mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
Introductory Statement on S. 602
Susan M. Collins (Republican, ME) \u2014 2017-3-9

I rise to introduce the Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act. I am pleased to be joined by my colleague from Delaware, Senator Carper, in introducing this bipartisan bill. prgtoken In the United States, the annual cost of fires is enormous. In 2015, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), fires resulted in approximately $14 billion in direct property loss. In addition, more than 3,000 civilians were killed and more than 15,000 people were injured in fires. The NFPA also reports that a fire department responded to a structure fire every 63 seconds. prgtoken These statistics are of particular concern in Maine, which has some of the oldest housing stock in the country and which has experienced deadly apartment building fires. In 2014, an apartment fire resulted in the deaths of six people--Maine's deadliest fire in nearly four decades. prgtoken Historically, Maine has also seen commercial property damaged by fires. In fact, much of the construction in the historic areas of Portland was done following a devastating fire in 1866. This fire destroyed a third of the city, including most of Portland's commercial buildings, many of its churches, and countless homes. prgtoken The NFPA reports that when fire sprinklers are present during a large fire, they are effective 96 percent of the time, saving billions of dollars in property damage but more importantly, thousands of lives. Our bill would encourage commercial building owners to invest in fire safety upgrades. While building codes require sprinklers in new commercial buildings, a great number of structures across the U.S. were built and put in service before sprinklers were required. prgtoken Small business building owners, however, may find it difficult to fund retrofit sprinklers. To help these owners, our bill would provide two tax incentives to encourage them to make this lifesaving investment. prgtoken Currently, commercial building owners must depreciate fire sprinkler retrofits over a lengthy 39-year period. The period for residential buildings is 7\1/2\ years. This bill reclassifies fire sprinkler retrofits as 15-year depreciable property, thus allowing building owners to write off their costs more quickly. The bill also provides an option for certain small businesses to deduct the cost of the fire system upgrades immediately under Section 179 of the tax code. Together, these proposals will provide a strong incentive for building owners to install fire sprinkler systems. prgtoken This bill was originally drafted in response to the deadly nightclub fire in West Warwick, RI, in 2003, which killed a staggering 100 people. That building did not have a fire sprinkler system. Let us work together to lessen the chances of another tragedy like this one. I invite my colleagues to join Senator Carper and me in support of this bipartisan, common sense legislation. prgtoken , I ask unanimous consent that a letter of support be pri
Nomination of Neil Gorsuch (Executive Session)
Cory Gardner (Republican, CO) \u2014 2017-3-9

I rise to support the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court. Hopefully, we will see his confirmation in the weeks to come. prgtoken As I have come to the floor and talked about before, Judge Gorsuch is a fourth-generation Coloradan who serves on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is the U.S. circuit court that is housed in Denver, CO. It is the circuit court that oversees about 20 percent of the land mass in the States of Colorado, Oklahoma, and places in between. Once he is confirmed to the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch will become the second Coloradan to have served on the Court. prgtoken We have a great history of another Supreme Court Justice who served on the highest Court. Associate Justice Byron White had the distinction of being the only Supreme Court Justice to lead the NFL in rushing, and he was also from Colorado. prgtoken If Judge Gorsuch is confirmed, Justice Gorsuch will join Byron White as another Coloradan on the High Court. Justice Rutledge also received his bachelor's of law degree from the University of Colorado. So we do have a great history of Colorado westerners joining our Nation's highest Court. prgtoken Mr. Gorsuch was confirmed to the Tenth Circuit Court a little over 10 years ago--11 years ago--in 2006, by a unanimous voice vote. He was so popular and so well supported that there was not even a rollcall vote taken in this Chamber. It was a simple acclamation by a voice vote. In fact, Gorsuch's nomination hearing was deemed so noncontroversial that the last time, Senator Graham was the only committee member to attend. prgtoken One may ask oneself what made and continues to make Judge Gorsuch such a mainstream nominee. I do not think we need to look any further than his original Judiciary Committee questionnaire to see that Judge Gorsuch possesses the right temperament and the right view of the role of judges. prgtoken I thought it was important that I read this from 11 years ago when Judge Gorsuch was confirmed to the Tenth Circuit Court. The questionnaire he filled out for the Judiciary Committee included then- Neil Gorsuch's--trying to be Judge Gorsuch--response to judicial activism and what it meant to Neil Gorsuch prior to his confirmation to the Tenth Circuit Court. prgtoken Here is what he replied to the Judiciary Committee in that committee questionnaire: The Constitution requires Federal judges to strike a delicate balance. The separation of powers embodied in our founding document provides the judiciary with a defined and limited charter. Judges must allow the elected branches of government to flourish and citizens, through their elected representatives, to make laws appropriate to the facts and circumstances of the day. Judges must avoid the temptation to usurp the roles of the legislative and executive branches and must appreciate the advantages these democratic institutions
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF A RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Roy Blunt (Republican, MO) \u2014 2017-3-9

I want to talk about the Affordable Care Act and its failures, as well as the American Health Care Act and what differences I think it makes. I am going to be joined on the floor by at least one of my colleagues soon, and we may even, with permission, have a colloquy. I know Senator Barrasso is on a limited time schedule and has been one of our great leaders on this issue. I think I will turn to him first and then come back when he has had a chance to make his comments.
RECOGNIZING KIT'S KITCHEN
Dean Heller (Republican, NV) \u2014 2017-3-9

today I wish to recognize a great small business and charitable organization that is leading by example, serving the community, and making a difference in the great State of Nevada. Chanthy Walsh and her husband own a nonprofit restaurant called KIT's Kitchen, which is located in Henderson, NV. The name stems from the nonprofit foundation they run called Kids in Transition. Both organizations work side by side to help those in need. prgtoken Since November 2016, KIT's Kitchen has been training underprivileged youth, while providing affordable meals to the local community. This restaurant provides its volunteers with real work experience and teaches them what it takes to succeed in the restaurant and hospitality industry. To me, it is more than just learning about the restaurant; these kids are being taught hard work, about giving back to their community, and what it means to make a commitment and be held accountable to it--values that go beyond the workplace. prgtoken In addition to their impressive restaurant, Mrs. Walsh and her husband, Tim, direct a nonprofit called the Kids in Transition Foundation, which is designed to help young people build a successful career. This foundation provides meals, scholarships, financial aid, and mentoring advice to Nevada's youth. Together, these efforts are building a better future for Nevada. prgtoken As a father, I understand firsthand how much of an asset Chanthy Walsh and her work is to the Silver State. Considering these young Nevadans are the future, I am proud to see Ms. Walsh strive to make Nevada brighter every single day. It is this dedication to community and giving back that makes a difference in so many people's lives. prgtoken Today I ask my colleagues and all Nevadans to join me and recognizing this organization, its employees, and its impressive leader. Chanthy Walsh provides an outstanding service to the local community and to our great State. As Nevada's senior Senator, I am humbled by her efforts and a true commitment to making a difference in people's lives. I hope others can look to her for inspiration on how to make their community a better place for everyone.
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF A RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Lamar Alexander (Republican, TN) \u2014 2017-3-9

in 2015, 85 U.S. Senators voted to fix the No Child Left Behind Act. We reversed the trend to a national school board and began to restore decisions to classroom teachers, local school boards, and States. The Wall Street Journal said that it was ``the largest devolution of federal control to the States'' in 25 years. prgtoken The Department of Education regulation that we seek to overturn today does exactly the reverse. It begins to restore the national school board, and it begins to take away responsibility from classroom teachers, local school boards, and States. It does that in direct violation of the law we passed with 85 Senators voting for it 15 months ago. prgtoken The question before us today is not only whether we believe in a national school board or local school board, the question is whether we believe Congress ought to write the law or the U.S. Department of Education ought to write the law. Article I of the U.S. Constitution says that the U.S. Congress--we--should write the law. prgtoken The purpose of this resolution is to overturn a Department of Education regulation that in seven specific cases directly violates the Every Student Succeeds Act passed 15 months ago, and in 16 additional cases exceeds the authority allowed by the law. I spoke on this floor yesterday in detail of each of those 23 instances. prgtoken It is very unusual for the Congress to actually prohibit a department from regulating on an issue, but that is exactly what Congress did. The regulation we are seeking to overturn says to States: Ignore the law that 85 Senators passed 15 months ago. Ignore the law President called a ``Christmas miracle.'' Ignore the law Governors, teachers, school boards, and superintendents all supported, and even ignore why they supported it, and listen instead to unelected bureaucrats at the U.S. Department of Education. prgtoken This regulation issued by the Department of Education specifically does things or requires States to do things Congress said in our law that the Department cannot do; therefore, it violates the law. prgtoken For example, Congress said to the Department: You cannot tell States what to do about fixing low-performing schools in Alaska or Tennessee or your State; that is a State decision. But this regulation does that anyway. prgtoken Congress said to the Department: You cannot tell States exactly how to rate the public schools. But this regulation does that anyway. prgtoken This isn't a trivial matter. The remarkable consensus that developed in 2015 in support of the bill fixing No Child Left Behind was, as I said earlier, to reverse the trend toward a national school board and restore to States, classrooms, teachers, and communities decisions about what to do about schools. People are fed up with Washington telling teachers and schools and superintendents and States so much about what to do about their children in 100,000 public schools. So this regulation,
OBAMACARE
Doug LaMalfa (Republican, CA) \u2014 2017-3-9

from California (Mr. Yoho), a good friend here, and my other colleagues here, to allow me the moment to speak. prgtoken , I am really excited about the opportunity with this new administration for relief for regular Americans from the Affordable Care Act. I think the intentions may have been good when it was passed, but we see the devastating effects from the many emails, letters, calls, and the communications my office received from middle-income families. They are the ones that are the most negatively affected by this act. We have seen their premiums and their deductibles go out of sight. They may not even need to have the insurance anymore because the deductibles are so out of reach for them on cost, so insurance means nothing to them. prgtoken Indeed, with most Americans having health insurance before the ACA that they were at least reasonably happy with, they have had that choice taken away from them. They have had choices taken away. My wife and I were sitting there in December 2013, being forced, just like everybody else, to enroll in a plan with a broken website trying to get it to go through. We knew at the time we were going to have big problems with that. prgtoken We even agreed with the conference when we were on the eve of this taking effect. The President decided that maybe we need to have a 1-year pause for this for employers of 100 people or more. We agreed with that. We offered legislation because you are not supposed to just do that with the stroke of a pen. Indeed, it was duly passed legislation with all votes, no votes, just a few short years before. We agreed, let's lay this for a year, if nothing else, for those larger employers. prgtoken But we also said: , we should also delay it for everybody else because we know it isn't going to work. We know this is going to do nothing to curb costs. That really is the bottom line. It is the middle-income families that I am really worried about in this thing because, again, we received so many communications from them saying: Please help us. We can't afford it. We are putting off being able to buy a home because we are seeing these costs go up. We are putting off college savings for our kids because our costs are spiraling out of control. prgtoken So if we do nothing else in the process, again, are we going to come up with the perfect bill? prgtoken There is no perfect bill when you have this many years of the type of government takeover of health care that we have seen here. But we are going to do the best we can because it is those folks out there-- middle-income Americans--that we are trying to help to bring relief from the ACA so they can go back to doing the priorities they see: having affordable insurance, doctors they can choose, a plan they can choose, and being able to go off and do the things like saving for their kids' college and maybe buying that home that is part of
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF A RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2017-3-9

the other body spent yesterday and well into the night to vote out bills that would repeal and reform Care. I do not know exactly what is going to prgtoken happen in the other body on that issue, but I would like to add some thoughts on the issue of repeal and replace. prgtoken Care has been a case of overpromise and underdelivery. People were told that their premiums would go down by $2,500. They have actually gone up by an average of $3,500. They were also promised that if they liked their doctors, they would be able to keep their doctors. Millions of people have had to change doctors. Then they were told that they could keep their healthcare plans, and millions of people have had to change their healthcare plans. In fact, Care has been a case of overpromise and underdelivery. The reality is much different. prgtoken Care is hurting more people than it is helping. I have heard from many Iowans about the tremendous premium increases and, most importantly, all about high deductibles and high copays that make Care not worth its consideration. prgtoken One farmer said his health insurance premium went from $20,000 to $30,000 in one year. Another family said their Care premium increased 144 percent over 3 years. The 2017 premium for three people was over $24,000, and families who did manage to purchase Care insurance found that they could no longer afford to use it because of sky-high deductibles and copays. Another Iowan said that his policy for his family of three increased from $15,000 a year to $23,000 in 1 year, with, more importantly, the policy's value being less because the deductible for that plan is nearly $6,000. prgtoken It is quite obvious, as you think of these situations, that very few people can afford some of the prices or afford the deductibles that we hear about. So I think it is a very clear summation to say that Care is not working. prgtoken According to Avalere, one-third of the country will have only one insurance carrier that offers Care plans next year. Since that analysis by Avalere, another insurance company has pulled out of Care and has left some parts of the country without any insurance companies whatsoever for the folks to choose from. So many insurance companies have dropped out of Care that there are places in the country where people have a subsidy, but no insurance plans to buy. That is like having a bus ticket and there is no bus to take you anywhere. prgtoken Even those who were strong supporters of the healthcare law, like, as an example, the ic Governor of Minnesota, have said--or he said--the ACA ``is no longer affordable to many Americans.'' prgtoken The problem with Care is it did nothing to address the underlying causes of the high cost of healthcare; that is, what it costs for a hospital or doctor to purchase and maintain medical equipment, to purchase medicines, to carry malpractice insura
Republican Healthcare Bill (Executive Session)
Orrin G. Hatch (Republican, UT) \u2014 2017-3-9

I rise today to speak once again on the so- called Affordable Care Act and the ongoing effort to repeal and replace. We all know the House of Representatives has produced a repeal and replace package, and both the Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce Committees have been marking it up. We don't know what it is right now. In other words, the endeavor to right the wrongs of Care is moving steadily forward on the other side of the Capitol, and soon it will be the Senate's turn to act. I commend my colleagues for introducing this legislation and moving it forward. This is an important step, and I don't think I am alone when I say that I am watching the progress in the House very carefully to see how things proceed and what the final House product will look like. prgtoken Of course, virtually all s in Congress want to repeal and replace Care. We are in unison there. While there are some differences of opinion on how best to do that, there is generally unanimity on that point. I am confident that whatever differences exist among House Members will be worked out through the House's legislative process. prgtoken In addition, whatever passes in the House will be subject to the input and review of the Senate and to the rules of the budget reconciliation process. I want to note that I have heard from a number of Senators who have items they would like to see included when the bill comes before the Senate. I actually have several ideas of my own. However, there are limits as to what we can do under the budget reconciliation rule. Many of the proposed policy changes I have heard, although they have merit, would be banned by the rules and subject to the 60-vote threshold. That said, I am committed to working with my colleagues on both sides of the floor to ensure that the prgtoken Senate process on this bill is productive and that it yields a result we can support. prgtoken Long story short: This process is far from over. We have a lot more work to do. It is worth pointing out that the vast majority of the policies at play in this discussion and virtually all of the spending fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Senate Finance Committee, which I chair. Make no mistake. The Finance Committee is already hard at work and has been for some time. In many respects, I suppose you could say we have been working on this effort since the day Care was signed into law. However, for obvious reasons, our work has intensified over the past several months. prgtoken In working through this process, I have been in constant contact with Chairmen Brady and Walden, who head up the relevant committees in the House. I have also been working closely with the 's office, and I have been gathering input from Governors around the country. In addition, I have been working closely with the distinguished chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Senator Enzi, who has the chief responsibility of navigati
RIGHT TO TRY POTENTIALLY LIFESAVING DRUGS
Andy Biggs (Republican, AZ) \u2014 2017-3-9

many Americans, including my constituents, fight a terminal illness. Many of them cannot access potentially lifesaving drugs because of the lengthy and bureaucratic Food and Drug Administration's approval process. prgtoken Last month Congressman Fitzpatrick and I introduced the Right to Try Act, which is a bill that would provide the option for terminally ill patients to receive drugs that have passed the FDA's basic safety testing but are still working their way through the lengthy government process to receive final approval. prgtoken In 2014, my home State of Arizona passed a similar right-to-try law with nearly 80 percent of the vote, thanks to the heroic efforts of my friend, the late Laura Knaperek. She successfully fought to pass right- to-try at the State level even as she was battling a cancer that would ultimately claim her life. I sponsored this bill in memory of Laura and many others who have championed this legislation around the country. prgtoken Right-to-try has passed in 33 States, and it needs to be enacted at the Federal level. Our bill gives Americans that right to try. I am grateful for Congressman Fitzpatrick's partnership on this vital issue. I call upon my colleagues to pass this legislation in the House.
REMEMBERING SHERIFF CHARLES EDWARD ``FUZZY'' KEESEE
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2017-3-9

today I wish to remember the life of the longest serving county sheriff in the history of Kentucky, Pike County Sheriff Charles Edward Keesee. After more than 40 years of hard work, ``Fuzzy,'' as he was affectionately known, passed away at the age of 89. prgtoken A veteran of the Second World War, Fuzzy became a lasting icon in Pike County. Deputy Judge/Executive Brian Morris said ``You can't serve for more than four decades and not personally touch every household in Pike County.'' He was a compassionate public servant, a dedicated law enforcement officer, and a good man. The community will surely remember Fuzzy's impact and miss him deeply. prgtoken Elaine and I send our condolences to Sheriff Keesee's wife, Easter, his brother, Alben, and his sister, Nancy Jo.
HEALTH CARE FOR MINERS
Evan H. Jenkins (Republican, WV) \u2014 2017-3-9

I met last week with a group of West Virginia coal miners who are worried about their future. They are worried about their pensions and healthcare benefits that will expire soon, benefits that they worked their whole life to earn, benefits the Federal Government promised them more than 70 years ago. prgtoken During our meeting at the UMWA Career Center in Beckley, I met Preston Thomas of Raleigh County. He spent 36 years in the mines before retiring in 2010. Preston relies on the healthcare benefits he earned to provide prescription drug coverage for his wife. If this coverage is allowed to expire in April, his wife will no longer have access to the medications she needs. prgtoken , Preston is asking--I am calling on--Congress to keep the promise we made to him, to his fellow miners, to their wives, to their husbands, to their widows. We must pass legislation I have cosponsored to protect these hard-earned benefits. prgtoken I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation and protecting the hardworking miners like Preston. We owe it to all of them to keep our word.