mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE RELATING TO "ENDANGERED AND THREATENED...
Shelley Moore Capito (Republican, WV) \u2014 2023-5-3

I rise today to talk on a subject that is of great importance to me and of great importance to employers, workers, consumers, and--really--everyone across this country; and that is, the need for substantive reform of our country's Federal environmental review and permitting process. prgtoken Now, this is a subject I have talked about a lot. I have championed efforts to make sure that our environment and economy benefit from a functional Federal environmental review and permitting process, and I am now and once again leading environmental review and permitting reform efforts through the Environment and Public Works Committee, and I am working with my fellow Senator, who is the ranking member over on Energy and Natural Resources, Senator Barrasso from Wyoming, and we are working across the aisle with our counterparts. prgtoken Permitting reform is much more than just legislative text. It is more than just updates to laws that have been on the books for years or about replacing counterproductive measures implemented by the administration. It is an essential element in giving our Nation what we need to be successful in the future. prgtoken Without permitting reform, American energy will continue to be stalled, jeopardizing our security here at home as well as for our allies abroad. Without permitting reform, communities across America will struggle as they are denied access to the good-paying jobs that they need and are capable of doing. prgtoken Without permitting reform, America will not build at all. The same country that mined the coal, that made the steel, and that built the democracy and led the way for industry across the world will be held back by endless review processes, continuous and continuing court challenges, and crippling regulations that limit our ability to be the world leader that we know we are. prgtoken In my State of West Virginia, which is synonymous with energy generation, we have long seen the negative effects created by a permitting process that is designed to stall rather than to produce or create. There are multiple real-world examples of how our broken environmental review and permitting process is holding up my State of West Virginia's ability to move forward, and it is impacting multiple sectors important not only to the people of my State but also to our national economy. prgtoken In the transportation sector in West Virginia there is Corridor H. Corridor H is a critically important highway that West Virginia needs to help commerce flow and to jump-start the economy in the central part of our State and to encourage our growing tourism industry. prgtoken In the manufacturing sector, there is Nucor Steel, an innovative, cutting-edge steel and steel products company that can't, as yet, build their plant as quickly as the administration keeps creating new emissions guidelines. prgtoken And, in the energy sector, there is the Mountain Valley Pipeline,
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE RELATING TO "ENDANGERED AND THREATENED...
Raphael G. Warnock (Democrat, GA) \u2014 2023-5-3

. Thank you so much. prgtoken I am deeply honored to participate in this great tradition started by Senator Doug Jones of Alabama during his tenure and carried out by my colleague Senator Brown. prgtoken I am always honored to revisit these words from Dr. King from the letter from a Birmingham jail. So without delay: My Dear Fellow Clergymen: While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities ``unwise and untimely.'' Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my working ideas. If I sought to answer all of the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of a day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I will try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms. I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against ``outsiders coming in.'' I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Frequently we share staff, educational and financial resources with our affiliates. Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a non-violent direct action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promise. So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here. But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their ``thus saith the Lord'' far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid. Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. N
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE RELATING TO "ENDANGERED AND THREATENED...
Jacky Rosen (Democrat, NV) \u2014 2023-5-3

as you have heard from my colleagues before me, there are serious concerns about the job-killing resolution that we will be voting on this evening and the effects it will have on our solar industry and American workers. prgtoken For years, solar has been a growing source of clean, low-cost energy and economic development in States all across our Nation. And it is a source of jobs--good-paying, union jobs--right here in the United States. prgtoken America's domestic solar industry is made up of more than 10,000 businesses--large and small--located in every single State, employing over 250,000 Americans. I will repeat that: employing over 250,000 Americans. In fact, my State of Nevada has the most solar jobs per capita of any other State in this great Nation. prgtoken When we talk about the solar industry, we are talking about an industry that is generating hundreds of thousands of American jobs and supporting American workers, while at the same time helping us to transition to clean renewable energy. prgtoken Thanks to historic investments we secured in the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act, the American solar industry is experiencing an unprecedented boom. prgtoken Last year, a new solar project was installed in the United States every 44 seconds and, in fact, the demand is only expected to increase. This is only going to create more jobs and help make us more energy independent. prgtoken For example, the average solar installer in Reno, NV, makes about $80,000 a year. It is a good job. That is a job that lets a family pay their rent, buy groceries, put something away for their kids' college and for their own retirement. These are the kinds of jobs we should be creating, and we are, thanks to these historic investments. prgtoken That is why I have been a champion of our domestic solar industry and have been fighting back against attacks on it from my colleagues--well, frankly--on both sides of the aisle. That is why I led a bipartisan group of Senators last year to push President to pause additional retroactive solar tariffs after a Commerce Department investigation. Well, they threatened to destroy our domestic solar industry and kill tens of thousands of American jobs. prgtoken But at this moment--this moment--our American solar workers are at risk. My workers in Nevada are at risk. Those $80,000-a-year jobs are at risk. And all of the progress we have made to transition to clean energy, all the good-paying jobs that we have created, and all of the solar projects that are lowering energy costs for families--well, they are all at risk, too. prgtoken Last week, the House of Representatives passed a Congressional Review Act. This resolution rolls back the 2-year pause on these additional solar tariffs. If enacted, this resolution will decimate our American solar industry. So let me be crystal clear: Enacting additional retroactive tariffs on imported solar panels
Nomination of Orelia Eleta Merchant (Executive Session)
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2023-5-3

today the Senate will vote to confirm Orelia Merchant to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. prgtoken Ms. Merchant received her B.S. from Dillard University, an M.A. from the College of William and Mary, and her J.D. from Tulane University Law School. She began her legal career as assistant regional counsel for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. prgtoken Ms. Merchant then served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Louisiana before transferring to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. She spent 17 years in the civil division of the U.S. Attorney's Office, handling matters involving asset forfeiture and various forms of fraud including environmental, healthcare, and mortgage fraud. prgtoken Since 2019, Ms. Merchant has worked in the New York Attorney General's prgtoken Office as chief deputy Attorney General for State counsel. In this role, she manages 250 attorneys and oversees more than 8,000 active cases, including prosecution and defense actions in State and Federal court on behalf of State officials, the State legislature, and State agencies. Nearly the entirety of Ms. Merchant's practice has involved litigation and the vast majority of her experience has been in Federal court. She is a seasoned litigator whose expertise will be an asset to the Eastern District of New York. The American Bar Association has rated Ms. Merchant as ``qualified,'' and she has the strong support of Senators Schumer and Gillibrand. prgtoken I will be supporting her nomination, and I urge my colleagues to do so as well.
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE RELATING TO "ENDANGERED AND THREATENED...
Brian Schatz (Democrat, HI) \u2014 2023-5-3

8 months ago, we passed the Inflation Reduction Act. Sometimes when a major bill is passed, its effects are not immediate, but that is not the case with this legislation. prgtoken Since the IRA was signed into law, more than 100 clean energy projects have been announced. These include solar, wind, hydrogen power, battery manufacturing, electric vehicle development, and clean tech investments. If it seems like I am excited, it is because I am. They are in rural areas, in major cities, and everywhere in between, and in more than 30 States, from Idaho to Louisiana, to Ohio, to Arizona. Collectively, these projects have created more than 100,000 new jobs for electricians, for mechanics, for construction workers, for technicians, and more, but these 100,000 jobs are only the beginning. prgtoken A report from the University of Massachusetts projects that the IRA will create more than 9 million jobs over the next decade. I want to repeat that: 9 million jobs over the next decade. Those are manufacturing jobs for wind turbines, solar panels, and electric vehicles to make our power grid more resilient and our roads less polluted. They are construction jobs to make our homes and our buildings more energy efficient and to lower costs for families and small businesses. They are environmental jobs to support farmers, to protect fisheries, and to restore our public lands. prgtoken Investments supporting these new jobs and projects are already near $90 billion, and with financial analysts projecting a multiplier effect of 1.6 dollars in private sector investment for every dollar of public spending, even the most optimistic predictions about the IRA's impact seem low now. A Credit Suisse report analyzing the bill estimates that we will see double the amount of clean energy that the bill was initially projected to accomplish--double the amount of clean energy. A new analysis from Goldman Sachs puts the impact even higher: triple the amount of clean energy that we were contemplating. prgtoken This shift is already happening in Colorado, where it is seeing a rapid expansion in clean energy development. prgtoken DR Richardson, who runs a business in electrifying homes with heat pumps and induction wiring, said about the change that ``we are having a hard time keeping up with the demand. The Inflation Reduction Act has been a massive tailwind for us.'' prgtoken In Michigan, the State's manufacturing background and embrace of electric vehicles could lead to as many as 34,000 new clean energy jobs. According to researcher Aaron Brickman, ``There's a strategy, there's a plan, and the benefits are already being seen. . . . Michigan is poised for an economic boom.'' prgtoken In Texas, a massive $4 billion investment to create the country's largest green hydrogen facility was recently announced. It will also generate 1.4 gigawatts of wind and solar, enough to power nearly 750,000 homes. In the words of Seifi Ghasemi, th
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE RELATING TO "ENDANGERED AND THREATENED...
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2023-5-3

it is a very happy coincidence for me that I get to follow my friend Senator Schatz on this topic to oppose the solar tariff Congressional Review Act effort that has been mounted on the floor because I could not agree more with him that this particular episode playing out here on the floor of the Senate today is part of a larger scheme. prgtoken We begin with the fact that across the United States, the solar industry employs a quarter of a million workers. It is a big deal. These are well-paying jobs in an industry that saves families money on their electric bills and decreases our carbon footprint--decreases our carbon footprint. So, of course, fossil fuel forces oppose it, and that is what we are stuck with now. prgtoken This fossil fuel attack, through this CRA, if successful, would lead to more than a billion dollars in retroactive duties on American solar companies. It would cost us 30,000 jobs. It would cost us $4.2 billion in domestic investment. It would lead to the cancellation of 4 gigawatts of solar projects. And it would create an increase of 42 million metric tons of CO2. So, of course, the fossil fuel industry is against all of that. It is for the duties. It is against the jobs. It is against the investment. It is against the solar projects. And it couldn't care less about CO2. prgtoken The problem that we have here is that we are in a race against time to solve the climate problem before it gets out of hand. prgtoken In this town and in this building, one of the most dangerous things that we face is groupthink. The current groupthink is that climate change is a manageable problem; it won't get out of control. I don't believe that to be true. I think climate change is extremely dangerous--dangerous to our economy, dangerous to our ecosystems, and dangerous to our well-being. prgtoken We are having hearings in the Budget Committee that showcase some of those dangers--the danger of a coastal property values crash that is going to be worse than the 2008 mortgage meltdown; the danger of a similar property values crash in the West, where wildfire risk will have the same effect on properties; the danger of an insurance meltdown because nature won't let insurance companies predict things any longer safely, so they can't ensure them any longer because they can't predict, and you have a retraction of the insurance market and all of what that means. prgtoken Last of all, we have got a huge carbon bubble that we have been repeatedly warned is going to pop. And when it does, U.S. fossil fuel assets will be stranded, their value will go to near zero, and there will be an enormous global economic dislocation. prgtoken These are ideas that have been put forward by huge insurance company executives, by Freddie Mac, by people who study the risk in wildfire areas, by the major sovereign banks of the world. Serious grownups are warning of these risks. prgtoken Up against those serious grownups, we ha
RECOGNIZING PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYEES IN OREGON
Ron Wyden (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2023-5-3

as the second week of May is Public Service Recognition Week, I wish to recognize the honorable public employees who work tirelessly to provide outstanding service to Oregonians. These men and women, who serve our Nation as Federal, State, Tribal, county, and local government employees work hard to support Oregonians and make our State and our country a great place to live. I would like to acknowledge the important work that public servants do, and I will give just a few examples to illustrate how valuable public service work is. prgtoken The Oregon Farm Service Agency is dedicated to helping local Oregon farmers with assistance when they face financial risk or a natural disaster, as well as providing funding for conservation programs. Thanks to the efforts of employees at the Oregon Farm Service Agency, countless farmers and their families have been able to sustain their livelihoods through hard times. Oregonians are fortunate to have such committed public servants in the Oregon Farm Service Agency. prgtoken I would also like to honor the many public service employees that work at the Oregon Social Security offices. Their professionalism and courtesy in serving Oregonians is commendable. Without this work, numerous families could miss out on vital benefits. My staff and I also appreciate these offices' assistance in answering our inquiries on behalf of constituents. The replies we receive have helped me help hundreds of people across Oregon. prgtoken Turning to another Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration--NOAA--Office for Coastal Management is making a difference in Oregon in countless ways. For example, NOAA's program on Oregon coastal and estuarine land conservation is vital for the preservation of Oregon's famous beaches. NOAA also helps with research on environmental challenges that Oregon communities might soon face and has partnerships with Oregon's Confederated Tribes to create opportunities for environmental education. prgtoken Public employees at the NOAA Fisheries office in Oregon also work tirelessly to ensure the conservation of fishery resources, eliminate overfishing, and maintain healthy commercial and recreational fisheries. For Oregon, the NOAA Fisheries office is vital to keeping ecosystems like the Willamette River healthy. prgtoken To give one more example, for over 100 years, public employees have worked for the National Park Service in order to maintain national parks, like the beautiful Crater Lake in Oregon, and to preserve local history and celebrate local heritage. National Park Service employees also work to provide funding for conservation projects throughout Oregon, making sure that Oregonians and people from all over the country are able to enjoy our State's natural beauty. prgtoken It is an honor during Public Service Recognition Week to recognize the wonderful public employees that work day in and day out to help Oregonians. Again, I th
Debt Ceiling (Executive Session)
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2023-5-3

decades ago, President Reagan warned that debt ceiling brinksmanship ``threatens the holders of government bonds and those who rely on social security and veterans benefit . . . [and] the United States,'' he said, ``has a special responsibility to itself and to the world to meet its obligations. prgtoken If President Reagan were around today, he might well be exiled by a modern Party that in many ways seems dead set--dead set--on abandoning that special responsibility never to default. prgtoken We have less than a month to go until we hit June 1. Every day wasted is another day closer to catastrophe. At stake is the well-being of families, retirees, veterans, kids, and the very stability of our economy. prgtoken But by ramming the ``Default on America Act'' through the House-- totally partisan, knowing full well this bill can never become law-- McCarthy and the hard right have made the odds of default go up. By handing his gavel over to the hard right, the is giving the American people two terrible options: either default on the debt or default prgtoken on the country, with steep cuts to law enforcement, first responders, veterans, seniors, and even cancer research. Just think how radical such an ultimatum truly is. It is a dramatic break from how both parties have approached default in the past. prgtoken On one hand, a default would crash the economy, increase costs, and kill American jobs. Unemployment would rise to at least 8 percent. Mortgage and car payments would all go up by a lot, while the value of pensions and 401(k)s would come crashing down. That is the future that McCarthy and the House Freedom Caucus have made more likely by passing the ``Default on America Act.'' prgtoken But the alternative is also a nightmare scenario. If the s' ``Default on America Act'' became law, 1 million seniors--1 million seniors--would lose access to Meals on Wheels. These are seniors who literally can't get food on their own much of the time and rely on others bringing it to them. They would be on the chopping block if the GOP has its way. Deprive seniors who can't leave their homes of food-- what is that all about?--so that some very wealthy, wealthy multibillionaires don't have to pay any taxes? It is outrageous. prgtoken Here is another one. The ``Default on America Act'' would eliminate 30,000 law enforcement jobs across the country. Do you know what that means? Gun violence will get even worse. Our neighborhoods will become less safe. Border security would be deprived of billions in crucial resources. The war on opioids would decline, and more addictions, crimes, and others from opioid use would go up. What is that all about? prgtoken Once again, the hard right--totally enthralled by the very wealthy, wealthy few who are so greedy, they don't want to pay any taxes--say cut things like this. Cut law enforcement. Cut Meals on Wheels. prgtoken The ``Default o