mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
RECOGNIZING HEARTLAND HORSESHOEING SCHOOL
Mark Alford (Republican, MO) \u2014 2024-3-7

today I rise to recognize the Heartland Horseshoeing School in Lamar, Missouri, as our district's Small Business of the Month. prgtoken Chris and Kelly Gregory opened the school back in 1995 and have since been leaders in teaching the craft of horseshoeing and blacksmithing. prgtoken This school is more than just a business. It is a place where students from all over the world can learn a skill that has been very important for centuries. prgtoken The Gregorys' work is a reminder of how vital small business is to America. They are not just teaching a trade; they are keeping our heritage strong and helping our economy grow. prgtoken Their reach goes far beyond our district, . Their YouTube channel shares their knowledge with more than 220,000 subscribers. prgtoken Folks like the Gregorys show us what we can do when we achieve with hard work and passion the dreams that make us great in America. prgtoken Congratulations to Chris and Kelly Gregory. Their work is shaping the future of horseshoeing and showing the power of small businesses in America.
COMMEMORATING THE CAREER OF MR. J. BRENT OLMSTEAD
Michael K. Simpson (Republican, ID) \u2014 2024-3-7

I rise today to commemorate the distinguished career and contributions of J. Brent Olmstead, a fourth generation Idahoan raised on a cattle ranch with a rich background in public policy and advocacy. prgtoken Brent grew up on a cattle ranch south of Twin Falls, Idaho, and dedicated over 35 prgtoken years of his life to public service. He began his career as a lobbyist for Idaho Commerce and Industry in 1994. There he focused his attention and expertise on issues such as agriculture, natural resources, immigration, and the environment. prgtoken After 7 years at IACI, where he served as vice-president. Brent then created his own consulting firm named MPIdaho. As a consultant, Brent specialized in public policy development and strategic planning for private businesses in agriculture, taxation, and immigration. He also created the non-profit organization, Milk Producers of Idaho. prgtoken More recently, Brent joined the University of Idaho's College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, as assistant dean for government and external relations. In this capacity, Brent worked extensively on a project called the Idaho Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment (CAFE). The new center will focus their research on critical problems that agribusiness faces. prgtoken Brent also received IACI's 2023 Pat K. Harwood award, in recognition of his decades of service to the state of Idaho. A great achievement for a man who exemplifies what it means to be a leader. prgtoken His commitment to Idaho is also evident through his service on various boards, including the advisory board for the James A. and Louise McLure Center for Public Policy Research, the Idaho Hispanic Foundation, the Idaho Small Business Advisory Council, the Children's Discovery Center of Idaho, and Idaho Red Cross. prgtoken My friend, Brent Olmstead, has had many titles in his distinguished career, but the two most important to Brent are father and husband. Brent is a devoted family man and raised five children with his late wife, Jane Wittmeyer. prgtoken If anyone has earned the right to have a peaceful and enjoyable retirement, it is Brent. Well done my friend and congratulations.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Shelley Moore Capito (Republican, WV) \u2014 2024-3-7

I rise today in the hours before President 's State of the Union address to discuss the reality of the past 3 years and the current circumstances of our Nation. Together, my colleagues and I are here to speak on behalf of the American people who have been forgotten and left behind by President , those who know the true consequences of his administration's policies and who are really feeling the pain by the continued failures that have defined President 's time in the White House. prgtoken Throughout my time in Congress, I have been guided by my eternal optimism. I feel like I can see beyond the gloom and push toward a brighter future. However, it is clear that this is not the perspective that is felt in communities across our country, as Americans realize that the state of our Nation is not as strong as it should and could be. They continue to battle economic challenges that are making the American dream unaffordable. prgtoken There is a continued assault on American energy, which started by canceling the Keystone XL pipeline and now, just several weeks ago, the disastrous halting of the construction of the LNG export terminals. prgtoken They see the unmitigated flow of illegal crossings at our southern border, and they face the threat of rising crime, and they see the weakened state of Americans standing on the global stage. prgtoken President remains the common denominator across each of these issues, and he continues to prove--and this is harsh--that he is just not up to the task of leading our country in a time when it is needed most. prgtoken Perhaps the most consistent issue that has defined President 's tenure in the White House--and one that I hear constantly about back home--is the state of our economy and the persistence of high interest rates and inflation. Despite President 's claims, inflation has not cooled and price hikes have worn down consumers over the past 3 years, making necessities like food and housing nearly unaffordable. The price of food at the grocery store--anybody who is listening to this that has been to the grocery store knows this better than anybody. The price of food at grocery stores and in our restaurants increased 2.6 percent just in the last year, but this is on top of the staggering 10 percent that food prices rose over the last year. So what used to be $100 worth of groceries in 2019 now costs $125. And just last week, it was revealed that food costs, compared to income, have hit a 33-year high with American consumers spending over 11 percent of their disposal income on food. That means that the last time Americans paid this much for food ``Terminator 2'' was in the movies, Michael Jordan had just won his second MVP award, and HP had introduced the first color scanner. That is how long ago this was. prgtoken Adding to this, U.S. home prices are at an alltime high. Housing costs have now become unaffordable for a record number
HONORING THE MEMORY OF LAKEN RILEY
Jack Bergman (Republican, MI) \u2014 2024-3-7

I sadly rise today in support of H.R. 7511, the Laken Riley Act, and to honor the namesake of this legislation. prgtoken Laken Hope Riley was a beautiful soul taken too soon from her loving family by an illegal migrant who was detained and then released back into our country in 2022. prgtoken As a young nursing student, Laken brought joy to everyone around her as she pursued her passion of helping people. She had so much potential and so much life to live. My prayers are with her family as they mourn the loss of her light in this world. prgtoken If not for our open borders and catch and release protocols, Laken, and many other innocent Americans who were murdered by illegal immigrants, would be alive today. It is time to secure our border and end these destructive policies now. prgtoken I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 7511 and to continue fighting to ensure no other family has to bury their child due to 's preventable crisis.
ALL LIFE IS PRECIOUS
Michelle Steel (Republican, CA) \u2014 2024-3-7

as someone who started my family with IVF, I understand how critical it is to so many families that want to have children. prgtoken I believe all life is precious. prgtoken Like many Americans, I am pro-life with exceptions for rape, incest, and the health and life of the mother. prgtoken For years, political opponents have misrepresented my view, but families in my district know where I stand. prgtoken Nothing is more pro-life than helping families have children, and I do not support Federal restrictions on IVF. prgtoken A recent court ruling prompted confusion about whether the Life At Conception Act bans IVF. prgtoken I am removing myself from the bill because it could create confusion about my support for the blessings of having children through IVF.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2024-3-7

as my colleague from West Virginia has noted, and as the Nation knows--the world knows--President will deliver his third, perhaps final, State of the Union address tonight. prgtoken Obviously, the border is a major issue confronting the Nation, and I have to say that, coming from Texas with the 1,200 mile common border with Mexico, Washington has just recently acknowledged--the President has just recently acknowledged something that we have known has been a problem for a long, long time without really any help to deal with this flood of humanity and drugs across our southwestern border. prgtoken I expect that President will do as he always does--blame somebody else for this problem, even though he has had the same tools that President has had with which to deal with it from the day he stepped into the Oval Office. prgtoken The American people are pretty smart and they are pretty perceptive and they understand that the crisis at our border is a man-made crisis, and that man is President . He has opted, rather than secure the border, to issue dozens of Executive orders dismantling piece by piece the border security protections that President had put in place, things like the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy where people who would otherwise be released into the interior of the United States would have to remain in Mexico while their asylum claims have been determined. prgtoken Under President , U.S. Customs and Border Protection has encountered nearly 7 million migrants. I have heard numbers as high as 9 million. The truth is we don't really have an accurate number because it is virtually uncontrolled, but we know that it is more than the past two administrations combined. In 3 years, President has allowed more illegal migrant encounters across the border than in 12 years of President 's term and President 's. prgtoken Well, you would think, with President knowing he has a huge political liability, that he would seek advice from the experts. But former U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said that President and Vice President never even spoke to him during his time in office. This is the man, the expert, who is in charge of the border for the U.S. Government, and the President and the Vice President didn't even speak to him. prgtoken Well, because of the welcome mat that has been laid out by the administration, border officials are preparing for yet another spike in the record levels of migration. prgtoken The administration is under fire for reports that it flew 320,000 migrants from foreign countries directly into the United States without vetting them first. prgtoken Words fail to describe the unprecedented nature of this crisis. It is so bad, I keep asking myself: What is it going to take before the President wakes up? , 7 to 9 million illegal entries into the country; 300,000 children placed with sponsors in t
CONGRATULATING SAMUEL HUNSBERGER
Glenn Thompson (Republican, PA) \u2014 2024-3-7

I rise today to recognize and congratulate Jude Sterling of Millmont, Pennsylvania. Jude accepted a fully qualified appointment to the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. prgtoken Jude is a senior at the Meadowbrook Christian School. He is the son of Jason and Ann Rishel and the grandson of Shirley O'Brien and Harry Vansickle of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and Kathy and Carl Baskin of Sugar Hill, Georgia. prgtoken Jude is an active member of the Civil Air Patrol, where he has served in a variety of leadership positions. He is also a student pilot and a member of the cross-country and track and field teams. His commitment to service is an inspiration to us all. prgtoken I am confident that Jude's experience in and out of the classroom will serve him well as he looks forward to this exciting new phase of life. prgtoken Jude, thank you for your commitment to our Nation, and best of luck in Colorado Springs. prgtoken , it was an honor to nominate these young men. Their dedication to serving our country is inspirational, and I look forward to seeing their successes in the years to come. Again, I thank all of them for their commitment to our Nation.
Environmental Protection Agency (Executive Session)
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2024-3-7

I come to the floor to discuss with my colleagues the fact that Agencies of the Federal Government aren't very insightful to make sure that taxpayers' money is spent properly and also to say how they are not cooperating with the constitutional responsibility of Congress to make sure the money is spent in a legal way. prgtoken In this case, I am here to talk about the Environmental Protection Agency. prgtoken On April 13, I began an investigation into an EPA program called the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative Agreement Program. Now that is quite a name, isn't it? prgtoken On February 22 of this year, I issued a preliminary report on my investigation. That EPA program dishes out millions of taxpayer dollars to left-leaning nonprofits. The funding is from President 's American Rescue Plan, which was opposed by Senate s. prgtoken According to the EPA, the purpose of this environmental justice program is to address environmental and public health issues in underserved communities. prgtoken As part of that program, the EPA sent 34 individual nonprofits a combined $4.3 million, with each receiving up to $200,000. prgtoken I think the money was meant to be spent for the purpose of improving the environment--and I don't have any trouble with that--but I think you will see that the grantees didn't use the money for what it was intended for. prgtoken Now, I wrote to all 34 grantees because I wanted to know how they spent that taxpayer money. I wrote to the EPA because I wanted to know how it was conducting oversight of that spending. You see, it isn't only Congress that has a responsibility to see that the money is spent responsibly and according to Congress's will, but it is also up to these Agencies to make sure that they spend the money accordingly. prgtoken It is a pretty simple request. I want EPA to show their work, how the taxpayers' money is being spent. Well, this EPA, apparently, to them that question is just too much for them to handle. prgtoken So guess what happened after I sent the oversight letters. The EPA interfered and told these 34 grantees that they--meaning the EPA--would handle the Grassley request. This led many grantees to refuse compliance with any congressional oversight request and also obstruct my efforts of getting answers for the taxpayers. prgtoken Some grantees were so emboldened by EPA's obstructive conduct that they sent my staff emails. And this is just one example of the emails: We report to EPA and they're responding on our behalf. You can make your request to them. We won't be responding further. Don't contact us any further. prgtoken That is how they treat this Senator doing his constitutional responsibilities, and, obviously, you can tell by that quote that this is very much obstruction. prgtoken What the EPA has done is to obstruct a core constitutional requirement of the Congress; that is, knowing how app
National Security (Executive Session)
John Thune (Republican, SD) \u2014 2024-3-7

tonight President will come to Congress to deliver his State of the Union Address. It is a natural time to look at a President's legacy. And if one thing is certain, it is that the Presidency hasn't done much for the state of our union. prgtoken Yesterday, I came down to the floor to talk about the national security crisis we are facing at our southern border. It is a crisis we have been facing almost since the day the President took office. prgtoken The President marked his inauguration by taking measures that weakened our Nation's border security, including halting construction of the border wall, rescinding the declaration of a national emergency at our southern border, and pausing deportations except under certain conditions. The effect was to declare to the world that the U.S. borders were effectively open, and the number of migrant encounters at our southern border ticked up accordingly. prgtoken And the surge has never stopped. President has presided over 3 recordbreaking years of illegal immigration at our southern border. And if we continue on our current track, he will likely be presiding over a fourth. The first 4 months of fiscal year 2024 saw nearly 1 million migrant encounters at our southern border--1 million in just 4 months. These kinds of numbers not only represent a logistical and humanitarian crisis, they represent a gaping hole in our national security. prgtoken There is no question that the kind of numbers we are seeing smooth the way for dangerous individuals to enter our country. Last year, 169 individuals on the Terrorist Watchlist were apprehended attempting to cross our southern border, and we are on track to exceed that number this year. prgtoken And those numbers only reflect individuals who were actually apprehended. With around 1.8 million known ``got-aways'' since President took office and an untold number of unknown ``got- aways,'' I think we can safely assume that there are plenty of dangerous people making their way into our country without being stopped. prgtoken And President 's border crisis is not the only way in which he has jeopardized our national security. His disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan weakened our standing with our allies, and his failure to prioritize ensuring our military is equipped to meet and defeat current and future threats sends a dangerous signal to bad actors around the world. prgtoken Then, of course, there is the fact that the President is setting us up for a future energy crisis that will jeopardize our Nation's security by jeopardizing our energy security, not to mention jeopardizing American's pocketbooks. The President's hostility to conventional energy production and his determination to push us into a Green New Deal regime that our current energy system simply cannot cope with is setting us up for long-term instability in our Nation's energy supply. prgtoken That threatens our national security,
LAKEN RILEY ACT
Marcus J. Molinaro (Republican, NY) \u2014 2024-3-7

Laken Riley's future was taken away from her and she from her family because an illegal immigrant in the State of New York was arrested and released, my home State. prgtoken My colleague across the aisle knows this full well. Because of policies put in place by this administration, embraced by governors like Kathy Hochul in States like New York, we have surrendered our southern border and made our communities less safe. prgtoken It is important to move on this piece of legislation, and I encourage my colleagues to support the Laken Riley Act, but I also ask my colleagues, especially those from New York, to take serious the challenge that has been made worse and communities less safe because of cashless bail, catch and release, and sanctuary city policies in the State of New York. prgtoken I ask them to join me in calling on Governor Kathy Hochul--instead of talking about it--to take action to rescind cashless bail, reform catch and release, and end sanctuary city policies to make safe the people and communities in the State of New York.
State of the Union Address (Executive Session)
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2024-3-7

well, tonight, President will deliver the last State of the Union Address of his term. For the past 3 years, these speeches have served as mile markers but not of any meaningful progress toward a more perfect Union. Instead, each year, the American people tuned in to see just how far the President's own version of his record is from the reality of their lives. prgtoken For 3 years, the President, who campaigned as a moderate, has governed like an activist from the furthest fringe of the ic Party. prgtoken The administration's agenda has meant pain at home and weakness abroad. It didn't have to be this way. President took office amid strong tailwinds--from an economic recovery that was already restoring the record-setting prosperity we saw before the pandemic to a historic modernization of our military that was well underway. He inherited everything he needed to point our Nation toward further security and prosperity, but he chose weakness and invited danger instead. prgtoken Today, nearly two-thirds of voters say our economy is worse than it was 4 years ago. Not even one in four thinks our country is on the right track. Barely a quarter of the country expects our economy to improve in the coming year. But that hasn't stopped President from trying to convince working Americans to take his word for it and ignore their own shrinking paychecks. He has literally taken a victory tour to tout his disastrous economic record. His administration has declared omics ``the word of the year.'' prgtoken Meanwhile, American consumers are shelling out a bigger portion of their income on groceries than at any point in the last 30 years. A food pantry in Northern Kentucky is reporting ``more and more demand for . . . enough food to make people's income stretch.'' Across the board, consumer prices are nearly 18 percent higher today than they were when President took office. This is what ``omics in action'' really means? prgtoken At kitchen tables tonight, working families will probably wonder whether the President has any regrets, whether he wishes he hadn't ignored his party's top economists and rammed through trillions of dollars in leftwing spending, which brought on the worst inflation in 40 years, or whether he wishes he hadn't declared total war on our most affordable sources of domestic energy, along with the jobs these American industries support. On President 's watch, overall energy prices are up nearly a third. prgtoken Time after time, when given the choice to lead or to outsource his work to leftwing activists, President has chosen the latter. He has handed his base a blank check for a wish list of social engineering and left the American people to foot the bill. prgtoken Meanwhile, he has poured gasoline on the fire of leftwing, pro- criminal, anti-police rhetoric across the country. The administration has packed its Justice Department ful
U.S. MUST USE ITS LEVERAGE TO GET HUMANITARIAN AID INTO GAZA
James P. McGovern (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2024-3-7

we cannot ignore the suffering happening in Gaza. Children are dying of malnutrition. There is no food, no clean water, no medicine, and over 2 million people are starving in desperate need of help. prgtoken The October 7 attack by Hamas against innocent Israeli civilians and the taking of hostages are horrific crimes, but I am horrified by Prime Minister Netanyahu's response. His government's actions against civilians in Gaza are intolerable and wrong. prgtoken U.S. law says no aid shall be furnished under the Foreign Assistance Act or the Arms Export Control Act to any country that: `` . . . restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.'' prgtoken , I would say to President that if the Netanyahu government continues to keep humanitarian aid from entering Gaza at the scale required to meet the needs of the people of Gaza, then you must, , use the full leverage of U.S. law to get the trucks rolling again. The lives of millions are counting on you.