mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018--MOTION TO PROCEED--Continued
Maria Cantwell (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2017-7-24

from Pennsylvania for being here. We have been out here many a night, talking about the importance of Medicaid. I so appreciate his leadership in the Senate on this very important issue. He has been a champion of the Children's Health Insurance Program and has been a voice amongst all Senators in making sure that people have access to healthcare. I so appreciate being out here with him tonight. prgtoken I don't really appreciate being here right at this moment. I am really flabbergasted. Why are we here at this moment? Why are we here? I am pretty sure that President , when he was candidate , put in a tweet that he would not cut Medicaid. Yet that is the proposal we are talking about. prgtoken No matter what the proposal is--repeal, the House bill, the proposal scored by CBO or some Senate alternative on junk insurance--they all are a cut to Medicaid, so I am not sure how we are here. I am not sure how we are here when the Vice President at the time campaigned, I am sure, against the Affordable Care Act and then became Governor of Indiana and implemented Medicaid expansion in his own State. After saying that he was against the Affordable Care Act, he implemented Medicaid expansion. I am sure people in his home State said: If you want to take care of people, if you want to raise our standard of living, if you want to keep down the costs of healthcare delivery and private insurance, put people on coverage so that they aren't driving up the cost of uncompensated care. prgtoken So how are we here? How are we here when our House colleagues came up with a proposal that basically cuts 23 million people off of healthcare--including 15 million people on Medicaid--after working with the President, who said that he didn't want to cut Medicaid, and the Vice President, who basically campaigned against it and then went ahead and expanded it? prgtoken I can't believe how many times I have been on the Senate floor, and I haven't seen one of my colleagues come down here and talk about solutions that they are proposing. I just hear them come and talk about the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and kicking millions of people off of the healthcare they currently have. prgtoken Tonight, I can imagine there are many people across the United States of America who are like me, thinking, how could this be happening? How could we be sitting here tonight, not knowing what the Senate is going to vote on, not knowing whether they are going to repeal their health insurance, not knowing where their Senators stand or even if the Senator knows what proposal they are voting on? Yet I can tell you this: More than 70 percent of the American people think the ideas that have now been put forth by the House and the Senate s and the President do not work. They are not the way to increase access to healthcare and drive down the cost of private insurance in the insurance market. prgtoken You don
MICROLOAN MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2017
Stephanie N. Murphy (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2017-7-24

I rise in support of H.R. 2056, my bipartisan bill to improve the Small Business Administration's Microloan program. prgtoken Small businesses are the backbone of our Nation's economy. In my home State of Florida, there are 2.4 million small businesses, which is 99.8 percent of all employers in the State. These businesses employ 3.2 million workers. prgtoken In my central Florida district, we have a vibrant community of entrepreneurs, and they tell me the number one challenge they face is access to capital. As someone who counseled entrepreneurs and businesses in the private sector before I came to Congress, I know how difficult it can be to obtain the capital you need to start and grow a small business. That is why this bill to improve SBA's Microloan program is so important. prgtoken , I thank Chairman Chabot and Ranking Member Velazquez for helping to advance this bill through the Small Business Committee, where the bill received unanimous support. I also thank the Administrator of the SBA, Linda McMahon, and her senior staff for working with my office to make modest changes to the bill after it was introduced. prgtoken These changes should better position the bill to move through Congress and then to be signed into law by the President. prgtoken The Microloan program is one of several lending programs administered by the SBA. Its goal is to help small-dollar borrowers who want to start or grow their business. Under this program, the SBA makes loans to nonprofit organizations known as intermediaries. These intermediaries, in turn, make short-term loans up to $50,000 to small businesses and nonprofit childcare centers. Recipients of microloans use these funds to finance their operations and to acquire supplies and equipment. prgtoken The Microloan program seeks, in particular, to assist small business owners with little or no credit history, women and minority businessowners, and aspiring and existing entrepreneurs who may not qualify for traditional bank loans or even for the larger loan guarantee programs that the SBA administers. prgtoken In fiscal year 2016, intermediaries provided over $60 million in loans to small firms around the country, creating or retaining nearly 18,000 jobs in the process. While the loans may not be large, they can mean the difference between a small business starting up and succeeding or struggling and shuttering. prgtoken Despite the relative success of the Microloan program, it must be modernized. My bill would improve the program in two respects. First, the bill would increase the total amount an intermediary can borrow from the SBA from $5 million to $6 million. This will allow intermediaries to make more small-dollar loans to more small businesses and entrepreneurs. prgtoken Second, the bill would enable intermediaries to use a larger percentage of the technical assistance grants they receive from the SBA in order to help small business owners and entrepreneurs navigate t
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018--MOTION TO PROCEED--Continued
Tim Kaine (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2017-7-24

from Wisconsin and also my colleague from Vermont. Their words have been very powerful. prgtoken I also rise to talk about healthcare. We are told in the Senate that tomorrow we vote, but we don't know what we will be voting on. We will bring up a House bill that, by virtually every account, is not going to be the bill that we will be voting on, but we don't yet know which version of healthcare we will be voting on if we proceed to the debate. prgtoken It is like a three-card monte game. There are all sorts of different versions that are out there on the table. One version would take health insurance away from 22 million people, one from 25 million, and one from 32 million, and we are not being told which one we will vote on. prgtoken When I was a kid, there was a TV show we used to watch, ``Let's Make a Deal.'' One of the features of the show was this: What is behind door No. 1, and what is behind door No. 2? The contestants would have the opportunity to pick. One would be great, and one would be a disaster. That was the fun of the game show: What is behind door No. 1? What is behind door No. 2? prgtoken But this isn't about a game show. We are not participating in a game show. We are participating in a decision about the most important aspect of any person's life--their health--and about the most important expenditure they ever make with a dollar--a healthcare expenditure--and about the largest sector of the American economy--healthcare. prgtoken Instead of treating the issue with the gravity it deserves, there is a secret plan and a mystery vote without any hearings, shutting out the committees, including the HELP Committee, where I serve, shutting out the minority party, which represents 48 of the 100 Senators in this body, and, most importantly, shutting out the public. As the Senator from Vermont mentioned, in this body, the greatest deliberative body in the world, we have not had a single hearing. We have not heard from a single doctor, a single patient, a single hospital, a single nurse, a single insurance company, or a single medical innovator. We are about to take a vote on the most important expenditure in anyone's life and the largest sector in the American economy following a completely closed process where it has been the will of the majority to keep the door shut. prgtoken This isn't a game show. prgtoken Let me tell you how real this is. I did something on Friday that I often do. I started doing this in 2002. I live in Richmond, but I drive a number of hours to Wise County, VA, which is a county on the border between Virginia and Kentucky. It is a county where my wife's family is from. She grew up in Roanoke, but her dad is from Big Stone Gap, VA, in Wise County, right across the border from Pike and Hazard Counties in Kentucky. prgtoken There is a fairground in Wise--the Virginia-Kentucky fairgrounds. Back in the late 1990s, a Catholic nun, Sister Bernie, and tw
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018--MOTION TO PROCEED--Continued
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2017-7-24

let me open my remarks by saying that from the very beginning of this ill-starred healthcare misadventure the s have been on, have over and over again offered to help and to participate. Over and over again, we have spoken to, for instance, Chairman Alexander on the HELP Committee, saying: Give us a shot. Try something. We can do this. You have talked all these years about regular order. prgtoken How many times have we heard the majority leader say that regular order is the way to go and talk about how important the Senate is because it follows regular order? It looks as though all of that was nothing but a lot of bunkum because when he had the chance to come here and actually trust the Senate to work through regular order, what did he do? The very first day, he jammed through reconciliation to open a purely partisan pathway to undoing Care. prgtoken Well, people have discovered that a lot of what they thought was their prgtoken good healthcare is Care. So people on Medicaid, people whose private policies now don't have preexisting condition limits, caps on how much can be spent in a year or in a lifetime, folks who will get their money through the exchange, suddenly they have all discovered ``Oh my gosh, that was Care. Don't take that away from me.'' That is one of the reasons we see all of the groups who come here concerned about healthcare lined up against this bill. prgtoken This bill, other than the creepy cabal of billionaires who are behind it, doesn't have a friend. And it just shows how narrow the Party has now become that they will follow the creepy billionaires off the cliff against the advice of so many respected American organizations. prgtoken How about the American Cancer Society? The American Cancer Society says that the bill would leave patients and those with preexisting conditions paying more for less coverage. They have come out against the bill. prgtoken I have a constituent home in Rhode Island, and her name is Patricia. She and her daughters live in a beautiful place in Rhode Island, Wakefield, RI. Like a lot of people I have heard from, Patricia is afraid. She is afraid that what this Congress is going to do is to repeal the Affordable Care Act and let health insurers go back to discriminating against people with preexisting conditions. prgtoken What is hers? Well, Patricia and her daughters have a genetic mutation, and that genetic mutation increases their risk of cancer. They would ordinarily be counting on the American Cancer Society to argue for them, and sure enough, the American Cancer Society has come out against the health legislation. prgtoken Well, it got real for Patricia last year when her 34-year-old daughter was battling breast cancer. Fortunately, her health insurance covered her treatment, and it worked. She is now cancer-free. But because of their genetic mutation, Patricia and her daughter
FIRST, DO NO HARM
Carolyn B. Maloney (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2017-7-24

over this weekend, I heard nonstop from people--people from all walks of life--who are living each day in fear that this Congress is going to strip them of the healthcare insurance they so desperately need, causing them to lose access to affordable care. prgtoken These good, decent, and hardworking people have told me again and again, in no uncertain terms, that they or someone whom they love dearly will suffer or die if our colleagues carry out their catastrophically ill-conceived plan to repeal and replace or repeal and delay. They scoff at the oft-repeated plan that they would merely be choosing not to have coverage, for they know the bitter truth. prgtoken To strip these people of the very coverage that keeps them, their children, and their parents alive would be as immoral an act as was ever perpetrated under the guise of governance. prgtoken When it comes to setting healthcare policy, this Congress, like every decent prgtoken doctor since the days of Hippocrates, should be guided by that eternal principle: First, do no harm.
Healthcare (Executive Session)
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2017-7-24

as soon as tomorrow, we could be voting on a motion to proceed to the healthcare plan. What that plan is, I am not sure anybody really knows. My friend the majority whip, when reporters asked him if his own Members would know what they would be voting on, said: ``That's a luxury we don't have.'' prgtoken We have been on the topic of healthcare for 7 months. s have been talking about repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act for over 7 years. Yet here we are, 1 or 2 days from a vote on the motion to proceed, and we don't even know what the s plan is to vote on. We are potentially 1 or 2 days away from a vote on a bill that would reorganize one-sixth of the American economy and impacts tens of millions of American lives, and no one knows what it is. It is sort of like ``Alice in Wonderland'' around here. It comes down to this bizarre game where the leader has basically said: Let's spin a wheel and see what we are going to vote on. This is no way to treat a matter as serious as healthcare--so near and dear to the lives of so many Americans. prgtoken I don't know how a single one of my friends can in good conscience vote to proceed to a truncated debate on something as important as healthcare without knowing what bill they will ultimately be voting on. Isn't this the same party that shouted ``Read the bill, read the bill'' from the rafters when the Affordable Care Act was debated? It is completely bewildering. prgtoken Maybe we will be voting on the repeal-and-replace bill, which will cause costs to go up and care to go down, which will cause 22 million Americans to lose their insurance, and which will so cruelly exchange healthcare for millions of working Americans for another tax break for the wealthy and the special interests. Maybe we will be voting on repeal without replace, which is even worse, which will cause our healthcare system to implode, creating chaos for 32 million Americans who would lose their insurance and chaos for millions more who would see their coverage diminish or their premiums rise. No one knows what we will be voting on. We know one thing: All the options are bad. prgtoken There is no good way out of this. The truth is, the s are completely stuck when it comes to healthcare. Every single version of their repeal-and-replace bill is rotten at the core. Repeal without replace is even worse. The American people don't want tax breaks for the wealthy or the slashing of Medicaid. They don't want to repeal all the progress we made in healthcare without any plan to put in its place. prgtoken It is time to start over. It is time to go back to the drawing board--abandon tax cuts for the wealthy, abandon cuts to Medicaid, abandon repeal and run--and come together, both parties, around a set of nonideological proposals to improve our healthcare system. That is what we want to do. prgtoken I
VA PROVIDER EQUITY ACT
Timothy J. Walz (Democrat, MN) \u2014 2017-7-24

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , I support H.R. 1058, as amended. The VA Provider Equity Act is a commonsense solution to a really important problem that is plaguing the VHA--a shortage of healthcare providers. prgtoken This legislation would allow VHA to attract the talented and experienced podiatrists it needs to better treat conditions caused by lower extremity injuries. prgtoken By allowing podiatrists the opportunity to advance within the VHA while earning pay comparable to what private sector podiatrists earn, VHA can better attract and retain these providers. prgtoken I appreciate the gentleman from Ohio, Dr. Wenstrup's, work highlighting this, educating all of us on the committee, and making sure that the treatments of podiatrists between VHA and the private sector industry is aligned. prgtoken , I urge my colleagues to support this good piece of legislation, and .
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018--MOTION TO PROCEED
Patty Murray (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2017-7-24

I am here this evening to stand with the patients and families and communities nationwide to make sure they have a voice to continue speaking out against Care and to urge our colleagues to stand with their constituents and join in rejecting this mean bill. prgtoken Before I go any further, I want to talk about an incredible group of families I met with recently who are making their voices heard against Care. These are parents with kids who are battling serious and complex medical conditions. These families have spent the majority of their summer here in Washington, DC, sharing their stories about what having healthcare means to them. prgtoken The little lobbyists, young kids 3 years old, 5 years old, should be at home in their neighborhoods like other kids, but, instead, they are here fighting for their own healthcare and their lives. prgtoken I held a press conference with these families here in the Capitol, where their parents shared stories about what Care would mean for them and their families. They spoke about their worries and their fears for the future. prgtoken One story was that of Elena Hung and her daughter Xiomara. Xiomara is 3 years old. She will be starting school this fall. You can tell she is one of those kids with incredible energy, who just lights up a room. But Xiomara was born with complications in her lungs, heart, and kidneys. She needs a tracheostomy, a feeding tube, and a ventilator just to stay alive. prgtoken Elena has told me what it has meant for her and her family to have healthcare these last couple of years. Elena and her husband both have professional degrees, good-paying jobs, and savings in the bank. They have done everything right, as Elena put it, and played by the rules, but nothing prepared them for dealing with the expensive care Xiomara would need. The hospitalizations, multiple surgeries, and medical equipment have all added up to cost more than $3 million. prgtoken Elena talked about the uncertainty that Care has caused her family. Because of Care, she said that they are terrified about lifetime caps coming back and about losing their home or going bankrupt. If they lose their healthcare, Xiomara's 10 preexisting conditions may make her uninsurable. This is so wrong. The Hung family should be able to focus on Xiomara, the care she needs, and getting the right specialists and therapies to advance her treatment. prgtoken The Morrison family, whom I also met with, shouldn't have to worry about their son Timmy getting the care he needs. prgtoken Xiomara and Timmy and all the other little lobbyists deserve to be kids, live at home, to go to school, grow up, and just live. That was Elena's message to our colleagues, and I couldn't agree with her more. prgtoken I have seen my share of contentious legislation during my time in the Senate. I have seen quite a few ic bills that s couldn't stand
Healthcare (Executive Session)
Mazie K. Hirono (Democrat, HI) \u2014 2017-7-24

it is unconscionable that the U.S. Senate will soon be voting on a measure that would force between 22 and 32 million people to lose their health insurance. This vote is particularly unconscionable when you consider that each Member of this Chamber has high quality health insurance that will be there whenever we need it--and we all will, as I recently found out. prgtoken I know as well as anyone that we are all one diagnosis away from a serious illness. When I was diagnosed with kidney cancer not too long ago, I had the peace of mind of knowing that I was covered and that insurance would make the cost of treating my illness more manageable. Many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle have found comfort in having high quality health insurance as they confront serious illnesses and injuries of their own. prgtoken Every American deserves that same peace of mind. That is why I am fighting for universal healthcare that is a right for every American, not a privilege reserved only for those who can afford it. This is something we can and should be working on in a bipartisan fashion. There are a lot of great ideas we could be debating and considering to move us toward this bipartisan goal. prgtoken Instead, the majority leader and his allies are forcing a vote on Care, a mean, ugly bill that will deprive tens of millions of people across our country of the healthcare they deserve. prgtoken Although some have argued over the past week that this vote is doomed to fail, we can't be complacent. We have to keep fighting because if Care becomes the law of the land, it would be devastating for tens of millions of people across the country, harming the poorest, sickest, and oldest members of our society. It would undermine protections for Americans living with serious and chronic conditions, who could face a reimposition of yearly and lifetime caps on their care. It would impose an age tax on people 50 to 64 years old, which would allow insurance companies to charge them up to five times more for insurance because of their age. I could go on. prgtoken For hundreds of thousands of people in Hawaii and tens of millions more across the country, Care is not an abstract proposal that would have no relevance to their lives. I have heard literally from tens of thousands of people from across Hawaii about the devastating consequences Care would have on their lives. Hawaii is a small State. To think that literally over 20,000 people in Hawaii have contacted my office to tell me the devastation that Care will bring to their lives--this is because insurance is personal. They have spoken out against this bill loudly and clearly because healthcare is personal. prgtoken Keith Moniz from Maui has a particularly compelling story to tell. Keith's brother, Lester, after working as a custodian for more than 40 years at St. Anthony School, lost his job and his health insurance. Only a few short mo