mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
PUTTING PARTISAN POLITICS OVER THE GOOD OF OUR NATION
Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (Republican, GA) \u2014 2019-10-22

. Madam , I rise today to support President Donald J. . prgtoken The ' entire impeachment process has been a sham since day one. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who was in charge of leading the inquiry, has lied to the American people. prgtoken Chairman Schiff made up his own version of the President's call with Ukraine. He lied about his dealings with the whistleblower and has misled the country about the campaign and Russia for years. prgtoken Unfortunately, House again put partisan politics over the good of our Nation last night by blocking a vote to censure and condemn Adam Schiff. The chairman in charge of this ridiculous impeachment inquiry must be held accountable for blatantly misleading the American people. prgtoken We have all seen the transcript of the call between President and the President of Ukraine. There was nothing there. So my ic colleagues are left with making up their own stories and seeing what people will believe. prgtoken won't even allow noncommittee members to attend depositions and interviews, nor will they specify their authority to do so. prgtoken Madam , our country deserves better.
ORDERS FOR WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019
Jerry Moran (Republican, KS) \u2014 2019-10-22

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m Wednesday, October 23; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, morning business be closed, and the Senate proceed to resume consideration of S.J. Res. 50. I further ask the debate time on the joint resolution expire at 2:45 p.m. tomorrow and the Senate vote on passage of S.J. Res. 50; finally, that following the disposition of S.J. Res. 50, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 3055.
MEMBERS ALIENATED FROM IMPEACHMENT PROCESS
Barry Loudermilk (Republican, GA) \u2014 2019-10-22

. Madam , I am in my fifth year in this esteemed body, but I have never in my 5 years been subjected to being alienated from one of the most important duties that people in this House are given the responsibility for. prgtoken There is no issue greater than impeachment, other than just declaring war. But, yet, I have been alienated from the process. prgtoken Now, when Pelosi decided that she was going to start somewhat of an inquiry, I was told, being on the Financial Services Committee, I will be one of the committees involved in it. prgtoken But then, apparently, the rules changed, and we shifted it to two other committees. And those committees, when they were having their hearings in front of the American people, apparently, that didn't go to their pleasing because the testimonies didn't meet their narrative, so they moved it into a secret area. prgtoken Since then, I have been trying to get ahold of the transcripts of the hearings that I have been alienated from. prgtoken I actually got one today. After a week of looking for Volker's testimony and asking for others, I finally got one today of Ambassador Taylor, from The Washington Post. It appears that we are leaking what we want to leak.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Tom Cotton (Republican, AR) \u2014 2019-10-22

Army CPL Jerry Garrison was reported missing in action on December 2, 1950. After all these years, Corporal Garrison is on his way home to be laid to rest with full honor due to a member of the U.S. Armed Forces. prgtoken Corporal Garrison was one of ``The Chosin Few'' who fought on that frozen ground to protect his fellow soldiers and the independence of the Korean people against the Communist hordes. God, in His mysterious providence, chose to call Corporal Garrison home during that epic battle, but only recently were his remains discovered in Vietnam. prgtoken Corporal Garrison's funeral today is a long-overdue moment of honor for a brave soldier and a long-anticipated moment of mourning and remembrance for his loved ones. prgtoken Let's also remember in our prayers the many families whose loved ones haven't yet come home. Corporal Garrison's recovery is a moment of hope for these families, a reminder that our Nation will not rest until every one of our missing heroes is brought home, and it is a reminder to our troops who are in harm's way today that we will always bring them home should they fall in the line of duty or go missing in action. We have now fulfilled that solemn pledge to Corporal Garrison. Nearly 70 years after he went missing, we have once again affirmed that the United States leaves no man behind. prgtoken Rest in peace, Corporal Garrison. Anniversary of the Beirut Marine Barracks Bombing prgtoken , 36 years ago this week, an Iranian suicide bomber detonated thousands of pounds of explosives inside a Marine compound in Beirut, Lebanon. So terrible was the blast that 15 miles out at sea, the marines aboard the USS Iwo Jima could see black smoke building over Beirut like an ominous storm cloud. The devastating attack claimed the lives of 241 Americans who were bravely keeping the peace in a country that was wracked by violence. A separate blast claimed the lives of 58 of our French allies. prgtoken This anniversary is a sobering reminder that freedom comes at a price--a price too often paid by brave Americans in uniform. In Beirut, it was paid by 220 marines, 18 sailors, and 3 soldiers. prgtoken As a memorial to their valor, I ask unanimous consent to have their names printed in the Record.
LET'S GET ON WITH WORKING FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
Bill Johnson (Republican, OH) \u2014 2019-10-22

. Madam , once again, Members returned to Washington this week. And, once again, important bipartisan work on issues like lowering prescription drug prices, encouraging rural broadband build-out, passing the USMCA trade bill, and improving America's aging infrastructure has stalled because of the very partisan efforts to impeach President . prgtoken This week, the ic majority will hold more secret meetings in the Capitol basement, release more selective, cherry-picked leaks designed to confuse the American people, and continue their guilty- until-proven-innocent sham to impeach the President. prgtoken They have been plotting this since he was walking down Pennsylvania Avenue on January 20, 2017, and probably even before that. But, the Russian collusion hoax failed miserably, and the Robert Mueller testimony gave them nothing. So, now, they are on to plan B. prgtoken They say they have the evidence to impeach, but we have already heard that song. ic leaders have claimed to have evidence before. Let's see if they can actually produce their evidence this time. prgtoken Let's get on with working for the American people.
Drug Caucus Hearing (Executive Session)
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2019-10-22

this Congress, I have the great honor of cochairing the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics with my friend and colleague from California, Senator Feinstein. prgtoken As our country continues to battle the scourge of the opioid epidemic, fight drug trafficking at our borders, and attack illicit drug sources abroad, the work of this caucus could not be more timely or more important. We must do more, I believe, to treat addiction, and we need to do more to stop Americans from using illegal drugs in the first instance. prgtoken Earlier this year, we had a hearing to examine the global narcotics epidemic--and it is a global one--and discuss our country's counternarcotics strategy. At this first hearing, we were lucky to have the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, as a witness. He spoke in depth about the scope of this problem and how the State Department is working with our friends and allies abroad to curb the supply of these illicit drugs. We learned a lot from Secretary Pompeo and our other expert witnesses about the complexity of this problem and a need for a whole- of-government approach. It was a strong way to kick off our agenda. prgtoken I am looking forward to our second hearing tomorrow, which I will talk about briefly, where we will have experts testifying on the public health effects of the most commonly used illicit drug--marijuana. prgtoken A 2018 report found that an estimated 43.5 million Americans used marijuana in the last year. That is the highest percentage since 2002. While marijuana is still a prohibited drug under Federal law, we know that more than half of the States have legalized it in some form, making the rise in usage not all that surprising. prgtoken Now, there is no shortage of people who claim that marijuana has endless health benefits and can help patients struggling with everything from epilepsy to anxiety to cancer treatments. This reminds me of some of the advertising we saw from the tobacco industry years ago where they actually claimed public health benefits from smoking tobacco, which we know, as a matter of fact, were false and that tobacco contains nicotine, an addictive drug, and is implicated with cancers of different kinds. prgtoken We are hearing a lot of the same happy talk with regard to marijuana and none of the facts that we need to understand about the public health impact of marijuana use. We have heard from folks here in Congress, as well as a number of our ic colleagues who are running for President, about their desire to legalize marijuana at the Federal level. But for the number of voices in support of legalization, there are even more unanswered questions about both the short-term and long-term public health effects. prgtoken Between 1995 and 2014, THC concentration--that is the active ingredient in marijuana--has increased threefold, making today's version of the drug far stronger and more addictive than ever before. It is true tha
AUTHORITY FOR COMMITTEES TO MEET
James E. Risch (Republican, ID) \u2014 2019-10-22

I have 7 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders. prgtoken Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate: committee on banking, housing, and urban affairs prgtoken The Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, October 22, 2019, at 10 a.m to conduct a hearing. committee on energy and natural resources prgtoken The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, October 22, 2019, at 10 a.m to conduct a hearing. committee on foreign relations prgtoken The Committee on Foreign Relations is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, October 22, 2019, at 2:30 p.m to conduct a hearing. committee on homeland security and governmental affairs prgtoken The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, October 22, 2019, at 2 p.m to conduct a hearing on the following nominations: Joshua A. Deahl, to be an Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Deborah J. Israel and Andrea L. Hertzfeld, both to be an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, and Robert Anthony Dixon, to be United States Marshal for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Department of Justice. committee on the judiciary prgtoken The Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, October 22, 2019, at 10 a.m to conduct a hearing. select committee on intelligence prgtoken The Select Committee on Intelligence is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, October 22, 2019, at 2:30 p.m to conduct a closed briefing. subcommittee on science, oceans, fisheries, and weather prgtoken The Subcommittee on Science, Oceans, Fisheries, and Weather of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, October 22, 2019, at 2:15 p.m to conduct a hearing.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
John Barrasso (Republican, WY) \u2014 2019-10-22

I come to the floor to discuss last Tuesday's 2020 ic Presidential debate and specifically to discuss the topic of healthcare. prgtoken Despite all of the political posturing, here are the key takeaways: No. 1, the still want to take work-earned health insurance away from 180 million Americans. No. 2, the want to raise taxes on the middle class and on all Americans to pay for it. prgtoken Under the ' plan, people will lose forever the health coverage they have earned at work. That means union workers' hard- fought health benefits will disappear. It means that Nevada's food service workers and Michigan's autoworkers will all lose their earned healthcare. prgtoken Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders want to replace work-based insurance with a one-size-fits-all, government-run scheme. At the same time, the 2020 want to give free, taxpayer-funded health insurance to illegal immigrants. It is hard to believe, but that is a matter of fact. That is the ' so-called Medicare for All plan. Really, it is one-size-fits-all, government-controlled healthcare, and it is extremely expensive, even more expensive than I mentioned before on the floor, which is according to a new study that has come out by something called the Urban Institute. This liberal group has just reported that the cost of Medicare for All would be $34 trillion--that is 34 with a ``t.'' Let's put that into perspective. How much money is that? Over the next 10 years, that will be more money than we will spend on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security combined. It will be an astronomically large number. prgtoken The Washington Post recently published a story with the headline ``Will Medicare for-all hurt the middle class?'' The subheadline reads ``Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders struggle with questions about its impact.'' We have seen them struggle with the impact of this very expensive, one-size-fits-all plan. The story notes that Senators Warren and Sanders are scrambling to ease concerns over middle-class costs, because that is what people are concerned about in this country--the cost of healthcare. prgtoken Working families back home in Wyoming--and I talked with many this past weekend at our University of Wyoming's homecoming football game-- and people from all around the State are not fooled by what is being offered by the in their debates. They know they will have to pay dearly if the ' scheme is adopted and ever signed into law. prgtoken The Washington Post's story quotes and cites Ken Thorpe, who is Emory University's health policy chair. He says: ``The plan is, by design, incredibly disruptive.'' He goes on to say: ``You create enormous winners and losers,'' and he adds: ``There is no question it hits the middle class.'' prgtoken For the middle class, it is a double punch in the gut, and here is why. Not only will those in the middle class lose their insu
KANSANS HAVE IMPEACHMENT FATIGUE
Roger Marshall (Republican, KS) \u2014 2019-10-22

. Madam , Kansans have impeachment fatigue. We are exhausted. We are weary. We are sick and tired of 3 years of trying to change the results of the 2016 election. prgtoken Kansans want to know why Congress can't pass USMCA, modernize healthcare, or secure our border. prgtoken Regardless, if the want to go down into the bowels of this Capitol, into the soundproof Star Chamber, it is my job to be the eyes and ears of Kansans and to ensure a fair and due process will occur. My efforts to do this thus far have been denied by the . prgtoken This entire process is anything but fair and defies democracy. But what is worse, it is all done in secret. prgtoken This Ukrainian hoax has turned into a Soviet-styled silencing of the press, with the leaking out only portions of the transcript that might help keep them from allowing to be reelected again. prgtoken Why isn't the press screaming bloody murder? I will never understand. prgtoken Madam , it is the President's job to investigate corruption. Let's turn this process back to the people, and let the President make his case to America.
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
Lamar Alexander (Republican, TN) \u2014 2019-10-22

Senator Jones made a very important point, not only about Alabama, but really about every State. prgtoken The Pell grant that we are talking about is money you don't have to pay back. This is not a student loan that you lay awake at night worrying about. prgtoken Forty percent of our college students in this country go to community colleges, 2-year colleges. The average tuition at community colleges in America is $3,600. The average Pell grant is $3,600. Just those few facts show that basically 40 percent of those who go to college in America can go tuition-free or close to tuition-free because of the availability of the Pell grant. Now, it is higher in some States and lower in other States, but that is a fact. These are not loans that you have to pay back. These are grants that basically say that, if you want 2 years of college past high school, you can have it. prgtoken In States like Tennessee and an increasing number of other States, the State government is stepping up to say: Well, if the Pell grant doesn't quite cover your tuition, we will cover the rest of it, so it is tuition-free. prgtoken It is important for us to say to the American people--to parents, grandparents, and students--that: If you want to go to college, you can; and tuition is probably free or about free, but first, you have to fill out this 108 question FAFSA. That is the problem. prgtoken A president of a community college in Memphis that has almost all African-American students told me he prgtoken thinks he loses 1,500 students a semester because of the complexity of the FAFSA. At the other end of the State, the President of East Tennessee State University says that 10,000 of his students get their classes interrupted by the so-called verification process. We would fix almost all those problems with this bill. prgtoken I am glad that Senator Jones has stepped up and so many other Senators are agreeable to this. I hope we can answer the question that people ask me when I go home: Okay. Why don't you do it? prgtoken We should do it. We have been working on it for 5 years--whether it is Senator Bennet who introduced the first bill with me and a number of others or whether it is Senator Murray who introduced with me the bill that passed the Senate last year that said that, in one click, you can answer the tax questions and you don't have to give that information to the government twice. We can do that this year, and 20 million American families will be grateful. prgtoken , I ask unanimous consent that statements of support be printed in the Record following my remarks. prgtoken I will just summarize some of them quickly. prgtoken Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, said: ``In short, this bill makes the process of applying for student aid much easier for all students, but the biggest positive impact will be for our nation's neediest students.'' I would like to t
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2513, CORPORATE TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2019
Rob Woodall (Republican, GA) \u2014 2019-10-22

. Madam , such time as I may consume. prgtoken Madam , I am willing to stipulate that almost everything my two friends have just said is absolutely true. Law enforcement absolutely supports this provision. Law enforcement absolutely believes pursuing criminals will be easier under this provision. prgtoken Now, it would also be easier if we allowed folks to kick in everybody's door, but we don't. Protecting civil liberties is about protecting American citizens. prgtoken I am not even here today arguing that we have to include the amendment for the bill to go to the President's desk. I am here arguing that civil liberties deserve a conversation. prgtoken Madam , we did not come in until noon today. We are not going to burn the midnight oil tonight. We did two small bills last week, in its entirety, coming out of the Rules Committee. prgtoken We have the bandwidth to talk about civil liberties. It does not advantage us to pretend that folks who care about civil liberties are somehow a threat to democracy. People who care about civil liberties are the ones who have always protected democracy. prgtoken Whenever bad things happen in this country, the pendulum automatically swings in favor of protection of the group against the protection of the civil liberties of the individual. prgtoken It happened after 9/11. It happened after Pearl Harbor. It happens time and time again in this country. prgtoken What was asked in the Rules Committee is that we take 5 minutes. That is not a figure of speech, Madam . It is actually 5 minutes that was requested to make the case on the floor that civil liberties were not being appropriately protected in this bill and that we could do better. The answer from the majority was, no, it is not worth 5 minutes. prgtoken I stipulate that what my friends have said about the value of this legislation is absolutely true. So, when I offered the amendment that said let's do a cost-benefit analysis to document the truth of that, I expected the answer to be yes. The answer wasn't just no. The answer was, no, we don't even have the ability to do a cost-benefit analysis of this legislation. prgtoken Madam , that is just nonsense. It is nonsense. prgtoken I was asking for 5 minutes--literally, 300 seconds--to talk about whether or not American citizens were going to get the value out of this bill that was being suggested. The answer was, no, we don't have 300 seconds to spend talking about it. prgtoken I would argue 300 seconds isn't enough. Three hundred seconds isn't enough to talk about civil liberties. Three hundred seconds isn't enough to talk about taxpayer responsibilities. But that was the ask, and that ask was declined. prgtoken I can't come to the House floor with many of the rules that I am assigned to carry, Madam , and make this request because I don't have partners like the two partners that I have today. prgtoken You may not have noticed it, Madam , and you are kind if you tel
REMEMBERING HAROLD KELLER
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2019-10-22

recent research by historians has identified a person participating in the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima. prgtoken That iconic photograph of marines raising the American flag at Iwo Jima is a testament to American strength and sacrifice. prgtoken The Marine Corps has identified another one of the marines pictured in this photograph as Cpl Harold Keller of Brooklyn, IA. prgtoken Keller never sought recognition or fame. He never mentioned to his children that he had helped raise that flag. He died in 1979, so he doesn't know we now know it is he in the photograph. prgtoken Seventy-four years later, I am proud that this Iowan is finally recognized for his role in making history. prgtoken . prgtoken .