mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
National Debt (Executive Session)
James Lankford (Republican, OK) \u2014 2019-12-4

we have a debt issue in America. For some reason, we are losing track of that. The economy is so good right now. Unemployment is at historic numbers. The inflation numbers have stayed down. More Americans are bringing home more take-home pay, which means they can buy more stuff. More job opportunities are out there. In fact, we literally have 1.5 million more job openings in America than we have people looking for work in America. prgtoken With the economy going so well right now, everyone is losing track of the debt and deficit, which are not going well right now. Last year, the Federal Treasury received more tax revenues than it has ever received in the history of the United States, which is surprising to some folks I have talked to who said that there was a big tax cut in 2017, so that would mean tax revenue would go down. It didn't. It went up. prgtoken When that tax cut occurred, more people were able to bring home more money and to spend more, which created more jobs. There was more investment, and the economy charged up. So we actually have more revenue coming in now than we used to have, but we still have a trillion-dollar deficit. That is the amount of overspending in a single year. We have the highest amount of revenue we have ever had. Yet we have epic levels of deficit spending, adding to $23 trillion in total debt as a nation--$23 trillion. It is a number none of us can even fathom. prgtoken We are approaching a time when it would take the income of every single American for the entire year to be collected as taxes to pay off our debt. We are at 95 percent total debt to GDP. These kinds of numbers can't be sustained, and everyone quietly knows it in the back of their mind, but dealing with debt and deficit seem to be something we will deal with in the future--someday, someday, someday. prgtoken I am here to encourage this body to say that we should be taking on the issues of debt and deficit now. The two things that have to occur in order to get on top of our debt and deficit are to get a growing economy with growing revenues--we have that now--and then we have to deal with Federal spending. prgtoken What would it take to manage Federal spending? We are so far out of balance. A trillion dollars--literally we could shut down the entire Department of Defense, the Department of Education, the State Department--we could close down every single one of those, and we still wouldn't balance in a year. And no one would propose doing that. There is no 1-year fix to trying to get on top of our deficit; this will be a multiyear process. prgtoken Just to state how bad it has become, if we chipped away at our deficit for the next 10 years--for 10 years, chipped away at our deficit to get us back to just balance--and then we had a $100 billion surplus the next year, which would be an enormous surplus, with a $100 billion surplus--it would take us 230 years in a row of having a $100 billion surpl
SUPPORT FOR VETERANS IN EFFECTIVE APPRENTICESHIPS ACT OF 2019
Thom Tillis (Republican, NC) \u2014 2019-12-4

I come to the Chamber today to rise with my colleagues to talk about the USMCA, or the United States-Mexico- Canada Trade Agreement. prgtoken But before I talk about the vote that I hope is in this Chamber on fairly short order, I would like to go back to December of 1993. In December of 1993, President Clinton signed NAFTA. A month later, it was ratified, and, to be honest with you, it started a period of time in North Carolina where we suffered. We had a challenge to actually determine how we were going to react to a very different North Carolina, where there are textiles and a number of other industries that suffered initially under the NAFTA implementation. But today, North Carolina is one of the greatest benefactors of NAFTA. As a matter of fact, we are one of the top States in the country for job creation and commerce, and Canada and Mexico are our two most important export markets. prgtoken The problem is, NAFTA was implemented in 1994. I think that was back when the Backstreet Boys were topping the charts and MC Hammer was popular. It was a long, long time ago. It is time to modernize it. It was before the internet was even invented. prgtoken We have so many opportunities to modernize our trade relationship with our two most important trade partners, and the USMCA is the opportunity to do that. While it only took about a month to ratify the NAFTA agreement--knowing that there was a lot of work to be done before we completely benefited from it--we waited a year to ratify an agreement that will be immediately beneficial to the American economy. It will create more than 170,000 new jobs and $70 billion a year in additional economic activity, putting us on a level playing field. prgtoken Our automotive industry, which has grown over the last 20 years, with several automotive manufacturing facilities in the South, and many businesses in my State support it. prgtoken It will open up the markets for our farmers. North Carolina is the ninth largest agriculture economy in the United States, with nearly $90 billion a year in agriculture products. We want those markets open in Canada and Mexico so that we can grow our farm economy in North Carolina. prgtoken We also want to recognize that the USMCA agreement is a very, very important step in getting China to come to terms with fair trade with the United States. When we settle an agreement with two of our most important trade partners, then, China will take notice and they will follow the President's lead and understand that we no longer are going to allow them to compete unfairly. prgtoken There are provisions in the USMCA that I hear Pelosi talking about that, frankly, give me some concern. The House is entitled to make changes to the baseline agreement that both the Mexican Government and the Canadian Government have ratified, as proposed and as signed by the President. They give me concern, and we hope that Pelosi will keep to the baseline
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2534, INSIDER TRADING PROHIBITION ACT, AND RELATING TO CONSIDERATION OF H. CON. RES. 77, DIRECTING THE PRESIDENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 5(C) OF THE WAR POWERS...
Rob Woodall (Republican, GA) \u2014 2019-12-4

such time as I may consume, and I thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter), my friend, for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. prgtoken We had to hustle over here today, . You were already here, and I appreciate your timely beginning of the House, but this is a different kind of day. Ordinarily, we have more 1 minutes, more folks celebrating high school teachers, local newspaper folks, and local philanthropic efforts, but as you might imagine, there are other things going on on the Hill today. prgtoken That is unfortunate because I come down here today not with a heavy heart that I often come with, from a Rules Committee perspective. Mr the Rules Committee is in charge of deciding whether or not to allow amendments, what to schedule for the floor. As a member of the minority, there are four of us up there on the Rules Committee with nine members in the majority, so we lose a lot. The time for bipartisan partnership happens before a bill gets to the Rules Committee. prgtoken Yesterday, what we saw transpire in the Rules Committee, , was not at all unprecedented. It is just not as common as I wish it were. That is that the committees of jurisdiction were working all the way up until the eleventh hour to come together on a bipartisan solution so that we wouldn't have to jam something through the Rules Committee. prgtoken I see my friend from Connecticut has come down to the floor. Mr. Himes, representing the majority on the Financial Services Committee, and Mr. prgtoken Huizenga, representing the minority, talked about the partnership that came together, not to create the perfect bill, not to create the bill that I would have written, and, candidly, not to create the bill that my friend from Colorado would have written, but to have crafted a bill with give-and-take so that instead of spending time on this floor making statements, we are going to spend time on this floor making legislation. prgtoken We are going to have an actual opportunity, . I don't want to upset anybody's applecart here because so often we do spend more time trying to make a point than make a difference. This is a bill about making a difference today. prgtoken Not at all common, there were no ic amendments made in order to this bill. The two amendments that were made in order are the perfecting amendments to seal that bipartisan compromise. I think we are going to end up with a big bipartisan vote on the board. prgtoken The only thing that gives me a heavy heart today, , is that I offered an amendment last night to add suspension authority for the of the House, Pelosi, to bring up a bill dealing with the widows and widowers of American servicemen and -women killed in action and the benefits that they are not receiving today. This is also a bipartisan bill. I offered an amendment to make that suspension authority in order. It was rejected on a party-line vote, so I am going to be oppo
REMEMBERING MISTER ROGERS
Lamar Alexander (Republican, TN) \u2014 2019-12-4

I wanted to take a moment to recognize Mr. Rogers, who is being celebrated with the release of a new movie starring Tom Hanks and a new album recorded largely in Nashville that features new renditions of the songs we loved hearing Mr. Rogers sing. prgtoken Fred Rogers learned to play piano when he was very young. He studied music composition in college, and he actually wrote the wonderful songs we came to know so well, including ``Won't You Be My Neighbor,'' ``It's Such a Good Feeling,'' and ``Many Ways to Say I Love You.'' prgtoken Rogers taught us about kindness and love, but his lessons were never trite and they were not in isolation from the world or reality. prgtoken He talked to our children about assassination with a hand puppet after Robert Kennedy was killed. He talked about racism and about divorce. When teaching children how to deal with scary news on TV, he told the story that as a young boy his ``mother would say to me, `Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' '' Inevitably with today's media and internet, after any disaster or emergency you will see people comfort one another with that quote from Mr. Rogers and thanking our brave police, firefighters, and first responders. And that belief in the importance of ``helpers'' has inspired countless people to take on the role of being a helper, learning the skills and taking on the important role of saving lives, protecting our community, and rushing in when others are rushing out. prgtoken Mr. Rogers also shared with all of us a love for learning, the joy of making new friends and trying new experiences. He taught us the power of imagination, the awe of a new book, and the soothing help that a song can provide. prgtoken I often talk about what happens in Washington as a split-screen television--all the anger and the tweets and the upset on one side of the screen and all the quiet successes and getting along and bills passing and helpful meetings happening on the other side of the screen. As a society, in the media and online, we generally choose to amplify the one side of the screen--the angry and the noisy side. But this month is a good time to amplify the other. prgtoken My late friend Alex Haley, the author of Roots, used to say ``Find the Good and Praise It.'' That is the best way to celebrate the memory of Fred Rogers--to find the good in one another, just as he did, and to help children find the good in themselves.
PALLONE-THUNE TELEPHONE ROBOCALL ABUSE CRIMINAL ENFORCEMENT AND DETERRENCE ACT
Tim Walberg (Republican, MI) \u2014 2019-12-4

I rise today to speak in support of S. 151, the TRACED Act. prgtoken In 2018 alone, phone numbers with 517 and 734 area codes in my district received over 223 million robocalls. I know. I received a bunch of them. prgtoken Not only are these calls bothersome and unwelcome, but they often lead to scams that prey on the most vulnerable. One such scam is the one-ring scam, which attempts to trick consumers into paying huge fees for return phone calls. prgtoken S. 151 includes important legislation that I worked to have included which will end the harmful practice of one-ring scams. prgtoken , robocalls are not only a nuisance; they pose a threat to individuals' privacy and security. S. 151, the TRACED Act, will help put a stop to these harmful practices by empowering phone carriers to implement call authentication technologies so consumers can trust their caller ID with no additional cost. prgtoken It will also expand and streamline the FCC's enforcement authority to take strong and quick action when it tracks down robocallers and levy fines against those bad actors. prgtoken In the end, , this legislation will put a stop to these predatory actors behind harmful robocalls and put consumers back in charge of their phones.
RECOGNIZING ATHLETIC DIRECTOR GERALD BRENCE
Van Taylor (Republican, TX) \u2014 2019-12-4

. Madam , I rise to recognize Gerald Brence, the Athletic Director for Plano ISD, for thirty-nine years of dedicated service to student athletes in Plano, Texas. Before earning the title of Athletic Director in 2007, Gerald Brence served as the Head Coach of the Plano Senior High School Football team from 1992 to 2007. During his tenure, the Plano Senior Wildcats secured a state championship title in 1994 and made five trips to the state quarterfinals. One of the most-winning coaches in Plano Senior High's history, Coach Brence has earned the respect and admiration of those around him. Under his steadfast leadership as Athletic Director, Plano ISD earned state championships in seven different sports including: golf, tennis, baseball, boys basketball, boys soccer, girls soccer, and girls basketball. Our community is proud of Director Brence's leadership within Plano ISD, and we are grateful for the countless lives he has inspired throughout his career. Now upon his retirement, I ask my colleagues in the House of Representatives to join me thanking Director Gerald Brence for his dedication to Plano ISD.
SUPPORT FOR VETERANS IN EFFECTIVE APPRENTICESHIPS ACT OF 2019
Joni Ernst (Republican, IA) \u2014 2019-12-4

there is something we can do in Congress today, right now, right this very minute, that would lift a burden and provide peace of mind for millions of people across this great country. prgtoken As we all busy ourselves making holiday plans, Iowa's farmers and manufacturers are struggling to confidently look to the future. Many of the tools they need to feel confident and secure in the months ahead are laid out in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The USMCA trade agreement was signed by President 369 days ago--369 days ago. That is over 1 year ago. prgtoken Pelosi and her House colleagues have had more than enough time to pass this important agreement. Yet they have failed to do so. Instead, House are fixated on impeaching the President. Let's not forget, though, when the House decided to go down this impeachment path, the American people were guaranteed that the House would be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. They promised that they could process this impeachment inquiry while continuing to do the work of the people. Well, folks, there is not much walking and chewing gum going on. Instead, that gum seems to be stuck under some park bench somewhere. That is where we are today, while millions of Americans whose livelihoods are tied to trade wait for the to get serious. prgtoken It is really unthinkable that USMCA is not already ratified by the United States. Folks, the USMCA is written. It is signed. It is agreed to by our partners. All we have to do is vote to pass it. It really is that simple. As I mentioned, it has been over 1 year since the trade agreement was signed. That means Iowa farmers have now gone through an entire cycle of planting, harvesting, and selling their crops without a finalized trade agreement with our two biggest trade partners. Yes, they are our two biggest trade partners--Mexico and Canada. prgtoken I spent all year crisscrossing Iowa to visit all of my 99 counties. I do that every year, just as Senator Grassley does, and not once did I hear someone say: Hey, Senator Ernst, let's wait on the USMCA. prgtoken It was quite the opposite. Whether I was at one of my 35 townhalls that I held just last year or during a farmer roundtable or a visit to a small manufacturer, I heard consistently and across the board that Iowans want USMCA right now. They want it now. These hard-working folks know the impact the USMCA will have on our Iowa economy and the U.S. economy as a whole. There is no reason Iowans should have to wait any longer. There is no reason the American workers shouldn't have the certainty that they need. prgtoken My House colleagues have not been able to offer any reasonable explanation for their inaction. I beg to say, though, folks, that it is because of who sits in the White House, and it would be a sad reality that, once again, would choose to put their own politics ahead of what is best
SUPPORT RED CROSS' HOLIDAY MAIL FOR HEROES
Glenn Thompson (Republican, PA) \u2014 2019-12-4

I rise today in support of the American Red Cross' annual Holiday Mail for Heroes program. prgtoken Each year in early December, the Red Cross hosts this important event that strives to provide our men and women in uniform with the support and encouragement that is particularly important around the holiday season. prgtoken We all look forward to gathering with family, friends, and loved ones during this time of year. For our servicemembers, this is a luxury. prgtoken These men and women spend many months at a time away from their families. That is difficult no matter what prgtoken time of year it is, but around the holidays, their sacrifice is magnified. prgtoken Today, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Rayburn foyer, we can all play a small role in brightening the spirits of those in our military by signing a holiday card. prgtoken , it is an initiative that I look forward to participating in every year, and I encourage my colleagues and their staff to participate as well. prgtoken For more than a decade, the Holiday Mail for Heroes program has worked hard to remind our heroes just how much we appreciate their service and their sacrifice. prgtoken Last year around this time, I had the privilege of sponsoring a congressional delegation abroad where we met with our troops and had the pleasure of spending time with them during the week of Thanksgiving. My colleagues and I traveled to Kuwait to serve and to share a meal with soldiers stationed there. It was an honor to meet with so many individuals who have committed their lives to protecting our great Nation. prgtoken We can all do our part to support our dedicated servicemen and -women now and throughout the year. A gesture as small as sending a card can brighten the holiday season for those who are deployed. prgtoken This holiday season, I encourage each and every one of us to take a moment out of our days to let a soldier know how much we appreciate them.
United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (Executive Session)
Rob Portman (Republican, OH) \u2014 2019-12-4

I am on the floor today to urge the U.S. Congress to do the right thing, and that is to allow a vote on this new agreement between Mexico and Canada and the United States. prgtoken Unbelievably, this agreement was negotiated a year ago--they signed it at the end of November last year--and yet for a year now, Congress has refused to take it up. It has got to go to the House of Representatives first, and Pelosi and the House who control that body have not been willing to at least take it to the floor for a vote. prgtoken The agreement is such a big improvement over the status quo. The status quo is the NAFTA agreement, which is 25 years old. The new agreement, which was negotiated a year ago, gives something that Canada wants, Mexico wants, and the United States wants. We want it because it is really important to us. prgtoken It is particularly important to my home State of Ohio. I will tell you our No. 1 trading partner by far is Canada. We send about 40 percent of our exports to one country: Canada. So to have a better agreement with our biggest trading partner--and our second biggest trading partner, which is Mexico--is really important. Alongside Mexico, our trade with Canada accounts for about $28 billion a year. prgtoken I am hearing a lot about it. I am hearing from Ohio farmers. They have had a tough time. A combination of bad weather, a combination of shrinking markets for them in China, and a combination of low commodity prices going in to the bad weather period last year has made it really tough for farmers. A lot of them are having a very difficult time making ends meet this year. prgtoken They see the USMCA for what it is, an expansion of their market. They can sell more stuff to Canada and to Mexico, and that will help them improve their prices and help them to be able to get through this tough period, so for them, it is a light at the end of the tunnel. If we can get this new trade agreement passed, it means expanded markets for dairy products, for pork, for corn and soybeans, and other commodities. Get those prices up, and give our farmers a chance to compete on a level playing field. This is a good thing. That is why they are all for it. prgtoken Businesses really want the USMCA passed. By the way, I hear mostly from small businesses about this because they increasingly have looked to markets overseas--particularly Canada and Mexico in the State of Ohio--and they are concerned that if we do not put this agreement forward, we are going to have a lot of uncertainty out there, and they are going to sell less stuff, rather than more stuff, to these countries. prgtoken So a lot of small manufacturers in particular sell a lot from Ohio to Canada and to Mexico, and they tell me they want this agreement passed--and passed now--because it will really help them. My colleagues here in the Senate prgtoken have to be hearing the same thing. When they go home, they have to be hearing