mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED--Resumed
Martin Heinrich (Democrat, NM) \u2014 2019-2-6

I start by thanking Senator Tom Udall, our senior Senator from New Mexico, for the incredible amount of work and really the years of advocacy and attention that have gone into many of the portions of this land package that he just described. Without his leadership, without his partnership, we would not be celebrating this opportunity today. prgtoken I rise to celebrate the landmark conservation measures that we are about to vote on here in the Senate. As a Senator from a State that proudly calls itself the Land of Enchantment, I know how much our public lands mean to New Mexicans. These are the places to which generations of families have gone to explore our natural wonders and to learn about our rich history and our incredible culture. Hunting and fishing, as well as hiking and camping, on our public lands are quite simply part of our identity in the State of New Mexico, and this relationship with our land and our water is fundamental to who we are. prgtoken These activities also fuel a thriving outdoor recreation economy that supports nearly 100,000 jobs in New Mexico prgtoken alone. Nationwide, outdoor recreation generates nearly $900 billion of consumer spending each year and directly supports more than 7 million American jobs. Think about that--7 million American jobs. That is why I thought to pass this legislation that will open additional access and create recreation opportunities on our public lands to support this important part of our economy. prgtoken I commend our chairman, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, our ranking member, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and our former ranking member, Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington. We are, to say the least, going through a frustrating political era here in Washington, and there just don't seem to be many things we can agree on these days. Yet the package of public lands and conservation bills that we are now considering on the floor reflect Chairman Murkowski, Ranking Member Manchin, and Senator Cantwell's leadership. It demonstrates their willingness to put aside partisan rancor and do the hard work that is required to build bipartisan consensus. prgtoken I am proud that we are moving forward to pass these bills that have earned broad, bipartisan support in our committee to conserve our public lands, to create new outdoor recreation opportunities, and to build on the success of our Nation's most effective conservation programs. I want to quickly highlight some of these incredible victories in this bill for New Mexico. prgtoken First and foremost, I am so proud that we are passing two bills to advance community-driven conservation visions for New Mexico's two newest national monuments--the Rio Grande del Norte and the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks. From the tops of the Cerro de la Olla and Ute Mountain to the depths of the Rio Grande Gorge, the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument in northern New Mexico is one of the most spectacular lands
HONORING MAYOR JOE D. HERMES
Michael Cloud (Republican, TX) \u2014 2019-2-6

. Madam , I rise today to honor Mayor Joe D. Hermes, an Edna native who dedicated his life to public service and his community. prgtoken Mayor Hermes first moved to Edna when he was six years old and has considered it his home ever since. His first public service role came as council member from 1979 to 1987. He was then elected Mayor in 1987. After forty devoted years of serving the people of Edna, Mayor Hermes has decided to retire. prgtoken Since Mayor Hermes took office, Edna has built three parks and a swimming pool, purchased and restored property for the city, moved City Hall from the building that now accommodates the Edna Police Department, and navigated the community through difficult economic times. prgtoken Mayor Hermes' service to Edna includes various board member and committee member positions on the Golden Crescent Regional Planning Commission, the Jackson County Industrial Foundation and the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, among others. prgtoken Mayor Hermes' retirement will afford him the opportunity to spend more time with some of his most important constituents, his three children and grandchildren, all of whom live within two hours of the city. Nevertheless, he will remain involved in the community. prgtoken I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Mayor Joe D. Hermes for his tremendous public service and dedication to the people of Edna. He is a model of generosity and embodies the spirit of Edna, Texas.
ROUTE 66 CENTENNIAL COMMISSION ACT
Rodney Davis (Republican, IL) \u2014 2019-2-6

. Madam , such time as I may consume. prgtoken Madam , I am honored to be here today. prgtoken I recognize the chairperson of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee and thank her for her support, Ms. Holmes Norton. I appreciate her support on this issue. As her ranking member on the committee, I look forward to working with her in a very bipartisan way to make sure that we put infrastructure first when it comes to the United States of America, and I congratulate her on her chairmanship. prgtoken who has joined us on the floor, my partner in getting this bill passed in the last Congress, too, Grace Napolitano. We kind of sit on both sides of Route 66: I in central Illinois, and Mrs. Napolitano on the far west side with a lot more ocean air than in the middle of Illinois in her district near Santa Monica, California. prgtoken As you know, Madam , I rise today in support of H.R. 66. prgtoken I thank the of the House for giving us this designation of H.R. 66 because it is very important for the historical context of this bill that creates the Route 66 Centennial Commission. prgtoken I am proud to have Route 66 run right through the middle of my district. As you know, in 1926, Route 66 became our Nation's first all- paved highway under the U.S. highway system, connecting Chicago, Illinois, which is about 3 hours north of me. Right through the middle of the 13th District in Illinois runs this road. prgtoken Early on, this road, of course, ended in Santa Monica, California, but it was used by hundreds of thousands of Americans, as Ms. Norton said, seeking escape from the Dust Bowl. It provided critical employment opportunities for road crews and infrastructure investment during our Great Depression. prgtoken During World War II, our highway transported troops, equipment, supplies to military bases across our country, and it was used after the war by thousands of troops coming home to see their families. prgtoken By the 1950s, Route 66 began to see a rise in tourism and became the true symbol of American freedom and independence that we know today. prgtoken In April of 2017, my colleague from central Illinois, Darin LaHood, and I went on an extended tour along with numerous State legislators in Illinois, like my good friend Representative Tim Butler and my State representative, Avery Bourne, and we toured the stretches of Route 66 that we share. prgtoken I had the opportunity to personally witness the economic impact of the Mother Road throughout my district and throughout Congressman LaHood's district. It supports many jobs and key economic activity in many of our smaller rural communities that we are blessed enough to represent. This keeps many of those communities alive, economically. prgtoken Now travelers along Route 66 in my district can see a giant pink elephant. It is a big statue. You can't miss it prgtoken even when you are traveling on Interstate 55. But what you also can see there
NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED--Resumed
Joni Ernst (Republican, IA) \u2014 2019-2-6

today I rise to speak on the strength of the U.S. economy, and I would like to thank my colleagues who have joined me here on the floor to address this very important topic. prgtoken As President said in last night's State of the Union, ``Our economy is thriving like never before.'' prgtoken Last Friday's January jobs report was a continued good-news story, with 304,000 new jobs added just last month. It is also an example of how pro-growth policies are getting people back to work. Job growth was strong across most sectors, including manufacturing, where 261,000 jobs were created over the last year. prgtoken Just as important, this economic growth has put upward pressure on wages, with the average hourly pay increasing by 3.2 percent from last year. Lower wage workers saw some of the biggest increases. This means more money in your pockets to put food on the table and provide for growing families. prgtoken The tight labor market has drawn workers off of the sidelines, and that is a good thing. Folks who have been unemployed or underemployed are finding work, and those seeking to shift to a better paying job or one with better hours that is closer to home are finding those opportunities. prgtoken Nowhere is the power of this job creation more evident than in my home State of Iowa, where the 2.4-percent unemployment rate is the lowest in the Nation. There are 64,000-plus jobs currently open in Iowa. Over 1.6 million Iowans are employed, which is the most in our State's history. Every time I meet with an employer from my home State, they tell me about the challenges of filling jobs in order to keep their businesses running. They want to hire people, and business is booming. Under pro-growth policies and the leadership of Governor Kim Reynolds, Iowa's economy continues to expand, and wages are increasing across the State. prgtoken I also agree with the President that ``no one has benefited more from our thriving economy than women, who have filled 58 percent of the new jobs created in the last year.'' Women are also becoming small business owners at increasing rates across Iowa. These ``girl bosses'' are creating jobs and helping Iowa's economy to rumble. Yes, ladies, Iowa is the place to be. prgtoken The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has allowed Iowa's job creators to invest in their workers and grow their businesses. For example, a business in Dyersville, IA, invested 75 percent of its tax savings last year into its employees, giving $800 bonuses to the 162 full-time workers. One of its employees said she planned to put her bonus into her retirement fund--an investment in her future. prgtoken Furthermore, cutting redtape and scaling back burdensome regulations have led to a surge in small business optimism. A December survey from the Iowa Association of Business and Industry found that 97 percent of respondents planned to make capital expenditures this quarter, while a majority e
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ZERO TOLERANCE FOR FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION
Scott Perry (Republican, PA) \u2014 2019-2-6

. Madam , I am here today to talk about something that is completely unimaginable to me. I can't imagine I am here to talk about it on the floor of the House of Representatives. I can't imagine that it occurs in the world. I can't imagine that it occurs on this very day in this world. I can't imagine that it occurs in our country, but it does. prgtoken Madam , I rise today in solidarity with all who condemn a horrific practice on this, the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation. prgtoken Today, I introduced a bipartisan resolution with my colleague, the gentlewoman from Florida, Congresswoman Lois Frankel, which calls for a coordinated response from the United States and the international community to end this horrific and cruel practice. prgtoken The numbers surrounding FGM are shocking. They are staggering. Two hundred million women and girls alive today are survivors of FGM. Of those 200 million, 44 million are girls at or under the age of 14. prgtoken Madam , these are children. These are the little girls who you see going to elementary school in your community. prgtoken This year alone, an estimated 3 million girls are at risk of being genitally mutilated. In 25 countries where FGM is routinely practiced, between the years 2015 and 2030, an estimated 68 million girls will be cut, unless we take concerted and accelerated action. prgtoken This is an urgent situation when you imagine what happens, and I am going to go through it with you. prgtoken People ask, what exactly is FGM? Until just a few years ago, until I read about it and met some of the ladies who have had to endure it, I didn't know and I wasn't aware. But FGM comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for nonmedical reasons. prgtoken There is no medical necessity whatsoever to do this. It is most commonly performed on girls from infancy to age 15. prgtoken Now, just think about that: no anesthesia, no forewarning, no approval. prgtoken Madam , I am joined by the gentlewoman. Wonderful. prgtoken FGM is classified into four major types, ranging from pricking, nicking, scraping, and cauterization, to total excision and infibulation. prgtoken FGM is widely recognized by the international community as a violation of women's and girls' basic human rights, the right to their own body, their very own body and no one else's, and what happens to it. prgtoken Organizations that condemn FGM include the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. prgtoken The World Health Organization says this practice has no health benefit for women and girls and, instead, can have severe short- and long-term impacts on the physical, psychological, sexual, and reproductive health of these innocent, helpless girls. prgtoken The immediate physical complications of FGM include, obviously, severe pain, exce
NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED--Resumed
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2019-2-6

I never cease to be amazed how the politics here inside the beltway remind me of two ships passing in the night, where we can all be looking at exactly the same thing and describe it in such remarkably different ways. prgtoken I have been amazed at the ic leader's negative comments about the President's speech last night, and I listened to comments of my friend the whip. They found virtually nothing to like about what the President had to say last night. prgtoken So I was a little bit surprised to see a CBS News poll that indicates that 70 percent of the viewers approved of what they heard in President 's speech last night at the State of the Union, and 72 percent said they approved of President 's ideas on immigration, one of the most contentious and divisive issues that faces our country. prgtoken One conclusion might be that it is because our ic colleagues are simply unwilling to do anything to prgtoken work with President and are determined to do everything they can in order to defeat him or that anything that he happens to be for they are reflexively against. That seemed to be what gave us the 35-day shutdown, where Nancy Pelosi said that building a physical barrier along the southwestern border was immoral, even though and s had routinely voted for fencing, extending the hundreds of miles there in the Secure Fence Act of 2006 and 2008 Hillary Clinton and Senator Schumer, the ic leader, all voted for that. Now Nancy Pelosi woke up one morning and decided it was immoral to build any physical barrier at all along the southwestern border. prgtoken I agree with those who say the real immorality here is to see the scourge of human trafficking, sex slavery, women and children being held against their will by the traffickers who transfer people up and across the southwestern border. What is really immoral is to stand by and do nothing and watch 70,000 Americans die of drug overdoses last year alone, with a significant amount of that due to opioid addiction, including the 90 percent of the heroin that comes into the United States from Mexico. To me, that is the immorality, not some fence or wall or pedestrian bridge or whatever the physical barrier may be. prgtoken I agree with those who were polled in the CBS News poll who believe that what we heard last night from the President was a strong message in his second State of the Union address. Since President took office 2 years ago, the American people have seen real results and a shot of adrenalin has been given to our economy, allowing millions of Americans to get back to work. prgtoken Yes, our economy is booming. We have gotten our optimism and confidence back again. Wages are on the rise. People are getting to keep more of what they earn, and middle-class Americans are seeing their paychecks expand. prgtoken We have heard the remarkable statistics that people
NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED--Resumed
John Barrasso (Republican, WY) \u2014 2019-2-6

today U.S. taxpayers are subsidizing the electric car industry. The cost to these taxpayers is billions of dollars, and the subsidies have lasted now for nearly 30 years. prgtoken In 2008, Washington added a tax credit for purchases of electric vehicles. The market was very small at that time, and it was worth encouraging that market, but today the electric market for vehicles is well established. The auto industry no longer needs these pricey subsidies for electric vehicles, and I believe it is time to pull the plug on subsidies for electric vehicles. prgtoken Leading manufacturers, including General Motors, Ford, and Volkswagen, have announced plans to massively increase investment in the electric vehicle market. Global automakers are prgtoken promoting electric car luxury brands, such as Bentley, Aston Martin, Maserati, Porsche, and Cadillac, but with these new electric vehicles coming to the market, the subsidy program is going to continue to run at an enormous cost to American taxpayers. prgtoken Congress first passed legislation to provide subsidies for electric car buyers back in 1992. The purpose was to temporarily support a promising, environmentally friendly market. For decades now, Washington expanded this program of tax credits. At the same time, many States enacted similar subsidies. prgtoken Between 2011 and 2017, electric car buyers received more than $4 billion in Federal credits alone, costing taxpayers up to $7,500 for each vehicle. This program disproportionately subsidizes wealthy buyers because nearly 80 percent of the tax credits go to households earning at least $100,000 a year. Well, these car buyers don't need a taxpayer subsidy. prgtoken The program has served its purpose, and I say that because today a million electric vehicles travel our highways. The global demand for electric vehicles is rising as well. Now nearly every automaker is entering the market. In fact, the U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that sales of light-duty electric vehicles will reach 4 million vehicles by 2025. prgtoken So here is exhibit A. This past weekend was Super Bowl weekend. They had so many commercials, and it cost about $5 million to run an ad during the Super Bowl. Well, the automaker Audi ran a commercial saying that by 2025 one-third of their cars--one out of every three cars--will be an electric vehicle. So I use that as exhibit A to say this market is firmly established. As a matter of fact, this market is positioned for expansion--which means so will the cost of subsidies. I believe it is time to take taxpayers off the hook. prgtoken I have introduced legislation, the Fairness for Every Driver Act, and it is to end the electric vehicle subsidy program. My legislation has three key goals; first is to the save taxpayers billions of dollars through the subsidy program; second is to help maintain our aging roads and bridges; and the third is to reduce wasteful Washington spe
ROUTE 66 CENTENNIAL COMMISSION ACT
Steve Watkins (Republican, KS) \u2014 2019-2-6

. Madam , I am pleased to support H.R. 66, which would establish the Route 66 Centennial Commission. prgtoken The historic Route 66, The Main Street of America, travels through Galena, Riverton, and Baxter Springs, Kansas in my district. prgtoken While the 13 miles of Route 66 in Kansas may be the shortest stretch, it certainly has its fair share of history and beauty. prgtoken From inspiring the animated movie character ``Tow Mater'' in Cars, to being the very definition of `the open road'. prgtoken Route 66 is a staple of hometown America--and there is no better representation of hometown America than in these three Southeast Kansas communities. prgtoken Route 66 is not only an economic driver, it is part of the identity of the community. prgtoken I am thrilled to see Congress is taking proactive steps towards the revitalization and preservation of Route 66 and I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this legislation.
RECOGNIZING OMAHA PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION AND DIRECTOR TOBA COHEN- DUNNING
Don Bacon (Republican, NE) \u2014 2019-2-6

. Madam , I rise today to recognize the Omaha Public Schools Foundation and its director, Toba Cohen-Dunning for their commitment to the children attending Omaha Public Schools. prgtoken The Foundation was established in 1984 with $1,555, gifted by teachers and staff. It is now a multimillion-dollar foundation serving the students and teachers in Nebraska's largest school district. prgtoken Last November, the Foundation was recognized with the Investor in America Award by the Partners for Livable Communities which acknowledges groups and individuals who use creative public and private partnerships to create more opportunities for livable communities. prgtoken As director of the Foundation, Toba directs a unique model of social entrepreneurship that invests the revenues from early childhood education and childhood programs to scholarships for high school seniors, teacher innovation and classroom grants, and community partnership projects. prgtoken Madam , I offer my congratulations to Ms. Cohen-Dunning and the staff of the Foundation for their commitment to our children.