mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
GOD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS
Mo Brooks (Republican, AL) \u2014 2017-12-13

this is a very difficult speech for me to give. prgtoken God works in mysterious ways. prgtoken When you are an elected official, missed votes require an explanation. That is why I disclose this otherwise very personal, very private, and very humbling matter. prgtoken On Halloween night, after votes, as I stood on the Capitol steps, my doctor called and said: Congressman Brooks, bad news. You have high- risk prostate cancer. I felt an adrenaline rush as a chill went up and down my spine. prgtoken By way of background, prostate cancer kills almost 27,000 American men each year and is the third leading cause of cancer deaths behind only lung and colorectal cancers. Seventy-one percent of prostate cancer patients die in less than 5 years if the prostate cancer has spread beyond the abdominal cavity. In stark contrast, almost all prostate cancer patients live longer than 5 years if the cancer is discovered early and killed before it spreads. prgtoken For example, my father discovered his prostate cancer early. He lived four decades after his prostatectomy. My grandfather discovered his prostate cancer too late. He died not long thereafter. prgtoken After my doctor's diagnosis, I called my wife, Martha, who was back home in Huntsville welcoming trick-or-treaters and shared the bad news. That night was one of the loneliest nights apart in our 41-year marriage. I kept thinking about my wonderful family: What do I do next? How do I beat this cancer? prgtoken Overnight, I formed a plan and began implementing it. prgtoken In an emotional meeting, I informed my Washington staff of my cancer, that I was immediately flying to Huntsville after a CT scan that afternoon, and that, for medical reasons, I would be in Alabama the rest of the week. prgtoken Based on advice from friends and doctors, I chose Dr. Scott Tully as my treating physician. Dr. Tully is widely respected and has performed more than 3,000 prostatectomies. On Thursday, Martha and I drove to Birmingham to obtain Dr. Tully's insight about treatment options and risks. He advised a radical prostatectomy. prgtoken At Dr. Tully's direction, I undertook a heart stress test and a nuclear bone scan. Finally, I got some good news. My CT scan and nuclear bone scan revealed no cancer beyond the prostate. My heart stress test confirmed that I am strong enough to undergo the 2- to 3- hour surgery. prgtoken Prostate cancer mortality data is compelling. Speed is critical in the fight against prostate cancer. In compliance with the 2017 House calendar that set end-of-year votes on December 14, and at some risk to myself, Dr. Tully and I delayed my surgery until December 15--this Friday--and set a postsurgery medical procedure for December 20. My plan was to recuperate at home during the holidays with my family and return to Washington for a full workload when Congress reconvenes on January 3. prgtoken Unfortunately, last week the House abruptly changed the House voting calendar t
RECOGNIZING WOODWARD TOWNSHIP SUPERVISOR CLYDE GLOSSNER FOR 47 YEARS OF SERVICE
Glenn Thompson (Republican, PA) \u2014 2017-12-13

I rise today to honor the career of Clyde Glossner, who has served the Woodward Township in Clinton County as supervisor for nearly 50 years. prgtoken Supervisor Glossner, who is 84, will retire this year after 47 years of service. Next Tuesday, he will oversee his last board of supervisors meeting. prgtoken Supervisor Glossner has been a resident of the township his entire life. He is a member of the Forty and Eight organization and the Masons in Lock Haven. prgtoken He and his wife of 60 years, Wilma, were married in 1955 in First Evangelical United Brethren Church in Lock Haven. In September 1955, Clyde and Wilma purchased their home in Woodward Township. They still live there today, and they have three grown sons. prgtoken In his earlier years, Supervisor Glossner worked as a food inspector for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. He has shown his dedication to his neighbors through his years of public service, and the community will gather next Tuesday, December 19, at the Dunnstown Fire Hall to honor him. prgtoken , I commend Supervisor Glossner for a life of service, and I wish him well in his retirement.
Tax Reform Bill (Executive Session)
John Hoeven (Republican, ND) \u2014 2017-12-13

I come to the Senate floor to once again talk about the need to pass tax reform for hard-working Americans. The House has passed a bill, the Senate has passed a bill, and now, of course, we are working through the conference committee to get the very best product we can for the American people. prgtoken This tax relief is not just about reducing the tax burden on hard- working Americans and making sure they can keep more of their hard- earned dollars after tax, but it is also very much about economic growth. The tax relief package we are putting together that is coming together through the conference efforts, working to improve on both the House version and the Senate version, is designed to grow our economy. That is incredibly important because over the last decade, what we have seen are stagnant wages and income. So workers are working as hard as ever--harder than ever--but they are not seeing that growth in their paycheck. That is why we have to make this tax relief package pro- growth, so at the end of the day, that worker has a lower tax burden, but they also have a rising wage and more income. It is the combination of those two things that really--it is the rising tide that lifts all boats, if you will. That is how we generate that higher standard of living for workers and taxpayers across this great Nation. prgtoken So that is what we are working to do: tax relief, grow the economy, create more jobs--and create them here at home versus overseas--and higher wages and income. prgtoken These are just some of the statistics from the tax relief package that we put together. These are provided by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation as well as the White House Council of Economic Advisers. The objective is to grow wages by $4,000 over the 10-year scoring period, making sure our workers are seeing real wages. The estimate right now is that this tax bill is pro-growth and will generate, on average, $4,000 in higher wages, combined with an average tax cut of about $2,200. That is an average family--a family of four with median income. prgtoken It will generate almost 1 million new jobs, and that is what, of course, pushes wages higher. When you create more jobs, it is that demand for labor that pushes wages higher. That is how it works. We are talking about almost 1 million new jobs over the 10-year period and a 3.7-percent larger economy. So growing the economy, creating more jobs, and it is that demand for labor on the part of business that pushes wages and income higher. prgtoken When we look at the next chart I have, we see that we provide tax relief across all incomes. So it is really focused on lower income, middle class, making sure that, like I said, wage earners are saving more of their hard-earned dollars, but the effort is to cut taxes across all income groups, and that is what we do. It starts by taking the seven brackets we have and reducing them. It is just kind of simple math. prgtoken The H
THE INTERNET
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2017-12-13

one of the great advances of our time has been the development and expansion of the internet and wireless technologies. The internet connects people across the globe in an unprecedented way. It brings together producers and consumers, students and educators, and even Members of the Senate with our constituents. prgtoken It is difficult to exaggerate the impact the internet has on our society prgtoken and our economy each and every day. Even a few decades ago, the technologies many of us take for granted today would have been totally unfathomable. prgtoken But the success of the Internet wasn't an accident. Today's internet--and all the incredible innovations that utilize it--aren't the product of unnecessary and burdensome government regulations that hindered growth. Instead, they were the direct result of a bipartisan desire to create an environment of advancement--one that utilized a light regulatory touch. Innovators were free to create and develop what they wanted to, without having to think about complying with overbearing Washington regulation. prgtoken As the internet grows, so does the United States. Our Nation has led the world in internet technology, and citizens throughout the country and the world have enjoyed the benefits. prgtoken However, the previous administration seemed bent on subjecting the internet to a whole host of new regulations--rules designed in the age of the rotary phone and rooted in the railroad era of the 1800s. Through unprecedented government overreach, the administration argued that this change would fix a problem. But there wasn't a problem that needed fixing. prgtoken Therefore at the behest of President in 2015, the partisan majority at the Federal Communications Commission rejected our decades- old approach and reclassified broadband internet access. This overreach subjected it to new burdens and regulations and threatened the marketplace freedom and innovation that brought us the internet we have come to know today. prgtoken It shouldn't shock any of my colleagues to hear that an increase in burdensome regulations created uncertainty for businesses of all sizes and negatively impacted investment. In the last 2 years, broadband investment has suffered a serious decline, even though many Americans, including large numbers in rural States like Kentucky, lack access to crucial internet services at home. prgtoken Earlier this year, President changed direction from the previous administration. He elevated Ajit Pai to serve as the Chairman of the FCC, and tomorrow, the Commission will vote to repeal the misguided 2015 rule. prgtoken Chairman Pai submitted a proposal to restore freedom to the internet and to classify broadband internet access once again as an information service, just like it was until 2015. prgtoken When the FCC votes tomorrow, they will be voting to return the internet to a consumer-driven marketplace free of innovation-stifling r
RECOGNIZING THE LIFE OF FALLEN MISSISSIPPI SOLDIER ARMY STAFF SERGEANT (SSG) ROBERT LEE LOVE, JUNIOR
Trent Kelly (Republican, MS) \u2014 2017-12-13

today I rise in memory of Army Staff Sergeant (SSG) Robert Lee Love, Junior who paid the ultimate sacrifice while defending our nation on December 1, 2006, during Operation Iraqi Freedom. SSG Love died from injuries he sustained when an improvised explosive device detanated near his vehicle during combat operations in Ar Ramadi, Iraq. SSG Love was assigned to the 16th Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Glessen, Germany. prgtoken According to the Associated Press, SSG Love, a Livingston, Alabama native, graduated from Livingston High School in 1996. Mary Love, SSG Love's mother, said he enlisted in the Army following graduation and served in the military a total of eight years. Prior to deployment, SSG Love lived in Germany with his wife, Army Staff Sergeant (SSG) Brianna K. Love. The couple had a three-year-old daughter, Brianna. SSG Robert Love also had an 11-year-old daughter, Tanessa. prgtoken The Meridian Star newspaper interviewed members of SSG Love's family. Mary Love said her son was liked by everyone. ``He was a very sweet person who got along with everybody,'' Mary Love said. ``Everybody loved him and he loved everybody.'' Robert Lee Love, Senior, SSG Love's father, said the loss of their son was difficult. ``It has been hard, but we are holding up,'' Mr. Love said. prgtoken Graveside services for SSG Love were held on December 20, 2006 at the Pentecostal Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Russell, Mississippi. Elder Keith Tisdale and Bishop Marcell Evins officiated the funeral. SSG Love is survived by his wife, Brianna; his two daughters, Brianna, and Tanessa; his father, Robert L. Love, Senior; his mother, Mary Love; his two sisters, Rickitta Thomas and Evelyn Ford; and two brothers, Reginald Love and Jeremy Love. prgtoken SSG Love proudly served America and gave his life to protect the freedoms we all enjoy.
IRANIAN LEADERSHIP ASSET TRANSPARENCY ACT
Edward R. Royce (Republican, CA) \u2014 2017-12-13

with all due respect to the arguments on moral equivalency with respect to Iran, the reality is that this is a government that starts its morning prayers with: ``Death to America. Death to Israel.'' The Ayatollah makes it clear he means it. prgtoken So, yes, we should try to remove the plank from our eye, but we should not remove our eyes from the fact that what we have in terms of policy being directed from the Ayatollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is a policy that calls for the destruction of the United States of America. prgtoken Now, , this bill has a powerful goal, and it is to expose the corrupt nature of the Iranian regime. But when we talk about why, the answer is because the personnel responsible for carrying out these assassinations, that have us concerned about carrying out terror are, in fact, the leadership in Iran of these organizations that we attempt to identify here. That is the job of doing terror research and cutting off terror finance. That is what we are supposed to be doing. prgtoken This regime claims to be more than a government. It claims to be a revolution. They call themselves the Islamic prgtoken Revolution. But when you look at it closely, as this bill requires the Treasury Department to do, the regime in Tehran resembles something else, a criminal enterprise, because, from the Supreme Leader to the Revolutionary Guard, these so-called servants of the Revolution control one-third of the Iranian economy because they seized it. They seized everybody's privat property in terms of these companies. The Supreme Leader's empire alone is worth $95 billion. prgtoken This is called the Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order, or Setad. It holds stakes in just about every sector of the Iranian industry, including finance, oil, and telecommunications. prgtoken These funds are not simply used to enrich Iranian officials. That is not our problem here. It is not that they are propping up the regime. It is thanks to Iran's lack of money laundering control they are easily used to destabilize the entire region. That is what they are doing now by funding terrorism abroad and fueling Iran's ballistic missile program at home. prgtoken These ICBMs, by the way, they announce, are intended for us. prgtoken So that is why, as this bill says, the Treasury Department--and the bill notes this--has identified Iran as a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern. This means that any transaction with Iran risks supporting the regime's ongoing illicit activities, their terrorists activities. prgtoken , , Mr. Poliquin, for introducing this bill and Chairman Hensarling for working with us to get it to the floor.
STRENGTHENING OVERSIGHT OF IRAN'S ACCESS TO FINANCE ACT
Christopher H. Smith (Republican, NJ) \u2014 2017-12-13

I rise today in support of H.R. 4324, the Strengthening Oversight of Iran's Access to Finance Act, introduced by my friend Roger Williams. This bill is critical to Congress' sustained effort to roll back the most egregious concessions from the Administration's disastrous nuclear deal with Iran. prgtoken , I have spoken many times about how the Iran deal endangers our national security, namely by acquiescing to Iran's ambition to become a nuclear threshold in less than a decade. As if this concession--and the woefully inadequate inspections regime President agreed to--were not troubling enough, the deal came with dozens of additional sweeteners for Iran that were folded into the main text of the agreement and an unknown number of side-deals. prgtoken These inducements were wrong on principle and they are downright dangerous in practice. On principle, Iran should not be gently incentivized to come clean about its nuclear program--it should be strictly compelled to comply with international norms. In practice, these numerous U.S. concessions to Iran effectively handed the world's largest sponsor of terrorism more resources to advance its campaign for regional hegemony. By providing $115 billion in sanctions relief, a $1.7 billion ransom payment, and an $8.6 million payment for excess heavy water that violated the terms of the deal, the Administration's calamitous deal generated a windfall for the Iranian regime. prgtoken , one especially troubling concession was the Administration's agreement in the text of the deal to sell commercial passenger aircraft to Iran while at the same time lifting sanctions on Iran Air, a national carrier notorious for ferrying Iran's military manpower and materiel around the region. Iran Air was sanctioned by the United States in July 2011 under Executive Order 13382 for ``for providing material support and services to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics.'' Lest we believe Iran Air has straightened up its act since 2011, the Washington Free Beacon reported in August on images from this summer showing Iranian militiamen flying Iran Air to join the civil war in Syria. prgtoken , it's also clear that Iran has never had a greater incentive than it does today to double down on its hegemonic schemes as it expands its footholds in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and elsewhere in the region. We have long known of Iran's genocidal intentions toward our critical and democratic ally, Israel. For years Iran has poured money and resources into Hizballah and Hamas to develop proxies that can threaten Israel on its borders. Today, however, Iran is closer than ever to achieving its own toehold near the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights from which to menace Israel and terrorize its people. prgtoken Why, in this context, would the United States knowingly furnish Iran with aircraft it needs to move its military ass
Rob Woodall (Republican, GA) \u2014 2017-12-13

such time as I may consume to say sometimes there is a lot of pressure on the Rules Committee. You come down here and you have got some of the most knowledgeable folks on both sides of the issue, on both sides of the Chamber, and you have got to be prepared to refute detail after detail after detail that might confuse folks back home. prgtoken It gives me great pleasure today to not have to spend any time refuting anything that my friend just said because the important thing about developing a reputation is that it is just laughable to suggest that s are coming to the floor today to undermine privacy. It is laughable to suggest that s are coming to the floor today to increase paperwork and red tape. And it is not only laughable, prgtoken but it is inaccurate to suggest that it is s coming to do this, . These are bipartisan bills coming to the floor today. prgtoken , I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Trott). His bill passed out of committee 40-20; a huge bipartisan vote coming out of committee. It went through a hearing; it went through a markup; it was everything that makes this institution work properly. I appreciate him for bringing the issue forward to talk about the tremendous bipartisan effort that he has put together.
Roger Williams (Republican, TX) \u2014 2017-12-13

I am happy to come to the floor this afternoon to support House Resolution 658, the combined rule providing for consideration of H.R. 1638 and H.R. 4324. prgtoken H.R. 1638, the Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act, sponsored by the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Poliquin), is commonsense legislation. The bill would publicize assets associated with Iran's Government and military leadership. It would require a report to Congress on the assets that these leaders control, how they were acquired, and how each and every one of these Iranian leaders uses them. prgtoken The American people, the American businesses, and the international community deserve to know who controls money and assets in Iran. prgtoken I am also proud to be the sponsor of H.R. 4324, the Strengthening Oversight of Iran's Access to Finance Act. My legislation would improve congressional oversight of any financing that the Treasury authorizes for aircraft sales to Iran. prgtoken Every 6 months, the Treasury would need to certify to us that finance authorizations would not benefit an Iranian person who is transporting items for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, nor providing transportation for sanctioned entities. prgtoken Treasury would also have to certify to us that these authorizations don't pose a significant money laundering or terrorism finance risk to the U.S. financial system. prgtoken If the Treasury Department cannot make this certification, the Department must tell us why, and it must explain to Congress the course of action it intends to take. prgtoken I urge all of my colleagues to support this rule, and I urge them to support H.R. 1638 and H.R. 4324.
HONORING JIM HASLAM
John J. Duncan, Jr. (Republican, TN) \u2014 2017-12-13

one of the finest men I have ever known, Jim Haslam, turns 87 today. prgtoken Mr. Haslam is one of the greatest leaders Tennessee has ever had, and he is certainly our greatest philanthropist. prgtoken He came to the University of Tennessee at the age of 17 to play football for the legendary football coach, General Robert Neyland. He played on some of the greatest teams in Tennessee history, teams that won almost every game, losing only four games in the 3 years that Jim Haslam played. prgtoken In 1958, he bought a small gas station in Gate City, Virginia, on the Tennessee line. I believe I read at one point that he paid just $6,000 for that four-pump station. Through much hard work and long hard hours, he slowly built that one little gas station into the Pilot Flying J chain. He is still involved in the business today. prgtoken We frequently tell people in the military: Thank you for your service. prgtoken That is a good thing to do. However, we don't show nearly enough appreciation for people who start small businesses, turn them into bigger businesses, and provide good jobs for people and their families. prgtoken The Pilot Flying J Company now has over 750 travel centers in 43 States and in Canada, and provides jobs for over 27,000 people. Very few people in this world can say that they are providing jobs for 27,000 people. prgtoken Jim Haslam has now contributed over $100 million to the University of Tennessee. He and his family have contributed very large sums of money to almost every good cause in east Tennessee, in addition to the university. prgtoken He and his wife, Natalie, do not just contribute money. They are very active in all sorts of civic and charitable groups in Knoxville. prgtoken He is also a very patriotic man and has great love for this country. He served his country in our Nation's military. prgtoken He is one of the biggest contributors to the Party in this Nation and is personally involved in many campaigns. He has been a very good friend and supporter for both me and my late father, and I am very grateful to him. prgtoken Most important of all, Jim Haslam has been a good family man. He and his late wife raised three children. Then, many years ago, he married Natalie, a longtime friend; and between them, they raised six outstanding children. prgtoken One of his sons, Bill Haslam, is our great Governor in Tennessee and a chairman of the Governors Association. prgtoken His other son, Jimmy Haslam, now leads the Pilot Flying J Company and owns and operates the Cleveland Browns football team. prgtoken Through hard work, honesty, dedication, and simple human kindness, Jim Haslam has lived the American Dream. He has touched thousands of lives in good and positive ways. This Nation is the greatest country in the history of this world because of people like Jim Haslam. This Nation is a better place today because of the life he has led. I salute him on his 87th birthday and give h