mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (Executive Session)
Lamar Alexander (Republican, TN) \u2014 2018-4-11

today the Senate will vote on the confirmation of John Ring to be a member of the National Labor Relations Board, NLRB. I am glad that we are voting on this nomination because, once Mr. Ring is confirmed, we will once again have a full five-member National Labor Relations Board. prgtoken Created in 1935, the NLRB administers the National Labor Relations Act, which seeks to mitigate and eliminate labor-related impediments to the free flow of commerce. The 5 board members have 5-year, staggered terms, and the general counsel has a 4-year term. prgtoken The NLRB should be a neutral umpire in labor disputes. While Board partisanship did not start under President , it became worse under him. An overly partisan Board creates instability in our Nation's workplaces and does not serve the intent of the law, which is to create stable labor relations and the free flow of commerce. prgtoken The NLRB under President took two particularly harmful actions that are still in place today. First, the joint employer decision threatens the American dream for owners of the Nation's 780,000 franchise locations. Under that decision, companies could find it much more practical to own all their stores and restaurants and daycare centers themselves, rather than encourage more franchisee-owned small businesses. prgtoken Second is the ambush election rule, which can force a union election before employers and employees have a chance to figure out what is going on. The rule also forces employers to provide union organizers with a list of employees' work locations, shifts, job classifications, personal email addresses, and home and cellular telephone numbers. This information is highly personal, and employees may not want it shared, but workers do not have a choice. I am pleased the Board is accepting comments on whether this rule should be revised. prgtoken A fully staffed board is vital to both employees and employers, and I am not the only one who thinks that is important. At a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, HELP, hearing in September 2014, then-Chairman Harkin said, ``Keeping the NLRB fully staffed and able to do its work will send a strong message to the American people that yes, Washington can work, and our government can function.'' prgtoken While attending the Catholic University Columbus School of Law in the evening, Mr. Ring worked for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. After law school, he joined the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where he has worked since 1988. Mr. Ring flourished at the firm, where he worked his way up from summer associate to coleader of the firm's labor and management relations practice. prgtoken Mr. Ring was nominated to be a member of the NLRB on January 18, 2018. The HELP Committee held Mr. Ring's hearing on March 1, 2018, and he completed all paperwork in accordance with the committee's rules, practices, and procedures. We received Mr. Ring's
Opioid Crisis (Executive Calendar)
Cory Gardner (Republican, CO) \u2014 2018-4-11

over the past couple of weeks Congress and the Senate had its State work period, and during that time we go back to our State and travel, listening to our constituents. I had the incredible opportunity to go to Colorado and spend time on the Front Range, on the I-25 Corridor, where the vast majority of the population of Colorado lives, and also spent some time in Western Colorado, which most people identify as being where they travel to Colorado, with the ski resorts, mountains, Rocky Mountain National Park, and the Great Sand Dunes National Park. prgtoken I also had a chance to visit some of the smaller communities in Southern Colorado, including an area known as the San Luis Valley, where some of the longest living Colorado families have farms. There are families and businesses. prgtoken The focus of this visit was about how we grow the economy in the San Luis Valley, the Eastern Plains, and the Western Slope--areas that haven't seen as much economic growth as, perhaps, Denver, Fort Collins, or Colorado Springs. prgtoken I also wanted to spend some time getting into the community and talking about a couple of the issues they face when it comes to the opioid crisis that this country faces. Over the past several years, a great deal of attention has been paid to prescription drug addiction and to prescription drug overdoses. prgtoken My home State of Colorado actually has an average that exceeds the national average when it comes to prescription addiction and overdose. We are losing a person in Colorado to drug overdose every 36 hours--far too many people. In our rural communities, it is not just the wealthy who are immune or the poor who are immune or the poor who are affected or the wealthy who are affected. It is everyone--wealthy, poor, low- and high-income. The opioid crisis and prescription drug addiction have affected every nook and cranny of our communities. prgtoken The attention that has been paid to the addiction crisis in this country has resulted in some of the greatest bipartisan achievements Congress has had over the past several years. The passage of the 21st Century Cures Act will expedite new treatment methods through the FDA and provide research treatment dollars for the opioid crisis and the prescription drug crisis and addiction. prgtoken It also led to passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, legislation that had great bipartisan support. People on both sides of the aisle worked on this legislation together to pass a bill to address what is happening to our communities. prgtoken Every single one of us has a story about somebody close to us, near to us, perhaps a friend or relative--probably both--who has fallen victim to prescription drug addiction and opioid addiction. Of course if you end up with a prescription drug addiction, that one pill might be $60 or $80, but you can go out on the streets and find heroin for $10 to $15. Now we see the rise of heroin re
AVOIDING A CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-4-11

. Now, , on the issues of yesterday and last prgtoken night, for months, I have heard my colleagues argue that there is no need to pass legislation to protect Special Counsel Mueller and the Russian probe from President because they have been assured by anonymous White House officials that it will not happen. prgtoken President , in his own words on Monday night, made it plain as day that he may be considering firing the special counsel and/or the Deputy Attorney General, which would be equally egregious. The White House spokeswoman, from the podium, said President believes he has the authority to fire the special counsel all by himself, and a report in the New York Times said President considered firing Mueller as recently as December, in addition to a year ago in June. prgtoken Only an hour ago, the President tweeted that the ``Fake & Corrupt Russia Investigation''--his words--was ``headed up by all the loyalists, or people that worked for .'' prgtoken , will you start telling the truth? Robert Mueller is a . Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein is a whom you appointed. Christopher Wray, the head of the FBI, is a whom you appointed. prgtoken I don't know how long the President can believe people will swallow the bold mistruths he spews out day after day after day, but what he said--that the people the investigation was being headed up by are all ic loyalists or people who work for --is patently false, and the President should retract it. prgtoken These kinds of remarks make it all too obvious that the President, who cares so little for truth, may be considering the firing of the special counsel or the Deputy Attorney General. So I would like to direct my remarks to my colleagues. I say to my colleagues, you can no longer rely on anonymous sources as a reason for delay or inaction on legislation to protect Mr. Mueller and avoid a constitutional crisis. The evidence is staring us all in the face. We cannot ignore the elephant in the room any longer because the consequences of the President taking action against Mueller or Rosenstein or issuing political pardons is just too dire. As have said, and as many s have said, such action would precipitate a constitutional crisis in this country. The President doesn't seem to realize it, but I know my colleagues do. prgtoken No person is above the law in this country--not even the President. He is not a King. He is the President. If the President were to interfere in any way with the chain of command in the Russia investigation or clean house at the Justice Department in order to install lackeys who will carry out his orders, we would be no better than a banana republic. The kinds of things we see happening in other parts of the globe would be happening here. In those places, leaders use the levers of power
FISCAL YEAR 2018 INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION BILL
Ron Wyden (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2018-4-11

I am putting a hold on the Fiscal Year 2018 Intelligence Authorization Act, as currently drafted, for two reasons. prgtoken The bill marked up by the Senate Intelligence Committee included three amendments I offered, one of which required that the Director of National Intelligence, working with the Department of the Treasury, produce a report on the threat to the United States from Russian money laundering. My first objection to the current version of the bill is based on a change to that provision which downgrades responsibility for the report and removes the Department of the Treasury. The critical importance of this issue to our national security requires the highest level responsibility within the intelligence community. It also requires the direct involvement of the Department of the Treasury to ensure that all the Department's financial intelligence resources, including those that fall outside the intelligence community, are brought to bear. prgtoken My second objection, as I explained in my minority views to the bill in committee, is that it includes a provision stating that it is the sense of Congress ``that WikiLeaks and the senior prgtoken leadership of WikiLeaks resemble a non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors and should be treated as such a service by the United States.''' My concern with this language does not relate to the actions of WikiLeaks, which, as I have stressed in the past, was part of a direct attack on our democracy. prgtoken My concern is that the use of the novel phrase ``non-state hostile intelligence service''' may have legal, constitutional, and policy implications, particularly should it be applied to journalists inquiring about secrets. The language in the bill suggesting that the U.S. Government has some unstated course of action against ``non-state hostile intelligence services''' is equally troubling. prgtoken The damage done by WikiLeaks to the United States is clear, but with any new challenge to our country, Congress ought not react in a manner that could have negative consequences, unforeseen or not, for our constitutional principles. The introduction of vague, undefined new categories of enemies constitutes such an ill-considered reaction.
Tax Reform (Executive Calendar)
Patty Murray (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2018-4-11

I come to the floor today to oppose in the strongest terms the nomination of Patrick Pizzella as Deputy Secretary of Labor. prgtoken With this nomination President is once again breaking his promise to put workers first. Mr. Pizzella has a record that is time and again at odds with the goals of the very Department he would help to lead as Deputy Secretary. His track record is one of not merely failing workers but of failing to enforce laws to protect the health and safety of workers, seeking to diminish workers' rights and protections, and undermining the unions that represent and fight for them. prgtoken In fact, his record includes working with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff on behalf of causes that are counter to the mission of the Department of Labor. prgtoken In the 1990s, Congress was moving to expand labor and immigration protections to the Northern Marianas Islands, a U.S. Territory, to end the operation of sweatshops that did not follow Federal labor laws. The law at the time let companies bring in foreign workers to toil under inhumane conditions. The workers were underpaid. They were forced to sign contracts signing away their rights to protest labor conditions, and some were even coerced to have abortions. prgtoken The companies operating under these inhumane conditions were able to print the words ``Made in the U.S.A.'' on their products. prgtoken While Congress was looking to take action to change the law so we could better protect workers, Pizzella was working with Abramoff to coordinate all-expense-paid trips for dozens of lawmakers and staff and seeking to maintain the sweatshop status quo. prgtoken Patrick Pizzella chose not to work for workers but for corporations. These efforts are not just counter to the mission of the Department of Labor, they are counter to our national values. prgtoken The rest of Mr. Pizzella's record shows that he has taken equally extreme positions throughout his career. Take, for example, his radical record as the sole employee of the Conservative Action Project, a far- right group funded by billionaire donors like the DeVos family, or his record when he last served in the Department of Labor. Under his leadership, the Department of Labor cut its budget in part by cutting down its own employees' collective bargaining rights and decreasing official time. prgtoken Then there is his long record championing anti-union policies and arguing to limit collective bargaining rights. prgtoken At the Federal Labor Relations Authority, Pizzella not only ruled consistently against workers and unions, but he repeatedly broke with longstanding policy by calling out the names of individual workers in his decisions. He chose to call out defendants by name and put them in the public spotlight. The pattern of Mr. Pizzella's anti-worker ideology is clearly unchanged today. Throughout his career, Mr. Pizzella's record has been alarmingly consistent. From his
China (Executive Session)
Gary C. Peters (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2018-4-11

our Nation's middle class was built by the hard work of American workers. At a time when our country has become increasingly polarized, we should all be able to agree that everybody should have a fair chance to succeed if they are willing to work hard and play by the rules. prgtoken These truly American values have inspired generations of workers who stand together and collectively bargain for basic workplace protections such as fair wages, safe workplaces, and reasonable hours. These protections allow American workers and their families to be productive members of the economy and achieve their version of the American dream, but the American dream only exists if hard work is rewarded with the opportunity to earn a good living, provide for your loved ones, and, when it is all said and done, be able to retire with dignity. prgtoken This is deeply personal to me. As a nurse's aide, my mother found opportunity and led the effort to organize her workplace. She went on to serve as an SEIU union steward. prgtoken Unfortunately, in the years since I grew up in Rochester Hills, it feels as though the American dream has moved out of the reach for too many American families. Joining or staying in the middle class can be a daily struggle. prgtoken We must fight every day to support and build the middle class, not chip away at fundamental worker rights. The laws, regulations, and administrative decisions that come out of Washington have a direct impact on American workers, unions, and the middle class. prgtoken The National Labor Relations Board plays a central role in protecting the rights of American workers. The NLRB was created to safeguard their ability to unionize and engage in collective bargaining for fair workplace conditions. prgtoken To work as intended, the NLRB must be made up of members deeply committed to representing the interests of American workers. Unfortunately, the nominee we will be considering shortly, Mr. John Ring, does not share this commitment. In fact, he is the third labor attorney President has nominated to the committee with zero--let me say that again--zero track record of representing workers. He has only represented clients on the corporate and management side of labor issues. prgtoken During Mr. Ring's tenure at one of the country's largest firms, he advised corporations on how to undermine worker protections. He also posted blogs opposing commonsense reforms to modernize union election procedures, classifying the NLRB actions as ``some of the biggest assaults on employer rights in recent history.'' prgtoken Mr. Ring would join recently confirmed Board member William Emanuel, who quickly ran into ethics trouble based on his history of representing corporations. Just 5 months after Mr. Emanuel's appointment, the NLRB was forced to vacate a major decision related to employer liability due to his conflicts of interest. Yet the administration continues full steam ahead wi
PROTECT AMERICAN CONSUMERS AND DEFEND THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU
Carolyn B. Maloney (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-4-11

I thank the gentleman for his really heartfelt report to us on how it affected his constituents. prgtoken , I include in the Record an article in Roll Call on the importance of the CFPB, and also the actions that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has taken by the numbers to help people in our country. Mulvaney's Attacks on CFPB Hurt Consumers and Economy (By Rep. Carolyn Maloney) As a congressman, Mick Mulvaney once co-sponsored a bill to abolish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And since being appointed by President to temporarily lead the agency, he has worked to cripple it from the inside. What he is doing will hurt consumers not once but twice-- first, by letting off the hook financial institutions that take advantage of their customers, and second, by giving other companies large incentives to do the same. In its first six years, the CFPB has handled more than 1.2 million complaints and delivered almost $12 billion in relief to nearly 30 million consumers. It has put in place new protections against payday lending, investigated predatory payday lenders, fought mortgage servicers for wrongful foreclosures, established new mortgage standards to protect homebuyers, and required lenders to verify that borrowers have the means to repay their loans. It also banned financial institutions from using arbitration clauses to deny consumers the right to sue, took action against companies for illegal collection of student loan debt, ordered Wells Fargo to pay full restitution to customers for opening accounts without their consent, enforced the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights, published a public database of consumer complaints, and established extensive educational materials on financial products for consumers. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass who was the driving force behind the CFPB's creation, has pointed out that we shouldn't put people in charge of agencies they want to destroy. That seems self-evident--unless the specific goal is to destroy it. Soon after his appointment, Mulvaney began weakening and radically changing the CFPB, stating that part of the agency's new core mission statement would be to deregulate financial products by ``regularly identifying and addressing outdated, unnecessary or unduly burdensome regulations.'' He has zealously pursued this new mission by putting a freeze on the implementation of all new rules, delaying long- planned rules to protect users of prepaid cards, halting the agency's investigation of Equifax for failing to protect customers' private information, weakening rules against predatory payday lenders, and pulling the plug on a suit against payday lenders that charged annualized interest
HONORING CAROL JOHNSON-BURGER
Bennie G. Thompson (Democrat, MS) \u2014 2018-4-11

I rise today to honor a remarkable public servant, Carol Johnson-Burger who was named the first woman and African American President and CEO of United Way of the Capital Area in Jackson, Mississippi in July, 1995. Born in Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi, she graduated from Tougaloo College and was very involved in the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi, having the opportunity to meet and work with Medgar Evers and Dr. Martin Luther King. Carol was the first Black teacher to integrate the public schools in Pearl River County, Mississippi, one of the most racist counties in Mississippi at the time. prgtoken Carol is active in her community and on the national and international levels with United Way Worldwide. She has served on many boards including co-chairing with former Governor William Winter, the process that created a strategic plan for the City of Jackson and as vice chair of the Secretary of the State's Nonprofit and Charities Laws study group. She is a founding member of the Central Mississippi Chapter of 100 Black Women and the Mississippi Chapter of the International Women Forum. She serves on the Executive Committee of the National Professional Council for United Way Worldwide and as a mentor to United Way Professionals in South Africa. prgtoken She is the recipient of many awards but her greatest joy is being ``Grammie'' to her grandkids Nicholas and Logan. She, her son Marcus and the grandkids are active members of Anderson United Methodist Church. prgtoken , I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Carol Johnson-Burger for her dedication to serving others.
STRESS TEST IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2017
David Scott (Democrat, GA) \u2014 2018-4-11

I thank Chairman Hensarling and my distinguished ranking member, who has some very serious concerns. prgtoken I want to take a moment to explain that the bill is basically my bipartisan amendment that Mr. Zeldin and I worked on that passed in committee, and I think it is very important for me to work through this to explain how it will not affect as my ranking member has stated. However, I want to make sure that people know we have got things in here to address. prgtoken It keeps intact the essence of what we were trying to accomplish with stress tests in Dodd-Frank. Now, my amendment essentially rewrote this bill, as I said, so that we are left with just three simple things, tweaks that we are making. prgtoken The first one is, in today's CCAR test, banks are now required to run stress tests that have, one, a baseline, adverse, and severely adverse scenario. My amendment simply removes the adverse requirement. prgtoken And why is that? Because, in talking about how we can stimulate more growth for our banks while at the same time maintaining the proper stress test, we heard that the adverse scenario rarely proved or shed any light on the health of the bank that isn't already shown when testing a bank for a severely adverse scenario. So we didn't need the other one if one is doing it, and so we eliminated that. prgtoken Secondly, my amendment eliminated the Fed's ability to reject a capital plan solely on what we refer to as the qualitative portion of the test. Now, , we did this because stress tests are tests of both the bank's books, which is the quantitative side, and a test of the bank's internal controls, which is the qualitative side. So rejecting a capital plan solely on the qualitative portion of the test generates a lot of uncertainty within our banking system for banks, and it is something that the Federal regulators already, earlier last year, stopped requiring the banks under $250 million from having to do. So we simply removed that. prgtoken And then, lastly, my amendment eliminated the midyear tests that banks are required to do internally. Why did we do that? Because right now, if you are a bank above a certain prgtoken asset size, you are required to do internal tests. My amendment just changes this so that the tests are done.