ACT
Paul Mitchell (Republican, MI) \u2014 2020-6-30

I thank the gentleman for yielding. prgtoken I listened earlier today to the ic leader that I hold in great esteem, by the way, wax poetically about this bill before us now, wax poetically about how it was developed. I asked for a copy of it. The chairman has a copy in front of him there. prgtoken In 3 weeks that massive document was suddenly put together. And he asks where is the President's bill? After all the time that both the ic leader as well as the chairman of this committee has been here, they know we don't need a bill from the President to move something forward that will work for America. We don't need to sit back and wait for somebody else. We are the legislative body. It is our bill. It should be our bill, not their bill, not the bill, but our bill. prgtoken Because change in America more often is achieved by a bipartisan effort on legislation. And believe it or not, over the last 4 years we have been here, we have actually achieved that a few times, and it is making change in America. prgtoken The USMCA, the trade agreement finally replacing NAFTA, actually becomes official tomorrow finally. And that was a bipartisan effort with a lot of teeth, which I know, , you are aware of. That took quite an effort to achieve. But it also became a bipartisan effort to improve trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico finally. Is it perfect? Very little ever is, but you sure hope it is better than what we had, which I think we can all agree wasn't working very well. prgtoken We achieved the term before that something called the FIRST STEP Act, which was criminal justice reform to finally revise sentencing in criminal justice at the Federal level after more than a decade of wrangling over that. prgtoken And how was that achieved? By a bipartisan effort, not a 2,300-page bill developed solely by one side of the aisle brought forth in a matter of 10 days, and ta-da we have a magic answer that will solve all the problems in America or at least in terms of transportation and the Green New Deal. It was by bipartisan effort. prgtoken Like the ranking member, I worked hard to get on committees that were bipartisan and would make a difference. I was thrilled to join the House Armed Services Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee because we had a history of working on a bipartisan basis, which to be honest with you, as of last week was tossed in the dumpster. prgtoken You see, a colleague of mine, a and I, we put forth a bipartisan op-ed and policy proposal to fund a national infrastructure investment bank. That may not have been the best idea. But it was an idea to create an investment fund that would allow States to decide what they need to do, rather than have the bureaucrats in Washington or in this body, for God's sake, decide whether or not you need a bridge versus a railroad or broadband versus pipelines. prgtoken We actually had a way, believe
ORDERS FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020
David Perdue (Republican, GA) \u2014 2020-6-30

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m Wednesday, July 1; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; finally, that following leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of Calendar No. 483, S. 4049.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
John Hoeven (Republican, ND) \u2014 2020-6-30

I appreciate the opportunity to join with my colleague from the State of Missouri and agree very much with the comments he has just made, and I am here today to express my support for the National Defense Authorization Act this week. prgtoken Defense Department leaders always tell me that, if we don't get NDAA done and our Defense appropriations bill--and I am on the Appropriations Committee and on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee--that those delays really are a challenge and a problem for the military and cost some money. So, obviously, if we can get this bill done this week and get on to our Defense appropriations bill and get those passed, it makes a big, positive difference for our men and women in uniform. prgtoken We should be able to move this NDAA legislation quickly because the chairman and the ranking member have put together a good bill for our national security and for our Armed Forces. prgtoken This NDAA supports our national defense strategy that is designed to keep us ahead of the Russians, the Chinese, and other adversaries, and it includes things like standing up the Space Force, investing in new technologies like hypersonics and artificial intelligence, and creating a Pacific Deterrence Initiative to help ensure that we have the capabilities we need throughout the Pacific region to deter conflict and coordinate with our allies. prgtoken Also, I am very pleased that this bill includes strong support for modernizing our nuclear deterrent, which is vital to our national security, and that certainly includes the dual nuclear mission at the Minot Air Force Base in my State. prgtoken This bill moves forward a number of modernization programs, including the modernization program for new intercontinental ballistic missiles, the ICBMs; a new nuclear cruise missile, which is now called the LRSO, the long-range standoff weapon; and upgrades for the B-52, including a new engine--reengining what has been an incredible aircraft for many, many years and has had a longevity that is unbelievable. And the Air Force projects an ongoing longevity for it for quite some time. Part of that is all the upgrades that we have put into this platform, including now new engines, as well as things that include the weapons systems, the ability to carry those weapons systems, communications--just a whole range of upgrades that have been incredibly important for that aircraft. prgtoken Of course, there are other aspects that go with the nuclear mission, whether it is the nuclear command and control systems as well as upgrading the nuclear warheads on the weapons that the aircraft delivers. prgtoken Also, I support provisions in this bill to place restrictions on the retirement of the RQ-4 Global Hawk, which is headquartered at Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. Now, our combatant commanders rely on the Global Hawk every single day. These aircraft are highly capable and are not easily replace