mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
EB-5 REFORM AND INTEGRITY ACT OF 2022
Richard C. Shelby (Republican, AL) \u2014 2022-3-10

I rise tonight to urge my colleagues to support the Omnibus appropriations bill before us. prgtoken The bill represents a massive bipartisan effort that rests upon a framework that preserves all legacy riders, rejects poison pill policy provisions from both sides, and achieves dollar-for-dollar funding parity for defense and nondefense increases. prgtoken As political compromise has become more and more difficult here, great credit, I believe, belongs to Chairman Leahy for making the tough choices that needed to be made and showing leadership to reach this agreement tonight. prgtoken The senior Senator from Vermont, who also serves this body as the President pro tempore, has accomplished many things in his long and his distinguished career. Each and every one of these accomplishments were made possible by his unparalleled ability to get things done, and this bill needed to get done. prgtoken Because the international security situation demands a greater emphasis on and investment in our national defense, this omnibus bill provides $782 billion for the Department of Defense and for other defense functions; $4 billion more than the level authorized by the National Defense Authorization Act; $30 billion more than President 's budget request; and nearly $42 billion more than 2021. prgtoken The bill also provides an 11-percent increase over fiscal year 2021 for the Department of Homeland Security, including $6.5 billion for much needed investments in border security resources and a 7-percent increase for ICE operations. Critically, the package restores $2 billion in funding for wall construction on the southwest border. prgtoken The bill also cuts nearly $65 billion in wasteful nondefense spending proposed in the administration's budget--a nearly 10-percent decrease from the requested level. prgtoken Finally, the package also provides critical emergency assistance to our military, to Ukraine, and to our European allies, without reducing base defense spending by a single dollar. prgtoken Is an omnibus appropriations bill ideal? I will tell you tonight, the answer is, no, it is not, but at this critical time and this late date, it is necessary. prgtoken My hope is that we can pass this bill and use the same framework that made this bill possible as we begin the 2023 appropriations process. prgtoken I have no illusions that once again it will not be a difficult process. It will be. I know that our chairman can get it done, and I look forward to continuing to work with Senator Leahy and the Appropriations staff--and with him one last time for both of us. prgtoken Before I complete my remarks, I would also like to recognize the incredible--and it is incredible--effort put forward by the staff members of both the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, as well as the staff of the respective leaders' offices. Without them we couldn't be where we are tonight. We asked them to do the impossible, and
RECOGNIZING THE NORTH DAKOTA GIRLS CLASS B BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS FROM KINDRED HIGH SCHOOL
Kevin Cramer (Republican, ND) \u2014 2022-3-10

last year I had the honor of congratulating two State championship teams from my alma mater, Kindred High School, in boys basketball in March and boys football in November. prgtoken Last week, it was the Kindred Vikings girls basketball team that took home the championship trophy at the North Dakota Class B State tournament, winning a third State title in just 6 years. These girls began their season with a win and kept on winning. They entered the tournament undefeated and after their last game were 23-0. prgtoken In their final game, the Vikings played last year's State champions, the Grafton Spoilers, dominating the game early and ending with a 64-40 win. This was the largest championship point margin of victory since 1991. Leading the team was senior guard Abby Duchscherer, who scored 25 points and 10 rebounds. She was also named Senior Athlete of the Year and Tournament MVP. prgtoken Having three State championship sports teams in a year, along with its overall general academic excellence, speaks highly of the quality of the Kindred Public School system. I commend all administrators, teachers, and staff, as well as the entire community for the role they play in supporting quality education. prgtoken For this basketball championship, however, it is the awesome young women on the team who deserve the greatest recognition. They are Charli McQuillan, Peyton Gette, Avery Bartels, Abigail Duchscherer, Kacie Burner, Lexi Ogren, Kristina Freier, Ana Freier, Laela Eisenschenk, McKenzie Schmitz, Avery Amerman, Terryn Johnson, Leah Rolland, Kennedy Bakko, and Tess Rohrbeck. prgtoken I congratulate the team, as well as Coach Sam Brandt, assistant coaches Tenille Bakko, Ashley Fahnhorst, Perry Piatz, and Danni Sanders and all the loyal fans on another Kindred Vikings State championship. prgtoken I join all North Dakotans in thanking each and every player on this team for inspiring us with your excellence. You continue to show us what can be achieved by combining faith and passion with determination and teamwork.
ENERGY POLICIES
Shelley Moore Capito (Republican, WV) \u2014 2022-3-10

I want to talk about gas prices. prgtoken The people in West Virginia woke up this morning, and according to AAA, the average gas price in West Virginia is $4.12 per gallon. Some parts of the country are paying--probably the part that is the Presiding Officer's country--more than $5 or even more than $6 per gallon of regular gas. Just up the street here in Washington, DC, at the gas station close to the Senate office buildings, it is $5.19 per gallon. We have surpassed the highest recorded average gas prices ever, and that is quite alarming. Unfortunately, this has been all too predictable given the administration's domestic energy policy actions. prgtoken On day one of his Presidency, President managed to immediately kill thousands of union jobs and paralyze America's energy industry with the Executive orders that killed the Keystone XL Pipeline. At peak capacity, this pipeline would have delivered 830,000 barrels of oil per day to American refineries. It is pretty similar to what we are importing from Russia. prgtoken The President put a moratorium on all new oil and gas leases on Federal lands, moving America from the energy superpower that we have been back to having an increased reliance on foreign adversaries for fuel feedstocks. These are countries that have much laxer environmental rules than we have or that we will ever have. prgtoken The administration has also been openly anti-pipeline and anti-fossil fuel with its rhetoric, through its actions, and embodied by the people it has elevated to unaccountable leadership roles. Two by name are Gina McCarthy and John Kerry. This administration has instituted regulatory uncertainty at a time of record inflation. prgtoken The administration wants to make a new definition of WOTUS, which is a rule otherwise known as the waters of the United States, to regulate every pond and ditch--even on private lands all across the country. This will devastate energy production as well as hurt sectors like agriculture and home building at a time when their products are already in high demand and under immense inflationary pressures. prgtoken The administration is considering new, tighter methane regulations that will also raise our energy costs, including for home heating and, as we move to the next season, for home cooling and electricity bills. prgtoken It is revising the NEPA permitting process by undoing the streamlining that was done during the administration. NEPA touches almost every single infrastructure project in our country. Think about it. We just passed an enormous infrastructure package, but if you add more and more redtape onto these infrastructure projects that we have bipartisanly passed through here, you are going to add more and more costs for producers and more and more costs for everyday Americans. This regulatory uncertainty is increasing energy prices for Americans across the board and is felt most acutely at the gas pu
EB-5 REFORM AND INTEGRITY ACT OF 2022
Mike Braun (Republican, IN) \u2014 2022-3-10

this bill has 367 pages worth of earmarks, roughly 5 pounds of paper. Before it came to the Senate, dozens of House offices deleted their public disclosures. I think the swamp is rising again. prgtoken Dr. Tom Coburn, he would be appalled by this. He called earmarks-- , I think it is clear that most aren't interested in talking about earmarks--something else. I believe they lead to waste and abuse. That is why Congress got rid of them 10 years ago. They should have never been allowed back. prgtoken My amendment would cut every one of them from this bill that should have been run through regular process, through the Budget Committee, to where appropriators should have known what was in it until it landed in our laps last night. prgtoken For anyone here that loves the institution, you ought to have enough common sense that $1.5 trillion deficits that are embedded in this bill aren't a good business plan for the institution. I ask you all here this evening: Make a statement--a symbolic one--to get rid of these earmarks.
MOTION TO DISCHARGE--S.J. Res. 35
James E. Risch (Republican, ID) \u2014 2022-3-10

tonight we are going to consider S.J. Res. 35 and 36, and they are the resolutions of disapproval regarding arms sales to Egypt. Egypt has been a key partner of the United States since the 1979 Camp David Accords. prgtoken It continues to play a critical role in Middle East peace. Egypt is a valuable counterterrorism partner and is essential to U.S. accession in the region and the U.S. success in the region. Look, for those who haven't had the good fortune of being there, when the peace broke out between Israel and Egypt decades ago, Egypt played a key role in making that peace. And ever since then, the border between Egypt and Israel on the Sinai has been peaceful, notwithstanding the fact that they have incidents there all the time. prgtoken But the Egyptians and the Israelis, brokered by the multilateral force that is there, keeps the peace, and it has been a great success story in the Middle East, one of the few that has had duration. And so in that regard, Egypt has been very valuable in helping keep the peace in the region. prgtoken The administration and ic Senate and House leaders agreed on these sales because they are in the interest of the United States and, indeed, of the world and particularly of the Middle East. These sales of cargo aircraft and radar support the United States-Egypt relationship and are in keeping with Egypt's legitimate defense requirements. prgtoken Human rights are a critical element of our foreign relations. They always have been, and they always will be. And Egypt has problems it needs to fix. prgtoken The United States has withheld aid and taken other measures to highlight our concerns to the Egyptian Government. Indeed, Egypt is not a perfect partner, and we have almost no perfect partners when we are dealing with foreign countries on national security. prgtoken Nonetheless, each of these is transactional, and they have to be weighed and viewed individually. These sales that we are talking about here to Egypt present no direct human rights concerns and should be separated from that conversation. prgtoken So, on substance, I oppose the resolution. prgtoken In addition to that, there is a bigger issue here. The statutory 30- day congressional notification period for these sales expired last Wednesday, March 2. The Parliamentarian has now ruled that the statutory 30-day period is effectively irrelevant and that any Senator can offer for privileged consideration a resolution of disapproval for any arms sales notified over the course of an entire Congress. prgtoken If this stands and continues, it would have a chilling effect on U.S. alliances and partnerships worldwide, and it could set a new procedure as far as dilatory tactics are concerned on the Senate floor. prgtoken The 1987 precedent that the Parliamentarian cites as justification is from a time when there was a bipartisan agreement to extend the timeline for simple procedural reasons. This is not t
UKRAINE
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2022-3-10

on one final matter, over the last few days, the administration's confusing mismanagement and mixed signals surrounding the Ukraine crisis and the West's response have again spilled out into open public view. prgtoken Here is the pattern. Time and time again throughout this crisis and in the months preceding it, the administration's first instinct has been to resist strong and decisive steps. The President and his team initially take a pass on strong steps when they could have been put into place proactively and had a real deterrent effect, but then, after sustained public pressure, they buckle and implement the steps anyway, often too late. This ``leading from behind'' leaves us in a lose-lose scenario. prgtoken The pattern has played out yet again with this bizarre argument over MiG airplanes that President 's team has carried out in public with our Polish allies. prgtoken The mere fact that administration officials are contradicting not only each other but also our NATO allies in public like this evidences a severe lack of the coordination and proactive leadership that we should be--us, Americans--should be providing. This isn't limited to just these Polish planes; there are all manner of different systems, tools, and arms that our eastern flank allies and partners could be providing more readily to the brave Ukrainians. This would take American leadership and coordination and an American commitment that we will help them replace their Soviet-era stocks with American and Western military technology. prgtoken The loan guarantees we included in the supplemental appropriations bill will give the administration a tool to do just this--help eastern flank NATO partners use their own money to modernize their defensive capabilities. This would be a win for Ukraine, a win for us, and a win for NATO. prgtoken These kinds of steps should be no-brainers for a confident, assertive, and decisive American administration. Instead, it repeatedly seems like the administration's first instinct is to flinch--to flinch--wait for international and public pressure to overwhelm them, and then take action only after the most opportune moment has nearly passed us by. prgtoken Nobody wants an escalation, but if the administration keeps repeating this pattern of self-deterrence, of convincing itself that any proactive step would be irresponsible, they are just internalizing Putin's false premise and amplifying Putin's false equivalence. prgtoken Remember this: Strength is not a provocation. The world needs President and his team to be leading, taking the initiative, and shaping circumstances calmly, soberly, but with confidence and decisiveness. They seem to be trapped in a cycle of passivity, indecision, self-deterrence, and then, finally, reaction. The world needs the administration to be flying this plane. Too often, it feels like the plane is flying them. prgtoken I suggest the absence
H.R. 2471
Jerry Moran (Republican, KS) \u2014 2022-3-10

I rise today on a solemn occasion. I rise in memory of George Nettels, Jr a man who lived a life of service to his community and to our State. prgtoken Affectionately referred to as ``the face of Pittsburg''--Pittsburg, KS, that is--George was a loving husband to Josie and a devoted father to Chris, Meg, Kate, and Becky. He was born in Pittsburg, KS--the very southeast corner of our State--where his dedication, hard work, and thirst for adventure was cultivated. prgtoken As a young man, George joined the U.S. Army in the closing years of World War II. Upon his return home, he attended the University of Kansas, where he was a letterman on the swim team and graduated with a degree in civil engineering. prgtoken George spent most of his career in his beloved hometown, where he became the proud owner of Midwest Minerals, a crushed limestone aggregate and agricultural lime supplier with a strong four-State presence. prgtoken In 1966, he served as the chairman of the Kansas Party and the National Limestone Institute, so civic and politics, as well as his devotion to his profession and those it employed. It was the preceding association to what we in Washington, DC, and across the country know as the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association. prgtoken His work at the National Limestone Institute led to his appointment in 1970 as president and CEO of McNally Manufacturing, which started as a small boiler shop and helped transform Pittsburg into a Southeast Kansas industrial powerhouse. prgtoken George's leadership included serving as chairman of the National Association of Manufacturers and as director of Kansas City Power and Light. prgtoken In 1986, the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas honored him with the distinction of Kansan of the Year--a fitting tribute for his life of service to his community, State, and profession. prgtoken His deep involvement in civic business and philanthropic endeavors kept him busy in Pittsburg, where he served as president of the chamber of commerce, chairman of the Mt. Carmel Hospital board of trustees, a member of the United Way, and president of USD--Unified School District--250 Board of Education. His devotion to Pittsburg's public schools is one he inherited from his father, who spearheaded a campaign to build an elementary school that ultimately would be named for him. prgtoken George Nettels' appetite for adventure led him to 24 countries, skydiving in tandem with his grandson, Jack--he did that at age 84--and taking a 6-day bike tour through the hills of Italy. Whether around the world or at home, he never turned down a new physical challenge, which led him to being named the honorary starter of the Get Busy Livin' 5K Run and Friendship Walk in Pittsburg at 87 years old. prgtoken I heard this story from one of my staff, who saw George jogging in 100-degree heat just over 2 years ago. Worrying about his age and the heat, my staffer offered George a ri
TRIBUTE TO BARRY FEAKER
Roger Marshall (Republican, KS) \u2014 2022-3-10

I rise today to honor and recognize Barry Feaker of Topeka, KS. Barry has served the homeless and impoverished since 1986 as executive director of the Topeka Rescue Mission, TRM. He plans to step down from this position but continue to serve as strategic adviser. prgtoken TRM is a Christian organization that works with community partners to give shelter, meals, clothing, and other needed items to homeless and impoverished individuals. They do this by sharing the love of Jesus Christ with every person they encounter. Barry has served the Topeka community for 36 years. In April 1986, 15-20 homeless individuals were staying at TRM per night. By 2019, that number has grown to an astounding 200-300 people per night, a true testament to Barry's work and determination over the years. prgtoken As he finishes out his time as executive director of TRM, I hope he is able to reflect on the impact he has had on the Topeka Community. He not only expanded the services they provide and number of people working at TRM, but also increased TRM's annual budget from $70,000 to $5.3 million. Along with that, he increased operating one singular men's shelter, to two shelters, a warehouse, a distribution center, and a Children's Palace. Barry offers his role with excitement for what is ahead at TRM. He believes it is time for the next generation to take control. He believes that the job is not done and there are more people in need than ever. I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the wonderful career of Mr. Barry Feaker and wish him nothing but joy and happiness in his next chapter of life.
ENERGY
James Lankford (Republican, OK) \u2014 2022-3-10

I was at the State of the Union Address, as was the Chair and most of the folks in this room. prgtoken In the State of the Union Address, the President made a very strong statement. I was pleased to be able to hear him say--he made this statement: We will buy American to make sure everything--everything-- from the deck of an aircraft carrier to the steel on the highway guardrails is made in America from beginning to end. All of it. All of it. prgtoken Great. What he left out is what we have marked as little asterisks here on the ``everything,'' ``all of it,'' ``all of it,'' it seems to be, except oil and gas. prgtoken Oil and gas is one of those things that is essential for us. It is not just transportation. It is not just electricity. The carpet I am standing on has petroleum products in it. The finish on this desk has petroleum products in it. The suit that people are wearing often will have some petroleum products in it--maybe the buttons on the jacket, paint on the walls. There are petroleum products all over this room, and it is needed for all kinds of things. prgtoken Our economy is connected to petroleum. That doesn't mean we can't do it cleaner. That doesn't mean we can't do it better. But it is interesting to me to be able to note that when we talk about ``Buy American'' and ``Doing American,'' now, when there is the conversation and now decision finally from the administration that we are going to cut off Russian oil and gas coming into the United States-- good--that it immediately turns to let's get it from Venezuela or from Iran or find some other source. prgtoken We are all saying: Time out. There is this country called the United States. We also produce oil and gas, and we should be focused on what does it take to be able to do it more here so that we are not dependent on any country, especially a country that is run by an autocratic dictator. prgtoken I wish this was the only statement that I would challenge him on, but I was quite shocked that President 's envoy for climate, John Kerry, as the Russians were invading Ukraine, made this statement: I hope [that] President Putin will help us to stay on track with respect to what we need to do for the climate. prgtoken And then he said that a Russian war could cause ``massive emission consequences.'' prgtoken Wow. The focus seemed to be on emissions consequences of a war, rather than the people of Ukraine. And the focus seemed to be on, ``I hope President Putin will stay on track with respect to climate change,'' rather than stop. prgtoken Listen, when I just talk to normal folks on the street in Oklahoma, they are frustrated by the price of gas. No matter how small their car is or how big their truck is, they are ticked at the high price of gasoline. They have been upset for a while. It is not just based on Ukraine. The price of gasoline just in the past 13 months has gone up over $1 a gallon. That wasn't because o
EB-5 REFORM AND INTEGRITY ACT OF 2022
John Kennedy (Republican, LA) \u2014 2022-3-10

in 2020, Hurricane Laura hit Louisiana, prgtoken then Hurricane Marco hit us, then Hurricane Delta hit us, then Hurricane Zeta, then Hurricane Ida--all in a period of 2 years. prgtoken Those storms caused $150 billion in damage. My amendment and Senator Cassidy's amendment will appropriate $2.5 billion in disaster aid to Louisiana. That would include $600 million for housing aid for Hurricanes Laura and Delta and $1.4 billion in housing aid for Hurricane Ida. The amendment would also provide for $500 million in funding to rebuild Louisiana ports. prgtoken I am mindful of the fact that we should make sure this aid is paid for. I would remind everyone that through the heroic efforts of Senator Schatz and Senator Cantwell, in which I played a small part, that we forced our FCC not to give away the C-band to our telecommunications industry and, instead, auctioned it out, in which case it brought in $81 billion. prgtoken And I think we can spare a little bit of that for people who lost their homes and businesses through no fault of their own. prgtoken .