mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
Marco Rubio (Republican, FL) \u2014 2019-4-9

as chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, it is my privilege to recognize a small business that exemplifies creativity, hard work, and dedication to improving their community. This week, it is my honor to name The Big Cheese of Miami, FL, as the Senate Small Business of the Week. prgtoken Having just celebrated their 35 year anniversary, The Big Cheese has grown from a 12-seat and 2-person operation to a landmark Miami Italian restaurant. Lifelong friends Bill Archer and Garry Duell founded The Big Cheese in 1984 and due to their rapid success, expanded to a larger location across the street. Bill is the culinary expert of the duo and has developed original recipes for all 120 items on the menu, while Garry focuses on the day-to-day operations. Along the way, they have shared in the restaurant's success. prgtoken Today, The Big Cheese remains family-oriented and affordable and uses only the finest ingredients. They have an extensive menu that includes everything from Italian favorites to Miami classics. Many of their employees have been there since inception, and others are second- generation employees, with an average employee tenure of 16 years. Bill, Gary, and longtime manager Salvatore Aiello strive to create a welcoming and friendly atmosphere and they have certainly succeeded. prgtoken Their dedication to fair prices and made-from-scratch dishes has not gone unnoticed. They were voted The Best Inexpensive Italian Restaurant in Miami and received the 5 Kids Crown Award from South Florida Parenting Magazine for their pizza. They are proud to feed people from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds and remain focused on serving their community. prgtoken One example of their efforts to help community members in need was during Hurricane Irma recovery, when they donated food to the emergency operations center in Monroe County. They are also the official sponsor of the University of Miami Athletics Department, providing both the Hurricanes and their competitors with pregame meals. Since their founding, they have served thousands of University of Miami students and collected more than 200 pieces of original memorabilia. Their dedication to the school was recently honored when they were chosen to represent the University of Miami during the Taste of the NFL, a charity aimed at bringing awareness to the millions of Americans who struggle with hunger. prgtoken The Big Cheese is an exemplary community-focused small business. They have remained true to their original values and serve their community in times of need. Like many Main Street restaurants throughout our country, The Big Cheese is a place where community members have gathered and enjoyed meals together for decades. By focusing on quality food and superior customer service, The Big Cheese has stayed in high demand. It is with great pleasure that I extend my congratulations to Bill, Gary and all of
BUILDING ON REEMPLOYMENT IMPROVEMENTS TO DELIVER GOOD EMPLOYMENT FOR WORKERS ACT
Darin LaHood (Republican, IL) \u2014 2019-4-9

I thank Mrs. Walorski for her hard work on this particular piece of legislation. prgtoken , I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1759, the BRIDGE for Workers Act, also known as the Building on Reemployment Improvements to Deliver Good Employment for Workers Act. I am also proud to join Congresswoman Murphy, Congresswoman Torres Small, and Congressman Davis, my colleague from Illinois, in being part of this bipartisan legislation. prgtoken Since becoming a member of the Ways and Means Committee, I have been focused on closing the JOBS Act, improving workforce development, and removing barriers to employment. prgtoken It is incumbent upon our Federal Government, in coordination with States and local governments, to ensure that those looking for a job have the necessary tools and skills they need to get back into the workforce. prgtoken Last Congress, we worked in a bipartisan fashion to codify into law the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments program, bolstering its funding and improving the effectiveness. These reemployment services include career counseling, resume support, individualized reemployment plans, and access to trainings for those receiving unemployment insurance. prgtoken The goal of this program is to promote rapid reemployment and, ultimately, shorten benefit durations for all unemployment insurance claimants, not just those most likely to exhaust all benefits. prgtoken This bill makes a technical correction to ensure that States have the flexibility to provide reemployment services to all insurance claimants from a variety of backgrounds and help them return to work more quickly. This legislation builds on the recent law that improved the reemployment service program and will ensure that those in need of these services will be able to access them. prgtoken With over 7 million unfilled jobs in this country, it is crucial we work with our States, including my home State of Illinois, to provide the necessary resources to fill these jobs. Finding skilled workers is one of the number one issues in my district and many districts across the country: finding enough relief welders, truck drivers, construction workers, machinists, nurses, technicians, just to name a few. prgtoken Empowering individuals to get off the sideline and back into the workforce is something this body should always strive to achieve. Every week that a person is out of work, through no fault of their own, is a week too long. This bipartisan fix to reemployment will help these individuals get back to receiving what they want most: a job and a paycheck. prgtoken , s on the Ways and Means Committee for their support on this legislation, and I urge its passage in the House.
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1644, SAVE THE INTERNET ACT OF 2019; PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2021, INVESTING FOR THE PEOPLE ACT OF 2019; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Austin Scott (Republican, GA) \u2014 2019-4-9

I rise today to urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question so the House can immediately bring up meaningful disaster relief. prgtoken I want to thank my friends and colleagues from across the aisle, Representative Woodall, obviously, Chairman McGovern, Ranking Member Cole, and others on the Rules Committee, for allowing me to speak last night on behalf of the amendment. I also want to thank them for their help in previously passing very similar legislation. prgtoken My amendment is quite simple. The text contained the same dollar-for- dollar amounts from H.R. 268, the House-passed disaster assistance bill. prgtoken This bill was a work of compromise and work that many of us representing districts that have been hit by disasters in 2018 worked on. It includes a bipartisan amendment that I and many others sponsored, which raised the crop and livestock loss assistance to $3 billion, from approximately $1 billion. That is included in the final text. prgtoken Unfortunately, my amendment was not made in order; but, if we defeat the previous question, it will be included in an amendment, along with other important provisions, to help those affected by the natural disasters of 2018. prgtoken Disaster relief has never been a partisan issue in the United States of America, and it should not be a partisan issue today. I urge my colleagues and I ask every Member in this body to defeat the previous question so that we can immediately bring up legislation to deliver on our promise of passing disaster assistance prior to leaving for the Easter break.
CALLING FOR VOTE ON DISASTER FUNDING
Jeff Fortenberry (Republican, NE) \u2014 2019-4-9

. Madam , I thank Dr. Dunn for hosting this very important discussion. As we have visited on several different occasions, I want to publicly commend the gentleman for his dedication for fighting for the right thing to do, for his deep compassion for the people he represents and the tireless effort that he is making to explain the consequences of Hurricane Michael as it hit him, the floods that have hit us, and the wildfires that have hit others. I thank the gentleman so much for the time and for his leadership. prgtoken Madam , when spring approaches in Nebraska, we expect our rivers and streams to peacefully rise as snow from the nearby Rockies gently melts. We are the Cornhusker State, but we actually could be called the River State. Here is why: We have more miles of rivers than any other State in the Union. The Missouri, the Platte, the , the Elkhorn, and the Niobrara are our most famous rivers, but we really don't think of them as threatening--until they are. prgtoken So as General Bacon just said, this was the most destructive storm in most Nebraskans' lifetimes. A perfect storm of factors caused the pain and destruction now all around us. Lands that were soaked from earlier autumn rains were frozen solid and then covered in snow. When the bomb cyclone's lethal mix of blizzard and rain did hit our State, an enormous quantity of water, ice, and collected topsoil sped down the hard land like a furious slurry, into rivers, creeks, and reservoirs bursting through dams, levees, and other structures that normally would hold this back. prgtoken Madam , it is pretty hard to get the mind around what a 500- year event actually means. But as I was standing at the ridge on Offutt Air Force Base, which is located right south of Omaha near the confluence of the Platte and Missouri Rivers, I could see how the unprecedented force of water covered one-third of that entire base and many communities in eastern Nebraska. As the rushing water hit the bank on the other side of the river, on the Iowa side, it blew it out and created a 62-foot deep hole. prgtoken As a member of the Appropriations Committee here in Congress, I turned to the commander of the Corps of Engineers who was with me. prgtoken I looked at him, and I said: What is the number? prgtoken He immediately shot back without hesitation and said: It is going to be a lot. prgtoken Now, a little bit down the road to the west is the town of Fremont. Mayor Scotty Getzschman is a dedicated local public servant who is in the heating and air-conditioning business as his main job. He brought out a 1940 map of the old river channel of the Platte River. The problem for this town of Fremont began when the river got a bit nostalgic and sought to go back to its old ways. In a place now named ground zero near the Rod and Gun Club west of town, massive chunks of ice and the pressure of the Platte blew the levee. Water began to find its own channels in multiple breaches,
SAVE THE INTERNET ACT OF 2019
Robert E. Latta (Republican, OH) \u2014 2019-4-9

. Madam Chair, I am pleased to see the bring so many ideas today as it comes to rural broadband, and because of that, we will not oppose this amendment. prgtoken The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Johnson) on our committee has been a strong advocate of improving the 477 data at the FCC and how to have the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the NTIA, more engaged in mapping by aggregating resources across the Federal Government. He was part of an effort prgtoken last fall that shared a draft reauthorization of NTIA with the that would have helped get more granular information. Unfortunately, our friends on the other side of the aisle put down their pens on this effort. prgtoken In our markup last week, Mr. Johnson offered an amendment that was voted down by the majority that would have eased the title II albatross from small rural carriers. Sadly, this was rejected. Coincidentally, we saw a number of the ic amendments made in order to study the problems of rural broadband deployment. prgtoken Madam Chair, .
CALLING FOR VOTE ON DISASTER FUNDING
Dusty Johnson (Republican, SD) \u2014 2019-4-9

. Madam , I am honored to be a part of this Special Order tonight. prgtoken I want to highlight the dire situation in my home State of South Dakota. Our State is just barely beginning to recover from dramatic flooding while, simultaneously, we are trying to prepare for the disaster to get worse as a blizzard this week will dump freezing rain and more than a foot of snow onto already saturated ground. prgtoken Now, I have heard colleagues talk about similar and, in some cases, even more dramatic damage to their homes, and we have seen, in their States and in mine, commerce interrupted; we have seen livelihoods devastated; we have seen cattle killed; and, worse yet, we have seen human life lost. prgtoken Now, within South Dakota, there have been many impacted communities, although perhaps none more dramatically than Indian Country. When I have talked to President Bear Runner, Pine Ridge; President Bordeaux, Rosebud; or Chairman Frazier from Cheyenne River, their texts, their phone calls, our face-to-face meetings, they are heavy with the frustration and the exhaustion, the irritation, the concern about what is going on for their people. Madam , put more appropriately, they are concerned for what is going on with our people. prgtoken Right before I walked onto the floor here, I came from a meeting with Chairman Harold Frazier, and he had picture after picture after picture, Madam , of the devastation there at Cheyenne River: cemeteries under water, roads under water, cattle under water, cars under water. prgtoken I know South Dakota is not the only community that is impacted. Many of us need a helping hand. Many of the people in our States are too proud to ask for a helping hand, but tonight I would just ask my colleagues in this body and my colleagues in the Senate to do everything they can to put politics aside and to pass a disaster relief bill that can do much-needed work for our country.
CALLING FOR VOTE ON DISASTER FUNDING
Neal P. Dunn (Republican, FL) \u2014 2019-4-9

. Madam , I thank my good friend, Representative Carter, for his impassioned words. Obviously, he is echoing thoughts that we have heard from the other speakers. prgtoken Seldom has a Special Order been so well subscribed. So many people came to speak, so many people moved and hurt by the disaster. prgtoken It leaves me with very little time, but I want to say a couple things. prgtoken I want to reiterate that this is an unprecedented event for timber. Nobody has ever seen this much timber on the ground, 3 million acres of timber. Think about what that does to the foresters, the loggers, and the sawmills. prgtoken The military, we have lost an Air Force base, probably $4 billion to $6 billion worth of damage to that. We will rebuild it. We will rebuild it, and it will be great, but we need help from Congress to do that. prgtoken I have a Navy base in my district, $288 million in damage. prgtoken I have a Coast Guard base in my district that is particularly sad. They have a single building standing. They were victims of the storm; they were first responders to the storm. They were not paid, because they are with the Department of Homeland Security, for a month. It is shameful. These are fine people in the Coast Guard. prgtoken We have housing problems right now. Thirty percent of the homes in my home county is uninhabitable. Fifty percent of the commercial real estate is not usable. prgtoken We have special geography. We are 100 miles away from the next place where there is multifamily housing. We need housing on the ground in the affected areas. prgtoken Madam , I thank all the people who took time to come and tell our story, which is a sad story, and I urge the Congress to come to our rescue. prgtoken That picture, by the way, is not 6 months old. It is 2 weeks old. prgtoken Madam , .
ARMS SALES NOTIFICATION
James E. Risch (Republican, ID) \u2014 2019-4-9

section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. prgtoken In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record at this point the notifications which have been received. If prgtoken the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.
China (Executive Calendar)
Rob Portman (Republican, OH) \u2014 2019-4-9

I am on the Senate floor to talk about the importance of trade and specifically our country's economic relationship with China. prgtoken As a trade lawyer, as a former U.S. Trade Representative, as a member of the Finance Committee now that handles trade issues, I have been involved in these issues over the years. prgtoken Most importantly, I am from Ohio, which is a huge trade State. We are concerned about trade because we have a lot of manufacturing and a lot of agriculture, where jobs depend on trade back and forth. In fact, in Ohio, about 25 percent of our manufacturing workers make products that get exported, and one out of every three acres planted by Ohio farmers is now being exported. prgtoken These are good jobs. These are jobs that pay, on average, about 16 percent more than other jobs and have better benefits. We want more of them. prgtoken With only 5 percent of the world's population and about 25 percent of the world's economy, America wants access to the 95 percent of the consumers living outside of our borders. It is always in our interest to open up overseas markets for our workers, our farmers, and our service providers. prgtoken While promoting exports, we also have to be sure we protect American jobs from unfair trade, from imports that would unfairly undercut our farmers and our workers, our service providers. Simply put, we want a level playing field, where there is fair and reciprocal treatment. If it is fair, if we have a level playing field, I believe American workers and businesses can compete and win. prgtoken The sweet spot for America is this balanced approach: opening up new markets for U.S. products, while being tougher on trade enforcement so American workers have the opportunity to compete. prgtoken In that context, I want to talk a little about the inequities in our relationship with China. We don't have a level playing field with China, and it is one of the most important policy issues that faces our country today. prgtoken It is certainly really important to Ohio. Ohio sells a lot of products--auto parts, aerospace parts, and other things--to China. We also sell a lot of oilseeds and grains, particularly soybeans--about $700 million worth every year. China is actually our third biggest trading partner in Ohio after Canada and Mexico. prgtoken Yet, despite these exports, we have a trade deficit with China because they send a lot more to us than we send to them, and it is not always fair trade. prgtoken As an example, Ohio has been ground zero for steel imports coming in because of government-directed overcapacity in China. Our steel mills have been hit hard because, to put it bluntly, China has not been playing by the rules. prgtoken In 2000, China produced about 15 percent of the world's steel. Today, thanks to massive subsidies and other forms of state intervention, they now produce about 50 percent. So, again, about 19 years ago, they produced 15 percent of the w
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail (Executive Calendar)
Lisa Murkowski (Republican, AK) \u2014 2019-4-9

. He continues: I had hoped that the white moderate would see this need. Perhaps I was too optimistic; perhaps I expected too much. I suppose I should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race, and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action. I am thankful, however, that some of our white brothers in the South have grasped the meaning of this social revolution and committed themselves to it. They are still all too few in quantity, but they are big in quality. Some--such as Ralph McGill, Lillian Smith, Harry Golden, James McBride Dabbs, Ann Braden and Sarah Patton Boyle--have written about our struggle in eloquent and prophetic terms. Others have marched with us down nameless streets of the South. They have languished in filthy, roach infested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality of policemen who view them as ``dirty nigger-lovers.'' Unlike so many of their moderate brothers and sisters, they have recognized the urgency of the moment and sensed the need for powerful ``action'' antidotes to combat the disease of segregation. Let me take note of my other major disappointment. I have been so greatly disappointed with the white church and its leadership. Of course, there are some notable exceptions. I am not unmindful of the fact that each of you has taken some significant stands on this issue. I commend you, Reverend Stallings, for your Christian stand on this past Sunday, in welcoming Negroes to your worship service on a nonsegregated basis. I commend the Catholic leaders of this state for integrating Spring Hill College several years ago. But despite these notable exceptions, I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church. I do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. I say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church; who was nurtured in its bosom; who has been sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen. When I was suddenly catapulted into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery, Alabama, a few years ago, I felt we would be supported by the white church. I felt that the white ministers, priests and rabbis of the South would be among our strongest allies. Instead, some have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows. In spite of my sh