mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019--CONFERENCE REPORT
Mike Lee (Republican, UT) \u2014 2018-9-18

I am a because I am a conservative. I am a conservative because I believe the Constitution and the ideals that it asserts on behalf of the American people are worth protecting, worth defending, even when they are untimely, even when they are unpopular, and especially for the vulnerable, for the marginalized, and for the forgotten among us. prgtoken Equal rights, equal opportunity, equal justice under the law, equal dignity under God--we fail as Americans when we violate these ideals, when we neglect them to whatever degree, when we exclude some number of our neighbors from their God-given share of our common inheritance, when we declare in the interest of expedience and in defiance of our own national creed that some people somehow are less equal than others. prgtoken Such was the cruelty of our Nation through our laws, long-visited on African Americans, Native Americans, immigrants, and ethnic minorities, on women, on the disabled, and on religious minorities, including religious minorities like my own forebears as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. prgtoken Happily, this is no longer the case. Happily, all of these groups-- who, taken together, comprise the vast majority of all Americans--were at different times in our history affirmatively brought under the protection of our laws. This work of inclusion, of expanding the circle of legal and constitutional protection, was not a natural, organic, spontaneous, evolutionary process; it was the product of hard work--the work of vigilant citizens, activists, and lawmakers who affirmatively, aggressively, painstakingly advanced the cause of justice at every opportunity, even against the entrenched forces of the political status quo. prgtoken s in this Congress have undertaken such efforts on behalf of certain priorities--in particular, the tax relief and spending increases that are poised to yield a budget deficit of nearly $1 trillion this year. prgtoken But no such legislative progress has been achieved advancing the right to life nor the plight of those denied it. For the second straight year of unified governance--unified pro-life governance--Congress's annual spending bills will include no new reforms protecting unborn children or getting Federal taxpayers out of the abortion business. prgtoken The House version of this Health and Human Services spending bill included multiple reforms. It denied taxpayer funds to the largest abortion provider in the country, Planned Parenthood. It eliminated title X family planning grants, which cross-subsidize abortion providers. It prohibited Federal funding of research on aborted fetal tissue. prgtoken It included the Conscience Protection Act protecting pro-life people and groups from funding discrimination. None of these modest, commonsense spending reforms survived the House-Senate negotiations-- none of them. None was made a priority by the people em
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019--CONFERENCE REPORT
Jerry Moran (Republican, KS) \u2014 2018-9-18

I want to speak on the appropriations process. I am pleased we are moving forward, and in a few short minutes we will have a couple of additional votes in regard to appropriations bills. prgtoken I want to acknowledge the recent success we have had in moving our appropriations process forward. One would think we would easily be able to meet our legislative mandate. The law says we should pass a budget by April 15 of every year and then follow that with 12 appropriations bills that fill in the spaces in that budget. That turned out to be much more complicated, difficult, and politically challenging than I would have hoped. prgtoken As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I want this to work, but as a representative of taxpayers in Kansas and across the country, I need the appropriations process to work. It is the place we establish priorities. Spend more money here, less money here, no money here-- those are important decisions that need to be made every year. It is also the opportunity we have to send messages and directives to the administration. By the administration, I mean Cabinet Secretaries, Bureau Chiefs, and Agency heads. prgtoken The power of the purse string is an important tool for Congress under article I of the U.S. Constitution to direct how taxpayer dollars are spent in the United States. It is a cause of mine to see that the appropriations process works so we can establish those priorities but also so we can have input into any administration's intentions to establish rules and regulations, develop new policies. The power of the purse string should be exhibited by Congress in a way that allows us, on behalf of the citizens of this country, to have input into what goes on in any administration. prgtoken We are doing much better than we have been for a long time. This has been a year of success. The Senate Appropriations Committee has passed all 12 bills from the Appropriations Committee, and we will today pass several more on the Senate floor. The goal would be, in my view should be, that we complete all 12 bills hopefully before the end of the fiscal year, which ends on September 30, but more likely between now and the end of November or early December. prgtoken We have had significant guidance certainly from the majority and minority leaders of the U.S. Senate, but especially with the help of Richard Shelby, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and the vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee, the Senator from Vermont, Mr. Leahy, in avoiding the usual contentious issues in our appropriations bills that then cause this deadlock to occur with no result, no capability of moving appropriations bills. Way too often, the end result has been what be we call a CR, a continuing resolution, that funds the Federal Government next year at the same level as it does last year, as it was funded in the previous year, or ultimately it can end up in an omnibus spending bill i
RECOGNIZING BATESVILLE TOOL & DIE, INC.
Todd Young (Republican, IN) \u2014 2018-9-18

I wish to rise today to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the Fledderman family and the employees at Batesville Tool & Die, Inc BTD, as they celebrate their 40th anniversary. Headquartered in Batesville, IN, BTD has become a global manufacturer of superior metal stampings for appliance, industrial, and automotive markets. prgtoken Founded in 1978 by Ron Fledderman, BTD started with a single press and a small tool room. The current second-generation president and CEO, Jody Fledderman, took the reins in 1989 with the same promise to his customers: to provide quality, low-cost products with technical expertise. Today the company is estimated to be a multimillion-dollar business with nearly 1,000 employees. As a member of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, it is important that we recognize the value small and medium-sized businesses have in rural communities like Batesville, IN. prgtoken I ask that my colleagues join me in honoring the Fledderman family and the workers at Batesville Tool & Die, Inc for their 40 years of dedicated customer service and economic innovation.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019--CONFERENCE REPORT
Richard C. Shelby (Republican, AL) \u2014 2018-9-18

I want to thank my colleagues, particularly Leaders McConnell and Schumer and Vice Chairman Leahy for their help in moving this package. The conference report before the Senate accelerates the rebuilding of America's military and provides our men and women in uniform with the largest pay increase in nearly a decade. It also increases NIH's budget by $2 billion and provides critical resources to combat the opioid epidemic. And, it contains no poison pill riders. prgtoken On the whole, the conference report tracks very closely with the Senate version of this package, which passed by a vote of 85 to 7. I hope it will receive the same level of support today and urge my colleagues to vote yes. prgtoken If this conference report is signed into law next week when the House returns, we will have funded 75 percent of the Federal Government before the end of the fiscal year. And it will be the first time in a decade that our military will not be operating under a continuing resolution at the beginning of a new fiscal year. prgtoken What a remarkable turn of events from just 6 months ago, when the entire government was funded in one omnibus spending package--6 months behind schedule. prgtoken I think it is important to give the President some credit here for the progress we are making. He has been adamant about the need to rebuild our military and fund the government in a deliberate manner. Not only do I agree with him, but I believe most Americans agree with him, and with this package we are taking an important step in that direction. prgtoken I say to my colleagues, this is the most significant step we have taken yet, but we still have work to do. This conference report contains a continuing resolution to account for the appropriations bills not yet signed into law. I want to stress that my colleagues should not read this as a sign that we have reached an impasse with the House on the remaining bills in conference. To the contrary, we are very close to an agreement on four additional bills: Interior, Financial Services, Transportation, and Agriculture. While we still have differences to resolve on each of the bills, none of them are insurmountable, in my judgement. prgtoken So we will continue to work diligently and hopefully return to the floor soon with yet another conference report in hand. prgtoken In closing, I want to thank my colleagues once again for their help on this conference report. This is a big deal. Let's keep working together to accomplish even more. prgtoken , I want to take a few minutes and briefly explain to the Senate where we are on appropriations, where we have come from, and where we hope to go. prgtoken Thanks to the work of my colleague on the Appropriations Committee-- and many others but especially Senator Leahy--we have hung together, as the Presiding Officer knows, to make the Appropriations Committee work again. It hasn't worked by regular order in years and years
AUTHORITY FOR COMMITTEES TO MEET
Jeff Flake (Republican, AZ) \u2014 2018-9-18

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 banking, housing, and urban affairs prgtoken The Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 18, 2018, at 10 a.m to conduct a hearing entitled ``Fintech: Examining Digitization, Data, and Technology''. 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 Tuesday, September 18, 2018, at 9:55 a.m to conduct a business meeting. committee on finance prgtoken The Committee on Finance is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 18, 2018, during votes to conduct a hearing on the following nominations: Michael Faulkender, of Maryland, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, and Elizabeth Darling, of Texas, to be Commissioner on Children, Youth, and Families, Department of Health and Human Services. committee on foreign relations prgtoken The Committee on Foreign Relations is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 18, 2018, at 10 a.m to conduct a hearing. committee on foreign relations prgtoken The Committee on Foreign Relations is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 18, 2018, at 10 a.m to conduct a hearing entitled ``Status of U.S.-Russia Arms Control Efforts.'' committee on health, education, labor, and pensions prgtoken The Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 18, 2018, at 10 a.m to conduct a hearing entitled ``Reducing Healthcare Costs: Examining how transparency can lower spending and empower patients.'' committee on homeland security and governmental affairs prgtoken The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 18, 2018, at 10 a.m to conduct a hearing entitled ``The Implications of the Reinterpretation of the Flores Settlement Agreement for Border Security and Illegal Immigrations incentives.'' committee on veterans' affairs prgtoken The Committee on Veterans' Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 18, 2018, during votes to conduct a hearing on the following nominations: Tamara Bonzanto, of New Jersey, to be an Assistant Secretary (Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection), and James Paul Gfrer
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019--CONFERENCE REPORT
Jeanne Shaheen (Democrat, NH) \u2014 2018-9-18

I want to start by thanking my colleague and chairman, Senator Moran, for his very kind remarks and for his leadership on the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee. prgtoken As he says, it has been a great partnership this year. It has involved give and take. We both have compromised. Neither of us has gotten everything we wanted for the appropriations, for the committee, for our States, or for the country, but I think we made a commitment that I think has been shared by the Appropriations Committee as a whole that we were going to get back to regular order of passing these appropriations bills, of funding the government on a reasonable timetable that people could count on. That is what this bill represents, and I applaud Senator Moran and all of the staff, the majority and the minority staff, who have worked with us to get this done. prgtoken I also want to congratulate, as you did, Senator Moran, Chairman Shelby and Vice Chairman Leahy on moving all 12 appropriation bills out of committee in a bipartisan manner. Nine of those bills have passed the Senate by now. Three are already on the President's desk, and the Senate today will pass a conference report with two more of those bills and a continuing funding resolution. We expect that those bills will become law before the end of the fiscal year on September 30. prgtoken This is the first time since I have been in the Senate--I started in 2009--when we will actually see the bills that were passed out of the Appropriations Committee. We have seen them taken up on the floor, and we are going to see them pass and get signed into law by the President. prgtoken Now, unfortunately, for the work that we have done on CJS, the CR that we are going to be acting on today includes the funding for the departments and agencies in the Commerce-Justice-Science bill, among others, but like Senator Moran, I believe that passing the short-term CR today should not keep us from working to pass full-year funding for CJS. That is why we are here on the floor today urging that the Senate continue to take up and pass the CJS appropriations bill. I am sure that is what Chairman Shelby would support and what Vice Chairman Leahy would also support if they joined us on the floor. prgtoken If you have any doubts about why what is in the CJS bill is so important and why we should take it up, all you have to do is turn on the TV or have watched the television coverage over the last 4 days of Hurricane Florence as it has hit the Carolina coast. It has caused devastation. It has caused deadly flooding. I know that we all empathize and support the people of the Carolinas with what they are dealing with with Hurricane Florence, but we have been able to predict the course of that hurricane because of the National Weather Service hurricane forecasters. They got a lot right about Florence's track, and the forecasters didn't
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019--CONFERENCE REPORT
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-9-18

first, let me thank the Senator from Florida for his steadfast actions in the Senate for many years protecting Florida's waterways, which are not only a treasure to Floridians but to all of us in America. He deserves to be congratulated on that. Nomination of Brett Kavanaugh prgtoken , last night, in the wake of extremely serious and troubling allegations about Supreme Court nominee Judge Kavanaugh, Chairman Grassley announced he would hold a hearing of the Judiciary Committee next Monday to examine the allegations. I want to salute the six Members who I believe changed Senator Grassley's mind and Leader McConnell's mind. Their first instinct was, of course, to rush it through, have this ridiculous phone call with staff and both of the now witnesses. That made no sense. But because a good number of our friends said there ought to be a hearing and testimony, Senator Grassley and Senator McConnell backed off the position of no hearings, and we will have one. prgtoken It is a good thing that we will have hearings, and they have to be done right. There must be an agreement on witnesses, and the FBI should be given time to reopen its background check investigation into Judge Kavanaugh to speak to any potential witnesses or other relevant individuals and update its analysis. That way, Senators will have the necessary information and expert analysis at their disposal at the hearing, making it much less likely that it will devolve into a he said, she said affair. prgtoken Many say: Well, they have done background check investigations several times on Judge Kavanaugh. That is true, but none of those background investigations brought up this specific incident that Professor Ford says happened. I believe that it did. Because the FBI didn't know of these allegations before, reopening the background investigation into these specific allegations, interviewing Judge Kavanaugh, Professor Ford, Mr. Judge, and all other relevant witnesses, is necessary. prgtoken We have two diametrically opposed stories. In my view, Professor Ford is telling the truth. But if you don't want the hearing to be just a he said, she said affair, an independent investigation--a background check--by the FBI is essential. prgtoken This is not a criminal investigation. It has nothing to do with the statute of limitations. It is simply what the FBI does for all witnesses. When there are new and troubling allegations that emerge, there is nothing wrong--in fact, it is fundamentally right to reopen the background investigation so prgtoken that the FBI can query the witnesses involved, more so now than ever because there are two diametrically opposed stories. It will make the hearing far more valuable because once the Members see what the witnesses have said to the FBI, they will be able to ask much better questions, and they will be able to get at the truth. I think e
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019--CONFERENCE REPORT
Bill Nelson (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2018-9-18

over the past few weeks, I have been meeting with residents and business owners in South Florida who are continuing to experience the health impacts and the financial troubles as a result of the persistent algae blooms which are on the east coast of Florida. On the west coast, those algae blooms that are going down the Caloosahatchee River are supercharging the red tide bacteria in the gulf, and the profound ecological effect is that of dead sea life literally littering the beaches. The smell is pungent, and it is irritating. prgtoken I am here to urge my colleagues to support the Water Resources Development Act--what we refer to as the WRDA bill--because it contains the authorization for an important reservoir project that could help alleviate some of the discharges. prgtoken When discharges come out of the big lake, Lake Okeechobee, that are already combined with local runoff and discharges of nutrient-laden water into the waters and lakes of Florida--particularly the Caloosahatchee on the west coast and the St. Lucie on the east coast-- then all of that nutrient-laden water is like throwing fertilizer into water. Since algae is already in the water, if you throw fertilizer into it, the algae is going to grow. The algae grows, and it turns into this green gunk. It absorbs all of the oxygen in the water, and it becomes a dead waterway. The fish can't live because the oxygen is not there. prgtoken There are important things in this Water Resources Development Act, particularly an in-excess-of-10,000-acre reservoir that is going to be authorized south of Lake Okeechobee, which would allow for the flow of some of those discharges. prgtoken Last week, the House and the Senate committees of jurisdiction resolved their differences in conference negotiations and reached an agreement that passed in the House by a voice vote. We are going to have the WRDA bill come up in the Senate. We should take it up and pass this bill immediately so it can go to the White House for signature and become law so we can get to work on the reservoir that will be south of Lake Okeechobee. prgtoken The reservoir is particularly important and timely right now because of this algae crisis in Florida. It is also a critical piece of our broader Everglades restoration effort. We need additional storage so we can move water gradually from Lake Okeechobee, clean it up, and send it south to the areas of the Everglades that are starved for freshwater. prgtoken One of the true champions of Everglades restoration, Nat Reed, passed away earlier this summer. I expressed remarks on the floor of the Senate about what he meant to our State and to our country and its environment. I note, today, that I am filing legislation with my colleague Senator Rubio to formally rename the Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge after Nathaniel Reed. prgtoken When we all learned the sad news in July that Nat had passed away, there were conversations about