mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
NORTH KOREA STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM DESIGNATION ACT OF 2017
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Republican, FL) \u2014 2017-4-3

I stand in full support of Judge Poe's bill, H.R. 479, the North Korea State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act of 2017. prgtoken Over the years, as the chairman has said, I have repeatedly and explicitly called for Pyongyang to be redesignated as a state sponsor of terrorism, SST, country. prgtoken I stood in ardent opposition to the administration's decision to remove North Korea from the SST list, and in the years past, I introduced similar legislation to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe), which would see Pyongyang back on the list where it belongs. prgtoken The removal from the list was a failure of the nuclear negotiations with North Korea, a concession given for nothing but empty promises in return. prgtoken In much the same way that the administration removed Cuba from the SST list 2 years ago, the administration got empty promises in return for these terrible concessions, while the administration couldn't even get empty promises. prgtoken These designations are much more important than just tools for negotiation, . They are there because these countries actively support terror or they support or facilitate countries that do support terror. They pose a very serious risk to U.S. national security and global stability. This is not something to take lightly, and removing North Korea from the SST list was a very serious error in judgment. prgtoken It is far past time, , to correct this mistake, and it has to start by having an honest and transparent determination made on Pyongyang, its support for terror, and its ties to other state sponsor of terrorism states like Iran. prgtoken I support Judge Poe's bill, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.
NOMINATION OF ELAINE DUKE
Ron Johnson (Republican, WI) \u2014 2017-4-3

I rise today in support of Elaine Duke's nomination to be the seventh Deputy Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security. prgtoken The Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary serves as the chief operating officer of the Federal Government's third largest agency. The Deputy Secretary manages 240,000 men and women responsible for securing our borders and aviation system, enforcing immigration laws, defending cyberspace, preparing for disasters, assisting in counterterrorism efforts, and preventing terrorist attacks. In short, the Deputy Secretary is critically important to our homeland security. prgtoken On March 15, Ms. Duke was approved by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs by a voice vote. She has overwhelming bipartisan support. prgtoken I want to remind everyone of Ms. Duke's qualifications and, particularly, of her dedication to public service through both and ic administrations. Ms. Duke is no stranger to this body. In 2008, she was confirmed by a voice vote to be the Department's Under Secretary for Management. As a testament to her character and dedication, she was asked by President to stay on when he came into office. She served in the administration for a year and a half before retiring from Federal service. In total, Ms. Duke has been a public servant for 28 years. prgtoken It is also noteworthy that Ms. Duke has been endorsed by at least the last five Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretaries, from both ic and administrations. This is what they had to say about her: For this job, the Nation needs someone with impeccable integrity, strong management and leadership skills and experience in protecting the safety, security, and resilience of our Nation. This person must be able to collaborate routinely . . . and ensure that every Congressionally- appropriated dollar is well and wisely spent. Together, we respectfully attest that Elaine is extraordinarily well qualified to serve in the position for which she has now been nominated. Elaine knows DHS. She has been a senior leader at DHS under two presidents. She sets an unwavering standard of excellence for all who consider themselves committed to public service. prgtoken As chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, I worked hard to move 30 of President 's nominees through the committee on a bipartisan basis. I am pleased that we will be sending to DHS a career public servant whose experience and management skills will immediately assist Secretary Kelly and the mission of the Department to defend our homeland. prgtoken For the sake of our national and homeland security, I encourage my colleagues to support Ms. Duke's nomination to be the next Deputy Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security.
U.S.-CHINA RELATIONSHIP
Cory Gardner (Republican, CO) \u2014 2017-4-3

from Wisconsin for his remarks on Judge Gorsuch. I look forward to this debate this week as we work to confirm Judge Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court in a bipartisan fashion. prgtoken This evening, though, I come to the floor to talk about another very important issue that is happening in this country this week; that is, the U.S.-China relationship that will be highlighted this week as President prepares to meet with President Xi for the first time later this week. prgtoken This summer presents a tremendous opportunity for President to expressly state our hope for the relationship, while also elucidating the valid concerns and questions we have about prgtoken some of China's policies and its future directions. prgtoken I am also leading a bipartisan letter with Senator Schatz, and I hope my colleagues will join me in expressing our thoughts about this important relationship. prgtoken The U.S.-China relationship is the most consequential relationship in the world. We must get it right. Beijing must also get it right. So today I will address what I hope President will focus on in his conversation with President Xi and also outline a legislative initiative that I am leading in Congress to strengthen our policies in the Asia-Pacific region. prgtoken I believe the most urgent challenge between our two nations is the coming nuclear crisis on the North Korean Peninsula. Last year alone, North Korea conducted two nuclear tests and a staggering 24 ballistic missile launches. Kim Jong Un is committed to developing his nuclear missile program with one goal in mind--to have a reliable capability to deliver a nuclear warhead to Seoul, Tokyo, and, most importantly, to the continental United States. prgtoken President has said that the United States will not allow that to happen. I am encouraged by the President's resolve. However, the road to stopping Pyongyang undoubtedly lies through Beijing. Beijing is the reason the regime acts so boldly and with relative few consequences. prgtoken China is the only country that holds the diplomatic and economic leverage necessary to put the real squeeze on the North Korean regime. So while the United States argues over strategic patience or measured resolve, China must go beyond mere articulation of concern and lay out a transparent path forward on how they will work to denuclearize North Korea. prgtoken For our part, President must lay out a simple calculus for President Xi: The United States will deploy every economic, diplomatic, and, if necessary, military tool at our disposal to deter Pyongyang and to protect our allies. China has a responsibility globally to do the same. As part of our toolbox, the administration should tell China it will now significantly ramp up the sanctions track. Last Congress, I led the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act, which passed the Senate by a vote of 96 to 0. prgtoken This
AMENDING THE VETERANS ACCESS, CHOICE, AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2014
John McCain (Republican, AZ) \u2014 2017-4-3

I want to thank the Senator from Kansas for all the hard work he has done, and the Senator from Montana. On the rare occasion I come to praise him, I would like to give him my deep and heartfelt appreciation for his work in a bipartisan fashion on this issue. I mean that with all sincerity. I also thank our distinguished chairman, Senator Isakson. I also think I share with my colleagues an appreciation for Dr. Shulkin, the new Secretary of the Veterans' Administration, who has been an active and helpful participant in this effort. prgtoken Most everything has been said except that I would like to remind my colleagues that we now have--since the enactment in 2014, over 7 million appointments have been made using the Choice Program. Now, over 30,000 appointments are successfully made each week under the Choice Program. prgtoken The programs are set to expire in a few months, and, as pointed out by my colleagues, the VA has already begun to limit care for pregnant mothers, as well as cancer patients, because their treatment would extend beyond August. Soon all veterans will be kicked off the Choice Program. prgtoken I would just like to point out to my colleagues, if I could, that this crisis started in Phoenix, AZ, where 15,000 veterans were put on a wait list and over 40 veterans died while awaiting care. That is not acceptable in this Nation. prgtoken I believe the Choice Program is a major step forward. The truth is, the VA has a lot more to do to provide for the care we have obligated this Nation to on behalf of those who have fought and sacrificed for our Nation. The Choice Card has made a major step forward. I hope we can consider removing any geographic or other limitations associated with it. But what the Senators from Kansas and Montana have done today is to make sure this program continues and why it is important to pass it today--not one dollar Congress authorized to care for veterans under the Choice Program should go unused. prgtoken Let me mention what we have done. There are 7 million additional appointments for veterans in their communities, and over 1.5 million veterans have benefited from using the Choice Card that they would not have had otherwise. Some 350,000 more doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants are available to treat veterans. There are 235,000 appointments per month through Veterans Choice--more than 10,000 per workday. The Veterans Choice Program more than doubles the number of medical providers nationwide that treat veterans. In Arizona, 11,700 medical providers in veterans communities have treated over 100,000 disabled veterans. prgtoken The Veterans Choice Card is being used at 700 hospitals and nearly 10,000 clinics nationwide. The Western Region is paying more than 90 percent of Veterans Choice doctors in less than 30 days and answering 900,000 phone calls per month, with an average time to answer of under 25 seconds. Over 3,000 veterans rece
AMENDING THE VETERANS ACCESS, CHOICE, AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2014
Jerry Moran (Republican, KS) \u2014 2017-4-3

from Montana for his efforts to see that this legislation gets passed. I am pleased to see that we have been joined in a unanimous way by the Senate, s and working together to see that our veterans receive better care. prgtoken In addition to the Senator from Montana, I thank Mr. McCain, the Senator from Arizona, who is joining us on the floor. I also thank Senator Isakson in particular, the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, for his leadership in seeing that we are here today to bring this legislation across the finish line. prgtoken The House passed legislation similar to this, so this is an opportunity for us to get an accomplishment--not for a pat on our backs but for the improvement in the care of those who served prgtoken our Nation. I asked this question on the Senate floor before: Of all the people in the United States, who would you expect to get the best care possible? While we want every American to have high-quality care and access to medical treatment, we certainly want to make certain those who served our country and to whom a commitment was made that they would receive care--we want that commitment fulfilled, and we want it done in a way that is advantageous and easy for our veterans. prgtoken The Senator from Montana is correct. The Choice Act is a significant improvement, in my mind, for accessing care. Kansas is not quite as large as the State of Montana, but we are a large rural State, and it is a long distance to a VA hospital. So Choice was brought into play to try to alleviate the backlog, the lack of providers within the VA, and the wait times that veterans faced, but also to try to satisfy the needs of veterans who live long distances from a VA facility. prgtoken So Choice is in place, but it still has been a difficult time for many veterans across the country and certainly at home. It is the most common conversation I have when I am back in Kansas. In fact, I had a townhall meeting in southwest Kansas, in Dodge City, and it is veterans who, in the public forum, will tell me about the problems with the VA and particularly with Choice, or they will line up after or before that meeting to tell me in person that they need help. prgtoken This legislation does three significant things. More is to come. We need a permanent act. This is an extension of the Choice Act that expires on August 7, so continuing the program is the first step while we work out the desired outcome of a long-term permanent program. prgtoken Secondly, it provides the money through that period of time. It allows the expenditure of dollars to pay for Choice. prgtoken Third, it eliminates the intermediary--somebody separate from the VA in paying the bills--and that reduces the bureaucracy and burden on our veterans. prgtoken I was just looking through what we call casework, things Kansans bring to our office to try to get solved. Front and center is the number o
NORTH KOREA STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM DESIGNATION ACT (H.R. 479) AND CONDEMNING NORTH KOREA'S DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL BALLISTIC MISSILES (H. RES. 92)
Christopher H. Smith (Republican, NJ) \u2014 2017-4-3

North Korea is an existential threat to its neighbors and a global menace that requires constant vigilance and close cooperation between the U.S. and its regional allies. Ignoring North Korea's dangerous actions has been a bipartisan problem of the last three Administrations--and it is one that continues to need bipartisan solutions from the Congress. prgtoken Secretary Tillerson announced recently that the U.S. will no longer be guided by the policy of ``strategic patience.'' The U.S. cannot sit on the sidelines while Kim Jong-un proliferates nuclear and missile technology, sponsors terrorism and human trafficking efforts, and continues to abuse the North Korean people. prgtoken We trust that the threat posed by North Korea will be high on the agenda of President and President Xi meeting this week. As we all know, the Chinese government's actions have not always been helpful. prgtoken Though the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on North Korea recommended the U.N. impose targeted sanctions on the North Korean leaders responsible for massive crimes against humanity, China blocked effective U.N. actions. prgtoken China's February announcement that it would cut off coal exports to North Korea is a needed and important step. But senior Chinese officials, such as Foreign Minister Wang Yi, continue to describe the China-North Korea relationship as being one of ``like lips to teeth.'' In other words, there is little daylight between Beijing and Pyongyang. prgtoken Such statements are not helpful when North Korea's nuclear proliferation and its development of multiple intercontinental ballistic missiles threaten to destabilize the world. The U.S. Intelligence Community's 2016 Worldwide Threat Assessment concluded that North Korea is ``committed to developing a long-range, nuclear- armed missile that is capable of posing a direct threat to the United States. prgtoken Despite China's objections, there is need for deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and to conduct joint military exercises to strengthen coordination and cooperation posed by the threat of the North Korean military. prgtoken The threat to the U.S. and its allies is not only in East Asia, but in the Middle East as well. We are certain that Iran, to whom the past Administration released billions of dollars, is one of North Korean's nuclear partners. As witnesses testified at a joint hearing last July held jointly by three Foreign Affairs subcommittees, there is ample evidence that Iran has a longstanding nuclear collaboration with North Korea. prgtoken We should be very concerned that the Iranians will at some point acquire fissile material beyond what they are allowed to produce for themselves and threaten U.S. regional allies, including Israel. prgtoken We must continue to uncover both Pyongyang's enablers and those it enables. We should target with sanctions those individuals responsible for gross human rights violations in
OLD VESSELS EXEMPTION ACT--Continued
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2017-4-3

I wanted to come to the floor to talk about the important work for the Senate this week, now that the Judiciary Committee has voted on the Judge Neil Gorsuch nomination and he is available for floor consideration. But I wanted, first, to extend my deepest condolences to the families and friends of those tragically killed in an automobile crash near New Valley, TX, last week. prgtoken A bus carrying a group of 14 members of the First Baptist Church in New prgtoken Braunfels collided with a pickup truck on Highway 83. Thirteen people were killed and two others, including the driver of the other vehicle, were injured. You can imagine how heartbreaking this has been to everyone involved. I can't begin to imagine the pain and the grief felt by their loved ones, their church family, and their entire close-knit community of New Braunfels, TX, just north of San Antonio. prgtoken I had the opportunity to speak with the pastor of First Baptist of New Braunfels, Pastor McLean, the day after the accident. He is leading his congregation and that community during this very difficult time. He is shepherding his flock, though, with grace and strength. There is a phrase I am reminded off in times like this. After the terrible explosion in West Texas, I had a county commissioner from that area tell me: Being a Texan doesn't describe where you are from, it describes who your family is. prgtoken Today, our family is mourning. But I know Pastor McLean and all of my fellow Texans and all Americans really lift up this community in prayer, along with the families and friends of those we lost. prgtoken I am grateful to the first responders and medical professionals who were first to arrive at the scene of the accident and lent a hand to those in need. Nomination of Neil Gorsuch prgtoken Separately, , as I have indicated, this is an important week for the American people. Earlier today, the Judiciary Committee voted to send Judge Gorsuch's nomination to the Senate floor for full consideration. Later this week, he will be confirmed as the next Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. For the past several weeks and through 20 grueling hours of questioning before the Judiciary Committee, Judge Gorsuch has proven to be one of the most qualified nominees to the Court in modern history. prgtoken s in the Senate said we would give the American people a voice in who would select the next Supreme Court Justice. In a sense, we had a referendum of whether it would be a nominee selected by or by Hillary Clinton. On November 8, we saw the outcome of that election. This week, that referendum will be answered when the country will have its ninth Justice on the Supreme Court. prgtoken Unfortunately, our ic colleagues are doing their very best to decide that they should mount the first partisan filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee in American history. This is trul
ORDERS FOR TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2017
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2017-4-3

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m Tuesday, April 4; 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; further, that following leader remarks, the Senate resume executive session to consider the nomination of Elaine Duke, with the time until 12 noon equally divided in the usual form; further, that at 12 noon, the Senate vote on confirmation of the Duke nomination with no intervening action or debate; finally, that following the disposition of the Duke nomination, the Senate recess until 2:15 p.m.
OLD VESSELS EXEMPTION ACT
Deb Fischer (Republican, NE) \u2014 2017-4-3

I rise this afternoon to discuss a true American value: equal pay for equal work. This is something that we all believe in, and tomorrow is National Equal Pay Day. It is a meaningful reminder that equal pay remains among the challenges before us. prgtoken Women make the world work. We are breadwinners for our families. We are also financial planners, nurses, and teachers. We have always been a powerful force, and our progress has been hard-earned. prgtoken Women today are managers, entrepreneurs, public servants, and CEOs, and our country is stronger for it. But despite these great strides, there is more work to do to encourage prosperity for America's families. prgtoken For nearly 4 years in this body, I have led discussions about equal pay. I am encouraged by the interest from the White House on addressing the workplace challenges that women face today. To that end, I have reintroduced a proposal I believe will make a real difference for families. It is called the Workplace Advancement Act. prgtoken The idea behind it is fairly universal and straightforward: equal pay through empowerment. The bill aims to empower employees--especially women--with information about wages so they can be informed advocates for their compensation. When it comes to discussing wages in the workplace, sometimes it can hurt to ask. A culture of silence and fear of retaliation can keep people in the dark about how their compensation compares to others. The Workplace Advancement Act would lift that fear, free up information, and create a more transparent workplace. prgtoken A simple principle is at play here. When workers, especially women, have more information, they can more confidently pursue favorable work and wage arrangements. Knowledge is power. With this flexibility, women can better negotiate arrangements that make sense for them. For example, they might be willing to accept less pay if they can have Fridays free for doctors' appointments or family time or simply as a day for self-care. prgtoken The Workplace Advancement Act contains language similar to an Executive order that President issued in 2014. Many congressional requested this action, which is actually more limited in scope than my legislation. Some even praised it. Senator Heinrich called the action ``a critical step to ensure that every woman has a fair shot at fairness and economic success.'' Congresswoman Susan Davis of California said the action was a ``historic step forward.'' prgtoken Importantly, for employers, the Workplace Advancement Act would not impose new Federal regulations, and no employer would be compelled to disclose salary information. It simply prevents retaliatory action against employees who ask after it. prgtoken Fifty-three s and five in the Senate supported a version of the Workplace Advancement Act last Congress. With bipartisan support like this, this bill is possible. prgtoken Let's take advan