mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Executive Session)
Bob Corker (Republican, TN) \u2014 2018-7-11

I rise to speak on the same topic on which my friend from Pennsylvania just spoke. I want to thank him for laying out the rationale for this vote. I also thank Senator Flake for his efforts. I know Senator Alexander, the senior Senator from Tennessee and my friend, will speak on this topic in just a few moments. I do hope we will have an overwhelming vote for this motion to instruct. It is just a step in the direction that we would like to go relative to Congress's role. prgtoken Section 232 of the Trade Act was never intended to be used the way this administration is using it. The Senator from Pennsylvania laid out the fact that this certainly is not being imposed for national security reasons. As a matter of fact, the White House has said loosely on many occasions that they are only using section 232 in order to try to create some kind of leverage on NAFTA. I don't understand how putting tariffs in place on our allies in Europe has anything to do with NAFTA. I don't understand how putting tariffs on our neighbors has anything to do with combating what China is doing in stealing our intellectual property, and I know the Presiding Officer knows full well what is happening there. We do need to counter that kind of activity, and I don't know if we are doing it in the best way now. prgtoken This is an abuse of Presidential authority. It is an abuse of Presidential authority. What I hope is going to happen today is that, in a bipartisan way, in an overwhelming vote, we are going to pass this motion to instruct, moving Congress into its rightful role as it relates to this issue. prgtoken The reason the President, by the way--for those of you who may not be following this closely--is invoking section 232 is that under 232, no one has really an ability to oppose it. I mean, with the China tariffs--and this has nothing to do with the China tariffs that are being imposed today and that were recently imposed. They go under different sections of the Trade Act where you have to actually make a case for what you are doing. In January, the President used section 201 of the Trade Act, but he has to make a case to be successful there. He recently used section 301 on China tariffs. Again, this particular motion has nothing to do with China tariffs, but he has to make a case for that. He has to deal with the World Trade Organization and ITC. prgtoken Section 232--basically, he can just wake up and decide he is going to use section 232, the way it is now written. It has never been used in this manner by any President ever, but if we have a situation where we set up a rules-based society in dealing with trade, and any executive officer of a country can wake up and one day decide they have a national security issue and have to make no case, then, in effect, treaties relative to trade have no effect. You move into a place of not using rules to implement trade. prgtoken Now, as the Senator from Pennsylvania mentione
STRENGTHENING FISHING COMMUNITIES AND INCREASING FLEXIBILITY IN FISHERIES MANAGEMENT ACT
Garret Graves (Republican, LA) \u2014 2018-7-11

I want to thank the dean of the House, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), the chairman emeritus, I think, for most committees in the Congress and many other great accomplishments for yielding time and for all the work on this bill. prgtoken , I find this whole debate interesting in that I have heard speaker after speaker come up on the other side of the aisle talking about the importance of their fisheries, talking about how this bill is going to ruin prgtoken resource management and sustainability of fisheries. prgtoken , I ask you to take a look at this poster right here, and I will also spout out just a few statistics. prgtoken Between my home State of Louisiana and the dean's home State of Alaska, I believe we have more than half of the commercial fisheries landings in the United States, and as demonstrated here, we have more than half of the recreational fishing in the United States. prgtoken I appreciate the concerns that are being raised, but I am not sure whom they are representing. We represent the recreational fishers. We have the largest commercial fishing industries in the United States. prgtoken What this bill does is this bill simply updates the science. It allows for updated science. It allows to build upon successful practices that have been carried out by States for coastal fisheries, for inland fisheries, allowing for better techniques, allowing for better science to ensure the sustainability of the fisheries. prgtoken , how rational is it that someone who represents Louisiana--and I also want to point to the comments that my colleague from Louisiana (Mr. Higgins) made a few minutes ago. We both represent the coast of Louisiana. How rational is it that the two of us and the gentleman who represents the entire State of Alaska would come out and advocate for policies that would undermine the sustainability of fisheries in two incredibly important industries in our State? That is completely nonsensical. prgtoken That is why, , this bill is bipartisan. It is why we have bipartisan support for this legislation by those who have cosponsored it. It is why the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation; the National Coalition for Fishing Communities; the National Marine Manufacturers Association; the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership; the Coastal Conservation Association, or CCA; Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation; Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission; Center for Sport Fishing Policy; Freezer Longline Coalition; Mississippi State Legislature; Johnny Morris, who is the CEO of Bass Pro Shops; American Scallop Association; Garden State Seafood Association; West Coast Seafood Processors Association; Lund's Seafood; North Carolina Fisheries Association; Florida Keys Commercial Fishing Association; Gulf Coast Seafood Alliance; Southeastern Fisheries Association; and many, many others that have a genuine stake in the sustainability of our fisheries
HONORING NEW YORK STATE TROOPER NICHOLAS CLARK
Tom Reed (Republican, NY) \u2014 2018-7-11

I rise today to honor and remember the life of New York State Trooper Nicholas Clark. A lifelong resident of Steuben County and a star football player from my alma mater, Alfred University, Nick Clark honorably served his community and the State of New York as a New York State trooper. Since 2015, he has protected the people that he called his friends and neighbors. prgtoken Trooper Clark put his life on the line every day to serve his community. In the early morning of Monday, July 2, 2018, Trooper Clark responded to a call in the town of Erwin and was shot and killed in the line of duty. prgtoken , he is truly a hero for his actions and the sacrifices he made for all of us. Trooper Clark will be missed by the communities that he served and the lives that he touched. Together we stand with his family and friends as they mourn. prgtoken I thank him for his service to our community and for his bravery. I pray he rests in peace. prgtoken , I ask this legislative body to pause its deliberations and join me in remembering and honoring the 29-year life of Trooper Nicholas Clark.
THE COLORBLIND BOOM IN JOBS
Joe Wilson (Republican, SC) \u2014 2018-7-11

this week, Investor's Business Daily published an editorial titled: ``Colorblind Boom in Jobs.'' prgtoken The editorial begins: ``It may be a surprise, but President is nowhere near as unpopular among minority voters as the biased mainstream media suggest. Why is that? In a word, jobs. ``, it turns out, has been the most consequential President in history when it comes to minority employment. In June, for instance, the unemployment rate for Hispanics and Latinos 16 years and older fell to 4.6 percent, its lowest level ever. . . . '' prgtoken African American unemployment of 6.5 percent ``represents the second lowest unemployment reading ever for Black Americans. ``As for Asian Americans, unemployment similarly bounced off its all- time low. . . . '' ``The truth is, the ripping jobs growth that began when entered office and picked up steam after his tax cuts has been good for everyone in America--even liberal media pundits.'' prgtoken In conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never forget September the 11th in the global war on terrorism. prgtoken Best wishes, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, with an impeccable record of service to be on the Supreme Court of the United States. prgtoken Happy birthday, Jackson Gossett.
Nomination of Brett Kavanaugh (Executive Calendar)
Roy Blunt (Republican, MO) \u2014 2018-7-11

I definitely agree with one thing that my friend from Connecticut just said, which is that there is a long record here on the President's nominee. It is a record I want to look at. It is a record I want to be sure that I talk about to the people I work for as we go through this process. In this process, we will have some time. My guess is it will take about the same amount of time that it has taken for the last two nominees, which means sometime in the month of September, in all likelihood, we will be on the floor, voting, and we will see where that vote takes us. prgtoken A lot of people have jumped to a lot of conclusions here. It wasn't my friend Senator Blumenthal at all, but somebody had a news release yesterday at a news conference I was in. One of our fellow Senators had, apparently, gotten it out a little too quickly. The news release read that Supreme Court nominee XXX is the most extreme candidate that the President could have possibly picked. Another one of our colleagues said yesterday that he didn't care who the President nominated but that he wouldn't be voting for him. We are going to hear a lot of that over the next few weeks. prgtoken At least going back to 1975, I think every single nominee has supposedly been the nominee that would bring an end to so many things that people have tried to focus on when these nominations have come up. With Gerald Ford's nominee in 1975, who turned out to be Justice Stevens, these exact same things were said then. I don't know that it is what the President said during the campaign that matters as much as what the nominee will say during the next few days. prgtoken I do know of the job the nominee currently has. I want to talk to him, and I want to look at the record. I want to visit with him about his philosophy personally before I reach a final conclusion. I do know the job that Judge Kavanaugh currently has is often cited as the second most significant court in the country, the DC Court of Appeals. I do know that his 100 most often cited opinions have been cited by more than 210 judges around the country. I do know that the Supreme Court has endorsed his opinions of the law at least a dozen times and has adopted them as the opinions of the Supreme Court. prgtoken Remember the way this works with the job that Brett Kavanaugh currently has as a circuit judge with the court of appeals. Unlike all the others, it is the court that often has the real jurisdiction over a constitutional case. So there have been lots of cases, and we will be looking through the 12 years of what he has done as a judge. prgtoken I know there are some requests to see every piece of paper that Brett Kavanaugh had in his hands when he was the Staff Secretary, the Assistant to the President, when was President. That would be every piece of paper that had gone to the White House. Yet the job of the Staff Secretary is not to have an opinion on those
Nomination of Brett Kavanaugh (Executive Session)
John Barrasso (Republican, WY) \u2014 2018-7-11

I first wish to associate myself with the remarks from the outstanding Senator from West Virginia. We had a chance to be together on Monday night when the President announced the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, and I agree with my colleague from West Virginia that it is a fantastic choice. prgtoken I said before that there are three things I want to see in any nominee for the Court: the appropriate judicial philosophy, a strong intellect, and a solid character. Everything I have seen so far confirms that Judge Kavanaugh satisfies all three of these requirements. prgtoken I would like to talk today about a few things I think we can expect to see over the next couple of months. First, I think it is safe to say that throughout this process, Judge Kavanaugh will not announce how he is going to rule on cases that might come before him on the Supreme Court. The Presiding Officer and I know--as we walked back from the visit at the White House and were heading home after having a chance to visit with the President of the United States before he actually told the country Judge Kavanaugh would be the nominee--that it is a very appropriate thing for the judge to do, to not announce how he is going to rule on cases that might come before him at the Supreme Court. In fact, the ethics rules say it is exactly what a nominee should do. They should avoid making these sorts of comments. The rules say that judges and nominees should not answer questions about how they would rule on a case they might consider, so I expect that Judge Kavanaugh will follow the rules and not get into specifics on which side he may favor. prgtoken It is what Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a current member of the Court, did during her confirmation process in 1993. She said that ``a judge sworn to decide impartially can offer no forecasts, no hints''--no hints, no forecasts, no previews. She said that this would ``display disdain for the entire judicial process,'' and she was confirmed. That is the Ginsburg standard. Every nominee since then has followed that standard. prgtoken Well, the second thing I expect to happen is that are going to complain that Judge Kavanaugh follows the Ginsburg standard, and we have heard it already. They are going to complain that he will not promise to take their side in cases that might come before the Court. They are going to complain--and have already--that some of the cases he has decided in the past didn't work out the way they wanted them to work out--not what the law said, not what was right, but what they wanted. That is what in the Judiciary Committee did when Neil Gorsuch was nominated to the Supreme Court last year. prgtoken We have seen this movie before. We know the playbook. They have criticized him for some of the rulings they didn't like. Even though the rulings followed the law, they didn't like the rulings, so they criticized the judge f
AUTHORITY FOR COMMITTEES TO MEET
Shelley Moore Capito (Republican, WV) \u2014 2018-7-11

I have 11 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders. prgtoken Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate: committee on commerce, science, and transportation prgtoken The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 11, 2018, at 10 a.m to conduct a hearing entitled ``Complex Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities: Lessons Learned from Spectre and Meltdown.'' committee on environment and public works prgtoken The Committee on Environment and Public Works is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 11, 2018, at 10 a.m to conduct a hearing entitled ``the Long-term Value to U.S. Taxpayers of Low-cost Federal Infrastructure Loans''. committee on foreign relations prgtoken The Committee on Foreign Relations is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 11, 2018, to conduct a hearing. committee on the judiciary prgtoken The Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 11, 2018, at 10 a.m to conduct a hearing on the following nominations: Ryan Douglas Nelson, of Idaho, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit, Stephen R. Clark, Sr to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri, John M. O'Connor, to be United States District Judge for the Northern, Eastern and Western Districts of Oklahoma, Joshua Wolson, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and James W. Carroll, Jr of Virginia, to be Director of National Drug Control Policy. committee on indian affairs prgtoken The Committee on Indian Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 11, 2018, at 2:30 p.m to conduct a hearing on H.R. 597. committee on indian affairs prgtoken The Committee on Indian Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 11, 2018, at 2:30 p.m to conduct a hearing on S. 2599. select committee on intelligence prgtoken The Select Committee on Intelligence is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 11, 2018, at 10:30 a.m to conduct a hearing entitled ``Election Security Preparations: Federal and Vendor Perspectives''. committee on rules and administration prgtoken The Committee on Rules and Administration is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 11, 2018, at 10:30 a.m to conduct a hearing entitled ``Election Security Preparations: Federal and Vendor Perspectives''.
TWILIGHT WISH FOUNDATION
Brian K. Fitzpatrick (Republican, PA) \u2014 2018-7-11

I am proud to recognize a resident of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, who recently broke his fourth world record. prgtoken Bob Consulmagno of Morrisville successfully broke the record for the most outstanding ab wheel rollouts while wearing a 40-pound weight vest. Making this feat more impressive is that Bob, a retired marine, completed this major accomplishment to raise awareness of mental illness. prgtoken Diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder, Bob turned to sports and physical training to battle mental illness. Using his athleticism to garner attention to those who struggle from mental illness, Bob hopes to end the stigma with which it is often associated and to promote treatment for military veterans. prgtoken I am proud to call Bob my constituent, and I am thankful for his service to our community and for turning challenging experiences into positive and educational engagements. Recognizing the Kaitlin Murphy Foundation
SOPHIA HORTIN--ILLINOIS STATE FFA PRESIDENT
John Shimkus (Republican, IL) \u2014 2018-7-11

I rise today to congratulate Sophia Hortin for being elected Illinois' State FFA President. prgtoken Sophia's love for agriculture began on her family farm just outside of Fisher, IL. Sophia embraces all aspects of farming from cleaning grain bins, raising hogs, and even field tillage work. However, her favorite job is hauling grain to local elevators, a job Sophia has done since she got her Class B license when she was 16. prgtoken Over the course of the next calendar year, Sophia will live in Springfield, IL and work out of the State FFA office. Sophia will be leading a historic group of young leaders as she heads up the first ever all-female Illinois FFA officer team. prgtoken After Sophia completes her year-long term as State President, she will enroll in the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana with the ultimate goal of becoming a teacher and FFA adviser. prgtoken , I wish to send my most sincere congratulations to Sophia Hortin for receiving this tremendous accomplishment.
ORDERS FOR THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2018
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2018-7-11

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 12; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; further, that following leader remarks, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Ney nomination; finally, that notwithstanding rule XXII, all postcloture time on the nomination expire at 1:30 p.m.
National Flood Insurance Program (Executive Session)
Bill Cassidy (Republican, LA) \u2014 2018-7-11

my motion to instruct conferees to the minibus appropriations bill, H.R. 5895, is a simple 6-month extension of the National Flood Insurance Program, currently set to expire July 31, 2018--in about 2 weeks. The same timeline in this motion was passed by the Senate a few weeks ago by unanimous consent during consideration of the farm bill. prgtoken The National Flood Insurance Program insures properties in every State, insuring over 5 million homes and businesses and $1.2 trillion in assets. If the NFIP is not extended, people will not be able to renew or purchase new flood insurance policies, and more people would be without flood insurance during peak hurricane season. This is so to the moment because, given the series of emergency supplemental appropriations bills the Senate has passed, an expiration of the NFIP puts the U.S. taxpayer in the very vulnerable position of funding more uninsured losses in emergency supplemental appropriations legislation. prgtoken I thank Senators Crapo and Brown for their work in providing a path forward to a bipartisan long-term reauthorization of the NFIP, which ideally includes commonsense reforms providing for greater investment in flood mitigation, updated flood mapping technology, greater accountability, and consumer choice. However, these discussions will not conclude in the next 2 weeks, prior to the upcoming NFIP expiration deadline. prgtoken It is imperative that Congress provide for a 6-month extension of NFIP now, so progress can continue on long-term reauthorization and reform of the NFIP through the Banking Committee. prgtoken I urge my colleagues to vote to protect the taxpayer, the homeowner, and to support this motion to instruct.