mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
TAX CUTS FOR MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS PAID BY WORKING FAMILIES
Keith Ellison (Democrat, MN) \u2014 2017-11-15

I really do believe that the American people deserve a tax system that invests in our people and our community. prgtoken We need to have enough income and enough resources to make sure we are fixing our roads, our bridges, and our transit. We need resources to invest in scientific research for families who are wondering about what the answers just might be for their loved ones who have Alzheimer's or Parkinson's or whatever. We need to be able to defend our country. We need to be able to help people get a good education, healthcare, and housing. prgtoken These are things that I believe are well worth investment in as a nation. prgtoken Yet when we look at the tax bill, we don't see a bill that reflects the needs of the country to take care of our people. What we see is a mass distribution from working people--middle class people--to the wealthiest Americans in the country. prgtoken We need a tax reform--a real tax reform--that protects retirement security for today's seniors and future generations; that provides quality education, job training; that researches new medical cures and renewable forms of energy; and that supports our Nation's children. prgtoken , we need a tax bill that supports America's families and that can help us do better and live higher quality lives. prgtoken But, instead, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act--a bizarrely named piece of legislation because it doesn't do anything for jobs--is in front of us. It is what s offer as tax reform. prgtoken But here is what it does, : it moves more jobs overseas. This bill gives tax breaks to corporations offshoring jobs, driving down American wages. prgtoken How many workers lay in the bed at night looking at the ceiling hoping and praying that the plant doesn't close? How do we explain to them that we are going to cut taxes for these big corporations that would incentivize them to offshore? How do we tell them that? prgtoken Is that making America great again? I don't think so. It increases taxes for millions of Americans. Thirty-eight million middle class households will see an immediate tax increase--averaging $2,000 by 2026. prgtoken Is that what we had in mind when we started talking about tax reform? Absolutely not. prgtoken This tax bill doubles taxes on American families by making folks pay Federal taxes on taxes you already pay to your State and local government. prgtoken It is a good thing when local communities say: We are going to raise taxes on ourselves to meet local needs. When States and cities do that, they have been expecting for literally over 100 years that that would be deductible. prgtoken Yet the Federal Government, under the tax plan, wants to take that deduction away, which will have the effect of putting downward pressure on what local and State governments can raise to make their citizens' lives better, beginning a downward spiral. As the Federal Government pays less, the States and cities
TRIBUTE TO RON POWERS
Patrick J. Leahy (Democrat, VT) \u2014 2017-11-15

I would like to take a moment to recognize the moving work of Ron Powers of Castleton, VT--a Pulitzer Prize- winning author who has written about everything from Mark Twain to the soldiers of Iwo Jima to broadcast news and sports. prgtoken Ron's latest book, ``No One Cares About Crazy People,'' concentrates on a topic that he promised himself he would never write about: the social history of mental illness in America. This story is poignantly told through his own deeply personal story of his two prgtoken sons' struggles with schizophrenia, which tragically claimed the life of one of them. prgtoken The book's informative yet intimate approach raises awareness about a subject that most are too uncomfortable to broach. When reading it, you can hardly hold back tears. prgtoken I cannot imagine the pain Ron and Honoree went through while working on this book. It is a truly personal journey and a triumph. I am proud of him for publishing this important work. He understands that mental illness is not an issue that will simply go away if pushed into the darkness of neglect and denial. One cannot lock it up in an institution and expect to be rid of the problem. Mental illness in America needs to be discussed openly, by those who suffer from it, the friends and families of those affected, medical experts, and those of us Senators. We must all follow the footsteps of Ron and continue to shine a light on this extremely sensitive issue. prgtoken I ask unanimous consent that the October 8, 2017, Vermont Digger article honoring Ron Powers and his family and recognizing his great work be printed in the Record.
TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT
Janice D. Schakowsky (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-11-15

everyone knows that the tax scam gives massive tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires and corporations, and they do it, in part, by increasing healthcare costs for millions of Americans. Over 36 million middle class households will see a tax hike under this bill. prgtoken Families with big medical bills will take the hardest hit. That is because Americans will no longer be able to deduct major medical expenses such as cancer treatment or Alzheimer's from their Federal income taxes. prgtoken This is a middle class tax hike. Seven in ten households using the medical expense deduction make under $75,000 a year. Repealing the deduction would especially hurt seniors who use it for long-term care expenses. prgtoken The bill takes a second swipe at American seniors and people with disabilities. According to the Congressional Budget Office, by not paying for tax cuts for the wealthy, s would trigger automatic cuts to Medicare, slashing $25 billion from Medicare in 2018 alone. prgtoken But the $25 billion cut to Medicare is just the beginning. The same budget that cleared the way for $1.5 trillion in tax cuts for the superwealthy proposed cutting Medicare and Medicaid by, no coincidence, $1.5 trillion. prgtoken Now, Senate s want to pay for additional tax cuts by repealing a key part of the Affordable Care Act. This change would increase the number of uninsured Americans by 13 million and increase premiums by 10 percent. prgtoken Middle class families, people with disabilities, and seniors struggling to afford healthcare should not foot the bill for billionaires to get a tax cut. I urge my colleagues to make the healthy choice for Americans and vote against the tax scam.
TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT
Maxine Waters (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-11-15

. Madam , I rise today in opposition to H.R. 1, which is just a continuation of s' relentless attack on working families. This is not a tax plan; it is a tax scam. prgtoken This President won't disclose how he is going to benefit from this tax scam. He has disrespected us all. This tax scam will eliminate the student loan interest deduction. It will eliminate State and local tax deductions on income. It will restrict the mortgage interest deduction. prgtoken It is estimated that 47 million taxpayers face a tax hike. Almost half of any tax cuts will go to the richest 1 percent. Residents of my State of California will face the largest net tax increase totaling $12.1 billion in 2027 alone. prgtoken Madam , I call on the President of the United States of America to show his tax income and to show his tax plan. He needs to let us know what he is all about and what his taxes are. From the very beginning, he said he couldn't show them at the time that he was asked when he was first inaugurated into this Presidency, but time has passed. It is time for the President to show us his tax returns, rather than coming up with a tax scam asking everybody else to pay up, to pay more, and saying that this is a middle class tax cut when it is not. prgtoken We want to know more about him and his plan. So with my 1 minute, my 2 minutes, whatever it is, this evening is all about saying a message to the President. prgtoken Even though I will be cautioned that I am not to talk to the President, I am calling on the President: Show your tax returns.
CLIMATE DISRUPTION
Jeff Merkley (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2017-11-15

climate disruption is the seminal challenge of our generation. It affects everything from our farms to our forests, to our fisheries. We are seeing huge impacts around the world: disappearing ice in the Arctic, melting permafrost, dying coral, raging fires, more powerful storms. Everywhere you look it is having an impact, and it is certainly an impact we need to pay a great deal of attention to because it is hurting human civilization, and the impacts are just beginning. They are going to become worse over time. prgtoken In response, communities across the globe are transforming their energy economies. They are certainly making their energy economies more efficient, from increasing insulation in buildings to improving vehicle mileage, to greater efficiency in appliances and in replacing fossil fuel energy with clean renewable energy. prgtoken How much do you know about the changes underway, about the dramatic modifications of our energy economy and the impacts of climate disruption? Let's find out. Welcome to episode 8 of the Senate Climate Disruption Quiz. Here we go. prgtoken First question. Researchers predict there will be an ice-free Arctic by the summer of what year? prgtoken Will it be the year 2020, 3 years from now; the year 2030, the year 2075, or will it be 2100, the end of the century? prgtoken Lock in your answers. prgtoken Here is the correct answer. That is B, the year 2030. Researchers say that as early as 2030, the Arctic Ocean could lose all of its ice during the year's warmest months. prgtoken We see here a map of what has been happening in the past. The red outlines, in addition to the white, represents where the ice was in 1980. In 1998, less area is covered; in 2012, even less area is covered; and in the last two summers, the Northwest Passage has been free of ice, and that has enabled a ship called the Crystal Serenity to move up and essentially take tourists through the Northwest Passage, where you can see it was ice-covered in 1980. So that is a big change. prgtoken If we have an effort to address the improvements made in Paris, then, yes, there would still be ice here in that year of 2030, in an area about the size of India, but you can see it is really shrinking quickly. prgtoken OK. On to our second question. Over the next decade, the number of U.S. wind energy technicians is expected to decline by 10 percent; grow by over 100 percent, which is to double; remain about stable; or disappear entirely? prgtoken Lock in your answers. prgtoken The correct answer is B, grow by over 100 percent. In other words, it will double. These are good jobs. Last year, less prgtoken than 100,000 people were employed in some manner by the wind industry, and the median pay was about $51,000 a year--a good middle-class job. We are seeing the jobs grow as the demand for wind energy grows throughout the country. The American Wind Energy Association says that in just the first 3 months of 2017, 2,000
Republican Tax Plan (Executive Calendar)
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-11-15

I came to the floor yesterday to speak on the devastating impact the tax plan would have on working families in my home State of Illinois and other States across the Nation. prgtoken It is no secret that the plan would finance massive tax cuts for the wealthiest people in America. They just can't help themselves. Every time they look at the Tax Code, they think there has to be a way to help the wealthiest people in our country. They usually look at the estate tax, which is paid for by 1 out of every 1,000 Americans, and say: We have just got to spare these poor people who have a net worth of over $11 million from paying any taxes to the government. We have to spare them from paying this government for the benefit that this great Nation has brought to them and their families and businesses. That is where they start. prgtoken Then they do the alternative minimum tax, which is a tax that was created so that if your accountants and bookkeepers and lawyers are the sharpest on Earth and ended up finding that you had no tax liability, you still paid a fair share for sustaining this great Nation that you call home. They want to get rid of that, too, or at least dramatically modify it. prgtoken They start off with the premise of making these tax cuts for the wealthiest people in America the beginning point of tax reform, these giveaways to people who are not even asking for them. They can't help themselves. They always start there, and the American people know it. prgtoken When you ask the American people, what is this tax reform all about, they say it is tax cuts for wealthy people. That is where it always starts, and it does when the s are the authors. That is what we face again. prgtoken They try to argue that it is going to help working families. It will help some--let me be honest about that--and yet you are going to find many working families who are going to pay more instead of less because of this so-called tax reform. Why would we ever do that? prgtoken Why would we give tax breaks to the wealthiest people in America-- permanent tax breaks--and then turn around and say to working families: Sorry. Some of you will get help, but many of you will not. prgtoken In my home State of Illinois, the elimination of the State and local tax exemption is going to be devastating to our State. We are in the top five of States where the people in my State who pay income tax, sales tax, and property tax can deduct those taxes from their Federal income that is subject to taxation. prgtoken That is not a new idea. It has been around for decades. It really is premised on the following: Americans should not have to pay tax on a tax. If I pay $100 a month, and I pay my local property taxes, I shouldn't be taxed on that $100. It is a double hit. It is not fair, but the plan believes that is what we should do. prgtoken I will tell the seven Congressmen in my State, they o
STAFF SERGEANT PETER TAUB POST OFFICE BUILDING
Bonnie Watson Coleman (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2017-11-15

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , I am pleased to join my colleagues in consideration of H.R. 2873, a bill to designate the facility of the United States Post Office located at 207 Glenside Avenue in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, as the Staff Sergeant Peter Taub Post Office Building. prgtoken A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mr. Taub was inspired by his grandfather's World War II military service to join the Air Force in 2007. He loaded missiles for F-15 fighter jets in Japan before transferring to Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, where he specialized in arming B-1 bombers. prgtoken In 2013, after earning his bachelor's degree in cybersecurity, Peter became a special agent in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and participated in over a dozen combat missions through hostile areas. prgtoken On December 21, 2015, while in Afghanistan, Staff Sergeant Taub gave his life, along with four of his fellow airmen, when his unit was ambushed in a suicide attack. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Air Force Commendation Medal, and Air Force Combat Action Medal, and he leaves behind a beloved wife and two children. prgtoken , we should pass this bill to honor Staff Sergeant Peter Taub's bravery and remember the ultimate sacrifice he made to protect our Nation. prgtoken I urge the passage of H.R. 2873. prgtoken , .
Republican Tax Plan (Executive Session)
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2017-11-15

the tax plan, even before yesterday, would exacerbate income inequality at a time when it is already spiraling out of control, helping the rich get richer and big corporations get bigger while the middle class is left stuck in neutral. Many millions of middle-class families would wind up paying higher taxes at the end of the day--13 million in 2019 and 20 million in 2027--under the Senate plan. prgtoken That is the wrong approach for our economy. It betrays the American worker and the American family, who deserve tax relief, because it concentrates more of our country's wealth at the very top--just what the American people don't want, but so many of those who fund the Party do. For most of my colleagues and most of the American people, that is reason enough to oppose the bill, and the American people do, by large numbers. prgtoken But yesterday s made two last-minute changes to their bill that make it even worse. First, s decided to throw the mother of all monkey wrenches into the bill: repealing the individual mandate. My friend the majority leader called this provision ``helpful'' to the bill because it raises revenue. I would remind him and all of my colleagues that prgtoken the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said it would lead to 13 million fewer Americans with health insurance. So we are taking 13 million people off of health insurance to give tax cuts to the wealthy. prgtoken Also, according to CBO, it would lead to a 10-percent increase in premiums. Each year, they would be 10 percent higher than they otherwise would be. So the bill says: Raise the premiums on average Americans' healthcare by 10 percent so we can give the wealthy a tax cut. prgtoken This is the same thing they did in the healthcare bill until the public outrage forced them to back off, and, of course, it lost. Now they are doing it again because the belief is to reduce the healthcare safety net for middle-class Americans so they can give more tax cuts to the wealthiest and most powerful amongst us. prgtoken If s had their way, younger, healthier people would flee the market, making the risk pool older and sicker. If you are 50 to 64, this is very bad news for you. That is why the AARP is against this bill and yesterday denounced the new change. prgtoken I would remind my colleagues that the provision raises $400 billion in revenues because it throws Americans off insurance, and $179 billion alone is saved because people wouldn't sign up for Medicaid. So the bill takes $400 billion out of help for healthcare and gives it to the wealthy and the powerful for even more tax breaks. Does any American support that? A handful maybe, but it seems a lot of people in this Chamber might. prgtoken So when the s say this provision in their bill is helpful, they don't mean it is helpful to Americans. It may help Rep
VOTE EXPLANATION
Cory A. Booker (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2017-11-15

I was necessarily absent for the votes on confirmation of Executive Calendar No. 463, the confirmation of Executive Calendar No. 383, and the motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar No. 300. prgtoken On vote No. 274, had I been present, I would have voted nay on the confirmation of Executive Calendar No. 463. prgtoken On vote No. 275, had I been present, I would have voted nay on the confirmation of Executive Calendar No. 383. prgtoken On vote No. 276, had I been present, I would have voted nay on the motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar No. 300.
THE STORY OF HUGO FROM SALEM, OREGON
Kurt Schrader (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2017-11-15

I rise today to share the story of Hugo from Salem, Oregon, and I continue to urge Ryan to put forth a clean Dream Act. prgtoken Hugo is an undocumented Oregonian originally from Veracruz, Mexico. His only memory of Mexico is saying good-bye to his parents as a child before leaving for Salem. prgtoken In high school, Hugo played football, he was a JROTC commander, a youth police cadet, and a firefighter explorer. He quickly moved from ESL into honors classes, and graduated at the top of his class. Hugo earned the privilege of delivering the commencement speech at his graduation. prgtoken All of this, along with his dedication to community service, led to the city of Salem recognizing Hugo as Youth of the Year. prgtoken Because of Hugo's immigration status, however, after leaving high school, his only job was a field hand. That is until DACA. prgtoken Hugo was able to enroll at the University of Oregon, working multiple jobs to pay for his tuition, and earned his bachelor's degree in economics. He now works as a banker, and volunteers as a teacher in financial literacy for families. But in 10 months, his work permit will expire. prgtoken , let's protect 800,000 DACA recipients across this country, like Hugo.
REPUBLICAN TAX SCAM
Daniel T. Kildee (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2017-11-15

just calling this tax bill a middle class tax bill does not make it so. You actually have to read the bill. And if you do, you will find that the vast majority of the benefit goes to the people at the very top: the wealthiest Americans, multinational corporations. They are the beneficiaries of this tax scam. prgtoken Saying it benefits the middle class does not make it so, and, in fact, many in the middle class, tens of millions of people in the middle class, will pay more taxes so that we can do what? Give huge tax breaks to the people at the very top. prgtoken And how do they pay for that? They borrow money. prgtoken All these deficit hawks, all these people over here who have said over and over again that it is immoral to pass debt on to our children and grandchildren will walk to the floor of this House and they will vote to send $1.5 trillion in debt to their kids and grandkids to give corporations and the wealthiest Americans a tax break. prgtoken It is immoral. It is immoral.