mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
DIRECTING CERTAIN COMMITTEES TO CONTINUE ONGOING INVESTIGATIONS INTO WHETHER SUFFICIENT GROUNDS EXIST FOR THE IMPEACHMENT OF DONALD JOHN TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
Andy Biggs (Republican, AZ) \u2014 2019-10-31

. Madam , I have heard today how much my colleagues on the other side wish to make this an open and transparent process and ``this is for we, the people.'' I would really like to believe that. prgtoken Yet, after they introduced the resolution, they have another full week of hearings behind closed doors, and they have scheduled another full week of hearings behind closed doors. prgtoken If this is about transparency, then open it up. If you want the American people to see it, open it up. Give Members access to the transcripts. Let the media into the room. Let us participate. Failing to do so denies transparency.
DIRECTING CERTAIN COMMITTEES TO CONTINUE ONGOING INVESTIGATIONS INTO WHETHER SUFFICIENT GROUNDS EXIST FOR THE IMPEACHMENT OF DONALD JOHN TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
Steve Scalise (Republican, LA) \u2014 2019-10-31

. Madam , , Mr. Cole, for yielding. prgtoken Madam , I rise in strong opposition to this resolution. prgtoken Unfortunately, we have seen, since the day that President was inaugurated, some people who made it public that they wanted to impeach him--not because there are high crimes and misdemeanors, which is the constitutional standard, but just because they don't agree with the results of the 2016 election. prgtoken That, Madam , is not why you impeach a president. There is precedent. prgtoken This has only happened three times in the history of our country. Every time, it not only started with a full vote of the House, but it also started with actual fairness. We are not getting that fairness today. prgtoken When you look through this resolution, in multiple places, it gives veto authority by the chair to literally reject any witness who is brought forward by the minority. So no rights for the minority unless the chair so designates. prgtoken In fact, in this resolution, it allows the chair to veto even the ability for the President to have legal counsel in the room. If the chair chooses, at his whim, they can literally kick out the President's legal counsel. prgtoken This is unprecedented. It is not only unprecedented, this is Soviet- style rules. prgtoken Maybe in the Soviet Union you do things like this: where only you make the rules, where you reject the ability for the person you are accusing to even be in the room to question what is going on, for anybody else to call witnesses, when only one person has the right to call witnesses. prgtoken And as we saw just the other day, the chairman was literally directing the witness to not answer certain questions by the s. What kind of fairness is that? prgtoken Maybe you think it is fairness if you can run roughshod over somebody because you have got the votes, but that is not how impeachment was supposed to go. In fact, Alexander Hamilton himself, during the debate on the Constitution, in the Federalist Papers, warned of days like this, that the greatest danger is that the decision on impeachment ``will be regulated more by the comparative strength of parties than by the real demonstrations of innocence or guilt.'' Alexander Hamilton warned about days like today. prgtoken This is not what we should be doing, clearly, when you ask the American people, who know that they are paying higher drug prices and they see that there is legislation, bipartisan legislation, to lower drug prices that won't come to this floor because of the infatuation with impeachment. prgtoken We don't even have a bill to formally pay our troops and make sure they have the tools they need to defend this country because there is such an infatuation with impeachment. prgtoken Madam , when you look through this resolution, you see how one-sided, how Soviet-style this is running. This is the United States of America. Don't run a sham process, a tainted process li
DIRECTING CERTAIN COMMITTEES TO CONTINUE ONGOING INVESTIGATIONS INTO WHETHER SUFFICIENT GROUNDS EXIST FOR THE IMPEACHMENT OF DONALD JOHN TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
Doug Collins (Republican, GA) \u2014 2019-10-31

. Madam , no matter what is said by the other side today, this is a dark day, and a cloud has fallen on this House. It has been falling for 10 months, and it is showing itself today. prgtoken What we are seeing is this: If the gentleman, who is a friend of mine from the Rules Committee, would actually have wanted to talk about whether these are the same rules as Clinton and Nixon, then we would have had a much longer period of debate, because he knows and I know it is not. There are similarities--some better, some not--but they are not the same. Let's get that out of the way first. prgtoken The problem I am having here is the resolution before us today is not about transparency; it is about control. It is not about fairness; it is about winning. It isn't about following the facts. This resolution is about delivering results. You know how I know this? Because the resolution gives no proper way for how these abilities or transferring of documents from the Intelligence Committee to the Judiciary Committee will happen. It doesn't even give a timeframe. prgtoken And I have heard a lot of discussion today about maybe we didn't know how to properly ask last night in Rules Committee. I guarantee you, my staff and I know how to properly use rule XI 2(e) to ask for information, and we were told yesterday by one of the committees that we couldn't have access to that because the Parliamentarian said we couldn't. That is just false. It needs to stop. prgtoken This House is developing and shredding procedures every day. And if Members on the minority or the majority cannot have the rights that they are given, then we are in a sad situation. prgtoken And, in fact, in the haste to put this together they didn't even exempt, as was done in Clinton and Nixon, the rule XI 2(e). They didn't exempt it out. Even in those two impeachments, it was known that maybe we don't let every Member come see this while this is going on. We didn't even exempt it during this time. We were so hurried to impeach this President, we don't really give a darn about the rules. prgtoken But here is my biggest concern: As ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, I have a question. We have been here 200-plus years as a committee, and our committee has been neutered. Our committee who handles impeachment--we are the reason in that committee; that is our jurisdiction--we have been completely sidelined. Our chairman and others have been sidelined, so I have been sidelined. It is so bad that they had to have the Rules Committee write the Presidential due process and give it to us. This is not right.
DIRECTING CERTAIN COMMITTEES TO CONTINUE ONGOING INVESTIGATIONS INTO WHETHER SUFFICIENT GROUNDS EXIST FOR THE IMPEACHMENT OF DONALD JOHN TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
Devin Nunes (Republican, CA) \u2014 2019-10-31

. Madam , we are not here to run a show trial in an effort to impeach the President of the United States. prgtoken It is clear that, since the took control of the House of Representatives, they have always intended to transform the Intelligence Committee into the impeachment committee. Every one of their actions, from the staff they hire to the conspiracy theories they investigate, their willful neglect of our basic oversight duties, demonstrate that this has been their plan from day one. prgtoken And now this is further confirmed by the adoption of these rules, which simply give the House approval for the Intelligence Committee to continue pursuing their bizarre obsession with overturning the results of the last Presidential election. prgtoken Nevertheless, after spending 3 years trying to manufacture a crime they can attribute to President , they have come up empty. prgtoken First, they insisted that the President is a Russian agent. Then they claimed he is a money launderer and a tax cheat and a fraudulent businessman. And now they have decided they don't like the way he talks to foreign leaders. prgtoken But they have no evidence and no argument to support impeachment. All they have is the unconditional cooperation of the media to advance their preposterous narrative. prgtoken If they had a real case, they wouldn't be wasting time spoon-feeding ridiculous attacks that include defamation and slander on both current and former staff of the Intelligence Committee. prgtoken What we are seeing among on the Intelligence Committee down in the SCIF right now is like a cult. These are a group of people loyally following their leader as he bounces from one outlandish conspiracy theory to another. prgtoken And the media are the cult followers, permanently stationed outside the committee spaces, pretending to take everything seriously, because they, too, support the goal of removing the President from office.
RECOGNIZING WILLIAM STILLERMAN
Virginia Foxx (Republican, NC) \u2014 2019-10-31

. Madam , I rise to recognize William Stillerman of Winston-Salem, North Carolina for his outstanding tenure as President and CEO of Baptist Retirement Homes. Throughout his 34 years of exceptional leadership, Baptist Retirement Homes has been a pillar of effective care and compassion for the elderly in North Carolina communities. The foundation he started now totals forty million dollars, helping to serve the Homes' over 500 residents and expand the reach of its services for homebound seniors. Seeing such a successful local initiative to provide seniors access affordable prescriptions, comfortable housing, meals, companionship and many other needs is truly inspiring, and I'm proud to represent the person who embodies its powerful driving force. Now that Mr. Stillerman himself is retiring, I wish him the very best and thank him for his incredible work and dedication in serving retirees in our state.
LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, EDUCATION, DEFENSE, STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS, AND ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2020-- Motion to Proceed
Richard C. Shelby (Republican, AL) \u2014 2019-10-31

I rise in the U.S. Senate to fight for America's military. prgtoken This past week, our Special Forces eliminated the leader of ISIS and his likely successor. Their accomplishments should remind all of us that our brave troops always carry out their duties no matter what the circumstances. They shouldn't expect anything different from the U.S. Congress. Yet they do. They have come to expect that their elected leaders will fail to execute the most fundamental of their duties-- funding the government. They don't deserve failure, and they certainly shouldn't expect it. They deserve our gratitude, and they deserve our unwavering commitment. prgtoken The best way to demonstrate that gratitude and commitment, I believe, is by passing an appropriations bill that gives our military what it needs. Our men and women in uniform should never find themselves on the battlefield, wondering if they will be able to support their families back home. They should never wonder if their training needs, support requirements, or mission objectives will be held hostage by partisan bickering in the Congress. They should never wonder why America's adversaries are doubling down on their military investments while America is sitting idle. prgtoken I believe the United States must maintain its edge over our adversaries. China is escalating its defense spending, which we all know. Yet America's military is operating under a continuing resolution. That means that our military is having to face tomorrow's threats with yesterday's funding levels. That means that our military's planning and operations are weighed down with uncertainty. prgtoken That should be unacceptable to all of us, on both sides of the aisle, in the U.S. Senate. We have an opportunity to change that today by voting to proceed to the fiscal year 2020 Defense appropriations bill. What are we talking about here? We are talking about $695 billion in total defense funding. That is national security for the United States of America. That is an increase of about $20 billion over last year's level. This increased funding, among other things, would provide a 3.1- percent pay increase for our men and women in uniform--the largest in 10 years. Believe me, they need it. It would continue the development of the world's most advanced weapons systems, and we will need them. It would increase our investments in hypersonics, 5G technology, artificial intelligence, missile defense, and cyber security, and we need that. I believe all of this is absolutely essential to maintaining America's strategic advantage over our main adversaries and competitors--China and Russia. We had better not lose sight of that here in the Senate. prgtoken Unfortunately, at the moment, my ic colleagues seem more focused on scoring political points than ensuring that our military has the certainty and the funding it needs to counter our adversaries. They have said they will not allow us to fu
ISSUES OF THE DAY
Glenn Grothman (Republican, WI) \u2014 2019-10-31

. Madam , I thank the gentleman for his comments. prgtoken I realized that a lot of what has been said here the last few days focuses on an impeachment inquiry, and one has to ask oneself why we have so many people who have been wanting to try to impeachment President immediately. prgtoken It was, obviously, a very important vote today, but it is the fourth vote I have taken, I believe, since President has been sworn in on impeachment. So far, nothing has turned up. I don't expect anything to turn up in the future. prgtoken But I think one of the motivations for this impeachment inquiry is to keep other stories off the page, to keep other stories out of the mainstream media. And that is why, today, I want to address what I think is the biggest threat to America in the short term and a threat, unless we deal with it, which will ultimately destroy our country, and that is the threat of illegal immigration, of people flowing across the southern border. prgtoken I have been at the southern border three times this year to see for myself what Border Patrol and other people in charge of securing our border have to put up with, and I would like to say that they have done a tremendous job. prgtoken Yesterday, in this building, while so many people were focused on the impeachment inquiry, we had a hearing in the subcommittee of the Oversight and Reform Committee in which Ken Cuccinelli, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services office head, and Matthew Albence, Acting Director of ICE, were testifying before our subcommittee. prgtoken It was interesting, the appalling comments that they had to put up with from Members of this House, being called white supremacists, just doing their job trying to secure the border. Those are the type of things that every American should be aware of what is going on in this building. prgtoken But I would like to update people on the good job that President has been able to do in the last 6 months, why he has been able to do this job, and the hatred which it has brought our President. prgtoken In May, over 145,000 people were processed trying to get into this country, and we allowed over 100,000 people in this country. prgtoken About a year ago, there was a study put out by MIT and Yale which increased the estimated number of people in this country illegally from 10 to 11 million to 20 to 22 million people. That is a lot of people. prgtoken Obviously, we could not forever go on, May after May after May, in which 100,000 people were allowed in this country. prgtoken That, by the way, is in addition to people who sneak in the country without being detected because we have no wall and we have not adequately funded our Border Patrol. I think experts believe another 10,000 people probably came in, at least 10,000 came into this country in May undetected. prgtoken Since that time, President has reached agreements with Mexico, in part by threatening tariffs, in part by j
COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, MILITARY CONSTRUCTION, VETERANS AFFAIRS, TRANSPORTATION, AND HOUSING AND URBAN...
John Thune (Republican, SD) \u2014 2019-10-31

last weekend, I had the privilege of attending the welcome-home ceremony for 112 members of the South Dakota National Guard. These men and women, who serve in the 147th Forward Support Company or the Bravo Battery of the 1-147th Field Artillery Battalion, were deployed to Europe as part of Atlantic Resolve, a partnership with our allies in Eastern and Central Europe developed in response to Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014. prgtoken The Atlantic Resolve allows U.S. and allied forces to build strong working relationships and to hone their ability to conduct operations. Members of Bravo Battery and the 147th Forward Support Company spent most of the year in Europe working with partner forces. They participated in two multinational exercises and brought artillery to Germany and Hungary. prgtoken These soldiers finally got home last weekend, but they didn't leave Atlantic Resolve without South Dakota support. Other members of the 147th Forward Support Company and Alpha Battery of the 1-147th Field Artillery Battalion head for Europe in September. Other South Dakota- based military members--airmen from Ellsworth Air Force Base--also deployed abroad recently. prgtoken Four B-1 bombers from the 34th and 37th Bomb Squadrons at Ellsworth made a flying trip to Saudi Arabia late this month to support the U.S. military presence there. The bombers flew directly from South Dakota to Saudi Arabia, refueling six times in midair, once again demonstrating the incredible capability of this aircraft and of our Ellsworth airmen. prgtoken Atlantic Resolve, the B-1 mission, the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during a raid conducted by U.S. troops--they are all a reminder of the vital work that our military members are doing. prgtoken A lot of military missions don't make a big splash in the news. We don't hear a lot about everything that our men and women are doing on a daily basis. We don't hear details of all the operations: the joint exercises with our allies, the countless training evolutions, the never-ending aircraft and vehicle maintenance, the hours watching radar systems for contacts, the endless logistical work to support troops in the field, the painstaking weeks and months of intelligence gathering for a single mission. prgtoken Every hour of every day, members of the U.S. military are on duty working to keep the peace and to ensure the security of our Nation. As Members of Congress, we have no greater obligation than to ensure that our troops have the resources they need. We owe it to the men and women who get up each day willing to lay down their lives for us, and we owe it to every man, woman, and child we represent because the safety of our country depends upon the strength of our military. prgtoken Ensuring that our troops have the resources they need obviously means ensuring that they have adequate funding, but it also means getting that funding to them in a timely fashion. It means pass
HEALTHCARE
Rick Scott (Republican, FL) \u2014 2019-10-31

what we heard this week from my ic colleagues on healthcare is more of the same--more fearmongering and more misinformation. prgtoken The issue this week is about what is called 1332 waivers. These waivers allow States flexibility in how they implement healthcare programs. It is a simple concept. Every State is different. Every State should have the flexibility to design their healthcare programs and regulations in a way to best meet the needs of their citizens. prgtoken As a former Governor I know how important this is. Top-down, one- size-fits-all Federal healthcare programs increase costs and aren't the way to best serve the needs of the American people. Even the realized that when they passed Care. They created the 1332 waiver for State innovation. prgtoken As Governor, I used a similar waiver authority, an 1115 Medicaid waiver to reform our Medicaid system and transition it from a fee-for- service to a managed care system. This resulted in lower costs to taxpayers and better service and access for Florida families--a win- win. prgtoken These waivers work, and if you believe in States' rights, these waivers are the way to give States the opportunity to provide better healthcare to their citizens. But here is the problem: The don't believe in States' rights or allowing State taxpayers and citizens any flexibility to provide better healthcare services to their citizens. The want these top-down, one-size-fits-all Federal programs. If there is choice and flexibility, they want to restrict it. It is how Big Government works, and the love Big Government, restrictive mandates, and socialism. prgtoken When the are not attacking s for trying to dismantle Care, the turn around to their supporters and talk about their efforts to replace Care. prgtoken They don't want to keep Care programs as they are. They know Care is not working. They want to replace it with Medicare for All, prgtoken which would be the biggest expansion of government healthcare in history. By some estimates, Medicare for All would cost more than $30 trillion over 10 years. This one program would double the Federal budget and would require massive tax increases on each and every man, woman, and child in America. prgtoken Right now, we collect $3 trillion in Federal revenue. Medicare for All would require everyone's Federal taxes to more than double. Coincidentally, the Congressional Budget Office has so far been unable to do an official score of the Medicare for All bill. I have asked the sponsor of the bill, the junior Senator from Vermont, who happens to be the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, to join me in requesting the CBO score for his bill. So far, crickets. prgtoken Why wouldn't the Senator want a score of his bill? It is because the don't want you to know how much it would cost. They don't want you to know
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR (Executive Session)
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2019-10-31

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session for consideration of Calendar Nos. 468 through 477 and all nominations on the Secretary's desk in the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, and Navy; that the nominations be confirmed; that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order; that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.