mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
TRIBUTE TO MIKE ANDERSON
Dan Sullivan (Republican, AK) \u2014 2020-12-21

I would like to recognize a critical member of my staff, Mike Anderson--he is known as ``Big Mike''--who left my office in August to pursue a legal career in his hometown of Anchorage, AK--something he has aspired to do since a young age. prgtoken Mike was my communications director, but it was much more of an appropriate title for Mike because he directed so many things in my office, so much of our communication both internally and externally. You would often find Mike going from staff member to staff member, asking them questions, relaying information from one team to the next. prgtoken In our office, if you had a question about what anybody was up to, what anybody was doing in Alaska, here in our DC office, in our Alaskan offices, you would ask Mike. That is a special quality. He is an incredibly hard worker, incredibly gifted young man, and we are going to miss that talent in Mike very much. prgtoken Mike is no stranger to Alaska political offices. Fresh out of college at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, he took a job with Congressman Young and then worked for Senator Murkowski. prgtoken In 2014, he was looking for a little more adventure on the calm side. I was looking for someone to help with my communications on my campaign. It was my first run for office. I was running against an incumbent with big name recognition in our State. Mike came on board and took a chance on me. It is something I will never forget--loyal, great worker. prgtoken He had been taking a lot of classes at night at Catholic University of America for the past few years, working in my office, and balancing it all. He was on the clock around the clock and did it with grace, humor, hard work, and excellence. prgtoken As I mentioned, he was our office communicator, but he was also the office friend, the person you would go to for advice on things big and small, the person you would call on for an assist if you needed to move. It helped that he lived up to his name--6 feet, 8 inches. He is a big guy. Mike always showed up, working together--as we called in our office one team, one fight. We got big things done for our State. prgtoken Speaking of one team, one fight, my office has a pretty good hoops team. Mike, as you can imagine--UAF varsity basketball player back in Alaska--was the critical member of that team. We have won a lot of games, particularly against the Cruz Texans. In fact, Senator Cruz once gave Mike the nickname ``Denali'' for his size and how he dominates the middle of the key on the hoops court. prgtoken Mike is going to make a great lawyer in Alaska. As a State, we have so much potential--the biggest fisheries in the country, the largest energy fields, huge military complexes, and fascinating, important Alaskan Native legal issues. More than anything, Alaska needs good leaders with integrity, brilliant lawyers, hard-working people like Mike who love their State and give it all back to their State, and tha
SUPPORT FOR S. 1310 (ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES LEGISLATIVE ENGAGEMENT ACT OF 2020)
Michael T. McCaul (Republican, TX) \u2014 2020-12-21

. Madam , I want to express my support for the Organization of American States Legislative Engagement Act. prgtoken The Organization of American States (OAS) brings together the nations of the Western Hemisphere to promote democracy, human rights, security, and economic development. prgtoken This bill directs the Department of State to develop a strategy to support efforts in the OAS to strengthen critical anti-corruption efforts and promote human rights. prgtoken It also requires a report detailing the organization's progress toward advancing human rights, combating impunity, and supporting the participation of democratically elected legislators in OAS activities. prgtoken Finally, this bill encourages democratically elected legislators from member states to discuss the most important issues facing the region-- including defending human rights, promoting democracy, and supporting anti-corruption efforts. prgtoken As co-chair of the US-Mexico Interparliamentary Group, I recognize the important role that legislators can play in advancing shared foreign policy interests. However, the United States must take all necessary measures to ensure that any interparliamentary forum created under this legislation provides a platform for substantive discourse to address serious issues impacting the region, including countering threats to democracy and human rights, transnational crime, impunity, and systemic corruption in accordance with the Inter-American ic Charter. prgtoken The United States must also make all efforts to ensure that interparliamentary forums are not coopted by actors who aim to undermine U.S. policy interests in the region by promoting socialism and embracing malign actors like the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). prgtoken This legislation includes critical language ensuring that only democratically elected legislators participate in any newly-created forum. A ``democratically elected legislator'' under this legislation should be strictly defined as an individual who was elected as a result of periodic, free and fair elections. Further, any legislator who is known to be convicted for or engaged in corruption or transnational criminal activities, including trafficking of people, goods, or illicit narcotics, moneylaundering, terrorist financing, acts of terrorism, campaign finance violations, bribery, extortion, human rights violations, or undermining democracy, should be barred from participation. prgtoken The U.S. must also work with the OAS to ensure that any forum or action taken under this legislation is feasible and cost effective, keeping in mind the ongoing budgetary constraints of the OAS and the importance of advancing the objectives outlined under the Organization of American States Revitalization and Reform Act of 2013, including the implementation of a results-based budgeting process in order to strategically prioritize, and where appropriate, reduce current and future mandates. prgtoken The
UNITED STATES-MEXICO ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP ACT
Kevin Cramer (Republican, ND) \u2014 2020-12-21

I rise to join my colleague Senator Hoeven in offering this amendment and urging our colleagues to support the amendment to strip the wind protection tax credit from this massive bill. prgtoken I feel like I am living in an episode of the ``Twilight Zone,'' and I wish I could say that I am surprised. But I am not, because here we go again. Despite numerous requests and appeals and deals with the leader and the chairman of the Finance Committee to not jam this body with a 13th extension of the wind protection tax credit, here we are with another one in front of us. prgtoken Since the credit's inception in 1992--and for a lot of those years I was a utility regulator--it has always been promised that it would be temporary and would expire. Last year, we got jammed at the last minute with another extension, and, rightfully, the people back home are really, really upset with us. And it didn't sit very well with me either. prgtoken That is why, in April of this year, I led a letter to Leader McConnell with colleagues from West Virginia, Wyoming, and Georgia saying it was time to finally level the playing field and get rid of this market-distorting atrocity. prgtoken In July, I led another letter to Chairman Grassley with even more colleagues--from West Virginia, Wyoming, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania--with the same message: Let this credit expire. prgtoken Yet here we are again. The requests have fallen on deaf ears, and we have simply been given another pill to swallow with the extension today. prgtoken Some in this town have pointed to an extension in carbon sequestration credits like 45Q and 48A, as if they were an equal trade. They are not. Despite years of pleading, the Treasury Department--yes, this Treasury Department--still has not finalized regulations. So an extension of 45Q is moot if there is no way to actually monetize the credit. prgtoken Of equal importance, financial investors have said if renewable credits are extended, they will absorb whatever tax appetite exists because they are predictable, and those deals have been done many times. prgtoken Just to reiterate, they can't even utilize 45Q because Treasury hasn't finished the regulations 3 years after Congress expanded the credit. prgtoken More to the point, while there are some great proposed carbon sequestration projects planned in North Dakota, their benefit is targeted, while in contrast, hundreds of miners and the local communities they have built are being hurt by the extension of the production tax credit. I strongly support carbon sequester projects, but to assume that the potential benefits of 45Q or 48A are equal to the unilateral harm of the wind credit is disingenuous at best. prgtoken I have heard from utilities who actually use the wind PTC, but they said they don't need it because the market is so awash with wind credits, they can't even monetize them. It is completely upside down. In fact, the PTC credits are ac
UNITED STATES-MEXICO ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP ACT
Kevin Brady (Republican, TX) \u2014 2020-12-21

I want to thank Ranking Member Granger for her terrific leadership on this bill and throughout this session. prgtoken This agreement is a big, important win for American workers, healthcare providers, Main Street businesses, and families. prgtoken In this agreement, we have tax relief for American families. We permanently make it easier to deduct high medical costs and lifetime learning costs. We extend for 5 years the tax credit for paid family and medical leave, plus we take it one step further by helping businesses pay off student loans for workers. prgtoken We have big wins for patients and families together. We end surprise medical bills when you visit the ER or have scheduled medical procedures. We require that patients be given a true and honest bill ahead of a scheduled procedure, and we make it easier to find in- network doctors and providers. prgtoken In addition to helping patients, we also help our doctors. We increase their pay and stop two-thirds of planned Medicare cuts for certain providers. We also increase doctor pay by over $3 billion and add 1,000 new graduate medical education slots to help train more doctors. prgtoken We took needed action to improve healthcare in rural areas. prgtoken It also contains strong antifraud safeguards for unemployment. prgtoken We offer crucial tax help for millions of Americans and small businesses with another round of stimulus checks, more funds and flexibility for PPP loans. prgtoken We also include important technical corrections to the new U.S.- Mexico-Canada Agreement, which will help our economy rebuild from this pandemic. prgtoken Maybe most importantly, we have big wins in this package to help us defeat the virus once and for all with billions more in funding for vaccines, testing, distribution, and more. prgtoken This bipartisan solution is so important to the American people. This is a strong and needed package. Its benefits will be felt for years to come. prgtoken I also want to finish by thanking our committee chairman, Richie Neal, who worked so closely with me and all of our committee members on these wins for the American people. It has been an honor to work with him this Congress. prgtoken I am also very proud of the work and leadership that s have exemplified throughout this Congress, especially among the Ways and Means Committee. I will gladly and strongly vote in support of this bill, and I encourage all of my colleagues to do the same.
UNITED STATES-MEXICO ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP ACT
Jeff Fortenberry (Republican, NE) \u2014 2020-12-21

I thank the ranking member for yielding. prgtoken I also add my thanks to my good friend, Chair Lowey, upon her retirement from Congress. Thank you so much for your grace-filled leadership all these years. I am very happy for you in this new phase of life. prgtoken Also, , I thank the chairman of the Agricultural, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Subcommittee publicly here, Chair Sanford Bishop. He has such a professionalism and courtesy and a working, friendly bipartisan spirit. I really think it is important that America hears that. prgtoken , this bill underwrites the stabilization policies for our farmers and ranchers, the protection of our drug supply, and what I call the farm of the future. prgtoken Now, these elongated deliberations have created extra time for us here in Congress. I know you would probably prefer to be in Maryland. I certainly would prefer to be in Nebraska. But we have had important work to do here. prgtoken Given the extra amount of time, I took some liberties and I visited with a young farmer near here, . He lives in the Shenandoah Valley. And on a cold Virginia night, I actually sanitized my own shoes and walked with him in his poultry house, and we talked. We talked about costs, fertilizer reuse, mechanical versus digital monitors, and options for integrating renewable energy into his operations. prgtoken Checking his birds is a routine he dutifully performs. And that is what America's farmers are about: constancy, vigilance, hard work. And whether it is in the field or among livestock, the day in and day out life of the farmer in Nebraska or Virginia or Georgia is what keeps America strong and helps feed the world. prgtoken This bill supports our production agricultural system in many traditional ways, while we also witness an opportunity to expand the farm family. New forms of small-scale niche agriculture marry high-tech with high-touch, connecting the rural to the urban, the farmer to the family, and the farm to the table. This is the future of farming. prgtoken Of particular importance, the bill supports rural broadband, as well as protecting our drug supply. It is an important bill from the constructs of the most basic systems in America.
CORONAVIRUS
Lisa Murkowski (Republican, AK) \u2014 2020-12-21

this is the time of year when we all look forward to wrapping things up, as they say. prgtoken Many around the country, when they think about wrapping things up, think about presents that they are going to put under the tree for their family. We think about it as closing up business for the balance of the year, and that is really where we are. prgtoken Hopefully, in a couple hours here, the House will proceed in taking up the omnibus bill, along with the COVID relief package, along with a host of other matters that the Congress has been working to address in this past year. prgtoken I would like to speak this evening for a few moments on the significance of where we are, but I want to start with just a story that I just now received from one of my staff people back in Alaska, and she got a video from the medical staff at the Sub-Regional Clinic there at St. Mary's. St. Mary's is a small community up on the Yukon River, and probably, I would say, 500 people, maybe more, in St. Mary's. But it is just a reminder to me that, regardless of where you are, hope is coming with the vaccine. prgtoken The comment that she shared is this video, a pictorial of the health aides, the PA--the physician's assistant--and personnel getting their COVID shots. prgtoken It was 13 degrees out. And the mobile office where the vaccine was administered was inside a chartered Cessna 208 Caravan sitting on the airport tarmac there in St. Mary's. After the shot, she and her staff hung out in their heated trucks for about a half an hour to see if they had any allergic reactions. When none showed signs, the Caravan took off to the next village airport. prgtoken It is just an example that no matter where you are, how remote you may be, the logistics that may be required to provide for this hope that comes by way of the vaccine. prgtoken People around the country are hopeful. Our job now, as we wrap up, is to make sure that we deliver this relief quickly. prgtoken I mention the COVID relief. I have been fortunate to be teaming with a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers for the past 5 or 6 weeks to see if we couldn't come up with a proposal that could kick-start the COVID talks. prgtoken We have had an opportunity for many of us to come to the floor to speak to not only how that came to be but the ultimate result, which was a multihundred-page document, legislation, that totaled $908 billion. But it addressed everything from vaccine development and distribution to what we are going to do to assist our small businesses with additional rounds of PPP, to extensions to unemployment insurance, to what we can do with food assistance, nutrition assistance, and what more might be done to help with rental assistance. It was truly responsive to the need. prgtoken Where we are today is having moved that conversation and that debate forward, I think, in a constructive, in a positive way. We are here with a proposal that looks different than
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF SENATE AMENDMENT TO H.R. 133, UNITED STATES-MEXICO ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP ACT; PROVIDING FOR DISPOSITION OF SENATE AMENDMENT TO H.R. 1520, PURPLE BOOK CONTINUITY ACT OF...
Michael C. Burgess (Republican, TX) \u2014 2020-12-21

. Madam , hearing some of the earlier discussion, just for a data point, this is December 21, the longest night of the year, as they say. prgtoken On August 21, the former Vice President, in accepting the ic Party nomination for President, in his acceptance speech, said: Look, let's be clear. No miracle is coming. prgtoken Well, here we are, 4 months later, with not one but two vaccines, each in excess of 90 percent effective; absolutely phenomenal. prgtoken As another data point, in August 2014, the Ebola crisis was raging in Western Africa. A vaccine was out of phase 1 trials. It took 5\1/2\ years to deliver that vaccine. This one was delivered in 10 months. It is absolutely incredible. prgtoken Look, in the bill before us today, there are some high points, and there are some low points. A couple of things I do want to point out. prgtoken The Independence at Home Act that I introduced with Congresswoman Dingell several years ago was continued and expanded. prgtoken One of the biggest deals for me is coverage for immunosuppressive drugs after a renal transplant. I have been working on this for 10 years. Now, we have provided additional protection for people who are recipients of renal transplants so that they can continue to get their immunosuppressive drugs. prgtoken Some flexibility has been provided in the bill to allow for value- based care. The alternative payment model threshold is frozen for 2 years. That is important. prgtoken Project ECHO, which allows for primary care doctors in remote areas to be able to consult with specialists, has been continued. That is a big deal. prgtoken The out-of-network billing has been tough, and it has been tough in a year that has been tough on our Nation's frontline healthcare personnel. The out-of-network billing language has improved dramatically over the last 18 months. I cannot say that it is perfect, but some of the more recent improvements, such as the prevention of putting payment data from public payers in the independent dispute resolution process, are pretty big wins for our physicians. prgtoken I will also add that it is an unusual time that they should have to be facing additional cuts when our doctors have been on the front lines of providing care for America's patients during this pandemic. Faced with out-of-network payment reductions from the insurance companies and with reductions through the evaluation and management codes, the E and M codes, it is a funny way to go about rewarding those that we would refer to as our Nation's heroes. prgtoken Still, , the American people do need the relief that is provided in this coronavirus package.
UNITED STATES--MEXICO ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP ACT--Continue
Patrick J. Toomey (Republican, PA) \u2014 2020-12-21

I wish to enter remarks regarding the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which I will refer to as the 2021 Approps Act. prgtoken Specifically, my remarks are about sections 1001 through 1005 of the 2021 Approps Act. I was the sponsor and principal drafter of these sections. I also negotiated the final legislative text of these sections with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and my ic colleagues in the Senate, including ic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. prgtoken These sections relate to the Federal Reserve's temporary emergency lending facilities under section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act that are creatures of the CARES Act P.L. 116-136. These facilities were established in response to the extreme turmoil in the credit markets caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. They were made possible by $500 billion in funding and authority provided by the CARES Act. As a result, these facilities are often referred to as the CARES Act facilities, which is how I will refer to them. prgtoken The CARES Act facilities are the Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility, the Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility, the Municipal Liquidity Facility, the Main Street Lending Program, and the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF). The CARES Act required and Congress intended the CARES Act facilities to cease operations by December 31, 2020. prgtoken I was one of the two Senators involved in drafting the CARES ACT provisions that provided the funding and authority for the CAREES Act facilities. During the last 2 days--December 19, 2020 and December 20, 2020--I have spoken at length on the Senate floor about the creation, intended purpose, and success of these facilities, as well as the impact of sections 1001 through 1005 of the 2021 Approps Act on these facilities and the reasons for enacting these sections. As a result, I will not repeat those remarks now. prgtoken Today, I would like to focus on the impact of one particular section of the 2021 Approps Act: section 1005. But let me first remind my colleagues of what sections 1001 through 1005 of the 2021 Approps Act do. Collectively, these sections rescind more than $429 billion of unused money out of the CARES Act facilities and use that money for other important purposes; definitively end the CARES Act facilities by December 31, 2020, as Congress intended and the CARES Act requires; forbid the CARES Act facilities from being restarted; and prevent the CARES Act facilities from being replicated without congressional approval. prgtoken Specifically, section 1005 of the 2021 Approps Act prevents the creation of any Federal Reserve emergency lending facility established under section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act that is ``the same as'' any CARES Act facility. Because an earlier version of TALF was established in 2008 prior to the CARES Act, section 1005 of the 2021 Approps Act specifically allows TALF--but o