mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
HONORING THE LIFE OF CHRIS HAZENCOMB
Ruben J. Kihuen (Democrat, NV) \u2014 2018-3-15

today I rise to remember the life of Chris Hazencomb. Chris attended the Route 91 festival in Las Vegas on October 1. prgtoken Chris was a sports junkie who loved the Angels, Raiders, and Lakers. He worked at the local Walmart and is remembered by all of his customers as being very friendly. prgtoken Chris was close to his mother, Maryanne, and even had a gift for her with him while at the festival. Chris died shielding his friend, Nikki, from gunfire with his own body. He is remembered for his love of helping people and his constant need to put others before himself. prgtoken I would like to extend my condolences to Chris' family and friends. Please know that the city of Las Vegas, the State of Nevada, and the whole country grieve with you.
ALLOW STATES AND VICTIMS TO FIGHT ONLINE SEX TRAFFICKING ACT OF 2017-- MOTION TO PROCEED
Jack Reed (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2018-3-15

I rise, as I have many times for nearly two decades, to shed light on the long struggle of Liberian refugees in the United States, and to make the case for this administration to extend Deferred Enforced Departure, or DED, for this population before they face potential separation from their jobs and families when their current DED designation expires on March 31. prgtoken I also call on my colleagues to take up and pass the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act, which I offered in some form for as long as I have served in this body, to end nearly 30 years of uncertainty by finally giving these Liberians the opportunity to apply for permanent residency and a pathway to citizenship. prgtoken I also would like to take a moment to express my gratitude to those advocates who have stood with me as I have worked for a solution for Liberians in America, including my Rhode Island colleague, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, as well as our colleagues from Minnesota, Senators Klobuchar and Smith. prgtoken The case of these Liberians is a tragic and historically unique situation. In 1989, a seven-year civil war broke out in Liberia that would claim the lives of over 200,000 people and displace more than half of the Liberian population. This conflict devastated Liberia-- halting food production, collapsing the nation's economy, and destroying its infrastructure. By 1991, an estimated 14,000 Liberians fled to the United States seeking refuge from the conflict. In March of that year, the Attorney General granted them the opportunity to register for temporary protected status, or TPS. prgtoken Every subsequent administration has renewed TPS for Liberians each year until the end of the first civil war, but the prospects for a safe return ended when Liberia plunged into a second civil war from 1999 to 2003. This horrific conflict ended with the departure from power of former President Charles Taylor, who is currently serving a fifty-year prison sentence, issued by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, for war crimes. prgtoken In 2014, Liberia's still poverty-stricken and recovering infrastructure faced the challenge of responding to the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa. Liberia had fewer than 200 licensed doctors to contend with the outbreak among the country's population of over 4 million people. prgtoken Throughout this succession of conflict and tragedy, Liberians who sought refuge in the United States have had the option to remain here lawfully under TPS or DED while conditions remained unstable in Liberia. prgtoken This is not amnesty. In order to participate, these Liberians are required to pass periodic background investigations, pay hundreds of dollars in fees, prgtoken and stay out of trouble with the law. Many of these Liberians who have been through this process for decades are perhaps among the most vetted and rigorously examined individuals in the United States today. prgtoken They have also received wo
ALLOW STATES AND VICTIMS TO FIGHT ONLINE SEX TRAFFICKING ACT OF 2017-- MOTION TO PROCEED
Bill Nelson (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2018-3-15

before the Senator from Virginia leaves, since he is the cochairman of the United States-Spain Council, I want him to hear my very brief remarks. prgtoken As will be officially announced today at 4 o'clock on the new website, La Florida, the following has been discovered by historian Dr. Michael Francis, of the University of South Florida at St. Petersburg, who is one of the eminent Spanish colonial scholars in the world: The first St. Patrick's Day was not in Boston in 1737. Neither was the first St. Patrick's Day parade in New York in 1762. As discovered by Dr. Francis in the Spanish archives in Seville, the first St. Patrick's Day was celebrated by an Irish priest, Richard Arthur, better known as Ricardo Arturo, in St. Augustine in 1600, to be followed by the first St. Patrick's Day parade in the New World, in St. Augustine, in 1601. prgtoken Needless to say, it is not going to make our friends in Boston and New York happy to hear that they have been eclipsed by well over a century and a half. However, it shows the strong roots of the Irish people in America all the way back to Saint Patty's Day in 1600 in St. Augustine, FL. prgtoken I thank the Presiding Officer.
ALLOW STATES AND VICTIMS TO FIGHT ONLINE SEX TRAFFICKING ACT OF 2017-- MOTION TO PROCEED
Gary C. Peters (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2018-3-15

I rise today to honor Michigan's farmers. Agriculture is a vital part of Michigan's economy. Our State is home to more than 51,000 farmers who contribute prgtoken over $100 billion to the Nation's economy. prgtoken Michigan is also the second most diverse farm State in the Nation, growing more than 300 commodities, including a significant portion of our Nation's milk, corn, cherries, cucumbers, and much more. prgtoken Michigan farmers and farmers across our country feed the Nation and the world, and we must do what we can to support them. Our agricultural businesses rely on the ability to access the resources they need to keep growing, creating jobs, and contributing to our national economy. prgtoken Access to these resources can be especially challenging for new farm operations that are just getting started, including small farms that make up 82 percent of Michigan's agricultural producers. Small farms that are just starting out and are facing tough economic conditions sometimes struggle to have access to affordable credit. These businesses rely upon important services provided by the Farm Service Agency, which works with lenders to guarantee and deliver small-dollar loans to the small farmers who need it most. prgtoken Farm Service Agency loans and guarantees can help farmers cover urgent operating costs like feed, seed, and fertilizer to get them through the season. Without these loans, farmers could lose their ability to purchase equipment and other necessities for the planting season and could be forced to curtail their operations. prgtoken Currently, more than 2,300 farms in Michigan have Farm Service Agency loans, totaling more than $630 million. Across the country last year, the Farm Service Agency made and guaranteed almost 40,000 loans, totaling over $6 billion. prgtoken This program is in such high demand that in 2016, the Farm Service Agency ran out of money to finance operating loans. This included more than 1,000 loans that have already been approved. This led to a backlog, and farmers were forced to wait for months until Congress passed emergency funding to get the loans they needed for their day-to- day operations. prgtoken Access to capital is critical across a range of businesses, but it is incredibly important for our small farmers. They can lose out on an entire growing season if they can't buy the equipment and the supplies they need while they wait on Congress to fund the Farm Service Agency. prgtoken This year the FSA loan programs are again on track to exceed available funding, and if that happens, farmers will again be stuck waiting on Congress to receive the loan they deserve and need. prgtoken That is why I introduced bipartisan legislation this week with my colleague, Senator David Perdue of Georgia, to provide greater flexibility to the FSA loan program to continue serving farmers during periods of high demand. prgtoken My bill--the Farm Service Agency Loan Flexibility Act--wo
ALLOW STATES AND VICTIMS TO FIGHT ONLINE SEX TRAFFICKING ACT OF 2017-- MOTION TO PROCEED
Tim Kaine (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2018-3-15

I rise today to talk about gun ownership and gun safety in Virginia and in the United States. I speak as a gun owner, and I speak as a strong Second Amendment supporter. I want to do a couple of things in this speech, but one thing I want to do is put to rest the idea that gun owners, gun ownership, and the Second Amendment are incompatible with reasonable gun safety rules. prgtoken I accept the ruling, the holding, and the principle announced by the Supreme Court in the Heller decision that the Second Amendment conveys an individual right to bear arms and conveys that right to the American public. There was, and there remains, some controversy over the ruling. Some have argued that the text of the amendment discusses only the right to bear arms in the context of participating in a militia, which in 1787 was a necessary strategy for defending the Nation during a time when we had no standing Army. For years, many scholars and courts accepted that notion and argued that the Second Amendment was sort of different from the others in that way. In Heller, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment, like all the other amendments, conveys an individual right, and I accept and believe that interpretation. prgtoken But the Heller decision came with an important caveat. The Second Amendment is the only amendment that uses the phrase ``well regulated.'' The amendment may convey a personal prgtoken right to gun ownership, and it does, but it explicitly acknowledges that regulations are part of what may be necessary. Courts subsequent to Heller have frequently held that the particular regulations are well within the scope of the Second Amendment. prgtoken The NRA and other organizations often pretend that the phrase ``well regulated'' doesn't even appear in the amendment. Often, they will print a copy of the Second Amendment or the text, and they will have only the second clause, omitting the ``well regulated'' phrase. While that phrase, like the text of the amendment itself, is set in the context of a militia, it is clear from its usage that the Framers knew firearms were dangerous, though necessary, and there needed to be rules to ensure their safe use. In other words, the phrase ``well regulated'' in the text is not there to refer to the kind of uniform that a militia member would wear, whether they should have a beard or not. It is there to refer to the need for discipline and training to keep those people who bear arms behaving in a reasonable and safe manner. prgtoken Even if the phrase ``well regulated'' did not appear in the text of the Second Amendment--and that phrase ``well regulated'' appears in no other amendment, only the second--it would still be pretty clear that the Second Amendment right, just like other constitutional rights, is not absolute and free from any governmental rules. The Heller decision, authored by Justice Scalia, stated this very clearly: A ruling of individual ownersh
INTRODUCTION OF THE LIFELONG IMPROVEMENTS IN FOOD AND EXERCISE ACT OF 2018
Eleanor Holmes Norton (Democrat, DC) \u2014 2018-3-15

today, I rise to reintroduce the Lifelong Improvements in Food and Exercise Act, authorizing a national initiative to attack a major health problem in the United States that cannot be remedied through the health care system alone. Increasing rates of overweight and obesity are now found in Americans of every age, race and other major demographic groups, and threaten the health of Americans like no other disease or condition. In fact, the key to eliminating many of the most serious health conditions is prgtoken not only to reduce overweight and obesity, but also to encourage exercise of all kinds. prgtoken The LIFE Act would provide $25 million to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for a coordinated national effort to reverse increasingly sedentary lifestyles and diets that are high in fat and sugar. Specifically, my bill seeks to provide the first national strategy to combat the overweight and obesity epidemic by directing the CDC to do three things: train health professionals to recognize the signs of obesity early and to educate people concerning healthy lifestyles, such as proper nutrition and regular exercise; conduct public education campaigns about how to recognize and address overweight and obesity; and develop intervention strategies to be used by the states in everyday life, such as in the workplace and in community settings. This legislation, however, meets the bare minimum for what is needed to address our most important health crisis. prgtoken In 2010, estimates from the CDC National Center for Health Statistics showed that since 1980, the percentage of children who are overweight has more than doubled, and the percentage of adolescents who are overweight has tripled. The CDC also reports that Type 2 Diabetes, once considered an adult disease, is now widespread among children. The rising cost of the health care system, including insurance premiums, reflects this epidemic. Today, chronic diseases, many of which are caused or exacerbated by overweight and obesity, account for 70 percent of all deaths in the U.S and 86 percent of U.S. medical care costs. prgtoken A focused national health initiative would provide guidance to the states to engage in similar programs, as mayors of some cities have done. A national focus could lead to changes, such as full participation in high school physical education classes, which dropped from 42 percent in 1991 to 33 percent in 2005. Changes in nutrition are equally critical because more than half of all young people consume too much fat, a factor in the doubling of the percentage of overweight youth. Data also show an increase in unhealthy eating habits for adults and no change in physical activity. prgtoken According to a 2017 study conducted by the American College of Sports Medicine, the District of Columbia is one of the fittest cities in the United States and, yet, even here, obesity continues to be a severe problem. Most of the obesit
HONORING THE LIFE OF STAFF SERGEANT CARL PHILIPPE ENIS
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Republican, FL) \u2014 2018-3-19

it is with deep respect that I recognize the tragic loss of Staff Sergeant Carl Philippe Enis, pictured here, who was one of seven brave U.S. servicemembers killed in a helicopter crash last Thursday, March 15, 2018, in western Iraq. prgtoken Carl, a south Florida native who grew up in my congressional district in Pinecrest, was an Air Force pararescueman serving in a combat role in Iraq for the 308th Rescue Squadron from Patrick Air Force Base supporting Operation Inherent Resolve when his helicopter went down. prgtoken Sergeant Enis was a Reserve Citizen Airman combat rescue and recovery specialist who supported Air Force special operations. His job truly embodied his heart and spirit, where he consistently put his own life at risk to save others both in combat and humanitarian environments. He always tackled every challenge with a smile on his face, no matter the danger or difficulty. prgtoken Carl was also an active outdoorsman who embraced his passion for fishing, hiking, hunting, and scuba diving, and lived his life to the fullest. He was a graduate of Gulliver Prep, in my congressional district, and Florida State University. prgtoken Carl is survived by his wife, Angela; his mother, Colleen; and his brother, Edward. Their families, our community, and all Americans can be proud knowing that Sergeant Enis gave his last full measure performing his mission and serving the most noble pararescue creed: ``These things we do, that others may live.''
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOREST HILLS HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL TEAM
Robert Pittenger (Republican, NC) \u2014 2018-3-19

I rise today in honor of the state champion Forest Hills High School basketball team that won the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 2-A Championship on March 10. prgtoken Forest Hills High School is located in Marshville, North Carolina. This is their first basketball championship in school history. prgtoken Yellow Jackets junior guard Jai Rorie made four free throws in the final 14 seconds to lead his team to a 63 to 59 victory. prgtoken Congratulations to the team: Brandon Barrier, Dillon Wright, Cam Richardson, Jaquan Williams, Asiah Byrd, Trey Belin, Jaleel McLaughlin, Tanner Lowery, Tyquan Rushing, Jamylan Blakeney, Garrett Horne, Jalen Huntley, Keeshawn Tyson, Nasione Tyson, Jai Rorie, and Josh Owens; prgtoken Congratulations to head coach Matt Sides; and assistant coaches Danny Bailey, Garrett Malone, and Keith Sides. prgtoken Go, Yellow Jackets.
KENNEDY-KING NATIONAL COMMEMORATIVE SITE ACT
Doug Lamborn (Republican, CO) \u2014 2018-3-19

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , H.R. 4851, introduced by Congressman Andre Carson and cosponsored by Congresswoman Susan Brooks, would establish the Kennedy- King National Commemorative Site in Indianapolis, Indiana. prgtoken Additionally, the bill directs the Secretary of the Interior to include the site in the newly established African American Civil Rights Network, and it authorizes a special resource study to evaluate the national significance of the site and determine the suitability and feasibility of including the site as a unit of the National Park system. prgtoken On April 4, 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy had scheduled a speech in Indianapolis during his campaign for the Presidency of the United States. Just prior to giving his remarks, Mr. Kennedy was informed of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He then changed his planned remarks to, instead, inform the large gathering of Dr. King's death. prgtoken In this historic speech, he called upon Americans to embrace nonviolence in reaction to the news of Dr. King's assassination. Senator Kennedy stated: ``What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be White or whether they be Black.'' prgtoken The site where Senator Kennedy delivered the speech is currently located in a city park established in 1961 and has since served as a community gathering place. In 1994, the Landmark for Peace Memorial sculpture was erected on the site of Senator Kennedy's speech. April 4, 2018, marks the 50th anniversary of Robert Kennedy's speech and Dr. King's assassination. prgtoken I commend Representative Carson and Representative Brooks for working across the aisle on this bipartisan and important legislation. prgtoken , I urge adoption of the measure, and .
ALLOW STATES AND VICTIMS TO FIGHT ONLINE SEX TRAFFICKING ACT OF 2017-- MOTION TO PROCEED
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2018-3-19

I rise today to bring to my colleagues' attention an issue that is important to millions of individuals who understand that American citizenship is something that ought to be treasured. prgtoken The American people understand that our citizenship is a blessing and shouldn't be given away cheaply. Unfortunately, for too many years, this body has witnessed the perversion and degradation of a program that sells--yes, we sell citizenship to some people. prgtoken This program originally had a good purpose. In return for investing money in underserved areas and creating good-paying American jobs, immigrant entrepreneurs could eventually become U.S. citizens. Sadly, in the last decade, this program has been hijacked by big-moneyed New York City real estate interests--to be specific, the Real Estate Roundtable. These developers now take almost all the foreign investment from this program, and for the last few years, they have actively prevented this body from enacting any reforms and needed reforms. prgtoken For those who are not aware, I am talking about the EB-5 Regional Center Program. I have been fighting in a bipartisan way for years to reform this corrupt and scandal-clad program. I have been fighting to protect our national security, to ensure foreign investment is going to the most deserving areas, and to make sure that American citizenship isn't sold at rock-bottom prices in order to feed the addiction of New York interests to cheap money. But no matter how hard I fought, each and every time we tried to reform this program, these same moneyed interests have used their political influence and political connections to block any meaningful reforms. This is sickening and is exactly why most American people sometimes question what we do here in Washington, DC. prgtoken After more than 3 years of trying to fix this broken and scandal- plagued program, I have finally come to the conclusion that it can't be fixed, and since it can't be fixed, the EB-5 Regional Center Program needs to be terminated. Let me explain to my colleagues and directly to the American people exactly how I have reached that conclusion. prgtoken Several years ago, I started working with then-Ranking Member Leahy of the Judiciary Committee on reforms to the EB-5 Regional Center Program. Through the hard work and dedication of our staffers, we discovered the program is riddled with fraud and corruption and poses a real and serious threat to our national security. I will explain some of those things we discovered. prgtoken First, investments can be spent before business plans are approved. prgtoken Next, regional center operators can charge excessive fees of foreign nationals in addition to their required investments. prgtoken Next, none of the jobs created have to be direct or verifiable jobs but rather are indirect and based on estimates of economic modeling; again, not knowing for sure if jobs are created. prgtoken Next, investment f