mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
CLOTURE MOTION
Richard Blumenthal (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2018-12-10

I want to thank my colleagues Senator Brown, Senator Tester, most importantly, Senator Gillibrand, and our good friend Senator Isakson. prgtoken Senator Isakson and Senator Gillibrand and I worked together closely on this issue when I was the ranking member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. We engaged the VA through hearings, through meetings, through any way that we could reach the VA so that it would grant the presumption to all veterans who served in the territorial waters of Vietnam during the Vietnam war and were exposed to Agent Orange, to give them simple justice, and to treat them with the same presumption of service-connected disability as their fellow veterans who served in the Vietnam conflict with boots on the ground. If they served in those territorial waters, they deserve that same presumption. prgtoken Beyond the abstraction here, I want to talk about the face and voice of this problem, which, for me, is my good friend Gerry Wright. prgtoken Gerry Wright rode across this country on a motorcycle. The mantra on the motorcycle was ``Sprayed and Betrayed.'' Gerry Wright is a victim of Agent Orange. He suffers from some of the same conditions as those brave veterans who served with boots on the ground. He joined me, along with Paul Scappaticci, Cinthia Johnson, and Gary Monk on Veterans Day. Just as he rode across the country, we came together to raise awareness about this issue. prgtoken If Americans saw and heard those faces and voices, if my colleagues heeded their call, there would be no objection in this body to this legislation. It is all of us who share a responsibility, and it is the VA that has to acknowledge responsibility, as well, for its opposition over the years and its actions blocking simple justice for these veterans. prgtoken In the absence of justice from the VA, we have fought over these years--just as the blue water Navy veterans have fought for decades--to achieve that justice, and 5 months ago, that justice seemed within reach when the House unanimously passed, 382 to 0, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act. prgtoken The Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee held a hearing on this legislation in August. Members had more than sufficient time to consider the language. There are more than ample funds to cover it. There is no reason--none whatsoever--for delaying this legislation, which has such broad support from the Veterans Service Organizations, stakeholders, and members of this body. prgtoken I want to remind my colleagues that this legislation also includes a provision that I led with Senator Moran and Senator Tester that would treat with fairness our Korean veterans. It is called the Fairness for Korean DMZ Veterans Act, ensuring all veterans who served in the Korean DMZ, when Agent Orange was used there, that they will also receive the healthcare and benefits they deserve. This measure is about justice for our Vietnam veterans, for our Korean war vet
CLOTURE MOTION
Sherrod Brown (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2018-12-10

. I thank Senator Tester, Senator Isakson, Senator Gillibrand, and Senator Blumenthal. prgtoken This is the cost of war. This is simple. If you were exposed to poison while serving our country, you deserve the benefits you have earned--no exception. My office holds roundtables with veterans all over the State. We have held more than a dozen over the past several months. We hear Ohio veteran after Ohio veteran raise this issue time and again. prgtoken Joe Benedict from Cleveland talked about how important these benefits are to veterans like him. Last week, I met with Mike Kvintus, another blue water Navy veteran from Cambridge, OH. He is 71 years old, and he drove 4 hours from his home in Eastern Ohio to get here. He talked to Members of Congress about what a burden the senseless policy is for so many veterans he knows who have already sacrificed for this prgtoken country. He urged us to put politics aside. prgtoken That is what Senator Tester and Senator Gillibrand and Senator Isakson have asked us to do. Last year, we introduced the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act, which would guarantee that all Vietnam veterans exposed to toxic Agent Orange chemicals have equal access to the care and benefits they have earned. prgtoken A number of us, myself included, raised the issue with VA Secretary Wilkie, both in private meetings in our office and in the Veterans' Affairs Committee, pressing him to expand benefits to all veterans. prgtoken Mr. Kvintus and Mr. Benedict and all of the veterans in our States-- Georgia, Connecticut, Montana, New York, and Ohio--we all hear this. We all know that these veterans put themselves in harm's way. It is the cost of war. prgtoken We need to show the American people we can work together. We should start by putting partisanship aside, passing this bill tonight, and finally getting the care for veterans that they deserve. prgtoken .
GOVERNMENT FUNDING
Chris Van Hollen (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2018-12-10

last week the Senate passed a second continuing resolution for fiscal year 2019, providing short-term funding for prgtoken many Federal Government agencies that have not yet received full year funding. prgtoken Several outstanding issues need to be resolved in order to complete the final seven appropriations bills, and I am hopeful that the hard work of the Appropriations Committee will not be in vain by resorting to a year-long continuing resolution for the remaining bills. prgtoken Congress must act in order to fully fund essential transportation and housing programs, environmental protection efforts, the Appalachian Regional Commission, NASA programs, the Census, FEMA relief programs, and to prevent President from freezing the pay of over 2 million Federal civil servants, by enacting the 1.9 percent cost of living increase for Federal workers that the Senate passed on a broad bipartisan basis. prgtoken While I am glad this short-term continuing resolution will provide for an extension to keep the flood insurance program from unnecessarily lapsing, I want to see Congress enact a long-term reauthorization. This year's flooding of Ellicott City shows that we need a long-term solution. That is why I am an original cosponsor of the SAFE act, which provides for a 5-year extension for the program, in addition to important program enhancement as well as the Federal Flood Risk Management Act that ensures that federally owned or funded buildings, housing, and infrastructure, be made more weather-resistant and resilient so that we can protect our communities and our investment of Federal tax dollars. prgtoken As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I look forward to working with my colleagues over the next 2 weeks to complete the committee's fiscal year 2019 work.
TRIBUTE TO JANAK ``HODGE'' K. PATEL
Joe Donnelly (Democrat, IN) \u2014 2018-12-10

today, I wish to recognize and honor the extraordinary public service of Janak ``Hodge'' Kanti Patel, who has been my State director for the past 6 years in the U.S. Senate and my district director for the prior 6 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. Over 22 years in the House and Senate, Hodge has served the people of Indiana with a high level of integrity and professionalism, combined with a strong emphasis on constituent services and community engagement. prgtoken A longtime resident of South Bend, IN, Hodge attended St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church and School, St. Joseph's High School, Holy Cross College, St. Mary's College, and the University Notre Dame. While at Notre Dame, Hodge interned for then-Third Congressional District U.S. Congressman Tim Roemer and was hired upon graduation as a case manager, where he worked on military, veterans, and immigration case work until he was promoted to the role of field representative in that same office. prgtoken In 2001, Hodge joined the staff of U.S. Senator Evan Bayh as his Northeast Indiana Regional Director, where he covered 21 counties and two offices: Fort Wayne and South Bend. Upon my election in 2006 to the U.S. House of Representatives, I invited Hodge to join my team as district director. In his role, he helped establish three congressional offices and hired a highly dedicated team of nine staff members to help serve the more than 700,000 Hoosiers that I represented for three terms in Congress. Together we worked to establish an expanded VA community based outpatient clinic in downtown South Bend, a full service veterans healthcare clinic for St. Joseph County, as well as organized job fairs, job-seeker workshops, and access to capital events for small businesses across the Second Congressional District. Hodge also helped to organize more than 1 dozen constituent stakeholder advisory groups and oversaw our office's military service academy nominations process. prgtoken In 2012, when I was elected to the U.S. Senate, I once again asked Hodge to join me. As my State director, Hodge led my team in Indiana and played a vital role in hiring 20 staff members to help serve Hoosiers and established six Senate offices located in Evansville, Fort Wayne, Hammond, Indianapolis, Jeffersonville, and in my hometown of South Bend. prgtoken Over the last 6 years, Hodge oversaw our constituent services team that managed 12,000 cases and recovered $12.6 million for Hoosiers. He also played an important role in working with our grants director to proactively seek out opportunities where we could enhance nonprofit organizations and local communities in their efforts to serve the public. Additionally, there were more than 100 projects around the state that Hodge and the Indiana State staff team worked on to ensure a favorable outcome. Finally, Hodge was also able to build coalitions and gain a high level of respect among his counterparts in
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR (Executive Session)
Ron Wyden (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2018-12-10

the Senate will soon cast the first procedural vote on the nomination of Justin Muzinich to serve as the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. I am going to oppose this nomination, and I would like to lay out exactly why, beginning with a basic rule that I intend to maintain going forward. prgtoken If a Treasury nominee says the tax handouts will pay for themselves, I intend to oppose them. The reason why is that by sticking with this debunked claim, you are basically laying out the economic policy version of being a flat-earther. You are either peddling an idea you know is untrue, or you can't do math. Either way, you shouldn't have a pivotal, powerful job at the Treasury Department. prgtoken When Mr. Muzinich came before the Finance Committee for his nomination hearing, it was a titanic battle just to try to get him to offer any kind of substantive answer on pretty much anything. One question he finally answered straight up was whether he agreed that the tax handouts would ``pay for themselves and reduce our deficits.'' There he gave a one-word response, which was ``yes.'' prgtoken Some call this trickle-down economics. Others call it voodoo economics. I call it, plain and simple, rainbow and unicorn math. No matter what you call it, it just isn't connected to reality. The tax handout will not pay for itself, and even after independent, nonpartisan economic analyses demonstrated that was the case and even after months of data were released showing that the tax law has failed to live up to the administration's fantasy land promises, Mr. Muzinich continues to cling to this false claim. prgtoken I will give him credit. He has what my relatives call--what Jewish people call--chutzpah, but that sure isn't going to win him my support. prgtoken In my judgment, it also raises a fundamental question of honesty. Before his nomination hearing, newspaper reports ran glowing quotes about him from several key officials at the Treasury Department. They praised Mr. Muzinich's financial expertise, and they talked about the expansive role he would play in a whole host of areas at the Treasury Department--not just tax policy but debt management. committee members talked all about the work he had put into the development of the tax law. prgtoken I was pretty interested in Mr. Muzinich's substantive views on these big questions because I had read these glowing tributes from his colleagues, and I thought, well, if we are going to have someone promoted to this important position, we really ought to get a sense of what he believes on the really important, substantive economic issues. So I began to ask the nominee about these questions, and he, as I indicated, just put any response sort of in the ``well, I couldn't possibly get into that'' category. prgtoken I wanted to know why because, eventually, we got around to his saying that he really wasn't going to get into these issues be
TRIBUTE TO LERON GUBLER
Adam B. Schiff (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2018-12-10

I rise today to honor Leron Gubler, who is retiring as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. prgtoken Mr. Gubler is the longest tenured President in the 97-year history of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and is largely credited for the revitalization of Hollywood's flourishing economy. prgtoken Since 1992, Leron has transformed the organization to ensure it not only supports local businesses but is committed to serving all residents of the Hollywood community. prgtoken During his tenure as President, Leron fostered the development of four successful business improvement districts, and families and businesses from all over the world are moving to Hollywood. prgtoken With over ten thousand housing units in the development pipeline and three hotels under construction, Hollywood is flourishing, and Leron has played a significant role in this renaissance. prgtoken Leron founded the Hollywood Chamber Community Foundation, which has raised over $900,000 for non-profit organizations in Hollywood, and helped create the Hollywood Chamber Political Action Committee, which initiated the State of the Entertainment Industry Conference. prgtoken In 2008, Leron became the master of ceremonies for the Hollywood Walk of Fame following the passing of longtime Hollywood Honorary Mayor Johnny Grant. In his ten years as emcee for the Walk of Fame, Mr. Gubler has announced over three hundred Walk of Fame ceremonies. prgtoken Leron Gubler has worked to ensure that Hollywood remains safe, relevant, and economically vital, and I ask all Members of Congress to join me in congratulating him for twenty-six years of dedicated service.
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY RELATING TO ``RETURNS BY EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS AND...
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2018-12-11

this morning the majority leader announced that the Senate will soon take up a revised version of the FIRST STEP Act, which will provide a number of long-needed reforms to our criminal justice system. prgtoken I have long been a supporter of these reforms after I saw the positive impact in my home State of Texas back in 2007. Then, in response to a steadily growing prison population, Texas began enacting reforms to reduce recidivism through programs like job training and vocational education. This, of course, allows prisoners to spend their time in prison preparing themselves for life outside of prison. The results were pretty significant. We saw a reduction in both incarceration and crime rates by double digits at the same time. Let me say that again. We saw a reduction in both incarceration and crime rates by double digits at the same time. Not only does this lead to massive savings of taxpayer dollars, it is an investment in the men and women who are committed to turning their lives around. prgtoken What we like to say is that Texas has long been known for being tough on crime. But in 2007, we finally decided to be smart on crime, too, recognizing that people who went to prison almost entirely got out of prison at some point. The question is, How prepared were those who were willing to work to turn their lives around for life on the outside? prgtoken For years, I tried to bring this successful Texas model to Washington, DC, and now we have a piece of this legislation before us that will take these reforms nationwide. More than 75 percent of the bill we will be voting on is my prison reform legislation that I originally introduced with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. prgtoken The great thing about the laboratories of democracy known as the States is that we can actually test some of our theories at the State level to see whether they work. In the case of prison reform, when they do work, we can then scale it up so it applies to the entire Nation. prgtoken Today, there are more than 180,000 inmates in the Federal criminal justice system. The Federal Bureau of Prison's budget has doubled to approximately $7 billion over the last decade. We have an opportunity to save lives by reducing the crime rate for each of those prisoners who does not recidivate when they get out of prison and conserve tax dollars, as well as to create a criminal justice system that works for, not against, the American people. prgtoken Let me be clear. This is not about letting people out of prison who shouldn't be let out of prison; this is about people who have served their time and are going to be leaving prison and making sure that they at least have available to them some of the tools they need in order to transform their own lives. I am not so naive as to think that every person will take advantage of that opportunity, but we know from experience at the State level that there is a significant percentage of
JOHNSON-O'MALLEY SUPPLEMENTAL INDIAN EDUCATION PROGRAM MODERNIZATION ACT
Ron Estes (Republican, KS) \u2014 2018-12-11

the balance of my time. prgtoken , as I mentioned, the last official count of eligible students was conducted in 1995, which determined that there were nearly 272,000 American Indian students who were qualified for the Johnson- O'Malley Program. However, in 2017, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that there were an additional 80,000 students who would qualify. Clearly, this bill is needed and overdue. prgtoken Currently, the program receives $14.9 million, annually, in funding. Modernization of this act will cost an estimated $13 million over the next 4 years. This is an important investment in the future of our country, and those students deserve our support. prgtoken This legislation improves and strengthens the Johnson-O'Malley Program, and I urge my colleagues to support S. 943. prgtoken , .
IMPROVING MEDICAID PROGRAMS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ELIGIBLE BENEFICIARIES ACT
Joe Barton (Republican, TX) \u2014 2018-12-11

the balance of my time. prgtoken , before I close, I want to set the record straight on one thing. There has been a report that this bill, the ACE Kids Act, expands Medicaid. That is factually incorrect. prgtoken The children that qualify for the ACE Kids Act are already covered by Medicaid. prgtoken There is no expansion. We do not create a new program. We do not expand an existing program. We do not change the definitions. prgtoken We simply make it possible, if this bill becomes law, for parents of children that qualify and that are already covered under Medicaid, they can choose a healthcare home for their child, and that healthcare home can cross State lines. But as Dr. Burgess pointed out, it is not coercive. The States don't have to participate in the program, the families don't have to participate in the program. It is all voluntary. But the pilot programs that have been done on this model, they save money and they give better care. It has been proven. prgtoken CBO has scored this over time that it saves money, but we put pay- fors in the bill. If it did cost some extra money, it would be paid for. There is a 2-quarter, 6-month increase in the FMAP, the Federal matching that the Federal Government gives to States that choose to participate. I think it is about 15 percent extra money for 6 months. That is the only cost. prgtoken Now, to close, I am going to read a list, and Congresswoman Castor read a lot of these, but these are the national groups that support our bill: the Adult Congenital Heart Association, America's Essential Hospitals, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Association of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, American Board of Pediatrics, American College of Cardiology, American College of Surgeons, American Heart Association, American Psychological Association, American Society of Echocardiography, American Thoracic Society, Amicus Therapeutics, Association of American Medical Colleges, Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs, Autism Society, Autism Speaks, ChildServe, Children's Cause for Cancer Advocacy, Children's Hospital Association, Epilepsy Foundation, Family Voices, Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne, International Pediatric Rehabilitation Collaborative, March of Dimes, Mended Little Hearts, MomsRising, National Association for Children's Behavioral Health. There are about seven or ten more. prgtoken , I want to thank the staff, especially Krista Rosenthall, Jeannine Bender, committee staff Caleb Graff, Josh Trent, and Ryan Long. And, again, I thank Kathy Castor and Gene Green. prgtoken , this has been a bipartisan effort. I ask for a strong ``yea'' vote. prgtoken , .
HONORING CORY FRITZ
Edward R. Royce (Republican, CA) \u2014 2018-12-11

I rise today to recognize a dedicated public servant and member of my senior staff, Cory Fritz. The Foreign Affairs Committee has benefited greatly from his sound judgment, skill, and passion for the values, including a free press, that have made America strong. prgtoken Cory got his start on the Hill writing speeches, advocating stronger U.S. relations with the former captive nations in Europe, for the late Senator Voinovich of Ohio. He later joined the congressional office of then-Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio. Working for John throughout his speakership, Cory played an important role on a number of foreign policy issues, including efforts to force the administration to step up the fight against ISIS. prgtoken Upon John's retirement, it was only fitting that Cory move to the Foreign Affairs Committee. As deputy staff director, Cory has elevated the committee's communications operations and played a key role in shaping strategy and policy. prgtoken Cory is one of my most trusted advisers. His counsel helped pave the way for a number of important accomplishments, including the landmark Russia, Iran, and North Korea sanctions enacted in 2017. prgtoken Also, I am proud to have inspired him to take special interest in conservation policy, which has long been a priority of mine. With Cory's assistance, I have advanced legislation to combat wildlife trafficking and poaching. We have also advanced legislation to preserve southern Africa's vital Okavango River Basin. prgtoken As I leave the House, I thank Cory for his 11 years of service to his home State of Ohio, to this Republic, and also to the Congress. I wish him and his wife, Sarah, all the best as they prepare to welcome their first child in the spring.