mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
COLORADO OUTDOOR RECREATION AND ECONOMY ACT
Diana DeGette (Democrat, CO) \u2014 2019-10-30

. Madam Chair, I want to thank my colleague from Colorado and laud him for taking on the mantle of supporting the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act. prgtoken Our State has some of the most remarkable outdoor landscapes in the country. As a fourth-generation Coloradan, I understand how important our public lands are to our livelihoods, our health, and, yes, our identity. prgtoken Like many Coloradans, I have personal memories of camping and hiking with my family and using our public lands to teach my daughters about the importance of environmental stewardship and conservation. prgtoken But preserving our public lands is not important just to those of us who enjoy exploring the outdoors; it is important to our State's economy. prgtoken We can't allow ourselves to sit back and assume that the places we cherish today will be there for future generations to experience as well. Every 30 seconds, our Nation loses the equivalent of a football field of natural area due to human activity. prgtoken Let me say that again. Every 30 seconds, our Nation loses a football field of natural area due to human activity. We are seeing this right now in our home State with the pressures of population growth. prgtoken That is why, for more than 20 years, I have been working with my colleagues in Congress, with local elected officials, and with citizens across the State to protect the very few remaining special areas that we have left. That is why I am so honored that we are now beginning to see the fruits of all of this action. prgtoken The legislation that we will vote on today will protect an additional 400,000 acres of public lands in our State, including 70,000 acres of wilderness. It is part of our overall effort to preserve 1 million acres of public lands in our State, not just for wilderness, but also for multiple use, which is so critical for our State. prgtoken Together, the CORE Act and the Colorado Wilderness Act, which I am the prime sponsor of, will help boost Colorado's multibillion-dollar outdoor recreation industry, which supports more than 220,000 jobs in our State. They will also help increase our Nation's tourism industry, lift nearby property values, and improve residents' overall quality of life. prgtoken Our constituents have been clear on this issue: they want to protect our public lands. As Congressman Neguse noted, one recent poll found that as many as 90 percent of Colorado's residents believe that protecting our outdoor recreation economy is important to the future of our State. prgtoken Our State has changed. Our economy is dependent on the preservation of our special remaining wild places. I know many of us in the congressional delegation would agree. That is why we are so united in this effort. That is why we are eager to take on this fight. prgtoken Madam Chair, I urge all of my colleagues to give the people of our State what they want and to vote for this important legislation.
THANKING RECONSTRUCTIONIST RABBINICAL ASSOCIATION
Betty McCollum (Democrat, MN) \u2014 2019-10-30

. Madam , I rise today in gratitude to thank the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association for their endorsement of H.R. 2407, the Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Military Occupation Act. prgtoken This endorsement by more than 300 respected rabbis sends a strong signal by people of all faiths that every child deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, and that includes Palestinian children. No longer can we ignore the countless cases of mistreatment and abuse of Palestinian children by the Israeli military. prgtoken As a nation, we should no longer condone the detention of these children with the support of our tax dollars. prgtoken So, again, I thank leaders of all faiths, but especially these rabbis for their commitment to human rights and the rights of children and for standing up and saying no more abuse of Palestinian children.
PREVENTING ONLINE SALES OF E-CIGARETTES TO CHILDREN ACT
Frank Pallone, Jr. (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2019-10-30

I rise to speak on H.R. 3942, the Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act. As the Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Food and Drug Administration's regulation of tobacco products, I ardently support efforts to protect America's youth from a life of tobacco use, nicotine addiction, and its negative consequences. prgtoken It is an unfortunate reality that nearly all tobacco use begins during youth and young adulthood. Research shows that 95 percent of adult smokers begin smoking before age 21 and 80 percent start before age 18. This is alarming to me, and should be alarming to everyone, because this is a crucial period for brain development. More worrisome is the fact that adolescent brains are more sensitive to nicotine, therefore young people may be more likely to develop a dependence on nicotine than adults. prgtoken In recent years, online sales for e-cigarette products, including flavored e-cigarette products that are appealing to kids, are putting a new generation at risk of a lifetime of chronic health conditions and disease associated with nicotine addiction. Further, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that e-cigarette products can contain other harmful substances besides nicotine. Other than a few clicks of the mouse, we have few meaningful barriers to stop young Americans from purchasing these tobacco products online. prgtoken That is why I support efforts to stop the flow of online tobacco sales. And while H.R. 3942 would require online age verification for the purchase and delivery of certain tobacco products, among other things, I believe this bill does not go far enough. If our aim is to prevent youth from purchasing these products online, then I firmly believe we should enact a complete ban against remote retail sales of all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and e-cigarette accessories. This would mean that individuals wishing to purchase tobacco products would have to do so in a face to face setting, providing a stronger barrier to youth purchase. prgtoken We should not focus alone on online sales though if our goal is to help reduce youth access and attraction to tobacco. I also believe we should take the following additional steps; raising the purchasing age to 21, enacting an across the board ban on all flavored tobacco products, including mint and menthol, and restricting the ability of tobacco and e-cigarette manufacturers to utilize deceptive marketing tactics to hook a new generation. That is why, this fall, I intend to move legislation I have authored--H.R. 2339, the Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic of 2019--that contains these provisions among others. Taken together I believe these provisions would be the most meaningful step forward in working to reverse the damaging youth tobacco epidemic that is underway. prgtoken We are in a complicated epidemic of youth e-cigarette use, and this complex pr
THE SUBSTANCE UNDERLYING THE IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY
Hakeem S. Jeffries (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2019-10-30

earlier today, President urged his defenders in this House to focus on substance. That is exactly what House have been doing from the very beginning of this impeachment inquiry. prgtoken We will continue to proceed in a serious, solemn, and somber fashion. That is what the Constitution requires at this moment. prgtoken House will continue to follow the facts, apply the law, be guided by the Constitution, and present the truth to the American people. prgtoken President said focus on substance. prgtoken What is the substance underlying this impeachment inquiry? prgtoken Well, Congress, on a bipartisan basis, allocated $391 million in military and economic aid to Ukraine at a time when Ukraine is under attack by Russian-backed separatists. prgtoken Ukraine is in a vulnerable state. prgtoken Ukraine is a friend; Russia is a foe. prgtoken Ukraine is a democracy; Russia is a dictatorship. prgtoken The United States is probably the only thing standing between Vladimir Putin and Ukraine being completely overrun as part of Putin's fantasy to reconstruct what he views as the glory days of the Soviet Union. prgtoken We allocated that money because it is in the national security interest of the United States of America. prgtoken What happened to it? prgtoken In February, the administration wrote to Congress and said the aid is on the way. But it never showed up. prgtoken And then in May, 's Department of Defense wrote to Congress again and said the aid is on the way and all necessary preconditions to release the aid have been met, including the implementation of anticorruption protocols. That was a letter written by the Department of Defense in May. That is the substance. prgtoken Twice Mitch McConnell during this summer called up the administration and said, ``Where's the aid?'' Mr. McConnell couldn't get a good answer. prgtoken And then on July 18, we know that the Office of Management and Budget in the White House held a meeting where it was made clear that the reason the aid had been held up is because of a directive from the President of the United States. prgtoken A week later, on July 25, the President made a phone call to the Ukrainian leader and pressured a foreign government to target an American citizen for political gain and solicit foreign interference in the 2020 election. prgtoken That undermines our national security. The American people have a right to ask: Is that an abuse of power? prgtoken That is what the impeachment inquiry is all about, . That is the substance. It doesn't look good. No one is above the law.
COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, MILITARY CONSTRUCTION, VETERANS AFFAIRS, TRANSPORTATION, AND HOUSING AND URBAN...
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2019-10-30

I listened carefully to the Senator from Texas, my colleague--and we have worked together and will continue to. For the record, there is something that I think needs to be mentioned. prgtoken It was a year ago, maybe even longer, that the attorney general from his State of Texas initiated a lawsuit with more than a dozen attorneys general to eliminate the Affordable Care Act--all of it, the protection when it came to preexisting conditions, lifetime limits, allowing members of the family to keep their children on their policy until they reach the age of 26. prgtoken These States attorneys general, starting with his State of Texas, said: Get rid of all of it. Eliminate it. And then President said: We will join in the lawsuit. Let's eliminate it completely. prgtoken So when I hear these pleas on the floor that we are all for the principles prgtoken in the Affordable Care Act, not a single Senator voted for it, and now there is an effort by the attorneys general and the administration to do away with it. prgtoken Is it because they have a better idea? No. I am sure you remember that moment not long ago when our departed colleague, John McCain, came to the well of the Senate and was the deciding vote to save the Affordable Care Act. The point he made is still valid. The s have no alternative. I want to make sure the Affordable Care Act is better. There are some parts of it that need to be improved, but to eliminate it as this lawsuit would from the administration? That is a step backwards. prgtoken There are two other points that I would like to make. When it comes to our current healthcare system, it has many positive things: wonderful doctors and hospitals, amazing technology and medicine. prgtoken But there are also some built-in flaws in the system. Let me give an example, one simple story. I met a woman the other day. Her sister is an OB/GYN. She got married, pregnant, about to have twins, couldn't be happier, but the babies came early. And so this doctor went to the hospital to deliver her babies, her twins, and they needed to be put in the neonatal intensive care unit of the hospital, which of course she did. prgtoken Good news. Three or four weeks later, they were ready to come home. They came home, and of course, everyone was happy to receive them. But they weren't happy to receive the bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars. What was it for? It turns out that, at the hospital, the doctor was in network for the woman who was delivering the baby. The hospital was in the network for delivering the baby. But the NICU was a separate entity that even this doctor didn't know it wasn't in network. prgtoken Her babies went to this lifesaving intensive care unit in the hospital, and she received a bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars--a surprise bill. Is that right? Of course, it is not. And here is a professional, a medical professional, who frank
RECOGNIZING NATTY ELIAS
Donna E. Shalala (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2019-10-30

. Madam , I rise today in recognition of the accomplishments of Ms. Natty Elias, the founder and President of Healthtex Distributors. prgtoken Over 30 years ago, Ms. Elias, took special interest in the large influx of Hispanics arriving to South Florida from Latin America. Having immigrated herself in the early 1960's from her native Cuba, Ms. Elias understood immigrant desire and nostalgia for products from their homeland. It was with this understanding and with the goal to fill that need that she launched Healthtex Distributors. prgtoken Despite initial push back from American retailers, Ms. Elias eventually grew her business from one product line into nearly 2,000 products imported from over a dozen countries around the world. Today, Healthtex Distributors is the largest distributor of Hispanic products in the state of Florida and her products are sold at over 4,000 stores across the country. prgtoken Through years of hard work and dedication, Ms. Elias has distinguished herself as one of the leading business women in our South Florida community.
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY AND THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES...
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2019-10-30

even as we consider the package of appropriations on the floor this week, we must also think about how both parties can reach an agreement on all 12 bills we need to pass before Thanksgiving. It is way past time for ic and appropriators to sit down and hammer out bipartisan agreement on allocations to the various agencies, known as 302(b)s. That is how we got this done in the past. and s in Congress have successfully negotiated two budget deals. The key to those agreements was that the President allowed Congress to do its work and stayed off to the side. I believe that, again, if left to our own devices, Congress could work out an agreement to fund the government. prgtoken As everyone remembers, the President's meddling and erratic behavior caused the last government shutdown--the longest in our Nation's history. The best way to avoid another shutdown would be for the President to keep out of the appropriations process and for s to stop the games and get serious about negotiating in a bipartisan way forward. prgtoken I believe there was a meeting yesterday, and there may be some progress. I think some progress was made. Let's continue moving in that direction, the four corners of the Appropriations Committee--House and Senate, and s--and put together an agreement we can all support. Administration prgtoken , on the whistleblower, as the House of Representatives continues its impeachment inquiry as to whether the President jeopardized national security by pressuring Ukraine to interfere with our 2020 locations, the White House, their allies in Congress, and the media have resorted to despicable tactics to falsely discredit individuals who have provided the House testimony. prgtoken Yesterday, LTC Alexander Vindman, an Active-Duty Army officer serving on a detail in the White House, testified before Congress. Since Lieutenant Colonel Vindman's testimony was announced and especially in the past 24 prgtoken hours, he has been vilified by individuals in the media and elsewhere. Although he has served our country for more than 20 years, although he is a recipient of the Purple Heart after being wounded while serving in Iraq, he has been called derogatory terms, and some have even gone so far as to call him a spy and question his loyalty to the United States. prgtoken These attacks are outrageous. They are unacceptable, and they are not unlike the attacks the President and his allies have levied against the whistleblower whose account first alerted Congress to the President's misconduct with Ukraine. The President has publicly suggested the whistleblower is treasonous and a spy. prgtoken Separately, recent public reports suggest that a member of the House Intelligence Committee is actively trying to expose and leak the whistleblower's identity. This is so, so wrong. Disclosing o
CHACO CULTURAL HERITAGE AREA PROTECTION ACT OF 2019
Debra A. Haaland (Democrat, NM) \u2014 2019-10-30

. Mr. Chair, such time as I may consume. prgtoken Mr. Chair, H.R. 2181 is a broadly supported proposal to protect the cultural resources of Chaco Canyon. This bill has the support of the All Pueblo Council of Governors, the Navajo Nation, the entire New Mexico delegation, and the New Mexico Governor, not to mention any number of elected officials across our beautiful State. prgtoken This proposal has been worked on for a very long time. Over many hours, weeks, and years, many voices have been heard. If we are serious about lifting up Tribal voices and responding to the priorities of Native American communities, we need to listen to the Tribal leaders who are asking us to protect Chaco Canyon. The people of New Mexico know the impacts oil and gas development can have on clean air, clean water, and the health of our children. prgtoken Mr. Chair, 90 percent of the San Juan Basin is already available for oil and gas leasing. We can protect this sacred land because gas and oil doesn't need to take up every single inch of our State. This proposal is about protecting a small sacred area for Tribal communities that have a connection to this special place and still use this area for ceremonies to pray and to worship. prgtoken There may be dissenting voices, as there always are when we make changes to land management policy, but we must listen to the elected leaders who represent these places. Quite frankly, the majority of New Mexicans support this legislation on this issue. prgtoken The delegation, the Governor, and the elected Tribal leaders have spoken in a unified voice and asked us to protect Chaco Canyon. I thank Representative Lujan for his hard work. prgtoken I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 2181, and I invite anyone to come to New Mexico and visit this beautiful place and know for certain why it is that we are fighting so hard to protect it. prgtoken Mr. Chair, .
COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, MILITARY CONSTRUCTION, VETERANS AFFAIRS, TRANSPORTATION, AND HOUSING AND URBAN...
Joe Manchin, III (Democrat, WV) \u2014 2019-10-30

I want to thank my good friend Senator Romney for taking this initiative and, basically, all of us working together. prgtoken Let me say this. We were Governors together--the Governor from Massachusetts and the Governor from West Virginia. The bottom line is, we had the same balanced budget amendment we had to work with. We had to work on a daily basis, a weekly basis--whatever it took--to balance our States' budgets. We had to stay within our means. We couldn't spend more than what we had coming in, and we couldn't put our people in debt. prgtoken That was something I thought was pretty simple because it is the same thing you do in your personal life, the same thing you do in your small business or large corporation: You live within your means. If you are going to grow, then you grow, basically, in a balanced way. prgtoken As Senator Romney has said, our debt is almost $23 trillion. You can look back through history when we have hit these numbers, but then if you look back, during the war, we weren't worried about balancing the budget during the war. We were worrying about whether we would survive as nation, and we did. prgtoken Coming out of that war, we had over 100 percent debt to GDP. We were able to bring that back down and work in a prudent manner. Then it ballooned up. prgtoken Let me tell you how I signed on to Bowles-Simpson. If you look at recent history, the last time--and the only time for 40 years--we balanced the budget was in 1997, up to 2001. That was with Erskine Bowles and John Casey working together--a working for President Bill Clinton and a Congressman from Ohio. They sat down and worked out a plan and a tax system that worked for America. It worked so well that we were spinning out, basically, surpluses. prgtoken We were told that by 2006 we would be debt-free on the path we were going. We had 9/11 come up. We had two wars we never paid for--the first time. I tell people, if you are a and you want to blame s, go ahead. They are guilty. If you are a and you want to blame , go ahead. They are just as guilty. There is basically blame for both sides. But sooner or later, you have to do something. prgtoken When Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson came together, and s said: We have to get our financial house in order. prgtoken It made sense to me. I had just been elected. It was in early 2011. I was elected in November 2010. I started looking, and it made sense. We came so close that it would have been forced to a vote, as Senator Romney has just explained the TRUST Act. prgtoken We think that someone has to have their eye on the ball here because when these interest rates balloon--and they will--and when people lose confidence and faith and will not put their money in and buy our paper, basically, for the low return we are giving them--or no return at times--and demand more, then we are going to have to outb