mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
IMPROVING SERVICES FOR OLDER YOUTH IN FOSTER CARE ACT
Richard E. Neal (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2017-6-20

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , I am pleased to support H.R. 2847, the Improving Services for Older Youth in Foster Care Act, which would help to ensure that all the congressional resources that would be provided for foster youth will indeed be utilized and make sure they are used to help them in the furtherance of their education and becoming independent. prgtoken My colleague, Karen Bass, who visited me just a few weeks ago, has been a leader on this legislation and on foster youth issues for a number of years, and our committee has worked closely with her to move it forward today. prgtoken I want to note that this is one of five bills the House is considering today to help at-risk families and children in foster care. All of these bills passed the House last year as part of the Family First Prevention Services Act, which also provided significant new investment in substance abuse, mental health, and parenting skills services to help kids and families avoid foster care when possible. prgtoken We continue to work on a bipartisan basis with our leadership and our colleagues in the Senate to find a way to move forward on broader foster care improvements, but today's action provides a good opportunity to once again highlight the sharp rise of children in foster care in the United States and, indeed, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, fueled in part by the opiate crisis. prgtoken In Massachusetts, between 2011 and 2015, the number of petitions to remove children from their homes grew 38 percent. Today, Massachusetts is home to nearly 10,000 kids in foster care. Over 1,000 of them are considered at risk of reaching adulthood without being adopted or safely reunified with their birth families. That is why it is so important that we do everything we can to help them finish their education and develop mentoring relationships with supportive adults. prgtoken While I am pleased that our committee and the full House are working together to help these young people, we can't ignore the bigger picture, which is the President's attempt to overturn the Affordable Care Act, because it will have real and measurable negative effects on these kids. prgtoken Medicaid cuts jeopardize health coverage for older foster youth, the same youth we are trying to help with this bill. By cutting the essential health benefits and Medicaid, there will be a consequence. In turn, this endangers access to substance abuse treatment and, by extension, many of the treatment centers themselves. prgtoken proposals to end the Social Services Block Grant would reduce States' abilities to provide substance abuse, mental healthcare, and supportive services to foster parents. prgtoken While these larger issues are deeply troubling, today's five children welfare bills, including the one before us now, represent an improvement over the status quo, and it is refreshing to note the bipartisan collaboration that is
MODIFICATIONS OF CREDIT FOR PRODUCTION FROM ADVANCED NUCLEAR POWER FACILITIES
Lloyd Doggett (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2017-6-20

. And that is the fact that there are so many other additional measures that our colleagues' bipartisan efforts that are pending in our committee on energy-efficient residential property, on fuel cells, on small wind energy, on geothermal heat pumps, to mention only a few. These represent forms of energy and energy conservation that will help us address climate change while achieving our energy objectives. prgtoken , instead of today's measure, our focus should be on safe, healthy forms of energy instead of an industry that costs too much and poses too much danger to humans.
Healthcare Legislation (Executive Calendar)
Martin Heinrich (Democrat, NM) \u2014 2017-6-20

I want to start by thanking my colleague from New Mexico, Senator Udall, for his advocacy on behalf of the pieces and parts of our healthcare system that are so important to the State of New Mexico. Things like rural hospitals, opioid treatment, Indian Country, he has been an incredible champion on those. That is part of the reason why both of us come to the floor today, given what is at stake. prgtoken Last month, President and House s rushed through a disastrous healthcare bill that would leave average New Mexico families paying thousands of dollars more for less healthcare coverage. It would destroy the Medicaid Program as it currently exists in our State and throw our entire healthcare system into chaos. Now Senate s are drafting their own version of a similar healthcare bill in complete secret, behind closed doors, with absolutely no--none--bipartisan input. prgtoken This lack of transparency and departure from regular order is unacceptable and deeply irresponsible, especially when every single American family's healthcare coverage is at stake if this bill ever becomes law. prgtoken While we don't know for sure what the Senate s' version of Care will look like, media reports say it is shaping up to look more and more like the train wreck of a bill that President and House s celebrated in the White House Rose Garden just a couple months ago, a bill President reportedly said in another closed-door meeting with Senators last week was, in his words, ``mean'' and cold-hearted. prgtoken The House-passed Care bill is devastating to low-income families, to seniors, to Americans living with preexisting conditions. This isn't so much a healthcare bill as it is a tax cut for the ultrarich masquerading as healthcare reform. You don't have to take my word for it. You can look at how the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office described its projected impacts of the House-passed Care bill. prgtoken According to the CBO's analysis, Care would strip 14 million of their health insurance next year and 23 million by 2026, all to give tax breaks to the wealthiest of Americans. That is reckless, and frankly it is inexcusable by any measure. prgtoken How would the bill do that? The House-passed bill, which again seems to be the baseline for the ongoing secret negotiations here in the Senate, would slash funding for the Medicaid Program by hundreds of billions of dollars and end the need-based tax credits for individual healthcare market plans under the ACA. prgtoken I have heard from so many New Mexicans who have told me how access to healthcare coverage has helped their families and, in some cases, even saved their lives. prgtoken I recently met with patients at the Ben Archer Health Center, a rural health clinic in Hatch, NM, and heard firsthand how important Medicaid coverage can be to families in Southern New Mexico. One o
MORNING BUSINESS
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-6-20

I want to take a few moments to acknowledge my friend, Joan Claybrook. Joan is a legend. She is one of the most effective champions this Nation has ever seen--and she is still leading the charge. Last week, Joan celebrated her 80th birthday, and one thing is clear, Joan Claybrook isn't slowing down. prgtoken Like so many bright young people in Washington, Joan began her career right here in the U.S. Congress, working for Senator Walter Mondale and Representative James Mackay as a congressional fellow. In the summer of 1966, the Senate unanimously passed the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, the first major legislation to improve auto safety in this country. This effort was led by consumer advocate, Ralph Nader, and working right by his side was Joan Claybrook. It led to important safety standards we take for granted today: seatbelts, windshield wipers, outside mirrors, and dashboards. This landmark legislation also launched Joan's impressive career as a consumer advocate. prgtoken During the Carter administration, Joan served as the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, where she led efforts to improve vehicle safety and increased consumer access to safety information. Prior to her time with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, she ran Congress Watch, worked for the Public Interest Research Group, National Traffic Safety Bureau, Social Security Administration, and the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. prgtoken In 2009, Joan retired as president of Public Citizen, after nearly three decades of service championing consumer interests and campaigning on issues from campaign finance reform, to truck safety, and business regulation. Among her many accolades at Public Citizen, Joan was able to limit the number of triple- and longer double-trailer trucks on the road, and she helped to ensure that health, safety, and environmental agencies were able to continue its important work protecting the American people, but her proudest, and perhaps most impactful, achievement was winning a 20-year battle with the auto industry to install airbags in cars. Because of Joan's work, countless lives have been saved. I want to thank her for these contributions that improved the health and safety for so many across the country. prgtoken Joan Claybrook has been honored by numerous organizations, including the Philip Hart Distinguished Consumer Service Award from the Consumer Federation of America, an Excellence in Public Service Award from the Georgetown University Law Center, and an award for Superior Achievement from the National Traffic Safety Bureau--just to name a few. In her precious spare time, Joan serves on the board of Citizens for Tax Justice and Public Justice. She also cochairs the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety and Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways. prgtoken It is not simply Joan Claybrook's extraordinary resume that earned he
Healthcare Legislation (Executive Session)
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2017-6-20

I listened to the majority leader this morning saying that Care was collapsing and s are on a rescue mission. Honestly, the gall it must take to say, after s and President have spent all year sabotaging the marketplace, that Care is collapsing. They have threatened to stop critical cost-sharing payments that help keep deductibles and premiums down, hurting millions of people and sowing uncertainty in the market. prgtoken There is an easy way to fix it. Instead of crying crocodile tears, s should guarantee that the cost-sharing payments will be made. That is not just saying it. That is the insurers. Listen to the insurers. What do they want? They want to keep premiums down and prevent them from leaving the exchanges. They want cost- sharing, which our colleagues refuse to do, and, then, in a cynical ploy, they try to blame Care. prgtoken Listen to AHIP, the Nation's largest trade group of insurers. It is nonpartisan. It is a business group. Listen to what they said about the uncertainty about cost-sharing payments. They said it was ``the single most destabilizing factor in the individual market.'' A series of insurance companies, including Blue Cross Blue Shield and Anthem, have said explicitly that uncertainty caused by President and s about cost-sharing is causing them to pull out of certain markets. prgtoken So this idea, this cynical ploy--after sabotaging the bill and then blaming someone else other than themselves--is pitiful. prgtoken The House bill, of course, was so bad--Care was so bad--that our friends are trying to switch the blame to Care. It is not true, and it will not work. prgtoken Now, last night, held the floor well into the night to discuss the plan to pass a healthcare bill in just 2 weeks that no one in America has seen, without holding a single committee hearing or a robust debate on the floor. They want to bring the bill to the floor and rush it in the dark of night for a simple reason: They are ashamed of their bill. They don't want anybody to see it, least of all the public. prgtoken Last evening, I asked the majority leader if the minority would have more than 10 hours to debate and amend the final bill. He replied that ``there will be ample opportunity to debate and amend the bill.'' So I asked again: Will we get more than 10 hours? Ten hours is the maximum the rules allow us under reconciliation. He could only reply that ``There will be ample time.'' prgtoken I have a feeling the majority leader and I disagree on the definition of ``ample,'' because 10 hours of debate time--a total of 10 hours of debate time on an issue this important--is a sham. It is a farce. We would have to read the bill, prepare amendments, and consider its consequences, all in 10 hours. prgtoken This is a bill that affects one-sixth of our economy, millions of Americans.
Healthcare Legislation (Executive Calendar)
Tammy Duckworth (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-6-20

over the past few years, the Affordable Care Act has made tremendous strides in expanding healthcare coverage for hard-working Americans and the families who need it. for his stories, and I would like to add some of my own. prgtoken While the law could certainly be improved, the way to do it is not by passing Care, which even President has admitted is a ``mean'' bill. Unfortunately, Senate leadership has indicated whatever it is that the s are crafting in secret, behind closed doors, is going to be very similar to the version of Care that has passed the House. That is simply bad news. prgtoken The version of Care that passed the House could cost 23 million Americans, including 385,000 Illinoisans, to lose healthcare coverage. It would make it more expensive for older Americans and working people, especially those with preexisting conditions, to purchase insurance. prgtoken Care would cause their premiums and their out-of-pocket costs to simply skyrocket. The premiums of the average Illinoisan would increase by $700. prgtoken Care would also make critical services like maternity care for new moms and mental health and substance abuse services significantly more expensive, even though they are desperately needed. That is extremely mean-spirited. prgtoken Making matters worse, it would also put veterans on the chopping block. Specifically, Care would prohibit veterans who are eligible for VA healthcare from receiving tax credits to help them afford insurance in the individual marketplace. However, there is a big difference between being eligible for VA healthcare and being enrolled in VA. Oftentimes, that is not even a choice you can make. prgtoken According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, as many as 7 million of our veterans are eligible for VA care but are not enrolled. Preventing them from receiving tax credits would amount to a massive tax hike that would force them to pay thousands of dollars extra each year. That is not just mean; it is unacceptable. prgtoken There has been ample reporting indicating that s knew exactly what they were doing. They could have included a fix to this but purposefully did not because that would have made their bill ineligible to be considered under the Senate's budget reconciliation process, which requires only 51 votes. That is because to remedy this huge flaw, the veterans tax credit language would need to be considered in committees of jurisdiction. That would entail holding public hearings and markups in committees, which would then reveal to the American people what exactly is in the bill. prgtoken Apparently, the cost of public scrutiny is too high for Senate leaders who are willing to raise taxes on veterans so they can hide this bad bill from the American people. As a result, the appalling flaws in their bill remain unfixed, and up to 7
Healthcare Legislation (Executive Calendar)
Patty Murray (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2017-6-20

I want to thank all of my colleagues for their comments today on the damage Care would do patients, and families have been fighting back against Care and efforts to jam it through Congress for months. prgtoken I want to take a moment and recall some of the promises President and s made at the very beginning of this process because there truly is a Grand Canyon between President 's promises and the Care bill he has now admitted himself is ``mean.'' prgtoken At the start, President promised to provide insurance for everybody that was both cheaper and higher quality. When Care was introduced in the House, Secretary Price said that ``no one would be worse off financially'' under the law. And when Ryan was asked whether millions of people would lose their insurance coverage under Care, he said ``no.'' prgtoken Families were told again and again that Care would lower costs and keep people covered. As we know, Care would do the exact opposite. It will raise healthcare costs for people across the country, astronomically for those with preexisting conditions and for seniors, who could pay as much as 850 percent more in premiums. Medicaid would be gutted. Women and men would be unable to get care from the providers they trust and choose at Planned Parenthood. New mothers would pay as much as $1,000 more a month just to get maternity care. Tens of millions of people would see their healthcare coverage taken away. prgtoken I could continue. And I want to be clear that those facts came from the nonpartisan, independent Congressional Budget Office. prgtoken Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, when Care passed the House, President ignored those facts and doubled down on his broken promises. He championed Care, calling it ``very, very well- crafted.'' He promised to get Care through the Senate, predicting that it would be an unbelievable victory. His Secretary of Health and Human Services called this bill--which would take healthcare coverage away from 23 million people--a victory for the American people. Which people? Maybe President . Maybe special interests who are going to get these massive tax breaks. But not the hundreds of thousands of people in Washington State who are rightly scared of Care or millions more across the country. prgtoken have come to the Senate floor with story after story about how our constituents would suffer under this legislation, workers who would not be able to make ends meet between jobs without losing health insurance, seniors who know they will go bankrupt if Care becomes law, moms who stay up at night worrying about whether their child who has a preexisting condition will be priced out of coverage, patients fighting for their lives who are afraid that Care will kill them and who are literally begging Congress not to do this. prgtoken To these pa
Healthcare Legislation (Executive Calendar)
Jeff Merkley (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2017-6-20

on May 4 of this year, there was a party at the White House, a celebration--a celebration that the House had passed Care. Indeed, the President wanted to invite people over and say what a great job they had done and what a great bill they had passed. He called it a ``great plan.'' He said the House plan was ``very, very incredibly well-crafted.'' prgtoken That was on May 4--a party at the White House, a celebration--but what a difference a month can make. A week ago, on Tuesday, June 13, the President had another gathering, and at this gathering he said that the bill from the House was ``mean,'' and he went on to use a very derogatory phrase to describe it. prgtoken So what happened between May 4 and June 13? Did the bill change in some way? Absolutely not. It had already been passed out of the House. Apparently what happened is that someone explained to the President what was in it, and he said: That is terrible. We can't do that. It is a mean bill. And he used other vivid language to say just how bad it was. prgtoken What feature of the Care bill did the President get briefed on that made him say that it was mean? It certainly is a mean-spirited bill. It certainly is a hard-hearted bill. It certainly is destructive to the quality of life of millions and millions of Americans. So which aspect of the bill was he referring to? prgtoken I asked that question of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Price, when he came to the Senate for a hearing last week. I asked the Secretary if he shared the President's opinion that the Care bill was a mean bill. He didn't have an answer for that. He wouldn't say whether, as a leader in the administration on healthcare, he shared the President's opinion. prgtoken I asked whether he thought the President thought it was a mean- spirited bill because it ripped healthcare from 23 million Americans. The Secretary of healthcare didn't answer. prgtoken I asked whether it was mean because it eliminated essential health benefits like emergency care and rehabilitation services and mental health and addiction treatment and maternity coverage for women having a child. The Secretary again refused to answer. prgtoken And he proceeded to say things like ``Well, I wasn't in the meeting,'' and that he hadn't talked to the President about why the President didn't like the bill. One would think that the Secretary of Health and Human Services, upon hearing that the President thought that the bill he had advocated for was terrible, would actually go to him and say: What is it you thought was so terrible? That might inform the conversations here in the Senate. But he said that he hadn't talked to the President about it. The Secretary of Health and Human Services didn't want to know why the President disliked this bill. prgtoken I asked if the President thought that this was a mean bill because it has vast premium increases for older Americans. An individual in t
RECOGNIZING PRIYA VULCHI
Bonnie Watson Coleman (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2017-6-20

I rise today to recognize Priya Vulchi--a remarkable young woman who, this year, earned the 2017 Congressional Gold Medal. prgtoken A resident of Princeton, Ms. Vulchi demonstrated an immeasurable passion for the education and advancement of our nation's leaders. Working with Princeton Public Schools, Ms. Vulchi created a racial literacy tool to assist educators initiate dialogues around race- related topics in the classroom. Ms. Vulchi is also a co-founder of Princeton CHOOSE--a student-led organization that aims to overcome racism and inspire harmony through exposure, education and empowerment. Further, Ms. Vulchi is a published author of a racial literacy teaching tool that was piloted in Princeton Public school in the spring of 2016 and officially used by all 5th grade teachers in the school district for the 2016-2017 school years. prgtoken Along with her commitment to education, Ms. Vulchi pursued journalism and became the Head Copy Editor for her school's monthly newspaper. Finally, Ms. Vulchi crossed the country in her travels to Hawaii to visit the Haleakal National Park. There she visited the Eats Maui Volcano and learned more about volcanism and the ecosystems of the National Park. prgtoken Beyond the Congressional Gold Medal program, extraordinary individuals like Ms. Vulchi exemplify the best and brightest of our nation's future. As a resident of New Jersey's 12th Congressional District, I couldn't be more proud of her for taking up such a difficult challenge and making a positive change for themselves in their community. prgtoken , I sincerely hope that my colleagues will join me in congratulating Ms. Vulchi on her amazing accomplishment.
MOBILE WORKFORCE STATE INCOME TAX SIMPLIFICATION ACT OF 2017
Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (Democrat, GA) \u2014 2017-6-20

. With over 57 cosponsors during this Congress, it is clear that the Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act of 2017 is an idea whose time has come. prgtoken s for their work on this bill and, in particular, Congressman Bishop, for his leadership on this bill in the 115th Congress. He has carried the torch for our esteemed former colleague, the late Howard Coble, who passed this bill out of the House in the 112th Congress. prgtoken I also thank our staffs, who have worked tirelessly to build support for this legislation along bipartisan lines. prgtoken This bill is a testament to the good that can come from working across the aisle on bipartisan tax fairness reforms. I am optimistic that the passage of H.R. 1393 augurs well for the passage of other e- fairness legislation, which is critical to countless small businesses across the country, during this Congress.