mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD RELATING TO "STANDARD FOR DETERMINING JOINT...
Roger Marshall (Republican, KS) \u2014 2024-4-10

I want to thank also the Senator from the great State of Louisiana for his leadership on this very important issue. prgtoken The joint employer rule from the NLRB will crush the franchise model as we know it. It is going to crash the model of business that brought financial freedom to millions of Americans. prgtoken What I love about the franchise models everywhere I go, visiting with these owners--it has been so helpful for minorities, for veterans, for women. These franchises provide a model, the framework on how to be successful, but this new rule from the NLRB would destroy the model as we know it. prgtoken Now, I am not sure that Kansas had the first franchise, but in my mind, they did. I remember when Pizza Hut started. It was started by some students out of Wichita State University delivering pizzas to their fellow students. Not long after that came Rent-A-Center, Freddy's Frozen Custard, Goodcents subs, and many, many more. And that story has been repeated all across the country. These businesses started off small but through franchising were able to grow into national successes. Today, there are 7,500 franchises employing 75,000 employees across the State. prgtoken Now, again, everywhere I go across the State of Kansas, people want to talk about inflation, but what is becoming more prominent, especially to a business owner, is regulations, just this overburden of regulations that is keeping us all down and driving up the cost of doing business. More regulations means more money, more cost to that owner. prgtoken The question I get from folks is, Why does the White House want to fix something that is not broken? Listen, the system is working just fine right now. So why are we trying to fix it? prgtoken I remember President Reagan talking about the 10 words every American hates to hear: ``I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you.'' We need less regulations, not more regulations. prgtoken This definition is overly broad, and this rule threatens the success stories for all those happy endings, for all those American dreams that have become true. Instead of being independent business owners, franchisees will be reduced to middle managers--killing jobs, killing income as well. This rule attempts to trigger joint employer status if two employers share the essential terms and conditions of employment but then talks about indirect control as one of these terms and conditions. So instead of making overly broad and burdensome rules, we should pass bills like our own Save Local Business Act, which provides clear and consistent standards for treating joint employment status. prgtoken I ask my colleagues to join us in supporting this CRA. This rule from the Federal Government is a solution in search of a problem. prgtoken . The joint resolution was ordered to a third reading and was read the third time. Vote on H. J. Res. 98 prgtoken PRESIDING OFFICER
Border Security (Executive Session)
James Lankford (Republican, OK) \u2014 2024-4-10

next week, we are scheduled to begin a trial of the Secretary of Homeland Security. It doesn't begin a conversation about homeland security in our country. That conversation started years ago now. prgtoken The American people are incredibly frustrated with what they are seeing on the southern border, and they keep saying it over and over again--remarkably so in a nation where inflation continues to be stubbornly high, where it is harder and harder to afford a carton of eggs and gasoline and all of the basics of life. In all of the areas that you would think the economy would be the No. 1 issue in the Nation, actually, national security and border security end up being No. 1, regardless of what State you live in. This is no longer a border State issue. Americans feel this is a problem. prgtoken Well, they should. In the past 3 years, more people have illegally crossed our southern border than in the previous 12 years combined, and it is not close--the number. We are approaching 8 million people who have illegally crossed our southern border just in the last 3 years. prgtoken Cities feel it. Americans feel it. School districts feel it. Communities feel it. Homeless shelters feel it. It continues to spiral into our country. prgtoken This is not some accident of migration, as the administration tries to say over and over again--that there is global migration that is happening everywhere. This was a series of Executive orders that were done in 2021 that were intentionally designed to change what is happening at our southern border, and they certainly have. prgtoken Decisions were made in 2021 by the administration to be able to shift multiple things, starting with loosening enforcement. On day one of the administration, stop any construction of the wall and announce it publicly: We are no longer going to do wall construction, not even repair. prgtoken Step No. 2, dramatically loosen the actual enforcement within the country so that fewer people would actually be deported when they came. So if you crossed the border illegally, it is a much greater likelihood that, once you get across, you will not be deported. prgtoken The third thing, they changed the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy--that simple policy to say that, yes, you can request asylum, but you can't just be released in the country. They shifted it immediately, and shifted it from ``remain at the border or in Mexico.'' Rather than being in detention, you could be released anywhere in the country on your own recognizance and to be able to go anywhere you want. That dramatically increased the number of people who were crossing. prgtoken They also shifted where the State Department is no longer negotiating deals with Central America--Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador--to be able to stop migrants from moving through that direction. They have withdrawn those agreements from Central America, and the State Department stopped putting pressur
Border Security (Executive Session)
John Barrasso (Republican, WY) \u2014 2024-4-10

first, I would like to congratulate and commend the comments by the previous speaker, the Senator from Alabama, who makes important points that are important for the history as well as the future of this country. prgtoken I rise today, as he did, to speak about the impeachment of the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Mayorkas. I bring with me today to the floor ``The Federalist Papers'' written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay and refer to Federalist 65. prgtoken As I stand here and look at the pages in here and pages in the book and the prgtoken pages in the front of the Senate Chamber, I would recommend to them that they read ``The Federalist Papers.'' I recommend the same to my intern who is here on the floor today, Eve Hawkins, and to the students in the Galleries. There is a lot to learn about the country and a lot to learn about our history, our heritage, and the reason we have the Nation we have today. prgtoken Federalist 65 talks about impeachment. This is about the abuse and violation of public trust. Hamilton goes on to say that impeachment is an important power to remedy ``injuries done immediately to the society itself.'' This is the case we are here to talk about today and why I bring the book along. prgtoken The charges against Secretary Mayorkas are serious, are substantive. The facts in support of them are compelling. They deserve careful consideration by this body. Secretary Mayorkas must be held accountable. His duty as Secretary is to protect the homeland. That is not what has happened. Instead, he refuses to secure the border. prgtoken The House charges that Secretary Mayorkas has ``willfully and systematically refused,'' they say, ``to enforce border security laws.'' Secretary Mayorkas wants to open our borders so the entire world, from Beijing to Belize, can come in. He has turned a secure border into a welcome center. prgtoken Remember, in September of 2021, the Secretary issued a shocking priorities memorandum. Our country has been shaken as a result of that memorandum, and it has not been forgotten. The memo severely limited who ICE was allowed to arrest--that is Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He also revived the catch-and-release program and abused parole laws. In fact, the Secretary bragged on MSNBC that he had-- Secretary Mayorkas--``rescinded so many immigration policies, it would take so much time to list them.'' For people who prefer a secure border for our Nation and care about our Nation's security, this is an admission of willingness to ignore the law of the land. It also provided an open invitation for illegal immigrants or, as the administration calls them, ``newcomers.'' prgtoken After 3 years of open borders, the number of illegal crossings is up to at least 9.2 million people into this country illegally. prgtoken Crimes are up. Drug overdose deaths across America are up. What about the number of de
NPR RADIO IS BIASED
Doug LaMalfa (Republican, CA) \u2014 2024-4-10

in the D.C. newsroom for National Public Radio, which is a central hub for NPR's coverage of political news, it just came out that they have amongst their staff 87 registered in editorial positions and zero s--87-0. prgtoken Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak was amazing at 56 games in a row, and Pete Rose in the seventies had 44 games in a row--87-0. prgtoken Should it matter what the political makeup of people are in these positions? You know, not really, I guess, in any real sense. prgtoken We are not talking reality in Washington, D.C are we? We are not talking about a nonbiased media that covers this place, that covers what politicians do and the slant that people are going to hear when they are out there in their cars, their homes, or wherever, picking this up in the various forms of media. prgtoken What do we know about NPR? It receives funding from the taxpayer and tries at the same time to claim to be objective. It receives this funding via the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which the CBP receives about $525 million of taxpayer dollars--about 50 percent of their funding. The other half comes from corporate donations, the same corporations that love to say evil things about, but oftentimes these days are doing bad things. It is pretty hard to figure out where they are coming from. prgtoken What we have seen in recent years in reporting is a strong bias against s and conservatives coming out of NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting when they cover the political front here. prgtoken The bias against anything that is not a far-left view is clear. In fact, the bias of NPR is so clear that even a left-leaning editor in their organization--which is where this came out--is raising the alarm about the clear and consistent bias. This person is very concerned about it and is now being dismissed. prgtoken NPR has already issued many statements and articles dismissing the critique, including this morning, without any admission by NPR or acknowledgment of any wrongdoing or bias, and certainly they have no intent to reform or even reflect upon what this looks like and sounds like. prgtoken Let us remember that NPR embraced the Russiagate conspiracy theory without question, and they dismissed the Hunter laptop story without proper scrutiny. prgtoken All these things have been proven otherwise, haven't they? prgtoken They also have NPR actively working to dismiss and attack information about the true origins of the COVID-19 virus as well as the early treatments that could have probably helped or saved many lives. They dismissed ivermectin and other treatments, instead, calling it ``horse paste'' when as recently as 2015, it won a Nobel Prize for the amazing work that has been done with ivermectin. prgtoken In the last decade, NPR's own audience has shrunk and become more intensely leftwing, gradually pushing out conservative listeners with nonstop ideological pro
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD RELATING TO "STANDARD FOR DETERMINING JOINT...
Bill Cassidy (Republican, LA) \u2014 2024-4-10

the Senate will soon vote on the Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval, hoping to overturn the administration's new joint employer rule. This policy threatens the viability of the American franchise model in favor of coerced unionization. prgtoken There are 800,000 franchise businesses operating in our communities. They employ over 9 million Americans. The franchise model has particularly empowered underrepresented groups in the business community, such as women and people of color. This allows them to become a successful business owner, to live the American dream, and to create an opportunity for their own family and for their employees. prgtoken President 's new joint employer rule threatens this critical business model. It forces legal liability onto franchisers for the labor decisions of individual franchise owners despite the franchiser having no operational authority over the business's employees. prgtoken Saddling franchisers with liability for thousands of franchise owners that operate as small businesses is a sure way to destroy the system of franchising. According to the International Franchise Association, when the administration imposed a similar policy, small businesses lost $33 billion per year collectively due to increased liability costs. prgtoken The administration's policy has strong opposition from s and . It is also opposed by over 100 organizations, including those representing small businesses and workers who will be severely impacted. prgtoken It is not surprising that the joint employer rule is a major priority for large labor unions. It is easier for unions when they only have to negotiate with one major entity rather than with each individual small business. This allows the union to wield more influence in the collective bargaining process. prgtoken President promised to have the most pro-union administration in history. This priority should not be making it easier to forcibly and coercively unionize workers while undermining the business model of the establishments they work for. It should be supporting workers and increasing economic opportunity. Unfortunately, this policy does the opposite. It threatens the jobs of the over 9 million American workers employed by and earning a living from the franchise business model. prgtoken I close by encouraging all my colleagues to pass this bipartisan CRA resolution and support those Americans who otherwise would not be able to own a business without the franchise model. Let's stop this harmful overreach that only hurts jobs and economic development in our communities and denies opportunities for Americans seeking a better life. prgtoken With that, .
Border Security (Executive Session)
Pete Ricketts (Republican, NE) \u2014 2024-4-10

the fundamental purpose of our Federal Government is to protect Americans, to keep Americans safe. What we have seen happen on our southern border has put Americans at risk. It is a national security crisis, a drug trafficking crisis--child trafficking, sex trafficking. It is putting Americans at risk. And the people responsible for this open border policy are and the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas. prgtoken Since the administration has been in power, we have seen a flood of drugs coming across our border. The cartels are making billions. Fentanyl and other illegal drugs are the leading killer of young Americans in this country. If you are in the age of between 18 and 45, the most likely cause of your death is drug overdose, and the majority of that is fentanyl--70,000 young people a year dying because of fentanyl. prgtoken When I was Governor, we saw the amount of drugs coming into my State under go up dramatically. We saw twice as much methamphetamine, three times as much fentanyl, ten times as much cocaine. prgtoken We have seen the number of people on the Terrorist Watchlist skyrocket as well. Under the administration, a total of 11 people on the FBI Terrorist Watchlist were caught trying to cross the border during 4 years of President . In the last fiscal year, 169 people on the FBI Terrorist Watchlist were trying to cross the border illegally. prgtoken In all, since the administration has been in place, 9.2 million people have either tried to get into this country illegally or have succeeded in getting into this country illegally, and Secretary Mayorkas has willfully refused to support our immigration laws at the direction of this administration. He is culpable in what is going on at our southern border. prgtoken If you ask Americans, ``Who do you think is responsible?'' 57 percent say there has been a willful unenforcement of our laws. Our laws are not being enforced. That includes 61 percent of Independents and a third of . prgtoken And if you wonder who is responsible for this, you need to look no further than a memorandum--a guideline--that was issued in 2021 from Secretary Mayorkas. According to news accounts, Secretary Mayorkas issued a memorandum to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials saying: The fact an individual is a removable noncitizen therefore should not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against them. prgtoken Think about that. What he is saying is that, just because somebody broke the law, it doesn't mean you have to enforce the law against them--in fact, that you shouldn't enforce the law against them. That is not what the law is about. This is absolutely stunning. prgtoken When you are in the private sector and somebody is not doing their job, you hold them accountable. We need to hold accountable the people who have opened our southern border.
Biden Administration (Executive Session)
John Thune (Republican, SD) \u2014 2024-4-10

inflation numbers came out this morning, and it won't surprise anyone to discover that it was yet another month of elevated inflation, par for the course for the administration. prgtoken Inflation that not only remained well above the Federal Reserve's target inflation rate for yet another month, it actually kicked up in March to 3.5 percent, not exactly a hopeful trend. prgtoken It has been a rough few years for the American people under President , thanks in large part to the President and Congressional ' decision to push forward with their American Rescue Plan spending spree, despite, I might add, warnings even from liberal economists that it ran the risk of setting off inflation. But now the entire administration has been one long inflation crisis. prgtoken Today, a typical family is paying $1,000 more per month to maintain the same standard of living they enjoyed when President took office. Now, think about that for just a moment. Today, a typical family is paying $1,000 more per month--$12,000 more per year--to maintain the same standard of living they enjoyed when President took office--if, of course, these families even have that money available. There is no question that there are families out there--a lot, I suspect--whose standard of living has diminished since President took office because they simply don't have the money to maintain the same living standard with the elevated prices in the economy. prgtoken The list of price hikes in the economy is long. Groceries are up 21 percent since President took office. Energy prices are up 38 percent. Gas prices are up 47 percent and are on the rise. The cost of shelter is up 20 percent. Car repairs and maintenance are up 30 percent. And the list goes on. prgtoken I mentioned the increase in grocery prices. The cost of food now takes up a larger share of Americans' disposal income than it has in 30 years. prgtoken A recent Bloomberg article noted: Nationally, seven in 10 consumers say they are very or extremely concerned about the cost of groceries. . . . Forty- two percent said they were worried about having enough money to buy food in December, the last time FMI asked, compared to 26 percent at the March 2020 onset of the pandemic. prgtoken Well, that is a pretty grim statistic, and it is not the only one. On the home-buying front, one recent article reported: The income needed to comfortably afford a home is up 80 percent since 2020. prgtoken Let me just repeat that. The income needed to comfortably afford a home is up 80 percent since 2020. prgtoken , 80 percent--and I don't need to tell anyone that incomes have not risen by 80 percent over the same period. prgtoken President loves to talk about giving Americans ``a little bit of breathing room.'' Well, Americans have lost their breathing room in the econ
DANGEROUS HATRED
Joe Wilson (Republican, SC) \u2014 2024-4-10

in a dangerous event yesterday in Michigan, anti-Israel activists shouted, ``death to America'' and ``death to Israel,'' repeating the Iranian regime chants. prgtoken This event was in recognition of Al-Quds Day to advocate for the mass murder of the people of Israel. It reinforced that, 6 months ago, Iranian puppet Hamas invaded Israel, murdering over 1,200 Israeli civilians. prgtoken Incredibly, in America, a rally speaker hatefully spouted: ``So when these fools ask us if Israel has the right to exist . . . the chant `death to Israel' has become the most logical chant.'' . . . prgtoken When attacks come to America to disrupt elections, voting on election day must be in person, while including military ballots that are mailed in. prgtoken In conclusion, God bless our troops who successfully protected America for 20 years as the global war on terrorism moves from the Afghanistan safe haven to America. prgtoken We do not need new laws for the border. We need to enforce the existing laws. shamefully has opened the borders for dictators as more 9/11 attacks across America are imminent, as warned by the FBI.