mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
HIRE VETS ACT--Continued
Patrick J. Leahy (Democrat, VT) \u2014 2017-5-4

as one of the Senators who has read this bill, I would note that most of this bill has been here since November. We were prepared to go in November and vote on each part of it separately. prgtoken I would advise the distinguished senior Senator from Arizona, who is a friend of mine, that his party did not want to go forward in November. They were asked by the then-President-elect not to go forward with it, and his party said it would not go forward with it. We could have passed all of the bills separately in November. prgtoken I would also note, as the distinguished senior Senator from Alaska said on the floor a few minutes ago, that s and have been working very closely on this appropriations bill. She expressed--and I absolutely join her in this--that we go back to the way it always has been. My party is not in control of the schedule in the Senate, but I would ask that all of us in both parties work together and start doing the appropriations bills one by one, as we always have. In fact, this bill is the product of many long weeks and days and nights and weekends. I know. A lot of times, I went to bed at midnight, and my staff kept on working. prgtoken I thank Chairman Thad Cochran, of Mississippi, for his leadership in reaching this agreement of keeping the government open for business. It is how Congress can and should work. prgtoken Forget the rhetoric. Forget political brinkmanship. This agreement shows something we have worked on and that when we come together and work through our differences--both parties here and both parties in the other body--that we can do the work of the American people. prgtoken I think the package before us is a good deal for the American people, and I will vote for it, but we should not be celebrating this fact. On this, I agree with the distinguished Senator from Arizona in that we should not be finishing our work 7 months into the fiscal year. I wish his party had allowed us to do it last November. These bills could have been and should have been finished then. In fact, we were 98 percent done with our negotiations, both s and , when then- President-elect said: Pencils down, and put everything on hold. The Senator from Arizona and his party have been operating on a continuing resolution ever since. I am glad to hear him say this is not the way he wants to do it. prgtoken I, certainly, agree with the distinguished senior Senator from Alaska when she says this is not the way to do it. Those of us who have been here for a while know that does not work and it is no way to govern. prgtoken It is my goal--and I believe Chairman Cochran shares this goal--to return to regular order, which is when we consider each appropriations bill in committee, debate each one publicly on the floor, and then vote it up or down. That is the way we should operate. That is what the American people deserve. I look forward to working wi
HIRE VETS ACT--Continued
Maria Cantwell (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2017-5-4

I come this morning to talk about the impending passage of a very failed healthcare bill in the House of Representatives and to remind my colleagues that this legislation moving through the House of Representatives is the first time in the 50-plus years of the Medicaid Program that they are going to pass legislation to cap and cost-shift Medicaid costs to States. prgtoken This is an $839 billion cost shift from the Federal government to States and a one-quarter cut to the Federal Medicaid investment over a period of ten prgtoken years. Some 14 million Americans will lose Medicaid coverage. These draconian and arbitrary budget caps will leave States with impossible choices to cut people from care, cut provider reimbursements, or reduce benefits. Overall, 24 million Americans will lose their health insurance. That is according to a recent Congressional Budget Office analysis. prgtoken Why do I say this is a broken promise? Because it was very clear that, when President was a candidate, he said he was not going to cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. prgtoken Why is that important? Because these are trusted programs that have worked cost effectively for so many Americans in giving them access to care. Now is not the time, as we have seen a Medicaid expansion, to now cost-shift Medicaid to the States by breaking this promise and putting in it, for the first time in 50 years, a substantial change to the way Medicaid works. It does represent, in my opinion, a war on Medicaid-- one that we cannot afford to wage. prgtoken Communities that have benefited from Medicaid expansion have seen the value of coverage and a healthy population. All you have to do is to talk to healthcare providers, hospitals, chambers of commerce, and others to get them to say that, yes, having more people with healthcare coverage in our community has helped us in raising the standard of living. prgtoken Why is that? First of all, uncompensated care is no longer put at the hospital's doorstep. Secondly, the population with healthcare coverage is healthier, getting treatment in advance as opposed to waiting for a crisis. It represents an investment in the community that allows a community to stabilize. prgtoken These are important issues for us to discuss. I hope my colleagues in the Senate will not fall for this ploy or that they will not go back on promises made by this administration not to cut Medicaid. prgtoken There are other aspects of the bill coming over from the House of Representatives, obviously, dealing with preexisting conditions, and we know from our own experience in the State of Washington that high-risk pools have covered only a tiny portion of people with preexisting conditions and are inadequate unless properly funded. As an article from the Seattle Times, from 2009, entitled ``Dozens of patients cut from state's high-risk insurance pool'' stated: ``with premiums that can top $20,000 a year, patients d
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2192, PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT AMENDMENT, AND PROVIDING FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1628, AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT OF 2017
James P. McGovern (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2017-5-4

I include in the Record a letter from the American Public Health Association in strong opposition to the bill. American Public Health Association, May 4, 2017. House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Representative: On behalf of the American Public Health Association, a diverse community of public health professionals who champion the health of all people and communities, I write to express our continued strong opposition to H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act of 2017, legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The amended bill would be even worse for the nation's health than the original proposal and does nothing to improve the health of the American public. Additionally, the bill would have the greatest negative impact on the health of the most vulnerable Americans. According to the March Congressional Budget Office analysis, the legislation would result in 14 million Americans losing health insurance coverage in 2018. By 2026, CBO estimates 24 million individuals would lose coverage, taking the uninsured rate up to a staggering 52 million, nearly double the number of Americans who would lack insurance under existing law. The bill would cut critical premium subsidies for low- and middle-income families and phase out the ACA's Medicaid expansion. Under the proposal, many, especially low-income and older Americans, would pay higher premiums, receive lower subsidies and be subject to higher out of pocket costs, including higher deductibles and co-pays for plans that provide less coverage. Health insurance coverage is critical to preventing disease, ensuring health and well-being and driving down the use of costlier providers of care. Unfortunately, this proposal will result in a greater number of people losing coverage than the number of people who have gained coverage under the Affordable Care Act, putting many at risk of premature death due to the lack of access to critical health services. The amended bill would be even worse for public health than the original bill that was pulled from the House floor in late March. The amended bill would allow states to opt-out of requiring health plans to cover the 10 essential health benefits such as maternity care, mental health and substance abuse disorder services and prescription drug coverage. It would also allow insurers to charge significantly higher premiums for people with pre-existing conditions and possibly allow insurers to charge older adults even higher premiums. The inclusion of a mere $8 billion over five years will do little to help people with pre-existing conditions who could see drastically higher premi
TRIBUTE TO A. H. PARKER HIGH SCHOOL IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
Terri A. Sewell (Democrat, AL) \u2014 2017-5-4

today I rise to pay tribute to an outstanding public high school in my district--the A.H. Parker High School Thundering Herd in Birmingham, AL. Parker High School has been at the cornerstone of education in the Birmingham community for nearly 117 years, preparing students for future leadership and life. During the school year of 1899, a few Negro citizens of Birmingham called a historical mass meeting to draw up a petition in which they would request the Board of Education establish a tax supported school for blacks. Dr. W. R. Pettiford, president of the Alabama Penny Savings Bank, a black-owned financial institution, and Mrs. B. H. Hudson, a cashier of that bank, were the leading supporters of the effort. The school officially opened as a high school for African-American children in the fall of 1900 with a freshman class of 19 students and one teacher. Arthur Harold Parker was appointed by the board to serve as the first principal. In 1939, Parker retired and the school was subsequently renamed in his honor. The school's first graduation was held June 3, 1904, at the historic 16th Street Baptist Church, which is now part of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument. Fifteen students received diplomas at the ceremony. In September 1910, the school moved to a temporary location--the Lane Auditorium--and began offering skills for women such as sewing, knitting, and child care. By that time the enrollment was about 100 students. Construction of a permanent facility began in 1923, and by 1929, the school had an industrial building, a library, and a gymnasium. By 1937, the school had an enrollment of over 2,700. The school continued to grow steadily to 3,761 students in 1946. Due to the large number, the school became known as the ``Largest High School for Negroes in the World.'' In 2004, acclaimed journalist Michele Norris, host of All Things Considered with National Public Radio, chronicled Parker's story in ``Parker High: Integration's Unfulfilled Promise,'' a look at the paradoxical effect integration had on all-black schools such as Parker. For Norris, the story is personal as her father and five uncles all attended Parker. Parker's current principal, Darrell Hudson, assumed leadership of the school in 2013. Principal Hudson is a veteran educator of the Birmingham and Montgomery, AL, public school systems, who truly believes all students can learn through hard work, determination, and the right educational environment. He is a graduate of Alabama State University and Auburn University of Montgomery. Principal Hudson is a faithful member of Sixth Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL, and an active member with the Alabama State University National Alumni Association, as well as Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Principal Hudson was also recently appointed to the Board of Directors for his Alma mater, Alabama State University. Notable graduates of Parker include, among other
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2192, PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT AMENDMENT, AND PROVIDING FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1628, AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT OF 2017
Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2017-5-4

I want you to look and keep your eyes on who will feel the Care's mother of all bombs of health care dropped on the American people. God have mercy on your soul. prgtoken I am a person living with a preexisting disease. I am a breast cancer survivor. This heartless and callous bill, with 24 million-plus people being thrown off of health care and the reverse Robin Hood of stealing from the poor and the seniors laying in their beds, and you are doing an age tax that is five times more than any other young person has to pay, is disgraceful, as well as the pittance that you have given for preexisting conditions, which is $8 billion. They say you need $25 billion. prgtoken Then you are telling the States to get a waiver. They are going to celebrate. And then you are saying to , the king, that we have the votes to drop that mother of all bombs of health care. prgtoken Let me just simply say: I want to stand with the people. I want her to live in dignity and to be able to get well. I want to make sure that Medicaid is provided for working families. I don't want the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, to steal bread from the market because they can't get any health insurance. prgtoken God have mercy on your soul. prgtoken , as a member of the Budget Committee and the representative of a congressional district that has benefitted enormously from the Affordable Care Act, I rise in strong and unyielding opposition to H.R. 1628, the so-called ``American Health Care Act,'' which more accurately should be called ``care, the Pay More for Less Act.'' prgtoken I oppose this third and latest reincarnation of care for several compelling reasons: prgtoken 1. care forces families to pay higher premiums and deductibles, increasing out-of-pocket costs. prgtoken 2. care will take away health care from 24 million hardworking Americans. prgtoken 3. care would gut Essential Health Benefits and protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions. prgtoken 4. care forces Americans aged 50-64 to pay premiums five times higher than what others pay for health coverage, no matter how healthy they are. prgtoken 5. care shortens the life of the Medicare Trust Fund and ransacks funds that seniors depend on to get the long-term care they need. prgtoken , 85 months ago, on March 23, 2010, redeemed a promise that had been unfulfilled for nearly a 100 years, when he signed into law the landmark Affordable Care Act passed by the ic controlled 111th Congress. prgtoken Seven years later, the verdict is in on the Affordable Care Act: the American people have judged it a success. prgtoken As reflected in the most recent public opinion polls, 61% of Americans approve of Care and oppose efforts to repeal it, the highest approval rates on record to date and continuing an inexorable upward trend over the past several years. prgtoken , the reason Americans are adamantly opposed to Republ
AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT OF 2017
Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2017-5-4

I include in the Record an article in Consumer Reports dated May 2, 2017, entitled: ``How the Affordable Care Act Drove Down Personal Bankruptcy.'' How the Affordable Care Act Drove Down Personal Bankruptcy Expanded health insurance helped cut the number of filings by half (By Allen St. John) As legislators and the executive branch renew their efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act this week, they might want to keep in mind a little-known financial consequence of the ACA: Since its adoption, far fewer Americans have taken the extreme step of filing for personal bankruptcy. Filings have dropped about 50 percent, from 1,536,799 in 2010 to 770,846 in 2016 (see chart, below). Those years also represent the time frame when the ACA took effect. Although courts never ask people to declare why they're filing, many bankruptcy and legal experts agree that medical bills had been a leading cause of personal bankruptcy before public healthcare coverage expanded under the ACA. Unlike other causes of debt, medical bills are often unexpected, involuntary, and large. ``If you're uninsured or underinsured, you can run up a huge debt in a short period of time,'' says Lois Lupica, a bankruptcy expert and Maine Law Foundation Professor of Law at the University of Maine School of Law. So did the rise of the ACA--which helped some 20 million more Americans get health insurance--cause the decline in bankruptcies? The many experts we interviewed also pointed to two other contributing factors: an improving economy and changes to bankruptcy laws in 2005 that made it more difficult and costly to file. However, they almost all agreed that expanded health coverage played a major role in the marked, recent decline. Some of the most important financial protections of the ACA apply to all consumers, whether they get their coverage through ACA exchanges or the private insurance marketplace. These provisions include mandated coverage for pre-existing conditions and, on most covered benefits, an end to annual and lifetime coverage caps. Aspects of the law, including provisions for young people to be covered by a family policy until age 26, went into effect in 2010 and 2011, before the full rollout of the ACA in 2014. ``It's absolutely remarkable,'' says Jim Molleur, a Maine- based bankruptcy attorney with 20 years of experience. ``We're not getting people with big medical bills, chronically sick people who would hit those lifetime caps or be denied because of pre-existing conditions. They seemed to disappear almost overnight once ACA kicked in.'' The first attempt to repeal and replace the ACA, in March, failed to gain enough Congressional suppo
PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT AMENDMENT
Frank Pallone, Jr. (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2017-5-4

. prgtoken I remind my colleague from Texas that his vote for the healthcare bill will take away protections for 4,536,000 people with preexisting conditions in Texas. prgtoken , I heard my colleague from Texas talk about repeal and replace. This is the myth, the hoax, that the s and the President are trying to play on the American people. I assure you this is repeal. There is no replacement. prgtoken The people are going to lose their insurance. They are going to pay more. They are going to have lousy insurance because they are not going to have any kind of protections. prgtoken We passed the Affordable Care Act because the States were not doing the right thing. People couldn't afford insurance. They couldn't pay for a premium. They were too high. prgtoken So what did we do? We expanded Medicaid, and we provided generous subsidies for those people who needed it. prgtoken We also knew, under the old system where the States were in charge, that people got lousy insurance if they prgtoken could even find it. Sometimes they didn't have hospitalization, so we insisted there had to be a package that included preexisting conditions. prgtoken We also said that, you know, if you were paying a lot for your copays or your deductibles, we are going to put limits on those things as well. And we put limits also on how much you can charge, what we call ``community rating.'' prgtoken Now, what are the s doing here today? They are getting rid of all that. They want to go back to the old days. And when they tell you that somehow they are going to be able to do this, the reason they can't do anything is because they repeal most of the pay-fors that pay for the subsidies that pay for the Affordable Care Act. prgtoken So when they tell you: Oh, we are going to give extra money for this, for high-risk pools or to help the States if they decide to have waivers, the bottom line is there is no money left here. There is no money to pay for those subsidies; there is no money to pay for Medicaid expansion; there is not enough money to pay for high-risk pools because they have repealed the underlying pay-fors that we use to pay for the Affordable Care Act. prgtoken What they are doing now is going back to the old system, the Wild West of the States. They are allowing States to waiver the essential benefits package. They are saying to States that they can charge whatever they want for the insurance because they got rid of community ratings.
REMEMBERING GENERAL AMEDEO C. MEROLLA
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2017-5-4

today I join so many Rhode Islanders in honoring the life, service, and gifts of GEN Amedeo C. Merolla. Armie Merolla served his Nation and the State of Rhode Island with distinction, including service in the Marine Corps and more than 30 years in the Rhode Island Army National Guard, where he rose to the rank of brigadier general. He earned numerous awards and decorations, including the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Rhode Island Cross for Valor. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Armie was also an accomplished jurist. In the Guard, he served in the Judge Advocate General Corps. He also worked in public service, as assistant solicitor for the city of Providence and legal counsel to multiple Rhode Island State agencies and offices, as well as to my colleague Congressman James Langevin. He eventually established his own firm, Merolla, Accetturo & Lough, where he practiced alongside two of his children until the time of his death. prgtoken Armie touched many people's lives through his generous volunteer work in his community, from his church to the Boys and Girls Clubs to the Knights of Columbus, but perhaps his greatest achievement was raising four children with his wife of 64 years, Kitty. My thoughts and prayers are with Armie's family in this time, as we celebrate his good works and kind spirit.
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2192, PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT AMENDMENT, AND PROVIDING FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1628, AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT OF 2017
James R. Langevin (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2017-5-4

I rise today in strong opposition to the s' latest plan to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. After s failed to earn the votes to pass their American Health Care Act in March, I thought that we could finally move forward to find bipartisan solutions to improving health care in America. Instead, s have revived their partisan goal of ACA repeal by adding provisions that have made a bad bill even worse. prgtoken , make no mistake about it; the bill before us today will make Americans' health care worse in this country: prgtoken This legislation will cause 24 million people to lose coverage, while drastically increasing healthcare costs on everyday families; prgtoken It eliminates Federal safeguards that prevent insurers from charging older Americans higher premiums; prgtoken It guts essential health benefits, like maternity care and prescription drugs; prgtoken Further, it removes crucial patient protections that prevent discrimination against people with preexisting conditions, leaving our most vulnerable populations with a false promise of sufficient coverage through these failed high-risk pools. prgtoken , I am saddened that so many s appear willing to place hollow partisan victories above the health of their constituents. I oppose the AHCA in the strongest possible terms and urge all of my colleagues to put the health of Americans first.