mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
Tax Cuts and Jobs Bill (Executive Session)
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2017-12-4

as the world knows by now, last Friday night--I guess early in the morning on Saturday--we passed the Senate's version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the first major overhaul of our Nation's tax system in more than 30 years. prgtoken I want to express my gratitude to Chairman Hatch, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, who shepherded that bill through the committee. I thank him for his leadership, as well as that of Chairman Enzi, who led the reconciliation process in the Budget Committee. I know it is a complex, convoluted, and arcane process, but we couldn't have done it without both of those gentlemen. prgtoken I also commend our majority leader, Senator McConnell, and all of our colleagues who worked together for proceeding with final passage and for negotiating in good faith. I have said before, and I will say it again, that one of the differences between this and healthcare reform is that everyone, I believe, on our side of the aisle wanted to get to yes, wanted to find a way to find a solution, and that goes a long way to getting to a solution. prgtoken Last week, the majority leader rightfully referred to the process as a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and he is right. I am glad we got this bill across the finish line and will soon deliver to the American people the tax relief they deserve. Notwithstanding some of the propaganda that has been disseminated on this, the fact is, this bill benefits Americans of all stripes, including low-income families. prgtoken Well, let me just start there. This bill doubles the standard deduction, which means a married couple earning up to $24,000 will pay zero tax on that $24,000 of earnings. Above that, we have raised the child tax credit to $2,000 per child. The first $1,000 of that $2,000 is refundable. That means that even if you don't pay income taxes, if you don't make enough money to pay income taxes, you will still get the benefit of at least half of that child tax credit. It also reduces the tax bracket for low-income families as well. The bill lowers the current 15-percent rate and increases the child tax credit, both of which help persons of modest means. prgtoken This bill also helps the broad middle class. Some of our colleagues ran around like ``Chicken Little'' during the debate on this bill, saying that eliminating certain deductions will disproportionately harm hard-working families, but that is just not true. A family of four earning the median income of about $73,000 will see their taxes cut by nearly $2,200. That may be chickenfeed to some of the folks inside the beltway, but that is real tax relief for hard-working, middle-class families. We also preserve the home mortgage and charitable deductions, and families will enjoy an enhanced child tax credit which, as I mentioned earlier, along with the larger standard deduction, will help them significantly. prgtoken Finally, this bill effectively repeals Care's individ
APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 1, TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT
Tom Reed (Republican, NY) \u2014 2017-12-4

I thank Chairman Brady for yielding. prgtoken , before I get into my speech this evening, I just want to take a moment. prgtoken I just heard a colleague on the other side of the aisle call me, essentially, a master of deceit. This country is sick and tired of this type of divisive rhetoric. I am here to tell you that it is time to put the American people first. prgtoken I understand that we sit sometimes in this Chamber in the biggest political theater in the United States of America, but at some point in time I have got to say enough is enough. prgtoken To my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, I would ask us and the American people back home to look at the legislation that we have done in the committee. prgtoken The bottom line, in the House bill, hardworking taxpayers in my district are going to see $1,600 of their hard-earned dollars remain in their pocket with the government not taking that money away from them. prgtoken There are differences between the House bill and the Senate bill. I think there are legitimate parts to the Senate bill we should consider in this conference committee that we are going to entertain here very shortly. They are things like the medical expense deduction, things like, potentially, the historic tax credit. But that is how legislation is drafted. We have a body in the Senate, we have a body in the House, and we come together to put the best product forward for the American people. prgtoken I will tell you, as I have heard from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, if reducing taxes is not a part of economic growth, then you disagree with every Governor in the United States of America, because every Governor's economic development plan across this country, what does it do? prgtoken You see the commercials as you travel around this country: Come to New York State; we are open for business because we have lowered our taxes for opportunities and growth. I see it in Illinois. I see it in California. I see it in Texas. prgtoken So what we have done with the proposal in the House is exactly that. We have focused relief on hardworking taxpayers, and we have lowered the tax burden overall so that people can invest in their businesses, invest in their families, and grow the economy, which, at the end of the day, do you know what that means for an American person? prgtoken It means more money for them, but, most importantly, it means a job-- a job not only to make money, but it is good for the soul. It is good for the heart. It brings you pride in knowing that you did an honest day's work to get an honest day's amount of pay. That is what growth is about. It is not about numbers. It is about people and opportunity. prgtoken I ask my colleagues, join us in rejecting this motion to instruct, and let's get to the business of the people and finish the job once and for all.
ORDERS FOR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2017
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2017-12-4

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m Tuesday, December 5; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; finally, that following leader remarks, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Nielsen nomination; further, that at 12:30 p.m the Senate stand in recess subject to the call of the Chair; finally, that all time during recess, adjournment, morning business, and leader remarks count postcloture on the Nielsen nomination.
Bears Ears National Monument (Executive Session)
Rob Portman (Republican, OH) \u2014 2017-12-4

today I am proud to stand here for the prgtoken recognition of the 50-year anniversary of a great organization in Ohio--Alvis. It is in Columbus, OH, and was formerly known as Alvis House. It was founded in Columbus, OH, with a broad mission of helping people in the community through human service programs to promote prosperous lives, with a focus on an individual's potential and not their past. prgtoken Over the years, I have had the privilege of working closely with Alvis as they have become a model for reentry programs and treatment service programs with a focus on meeting individual goals--a customized approach--building a successful future, and implementing fundamental change for families and for our communities. prgtoken Since its opening in 1967, Alvis has grown from a single 15-bed home helping 60 men a year to an organization of 13 locations throughout Columbus, Chillicothe, Dayton, Lima, and Toledo. It now serves more than 8,000 people annually. This agency has helped provide support and hope to thousands of individuals who are returning to their communities after having spent time in the criminal justice system, as well as offering recovery and developmental disability services that encourage health, growth, and independent citizenship. prgtoken Alvis has been the recipient of Federal grants authorized by the Second Chance Act for their work in reentry. As the author of the Second Chance Act when I was in the House of Representatives, I have had the opportunity and the privilege to go to Alvis facilities and to see firsthand the good work that is being done using that legislation. I am proud to have worked with my friend and the corporate president and CEO of Alvis, Denise Robinson, to assist Alvis as it delivers services to Ohioans to turn their lives around so that people can indeed fulfill their God-given potential in life, and they have had a lot of successes. prgtoken Alvis recently opened its 14th location, the Alvis Pages Recovery and Treatment Center, in April of this year on the South Side of Columbus to help provide access to treatment and recovery. Alvis continues to lead in its mission to turn lives around 180 degrees. prgtoken In my work with regard to the opioid crisis in Ohio, we have looked to this treatment center and looked to the model that they provide other treatment centers to turn those lives around. prgtoken I am confident that Alvis will continue these next 50 years to offer these same comprehensive services for overcoming the challenges of transitioning out of the correctional system, treating substance abuse, mental health, trauma, and promoting dependence and accountability for those with developmental disabilities. prgtoken I applaud the outstanding commitment of Alvis, its staff, and all those who have been involved in reaching this milestone and making these first 50 years such a success in the lives of so many people. prgtoken , I would also
Nomination of Joseph Balash (Executive Session)
Dan Sullivan (Republican, AK) \u2014 2017-12-4

I came to the floor a half hour ago talking about a very well-qualified candidate for the Assistant Secretary of Interior for Lands and Minerals, Joe Balash, whom I happen to know very well. He was my former chief of staff, and he is the former Commissioner of Natural Resources in Alaska. He is very well qualified. His nomination came out of our committee with only one vote against him. prgtoken This nomination has been waiting on the floor for several weeks now, but I just had a constructive conversation with Members on the other side of the aisle. What we intend to do is revisit Mr. Balash's nomination in the next 24 hours, and, hopefully, we will free Joe Balash to go serve the people of America and the people of Alaska. I know he will do a very good job. prgtoken .
REPUBLICAN TAX BILL
Christopher A. Coons (Democrat, DE) \u2014 2017-12-4

when we were last here together, it was roughly 2 a.m. Saturday morning as this Chamber took up and passed by a very narrow margin--I believe 51 to 49--one of the biggest, broadest, most comprehensive pieces of financial legislation likely in our lifetime. The last time this Congress took up and passed comprehensive tax reform, I was 21 years old. It has been a long time since a bill of this scope and reach and impact has been considered, debated, and passed in this Chamber. I wanted to give some reflections this evening on what happened very early Saturday morning and what it means. prgtoken First, it did not have to be this way. That bill passed on a straight party-line vote. Not one voted for it, and all but one Senator voted for it. I joined more than a dozen of my colleagues in a press conference I think 2 weeks ago, saying that we wanted to work across the aisle and that we were trying yet getting no opportunity to do so. prgtoken Weeks and weeks ago, a group of us put out a letter to our colleagues saying that we wanted to work together on tax reform that would make our country more competitive and that would deal with some of the long- unaddressed issues in our Tax Code and yet be fiscally responsible. And right up until Saturday, I was working with a group of s and to try to find a way to move forward on tax reform that would not blow up our deficit and debt, give real tax relief to middle-class Americans, and significantly reduce the corporate tax rate. Alas, we came up short. prgtoken I wanted to give just a few moments of reflection on how I see the tax bill that ultimately moved through this Chamber last week. prgtoken First, on the process, the idea that you do your best work at something like 2 in the morning--adopting a nearly 500-page piece of legislation without anyone having had the chance to really read it and understand it--I think defies common sense. prgtoken Second, I think that the idea that the best legislating is done by only one party has been proven to be incorrect, whether it is big pieces of legislation done by only or big pieces done by only s. Part of the point of this Chamber--and the balance and the separation of powers that our Founders crafted into the Constitution-- was the idea that when we listen to each other and compromise, we produce better legislation, better laws, better justice. prgtoken Last, I would like to talk for a moment about the values that underlie not just this process but the outcome of this bill, because in speeches and comments and debates here on the floor and in materials put out over the last 2 weeks, there has been a lot of talk about financial matters, about percentages, about numbers, and about the Joint Committee on Taxation or the Congressional Budget Office. There has been a lot of jargon and a lot of insider talk that has frankly left a cloud that has made it difficult f
DACA (Executive Session)
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-12-4

we had a press conference in Chicago this afternoon, and several young people were there. One is named Zarna Patel. Zarna is a student at the Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine. She is from a family that came to the United States from India. They brought her here when she was 3 years old. prgtoken When she was growing up, she didn't realize that she was undocumented. She thought she was just like everybody else in her classroom, standing up, pledging allegiance to that flag, and singing the national anthem. It was the only national anthem she knew. But then came high school, and she came to realize that she was different. She wasn't documented. She wasn't ``legally in America.'' prgtoken Well, she soldiered on with her life and did quite well. She graduated from college with a degree in science. She prayed and hoped the day would come when she could go to medical school. Loyola University in Chicago offered her--and others like her, who were protected by President 's Executive order known as DACA--an opportunity to apply for medical school. They didn't get quotas. It wasn't any kind of affirmative action program. It just said you can compete with all the other students. The word got out around America to those who were protected by President 's order that there was a medical school that would accept you if you were protected. The net result of that was over 30 were admitted. They are so extraordinary, some of the best. They were admitted to medical school, and she is one of them. It is a great story, really. prgtoken She is realizing her dream to become a doctor, but there is a problem. The problem is that on September 5, President decided to abolish DACA, the program that protects Zarna Patel, and in abolishing it--announcing that he would on March 5 of next year--it meant that she would then lose the protection she had under the previous Executive order. prgtoken What difference does it make? Well, it means that she is then subject to deportation, but equally important in her life, she loses the right to legally work in America. You say that she is a student and maybe she doesn't need to work. Well, as a student, she doesn't qualify for any Federal assistance because she is undocumented, and as a student in a medical school, to further your education, you need a residency. We know a residency means an awful lot of hours of working in a hospital that is teaching you how to be a doctor and develop your specialty. So you can't have a residency if you can't legally work in America. That means that, after all of these years of work, it is over; she can't apply for a residency. prgtoken The senior Senator from Texas came to the floor and said: Let's not have a hurry-up approach to this issue. Let's slow it down a little bit. The President announced on September 5 that he was going to abolish protection for Zarna Patel and for 780,000 others just like her. Here we are,
S. 2155
Sherrod Brown (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2017-12-4

I thank the majority leader for recognizing me. prgtoken Last week, the Senate gave tax handouts to millionaires, billionaires, and multinational corporations that ship jobs overseas, and the middle class got almost nothing. This week, it is the banks' turn, and just like last week, working people get ignored again. prgtoken The bill the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee will take up tomorrow, S. 2155, puts taxpayers at risk of another bank bailout and puts homeowners at risk of the same traps that led to the foreclosure crisis, all while, again, doing virtually nothing for hard- working Americans. prgtoken While Congress has been preoccupied doing the bidding of special interest lobbyists, American families started getting notices in the mail that their Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, health insurance will be yanked away. There are 209,000 children in my State, the sons and daughters of low-income workers making 8, 10, or $12 an hour and who don't have insurance. Having started bipartisan and having always been enacted and renewed in a bipartisan manner over the last 20 years, the CHIP program will be yanked away. Virginia will be next, then Ohio, and then other States where parents will go to their mailbox and open up a letter from the government saying: Sorry, your children's health insurance is gone. prgtoken The Senate is doing nothing to stop it. Instead this body, made up of Senators who have insurance paid for by taxpayers, devotes its energy to helping banks of all sizes that are making record profits. In the third quarter of this year, the five largest U.S. banks--just the five largest U.S. banks--raked in a combined $21 billion in profits. In the third quarter only, the five banks have $21 billion in profits. In fact, profits at the five biggest banks are even higher than they were before the crisis. Meanwhile working Americans haven't gotten a raise in 16 years. prgtoken I sat at my high school reunion in Mansfield, OH, about a year ago, with a woman who has been a teller at a large bank for 30 years. Her income, after 30 years at this bank, is $30,000 a year. She is working for one of those largest five banks. Yet those banks, as I said, have $21 billion in profits in the third quarter. prgtoken Forty-four million Americans are saddled with student loan debt. Communities are littered with abandoned homes and hollowed-out factories. Yet this bill has no help for Americans burdened with student loan debt, no help for homeowners still underwater, and no help for workers who haven't had a raise in years. prgtoken Congress, especially the Banking Committee, have a collective amnesia about the financial crisis. It is like it didn't even happen 10 years ago. They have a collective amnesia about the housing crisis and the devastation it brought to families across the country. We know how many people lost jobs 10 years ago because of Wall Street's overreach. We
APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 1, TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT
Steny H. Hoyer (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2017-12-4

there is a saying that Texans like to use: ``That dog won't hunt.'' It doesn't do what it is purported to do. It doesn't take Einstein to predict what will happen this time around, when he defined insanity as ``doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.'' prgtoken I have been here. I have seen this. I have heard this argument. It has always resulted in the same thing. prgtoken I have more to say, but my time is up. prgtoken , let me say to the gentleman from Texas, the chairman of the committee--he is going to tell me how much people in my district get a tax break--tell me about my children and my grandchildren whose debts he will pile on them to borrow money from China, or someplace else, to give this tax cut that they will then have to pay off in their time. Tell me how much my children will have their taxes raised. prgtoken He apparently doesn't know. That is sad.
APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 1, TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT
Terri A. Sewell (Democrat, AL) \u2014 2017-12-4

we are not ready for conference. The Senate bill was written by lobbyists in the dead of night when s hoped no one was paying attention. There was no CBO score, no debate, no time to even read the bill, and now the majority thinks this bill is ready to go to conference? Really? Not. prgtoken The House and Senate bills will put us at least $1.4 trillion into debt, will cause cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and will raise taxes on 82 million Americans. prgtoken , this is a bad deal for Americans, and it is an even worse deal for my constituents in Alabama. In my State of Alabama, over 500,000 families making $80,000 a year or less will see a tax increase. It will result in $205 million being taken away from teachers and students, and it will put $168 million in charitable donations at risk. prgtoken These bills are not for the middle class. These bills will do enormous damage to the middle class. prgtoken , we are not ready for conference.