mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
SECURING GROWTH AND ROBUST LEADERSHIP IN AMERICAN AVIATION ACT
Bill Huizenga (Republican, MI) \u2014 2023-7-19

I rise in support of my amendment to better secure our advanced air mobility future. prgtoken The Advanced Air Mobility Infrastructure Pilot Program that is currently in law provides grants to airport sponsors, transit agencies, or other government subdivisions to develop comprehensive plans to advanced air mobility infrastructure. prgtoken Under current law, the Secretary of Transportation is required to prioritize awarding grants to eligible recipients that collaborate, with a few criteria. Here are those criteria: that they are a commercial advanced air mobility entity, that they are an institution of higher education, that they are a research institute, or that they are some other relevant stakeholder in this process. prgtoken Mr. Chair, my amendment is very simple. It adds the Department of Defense and the National Guard to this list of eligible recipients. There are many qualified airports throughout the Nation that already have a DOD or National Guard presence that are ready to innovate and help develop drone and related infrastructure. prgtoken This amendment is a small way to help ensure DOD and the National Guard have a voice in this important future-looking endeavor, especially given that our men and women in uniform likely have expertise in this area. prgtoken Not only will they help develop this technology with their expertise, but they will literally be on the front lines of utilizing this technology. prgtoken Mr. Chair, I am glad that the underlying legislation takes steps to extend this pilot program, and I urge my colleagues to support my amendment to add the Department of Defense and the National Guard to those lists of entities that are eligible. prgtoken Mr. Chair, .
SECURING GROWTH AND ROBUST LEADERSHIP IN AMERICAN AVIATION ACT
Andrew Ogles (Republican, TN) \u2014 2023-7-19

. Mr. Chair, I appreciate the opportunity to speak on my amendment, which strikes ``social'' from the scope of factors examined under the FAA's BEYOND program expansion. prgtoken Mr. Chair, this is a commonsense amendment that simply seeks to allow the FAA to focus on its core mission. The FAA's BEYOND program was crafted to yield the best outcomes for unmanned aircraft systems, not to promote garbage and irrelevant woke ideology. prgtoken The FAA BEYOND program is innovative, because it was designed to understand the potential benefits of drone use and the processes for drone integration. There is no room for any sort of liberal agenda in this program nor in this legislation. prgtoken My amendment removes the reference to social impacts examined under the BEYOND program expansion, which goes undefined in the bill, and could, therefore, be used to advance woke considerations. Expanding the scope of the BEYOND program to include social factors distracts from BEYOND's mission of making beyond visual line of sight operations repeatable, scaleable, and viable. prgtoken Mr. Chair, I urge adoption, and .
SECURING GROWTH AND ROBUST LEADERSHIP IN AMERICAN AVIATION ACT
Paul A. Gosar (Republican, AZ) \u2014 2023-7-19

. Mr. Chair, having had these tour operators in Arizona, they have moved technology to quiet air, and you can barely hear these planes. You can be right next to them, these quiet air turbines, and you don't even hear them. prgtoken To say that they are disrupting to the environment, that just does not happen. From that standpoint, I urge everybody to vote for this amendment. It is a smart idea, and this is the way to go. prgtoken Mr. Chair, I urge everybody to vote for my amendment, and .
SECURING GROWTH AND ROBUST LEADERSHIP IN AMERICAN AVIATION ACT
Randy Feenstra (Republican, IA) \u2014 2023-7-19

. Mr. Chair, I am prepared to close. I urge my colleagues to think through this great amendment. Think about these small airports and the burden that this would project on each of these airports to have a special person that handles just the concerns of things that might happen once every 10 years or whatever it might be. prgtoken There are people that are already hired that can handle these situations. Again, these small rural airports cannot be like the large urban airports. It just doesn't work that way. prgtoken Mr. Chair, .
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024--Continued
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2023-7-19

yesterday, President welcomed the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, to Washington. prgtoken Unfortunately, some of the loudest anti-Israel voices in the President's own party took President Herzog's visit as an opportunity to call the world's only Jewish state racist, and House ' leftwing boycotted President Herzog's joint address to Congress this morning. prgtoken These activist theatrics are unbecoming of elected American officials, and they are a distraction from the real threats that America, Israel, and our Arab friends face in the Middle East. I hope these threats were the focus of the conversation between the two Presidents. prgtoken Of course, threats to our shared interests have grown, in large part due to the administration's naive approach to the world's largest state sponsor of terror, Iran. prgtoken Over the last 2\1/2\ years, Iran has dramatically increased its nuclear activities and even rebuffed the administration's repeated begging for a return to President 's flawed deal. prgtoken It has consolidated influence in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. It funds and prgtoken equips terrorist groups dedicated to Israel's destruction, and the deadly arm of its IRGC extends right up to Israel's borders. prgtoken In the Arabian Gulf, Iranian military vessels have targeted or seized commercial vessels offshore nearly 20 times since 2021. On the Arabian Peninsula, Iranian weapons have rained down on America's Saudi and Emirati partners. prgtoken In Iraq, Tehran works directly with Shia paramilitaries that threaten Iraq's sovereignty as well as Iraq's neighbors and U.S. forces and Hezbollah, Hamas, and other terrorist groups channel massive flows of Iranian support into increasing attacks on Israeli and American lives. prgtoken Violent flareups along the border with Lebanon earlier this month have Israel's forces on particularly high alert, but as our friends face growing threats, they need more bipartisan solidarity from Washington, not performative BDS or lectures from politicians in glass houses. prgtoken Earlier this year, the President warned ominously that Israel ``cannot continue down this road'' in its efforts to pass domestic judicial reforms. According to reports, it is a message he intends to continue delivering to the Israeli Prime Minister in the weeks to come. prgtoken Well, , nobody here in Congress seems to like it when foreign politicians weigh in on American domestic politics and tell us how to do our job, so I try to stay out of the domestic politics of fellow democracies. prgtoken I have confidence in the Israeli people and their democratically elected leaders, including President Herzog, whom we welcomed to the Capitol today, and Prime Minister Netanyahu, who will travel soon to Washington. prgtoken Ironically, the radical House who crowed about boycotting the President's historic address are the ones who could benefit the most from his p
SECURING GROWTH AND ROBUST LEADERSHIP IN AMERICAN AVIATION ACT
Doug LaMalfa (Republican, CA) \u2014 2023-7-19

I am really wounded by that because the logic just isn't there. What we are talking about is an aircraft that is fully certified. If it was under a 90-day or longer contract, everybody would be hunky-dory with it. It would be perfectly kosher. prgtoken However, in this situation here, since it doesn't have that long of a contract, it is not now considered a public aircraft. It meets all the standards for safety, for transporting personnel as well as transporting the products with which they will be putting out the fire. prgtoken I am just mystified as to the logic of why we can't do this. It will save sorties. It will save a lot of unneeded pain. It will also allow local entities to be able to afford to keep these aircraft around because they are not going to be locked into 90-day contracts. I am just at a loss as to why this couldn't be agreed to by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. prgtoken Mr. Chair, .
SECURING GROWTH AND ROBUST LEADERSHIP IN AMERICAN AVIATION ACT
Chip Roy (Republican, TX) \u2014 2023-7-19

I thank my friend from Utah for leading this amendment, and I thank my friends in the San Antonio delegation for standing up for the people of San Antonio, who are on the outside looking in. prgtoken San Antonio is a city of 1.5 million people. It is the seventh largest city, Joint Base San Antonio. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle just smirk it off and say: Oh, no, don't disrupt my flights. Don't disrupt my ability to get to my local airports. prgtoken Do you know what? The next time you come to San Antonio, explain that to the men and women in uniform serving their country who can't take a flight to Reagan because you guys got something in 1966, and now it is a protectionist racket to hold onto something for yourselves. prgtoken I won't take this flight, for the most part, unless I am going back to San Antonio. I have a direct flight because Austin was exempted, like 10 other cities were exempted. This is seven slots. It is less than 2 percent of the total. Stop the protectionist racket. Open it up to competition, seven airlines, seven slots.
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024--Continued
Tommy Tuberville (Republican, AL) \u2014 2023-7-19

reserving the right to object. prgtoken Last night, I spoke on the phone with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. I also spoke with him last Thursday. Both conversations were very cordial. We had good conversations, respectful; but they were very brief. There was absolutely no offer--there was no offer--of a compromise. It is their way or the highway. Thus far, the Pentagon has done nothing but attack me, and I keep repeating the same claims over and over. prgtoken Since I spoke with Secretary Austin on Thursday, a few things have changed. One is that the House of Representatives has now passed their annual Defense bill. The bill contains an amendment that would explicitly repeal the memos which implemented the Pentagon's new abortion policy. It wasn't in the base text of the bill. It was added on the floor by the majority of the House Members. The majority of the House of Representatives has spoken out in opposition to this policy. It was a bipartisan vote. prgtoken Senator Bennet, Secretary Austin, and President need to realize this. I am not alone. Our team is building and growing, and 60 percent of the country is opposed to taxpayer funding for abortion. That includes , s, and Independents--60 percent. prgtoken The Pentagon's new abortion policy is even worse than that. It is a taxpayer-funded abortion that nobody--and I mean nobody--in the House or here voted for. prgtoken It gets worse. This morning, the Pentagon's staff who is in charge of putting this together, gave a briefing to the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. To be honest with you, it was a complete debacle. I thought they would be prepared. The briefing confirmed a few things we know about this policy. prgtoken First of all, there are virtually no restrictions at all on the use of this policy. None. The briefers confirmed that the policy could be used to facilitate a late-term abortion for enlisted members and their dependents. Pentagon officials confirmed that this policy would facilitate abortion up to the moment of birth, depending on the State-- at the moment of birth. Late-term abortion is opposed--late-term abortion is opposed--by about three-quarters of the American people. prgtoken To be clear, the DOD has the authority to perform abortions in cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother. That was passed on this floor in 1984. Now, what we are talking about with this new policy that no one in this building voted on is taxpayer funding for elective late- term abortion. This is radical. It is extreme. It is downright wrong. prgtoken Third, the briefers essentially confirmed that the policy was not-- was not--based on facts. It was based on an extreme political ideology. I asked the briefers for evidence that abortion improves readiness. They should have seen this coming before they walked in the building this morning at 9 o'clock. They knew they were going to be asked this. I have bee
TRIBUTE TO PAMELA BROCKMEYER
Marco Rubio (Republican, FL) \u2014 2023-7-19

I recognize Pamela Brockmeyer, the Brevard County Teacher of the Year from Cocoa High School in Melbourne, FL. prgtoken Pamela begins her classes by showing students that a positive attitude and competitive spirit are keys to success not only in the classroom, but also elsewhere in their lives. Her commitment to student achievement and contributions to her community show she is dedicating her talents to making a difference in the lives of her students. She believes teaching allows her to impact students significantly, and it is her purpose to help them succeed. prgtoken Pamela teaches math and Advanced Placement calculus at Cocoa High School, where she has taught for 24 of her 27 years of teaching. She is the coach of the school's girls' golf team, winning three straight Coach of the Year honors from the Cape Coast Conference and led the team to the State tournament. She is a Brevard Federation of Teachers building representative and Advanced Placement Board exam reader. prgtoken I extend my deepest gratitude and best wishes to Pamela for her commitment to her students in the classroom and sports. I look forward to hearing about her continued good work in the years to come.
SECURING GROWTH AND ROBUST LEADERSHIP IN AMERICAN AVIATION ACT
Jack Bergman (Republican, MI) \u2014 2023-7-19

as a former commercial airline pilot with more flight hours than pretty much almost anyone in Congress, so I have been told, I value safety first, safety second, and safety third. I am proud to stand with Representative Langworthy in support of his amendment. prgtoken The substitution of simulator time--while you could argue that simulators are better today, yes, they are--for a reduction in actual flight time provides no substantive benefit to a prospective pilot. prgtoken While some may say that pilots only build hours by spinning around in circles in the sky, I say that is patently false and portrays a pilot workforce that Congress relies on each and every day of the week in a very negative way. prgtoken Pilots have a variety of options when it comes to building hours, and we should not assume every pilot will always do the bare minimum. In fact, I have seen pilots always do the extra just to make sure they got it right. prgtoken Congress should not be reducing safety and statutory flight hour requirements under the assumption that somehow this will make pilots gravitate toward regional airlines for employment. It won't. prgtoken , I thank the gentleman, and I offer great support for his amendment.
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024--Continued
Roger Marshall (Republican, KS) \u2014 2023-7-19

I am certainly honored to be here and stand beside my colleague and friend, Coach Tommy Tuberville, as we work through a very, very challenging situation regarding our military nominations. prgtoken I have tried to listen to the arguments from my colleagues across the aisle, and one thing I want to just point out, a very simple solution, is to bring these to the floor and give us a vote on them. prgtoken I am happy to stay here tonight and vote. Happy to come in early tomorrow and vote as well. It is certainly something within the power of this body to do that. So that is one simple solution. prgtoken Next, I want to point out that the Pentagon is the one that picked this fight. They are the one that changed the policy. And in my opinion, this is an unlawful policy that they are ignoring the Hyde amendment, that they are using Federal funds to aid and abet in abortions. prgtoken As I dug a little deeper into this, I was shocked to find out that the Pentagon's policy allows more time off for an abortion than for a person who needs to go attend to a family funeral or to a marriage. prgtoken And I might add, of course, the military, I assume, is not paying for the travel of that soldier going back home to get married or to attend a family funeral. prgtoken There is lots of arguments why we think this is right, but I think the ultimate argument is why Coach Tuberville and I are here is that we believe in the sanctity of life, that we believe that life begins at conception. prgtoken I think if my colleagues across the aisle would sit and listen for a second, if you truly believe that life begins at conception, I don't see how you could support abortions, let alone using Federal dollars to pay for these abortions. prgtoken I remember my second year of medical school, and I was assuming I was going to be a family practice doctor. We had been married for about a year and a half, had our first baby. And the second that little girl made her first cries and I saw that bond between my daughter and my wife and every time I prgtoken delivered a baby since then, I have always just been amazed at that bond between a baby and a mom, that agape love that a mom shows a baby. It was at that moment that my daughter was delivered that I decided that that was what I wanted to do for a living. prgtoken As an obstetrician, a person who believes that life begins at conception, that is why this issue is so important to us. That is why this is such an important issue that we are willing to hold up these nominations. prgtoken I think what we are asking is a simple solution: Let's take these flag officers and these generals, and let's vote on them. We can take these on. I think there are only 250 of them or so. I think we can take those on, and then let's do them. prgtoken If not, we are asking the Pentagon to go back to the previous policy and stop their unlawful use of American taxpayer dollars violating the Hyde amendment for
REMEMBERING ROBERT LEVI JONES
Mike Crapo (Republican, ID) \u2014 2023-7-19

with my fellow Members of Idaho's congressional delegation Senator Jim Risch and Representatives Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher, we pay tribute to veteran and tireless veterans' advocate, Robert ``Bob'' Jones. Bob passed away on July 8, 2023, after a long battle with cancer and heart disease. Bob's service in the U.S. Air Force, as a leader of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, VFW, and as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has left an indelible mark. prgtoken Bob dedicated his life to God, country, and community. He served in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years, retiring as a lieutenant colonel; his service included commanding logistics squadrons supporting combat units in the Vietnam war, serving as chief of supply for the Presidential Wing at Andrews Air Force Base, and serving at the Pentagon as a senior staff officer with the U.S. Air Force. Bob earned 24 medals for his distinguished service that include the Vietnam Service Medal with three oakleaf clusters, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, the Korean Defense Service Medal, and the Bronze Star. prgtoken After his military service, Bob's civilian career included working as vice president of a defense firm in Saudi Arabia, where he met the love of his life, his wife of 40 years, Carmelita. They made their home in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for 13 years before moving to Rexburg in 1995. Bob and Carmelita owned the Arctic Circle Franchise in Rexburg and an independent family restaurant called Timber's Edge in Island Park for several years. prgtoken Bob translated his immense experience to support and advocate for his fellow veterans. He served in many VFW leadership positions that included his service as a VFW All-American past state commander and national legislative committee member for Idaho. He and Carmelita have been so dedicated to helping improve the lives of servicemembers, veterans, and their families that they traveled to Capitol Hill twice per year to advocate on their behalf, and Bob stayed involved despite his battle with cancer. We have always valued the time spent with Bob and Carmelita as they thoughtfully explained the need for Federal policy changes to better support military families. The Major Richard Star Act, to provide combat-injured veterans with less than 20 years of military service their full benefits, is just one example of the legislation they worked to advance as they helped make clear the personal costs of war. Bob said, ``It is our duty and obligation to see that they are cared for and not forgotten.'' prgtoken Bob was also a precinct committeeman and a member of the Madison County Central Committee and military liaison board member of the Rexburg Area Chamber of Commerce among his many efforts to serve the community. He understandably received numerous honors for this local and statewide service. Governor Brad Little presented Bob with the
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024--Continued
Roger F. Wicker (Republican, MS) \u2014 2023-7-19

let me say that in just a few moments, we will begin voting on amendments that are subject to unanimous consent requests, and we hope to do five votes today and additional votes tomorrow and following so that we can get this National Defense Authorization Bill enacted and get to conference. prgtoken Let me say that this year's National Defense Authorization Act would help meet the dangerous national security moment we face and would equip our military with the tools necessary to implement the national defense strategy. prgtoken Chairman Reed will speak later about the ways this bill will help us deter adversaries and reinforce our defenses. It has been a pleasure to work with him and to advance our constitutional duty to provide for the common defense. We do this every year. This will be the 63rd time that Congress--the House and Senate--have sent a national defense authorization bill to the President for his signature, and I know we will do it today. This is a testament to our commitment to our country and also to our servicemembers. prgtoken Our threats are much greater than they were 63 years ago in 1961 when the first NDAA was passed. Today, the United States faces the most complex and dangerous global security situation since World War II. prgtoken China is swelling its military might. Xi Jinping has directed his forces to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. He has actually said this is his goal. He proclaimed it openly. A successful invasion of Taiwan would spell the end of the global security architecture that has helped ensure American peace and prosperity since 1945. Meanwhile, Russia is executing the largest European land war in over half a century. But Vladimir Putin's eyes are not only on prgtoken Ukraine and Europe. He seeks influence across the global south and the Middle East. prgtoken Amid this resurgence of great power conflict, Iran and North Korea are increasingly bellicose. Their weapons programs and missile tests raise the specter of nuclear conflict to a higher level. The President of Israel mentioned this very effectively in a joint speech to Congress earlier today. prgtoken Indeed, our own homeland is no longer a sanctuary. Criminal Mexican cartels have exploited our porous southwest border. This has created a drug and human-trafficking crisis that is killing thousands of Americans each year. prgtoken Moreover, two decades after 9/11, our sovereign airspace is vulnerable. We witnessed that earlier this year when China flew a surveillance balloon over our country without any encumbrance. Managing such a complex threat environment requires more resources and smarter approaches. prgtoken Senior national security officials have repeatedly told the Senate Armed Services Committee a simple message: American defense capabilities are spread dangerously thin. In fact, our military has not been spread this thin in 70 years. Our industrial base began to hum on the eve of war with the