mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
HONORING BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY ON ITS 70TH ANNIVERSARY
Lee M. Zeldin (Republican, NY) \u2014 2017-2-14

I rise today to honor Brookhaven National Laboratory on its 70th anniversary. prgtoken The United States is the greatest Nation in the world, and one of the reasons why is Brookhaven National Laboratory. Their science research is aggressively pursuing cures to illnesses, protecting our national security, and increasing our energy independence. prgtoken Imagine being able to witness a recreation of the very beginning of our universe, a replica of the primordial soup which once comprised all that had existed right before your very eyes. Also imagine that this very same equipment could be used to find cures to illnesses such as cancer and heart disease. prgtoken I am proud that Brookhaven National Laboratory is located in the greatest congressional district in America, the First Congressional District of New York. prgtoken For nearly three-quarters of a century, Brookhaven has stood as a world-class research center that conducts groundbreaking studies within the scientific community. Brookhaven asks the big questions that scientists have been researching for generations, and has allowed us to look into the building blocks of our world. prgtoken Between preservation of our ecosystem, studies on the environment, and researching new forms of sustainable energy, Brookhaven is a world leader in scientific research. prgtoken There is also incredible cultural and historical relevance of the site of Brookhaven National Laboratory. There was once a World War I Army training center called Camp Upton located where Brookhaven stands today. It was at this camp that Irving Berlin wrote ``God Bless America'' while serving in the U.S. Army. prgtoken Brookhaven is not only a local and regional treasure, but also a national asset. The machines in Brookhaven have been utilized by the most brilliant minds in America, from the scientists of MIT and Yale to the engineers at GE and IBM. prgtoken While there are 17 national labs across our great country, Brookhaven is a unique user facility which focuses in a number of disciplines, not limited to particle physics, chemical engineering, and systems engineering and integration. prgtoken In previous Congresses, critical funding has been provided in support of the ARPA-E program for several of Brookhaven's phenomenal projects on energy production and storage, and so much more. prgtoken There has been discussion in the past to cut funding for Brookhaven's nuclear physics program to levels that haven't been seen since 2008. This would be a mistake. prgtoken Brookhaven features some of the most important scientific efforts in the world, with assets like the National Synchrotron Light Source II, or NSLS-II. NSLS-II has allowed for incredible advancement in the research and development of super conductors, which have the potential to revolutionize energy consumption in the U.S. and save into the billions for the American people and American businesses. prgtoken Another program in need of our continued
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF A RULE SUBMITTED BY THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION--Continued
Mike Crapo (Republican, ID) \u2014 2017-2-14

today I wish to urge support for H.J. Res. 40. The Second Amendment to our U.S. Constitution reads, ``A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.'' The fact that our Nation's Founding Father's penned this constitutional right to follow another central freedom--the constitutional right to free speech--speaks to the importance of this basic right. prgtoken H.J. Res. 40, the resolution currently under consideration, would protect Social Security beneficiaries from having their constitutional rights arbitrarily revoked by the Social Security Administration. As a cosponsor of the Senate companion resolution introduced by Senator Grassley, I support this critically important effort. The resolution would halt a rule issued by the Social Security Administration in the waning days of the outgoing administration. prgtoken The previous administration, I might add, continuously sought to take away the Second Amendment rights of Americans through Executive orders and rulemaking. This is yet another example of an unjust leftover of that effort that needs to be corrected. In December 2016, under the direction of the Executive branch, the Social Security Administration issued a final rule to gather and submit information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, NICS, on individuals who are determined to be what NICS refers to as ``mentally deficient.'' In this case, a person can be reported to NICS simply for using a representative payee in managing their benefits. prgtoken It is not uncommon for the Social Security Administration to appoint someone to act as representative payee for a beneficiary who may need assistance to manage their benefits. The use of a representative payee is not indicative of mental deficiency. In fact, over 8 million beneficiaries need help managing their benefits, according to the Social Security Administration. Statute requires that, for an individual to be deemed ``mentally deficient,'' a court, board, or other lawful authority must find that the person is a danger to themselves or others or is unable to contract or manage their own affairs. prgtoken Under the rule that went into effect last week, SSA will be required to report individuals who have been appointed a representative payee to NICS. The Social Security Administration is not a court of law, and SSA officers are not a ``lawful authority.'' Equally alarming is the lack of an established appeals process to enable the removal of names from the system once entered. The Administration's lack of regard for due process is unacceptable. prgtoken We must reject the administration's improper assumption that individuals are a danger to themselves or society because they participate in SSA's representative payee system. A January 2016 White House fact sheet estimated that SSA's rule would add 75,000 ben
IN RECOGNITION OF MARTHA E. POLLACK'S SERVICE ON BEHALF OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Debbie Dingell (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2017-2-15

I rise today to recognize Martha E. Pollack, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan as she moves to the next chapter of her life. Ms. Pollack has led a distinguished academic career and helped the university effectively serve its students, faculty and the Ann Arbor community during her tenure with the school. prgtoken After receiving her doctorate in Information Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979, Ms. Pollack began her academic career with the nonprofit research organization SRI International. She then served as faculty for the University of Pittsburgh until 2000, when she joined the University of Michigan as a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering. Ms. Pollack distinguished herself through her outstanding scholarship and leadership. As a result, she was named chair of the School of Information in 2007 and Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs in 2013. As Provost, she oversaw academic and budgetary affairs for the entire academic enterprise, which includes the 19 schools and colleges within the university, as well as libraries, museums and other institutions in the University of Michigan system. prgtoken Ms. Pollack has received numerous accolades for her work as a leader and scholar at the University of Michigan. In 2007, Ms. Pollack received the Sarah Goddard Power Award for contributing to increased recognition and involvement of women in the sciences. She was also elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Association for Computing Machinery for her pioneering research. Under her leadership, the university has made important strides in improving affordability for students and continuing to attract world-class scholars to the University of Michigan community. Her leadership and experience will be missed as she moves on to become Cornell University's president this year. prgtoken , I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Martha Pollack and her years of service to the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor community. She has proven to be a capable and committed leader who has helped address the most challenging issues facing the university.
Trade (Executive Calendar)
Richard Blumenthal (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2017-2-15

I am honored to follow my distinguished colleague from Rhode Island who has been such a champion for working people and economic progress in manufacturing and economic fairness so that our country as a whole can advance together. prgtoken I am proud to be a Senator who fights to preserve, protect, and strengthen the safety net for all Americans, as my colleague from Rhode Island does, and many of us here do. So I come to the floor to speak on Congressman Mick Mulvaney, with reluctance and sadness, because he is out of the mainstream and, really, an adversary of programs that assure that safety net and basic fairness that is at the core of our great democracy and our economic system. prgtoken I oppose his nomination to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget, hardly the best known of agencies and not necessarily the most glamorous or glitzy but among the most important. His position is among the most consequential because he serves as an economic adviser, as well as an allocator of funding throughout the Federal Government and a leader on important social programs. prgtoken He has proved strongly antithetical to those programs that have made America great: Medicare, Social Security, and other efforts, including the Affordable Care Act, which are essential to our future. prgtoken He has broad responsibilities for our Nation's budget. He also has important oversight responsibilities about Federal rulemaking--those unglamorous, sometimes invisible regulations and rules that affect real lives and livelihoods throughout this country. They establish rules of the road in industry. They establish access for people to Federal programs. They provide an essential means of achieving fairness in our democracy--that important process that agencies use to enact safeguards, for example, that keep our air and water clean and our workplaces safe. prgtoken Congressman Mulvaney's positions on these vital issues are out of step with American values, out of the mainstream of American popular opinion, and out of the area of acceptability in terms of basic public interest. prgtoken Our economic reality is characterized by one simple stark economic fact: Burdens are falling hardest on the people who can least afford them. I am not talking about people at the lowest rungs of income or wealth but middle-class Americans who work hard and who have seen their incomes stagnant over 5 years, 10 years, 20 years. Stagnating incomes and stagnating futures destroy the American dream. prgtoken So the Federal Reserve, for example, has reported in 2014 that average incomes have remained flat or fallen for all but the most affluent 10 percent of American families. That is a staggering fact about our economic system and its ability to deliver for Americans generally. That is the context for this nomination. I consistently hear from my constituents in Connecticut that income has failed to keep pace with overall economic r
Repealing and Replacing ObamaCare (Executive Calendar)
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-2-15

pending before the U.S. Senate is the nomination of Mick Mulvaney, a Congressman who is seeking to be the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. prgtoken If you were to ask the people of America about the Cabinet positions filled by the President, the one they probably would miss is the Office of Management and Budget. It turns out to be one of the more important positions, but it is not as well known historically as Treasury Secretary, Secretary of State, and Attorney General. It is an important job. It is one of the most consequential jobs because the Director of the Office of Management and Budget is responsible for preparing the President's budget, setting the priorities of the Federal budget, and overseeing the performance of Federal agencies. It is a big and challenging job. prgtoken Many other nominees for positions in the Cabinet are well known and have been debated on the floor of the Senate. Today I come to say a few words about the record of this Congressman, Mick Mulvaney, who is seeking this directorship of the Office of Management and Budget. It is a very interesting record. prgtoken It is not unusual for Members of the House and the Senate to have unusual positions on issues. I guess each one of us has something we believe intensely that other people question. When it comes to Congressman Mulvaney, there is a long litany of positions he has taken that are far out of the mainstream of either political party. Yet President decided this is the man, this is the person he wanted to head up his budgeting effort. This is the person he wants to set the priorities for spending in the United States of America during his Presidency. prgtoken If you look at the record of Mick Mulvaney, you will find that he has had an eagerness to dictate large and draconian cuts across the Federal Government in some of our most important and most cherished programs. Let me tell you about a few that highlight his record in Congress. Each one of these that I will speak to, if advanced by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, would have far-reaching consequences on families and individuals across the United States, not only in the operation of government but also in the effectiveness of our Federal workforce. prgtoken To start with--and this, I think, is the right place to start-- Congressman Mulvaney, who seeks the position of Director of the Office Management and Budget, has repeatedly led efforts to shut down the Federal Government. When Mr. Mulvaney and the s succeeded in shutting down the government for 16 days in 2013, it cost the American economy $20 billion. Do you remember that? prgtoken Rush Limbaugh got on his radio show and said: If they shut down the government, no one will even notice. prgtoken Guess what, Mr. Limbaugh. They noticed. prgtoken All across America, working families paid the price for that foolish political act of shutting down the governme
DISAPPROVING RULE SUBMITTED BY DEPARTMENT OF LABOR RELATING TO SAVINGS ARRANGEMENTS BY STATES FOR NON-GOVERNMENTAL EMPLOYEES
Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2017-2-15

our country is experiencing a retirement security crisis. Nearly 40 million private sector workers do not have access to a retirement savings plan at their jobs. The data and research also show that many middle- and low-income workers lack the ability to save enough on their own for retirement. Too many Americans lack access to retirement savings plans and too few are able to build a retirement nest egg on their own. prgtoken Unfortunately, Congress has not stepped up to comprehensively address our country's retirement security challenges, but many States have stepped up and enacted innovative solutions to expand working people's access to retirement savings. California passed a law establishing a program that is estimated to provide 6.8 million workers access to a retirement savings plan. In Illinois, more than a million people are expected to benefit from the State's retirement savings program. prgtoken Six other States have enacted programs. Dozens more have considered proposals to study or implement State-based retirement plans. Several of these States have worked with the administration's Department of Labor on rules to ensure that their workplace retirement savings initiatives did not inadvertently run afoul of ERISA, the Federal law establishing minimum standards for private sector pensions. prgtoken Last August, the Department of Labor finalized the rule specifying the ERISA safe harbor conditions for State payroll deduction retirement savings plans. The rule went into effect last October. prgtoken In December, the Department of Labor finalized another rule that made certain cities and counties eligible for the same safe harbor protections. This rule only went into effect last month. prgtoken Now, if there are legitimate concerns with the rules, the administration has the administrative tools available to appropriately amend the final rules in the same fair, thoughtful, transparent manner in which they were promulgated. However, this CRA disapproval resolution, which was just introduced last week, will nullify the rule that puts a safe harbor in place to ensure the plans do not run afoul of ERISA. At the same time, under the CRA rules, it would make it impossible to enact a similar rule to protect these savings plans in the future without specific congressional approval. prgtoken This afternoon, the House will also consider a CRA disapproval resolution which would overturn the month-old rule aimed at helping certain cities and counties offer workplace retirement programs. prgtoken , Congress should not be in the business of destabilizing efforts that increase workers' ability to save for retirement, and we should not be going out of our way to undermine states' rights to implement their own innovative solutions. These two resolutions represent an attack on our Nation's working families. Congress must stand up for working people who do not have access to retirement plans at their jobs. Ame
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF A RULE SUBMITTED BY THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
Chris Van Hollen (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2017-2-15

guns kill 36,000 Americans every year. That's nearly 100 Americans every day. prgtoken To help address this scourge of violent death, Congress enacted the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act in 1993. The Brady Act required the Attorney General to establish the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, to determine whether Federal law prohibits a potential buyer from getting a gun. prgtoken Following the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, which left 33 dead, President signed into law the NICS Improvement Amendments Act to improve the national background check system. The Virginia Tech shooter was able to buy a gun because the background check system did not include information about his mental health. prgtoken The prohibition on buying a gun now applies to people who, as a result of their mental condition, have been determined to pose a danger to themselves or others or lack the capacity to manage their own affairs. The Social Security Administration proposed its rule to meet the requirements to strengthen the background check system in the 2007 NICS Improvement Amendments Act. prgtoken The Social Security Administration's rule defined Social Security disability beneficiaries who are have a mental impairment and need another person --known as a ``representative payee''--to handle the receipt of their benefits to fall within the category of those prgtoken who lack the capacity to manage their own affairs. Importantly, these determinations would be subject to judicial review. The rule is not a perfect fit, but it is an appropriate one. prgtoken I have heard from some disability rights advocates that this rule may be unduly broad and might prohibit too many people from owning a gun. I am sensitive to the concerns of people with disabilities. It is wrong to stigmatize people with mental disabilities as the cause of gun violence. And people with disabilities, like all Americans, have important rights under the Second Amendment. I would be open to changes to the rule that would make appeals from determinations easier to make, and I would be open to other ways to better identify people who are a danger to themselves or others or lack the capacity to manage their own affairs. prgtoken A resolution to disapprove the rule under the Congressional Review Act, however, is not the right way to get to a better result. If Congress enacts the resolution of disapproval, then the law would prohibit the Social Security Administration from writing a better rule in its place. prgtoken Better still, Congress could enact sensible gun legislation. But instead of working with to improve the law, s have chosen to use the blunt instrument of the Congressional Review Act to repeal the rule. Using the Congressional Review Act is far from the most precise way to address this problem. prgtoken The powerful gun lobby has prevented s in Congress from supporting common sens
DISAPPROVING RULE SUBMITTED BY DEPARTMENT OF LABOR RELATING TO SAVINGS ARRANGEMENTS BY STATES FOR NON-GOVERNMENTAL EMPLOYEES
Mark DeSaulnier (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-2-15

I thank my good friend from the State of Oregon (Ms. Bonamici) for the brief opportunity to speak. prgtoken I did want to speak personally just briefly on my experience in my previous job in the California legislature when I voted for the Secure Choice Act. Then we spent over 4 years working with the business community, the investment community, and our attorneys to make sure the issues that the majority have brought up in regards to ERISA and other concerns, and I did this specifically as a former small-business person with the small-business stakeholders, to make sure these concerns were taken care of. We think that they have been taken care of, and we are proud of the Secure Choice Act. prgtoken Close to 7 million Californians and 55 million people nationwide, most of them low- and middle-income, don't have access to retirement benefits through their employer. We are talking about people mostly who work for small businesses where neither the employer nor the employee can afford to enroll in expensive Wall Street-type financial advisers. They aren't able to pay the fees and the expenses. prgtoken This element of the U.S. economy, and at this point I have to agree with The New York Times editorial today, that this resolution appears to be more directed towards Wall Street than to Main Street. Wall Street, the financial sector, takes around 25 percent of all corporate profits in the United States, represents 7 percent of the U.S. economy, and creates merely 4 percent of all jobs. prgtoken The Secure Choice Act was directed away from those expensive investments and allowed for a more efficient process for working class Californians and Americans to be able to replicate this program and to be able to have a secure retirement. prgtoken The majority often talks about states' rights and having States be the laboratories of creation. I think in California we have done that on multiple issues, and certainly on this issue. prgtoken Without programs like this, most of the 55 million private sector Americans will end up relying on social security for more than half of their retirement income, which averages about less than $1,400 a month. prgtoken California and seven other States that have created similar retirement programs are looking out for working families. American workers are doing more today than they ever have before. Over the last 40 years, worker productivity has risen 73 percent, yet hourly pay has only increased 11 percent. Now they find their retirement more and more in jeopardy. prgtoken I would ask the majority to strongly reconsider this approach, and to work with California and other States to make sure that we can allow these Americans to have access to a secure retirement.