mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM FURTHER EXTENSION ACT OF 2018
Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2018-11-29

I thank the gentlewoman from California for her unceasing--unceasing--commitment to the National Flood Insurance Program. I can't thank her enough. prgtoken I know that my colleagues and I are from different States, but how many have walked through gutted homes and seen families full of sorrow and tears? Hurricane Harvey was the singular largest flood next to, of course, Hurricane Michael 51 trillion gallons of water in 2017. How many have walked in Puerto Rico to see the devastation, as I have, or walked in the U.S. Virgin Islands and seen homes and hotels and places for home and for business devastated? prgtoken The National Flood Insurance Program is a necessity. I wish this was a longer extension. But I have seen the desperation of those who have suffered. They need flood insurance. And those of us who have felt the pain of the fires in California driven by the Camp fire know that they need aid as well. prgtoken If you want to know a number, what about $1 trillion plus in the tax scam bill that was passed where my constituents say they have not seen one dime from the tax bill, and here we are going to be on the floor tomorrow with a tax extender. prgtoken So I ask the question: Can we help desperate families by ensuring that this program goes for a week and that we can do better? Yes, we can do better. But let's stop the pain now with homes that are about to close. With real estate, builders, and others, the economic engine has been, in many instances, the buying and selling of homes. prgtoken This is an important extension, but let's be truthful. You can't match up billions to a trillion, and you can't match up the pain of families looking at gutted homes versus fat cats filling their pockets with a tax scam. I ask for the support of this bill.
NAFTA 2.0
Marcy Kaptur (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2018-11-29

tomorrow President will claim victory as the United States, Canadian, and Mexican officials gather to sign a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement. But let us make no mistake, this is far from a finished deal. prgtoken Congress has the final say on trade. From where we stand today, what has been called NAFTA 2.0 still requires work to reach standards acceptable to the American people and American workers and companies. prgtoken How can any President claim this victory the same week General Motors announces the idling of five North American facilities, and as it cuts 15,000 living-wage jobs, including one in Lordstown, Ohio, not even counting the thousands and thousands more jobs that will be lost in the automotive parts sector in our country. What an affront to every promise President has made American manufacturing towns. prgtoken Ohio's trade message to our Nation is as loud and clear as it always has been. The job outsourcing destruction due to the original NAFTA deal, which passed a quarter century ago, over my great objection on this floor, continues to reverberate across our State and Nation. prgtoken Now, we just saw at Lordstown, another, at that plant, 1,600 General Motors jobs, and upwards of 5,000 total job losses when the auto suppliers are counted at just that one facility. prgtoken Following the original NAFTA's implementation, town after town lost good jobs with good wages and benefits. prgtoken How many times must America's towns and workers bear witness to NAFTA's vast U.S. job outsourcing and wage drag? How many more? prgtoken Millions have suffered firsthand as dire predictions actualized and the false promises of NAFTA job creation failed to materialize. Instead, they personally experienced the great sucking sound of job outsourcing, just what we said here on this floor back in the early 1990s. prgtoken Whether GM's decision was at all influenced by NAFTA 2.0 is irrelevant. American trade deals have far too long allowed corporate America to run rampant over America's workers as they seek out the penny-wage laborers who can't afford to buy what they make. prgtoken I have a couple of charts here that I want to bring to the floor to describe what has been happening across this continent now for a quarter century, and what is upsetting the American people. prgtoken Millions of U.S. jobs have been obliterated year after year, as replacement workers toil and work in unsafe sweatshops and maquiladoras south of the border exposed to unimaginable toxins. prgtoken The original NAFTA was supposed to create trade surpluses for the United States. It was supposed to create job growth in the United States. And you know what has happened? Exactly the reverse. prgtoken These are the numbers just for the year of 2016. You can see how big the trade deficit is with Mexico, nearly $70 billion and with Canada, $8 billion. Now, that is up fourfold since back in the early nineties, before N
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF SENATE AMENDMENT TO H.R. 88, SHILOH NATIONAL MILITARY PARK BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT AND PARKER'S CROSSROADS BATTLEFIELD DESIGNATION ACT
James P. McGovern (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2018-11-29

the balance of my time. prgtoken , people are beginning to read the bill. Members should have just received a letter from 27 national groups, including labor unions, good government groups, and anti-poverty groups, who just sent us a letter strongly urging us to oppose this partisan tax bill. These groups represent millions and millions of people in this country. They don't represent the big corporations or the people who are well- connected and well-off. They represent working-class people and middle- class people, those who are struggling in poverty. But they are asking us to oppose this, and I urge my colleagues to take note of their appeal. prgtoken , this very week, General Motors announced that they are laying off nearly 50 percent of their workers prgtoken in North America and shuttering five plants. That is thousands of workers--thousands of families--who are going to spend their holiday season applying for unemployment and worrying about what is next. They don't have the luxury of waiting until the ic majority takes over in January. They are hurting right now. Many of them believed President when he visited Ohio last year. He told them: Don't move. Don't sell your house. The jobs are all coming back. They are all coming back. prgtoken So what are House s doing to help? Are they making good on their promise to help support working families? prgtoken The answer is absolutely not. prgtoken They are spending their last month in power doubling down on their tax scam to help the corporate elite. I have to ask my friends on the other side of the aisle: Are you kidding me? prgtoken All the while, the President's disastrous trade war has been making things even worse. According to General Motors, his tariffs have cost the company an extra $1 billion--that is billion with a B. prgtoken Tell me, is this what winning is supposed to look like? Because it feels an awful lot like losing. prgtoken This bill is what happens when s rush bills through so fast that there is no time to understand its impact. prgtoken Let me tell you: things have to change around here. They really do. I say this over and over and over again, but I believe it. This should not be a partisan matter for debate, and that is that committees of jurisdiction in this House ought to do their job. They ought to do their work. On major issues like this, there ought to be hearings. There ought to be markups. People ought to be able to express themselves. prgtoken People fight to get on the Ways and Means Committee because they want to have their fingerprints on tax legislation. They don't fight to get on committees like Ways and Means so that somebody in the leadership just bypasses the committee totally, we go right to the Rules Committee with a closed rule. prgtoken So much of what has happened in this last session has happened with total disregard to regular order. I think, quite frankly, it ha
National Flood Insurance Program (Executive Session)
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2018-11-29

this evening, the leader or someone standing in for the leader is going to come and close out the floor with a number of unanimous consents. One of them will be a unanimous consent to push consideration of the National Flood Insurance Program-- to reauthorize it--a week down the road. prgtoken I will not object to that unanimous consent request, but I do want to speak to the predicament of the National Flood Insurance Program. For coastal States, this is a very big deal, and this is a program that is now completely out of step with the conditions that coastal States see before them, so we have to get this fixed. prgtoken The liability of the National Flood Insurance Program ran up to $30 billion after Hurricane Harvey. It borrowed $30 billion from the U.S. Treasury. That is its borrowing limit. It basically maxed itself out. In October, Congress forgave $16 billion. We moved that from a liability of the National Flood Insurance Program to a liability of the United States, in effect putting it on our national credit card. That allowed NFIP to pay out claims for Harvey, Irma, and Maria. At this point, that leaves the program $20 billion in debt. We are not sure, completely, because claims are still being processed from the 2018 hurricane season, but CRS says as of September, the NFIP has only $9.9 billion of remaining borrowing authority. prgtoken CRS also points out that repetitive loss and severe repetitive loss properties over the history of NFIP have totaled about 30 percent of all claims--a grand total of around $17 billion--which is almost a perfect match with the $16 billion we had to forgive. prgtoken If you look at the properties NFIP now insures, the repetitive loss and severe repetitive loss properties are about 2 percent by number, but they account for about 16 percent of all claims. So it is a pretty big piece of our National Flood Insurance Program liability. It is about $9 billion. prgtoken We can keep going forward and funding these repetitive losses time after time after time after time, but there are some real problems with doing that. One is that back in the old days, before sea levels were rising, when you expected the weather on the coast to revert to status quo after a big storm, they made then what seemed a sensible rule that you had to rebuild just what was there. We weren't going to fund improvements and modifications with Uncle Sam's dollars on a flooded house. You had to rebuild what was there. The problem is, maps are changing, sea levels are rising, storm vulnerabilities are pushing inland, and to rebuild in place now no longer makes sense. You have to at least be able to rebuild higher and out of the way of storm surge or you have to be able to relocate. To rebuild every couple of years and get wiped out by a new storm really makes no sense, but the NFIP encouraged people to do just that because it is hard to get paid out to relocate. prgtoken The relocation rules
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--CALENDAR NO. 670, S. 3405
Thomas R. Carper (Democrat, DE) \u2014 2018-11-29

. I welcome your words. prgtoken I used to be a House Member. I think we need to respect their views as well. Obviously, they have some views that need to be taken into account. This is not something I have discussed with the Secretary. I don't even know how much she has thought about it, given everything else that is on her plate. Yet, clearly, she has people who work for her who have thought about it a lot, and I would very much welcome the chance to reengage with our chairman, his staff, and our staff but with some of the other stakeholders we have talked about here being engaged as well. We need to put some pedal to the metal and get something done.
WELCOMING THE HONORABLE BRENDA JONES OF MICHIGAN TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Sander M. Levin (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2018-11-29

I proudly present Brenda Jones as a new Member of Congress for Michigan's 13th Congressional District for the remainder of this Congress. prgtoken Brenda Jones was elected in a special election earlier this month. She very much wanted to essentially be faithful to the votes of her constituents, so all of us are here proudly to be with her. prgtoken Her career in public service started in 2005 when she was elected to the Detroit City Council. My brother was once president of that city council. prgtoken She has subsequently been reelected three times and rose to become president of the council in 2014 and again in 2018. prgtoken Brenda is a former small-business owner, a past president of the Communication Workers of America Local 4004, and a proud alumnus of Wayne State University. prgtoken We all welcome you here to Congress, especially fellow colleagues from the Michigan delegation. prgtoken But if I may add, the former is here, Nancy Pelosi. It is so characteristic of her to join all of us. prgtoken In addition to the Michigan delegation, I see others who are here who either know Brenda Jones or will come to know her in a short period while she is here in the U.S. Congress. prgtoken , with those words, I appreciate the chance to address the House, and from Michigan (Ms. Jones). I proudly leave this place to the Member, now, of the House of Representatives, Brenda Jones.
HONORING MARY McCULLOUGH
Jimmy Panetta (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2018-11-29

today I rise to honor Mary McCullough for a lifetime of service to her community, including her extraordinary efforts to address healthcare needs in Hollister, California. Ms. McCullough has been recognized by many local civic and community organizations for these efforts, most recently as the Hazel Hawkins Hospital Foundation's 2018 ``Heart for Hazel'' award recipient. After moving to Hollister in 1963, Ms. McCullough immediately immersed herself in the community. She joined several community organizations and quickly distinguished herself as a leader in local preschools, concert associations, Girl Scouts, Woman's Fund, and the United Way. In addition to her volunteerism and community work, Ms. McCullough also made time to help establish the Community Foundation for San Benito County, which serves as a hub for philanthropic work in the area. Most notably, Ms. McCullough chose to dedicate her time and efforts to improving healthcare at local and statewide levels. In 1963, Ms. McCullough joined the Hospital Auxiliary as a volunteer and, in 1982, began serving on the San Benito Health Care District Board of Directors, where she remained until her retirement earlier this year. She was also appointed to the Association of California Healthcare Districts Board of Directors where she has served since 2002. In these roles, Ms. McCullough committed to herself to supporting healthcare facilities and locations to better serve patients and their families. During Ms. McCullough's tenure, the San Benito Health Care District Board oversaw the construction of a skilled nursing facility, extension of the main hospital, and development of a state-of-the-art emergency department and women's center. As Ms. McCullough prepares for her retirement from these positions, I am thankful for her work and feel confident that she will remain an active member of our community. I am deeply grateful for Ms. McCullough's commitment to public service to the residents of San Benito County and state of California. As she celebrates her retirement, I am proud to recognize her for the invaluable work she has completed I ask that my colleagues join me in recognizing Mary McCullough on her lifetime of service and congratulate her on a well-earned retirement.
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
Catherine Cortez Masto (Democrat, NV) \u2014 2018-11-29

I rise to speak out in opposition to the nomination of Kathy Kraninger to serve as the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. prgtoken The CFPB is a consumer's watchdog on Wall Street and the big banks. It was created in the aftermath of the financial crisis to protect Americans from predatory and abusive practices and ensure that financial institutions play by the rules. prgtoken Since 2010, the CFPB has investigated and held accountable abusive student loan companies, predatory payday lenders, and fraudulent multinational corporations--just to name a few. It has also protected our Nation's veterans and Active-Duty servicemembers from targeted scams and illegal debt collection practices. prgtoken The CFPB has secured over $12 billion in relief for Americans. Just this past April, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Wells Fargo for creating millions of fake accounts, destroying credit scores, and forcing millions of customers to pay phony penalties and fees. prgtoken The people at the CFPB work every single day to make the financial system safe and fair for hard-working families. We can't go back to the way things were before the CFPB was created. We can't go back to a time when there was no strong consumer advocates at the Federal level. prgtoken I remember this time all too well. I was Nevada's attorney general when the markets crashed in 2008. The subprime mortgage crisis hit Nevada harder than any State in the country. We had the highest foreclosure rate in the Nation for 62 months straight. prgtoken I worked to hold the big banks accountable for the damage they did to our State and to help people stay in their homes. Meanwhile, the Federal regulators were asleep at the wheel. They were letting the big banks write their own rules and defraud consumers until the markets came crashing down. prgtoken The CFPB was designed to close the leadership gap at the Federal level, to stand up to predators like Wells Fargo, and protect the rights of American people. To ensure the CFPB continues its mission of looking out for consumers' best interests, we need strong leadership at the Agency. We need someone with the right experience, the right qualifications, and the right mindset. We need someone willing to stand up not only to bad actors in the financial industry but also to President . prgtoken The administration has already stripped critical enforcement powers away from the CFPB. It has repealed rules that govern predatory payday lenders and shut down an office that focuses on protecting students from abusive student loans. We can't afford to go any further down this path. prgtoken President 's nominee for CFPB Director, Kathy Kraninger, is unqualified to lead this Agency. In her testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, on which I sit, she failed to demonstrate an understanding of the CFPB's core functions or even a willingness to uphold its central mission. prgtoken
TRIBUTE TO HANNAH ROSENTHAL
Tammy Baldwin (Democrat, WI) \u2014 2018-11-29

today I wish to recognize Hannah Rosenthal's extraordinary career as she celebrates her retirement as President and CEO of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. Hannah has had a long and distinguished career as an influential advocate of tolerance, and her mark on the Jewish community is indelible. She is best known for building bridges between disparate factions and believing that everyone, no matter their background or perspective, deserves a seat at the table. prgtoken Hannah transferred from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts to the University of Wisconsin-Madison after falling in love with the city and the university during a Hebrew class she attended the summer after her sophomore year. She received her bachelor of arts degree from UW- Madison and studied for the rabbinate in Jerusalem and California. prgtoken Hannah's father was a rabbi and Holocaust survivor who inspired her to lead a life shaped by her Jewish faith. Rabbi Franz Rosenthal's experiences as a prisoner at Buchenwald and a refugee in this country helped forge his daughter's identity as an avid champion of human rights. prgtoken Hannah's extensive career includes impressive experience at State, local, national, and international levels. She served as the founding executive director of the Wisconsin Women's Council and head of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. In 1995, she was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as the midwest regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. prgtoken Although I had the pleasure of working with Hannah at many points in her remarkable career, I am especially grateful for all she taught me about effective advocacy, particularly advocacy on behalf of women. Early in my career, I worked with Hannah in her role leading the Wisconsin Women's Council to organize support for State efforts to guarantee equal pay for equal work. prgtoken Hannah is perhaps best known for her role as the U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism. Appointed by President in 2009, she used her role to build coalitions of sometimes unlikely allies to denounce hatred around the world. She was not afraid to confront bigotry head on. She personally took those who denied the Holocaust on tours of concentration camps. In 2010, she switched her speech on anti-Semitism at an international conference on tolerance with the Special Representative to Muslim Communities so that she condemned Islamophobia in the strongest possible terms while her Muslim counterpart strongly denounced anti-Semitism. She summed up her philosophy succinctly in an interview with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum by saying, ``This isn't just about the Jews, this is about hatred, and that affects everyone.'' prgtoken Hannah is bold, resolute, and fearless. She believes there is no room in this world for intolerance toward others, and she has made it her mission in life to speak out against hatred and
NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM FURTHER EXTENSION ACT OF 2018
Charlie Crist (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2018-11-29

I want to thank Ranking Member Waters for her tireless leadership for a strong, affordable National Flood Insurance Program. prgtoken , I rise today in strong support of this bill. More than 5 million middle class and working Americans rely on the National Flood Insurance Program for economic security and peace of mind. prgtoken Congress cannot allow this program to expire. A lapse would leave countless families unable to renew their policies, putting them in financial peril if disaster were to strike. It would also upend the housing market, with closings coming to a full stop due to the inability to secure required coverage. prgtoken While I wish this bill included a much longer term extension, providing American families with another week of coverage is far preferable to a damaging lapse. prgtoken But, my colleagues, we must do better than 1 week. The people have endured seven stopgap extensions, including two brief lapses, since September 2017--7 extensions, 14 months. The bill before us is number eight. prgtoken While almost everyone can agree that flood insurance is long overdue for reform, particularly to address the affordability challenges that plague policyholders, we should not allow that goal to threaten the program's very existence. prgtoken I urge my colleagues to not only support today's bill but to work together in the coming days to reach agreement on a longer term extension.