mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
IMMIGRATION REFORM
Ted Budd (Republican, NC) \u2014 2018-2-15

I thank my friend and colleague from Virginia for yielding. I really thank him for his leadership on this issue. prgtoken The last time I spoke on this floor on immigration, I talked about three principles: One, Americans have the right to determine who becomes citizens through laws; two, the people who do come here should be in the best interest of American citizens; and three, that we have the right to enforce those choices. prgtoken The people who do come here should be in the best interest of American citizens. That is key. What we are doing now isn't there yet. We allow, today, one individual to get a green card. Then he is able to sponsor his immediate family and relatives. And then the relatives can sponsor their relatives. Then the relatives of those relatives can sponsor their relatives and so on, until there is no one in the family left to sponsor or no one left who prgtoken even wants to come to the United States. prgtoken Potentially, this could go on forever. This is called chain migration, and 65 percent of our green cards are awarded through this chain migration. That is about 700,000 people every year gaining permanent residence in our country through no other criteria than that they happen to be related to someone who lives here. prgtoken We have no idea whether these individuals are going to be economically successful. We have no idea whether they will contribute to our country. We don't even look at those characteristics for chain migration. The important question is who the immigrant is related to, not whether or not he might help America be a safer or a more prosperous country. Chain migration does not meet that key principle. American immigration should be in the best interest of Americans. prgtoken The Securing America's Future Act ends this chain migration. It stops it for everyone except the children and spouses of immigrants. But those relatives cannot bring in additional immigrants, so the chain is broken. The Securing America's Future Act, in turn, replaces those immigrants with skilled workers, workers who could help us build a better future. prgtoken I think about it this way: there are 150 million people around the world who would say that they would emigrate to the United States if they were just given the opportunity. What a great country. We could do what we do now and let those people enter on the basis of who they are related to. That is what we are doing. Or we could let in the best engineers, doctors, nurses, teachers, and businessmen. We can let in those who could speak English well, who know our system of government, who have gone to university. But that can only happen if we end chain migration. prgtoken The chain migration proposal in the Securing America's Future Act becomes even more crucial when we look at the DACA issue. If we allow DACA recipients to get some form of residency, past history tells us that they will potentially sponsor around 3\1/2\ immigrants each.
ADA EDUCATION AND REFORM ACT OF 2017
Bob Goodlatte (Republican, VA) \u2014 2018-2-15

. Mr. Chair, such time as I may consume. prgtoken Mr. Chair, I want to first commend the gentleman from California for addressing this issue. He is quite right that it is important that, in order to expeditiously make sure that accommodations for the disabled are made, people have to understand what those requirements are. The regulations on this change frequently and constantly. prgtoken I do not oppose this amendment. In fact, I support it. I would ask the gentleman if he would work with us moving forward to make sure that this does not impose an inordinate burden on the bureaucracy responsible for putting this out so as to delay getting new regulations to protect the ADA folks out. prgtoken There are many languages spoken by people in various businesses in this country. Some are very common, and that is definitely the case, but we may not have this written in every single language that is spoken by every single individual.
BROADER OPTIONS FOR AMERICANS ACT--Continued
Susan M. Collins (Republican, ME) \u2014 2018-2-15

I rise to join my colleagues, Senator Rounds and Senator King, in clarifying the intent of a provision from the Immigration Security and Opportunity Act, which has been offered as an amendment. What this provision seeks to do is send a strong message to people who come to the country after the bill is enacted that they are going to be a priority for deportation just like a person prgtoken who has committed a felony is prioritized for deportation. I commit to changing this date from June 30, 2018, back to the beginning of the calendar year, January 1, 2018, in conference should the amendment be adopted by the Senate.
ADA EDUCATION AND REFORM ACT OF 2017
Jeff Denham (Republican, CA) \u2014 2018-2-15

my amendment would ensure that the Department of Justice takes appropriate actions to provide ADA compliance materials for businessowners whose primary language is not English. prgtoken As a Representative from California's Central Valley, my district is far too familiar with the kinds of abusive lawsuits H.R. 620 aims to curb. prgtoken For years, small businesses--some that make less than $30,000 a year--have been targeted by ``drive-by'' lawsuits from people who are driving by--many of whom are from outside of our State and, certainly, outside of our community. They have been slapped with demands for thousands, even tens of thousands, of dollars for minor infractions, like faded parking signs or outdated signage or stripes in the parking lot. prgtoken More often than not, the lawyer or plaintiff didn't even enter the business in the first place. In too many cases, these lawsuits did not lead to compliance. They led to shakedowns and shutdowns. prgtoken Throughout California and, certainly, throughout California's Central Valley, we have seen a number of minority businesses and businesses as a whole, small businesses, that have been shut down by many of these shakedown lawsuits where the attorney will call back and say: I understand that you can't pay us today, but we will put you on a monthly plan. prgtoken That doesn't solve any problems for those with disabilities. It certainly doesn't solve any problems for the businesses. All it does is line the pockets of some abusers that are coming into our area that will target dozens of businesses in a day's or week's time, only to leave our community without even going into these businesses. prgtoken In my district alone, Barnwood Restaurant in Ripon was sued and shut down. Main Street Inn in Ripon was sued. Country Ford Trucks in Ceres was sued. The city hall in Escalon was sued. prgtoken In Turlock, my hometown, seven businesses less than a mile apart on the same road were sued by the same plaintiff. Forty-three businesses in the city of Modesto were all sued by the same plaintiff. prgtoken California has been ground zero for this lawsuit abuse. Even the State legislature in a State that is not considered conservative by any means has had a number of ADA lawsuit measures aimed at trying to curb those. prgtoken The Federal Government has a job to fix this, and that is one of the reasons that I am a coauthor and support the ADA Education and Reform Act. I especially support its provisions to increase businessowner education on ADA compliance, which I believe my amendment can help to strengthen. prgtoken In California, 75 percent of the businesses targeted by these types of lawsuits are immigrant- or minority-owned businesses. These demographics are more unlikely to be familiar with ADA standards as well as their own legal rights. That is the reason for the shakedown of these minority-owned businesses. prgtoken One obstacle for these types of businesspeople
RECOGNIZING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF MEMORIAL BAPTIST CHURCH
Brian Babin (Republican, TX) \u2014 2018-2-15

I rise today to recognize the 100th Anniversary of Memorial Baptist Church, located in the city of Baytown in East County. This area was mainly a farming and ranching community known as Goose Creek, until oil was found there in 1907 and it quickly became a rowdy and untidy camp. In 1918, Reverend J. W. Anderson felt that God was calling him to organize a church in Goose Creek. At this time a group of Christian women held a prayer meeting in their homes and the First Baptist Church of Goose Creek was organized with eight members. Reverend Anderson was named the pastor and the first building was built. In 1927, the church had grown to 614 members and Reverend J. D. Fuller became the new pastor. Due to their increased size, the congregation needed a larger building. This building cost $50,000 and they had a hard time making payments during the depression. On December 7, 1945, the cities of Pelly annexed Goose Creek and Baytown. At this time, the church changed its name to Memorial Baptist Church and built a new sanctuary on Sterling Street. In 2008 Memorial Church and Trinity Baptist Church voted to donate their church buildings on Highway 146 to Memorial. This new area became the North Campus of Memorial Baptist Church and Reverend Andrew McDaniel was named pastor. On 25 August 2017, Hurricane Harvey came ashore in Texas. It flooded Baytown and other areas along the coast. Memorial Baptist Church's gym was used as a shelter for over 180 people. A deacon of the church named Robby Davis along with a team of other church members helped to clean out homes to be repaired. They moved furniture, cabinets, flooring and sheet rock. Some people did day labor, furnished food, washed clothes and provided places for victims of the storm to stay. Memorial North Campus was also flooded and on November 4, 2017, they were able to worship at that location again. On 25 February 2018, this church will celebrate being a century old. God has used Memorial Baptist Church as an amazing witness for 100 years and I am privileged to have such a place of worship in my district.
BROADER OPTIONS FOR AMERICANS ACT--Continued
Patrick J. Toomey (Republican, PA) \u2014 2018-2-15

Kate Steinle didn't have to be shot and killed on a pier in San Francisco. A 13-year-old child didn't have to be raped in the city of Philadelphia by Ramon Ochoa. Both of those crimes were committed by people who were in this country illegally after previously committing multiple crimes and after having been deported. In both cases, the prgtoken cities in which these crimes occurred--the police departments--had these criminals in custody shortly prior to the commission of these crimes. But in both cases, when the Department of Homeland Security asked for a temporary detention until they could take these people into custody and deport them, that was not allowed because these were sanctuary cities. These sanctuary cities systematically forbid the local police from even sharing information or cooperating with Federal immigration officials, even in the case of criminals. prgtoken My amendment is a bipartisan amendment. I want to thank the Senator from West Virginia for cosponsoring it. This is an amendment that will ensure that any legal liability for wrongful detention is held by the Federal Government, and nonsecurity funds--CDBG grants and some other categories--will be withheld from sanctuary cities.
HONORING CORA BEASLEY
Virginia Foxx (Republican, NC) \u2014 2018-2-15

when tragedy struck in 1957, the Surry County, North Carolina community came together, honored its' own, and remained strong. prgtoken I rise to commemorate the selfless sacrifice of Mrs. Cora Beasley, a third grade teacher. Sixty-one years ago, a fire consumed Flat Rock Elementary School in Surry County. Mrs. Beasley ignored the danger and helped students out of a second-floor window, saving their lives. prgtoken During the blaze, Mrs. Beasley attempted also to save third-grader Larry Adams, but sadly, they both perished. This month, the Flat Rock School community will rename its main building the Cora F. Beasley Building, a fitting tribute to one woman's selfless heroism. prgtoken I salute the efforts of this tight-knit community and offer my prayers for Mrs. Beasley, Mr. Adams, their families and all of those affected by the fire that day.
BROADER OPTIONS FOR AMERICANS ACT--Continued
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2018-2-15

I come to the floor now to offer brief remarks on the introduction of the latest so-called bipartisan proposal. There is simply no way to say it, but to say it: This proposal fails to meet the mark, will result in massive amnesty, and will result in a surge of illegal immigration, even encouraging the illegal crossing of our borders. It has absolutely no chance of becoming law because we have been reminded of what the President has said he would sign, and he has said that this bill we are talking about now would not be signed by the President of the United States. It would be vetoed. prgtoken In my mind, the Department of Homeland Security, when they commented on this bill, has this one point right. This bill will absolutely destroy our ability--meaning the ability of DHS--to enforce our laws, secure our borders, and then, consequentially, not protect the American people. The American people expect our government to fulfill their No. 1 responsibility, which is to protect the American people. prgtoken It is hard to decide where to start when you dissect this ill- conceived proposal, but to quote, I think, J.R.R. Tolkien, I guess the best place to begin is at the beginning. This proposal claims to have border security measures, but the simple fact is that it doesn't have border security measures. This proposal does something that and s agreed last year isn't sufficient border security, and we have all agreed that simply throwing money at the border is not border security. So what does that lead you to, other than just what you do at the border? prgtoken Everyone in this Chamber knows how hard Senators Cornyn and Johnson have worked on border security. Their hard work has shown all of us that real border security isn't just about infrastructure and money; it is about legal authority policy changes, as well, which may be more important. Like it or not, the simple fact is that our current laws contain numerous loopholes that actually prevent our law enforcement officers from apprehending, detaining, and speedily deporting dangerous criminal aliens. prgtoken Professional staffers at the Department of Homeland Security--and I emphasize the words ``professional staffers,'' not political employees--all agree we need these authority changes. prgtoken I ask my colleagues: What is the point of throwing money at the border if sex offenders, terrorists, gang members, child molesters, and war criminals can continue getting into our country? What is the point if we can't actually remove people who are entering illegally? What is the point if Americans continue to be victimized by crimes committed by undocumented immigrants? prgtoken This bipartisan plan falls miserably short of providing real border security and doesn't do anything to make Americans safer. prgtoken Worse than the border security problems, this bipartisan plan massively expands the number of individuals who are eligible for
BUDGETARY REVISIONS
Michael B. Enzi (Republican, WY) \u2014 2018-2-15

section 251 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, BBEDCA, establishes statutory limits on discretionary spending and allows for various adjustments to those limits, while sections 302 and 314(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 allow the chairman of the Budget Committee to establish and make revisions to allocations, aggregates, and levels consistent with those adjustments. The Senate recently considered and passed H.R. 1892 with S. Amdt. 1930, the text of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, which provided emergency funding for disaster relief. prgtoken This legislation includes language that increases security discretionary budget authority by $1,170 million and nonsecurity discretionary budget authority by $83,266 million this year. This measure contains provisions that designate these appropriations as emergency funding pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of BBEDCA. CBO estimates that this budget authority will increase discretionary outlays by $11,185 million in 2018. prgtoken As a result of the aforementioned designations, I am revising the allocation to the Committee on Appropriations by increasing the revised security and nonsecurity budget authority limits and the amount of allowable outlays by the amounts listed above. Further, I am increasing the budgetary aggregates for 2018 by those same amounts. prgtoken I ask unanimous consent that the accompanying tables, which provide details about the adjustment, be printed in the Record.
IMMIGRATION REFORM
Thomas A. Garrett, Jr. (Republican, VA) \u2014 2018-2-15

. Madam , it is a somber time to come into this Chamber as we have colleagues at the other end of the building who formed something they call the Common Sense Coalition, which is, I think, a gentle euphemism like so many things in this town are, which might well be called the ``kick the can down the road'' coalition, the ``doing the same thing again and again and again and again and expecting a different result'' coalition, or the ``those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it'' coalition. prgtoken The photo that is to my left and to your right if you are viewing at home is of me at a ceremony at Red Hill Farm in the Fifth District of Virginia, where a man named Patrick Henry lived. prgtoken Patrick Henry is notable as an early patriot who sought to ensure the blessings of self-determination and liberty for a fledgling nation that determined that it was unjust that they should be governed by edict from across the sea and most notably said the words: ``I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.'' prgtoken Indeed, anyone who signed the Declaration of Independence understood at that time that they were literally signing their own death warrant, yet they did because it was the right thing to do. prgtoken Today we have degenerated into a political class that knows pandering and efforts to placate individuals without the interests of the mass constituency that we all unitedly serve, and that is the American people. prgtoken In fact, when Patrick Henry spoke about liberty one day in a separate speech, from the back of the room, someone shouted, ``Treason,'' and Henry responded eloquently: ``If this be treason, make the most of it.'' prgtoken What has happened to our leaders? prgtoken So that day I spoke to a group of a couple of dozen new Americans from every corner of the world--from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and South America--who had, in some instances, worked decades to become Americans and to earn those blessings of liberty gained for us by people like Patrick Henry, like 1 million nameless faces who died of combat death, disease, or starvation during a war to end the horrific institution of slavery, and like Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. prgtoken So they, indeed, looked like America--Brown people, White people, Black people, Asian people, American people--and they earned it. But what is coming out of the Senate now essentially throws aside the sacrifices of so many in order to score political points. prgtoken It was, indeed, one of the greatest honors of my life to welcome those new brothers and sisters to our American family. Yet the process through which they pained and labored does not in any way mirror the process that we would continue by kicking the can down the road under the proposed Senate ``compromise.'' prgtoken I could really, literally, do this all day, all week, all month, and all year if I wanted to highlight
BROADER OPTIONS FOR AMERICANS ACT
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2018-2-15

I wish to begin this morning by sharing the shock and sorrow that all of us in this body felt as we learned of yesterday's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. To say that such brutal, pointless violence is unconscionable is an understatement. Schools should be places where children can learn, and faculty and staff can work without fear of violence. prgtoken My colleagues from Florida will carry home the prayers of the whole Senate for victims and their families, for the community of Parkland, and for the first responders who bravely charged into harm's way on behalf of others. prgtoken For the information of all Senators, the Senate will observe a moment of silence at 12 noon. prgtoken Now, , on an entirely different matter, the entire week has been set aside, as I assured it would be, for votes on the DACA issue, border security, and other issues pertaining to the subject of immigration. At this point, we should be wrapping up a lively week of debate, amendments, and numerous votes, but that is not what has happened. Instead, we are here on Thursday morning and have yet to vote on a single amendment--not one amendment all week on what was offered: an open debate. prgtoken Remember, our ic friends wanted this debate. They actually shut down the Federal Government for 300 million Americans, unnecessarily, to guarantee that we could have this debate and at this particular time--this week. prgtoken They have spent months insisting that DACA is a top priority for them prgtoken and telling their constituents they would do everything they could to resolve it. But when the rubber meets the road, they have yet to bring forward a single proposal that gives us a realistic chance to make law; that is, to pass the Senate, pass the House, and earn the President's signature. All they have done so far is to slow the process as much as possible. It turns out that they didn't want a fair, open, freewheeling amendment process after all. prgtoken Yesterday evening, I filed cloture on all four pending amendments. At a minimum, under regular order, we could make sure that at least they receive a vote by Friday morning. I hope the ic leader will finally consent to hold these votes on amendments today. prgtoken Our ic friends say they want resolution for illegal immigrants who were brought into the country as children. The President put forward a framework that would do exactly that. His reasonable proposal offers a more than generous resolution for 1.8 million individuals in that category. prgtoken But the DACA issue is just a symptom of our broken immigration system. So the President has made clear, and I strongly agree, that any legislation must also treat the root causes and reform legal immigration, and it must also include commonsense steps to ensure the safety of the American people. prgtoken Several Senators, led by Senator Grassley, the chairman of