mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
Nomination of Brett Kavanaugh (Executive Session)
Christopher A. Coons (Democrat, DE) \u2014 2018-7-11

I come to the floor to raise concerns both about the next vote we will take--a vote that will or will not confirm President 's nominee Brian Benczkowski to be the Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice--and to express my concern about our President's actions at the NATO summit and his upcoming meeting with Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation. prgtoken Let me start with Mr. Benczkowski. I come to the floor to speak in opposition to our proceeding to his confirmation. Mr. Benczkowski has been nominated to serve as an Assistant Attorney General and will be in charge of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. prgtoken How big of a division is that--10, 50, 100? It actually has 900 employees and 600 career Federal prosecutors. The U.S. Department of Justice takes up, handles, investigates, and prosecutes cases of an unbelievable range, complexity, and sophistication in every district court in the entire United States. One would have to assume that to take on such a significant--such an important--role as overseeing, supervising, and managing 900 professionals and 600 career prosecutors that Mr. Benczkowski must be very qualified to serve. prgtoken As someone who is himself an admitted member of the Delaware bar and serves on the Judiciary Committee, I hesitate to suggest that I have the qualifications because I have never tried a criminal case in court, so I am not sure how I would directly supervise a whole team of career Federal prosecutors. Mr. Benczkowski has never prosecuted a case. He has never supervised a criminal prosecution. In fact, he has not ever appeared in Federal court, by his own admission, except for on one or two limited occasions in order to address routine scheduling or other matters. prgtoken Mr. Benczkowski is before us, in his having been nominated to supervise the single largest, most complex, most sophisticated law firm in America for criminal matters on behalf of the people of the United States, without his having the relevant experience. In my view, that alone is disqualifying. That alone should lead us to pause in terms of whether we should confirm this man to lead the Criminal Division as the Assistant AG. prgtoken Virtually all of the last several Senate-confirmed Assistant Attorneys General for the Criminal Division have had extensive prior experience as prosecutors, as former U.S. attorneys, as career or elected folks who have either been within the Department of Justice or have been attorneys general. This is for good reason, for the Federal Government holds enormous power and discretion when it comes to criminal prosecutions. The Assistant Attorney General is responsible for overseeing offices that investigate and prosecute money laundering, fraud, organized crime, public corruption, and a host of other serious offenses. It is that AAG who ultimately signs off on some of the
Thanking the Senator from Illinois (Executive Session)
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-7-11

let me first thank my friend and colleague from Illinois. He is a lamp of light in this horrible moment when children are being separated from their parents, when we don't even know where they are, and when we don't even know who their parents are. He is showing the inhumanity and the incompetence of this administration rolled into one. He has been a constant and vigilant voice to reunite the families and bring some justice, some peace, some calm to these poor kids. So I thank him for the work he has done.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Executive Session)
Patrick J. Leahy (Democrat, VT) \u2014 2018-7-11

today the Senate is considering one of the most troubling executive branch nominations that this President has made to date--the nomination of Brian Benczkowski to lead the Criminal Division of the Justice Department. prgtoken For years, I have studied and have been aware of the Criminal Division. This is an amazing nomination. I think it is enough to oppose Mr. Benczkowski's nomination because he is objectively unqualified for this important position, but there are also compelling reasons to believe that it would be uniquely reckless to confirm him to this position. prgtoken Now, speaking about Mr. Benczkowski's lack of qualifications for this role is not meant to denigrate. Many of us know him, as I did, from his service in the Judiciary Committee as the staff director for the then Ranking Member Jeff Sessions. The fact is, this nominee to head the Criminal Division has virtually no criminal law experience. Even at this age, he has never tried a case. He has never served as a prosecutor. He has almost zero courtroom experience. Instead, his experience has been to serve as a political aide to various officials. prgtoken As a former prosecutor, I know there is no substitute for actual courtroom experience, actually going into a courtroom and trying a criminal case, arguing criminal cases on appeal, determining whether you bring a charge or don't bring a charge. These are things an experienced prosecutor has to do. For the last several decades, under and ic administrations, every head of a criminal division--which is probably the most important litigating arm of the Justice Department--has had substantial prosecutorial experience, with the exception of one individual whose nomination I simply could not support. This shouldn't be a partisan issue. I voted for nominees in administrations and in ic administrations because they were qualified, and there are countless qualified prosecutors the President could select. prgtoken For this reason alone, the Senate should not consent to Mr. Benczkowski's nomination. But there are two other reasons, aside from the fact that he has absolutely zero qualifications for this important position. It is sort of like sending somebody in to do brain surgery when their main experience has been clipping hedges. You have to have some experience in there, but aside from the fact that he has no experience, there are two other reasons he shouldn't be confirmed. prgtoken First, he has demonstrated, at a minimum, exceptionally poor judgment when it comes to perhaps our Nation's most critical ongoing national security investigation--the Russian Government's attack on our democracy. We all know, if we have read the intelligence reports, Russia attacked the U.S. democracy and vote in the last election. prgtoken After serving on Mr. 's transition team, Mr. Benczkowski represented a Putin-connected Russian bank, Alfa-Bank, regarding its
Family Separation (Executive Calendar)
Catherine Cortez Masto (Democrat, NV) \u2014 2018-7-11

I want to share with my colleagues and the American people what I witnessed on a visit to a couple of immigration detention facilities on our southern border and the stories of the people, children, and infants being held there. prgtoken On a visit to an adult detention facility, I sat down with a group of six mothers whose children had been taken from them. One of them, Anna, had a 5-year-old daughter she brought with her to the United States. After witnessing a brutal murder in her neighborhood and receiving death threats in her home country, she decided to leave that country to keep her 5-year-old daughter safe. prgtoken She traveled 3,000 miles to get to our southern border, and when she finally arrived, she thought: I am safe. I made it. I am going to tell them who I am and why I am here because I know I finally made it to safety. prgtoken She flagged down Customs and Border Patrol agents thinking that they would help her, but when she did, CBP officials arrested her. They took her into custody, and then they separated her from her daughter. Anna's daughter was put on a bus and driven hundreds of miles away. prgtoken As Anna was telling this story to me, every single one of the mothers began to cry. Anna told me this was the first time she had ever been separated from her 5-year-old daughter, and she had no idea--no idea-- where her daughter was and what they were doing with her. All of the women, as Anna was telling me the story, had experienced the same thing. prgtoken Each one of the women I spoke with had children under the age of 12 who were taken away from them. Their stories were the same. They had all faced horrific gang violence and abuse in their home country and fled to protect their families. They had been raped and tortured. They saw loved ones killed before their very eyes. prgtoken Another one of the women I spoke with, Griselda, explained that in her community, the gangs expect extortion payments every week from business owners, such as herself, and if you can't pay, they come to your house and kidnap or rape or kill your children. prgtoken One day, gang members came and started threatening her son. She knew in that moment she had two options: stay and watch her son die or pack up her children and run. prgtoken I asked the group of women: Why didn't you go to the police for help? They explained to me that the police in their country are just as corrupt as the gangs. In their country, there is no rule of law. There are no protections. If you want to save your children's lives, your only option is to run, and that is what these women did. prgtoken They came to the United States expecting to find freedom and protection, but instead they were thrown in jail, and their children were loaded on buses and driven away. These parents want to now know, where are their children? prgtoken When they asked me, I told them I didn't have the information they needed, and that I, too, was asking th
Nomination of Brett Kavanaugh (Executive Calendar)
Richard Blumenthal (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2018-7-11

we are at a crossroads, a historic turning point for the U.S. Supreme Court and our country. This body is often called upon to consider court nominations for the district courts and the courts of appeals, but we are at an extraordinary decision point for the U.S. Supreme Court--the highest Court in the land, a branch of government that can shape the law and culture of this country for generations to come. prgtoken When we are called upon to consider a Supreme Court nominee, ordinarily we have to read tea leaves. Ordinarily we have no way to know with certainty the values and beliefs that someone will bring to the Court. Ordinarily Presidents make every effort to persuade us that their nominees were picked on the basis of merit, not ideology. So ordinarily we look forward to hearing what nominees tell us about their beliefs and values, since they are unknown when we first hear their names. prgtoken We live in times that are the opposite of ordinary. These are not ordinary times. We live at a time when there is, right before our eyes, an ongoing assault on the rule of law in this country, coming from the President of the United States on down. We live at a time when the courts are critically important to our democracy because they are a bulwark for fundamental rights and liberty, and when the history of this era is written, I believe that our judiciary and our free press will be the heroes because they stood between the President defying the law and preserving those key freedoms and rights that are foundational to our democracy. prgtoken What we know about the President's nominee for the highest Court in the land--the most important to that effort against this assault on the rule of law--is that he will ``automatically'' vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. We know that he will vote effectively to eliminate the Affordable Care Act and to undermine protections for millions of Americans who suffer from diabetes, obesity, alcohol abuse, addiction to opioids, stroke, Parkinson's, and many other preexisting conditions. Millions of Americans suffer from those kinds of sicknesses, including more than 500,000 Connecticut residents. We are a State of about 3.5 million people, so you can do the math. There are a lot of Americans who suffer from preexisting conditions. prgtoken We know these facts because we have heard them from none other than the President of the United States, who said that his nominee would automatically overturn Roe v. Wade and who berated Chief Justice Roberts for upholding the Affordable Care Act in his decisive swing vote. When a President tells you he is trying to eliminate basic legal rights and liberties for the people of the United States, you better take him at his word, and I do. But in this case, actually we need not take the President at his word because we can review the facts--in fact, the circumstantial evidence surrounding this nomination. prgtoken The President has allowed h
REUNITE CHILDREN WITH FAMILIES: WE WILL NOT STOP UNTIL EACH CHILD IS WITH THEIR PARENTS
Salud O. Carbajal (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2018-7-11

I, too, am an immigrant to this country. prgtoken What has become evident is the cruel, self-imposed crisis that this administration has created. It has created a chaotic process for detaining and separating children from their families. prgtoken This is an administration that has now missed the court's order to start reuniting children, something that is unacceptable. We are talking about more than 2,000 children, kids that remain separated from their families. prgtoken About a week ago, I visited the El Tornillo detention center in Texas. I saw firsthand the conditions in which these children are being detained. I spoke to the children firsthand to get their own personal thoughts on what was going on. prgtoken They talked to me in detail about how they were woken up at 5 a.m. in a regimented fashion. They were rushed through showers and made to take showers in less than 5 minutes. They were given only 10 to 15 minutes once or twice a day for recreation, because they are out in the middle of the desert where it is extremely, extremely hot. prgtoken This administration has said that they are on track to reunite children with their families, but there is no clear plan. There are no details. There is a Department of Homeland Security four-point plan to nowhere that has been put forth. In this plan, there are no details. There is really an absence of a coherent process that will reunite these children with their families. This is unacceptable. prgtoken This is a self-imposed crisis and a cruel crisis that has been created by this administration. This is why we need a congressional hearing and oversight to get to the bottom of this and to really show the American people how misguided this policy has been and the inhumane conditions that have resulted from this policy. prgtoken America was once that beacon on the hill other countries looked to, in terms of how we treated our immigrants and those seeking shelter and asylum. We have lost that moral ground, because this administration has sought to destroy the values and ideals that our country has held up high for decades and centuries. prgtoken We also need legislation because, clearly, this administration reminded us that their zero-tolerance policy could be put in effect and implemented any other day again. prgtoken What this administration has done is un-American. This President has chosen to divide us again as a country, to go after the most vulnerable, and to go after immigrants in the most inhumane way. This is not the United States that we all love and care for.
REUNITE CHILDREN WITH FAMILIES: WE WILL NOT STOP UNTIL EACH CHILD IS WITH THEIR PARENTS
Vicente Gonzalez (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2018-7-11

I rise today to tell my fellow Americans and fellow Members of Congress that I am appalled over reports of mistreatment and abuse toward children at the Shiloh Residential Treatment Center. prgtoken The facility is under contract with the Department of Health and Human Services, and is located just south of Houston, Texas. The Shiloh facility is owned and operated by the same entity that formerly operated Daystar Treatment Center in Manvel, Texas. Daystar was closed because the way they physically restrained children led to the death of three teenagers. In most cases, the children were hog-tied. Now, instead of hog-tied, they are drugging children into submission. prgtoken One child was prescribed 10 different shots and pills, including the antipsychotic drugs Latuda, Geodon, and Olanzapine; the Parkinson's medication Benztropine; the seizure medication Clonazepam; and many, many others, such as nerve and pain medications, antidepressants, and cognitive enhancers. This is a crime. prgtoken A Federal judge in California, Judge Laughrey, recently explained: ``Psychotropic drugs are powerful medications that directly affect the central nervous system. They are particularly potent when administered to children. . . . They are more vulnerable to psychosis, seizures, irreversible movement disorders, suicidal thoughts, aggression, weight gain, organ damage, and other life-threatening conditions.'' prgtoken The message is clear. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services needs to be reprimanded for letting these horrific actions take place, and provide answers to the American people. You cannot hide behind subcontractors. You are on notice. prgtoken Let me make this even clearer. The Federal Government must act at once. Stop placing these children in traumatic and dangerous environments that right now are causing children to suffer in pain. prgtoken I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join in this argument, utilize their powers of congressional oversight, and call on the administration to end these procedures and abide by simple rules of decency and humanity.
Remembering Nathaniel Reed (Executive Calendar)
Bill Nelson (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2018-7-11

. Nat recommended focusing on projects like bridging the Tamiami Trail, which is U.S. 41--virtually a dike across the southern peninsula of Florida. It is now being bridged, first with a mile-long bridge, and now--under construction--with a 2\1/2\-mile bridge so the water can flow under the road into the water-starved Everglades National Park. prgtoken He recommended focusing on projects like restoring the Kissimmee River to its natural meandering state. Half a century ago, when all the emphasis was on flood control, getting the water off the land, they took this meandering stream called the Kissimmee River that cleansed the water as it oozed south in all of the marsh grasses, and what did they do? They dug a straight ditch. Nat was one of the leaders in advocating restoring the river to its natural meandering state so that by the time the water gets to Lake Okeechobee, it will have been cleaned up by natural processes. prgtoken Both of those projects--Tamiami Trail and the Kissimmee River--are now well underway, and we are already seeing the benefits to the environment and to the wildlife. prgtoken Nat also wrote about the importance of water storage and treatment projects both north and south of the lake--a refrain this Senator often repeats as well. That is why I not only respect and appreciate so much what Nat contributed to our country and to our State but also loved him as a friend. His untimely death today in an accident in Canada is a huge loss. Nat and I had been so focused on advancing this new reservoir project south of Lake Okeechobee. It saddens me so much to announce this good news at the same time that I announce the death of one of the Nation's true environmental champions. In the years to come, as we go about actually constructing that reservoir, it would be a fitting tribute to name that project in Nat Reed's honor. All we can do is try to continue his life's work protecting Florida's unique environment. prgtoken , .
Climate Change (Executive Calendar)
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2018-7-11

I spoke before the Fourth of July recess about two financial risks that are coming our way thanks to not getting anything done on climate change. prgtoken One, of course, is the risk to coastal properties--not something the Presiding Officer has to worry too much about given his home State but something that Rhode Island, the Ocean State, has to care a lot about and that the distinguished Senator from Florida and his constituents have to care a lot about. prgtoken There is a point where rising sea levels intrude on the saleability, the mortgageability, and the insurability of houses. None other than Freddie Mac, the huge Federal housing corporation, is predicting that there will be a coastal property meltdown. prgtoken The other risk is that of a carbon bubble. There is a lot of talk in the economic literature about a carbon bubble. One recent financial study reports that ``the potential effects of a carbon bubble on financial stability have been recently discussed in the academic literature and are increasingly on the agenda of [bank] regulators and supervisors.'' Indeed, in an official statement, the Bank of England has warned that ``investments in fossil fuels and related technologies . . . may take a huge hit.'' That huge hit is the other side of a carbon bubble: It pops, and you have a crash. So let's look at the prospects for not just a carbon bubble but a carbon crash. prgtoken There are several elements in the runup to a crash. Some of these we witnessed in the crash of the housing bubble back in 2008. When these conditions exist, we should take warning. prgtoken One condition is whether you can trust the players. In the housing crash, the rating agencies were in bed with the banks, and you couldn't trust their risk evaluations. The whole thing was cooked. The big fees the rating agencies were taking also took their eye off the ball, and they gave wildly erroneous ratings to high-risk investments. So at the heart of the 2018 housing crash was a failure of trustworthiness. prgtoken Can we trust the fossil fuel industry any better than those rating agencies? There is no reason to think so, and there is plenty of reason to think not. This is an industry that has been lying about fossil fuel's effect on our climate for decades, and once you get used to lying about one thing, it is hard to contain the spread of the rot. Exxon even once gave its CEO the infamous, phony Oregon Petition, which urged the United States to reject the Kyoto Protocol, to cite to shareholders at an annual meeting. prgtoken I have spoken before about what I consider to be the untrustworthiness of Exxon's response to the BlackRock shareholder resolution, which required Exxon to report the predicted effect of climate policies on Exxon's business model. As fossil fuels are priced out of the market by renewable energy and as nations enact carbon emissions restrictions, fossil fuel reserves now claimed as assets by energy co