mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
Housing (Executive Calendar)
Mike Crapo (Republican, ID) \u2014 2022-2-9

our Nation's seniors deserve meaningful solutions that increase prescription drug access and affordability. prgtoken This bill, unfortunately, would double down on the deepest flaws in our current healthcare system and usher in a host of new problems from fewer treatments to more bureaucracy. And, yes, it is almost certain under this legislation we would see launch prices for new drugs actually increase. The solution is not to go and double down on a failed socialist theory of price-fixing and work to make our market better. prgtoken Even setting aside the overwhelming implementation challenges and technical issues that this legislation would present from the outset, the provisions included would do far more harm than good, particularly for the very older Americans they are intended to help. prgtoken I would note from the outset there is talk about wanting to have process and a vote. This legislation was just introduced today. It just got a bill number today. There has been no vetting of this legislation in the committee, which is the regular order of this Senate. There has been no public analysis. There has been no public review. There has not been any hearing on this legislation. There has been not any negotiation on this legislation. prgtoken I heard numbers thrown out here about what a savings this would be. CBO has not scored this legislation, and there are serious flaws with it. prgtoken Under this proposal, we would see a staggering decline in the game- changing research and development that our universities, medical centers, and entrepreneurs conduct every day, as vital investments in the cures of the future would decline. prgtoken As countless studies of price control mandates like the one before us today have concluded, these policies would slash new drug discoveries in the years to come, jeopardizing some of the highest risk projects, in particular. prgtoken Potential treatments targeted at conditions affecting seniors at high prgtoken rates, like certain cancers, would likely suffer the greatest impact, as Medicare would become increasingly stagnant and unable to meet the evolving needs of rapidly aging populations. prgtoken After coming in under budget with satisfaction rates soaring and premiums remaining remarkably stable, Medicare Part D would lose the market-driven structure that has made it such a success story for so many seniors. Instead, we would move closer to a government-run healthcare system--which is the ideal and the goal--where bureaucratic price controls like these would become the norm. prgtoken The vast majority of Americans, in my opinion, still reject the notion of a government-run healthcare system and price controls in place of a free market. prgtoken Meanwhile, our frontline healthcare providers have weathered a truly unprecedented 2 years of pandemic, and they would face a sweeping, immediate, and drastic payment cut as this legislation aims to advance immediate pa
CLOTURE MOTION
Roy Blunt (Republican, MO) \u2014 2022-2-9

there are really few jobs in the country as difficult, as dangerous, and as demanding as the sacrifice of being a law enforcement officer. I would suggest the one job that may possibly be harder--and certainly in my view is as hard--is to be the family member of a law enforcement officer, wondering all during that working shift what might be happening to the person you care so much about. prgtoken You know the challenges to these officers and their families--the challenges they face today are intensified as local departments struggle with the staffing shortages caused by record high departures and difficulty filling the open positions they have got. prgtoken The Eastern Missouri Police Academy had around half as many recruits join in 2021 as they had in 2020. In my hometown of Springfield, MO, they have 40 vacancies right now they are trying to fill in the department. prgtoken In January, the Columbia, MO, Police Department had around 20 vacancies in a force that its maximum size would be 187 or so people. prgtoken According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch in September, officer departures in St. Louis City and St. Louis County spiked in 2021 and were at a pace to be up to 60 percent higher in each of those departments than they had been in the average year. prgtoken In the police force here, I was with Chief Manger yesterday, and he pointed out that retirements and resignations were 50 percent higher than they have been in recent years in 2021. prgtoken The new chief of police at the St. Louis County Police Force said: My biggest priority is hiring and finding people who will do these jobs. prgtoken These staff shortages are unfortunate, but they are in so many ways predictable of a movement that villainized enforcement for, I think, political gain in many cases. Officers have been demoralized by the ``defund the police'' crusade. They have been discouraged by prosecutors who put dangerous criminals back on the street or even put out a list of crimes that people will not be prosecuted for. prgtoken That is well beyond the standard of belief that most people would have had, actually, until they heard it, my guess would be, that, no, these are crimes that we are just not going to prosecute people for. prgtoken Police saw themselves, in many cases, forced out of the force because of a vaccine mandate they didn't agree with, often going to smaller forces that had less than 100 people. prgtoken All this is happening, really, against a backdrop of a crime wave that is harming communities of all sizes all across the country. prgtoken When I talk to police chiefs, I hear concerns that a lot of good candidates are deciding maybe law enforcement won't be the career that they want to have. When I talk to the sworn officers that I see here every day and I see at home, I hear many of them feel they just simply have a job where they face danger but they don't get enough support that they need to do the job that they
Crime (Executive Calendar)
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2022-2-9

. While Washington spent 2021 distracted by their reckless taxing-and-spending spree, violent criminals were preying on the American people. Millions of Americans' neighborhoods descended into chaos and violence around them. prgtoken After the nationwide murder rate saw its biggest jump in more than 100 years in 2020, at least 12 major cities set their own alltime homicide records in 2021. Rates of carjackings have doubled, tripled, and even quadrupled in major metro areas. prgtoken My hometown of Louisville set a new alltime murder record last year of 188 homicides. Twenty-four of the victims were children. At one point last year, a staggering 65 percent of our homicides were going unsolved. Louisville is now averaging one carjacking every 42 hours. Yesterday, I hosted the FBI special agent in charge of the Louisville field office for a meeting here in the Capitol. We discussed these issues at length. prgtoken One survey last year found that Americans believe violent crime is the No. 1 major crisis facing our country. More citizens called violent crime a major crisis than COVID. When Americans were asked about President 's handling of law enforcement and criminal justice, the President polls almost 20 points underwater. prgtoken The American people know this crime wave is not some spontaneous event. It has been fed and fueled in multiple ways by the ic Party's far-left turn. For example, liberal activists and many elected have spent almost 2 years trying to smear--smear--the entire profession of policing with the actions of a few bad actors. prgtoken We know that anti-police culture wars invite more crime. It is a fact. A prominent scholar--who, incidentally, was the youngest African- American professor to ever get tenure at Harvard--has proven that anti- police outcry directly results in more crime, including homicides. prgtoken Many jurisdictions have entertained financial attacks on police departments to match the rhetorical attacks. Literally just yesterday, a prominent House insisted to the press that the far left will not be dropping or diluting their message of ``defund the police.'' prgtoken Meanwhile, our brave men and women in law enforcement are literally-- literally--under attack. While too many politicians take aim at our brave police officers in a political sense, violent criminals are taking aim at them in a literal sense. The number of cop killings shot up nearly 60 percent last year to a two-decade high. prgtoken In Louisville, Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputy Brandon Shirley was shot and killed last summer. It is believed he was ambushed while wearing his uniform. prgtoken The streets of New York City were packed full with heroes a few days ago as fellow officers mourned two of their colleagues who had been shot and killed. prgtoken It is not just regular citizens going about their normal days who need this violent crime epidemic to stop; our brave men and wom
CLOTURE MOTION
Roger Marshall (Republican, KS) \u2014 2022-2-9

I have two words for you today: ``crack pipes''--crack pipes, not crackpots. prgtoken Many of us went to bed last night, others waking up this morning, and heads are exploding across this Nation as we learn that this administration is giving crack pipes to crackheads. I think when the history books are written about this President and 2020 through 2024, that will be the picture right next to the President's name--a picture of crack pipes being given out by this administration. prgtoken I want to come back to that in a second, though. prgtoken I have a picture of my dad today and our dog Rennie. My dad and our family--my mom, an older brother, younger sister--moved off the family farm when I was 5. My dad was a proud, proud police officer. I remember the day in kindergarten when my dad and our family dog Rennie came to visit and what a proud moment it was for me. In 3 years, my dad was head of the fire department, and 2 years after that, he became the chief of police. My dad was the chief of police in El Dorado, KS, for some 25 years. prgtoken My dad represented law in the community. He represented right from wrong, and he applied that law equally. There was never a gray area for my dad. I remember having dinner at my grandma's house one Sunday evening and the phone ringing. We didn't have pagers. We didn't have cell phones. prgtoken All I remember, my dad was saying: Stand down. prgtoken My grandma looked at us and said: You guys better hug your dad goodbye. prgtoken I said: Grandma, what do you mean? prgtoken She said: He may not come back. prgtoken It was a familiar story of a domestic violence, of a drunk husband with his wife on the front porch. There was always a 12-gauge shotgun. It was never a 16-gauge or a 20; it was always a 12-gauge shotgun. My dad was the person who would go and disarm that person. It happened way too often. prgtoken But I just tell that story as we reminisce because we know how important law enforcement officers are to all of us. prgtoken I remember, you know, you sit around and you listen while you are making homemade ice cream, and people asked my dad questions about crime. I think of those crack pipes and my dad always saying that drugs and crime go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly--the more drug abuse there is, the more crimes there were in the community. prgtoken I remember somebody asking him why would the police officers be so strict about petty crimes. Maybe it was a little vandalism. Maybe it was a broken window. Maybe it was graffiti. I remember my dad talking about, you have to set an example, that if you allow people to vandalize, if you allow people to do graffiti, if you allow people to break windows, it is just a cascade of bigger crimes. prgtoken I finished up some townhalls this past weekend--15 townhalls in the past 2 weeks--and what Americans are concerned about are inflation and crime. This is what Americans--Kansans--are telling me that they are s
Nomination of Reta Jo Lewis (Executive Calendar)
Patrick J. Toomey (Republican, PA) \u2014 2022-2-9

I rise today to discuss the nomination of Reta Jo Lewis to serve as the President and Chair of the Ex-Im Bank of the United States. It is my understanding that we are likely to have a vote later today on her confirmation, and I want to address this. prgtoken And let me start by underscoring why, frankly, I don't think we should have an Ex-Im Bank, and let me explain why. First of all, let's start with the Ex-Im's claim about how it does business. The Ex-Im Bank maintains that, when it provides financing for these transactions that it engages in, it only takes risks that private lenders are either unable or unwilling to take. prgtoken Now, we ought to stop ourselves right there and say: Well, wait a minute. If the private sector is not willing to take these risks, why should we force taxpayers to take these risks--because the Ex-Im Bank is, of course, backed by American taxpayers. So that is question No. 1. prgtoken But it actually gets worse than that. The Ex-Im Bank also insists that it only makes safe bets; it only engages in very low-risk, safe transactions. But, of course, it is impossible to do both, right? Ex-Im can't only take transactions so risky that no one else will do them but at the same time only do safe transactions. That is an obvious contradiction, and that is a contradiction that is at the heart of Ex- Im's business model. prgtoken So how do they do business? The reason they do business is they systematically underprice the risk. That is why Ex-Im gets the transaction instead of the private sector. That is why borrowers go to Ex-Im instead of any number of private financial institutions that are happy to offer the deal but only under terms that generate an adequate return on the risk. prgtoken This is why, for instance, the largest, most successful, most profitable banks in America go to Ex-Im for loan guarantees--because Ex-Im's terms are too good to be true, at least too good to be true in the private sector. prgtoken Let me just give a very recent example of just how egregious this is. In 2021, the Ex-Im Bank financed a deal in which they guaranteed an $82 million loan made by JPMorgan, the bank, to Qantas, the Australian airline, for the purpose of buying jet engines from General Electric. Now, let's think about this. We have JPMorgan, the largest bank in America--extremely profitable, enormously successful, all the capital in the world. We have Qantas, which is one of the most successful and profitable airlines in the world. They are the largest airline in Australia. And, of course, General Electric is one of the largest industrial companies in the world. prgtoken Can anybody actually, with a straight face, suggest that any of these companies can't borrow money privately? Seriously? All three of them access the capital markets every day. They have access to all the financing in the world. Yet taxpayers guaranteed this transaction because it was available. They don't need any
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Claudia Tenney (Republican, NY) \u2014 2022-2-9

I thank the gentleman so much for yielding. It is just an honor to serve with you and also to serve with our great colleague, Byron Donalds from Florida. I thank the gentleman for hosting this very important Special Order to celebrate and recognize Black History Month. prgtoken Upstate New York has a strong abolitionist history, and I am honored to highlight the stories of our region's abolitionist heroes today. These individuals played a pivotal role in bringing our Nation's founding ideals to fruition following the brutal failure of slavery in our early days. prgtoken Not many people outside New York realize just how rich our history is within the abolitionist movement. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to visit a few of these sites with Congressman Owens back in October which we later recalled and memorialized on the House floor in January in another Special Order. Many of these sites, such as the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark and the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum, are located in the heart of my district in Peterboro, Madison County, New York. prgtoken The Gerrit Smith Estate is named for Gerrit Smith, a wealthy New York landowner and one-term Member of the House of Representatives, who, coincidentally, represented the 26th District, as I do now. Smith put his wealth to good use by fervently supporting the abolitionist movement. He truly put his wealth behind his beliefs and promoted the rights of individuals to have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. prgtoken For nearly 40 years, Smith dedicated his whole heart to the abolitionist cause. Other notable abolitionist heroes such as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, all made their way to the Smith Estate at one point or another to participate in Smith's good work. prgtoken Peterboro, New York, became a haven for fugitive slaves because of Gerrit Smith's courage and undying vision for a better, more equal America. Gerrit donated much of his farmland to escaped slaves so they could become self-sufficient and avoid slave hunters. Gerrit Smith also supported Frederick Douglass' newspaper, The North Star, and gave him what would be the equivalent of about $7,000 a month in today's dollars, and kept that newspaper going to inform the public about what was happening in the abolitionist movement. prgtoken His home became a stop along the famous underground railroad where people would come for shelter, food, and support. Hundreds of enslaved people found their way to freedom because of Gerrit Smith's valor and generosity. Down the road in Peterboro you will find the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum. This fixture of the community is located in the same building where the first-ever meeting of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society was held in 1835. prgtoken Because of their importance to the movement, both the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark and th
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS SHOT IN 2021
Chip Roy (Republican, TX) \u2014 2022-2-9

I do want to finish by saying, it is our duty to secure the border of the United States. It is the duty of the Secretary to secure the border of the United States. There are 100,000 dead Americans as a result of wide-open borders, and it is impeachable conduct by the Secretary of Homeland Security. We are going to address that issue if the American people will give us the ability to be in the majority. prgtoken , from Arkansas (Mr. Hill).
RECOGNIZING VINCENT J. DELMONTE
Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (Republican, GA) \u2014 2022-2-9

I rise today to recognize and honor the CEO of the Frank Callen Boys & Girls Club, Vincent DelMonte. prgtoken Vincent has been a leader for the Boys & Girls Clubs for nearly 20 years and, with his retirement, leaves behind a legacy of selflessness and service. prgtoken The Boys & Girls Club's mission is to enable all young people to reach their full potential. Vincent certainly did that, and more. prgtoken Vincent assumed his role during a time of severe financial turmoil. prgtoken Vincent was able to navigate these troubles carefully and eloquently, making the Frank Callen Boys & Girls Club one of the Nation's top clubs. prgtoken With renewed finances and a heightened status, the club went on to improve the lives of not only its many members but the communities they serve under Vincent's guidance. prgtoken We hope Vincent truly enjoys his retirement. After what Vincent has done for the Frank Callen Boys & Girls Club, he has certainly done more than his fair share for our community. prgtoken Vincent is the type of man many should strive to be, someone who leaves the community he loved better than he found it. prgtoken , I congratulate Vincent on his well-deserved retirement.
Title IX (Executive Calendar)
Tommy Tuberville (Republican, AL) \u2014 2022-2-9

in my 40 years as a coach and mentor, I have witnessed the immeasurable value that sports plays in the lives of young adults. prgtoken The lessons learned on the field contribute to an athlete's success off the field. For example, there is the value of discipline and hard work, how to deal with success and failure, how to be a leader, and the importance of putting the interests of the team ahead of the individual's. But many of these lessons are only realized when there is a fair and level playing field, and that is why title IX protections have been so transformational for women's and girls' sports. prgtoken I began my career as a high school coach, coaching boys' basketball and football, as well as girls' basketball. This was just a few years after Congress expanded title IX, ushering in a new era of opportunities for women and girls in sports. prgtoken Title IX provided women and girls the long-denied platform that had always been afforded to men and boys. It ensured female athletes had the same access to funding, facilities, and athletic scholarships. Before title IX, female athletics received less than 2 percent of the college athletic budgets, and athletic scholarships for women were virtually nonexistent. Since it was enacted, I have witnessed firsthand how the expanded provisions in title IX have changed the game for female athletes at every level. prgtoken Today, 43 percent of high school girls participate in competitive sports. Since the 1970s, when I first started coaching, female participation at the college level has risen by more than 600 percent. Additionally, America's female athletes are routinely the best- performing on the world stage in both team and individual sports. prgtoken In the 2016 Olympics, we saw the largest number of U.S. female Olympians in history. It is clear we have made important strides. Yet, recently, the adoption of policies for transgender athletes has negatively impacted the rights, privacy, safety, and achievements of women and girls in sports. That is why we need to continue to fight to uphold and preserve title IX protections in women's and girls' sports. prgtoken This is a cause I have championed in my role on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. When then-nominee for Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, James Kvaal, testified before the committee, I pressed on the administration's commitment to upholding title IX and protecting the rights of women. As expected, he failed to articulate how title IX would be protected under the administration. prgtoken In March of last year, when Senate were pushing through their so-called COVID relief package, I led the charge here on this floor to prohibit education institutions from receiving Federal stimulus money if they failed to uphold title IX. Not surprisingly, it was rejected. prgtoken But this is not just a debate we are having here in Congress; we are s