mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 2017
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-1-5

the pending business in the U.S. Senate is to set the stage procedurally so the majority of 52 to 48 can repeal Care, the Affordable Care Act. That is what we are about. That is the business of the day, the week, and probably the weeks to come. So we are addressing that issue and others related to the budget. prgtoken I would like to start by sharing a story that was told to me by a family who I represent, Richard and Mary Laidman, who live in Naperville, Illinois. They told me a story, and I will recount it to you. My 13-year-old son Sam was diagnosed with leukemia one day after the ``no pre-existing conditions exclusions for children'' protection went into effect [under the Affordable Care Act.] The good news is that the form of leukemia has, so far, been effectively controlled by a magic-bullet drug. My son is currently a very robust young man and in otherwise good health (while the drug keeps him alive). The bad news is that the drug, as I understand it, costs [Blue Cross Blue Shield] about $10,000 a MONTH! Without even going into the issue of ``Big Pharma'' pricing-- prgtoken They wrote-- this means that it would take about $6 million to get my son into his 60's. Obviously we are feeling dependent on all the clauses of the [Affordable Care Act] right now--no pre- existing conditions exclusions, no caps on benefits, allowing Sam to stay on our health insurance plan till [he reaches] age 26. prgtoken , the bottom line according to the Laidman family of Naperville, IL, is that the Affordable Care Act is critical to their family's health and financial survival. That is what this debate is about. It is not about talking about promises made in campaigns or slogans one way or the other. It is about families like the Laidman family in Naperville who understand that were it not for the provisions in the Affordable Care Act, their son might not be here today or they may be penniless. prgtoken That is what it was like in the old days. If you had a son with leukemia and wanted to buy a family health insurance plan, good luck. If they would sell it to you, you probably couldn't afford it. And secondly, many policies had limits on how much they would pay. Listen to what she tells us: $10,000 a month just for this drug that keeps her son alive. There were policies that had $100,000 limits on the amount they pay each year. Oh, they were affordable and cheap enough. What would the Laidman family have done if that is all they had to turn to? prgtoken Sadly, we know thousands, perhaps millions, of families across America face that. That is why the Affordable Care Act made a difference. That is why it is inconceivable that the s are coming to the floor, saying they want to repeal the Affordable Care Act without any replacement. prgtoken They have had 6 years to come up with a bet
OBJECTING TO UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 2334
Theodore E. Deutch (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2017-1-5

in April of last year, 394 Members of this House sent a letter to the President urging him to oppose and veto if necessary any one-sided United Nations resolutions. Unfortunately, the resolution that passed the Security Council resolution without our veto was exactly that. It was one-sided. prgtoken The resolution contained no fewer than five provisions on Israeli settlement activity. It calls the Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem illegal, and it characterizes Jews praying at the Western Wall as being in flagrant violation of international law. prgtoken But even if you choose to accept every provision on settlement activity, the resolution included only one very general statement about violence. The U.N which is historically biased against Israel, could not even condemn Palestinian terrorism against Israel as an obstacle to peace. It is, and the U.N. must acknowledge it. That is not balanced. It is one-sided. prgtoken Today's resolution clearly supports the goal of two states: a Jewish democratic State of Israel living next to a demilitarized Palestinian state as it stands against one-sided U.N. resolutions to take us further than this goal. Please support this resolution.
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 2017
Cory A. Booker (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2017-1-5

I am really proud to stand here, having represented New Jersey now a little bit over 3 years in the U.S. Senate. I have to say that I have developed a great respect for my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. I have a deep belief that this is a body that can do good things for the American people. We don't always agree, and too many things are not getting done, but I have seen this body at its best. I have seen our ability to rise to the occasion. Along the way, I have made friendships and found respect for people and my colleagues across the aisle, as well as fellow . prgtoken I have witnessed occasions where Members of both parties have put principle before partisanship and evidenced a willingness to actually embrace personal political risk to stand up for what they believe is right and honorable and in the best interest of our country. Given this, this is a day in which I rise with painful disappointment. Frankly, I feel a deep sense of astonishment and even a sense of crisis. Thus, I feel a deepened determination to fight with everything I have against the efforts of my colleagues that I believe will harm our country as a whole but particularly the most vulnerable people in our country. prgtoken This is about the push, really the race--what I believe is a reckless race--to repeal the Affordable Care Act without putting forth any legislation, any proposal, any plan on how they intend to replace it. This is fundamentally dangerous, and it will hurt millions of Americans. I have heard over the past month people rightfully saying: Well, this is how the Affordable Care Act was implemented. prgtoken I understand the frustrations that have resulted from that, and people think this was jammed through along partisan lines many years ago using similar legislative tactics. The truth is, that is simply not the case. The Affordable Care Act went through a long and arduous process and received input from doctors, nurses, patient groups, medical specialists, medical professionals of all types. prgtoken The Affordable Care Act started with listening sessions, then hearings, then came the advice and counsel of policy experts, businesses, market experts, insurance companies, health nonprofits, hospitals--literally thousands and thousands of people over thousands of hours, often through public discourse, putting forth ideas that actually shaped and changed legislation. I wasn't in the body then. I was a mayor in Newark, NJ, but I know this occupied months of debate. prgtoken Years later, s are seeking to undo this work with a kind of plan to move forward. They are saying that they have a plan, but no plan exists. prgtoken I am a big believer that there are things we can and we must do to improve health care in America, to improve the Affordable Care Act, but what I have to make clear is that it is profoundly irresponsible to repeal the Affordable Care Act and not put
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 2017
Christopher Murphy (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2017-1-5

what is happening on the floor right now is absolutely extraordinary. It is absolutely extraordinary that s are using the budget process, the reconciliation process, in between the swearing in of the new Congress and the swearing in of a new President, to rip away from 20 million Americans health care insurance, to drive up rates for one-third of consumers in this country who have some form of preexisting condition--a sickness that without this law would make their rates go higher--and to throw the entire health care marketplace into chaos. prgtoken It is absolutely exceptional what is happening right now. No one in this body should normalize it. No one outside of this body should perceive this to be just politics as usual. prgtoken I was here when the Affordable Care Act passed. I was in the House of Representatives. Since then, I have heard my friends say over and over and over again that they want to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it. I can't tell you the hundreds of times I have heard that phrase, ``repeal it and replace it.'' prgtoken President-Elect talked about that throughout the campaign, and then 2 days after he won the election, on Thursday night, he went on national television to double down on the promise that there would be an immediate replacement. He said: There will not be 2 hours between the Affordable Care Act being repealed and it being replaced with something better. prgtoken That is the second part of the argument the s have made. The Affordable Care Act, in their minds, was deficient, despite the fact that there are 20 million people who have insurance today who wouldn't have it otherwise and despite the fact that there are hundreds of millions of Americans across the country who don't have to worry about them and their loved ones having their insurance rates jacked up because they are sick, and despite the fact that seniors are paying thousands of dollars less in prescription drugs than they were. prgtoken The Affordable Care Act isn't perfect--it never was--but the enthusiasm of s to take away from Americans their health insurance and to drive rates up for millions more is really unthinkable. prgtoken We heard over and over again that the priority was to repeal it and replace it. Now we are repealing the Affordable Care Act with no plan for what comes next. We are driving forward with a repeal vote with no plan for how we keep the health care system together, how we prevent it from falling into chaos, how we continue to insure the millions of Americans who rely on it. prgtoken There is a cruelty to this enthusiasm for immediate repeal that is a little bit hard to understand--it is really hard to understand. prgtoken I think about somebody like Jonathan Miller. He lives in my State. He lives in Meriden, CT. He was born with cystic fibrosis. He is insured today through the Affordable Care Act. Here is what he said:
OBJECTING TO UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 2334
Ro Khanna (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-1-5

I rise to express my strong support for peace in the Middle East and between Israel and the Palestinians. That is why I am for a two-state solution and the end to new Israeli settlements. prgtoken However, the one-sided UN Security Council Resolution 2334 issued last month would declare the Western Wall and some Jewish holy sites, where many Jews live and pray, illegally occupied territory. prgtoken I am voting for H.Res. 11 today because the United States should veto any UN resolution that would require Israel to give away the Western Wall or the Jewish Quarters of Jerusalem. What the United States should encourage is an end to new settlements, a two-state solution and direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. That is the only framework that can lead to a just and lasting peace.
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 2017
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2017-1-5

this is the 152nd time I have come to the floor for my ``Time to Wake Up'' speech, warning about the perilous effects of climate change. I am going to continue this in the new Congress, continuing to present the latest and most compelling scientific evidence of the changes that are coming our way driven by carbon pollution. prgtoken Nobody should take my word for it. I urge my colleagues to listen to their own home State's climatologists, their own home State's university researchers, their own home State's public health officials, and their own constituents who are out there fighting to protect their communities from the changes that are already happening right before their eyes. prgtoken In Rhode Island, we have a lot of fishermen, just as Louisiana has, . The president of the Rhode Island Commercial Fishermen's Association is Chris Brown. Just this past week, he was the subject of a New York Times article. ``Climate change is going to make it hard on some of those species that are not particularly fond of warm or warming waters,'' he told the Times. ``We used to come right here''--where he was on his boat, The Proud Mary--``and catch two, three, four thousand pounds a day, sometimes 10.'' But the whiting, the fish he was after, have moved north to cooler waters. prgtoken The Times reports that two-thirds of marine species off the northeast coast have moved from their traditional ranges into deeper and cooler water. prgtoken John Manderson is a biologist at NOAA's northeast fisheries science center, and he told the Times in that article that public policy needs to keep pace with the rapidly changing oceans, where species are shifting northward in response to warming 10 times as quickly as they do on the land. ``Our ideas of property rights and laws are purely land-based,'' he said, ``but the ocean is all about flux and turbulence and movement.'' prgtoken In Rhode Island, fishermen are getting clobbered by that flux. prgtoken Captain Dave Monti is a member of the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council. He wrote in the Providence Journal this week: I often think about the fish and how important it is to grow them to abundance so there are more fish for all to catch and eat. . . . In 2017 we need a fish-first agenda, or someday there may be no fish left to catch. Climate change, acidification, overfishing by world nations, and changing federal strategies could make it the worst of times for fish in 2017. . . . We need to make an effort to understand what is happening to the environment and the fish, and then take that second step of communicating it to others to affect policy. prgtoken That is what I am being asked. prgtoken The Providence Journal also recently wrote about how in Rhode Island the sea is moving higher and farther inland, as it is in Louisiana, which is the State losing ground fastest to the ocean of all the 50. They
REGULATIONS FROM THE EXECUTIVE IN NEED OF SCRUTINY ACT OF 2017
Jerrold Nadler (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2017-1-5

my amendment would exempt from the bill any regulations that pertain to nuclear reactor safety. In other words, my amendment would allow the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or the NRC to continue to issue rules under the current system, thereby making it easier to protect Americans from potential nuclear disaster. prgtoken The underlying legislation, the REINS Act, would grind the gears of rulemaking to a halt by requiring all major rules to be affirmatively approved in advance by Congress. A regulation would be blocked from being implemented if even one Chamber declines to pass an approval resolution. The goal of this legislation, quite simply, is to stop the regulatory process in its tracks, regardless of the impact on public health and safety. prgtoken One example that highlights the risks and dangers of this legislation is prgtoken the subject of this amendment: Nuclear power. prgtoken The world watched in horror when an earthquake and resulting tsunami devastated the area around Fukushima, Japan, a few years ago. That disaster then caused its own disaster--the meltdown of three reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The meltdown led to the release of radioactive isotopes, the creation of a 20-kilometer exclusion zone around the power plant, and the displacement, consequently, of 156,000 people. Just last month, seaborne radiation from Fukushima was even detected on the West Coast of the United States. prgtoken The same year as the Fukushima meltdown, Virginia was struck by a relatively rare but strong earthquake, felt up and down the eastern seaboard. While the region was spared a similar disaster, the earthquake required a nuclear power plant near the epicenter to go offline as a precaution and served as a wake-up call that our nuclear reactors needed additional safety protocols. prgtoken For me, this concern hits close to home. A nuclear power plant, Indian Point, which has suffered numerous malfunctions in recent years, lies just less than 40 miles away from my New York City district, about 30 miles away from the city. Twenty million people live within a 50- mile radius around the plant, the same radius used by the NRC as the basis for the evacuation zone recommended after the Fukushima disaster. prgtoken Indian Point also sits near two earthquake fault lines and, according to the NRC, is the most likely nuclear power plant in the country to experience core damage because of an earthquake. prgtoken Because of the catastrophes that can result from disasters, be they natural or manmade at nuclear power plants, prevention of meltdowns is absolutely vital. Since Fukushima, the NRC has issued new rules designed to upgrade power plants to withstand severe events like earthquakes, and to have enough backup power so as to avoid a meltdown for a significant length of time. prgtoken The NRC must retain the ability to issue new regulations to safeguard the health and well-being of all Americans. H
OBJECTING TO UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 2334
Janice D. Schakowsky (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-1-5

I stand here as a proud Jew and someone who, throughout my entire life, has been an advocate for the State of Israel, and I am standing here to oppose H. Res. 11. prgtoken As a Member of Congress, I have been committed to maintaining America's unwavering support for Israel, which has lasted from the very first moments of Israel's existence. prgtoken The U.S.-Israel bond is unbreakable, despite the fact that the United States' administrations have not always agreed with the particular policies of an Israeli Government. Contrary to the assertions of H. Res. 11, the U.S. has often expressed those differences in the context of the United Nations. Presidents, from Lyndon Johnson to , have each vetoed and sometimes voted for a U.N. resolution contrary to the wishes of Israel's Government at the time. Only the administration, until 2 weeks ago, never, ever cast a vote against what Israel wanted. prgtoken But opposition to the building of settlements on land belonging to Palestinians before the 1967 war--with the exception of the land, of course, that is going to be swapped, agreed to by both parties--has been the official U.S. policy for many decades, contrary, again, to the assertions of H. Res. 11. prgtoken It has also been the policy of the United States to recognize that the only long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict--the violence, the loss of life--is to create two states: one for the Palestinians and one for Israel. A two-state solution is the only way Israel can continue as both a democratic and a Jewish state, living in the peace and security that has eluded her from the very beginning. The building of settlements is an obstacle to achieving that goal. prgtoken And, of course, settlements aren't the only obstacle to Israeli- Palestinian peace. The U.S. resolution reiterates the Palestinian Authority security forces must continue to counter terrorism and condemn all of the provocations.
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET, FISCAL YEAR 2017
Chris Van Hollen (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2017-1-5

this is the first time I have risen to speak on this Senate floor. I want to start by thanking my fellow Marylanders for the honor of representing them in this great United States Senate. I want to thank my colleague Mr. Cardin, the senior Senator from Maryland, for joining us. I thank the new Senator from California, Ms for joining us as well. I want to say to my fellow Marylanders that I look forward to working every day for their benefit and for the benefit of our Nation. I want to say to my new colleagues in the Senate--s and alike--I look forward to working with all of you in the years to come for the good of our Nation. prgtoken I understand it is somewhat unusual for a new Member to speak so soon on the Senate floor, but what we are witnessing today in the Senate is not business as usual, and these are not ordinary times. Having served as the lead on the House Budget Committee, I know that never before has the Senate rushed out of the gate so quickly to enact a budget procedure to deny the minority party--and by extension, hundreds of millions of Americans--their rights in this United States Senate. Yet here we are, speeding to use the budget process to fast-track a so- called reconciliation bill that will destroy the Affordable Care Act and, in doing so, wipe out access to affordable care for over 30 million Americans and create total chaos throughout the American health care system. That is reckless. It is irresponsible, and it violates the traditions of this institution. prgtoken I may be new to the Senate, but I am not new to the way this Senate has proudly been described by its Members, both and s, both current and former Members. My colleague Senator will attest that one piece of advice we all received from both and ic Members of this Senate was to read the chapter in Robert Caro's book about Lyndon Johnson entitled ``The Desks of the Senate,'' where Robert Caro talks about the burnished mahogany tops, and he tells the story of the Senate through the Senators who were protagonists in great debates throughout our history. He highlights the idea that this Senate is supposed to be a deliberative body that reflects on issues with a thoughtful exchange of ideas. Unfortunately, that certainly does not describe the Senate of this moment. Having just arrived from the House of Representatives, what we are witnessing today is much more like the tyranny of the majority characteristic of that body. prgtoken This Senate is supposed to be different, but at least for now it seems very much like the House I just left. prgtoken As a result of the fast-track process in the Senate, we will be overriding and roughshodding over the will of a majority of the American population, and Americans are just now waking up to learn about the bait-and-switch scheme that has been perpetrated on them. For more than 6 years, Repu