mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
HIGHER HOPES FOR PROFESSIONALS AROUND THE PRESIDENT
Luis V. Gutiérrez (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2018-5-16

we can only imagine what the President and Sean Hannity talk about every night on the phone. The two TV hosts have a lot to discuss, I am sure. prgtoken Maybe they talk about their mutual lawyer, Michael Cohen, and what he might or might not have in his files that could incriminate one or both of them. Or maybe they just discuss their mutual admiration for Russian dictator Putin. prgtoken We can be reasonably sure that neither of them spends too much time discussing things they have done for which they are ashamed or things they have done or said for which they should apologize. prgtoken All of that blathering this past week about whether the White House or the President would apologize for comments by a White House staffer about a gravely ill American war hero, Senator John McCain, was just wasted breath, if you ask me. In our President, we have someone who does not ever apologize or regret something he or his staff has done, no matter how egregious. prgtoken This week, the White House is not alarmed that a senior staff made light of Senator McCain's illness and life expectancy but, rather, that the comment about the former prisoner of war, an American hero, was made public. prgtoken Clearly, someone on the White House staff who heard the comment knew it was wrong--just wrong. Moreover, they recognized the comment was emblematic of the attitude at the White House, from the President on down, and thought the Nation and the world should know about it. prgtoken But it was the leak of accurate information from inside the White House that raised the ire of the President, not the fact that someone said things really awful about a true American hero. prgtoken We should know by now that this President and his henchmen do not apologize: prgtoken Tweeting racist videos from rightwing British groups? Nah, no apology. prgtoken Booting able-bodied Americans who want to serve their country out of the military because they are transgender? Not even. prgtoken Bragging about sexually assaulting women by grabbing their private parts? Well, he came close to apologizing, but not really. prgtoken Some speculate that being unapologetic is just the President's brand. He is brash, and he says mean things and doesn't back down because doing so would make him look weak, and revealing his weakness in public is clearly among the President's greatest fears. prgtoken The President and his late night phone buddy, Sean Hannity, remember? They complained about the last President being too apologetic. prgtoken But looking tough to cover up a fear of inferiority is only one explanation for why this President does not apologize. He often doesn't apologize because he thinks he was right in the first place, like when he said there were good people on both sides of the Nazi rally in Charlottesville where a woman was murdered by racist KKK extremists. prgtoken The President is not going to apologize, and not because it would make him look weak in the case of
TRIBUTE TO MS. ELISA IRENE DeLARGE
Robert A. Brady (Democrat, PA) \u2014 2018-5-16

today I rise to honor my constituent, Ms. Elisa Irene DeLarge, on her graduation from high school and her matriculation to college. prgtoken Ms. DeLarge is a soon-to-be graduate of William W. Bodine High School, where she earned a 3.7GPA over four years. Her success in academics is a testament to her hard work, tireless work ethic and devotion to her future. Ms. DeLarge's will continue her academic career by taking courses at The Community College of Philadelphia this summer and attending The University of Michigan this Fall. prgtoken In addition to her own academic success, Ms. DeLarge is also committed to aiding future graduates of Philadelphia schools. Ms. DeLarge devotes countless hours to tutoring elementary and middle school students at the Narcissa S. Cruz Recreation Center. This act of selfless mentorship further speaks to Ms. DeLarge's work ethic and morals. prgtoken , please join me today in congratulating Ms. DeLarge today.
HONORING THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF SOQUEL
Jimmy Panetta (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2018-5-16

I rise today to recognize and celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Congregational Church of Soquel. Established in May of 1868, the Congregational Church of Soquel has built a legacy of providing a safe and supportive environment for many of my constituents in the 20th Congressional District of California. The church has a history of service and sanctuary, while actively engaging in acts of compassion, justice, and a sense of responsibility. The Congregational Church of Soquel--also known as the Little White Church in the Vale--has served as a pillar of the Soquel community since it was first organized by Joshua and Narcissa Parrish in 1868. The Church, both as a brick-and-mortar institution and as a family, persevered through many adversities while maintaining a sense of service to the community. The Church has repeatedly served as a shelter and temporary fire station during natural disasters. Even through the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake which devastated much of our community, the Church remained indomitable. The Church not only provides opportunities for satisfying spiritual needs, but also works to provide tangible solutions to community needs, including hunger and homelessness. Currently, the Church fulfills its mission of addressing food insecurity and homelessness through its partnership with many crucial organizations in my district such as Meals on Wheels, the Second Harvest Food Bank, and the Homeless Services Center. In addition, the church also partners with The Great Chili Cook-Off, which supports the Mid-County Homeless Coalition-- Shower Trailer Program. Through these partnerships, local organizations can ensure that many of those in need are provided with emergency food and housing. The Church not only looks for opportunities to help within our community, but also beyond our country's borders. The Church continues to address food insecurity internationally through its work with the Panamerican Institute in Tijuana, Mexico. There, the Church provides food baskets for families of the Institute and motivates both youth and adults to make improvements in schools and homes in the area. In addition to the church's service in Mexico, they also participate in Solehope, which provides shoes to children in Uganda. In Kenya, the church supports Happy Life Children's Home, which helps to find homes for abandoned children. These missions and services that the church participates in locally and globally show their dedication to uplifting communities it is my honor to recognize the dedication and commitment to compassion and justice that the Congregational Church of Soquel provides to the 20th Congressional District. We are fortunate to have an institution like the Congregational Church of Soquel call the central coast of California home. I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Congregational Church of Soquel.
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF A RULE SUBMITTED BY THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Patty Murray (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2018-5-16

I am here to lift up the voices of the families I represent in the State of Washington who, like so many other Americans, agree the internet should be free and open; who agree our country should support small business owners and entrepreneurs and students and middle-class families, not big corporations and special interests; who agree that consumers, not broadband providers, should get to pick the websites they visit or applications they use; who agree the internet should be a level playing field that benefits end users and not slanted by broadband providers blocking content or charging for prioritized access. prgtoken That is why so many of us are on the floor today, to give a voice to the vast majority of Americans who want the internet to remain a place that fosters innovation, economic opportunity, robust consumer choice, and the free flow of knowledge. prgtoken These things are not a luxury. They are what make American ingenuity possible. As a former preschool teacher, I support net neutrality because it helps the next generation of innovators--our students, especially those in rural and low-income areas. Schools have worked very hard to improve access to high-speed connectivity for all students because they know, from early education through higher education, and through workforce training, students need high-speed internet in order to learn and get the skills they need. Their teachers need the internet to collaborate with colleagues, access educational materials, help students learn valuable research and internet safety skills, and expand access to a high-quality education for students with disabilities and English learners. prgtoken Rolling back net neutrality threatens that educational equity and worsens the digital divide. So let's protect the free and open internet, not just for today's consumers but for our students--the next generation of American innovators. The choice could not be easier. Either we stand with everyday Americans or with the massive corporations that have found a new way to make more money off of them. prgtoken . prgtoken .
AGRICULTURE AND NUTRITION ACT OF 2018
Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2018-5-16

there is a lot wrong with this bill, but as ranking member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, I am particularly concerned about its impact on students. prgtoken SNAP eligibility is tied to eligibility for other vital Federal programs, so the proposed cuts in SNAP eligibility will also cut access to free school meals for 265,000 children. prgtoken Research has consistently shown that students struggling with hunger have prgtoken lower grades, are less able to focus, and more likely to miss school. This bill would undermine the ability of hundreds of thousands of students to reach their full potential by cutting SNAP benefits for the family and reducing school benefits for children. prgtoken In the wake of a $1.5 trillion tax cut for corporations in the top 1 percent, it is a shameful statement of priorities when you try to pay for these tax cuts by reducing food assistance programs for low-income students. prgtoken I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF A RULE SUBMITTED BY THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2018-5-16

before the Senate today is the question of whether we will continue to have free and open access to the internet in the United States of America. prgtoken Every day, millions of Americans log on. They rely on the internet to help their child with his or her homework assignment, help a father video call his mother, who may live three States away, or help a small business woman make a sale to a customer halfway across the world. prgtoken Currently, the people who use the internet in the United States and others like them are free to enjoy the internet as they wish. When you logged on this morning, you had the same access to the internet as every other American. There is no fear that some internet provider is going to step in and say: Wait a minute. We are going to slow down your service until you pay us more money or limit your access to certain apps and information based on whether you pay an additional fee. What a contrast that is to things like cable television. What package did you buy? How many channels are in there? How much access do you have? Are you going to pay the bill again next month? That is quite a bit different, isn't it, from our access to the internet? prgtoken Currently, users around the country are enjoying free access to an open and neutral internet, but that is all about to change. It is about to change because this new President and his new head of the Federal Communications Commission believe that our access to the internet should be for sale. In fact, this administration thinks everything ought to be for sale--public lands, our privacy, and in this case, our unfettered pathway to information. prgtoken Thanks to the leadership of Ed Markey of Massachusetts and many of my colleagues, we come today to discuss this fundamental issue. This is a rare day in the Senate. We are actually discussing an issue of substance on the floor. I welcome the visitors for this historic moment. We are preparing to vote tomorrow on whether the decision of the administration's Federal Communications Commission, which ends net neutrality, is going to succeed or fail. prgtoken Luckily, we were joined by at least one --I didn't look at the final rollcall--to move us forward in this debate. All the and at least one voted for this, and we prevailed. Tomorrow, we hope to do the same. We hope it will be done on a bipartisan basis as well. prgtoken Follow this debate because my guess is that it is going to impact you and your life. If the administration and the Federal Communications Commission have their way, they are going to change our access to the internet for every single family, every single business, every single doctor--the list goes on. prgtoken In December, the FCC voted to put the needs of companies ahead of consumers and to undo net neutrality in the United States. This great party on the other side of the aisle who talks about freedom--we want Ameri
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF A RULE SUBMITTED BY THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Bill Nelson (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2018-5-16

I rise, along with my colleagues here, to speak in strong support of the resolution to restore strong net neutrality protections for Americans. prgtoken This is, obviously, what the American people want. For the vote that was just taken on the motion to proceed, 52 for and 47 against, I think it shows how the American people's will is being expressed in a bipartisan way. The American people understand how important these protections are to their lives and to the future of the internet. They do not want to have their websites blocked or internet access slowed, and they certainly don't want internet providers making those decisions to block or slow. prgtoken More than 20 million residents of Florida understand just how vital it is to have a free and open internet. I say that for my State, but that is, obviously, the same for every other State as well. Millions of schoolchildren in my State--from Pensacola to Orlando, to the Florida Keys--and across the entire country benefit from educations that are built on a free and open internet. That is why educators and librarians throughout the country have rallied in favor of net neutrality. They know that an internet that is no longer free and open is a lost educational opportunity for our children. prgtoken Florida's colleges, universities, and technical schools rely on the free and open internet for their vital educational and research missions. Unfettered access to the internet is essential for research into issues that are critical to the State and Nation, such as medical research, climate change, sea level rise--whatever the research is. prgtoken Florida's growing economy is equally reliant on a free and open internet. The growth of high-tech jobs all over the country and particularly in Florida, including the growth across the middle swath of Florida and the booming Space Coast has largely been built on advanced high-speed internet networks that have been available in those areas. prgtoken Small businesses that are all around also use the internet as the great equalizer and bring the global marketplace to their very doorsteps, but that global market for those companies exists only as long as everyone on the internet is treated the same. If you start picking and choosing, then you lose the value of that equalizing, of a small company's having a great idea and having access to the information just like a big company has. prgtoken Citizens throughout my home State rely on the internet for civic and social engagement. The internet is today's social forum--the tool we use to stay engaged in the lives of family, friends, and peers. prgtoken The internet can also be an equalizing force. As such, it has been a place where communities of color have been able to tell their own stories in a way that they have never been able to before. It has given minority communities the power to organize, to share, and to support each other's causes. To limit access to the n
RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION
Paul Tonko (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-5-16

I thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter) for yielding. prgtoken , I speak, this evening, joining with some members of SEEK. You heard earlier from the gentlewoman from Maine, who spoke of the SNAP cuts, the nutrition cuts. Congresswoman Pingree is absolutely right: It is a big portion of the farm bill. prgtoken But, beyond that, I am horrified with this current farm bill that proposes many harmful provisions that would completely disregard some very bedrock environmental laws. As one of the cochairs of SEEK, which aims for sustainable outcomes for energy and environment policy, you must speak to this bill, because it is so dreadful as it relates to our environmental and energy policy. prgtoken This bill weakens environmental and public health protections against pesticides, many of which were established to protect the health of our children. Those protections that would be destroyed by this farm bill include allowing companies to spray pesticides into our waterways without even obtaining a Clean Water Act permit, endangering sources of drinking water and places where we swim and where we fish; preempts local governments from taking steps to protect their communities from pesticides; and weakens protections for endangered species by eliminating the requirement to consult with Federal wildlife experts. prgtoken These pesticides can elevate the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. prgtoken Removal of Clean Water Act protections, and the preemption of local efforts to protect communities, puts our public health at great risk. prgtoken The International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2015 classified the pesticide glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen. The United States Geological Survey routinely finds glyphosate in our United States waterways. prgtoken EPA's scientific review found that the pesticide chlorpyrifos in water and on food is unsafe for children and increases the risk of learning disabilities. Prenatal exposures to this chemical are associated with reduced IQ and delayed motor development. Whenever chlorpyrifos is sprayed, it can cause immediate and long-term health harms to kids, to farmers, to farmworkers, and others who are exposed. prgtoken These provisions also put our wildlife at risk. Decades ago, bald eagles and peregrine falcons were brought to the brink of extinction by the pesticide DDT. prgtoken To address such issues, the EPA is required, under the Endangered Species Act, to consult with the expert Federal wildlife agencies when approving chemicals that can harm endangered species. This bill eliminates that requirement, threatening endangered wildlife and hindering recovery of imperiled species. prgtoken Our farm bill is about supporting farmers, strengthening communities, and providing food for America. Rolling back public health and wildlife protections has no place in this bill. prgtoken The cuts of $23-plus billion in SNAP benefits, kicking an estimated 1 million
IN RECOGNITION OF AMBASSADOR ROBERTA S. JACOBSON
Henry Cuellar (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2018-5-16

I rise today to commemorate the career and service of Roberta S. Jacobson, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. prgtoken Ambassador Jacobson represented the best interests of the United States and showed exceptional poise while dealing with a variety of complex issues as a diplomat. I personally want to thank her for her years of strong leadership, dedication to service, and unyielding commitment to improving relations with Mexico. I would also like to recognize her for being outspoken on countless issues including violence against women, human rights, and journalist safety. prgtoken Ambassador Jacobson served in a variety of important roles throughout her career, including Director of the Office of Policy Planning and Coordination in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru, Director of the Office of Mexican Affairs, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Canada, Mexico, and NAFTA issues in the Bureau. She would soon serve as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs where she is noted for leading the U.S. delegation in historic talks with the government of Cuba to normalize relations. Eventually she would be confirmed and sworn in as the first female U.S. ambassador to Mexico. prgtoken She received a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University and received her Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She would then go on to a long and successful career in the service of our country. prgtoken In addition to her diplomatic work, she is the author of several articles including ``The Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women'' in the United Nations and Human Rights and ``Liberation Theology as a Revolutionary Ideology.'' prgtoken For these reasons and more, Ambassador Jacobson will be remembered for her work and leadership, for years to come. prgtoken , I am honored to have the opportunity to recognize the career of Ambassador Jacobson.
AGRICULTURE AND NUTRITION ACT OF 2018
Jodey C. Arrington (Republican, TX) \u2014 2018-5-16

. Mr. Chair, I respect the ranking member's comments, and I appreciate his commitment to rural America, but I would submit that my hometown, which is over the 20,000 threshold but under the 50,000, has every bit of the challenges that small towns at 20,000 and below face. They deserve access to quality care. This amendment, by the way, does not change that threshold. However, that threshold is changed in the farm bill. It reserves the direct lending portion of the program at $2.8 billion for those communities at 20,000 and below, and it actually expands the Guaranteed Loan Program that has delivered capital to levels close to $150 million. That program would be the one we would expand for communities above 20,000 but below 50,000. prgtoken Again, Plainview, Texas, is a rural small town. It is an ag community, and if the people of Plainview and towns like that don't have access to healthcare, then they cannot sustain the ag economy in west Texas. prgtoken Mr. Chair, .