mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
CONGRESS SHOULD FIGHT FOR AMERICANS WITH RARE DISEASES
Theodore E. Deutch (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2020-2-28

. Madam , we can't let disputes over dollars and cents diminish the hope for more smiles and laughter from sweet children like Jordan Ogman. prgtoken This week, I visited 4-year-old Jordan to bring attention to the fight to save his life from a rare genetic disorder, TECPR2. prgtoken Jordan's parents, David and Stacey, refused to view his diagnosis as a tragedy. They are inspired by his laugh, by his beautiful smile, and by his love for his family--especially his sister, Kira. They are ready to fight for him. prgtoken The Ogman family is counting on Congress to do what is right. This Rare Disease Week, the 30 million Americans living with 1 of over 7,000 rare diseases are counting on Congress to invest in the research that can give them hope. prgtoken Jordan's mom says: ``He is a warrior. He is resilient and bright, and we are fighting every minute to save his life.'' prgtoken Congress needs to be there to fight alongside the Ogman family and every American family battling a rare disease. prgtoken Jordan, you keep fighting. prgtoken My colleagues, let's join this fight together.
RECOGNIZING MERCY-DOUGLASS NURSES
Mary Gay Scanlon (Democrat, PA) \u2014 2020-2-28

. Madam , I rise today to pay tribute to the Mercy- Douglass nurses, who led the way to integrate Pennsylvania's healthcare system. prgtoken In the 1940s and 1950s, there were few nursing programs available to Black women. At that time, two West Philadelphia hospitals founded by Black doctors merged and created the Mercy-Douglass Hospital School of Nursing. prgtoken Mercy-Douglass trained young, Black women for professional careers at a time when few nursing schools would enroll them, and most hospitals in Philadelphia or across the Commonwealth had few, if any, Black nurses on staff. prgtoken Early graduates of Mercy-Douglass were often the first Black nurses in a facility and had to deal with doctors and White nurses who questioned their qualifications or refused to be supervised by them, no matter their training or seniority. prgtoken Nevertheless, Mercy-Douglass nurses, like Susan Blake from my hometown, persisted to break barriers and emerge as leaders in their communities. prgtoken Today, we celebrate the legacy and commitment of the trailblazing nurses of Mercy-Douglass Hospital Nursing School to improve the lives of those in need of care and for the women who followed.
HONORING BISHOP WILLIAM GEORGE FIELDS
Eliot L. Engel (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2020-2-28

. Madam , it is with a heavy heart that I rise to honor a leader in our community whom we recently lost, Bishop William George Fields of Refugee Temple Annex in the Bronx. prgtoken Bishop Fields was a native New Yorker, born on June 16, 1932 in Harlem Hospital. He attended New York University and later received a Doctor of Divinity Degree from the Universal Bible Institute. In 1959 Bishop Fields married Mother Bertha Lee Fields, and from their union they were blessed with 3 children, Bishop William Michael, Bertram Brett, and E. Beth Chism. They also had 4 wonderful grandchildren, Michael Aaron, Shekinah, Amon and Bethany, and 2 beautiful great- grandchildren, Zion and Katie. prgtoken Bishop Fields was first ordained and appointed Pastor of Refugee Temple Annex in 1961. In 1975, he was consecrated Bishop. Bishop Fields also held several other positions in ministry, including serving as chairman and member of many convention committees, instructor at the Church of Christ Bible Institute, and treasurer of the Board of Bishops. He also served faithfully for many years on the 47th Precinct Clergy Coalition in the Bronx. prgtoken A dedicated, kind, and mild tempered leader, Bishop Fields served as pastor of Refuge prgtoken Temple Annex for more than 50 years. But he also served his country, including four years in the United States Air Force, and 26 years with the United States Treasury and Internal Revenue Service. prgtoken Madam , those who knew Bishop Fields will always remember him as a teacher, mentor, preacher, worshipper, kind-hearted, and above all, a good man. He will be deeply missed by the Bronx and Mount Vernon communities in which he lived and served for so many years. My deepest condolences go out to his family.
REVERSING THE YOUTH TOBACCO EPIDEMIC ACT OF 2019
Anna G. Eshoo (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2020-2-28

. Madam , I think it is eminently clear that Congress must pass strong legislation to reduce the attractiveness and availability of flavored tobacco products to adolescents and teens to save this generation prgtoken from lifetime addiction. There are costs to addiction, and our healthcare system has to absorb that. prgtoken So why not prevent it and stop it in its tracks today? prgtoken That is why I urge my colleagues to vote for H.R. 2339 to accomplish all of this.
RECOGNIZING ROBERT MOORE AS CONSTITUENT OF THE MONTH
Mike Levin (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2020-2-28

. Madam , it is my honor to recognize a local veteran from my district, Robert ``Bob'' Moore, as my February Constituent of the Month. February is Black History Month, and it is only fitting to recognize Moore's patriotism and perseverance in celebration. Robert Moore is one of the nation's first black men to serve in the Marine Corps and last surviving Montford Point Marine. prgtoken During a time of extreme division, Robert Moore knew he had a calling to serve. As one of the nation's first black men to join the Marine Corps, he trained in all-white segregated base camps. Not only did he face racism and discrimination during his training, but he and the other black Marines also struggled with a lack of opportunity and ignorance towards their war-heroism. Yet he persisted, and in 2011 at the request of then-Marine Commandant James F. Amos, President authorized the award of the Congressional Gold Medal to all Montford Point Marines, including Robert Moore. prgtoken I launched a Constituent of the Month program to recognize individuals who have gone above and beyond to make our region and our country a stronger place for everyone to live and thrive. Moore is an exemplary model of perseverance, courage and honor. I thank him for being an esteemed resident of California's 49th district, and I am honored to represent him.
REVERSING THE YOUTH TOBACCO EPIDEMIC ACT OF 2019
Earl Blumenauer (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2020-2-28

. Madam , I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy, and I appreciate his leadership on this issue. prgtoken I have listened to my friends on the other side of the aisle, and I am saddened that they somehow feel that this is boiling down to some sort of notion of choice, discrimination against African Americans. prgtoken Let's get a grip here. The cigarette is the only product which, if used as directed, will kill you. That is why Big Tobacco has become a genius at marketing. They have to replace their customers that they kill every day by the thousands. prgtoken That is why they are looking at being able to hook, especially, young people who are more impressionable, and they will smoke longer if they are addicted. prgtoken That is how they hooked my father. He was part of the GIs in the Pacific who got free cigarettes and became addicted. It killed him. prgtoken This is the latest chapter in this insidious marketing juggernaut. prgtoken I am sorry, it is not discrimination against African Americans who somehow have a genetic predisposition toward menthol flavoring. That is the result of tactics by Big Tobacco, by using advertising, politics, culture to target this population, and it has been successful. Their use is much higher than the general population. prgtoken Dealing with vaping and e-cigarettes is the latest chapter in that recruitment that they have to replace the customers who die. prgtoken Well, I would suggest that, first and foremost, it is widely understood that taxation is the single most effective mechanism to discourage use, especially for young people. We are doing it in this legislation, and it is important. prgtoken Now, I have heard my friends on the other side of the aisle, my good friend from Oregon, holding up two charts, products that will be illegal, that are widely available now, and then talking about cannabis products and that there is no regulation. prgtoken Well, that is because we have failed to actually deal with regulating cannabis. That is like regulating flavored prgtoken heroin. When we tax and regulate cannabis--and we have legislation that has passed out of the Judiciary Committee that would enable us to have regulation. The Commerce Committee is looking at being able to research, but we are prohibited by outmoded Federal law from actually being able to research this. prgtoken The challenge that we have now is to be able to move forward, to be able to protect young people and the public. prgtoken Cannabis is a red herring. If we tax and regulate it, then we can deal with the products they are talking about. But unless and until, as two-thirds of the States have done, we actually tax and regulate it, we can't deal with that. That doesn't matter. prgtoken But today we can do something. Today, we can move this legislation forward to protect young people, to have a reasonable tax mechanism, to be able to finally strike a blow against the Big Tobacco marketing juggernaut that is e-cigarettes a
REVERSING THE YOUTH TOBACCO EPIDEMIC ACT OF 2019
Thomas R. Suozzi (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2020-2-28

. Madam , I include in the Record an analysis by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, showing that e-cigarette use is dramatically higher among high school and middle school students than amongst adults. Action Needed: E-Cigarettes Since their introduction in 2008, e-cigarettes have become both ubiquitous and an increasing source of public policy concern and debate. This concern stems primarily from drastic increases in youth e-cigarette use. The most recent data show that 27.5% of high schoolers are using these products--a rate of youth tobacco product use not seen in nearly two decades. The public health community, parents and educators are shocked and worried to find their children and students using these products at home and even in class. Young people are reporting severe signs of dependence, including using e-cigarettes when they first wake up, inability to concentrate in the classroom without using an e-cigarette, and even waking in the night to get a nicotine fix. We have known for decades that youth in particular should not be exposed to nicotine because it changes brain chemistry to create a stronger addiction, can lead to memory and concentration problems, and can make youth who use it more susceptible to addiction to other substances. Research also suggests that young people who use e-cigarettes are four times more likely to go on to smoke combustible cigarettes. E-cigarettes are now threatening to undo all the progress that the public health community and government have made over decades to reduce cigarette smoking. Indeed, the surgeon general raised the alarm by issuing an advisory declaring a youth e-cigarette epidemic in December 2018. Since then, data show that more and more youth continue to use e-cigarettes. And this isn't just experimental or occasional use--it's regular use likely driven by addiction. The most recent National Youth Tobacco Survey data show that 34.2% of current high school e-cigarette users use them on 20 days or more per month. Conversely, as the youth e-cigarette epidemic has continued unabated, we have seen adults, and especially older smokers, simply reject the product. In 2014, the first year that the National Health Interview Survey measured adult use of e- cigarettes, 3.7% of adults used the product in the last 30 days. In 2018, the adult usage remained low, at 3.2%, and was largely driven by young adult users (7.6%), who have matured during the youth e-cigarette epidemic. While some adults have switched completely to e-cigarettes from combustible cigarettes, the predominant pattern among adult users continues to be e-cigarette use in conjunction with smoking. This ``dual use,'' however, provides no reductio
ACKNOWLEDGING LOCAL NAACP LEADERS
Madeleine Dean (Democrat, PA) \u2014 2020-2-28

. Madam , as Black History Month comes to an end, I would like to acknowledge some of my local NAACP leaders: prgtoken Ms. Val Ward of Willow Grove; Mr. Craig Brown of Cheltenham; Shaykh Anwar Muhammad of Ambler; Mr. John Milligan of Norristown; Ms. Diana Robertson of the Main Line; Mr. Johnny Corson of Pottstown, whose ancestral farm in Plymouth Meeting was a key stop on the Underground Railway. prgtoken Madam , I want to thank these and other local leaders for their tireless efforts toward racial equality. prgtoken Today, I am pleased to stand here to tell you about a roundtable that we held on Monday with Black business owners. As one constituent expressed to me, they need allies; and so I stand here today as an ally for the Montgomery County and Berks County communities in pursuit of a world free from divides of race, ethnicity, gender, and nationality. prgtoken Yes, Black History Month is ending tomorrow. May we never stop celebrating Black History Month. It is our American history, and it is the pathway to equality for all.
REVERSING THE YOUTH TOBACCO EPIDEMIC ACT OF 2019
Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2020-2-28

. Madam , the bill protects our communities with other strong steps, including prohibiting companies from marketing e- cigarettes to youth under age 21. Ninety-five percent of adult smokers start before age 21, and those who do not begin smoking by their early twenties are unlikely to start. prgtoken Group after group is demanding action. More than 75 organizations-- from the American Academy of Pediatrics to the American Federation of Teachers, to the National Association of School Nurses, to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons--recently wrote: ``This legislation will address the current youth e-cigarette epidemic that is undermining the progress made in reducing youth tobacco use.'' prgtoken We had all of the tobacco-free kids there lined up in their T-shirts. These little children know better than some of us in this Chamber how dangerous these e-cigarettes are to our young children, especially those in middle school who are so very young and that we see evidence of. prgtoken Now, let me just say, in our own community in San Francisco, Juul came in with a proposal, and they were selling it as if this is the way we are going to stop young children from smoking. We are going to have them smoke e-cigarettes, and we are going to do this and that. It was a total fraudulent campaign. Some of us just stepped forward and said: This is wrong. prgtoken But I wish some of you could see the ads that they sent to our homes, as if they were the saviors of children instead of the addictors of children, putting them on a path to tobacco use. prgtoken So there is a lot of money involved here from the tobacco industry, and we have to weigh the equities in favor of children and not in favor of profits for the tobacco industry for a long time to come. prgtoken Madam , I urge our colleagues to vote for this legislation. We cannot stand by while tobacco companies entice a new generation of young people into a lifetime of nicotine addiction and preventable death. prgtoken Congress must act for young people like Abby and millions of others exposed to the scourge of tobacco. I urge a strong bipartisan vote. I thank so many of our Members who have taken the lead on protecting our children, our children, our children.
REVERSING THE YOUTH TOBACCO EPIDEMIC ACT OF 2019
Raul Ruiz (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2020-2-28

. Madam , I thank the gentleman for yielding. prgtoken Madam , I am an emergency physician trained in humanitarian disaster aid and a public health expert, and I represent California's 36th Congressional District. prgtoken As a doctor, I am all too familiar with the devastation that addiction to nicotine can cause, devastation such as strokes, heart attack, COPD, and patients coming in with 100 percent oxygen because they can't breathe without it. I have seen, firsthand, the health decline in patients who tried nicotine as teenagers, who got addicted and never quit. prgtoken When we talk about vaping, we need to make sure we identify three different problems: prgtoken One is the problem of the acute respiratory distress syndrome, that caused by open containers where they can mix different types of chemicals, including THC, that have the vitamin E oils that can cause severe lung damage that requires lung transplant. That is one issue. prgtoken Another issue is whether or not there is a public benefit or whether or not vaping is safe. It is not. That is a general conversation. prgtoken This bill addresses the third issue, which is that kids using these products are getting addicted at an alarming rate. The number of kids using these products is disturbing to me as a Member of Congress, as a physician, and as a parent of two young kids. prgtoken From 2017 to 2019, e-cigarette use doubled among high school students and tripled among middle school students. There are 5 million kids using e-cigarettes today, an increase of 3 million in just 2 years, and the health effects of these are real and dangerous. prgtoken Cigarettes, no doubt, are the deadliest form of tobacco. No tobacco product, however, is safe. Vape aerosol contains some of the same chemicals found in cigarette smoke: chromium, formaldehyde, lead, nickel, and tin. prgtoken Nicotine use changes an adolescent's brain cell activity affecting attention, learning, behavior, and memory function.
RECOGNIZING THE SHIPES FAMILY OF BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA
TJ Cox (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2020-2-28

. Madam , I rise in honor of Black History Month to recognize the Shipes family of Bakersfield, California, who have served as a pillar of the African American community for over 70 years. prgtoken In southeast Bakersfield, the Shipes' family business, Mr. Discount Plus store, has stood the test of time. First opened in the 1940s, the store is one of the last original Black-owned businesses in the Cottonwood neighborhood of Bakersfield, and it remains a beacon of Black entrepreneurship. prgtoken Mr. Discount Plus store has become a gathering space for African American communities as local leaders drive forward plans to revitalize and transform the Cottonwood neighborhood for future generations to enjoy. prgtoken I am proud to recognize the Shipes family and their business for serving their community for over 70 years, and we look forward to another 70 years. prgtoken Madam , I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing Black History Month and honoring the Shipes family for their service and dedication to southeast Bakersfield, their community, the Central Valley, and our great Nation. prgtoken Madam , I thank Mr. and Mrs. Shipes.
HONORING THE MARINES AND SAILORS OF SITE SUPPORT AURORA
Jason Crow (Democrat, CO) \u2014 2020-2-28

. Madam , it is my honor today to recognize the accomplishments of the Marines and Sailors of Site Support Aurora, who will be honored by the Chamber of Northwest Douglas County as a ``Citizens Who Soar.'' These service members have been an integral part of the local community serving on Buckley Air Force Base. They are Active Duty support personnel who instruct and assist Marine Corps Reserve units in maintaining a continuous state of readiness for mobilization. They primarily inspect and render technical advice on command functions including operations, training, administration, and logistical support. While their primary duties focus on training and advising the reserve Marines, their efforts extend beyond this scope and include service within the local community. Through their efforts, these Marines and Sailors supported a Toys for Tots drive which resulted in over 186,364 toys being distributed to 99,800 children in the Denver metropolitan area. In addition to this monumental effort, in 2019 these Marines and Sailors rendered military funeral honors to over 360 Marines who honorably served their country. Through their devotion to duty and commitment to service, these service members have had an incredibly positive impact on the community. Their success in not only training our Reserve Marines, but also supporting the local community through their selfless efforts serves as an inspiration to the public. As major contributors and an inspiration to the community, I congratulate these Marines and Sailors for receiving the recognition as ``Citizens Who Soar.''
REMEMBERING LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR ROBERT B. JORDAN III
David E. Price (Democrat, NC) \u2014 2020-2-28

. Madam , I rise today to honor the life and work of Robert B. ``Bob'' Jordan III, North Carolina's former Lieutenant Governor, a civic and business leader, and a longtime friend. Bob's death on February 16, 2020 has been met with an outpouring of fond recollections, fulsome tributes, and expressions of affection and respect that attest to his life of service and the impact it had on our state. Lisa and I want to express our sympathy to Bob's wife Sarah, their family, and Bob's many friends and admirers. A native of Mount Gilead, North Carolina, Bob attended North Carolina State University (NCSU), graduating with a degree in forestry, and was then commissioned Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He served two years in Europe and rose to the rank of Captain. Bob then returned to Mount Gilead and began a long career as head of Jordan Lumber and Supply. He also showed a knack for politics and was asked at age 24 to serve on the town board. Four years later he was appointed to what is now called the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina system. Bob's career in state politics began with his election in 1976 to the N.C. Senate, where he served for eight years, representing Montgomery, Anson, Richmond, Scotland, Stanly and Union Counties. He was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1984 and almost became governor, running a valiant race in 1988. prgtoken Bob had a remarkable ability to bridge divides and find common ground. He brokered a major agreement to increase investment in North Carolina's highways, and another to finance statewide school construction. The N.C. Rural Economic Development Center is a monument to his leadership, as is the N.C. Biotechnology Center, the first state-funded economic development organization of its kind. Bob Jordan provided educational leadership throughout his career, helping established the Basic Education Program, a comprehensive plan to equalize access to education, and the Teaching Fellows program, a highly successful scholarship program for prospective teachers. He was instrumental in the creation of the present UNC governance structure and served on the Boards of Trustees for UNC-Charlotte and NCSU as well as the state community college system. I first got to know Bob through my mentor, N.C. Senator Russell Walker, and was serving as state ic Chairman in 1984 when Bob was elected Lt. Governor (his election was about the only good news got that night). He was one of the most conscientious and well-motivated people I have known in politics. I agree with his friend and mine, Former N.C. Senator Gerry Hancock, who described Bob to a reporter as ``one of the most honorable, decent, hard-working people we've ever known.'' We are indeed better for having known him, and our state is better by virtue of his steady and visionary leadership. Bob Jordan's contribution lives on in those whose opportunities have been broadened and horizons h