mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT OF 2017--Continued
Richard Blumenthal (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2017-7-27

we are here at a historic moment, and we listened to a historic speech just within the last 48 hours from our colleague, Senator John McCain. All of us welcomed him back and were inspired and overjoyed by his return and then by his speech asking that we go back to the regular order, that we have committee consideration of a bill, with hearings and markup and the democratic process really working. prgtoken What threatens us tonight is the democratic process being brought to new lows. prgtoken If this bill is passed with the assurance that it won't go to conference--and there are conservatives, and I could quote them. prgtoken Senator Lindsey Graham said earlier today: There's increasing concern on my part and others that what the House will do is take whatever we pass--the so called ``skinny bill''--not take it to conference, go directly to the House floor, vote on it, and that goes to the President's desk with the argument, ``This is better than doing nothing.'' Here's my response. The ``skinny bill'' as policy is a disaster. The ``skinny bill'' as a replacement for care is a fraud. The ``skinny bill'' is a vehicle to get in conference to find a replacement. It is not a replacement in and of itself. The policy is terrible because you eliminate the individual and employer mandate which we all want eliminated but we actually want to have an overall solution to the problem of care, so you're going to have increased premiums and most of care stays in place if the ``skinny bill'' becomes law. Not only do we not replace care, we politically own the collapse of healthcare. I'd rather get out of the way and let it collapse than have a half-assed approach where it is now our problem. prgtoken Senator John McCain said earlier today: I'm not supportive of the legislation as it stands today. I am in close consultation with Arizona governor over the so- called ``skinny repeal.'' prgtoken Senator Ron Johnson said earlier today: Virtually nothing we're doing in these bills and the proposal are addressing the problems and challenges and the damage done to people. prgtoken We will see, in effect, a betrayal of our trust, and I say that very seriously. prgtoken I hope this body will keep faith with our democracy and make sure that a bill that is regarded as a bad bill--and rightly so because it will eliminate insurance for 16 million people, it will raise premiums by 20 percent in less than a year, it will drive up costs, and it will bring down the number of people who are insured by catastrophic numbers. We owe it to the American people to vote against this so- called skinny bill, which is really a sham repeal. It is a skeletal version of Care 2.0, 3.0, 5.0, 7.0. We can do that. prgtoken With that, to my distinguished colleague from the State
AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT OF 2017--Continued
Sherrod Brown (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2017-7-27

I intend to offer the following motion to H.R. 1628, and I ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the Record. prgtoken This motion would commit the bill to the Finance Committee with instructions to eliminate all provisions that would increase healthcare costs for the middle class and those struggling to get into the middle class. prgtoken I am offering this motion because healthcare costs are already too high for hard-working Ohioans, and this bill would make them even higher. We ought to be working to bring down costs; yet as my colleague Senator Heller said, there is nothing in this bill that would lower premiums. prgtoken The first test of a bill should be, do no harm so I would hope all my colleagues will join me in ensuring that any bill that comes out of this body doesn't saddle working families with higher healthcare bills. prgtoken My motion is supported by the following Senators: Baldwin, Blumenthal, Whitehouse, Hirono, Feinstein, Leahy, Van Hollen, , Franken, Carper, Udall, Coons, Menendez, Duckworth, Durbin, Reed, Stabenow, Warren, Booker, Nelson, and Klobuchar.
AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT OF 2017--Continued
Christopher A. Coons (Democrat, DE) \u2014 2017-7-27

I want to speak for a few minutes on the floor to answer the calls I am getting into my office, the texts and the emails I am getting with people asking: What is going on? What is happening in the U.S. Senate? They can't keep track of what it is we have moved to. prgtoken We don't know either. prgtoken We are here probably all night waiting for the majority to finally produce the bill that they will use to attempt to repeal and maybe replace--or not--the Affordable Care Act. prgtoken All we know is, every single proposal that has been brought forward in recent days has two features: It reduces coverage, and it raises costs. prgtoken It may be that 16 million Americans will lose healthcare coverage. It might be 20 million, might be 32 million. Those are different scores for different proposed bills. prgtoken It may raise costs by 15 percent, 20 percent, or 30 percent. Sometime later tonight, we will see the final bill presented on this floor, and hopefully we will get some score so we know what we are voting on before we finally get there, but what is so scary to families I am hearing from, is that after 7 months of majority rule, where the Party controls the Senate, House, and White House, we don't have a finished bill for us to debate tonight in detail, and we don't know yet exactly what we will vote on later tonight. We just know a simple theme--every proposal that has been brought forward when scored by the CBO, the independent scorekeeper, offers less coverage and higher costs. prgtoken Folks, I want to remind you about something because I just ran into a family out on the steps of the Capitol, outside the building, not inside the building--a family who is raising two typical children and one child with Down syndrome, a family where the father of the family is Active-Duty U.S. military. They asked me: ``Why can't we be heard?'' prgtoken The process that brought us here tonight did not include committee hearings, where doctors, nurses, patient advocates, folks who run hospitals, or folks who are specialists on insurance were heard. prgtoken In a press conference earlier this evening, four of our colleagues said they are going to vote for this bill later tonight so it can go to conference and get fixed. They said the current expected skinny repeal bill is a fraudulent disaster, to paraphrase a colleague. prgtoken Well, what I really think we should do is heed the advice that Senator McCain laid out on the floor a few days ago and go back to regular order. prgtoken Just earlier today, there was an inspiring moment when we took up and passed by a vote of 97 to 2 the Russia prgtoken sanctions bill. We heard the chair and ranking and of the Foreign Relations Committee speak positively of each other and positively of the process and they said the outcome is in the best interest of our country. prgtoken As we have seen, we don't always follow regular order. Both parties have r
AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT OF 2017--Continued
Jeff Merkley (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2017-7-27

the first three words of our Constitution are ``We the People.'' Indeed, our entire system was set up to be a government which produces results of, by, and for the people, but certainly right now, that is not what we are getting. prgtoken We are getting a secret plan which has not yet been put on this floor, with a promise that there will be a debate in the middle of the night--no chance for committee hearings on it, no chance to consult with experts, no chance for us to go home and talk to our constituents. This is about as far away from a deliberative democratic republic as you can possibly get. prgtoken It makes us think of 1787, when Ben Franklin came out of the Constitutional Convention and was stopped by someone in the crowd and asked: What do we have--a monarchy or a republic? prgtoken He answered: A republic, if you can keep it. prgtoken Well, we are not keeping it right now through this secret, middle-of- the-night, non-consultative process. We are disgracing the notion that our Founders fought for the ``we the people'' Republic. prgtoken This is something which touches so many Americans. We are not talking about the weight limit on a highway. We are not talking about what kinds of signs to post. We are talking about fundamental access to healthcare. prgtoken If the rumors are right, my colleagues plan to bring forward a bill that will blow up insurance on the exchange for millions of Americans. prgtoken An insurance pool is a little bit like a swimming pool. You tear a hole in the side of a swimming pool, the water drains out and there are only a few inches left, and the only people who would bother to go into that depleted swimming pool would be those who really, really want to swim. It is the same with the healthcare pool. The bill coming out tonight, we are told, will rip a big hole in the side of the insurance pool, and it will do so in a fashion that only those who have preexisting conditions, only those who are sick, only those who are old, will truly try to get that insurance. This means the price will be driven up, and many of them can't afford it, so they will drop out. So it means the pool will have even more people who are sick and older. This is the death spiral. prgtoken My colleagues today are planning to put forward a bill tonight, we are told, that creates a death spiral insurance. Who pays the price? Who pays the price? Our Nation pays the price with an estimated 16 million people who would lose insurance. We are talking about those who have every desire to have the peace of mind that if their loved one gets sick, they will get the care they need. We are talking about Americans who have every desire to know that if their loved one gets injured, they won't end up bankrupt. But all of that is at risk tonight. prgtoken A few moments ago, my colleague from Nebraska came to the floor, and he started out by saying we need to ensure that the President doesn't overstep his powers
AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT OF 2017--Continued
Brian Schatz (Democrat, HI) \u2014 2017-7-27

you know, late this afternoon, around 5 o'clock, a number of Senators indicated their unwillingness to support the so-called skinny bill, which would rip healthcare from 16 million people, according to CBO, and increase health insurance premiums by 20 percent--and not 20 percent over several years, 20 percent per year for the next several years, doubling health insurance premiums over the next 4 or 5 years. That is the bill we are talking about. They said that they don't like this bill, but they are willing to vote for it if they are provided assurances that this is just sort of a procedural vote. prgtoken We just had a motion to proceed that was procedural in nature, according to them. We think it is the vote on healthcare. prgtoken Now, this second vote, which is actually a vote to enact legislation--they are saying they are going to vote for it but only on the condition that we go to conference committee. prgtoken Something just happened over the last couple of hours that is actually pretty astonishing. The House Rules Committee adopted what they call martial law. Now, it is not quite as bad as it sounds, but it is pretty bad. What that means is it gives total control over the procedures to the House majority. The House majority now is in a position to enact the skinny bill right away. prgtoken There are a lot of Members of the Senate who want to talk about this, but I will just give you my little indicators that they are going to enact this into law by Sunday. They are going to enact this into law by Sunday. No. 1, the White House already has a name for it, the President has indicated a willingness to sign it sight unseen, and Paul Ryan just issued a statement that was not at all reassuring. There were lots of words, but none of them included ``We will not enact anything that comes from the Senate. We will go to conference committee, and if we don't have an agreement, we will not enact the Senate version of the bill.'' prgtoken They are desperate to enact a bill before the summertime starts, and that is why we are all terrified here. There are a lot of people on the side who hate the bill that they are going to be asked to vote for, and the only reason they are entertaining the possibility is that they want to go to conference. But they are not going to end up in a conference committee; they are going to end up in a signing ceremony over the weekend. prgtoken .
AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT OF 2017--Continued
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-7-27

. from Vermont. prgtoken , in my hand is one of the closely kept secrets in Washington, DC. These eight pages have been so carefully guarded that for 3 days, we have been on the floor of the U.S. Senate waiting for this moment. Within the last hour, the s finally released their plan to change healthcare for every American. We have been waiting a long time. prgtoken They have been meeting behind closed doors, in secret sessions, writing what I have in my hand. You have to think to yourself, why would they do it in secret? If this is something that will affect every American, family, business, and individual and if they are proud of what they have done, why did they wait so long? Well, when you read it, you can understand it, because this measure proposed by the leadership makes things worse for American families when it comes to health insurance. prgtoken It has a great name. I am sure somebody invested time thinking about this one: The Health Care Freedom Act. It appears that for 16 million Americans, they will be free of health insurance protection; 16 million Americans will lose their health insurance protection because of this plan. Every other American buying health insurance will be free to pay 20 percent more each year for the premiums on their health insurance. You don't have to be a math major to figure out compound interest at 20 percent a year. By the fourth year, you are knocking on a 100-percent increase in your premiums. Your health insurance premiums will double in about 4 years under the plan. prgtoken Is that why they started this debate, so they could take health insurance away from millions of Americans and raise the cost of health insurance for others? Four Senators had a press conference this evening at 5 p.m. I watched it carefully. I listened as my colleagues came to the floor and those four Senators described this plan. They had seen it, this so-called skinny repeal plan. One of the Senators said that this plan was a ``fraud,'' it was a ``disaster,'' it would have a disastrous impact on the premiums charged to people he represented in his State, and it didn't achieve the goal of reforming and repairing the Affordable Care Act. I will quickly add--because you will think, well, we expect the to say that--this was a press conference of four Senators about 6 hours ago. They had read the plan and called it a ``fraud,'' a ``disaster,'' raising premiums, and not really bringing reform to healthcare in America. prgtoken It will take only one of those four Senators to stand up and speak up and vote no for the right thing to happen--for this proposal to go to committee where it should have started and to be considered by the experts first, so we know its real impact, and then to have an amendment process where better ideas might be offered and debated and added to this proposal--benefits vo
HONORING THE LIFE OF BILLY MANES
Stephanie N. Murphy (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2017-7-27

it is with a heavy heart that I rise to honor the life and legacy of Billy Manes. Billy passed away last week, far too soon, at the age of 45. He is survived by his husband, Anthony, and an entire community that admired him. With Billy's passing, Orlando lost an icon, and our nation lost a committed, passionate, and fierce advocate for equality. prgtoken In Billy's short time with us, he made an indelible impact on our city and our country. He was a prominent Orlando journalist and commentator, and the power of his words moved and amused central Florida. Billy broke barriers, becoming the first openly gay mayoral candidate in Orlando's history. After the tragic loss of his partner in 2012, Billy bravely told his story to the world, putting a human face on the pressing need for equal rights for same-sex couples. prgtoken Last year, when our Orlando family was reeling from the Pulse nightclub shooting, Billy gave voice to our city's grief. He relentlessly focused on the 49 beautiful lives we lost that night. Like them, Billy will never be forgotten. prgtoken If you ever had the privilege and the pleasure of meeting Billy, you couldn't escape his energy, his passion, and his endearing sense of humor. prgtoken , it is critical this hallowed chamber carry on the work that Billy so valiantly championed. Though we have so much progress to celebrate, too many of the inequities that Billy's work spotlighted remain. prgtoken May his memory inspire us to redouble our commitment to equality.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2018
Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2017-7-27

. Mr. Chair, I want to thank Chairwoman Granger and Ranking Member Visclosky for shepherding this legislation to the floor and for their devotion to the men and women of the Armed Forces who risk their lives to keep our nation safe and for their work in ensuring that they have resources needed to keep our Armed Forces the greatest fighting force for peace on earth. prgtoken Mr. Chair, thank you for the opportunity to explain my amendment, which is simple and straightforward and affirms an example of the national goodness that makes America the most exceptional nation on earth. prgtoken The purpose of Jackson Lee Amendment No. 1 is to provide the Secretary of Defense flexibility to allocate resources needed to provide technical assistance by U.S. military women to military women in other countries combating violence as a weapon of war, terrorism, human trafficking, narcotics trafficking. prgtoken Mr. Chair, the United States is committed to combating violent extremism, protecting our borders and the globe from the scourge of terrorism. prgtoken The United States Armed Forces possess an unparalleled expertise and technological capability that will aid not only in combating and defeating terrorists who hate our country and prey upon innocent persons, especially women, girls, and the elderly. prgtoken But we must recognize that notwithstanding our extraordinary technical military capabilities, we face adversaries who adapt very quickly because they are not constrained by geographic limitations or norms of morality and decency. prgtoken Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, Al Shabaab, ISIS/ISIL and other militant terrorists, including the Sinai's Ansar Beit al-Maqdis in the Sinai Peninsula which poses a threat to Egypt. prgtoken Jackson Lee Amendment No. 1 helps provide the Department of Defense with the resources needed to provide technical assistance to countries on innovative strategies to provide defense technologies and resources that promote the security of the American people and allied nation states. prgtoken Terrorism, human trafficking, narcotics trafficking and their impact on women and girls across the globe has had a great adverse impact on us all. prgtoken According to a UNICEF report, rape, torture and human trafficking by terrorist and militant groups have been employed as weapons of war, affecting over twenty thousand women and girls. prgtoken Looking at the history of terrorism highlights the importance of providing technical assistance through our military might, as this enables us to combat terrorism which now can plague us here in the United States. prgtoken Jackson Lee Amendment No. 1 will help curb terrorism abroad by making available American technical military expertise to military in other countries, like Nigeria, who are combating violent jihadists in their country and to keep those terrorists out of our country. prgtoken Time and again American lives have been lost at the hands of terrorists. prgtoken These vict
AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT OF 2017
Thomas R. Carper (Democrat, DE) \u2014 2017-7-27

I spent many years of my life in Navy airplanes. I am a retired Navy captain. Senator Alexander said something the other day about the fact that a pilot doesn't start up and take off in an airplane unless he or she knows what the destination is. I thought that was pretty interesting. It is true. prgtoken With respect to healthcare in this country, we have actually known for a long time what the destination is, and the destination is a combination of three things: better healthcare coverage for less money--and cover everyone. That is really our destination. It is not just the destination this year in this Congress; it has been our destination really since Harry Truman was President. prgtoken For some years, we have argued and disagreed about how to get to the destination. I don't think anyone would argue about the need to get to that destination, but the question is how. prgtoken In 1993--I mentioned yesterday in my remarks on the floor--Hillary Clinton was a brandnew First Lady and worked on something called HillaryCare. In response, s came up with something that really has its roots and origin from the Heritage Foundation. They had more of a market-based approach, which called for every State having their own exchange, where people without coverage could get healthcare coverage. There would be a sliding scale tax credit that would help buy down the cost of premiums for folks who got the coverage in their State's exchange. Low-income people got a bigger tax credit. Higher income people had a smaller tax credit that would eventually fade away. prgtoken The third piece of the alternative to HillaryCare was the idea of an individual mandate, which basically said that everybody has to get coverage. If you don't, we can't make you, but you have to pay a fine. Over time the fine would go up. prgtoken The fourth piece of the proposal in 1993 was that employers of a certain size with a certain number of employees would have to make sure they provided coverage for their employees. I don't remember a lot of specificity of what that coverage would include, but if they had quite a few employees, they would have to provide coverage for them, make it available. prgtoken The last piece was the idea that health insurance companies would say at that time: If you have a preexisting condition, sorry, we are just not going to cover you. The proposal said: That is verboten. You can't do that, insurance companies. prgtoken So that was their idea that was introduced here. There were, I think, about 23 cosponsors, led by John Chafee, who was a former marine, former Governor of Rhode Island, U.S. Senator, and highly regarded. The legislation he introduced in 1993 had 20, 22 cosponsors, I think, including some people who are still here--Senator Hatch, Senator Grassley, and a number of others. That idea became RomneyCare. prgtoken In 2006, Governor Romney sought to cover everybody in
WELCOMING PASTOR SCOTT POLING
Randy Hultgren (Republican, IL) \u2014 2017-7-28

I rise today pleased to welcome Pastor Scott Poling, who graciously delivered our opening prayer in the House this morning. prgtoken For more than 20 years, Pastor Scott has faithfully led the congregation at Harvest New Beginnings Church in Oswego, Illinois, where my family and I attend. prgtoken His passion for evangelism and outreach is contagious. Those touched by his ministry have seen firsthand his energy and passion for people around the globe. prgtoken When he is not running ultra-marathons or playing tennis, he spends time expanding the church's international ministry, and has equipped African pastors with the leadership skills to carry God's truth into their congregations. prgtoken Scott and his wife, Carla, are celebrating 26 years of life-giving marriage, along with their five beautiful children. prgtoken Pastor Scott, we praise God for how your ministry has affected so many, and our legislative work is blessed by your prayers over us today.