mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
ELECTIONS
John Barrasso (Republican, WY) \u2014 2021-6-15

I come to the floor today to talk about the need for integrity in our elections. prgtoken As I stand here, you know, prices are rising at the pump, and prices are rising at the grocery store. Inflation is the highest it has been basically since the financial crisis 13 years ago. prgtoken The number of unfilled jobs is at a record high for our Nation. Small businesses, certainly in my home State in Wyoming and all across the country, have ``help wanted'' signs up; they can't find workers. Some are worried they may have to shut down forever. prgtoken We also have a crisis at the southern border. There is a lot happening in America today. Half a million illegal immigrants have crossed our border since took the oath of office to become President of the United States. Now, these are just the illegal immigrants whom we know about. prgtoken Since became President, we have seized over 3,200 pounds of fentanyl at our southern border. That is enough fentanyl to kill every man, woman, and child living in America today. That is just one category of drugs, and these are the drugs that we know about. Just imagine what has come into the country that we don't know about. prgtoken Yet, despite the critics and the crisis--President has created a crisis, and , certainly in this body, refuse to raise a finger to bring the crisis to an end. Instead, it seems that the are focused on only one thing and one thing alone, and that is seizing more power. prgtoken We are told are going to bring a bill to the floor next week on election takeover in America. Now, the majority leader already knows that this bill cannot pass the U.S. Senate. It will not pass because he doesn't even have the support for the votes in his own caucus, and that is because the bill is radical, it is extreme, it is dangerous, and it is scary. It is actually a Federal takeover of elections in America. prgtoken Under the Constitution, the times, places, and manner of holding elections is generally up to the States. This bill would flip the constitutional order and flip it upside down and put Congress and Washington in charge of elections, not each of our individual States. It would effectively repeal the election laws in all 50 States. prgtoken This ic takeover attempt is over 800 pages in length, over 800 pages of mandates. Every page of the bill has one thing in common: makes it easier to cheat. Makes it easier to cheat in elections. prgtoken For example, the bill would register people to vote automatically, whether they wanted to be registered or not. Automatic registration. Take everyone they have in databases throughout a State and sign them up. prgtoken Now, under this bill, anyone who interacted with a State government would then be registered to vote. Well, this includes a lot of people who aren't legally entitled to vote because they are not U.S. citizens. So these are obviously people w
RECLAIMING OUR FISCAL FUTURE
Kevin Hern (Republican, OK) \u2014 2021-6-15

. Madam , Pelosi reminded us about 3 years ago when she infamously said: Show me your budget, and I will show you your values. prgtoken That phrase and that statement have been made so many times by leaders talking about budgets. prgtoken In America, individuals have budgets, counties have budgets, communities have budgets, cities have budgets, schools have budgets, businesses have budgets, and States have budgets. The United States of America has gone 3 years now without a budget from the Budget Committee that is run by my colleagues from the ic Party, the people in power. prgtoken We have a budget that we are asking to get on the floor, a budget that is built on the pro-growth policies that we saw 16 months ago yield the greatest economy in our lifetime, the lowest unemployment rate, the most people employed with all diversity, of all ethnicities, of all countries of origin, women, African Americans, and Hispanics. Everywhere, people have seen the greatest jobs they have ever seen. There were double-digit increases for the lowest earning wage earners among us. prgtoken We know these policies work. This budget builds upon them. The American people are demanding that we be accountable for the dollars they send us. What we are seeing now in the budget that was just put out by the President in a piecemeal fashion is a budget that sends jobs overseas and that destroys jobs in our energy-producing companies, some of the highest wage earners we have in this country. We see our defense budget being cut below the inflation rate. prgtoken As we speak about inflation, the President promised the American people that he wouldn't raise taxes on anybody making less than $400,000 a year. Madam , I will tell you the greatest hidden tax in America is inflation, and what we are seeing right now is inflation rising at an annualized rate of 5, 6, and 7 percent that spans everybody in America on top of the proposed tax increases that the President is talking about. prgtoken He is proposing looking at changing the tax rates for our multinational companies, our companies that were starting to move jobs back to America. Now we are seeing a deal is being struck by Secretary Yellen to try to take the G7 to tax our companies to the point that we are going to see jobs leave our country and return back to where they moved their headquarters overseas, to lower tax nations. prgtoken To my colleagues out there, all we are asking for is to put a budget on the floor, our budget, to get your vote to be responsible to the American taxpayers so that we can see, once and for all, where everyone is on doing the right thing for the American taxpayers. prgtoken For all of my colleagues that joined us tonight, what we have heard over the last hour was a clear vision for America, an outline of how conservatives intend to govern. It is sad that we have to call it a conservative budget. It is a budget for the American people. This is the fut
TRIBUTE TO JOHN PAYIAVLAS
Rob Portman (Republican, OH) \u2014 2021-6-15

I rise today to recognize the achievements of a friend of mine and a great Ohioan, John Payiavlas, who recently celebrated his 90th birthday. prgtoken John was born in 1931 to Greek immigrants Anthony and Paraskevi Payiavlas in Warren, Oh. At the age of 20, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and underwent basic training at Fort Riley in Kansas. In 1952, he was deployed to South Korea, where he joined U.N. forces in supporting South Korea as part of Fox Company, 7th Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. He later transferred to the Greek Expeditionary Force Batallion--one of four Greek Americans to serve in this batallion--and was awarded the Commander's Silver Cross of Valour for his exemplary service. He was honorably discharged in 1953 as sergeant first class. prgtoken John and his wife Marisa, who this year will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary, were married 3 years after John returned home to Ohio from the service. In 1960, John purchased a small company called Automatic Vendors, which later became a multimillion-dollar corporation known as AVI Foodsystems. Since its inception, AVI has served customers in more than 6,500 locations across the United States and has become the largest independently owned and operated contract food service company in the Nation. Currently, the company provides vending, institutional dining, and coffee service operations to companies across America. prgtoken Today, John Payiavlas runs the company alongside his children, Anthony and Patrice Kouvas. The Payiavlas family has made tremendous contributions to their community, including a generous gift of $500,000 to Youngstown State University for their new sports media center. In 2006, John and his wife were honored with the Cleveland Clinic's Distinguished Fellow Award for their support of the clinic's initiatives, such as the Heart and Vascular Institute, the Taussig Cancer Center, and the Glickman Urological Institute. prgtoken John Payiavlas has received numerous accolades for his accomplishments. In 2000, John was inducted into the Business Hall of Fame of Northeast Ohio's Inside Business Magazine. In 2016, he was honored for his service in the Korean war with the Washington Oxi Day Foundation's Jaharis Service Award. In addition, John holds the highest honor in all Christendom for a lay person as an Archon Depoutatos of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which dates back to the fourth century in the Greek Orthodox Church. The service and achievements of John Payiavlas extend well beyond the State of Ohio, and I applaud the lasting impact his success will have on our future generations.
Government Spending (Executive Session)
John Thune (Republican, SD) \u2014 2021-6-15

unfortunately, predictions about the negative economic effects of the so-called American Rescue Plan seem to be coming true. prgtoken In March, pushed through this massive partisan spending bill. They claimed it was urgently needed COVID funding. In reality, the bill was filled with unnecessary spending, from a staggering $350 billion slush fund for States, a majority of which didn't need any more government money to weather the rest of the pandemic, to almost $129 billion for schools, even though schools had spent just a tiny fraction of the tens of billions of dollars Congress had already given them. prgtoken At the time, s warned about the bill's level of spending. More than just one liberal economist warned about the size of ' spending plan, with former adviser Larry Summers noting that the bill could ``set off inflationary pressures of a kind we have not seen in a generation.'' prgtoken Well, it turns out he was right to be worried. Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its report on May's consumer prices, and the news was not good. Inflation reached its highest level in nearly 13 years, with consumer prices up 5 percent from a year ago. Core inflation, a measure of inflation that excludes food and energy prices, soared to its highest level in nearly three decades. prgtoken And what does that mean? Well, higher prices for Americans. The price of everything from bikes to bacon has shot up. Auto insurance costs 17 percent more than it did a year ago. Used cars cost 30 percent more. Shoes and whole milk cost 7 percent more. Inflation is starting to look like it could become nontransitory, or what most Americans call a serious problem. prgtoken And ' government spending spree is contributing, but, of course, that is not causing to hit pause on the economic overstimulation. are looking at more trillion-plus-dollar spending bills. prgtoken The President just released a budget proposing to hike government spending by trillions of dollars over the next 10 years. Under the President's plan, the Federal budget would be $6 trillion for fiscal year 2022, rising to $8.2 trillion for fiscal year 2031. Now, to put those numbers in perspective, the entire Federal budget for 2019 came to $4.4 trillion. The President is proposing to nearly double that by 2031. prgtoken It is disturbing that the overspending in the American Rescue Plan hasn't made think twice about future government sprees, but it is not all that surprising because in the ic Party these days, dogma tends to triumph over reality--or practicality. are ever more fanatically committed to expanding government and taxing Americans, and they are not slowed down by little details like damaging the economy. prgtoken Take the increased unemployment benefits situation. Congress provided a Federal increase in unemployment benefits early in the pandemic
EQUAL ACCESS TO CONTRACEPTION FOR VETERANS ACT
Lisa C. McClain (Republican, MI) \u2014 2021-6-15

on roll call No. 160, I mistakenly voted ``yes'' when I intended to vote ``No.'' Members Recorded Pursuant to House Resolution 8, 117th Congress Barragan (Gallego) Cardenas (Gomez) DeSaulnier (Thompson (CA)) Fleischmann (Bilirakis) Gaetz (Greene (GA)) Grijalva (Garcia (IL)) Hoyer (Brown) Johnson (TX) (Jeffries) Kirkpatrick (Stanton) Langevin (Courtney) Lawson (FL) (Evans) Lieu (Raskin) Lowenthal (Beyer) Meng (Clark (MA)) Mfume (Evans) Mullin (Lucas) Napolitano (Correa) Payne (Pallone) Porter (Wexton) Roybal-Allard (Escobar) Ruiz (Aguilar) Rush (Underwood) Sewell (DelBene) Sherrill (Pallone) Van Drew (Norman) Velazquez (Clarke (NY)) Wilson (FL) (Hayes)
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2021-6-15

1 week ago today, the personal financial information of several prominent Americans was made public in only the latest leak of sensitive data from the Internal Revenue Service. To put it another way, it appears that an anonymous source committed a felony by releasing the confidential information of American citizens, which a media outlet then published. Now, the way this leak has been covered in the press may not suggest it, but the most alarming part isn't whose information was involved; it is how it was allowed to happen at all--at all. prgtoken The American people know that having the personal information they give to the IRS made public isn't just a fear reserved for the highest earners. On multiple occasions in the last decade, individuals and organizations alike have had to watch as their filing details wander far from the IRS's databases. And it goes beyond pay stubs. The IRS holds massive storage of sensitive details, from healthcare expenses, to retirement savings, to charitable contributions. They hold addresses, information about dependents, and associations with organizations that may not be tax-deductible. prgtoken Needless to say, there are good arguments for paring back the scope of what information this Agency is allowed to collect in the first place. But here is the bottom line: American taxpayers are required by law to comply with invasive disclosure requirements, and they are doing it with less and less confidence that the Federal Government will honor their trust. prgtoken A fundamental piece of our Nation's social contract is fraying, but just how worried you should be about it apparently depends on your personal politics. The precise circumstances of this latest leak have not yet been made clear, but the recent history of IRS negligence and outright political targeting tells conservatives to be especially worried. prgtoken As our colleagues remember all too well, years ago, the State of California's database of private donor data for over 1,000 nonprofit organizations was made public illegally. A few years later, confidential IRS donor information from a conservative organization's tax filings was published. To no one's surprise, that information made its way into the hands of liberal groups with opposite views on key issues. Of course, we are talking about the same IRS that made slow- walking requests and filings from conservative organizations a matter of internal policy under the last ic administration. prgtoken So these situations all have two things in common: first, a blatant political agenda aimed at advancing the cause of the political left, and second, the utter absence of criminal charges against the leakers-- no charges against the leakers. prgtoken So let's be clear. As soon as sensitive personal information is leaked, the damage is already done. The genie can't be put back in the bottle, and the Federal Government has proven far too often that it is at
REMEMBERING KATHERINE AND ROBERT GARFF
Mitt Romney (Republican, UT) \u2014 2021-6-15

today I rise to pay tribute to the esteemed legacy of Katherine and Bob Garff, two maveriks whose towering achievements in business, politics, religion, and education will continue to benefit Utahns for generations. The Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce has recognized them with the presitigious and well-earned 42nd Giant in our City award. prgtoken Bob and Kathi's lifetime commitment to service is aspirational for all and worthy of the highest praise. Their community engagement efforts over many decades have transformed the automobile industry, expanded educational opportunities for young people with the Keys to Success and Road to Success programs, and their support to the University of Utah gave rise to new buildings for business education and athletics. Bob and Kathi's legacy is deeply woven into Utah's fabric of cherished values--prioritizing family, service, education, and the welfare of our future generations. prgtoken The Garff family's vast impact on our State is, in part, due to their willingness to serve in positions of leadership and public trust. Kathi served as chair of the Utah State Board of Education and was a board member for the Utah Board of Regents. She also guided education policy on the University of Utah's National Advisory Council, served on the board of the Crimson Club, and was chair of their President's Club. prgtoken Bob, too, donated his time to elevating health initiatives as a member of the American Cancer Society and Intermountain Healthcare and boosted Utah's athletic profile on the world stage as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. There, I witnessed firsthand Bob's talent for complex problem solving and his compassionate and ethical leadership. His accomplishments also include serving as chairman of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce and the Deseret Book Company, a board member of First Security Bank, a member of the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Utah Commission on Volunteers. As the former speaker of the House of Representatives for the State of Utah, Bob has cemented his legacy of consequential public service for all time. prgtoken A celebration of Bob and Kathi Garff would be incomplete without highlighting the significant role of faith in their lives, including their shared commitment to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Over the years, Bob was called to serve as bishop, president of the England Coventry Mission, stake president at the Univeristy of Utah, and president of the Bountiful Temple. May his strong faith guide Bob as we remember and cherish his time with us. prgtoken Kathi and Bob's selfless contributions to the welfare of our State will endure through the ages, and Utahns will remember them for their lifetime commitment to public service. Their 5 children, 21 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren carry on the honorable tradition of their bel
FEDERAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE COORDINATION ACT
Jenniffer González-Colón (Republican, PR) \u2014 2021-6-15

. Madam , the balance of my time. prgtoken Madam , I just want to say, in closing, that H.R. 2016 is a good-government, bipartisan piece of legislation that will help streamline and improve disaster recovery efforts. prgtoken It is not just Puerto Rico. It is not just the Caribbean. From the western part of the United States to even the territories, we are all affected by natural disasters. prgtoken I want to thank, again, Representative Scott Peters from California for co-leading this legislation, as well as Chairman DeFazio and Ranking Member Graves for recognizing the merits of this bill. prgtoken I urge support of H.R. 2016, and .
RECLAIMING OUR FISCAL FUTURE
Randy Feenstra (Republican, IA) \u2014 2021-6-15

. Madam , I rise today to discuss Sarah's Law, a bicameral bill I introduced along with Senator Joni Ernst from Iowa. prgtoken Our proposal was named in honor of Sarah Root, a 21-year-old girl who, after her graduation, that night, was killed by an illegal immigrant. The illegal immigrant was drunk and drag racing. He posted bond. ICE did not detain him, and he left the country, never to be seen from ever again. prgtoken The bill would require authorities to keep illegal immigrants in custody if they have been charged with a crime that resulted in death or serious bodily injury. prgtoken I am pleased that my proposal was included in the Study Committee budget. After all, budgets reflect priorities, and given the crisis at our border, it is crucial that we implement tougher immigration policies that protect Iowans and protect Americans. prgtoken Border encounters have hit an all-time high in the last two decades, with over 180,000 encounters in the month of May. Last year, we had over 23,000. Yet, President 's bloated $6 trillion budget proposal does not include a single cent more for homeland security. prgtoken Unlike Vice President , the administration's self-appointed border czar, I went to the border. I heard directly from law enforcement officers. We need to ensure they have the resources they need to do their jobs, and we need to start enacting stricter immigration and border security policies that address this crisis. prgtoken At the very least, we can all agree that neither American citizens nor illegal immigrants should ever be able to evade the law. Sarah's Law would ensure illegal immigrants cannot escape justice simply due to immigration policy loopholes. prgtoken Madam , I urge my colleagues to support the Study Committee's budget. It is a fantastic budget.
CELEBRATING CARIBBEAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH
Stacey E. Plaskett (Democrat, VI) \u2014 2021-6-15

it is spring, the beginning of summer, but it is also Caribbean-American Heritage Month this June. It brings me great pride to join Virgin Islanders and other Caribbean people across the country in celebrating Caribbean-American Heritage Month. prgtoken As a Virgin Islander and an American of Caribbean descent, I am proud to celebrate the life, legacy, and achievement of Caribbean people in this country. Virgin Islanders and other Americans of Caribbean lineage have made enormous contributions to the United States through academia, athletics, the arts, and more. prgtoken Caribbeans have been involved in this country since its inception, such as des gens de couleurs libres, who included 800 French-Caribbean soldiers, 500 of whom were Haitian free men of color who fought at the battle of Savannah for the Colonies in the American Revolution. prgtoken Caribbean-American Heritage Month was officially celebrated and recognized on June 5, 2006, by Presidential proclamation signed by President . It had been unanimously adopted in the House in 2005 through the unwavering power of our colleague Barbara Lee, who sponsored the legislation. Since 2006, the White House has released an annual proclamation recognizing June as National Caribbean-American Heritage Month. prgtoken Caribbean Americans have added to the history, culture, and communities in America in countless ways. The unique relationship between the United States and the Caribbean has enriched both regions, and this month is a wonderful time to celebrate our shared past and our future. prgtoken We should also look for opportunities for us as Americans to pursue new partnerships on a number of issues with the Caribbean. From trade, immigration, disaster preparedness, poverty eradication, and ending HIV/AIDS, the United States and the Caribbean share a number of mutual policy interests. prgtoken This year, the COVID-19 pandemic adds a new challenge to both our country and our Caribbean neighbors. I will keep fighting to ensure that the United States works to be an active and constructive partner in safeguarding the health and welfare of our third border. prgtoken The people of the Caribbean are as much a part of the fabric of this country as anyone else. We are not monolithic, nor do we represent one culture, one ideology, or even one ethnicity. prgtoken Alexander Hamilton, the drafter of the United States Constitution and our first Secretary of the Treasury, was born on the island of Nevis and spent his childhood and formative years on my home, St. Croix, in the Danish West Indies, what is now the Virgin Islands. prgtoken Caribbean-American heritage not only flows through the fabric of this country; it also flows through the Halls of Congress every day. Shirley Chisholm, a personal hero of mine, was the first African-American Congresswoman and the first Black woman to run for President, nominated by a major party. Her heritage hails from Barbados and