mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
REMEMBERING DIANNE FEINSTEIN
Susan M. Collins (Republican, ME) \u2014 2023-9-29

I rise with great sadness today to honor my friend and our colleague Senator Dianne Feinstein. She was a pioneer and a strong and dignified leader. prgtoken Dianne, who was the longest serving woman in Senate history, had a career marked by many firsts: the first woman to serve as mayor of San Francisco, the first woman Senator to represent California, the first woman to serve as the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and the first woman to serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee. prgtoken Dianne was such a strong presence in the Senate. She was a determined and tenacious advocate. Many of us worked closely with her on the Intelligence Committee, where she was such an excellent chairman. She was always fair, respectful, informed, and strong. We worked together on the Appropriations Committee as well, where she chaired the Energy and Water Subcommittee. Many of us were her allies on the Violence Against Women Act and the Respect for Marriage Act. prgtoken The Senate and the country have lost a model Senator--elegant, graceful, kind, compassionate, strong, informed, intelligent. prgtoken I have also lost a dear friend. I put up this watercolor painting that Dianne did and gave me so many years ago. It has hung in my office ever since, and it will have a place of honor there always. Every time I would pass by, I would look at it and think about how talented Dianne was in so many different areas. I treasure this painting. prgtoken When I became engaged 11 years ago, it was Dianne who sponsored a reception for me and my now-husband Tom Daffron in her home in Washington. My story is very similar to that of the leader. prgtoken I was also reminded when I heard Senator Murray talk about Dianne's generosity. At one point one year, she bought seersucker suits for every woman who was serving in the Senate so that we could all participate in Seersucker Thursday. That was Dianne. She paid attention to the smallest details and to the largest issues that affected not only our country but the world. prgtoken Most of all, Dianne was such a role model for girls and women. She was a role model for us who came to the Senate, after she began her storied tenure here. I will miss Dianne terribly. My heart goes out to her family, and may she rest in peace.
COMMENDING JOHN SHELL FOR HIS SERVICE TO ALABAMA DISTRICT ONE
Jerry L. Carl (Republican, AL) \u2014 2023-9-29

I rise today to honor John Shell for his service to Alabama's First Congressional District. John Shell initiated the Eagle Reef Project, which involves deploying reef structures to foster marine life. These reefs are installed under docks or wharfs to filter and clean up to 10,000,000 gallons of water annually. They provide homes for many species of fish and crabs. John raised $52,000 for 175 reefs in aims to expand the project to reach 1,000 reefs along the coast of Alabama, and eventually to Mississippi and Florida. He hopes to do a similar project in coastal areas along the Gulf and the Atlantic. prgtoken His environmental impact on our waters is remarkable. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.
RECOGNIZING MAJOR JOHN RAYMOND KNUE, USAF, RETIRED WITH A CONGRESSIONAL VETERAN COMMENDATION
Pete Sessions (Republican, TX) \u2014 2023-9-29

I am honored to present retired Major John Raymond Knue, United States Air Force, of Robinson, Texas with a Congressional Veterans Commendation. prgtoken John was born the oldest of six children in a large and loving family in rural southern Indiana. Graduating from North Dearborn high school in 1968 and after a short time working in construction in civil engineering, he decided to enroll in the Air Force in December 1968 at the height of the Vietnam War. prgtoken He took his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base and was awarded his tech specialty in civil engineering. During his 22 years on active duty, John was overseas over five years to include tours in the Vietnam War as well as a tour in Germany. He was sent to advanced training for Vietnam, and in November 1970 arrived in Cam Ranh Bay with Unit 554 Civil Engineering Squad in heavy repair construction. This was part of the famous ``Red Horse'' squad, and in fact, the 554 was the last Red Horse unit in Vietnam. prgtoken Through hard work, he attained the rank of Technical Sergeant and earned an appointment at the Air Force Officers Training School and was commissioned in November 1978. Following a very successful career as a Commissioned Officer, he retired at the rank of Major in August 1998. prgtoken During his military career, Major Knue earned many prestigious decorations including three Meritorious Service Medals, three Air Force Commendation Medals, six Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards, four Vietnam Service Medals, the Humanitarian Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal. prgtoken Following his retirement, he received his Doctor of Education degree from the University of North Texas in 1998 and continued to serve others through employment, charity, and volunteer activities. In education, he was Facility Development OfFicer at Texas State Technical College and Senior Lecturer at Baylor University Hankamer School of Business. In civic duty, he was a Robinson City Council Member, McLennan County 911 District Board of Manager, and served in various capacities as a Robinson firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician. prgtoken For fellow veterans, he works tirelessly for Heart of Texas Waco Veterans One-Stop for earned military benefits as Lead Trainer for new volunteers, assists in holding Baylor University law clinics, and helps coordinate all prgtoken special events including weekly meals. He is a Veterans of Foreign Wars Lifetime Member and Officer and Vietnam Veterans Association of America Lifetime Member. John was honored as the State of Texas 2020 Appointment of the Year for Continued Service to Veterans of Vietnam War and All Wars. prgtoken John is very active in Meadowbrook Baptist Church where among other things, John and his wife Carol plan and supervise Wednesday night family night meals for one-hundred and fifty members from August to May of each year. prgtoken For an American who
CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS AND BORDER SECURITY ENHANCEMENT ACT, 2024
Dusty Johnson (Republican, SD) \u2014 2023-9-29

so often around here, we vote on half measures, narrow bills that, at best, address one issue in only a modest way. This is not that bill. This is an opportunity in one vote to shut the border, to keep the government open, and to reduce spending. prgtoken The five conservative leaders who, with me, crafted this proposal knew that bold action was needed. prgtoken Crisis one: We are $33 trillion in debt. That is pushing us toward insolvency. That number has grown by 50 percent in just the last 4 years. This bill puts us back on the right track and cuts billions of spending, even just in the next month. prgtoken Two, a shutdown accomplishes nothing. It does not save a nickel. In fact, it costs the American taxpayers billions. This stopgap funding measure makes sure our government stays open. prgtoken Three, 1.8 million illegal crossings at our southern border is unacceptable. This bill puts into place the policies that we know work to secure our border. prgtoken , I will admit to not understanding fully those who oppose this bill. I do not understand why anyone would choose open borders over an open government. prgtoken , we are here to solve problems. Chaos is not a legislative strategy. In a few moments, I will vote to keep the government open, to cut spending, and to secure our border. I urge my colleagues to do the same.
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5525, CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS AND BORDER SECURITY ENHANCEMENT ACT, 2024
Debbie Lesko (Republican, AZ) \u2014 2023-9-29

I am in support of funding the government so our military, Border Patrol officers, and other dedicated employees that are protecting our Nation can continue with their job and get paid while they are doing it. prgtoken I am also in support of House s pushing and demanding that the Senate secure our border by including the bill that we have already passed out of this House, H.R. 2. prgtoken One of the biggest crises in our Nation right now is a result of this administration's disastrous border policies. prgtoken President 's policies have allowed 233,000 border crossings in just August of this year compared to 50,000 just 3 years ago under President . prgtoken has invited 211,000 additional migrants to fly directly into the United States from their home foreign country. prgtoken has accepted 263,000 additional more migrants to apply for asylum via his new CBP One app. prgtoken has allowed 151 migrants to enter our country that are on the terrorist watch list--and that is just who we have caught. prgtoken has allowed migrant women and children to get raped by cartels. His policies have allowed young migrant children to be sold into sex slavery. His policies have allowed fentanyl to flood our border and kill our citizens. prgtoken This has got to stop, and s are here to stop it and protect our Nation. prgtoken House s have already passed a bill to secure our border that is now sitting over in the Senate waiting to be heard. Schumer won't even bring it up for a vote. prgtoken It is time for the -controlled Senate to pass our border security bill. It is time for the insanity at our southern border to end. It is time to pass this bill and pressure the in the Senate to secure the border.
CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS AND BORDER SECURITY ENHANCEMENT ACT, 2024
Juan Ciscomani (Republican, AZ) \u2014 2023-9-29

I thank my friend for yielding. We are living in a border crisis, the worst one that we have ever seen. The numbers show what used to be bi-annual numbers are now monthly and even weekly numbers. There is no denying where we are. prgtoken The Tucson sector, which is where I live, has seen the worst of this, . We are at home seeing street releases now, just last week allowing 11,000 apprehensions and during this month about 40,000. These are, again, annual numbers in the past, and now they are what we consider almost on a weekly basis. prgtoken Now, I live in a county that is on the border, and we are seeing it firsthand. I know exactly how life is there. As Mario Diaz-Balart, my good friend from Florida mentioned, I am an immigrant myself. I know the journey. I became a U.S. citizen in 2006 and became a U.S. Congressman in 2022, 16 years later. prgtoken I know this country is the country of opportunity. I get why people want to come here. However, this administration has allowed the cartels to run amuck and handle the border and abuse people as they are trying to do so. prgtoken Our local communities are suffering because of that. They are the ones carrying the burden. We have cries from help from both sides of the aisle. I hear from mayors that are , mayors that are s. It doesn't matter the party, they are all being impacted the same way. prgtoken This administration has not prioritized this crisis. prgtoken I will tell you, living on the border I understand what I call the three buckets. We can talk about immigration, we can talk about trade and commerce, and we can talk about security, and all three are suffering right now because of the lack of attention on this issue. prgtoken It is also a humanitarian problem when this administration has lost track of 85,000 minors. This is nothing short of a humanitarian crisis, as well. Not even that will make the President wake up to this. prgtoken This is the worst time to be on the verge of a shutdown in less than 48 hours. We cannot shut down. We have to do what we can to protect our border and keep our government funded.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
John Kennedy (Republican, LA) \u2014 2023-9-29

. Reserving the right to modify or not modify. prgtoken Senator Paul, as usual, makes some very good points. I agree with him wholeheartedly that the National Flood Insurance Program is a mess. It needs to be fixed. prgtoken I want to make the record clear that in Louisiana, my people are working people. My coast is a working coast. My people aren't wealthy millionaires who have three or four homes on the beach. These are ordinary people who get up every day, go to work, obey the law, pay their taxes, and try to do the right thing by their kids. prgtoken They can barely afford one home. It is not only the coast that we are talking about. In 2016, in the middle of my State--again, not mansions, just working-class people--we had 24 inches of rainfall in about a day and a half. prgtoken The homes that flooded--and many of them did--were not anywhere near a body of water. If you get 24 inches of rain in a day and a half, your home is going to flood. I don't care if you are living on Pike's Peak. So this program is meant to help those people as well. prgtoken But in pointing that out, I don't want to take anything away from Senator Paul's excellent points. He is, however, mistaken in one critical respect: When you buy flood insurance through the Federal National Flood Insurance Program, the most you can collect on your home as a result of one flood is $250,000. It is not accurate to say that a million-dollar home can collect a million dollars in damages from a flood. That is just not true. If there is a flood and you own a million-dollar home and you own a $250,000 home and the owners of those two homes both have national flood insurance, the most under the policy they can collect is $250,000. prgtoken So why do you want to tell a person who owns a million-dollar home that they can't insure their home? You are just telling them they can't buy flood insurance, so the flood insurance program has less money to cash flow. It makes no sense. prgtoken Now, Senator Paul is correct, and it is one of the things we are trying to fix, that there has been abuse in terms of some homes. Senator Paul mentioned the example of Louisiana; but there are other States, many others, where homes have flooded three or four times, and they keep getting flood insurance. prgtoken If I can say anything good about the current National Flood Insurance Program today, I would say that FEMA has taken steps to try to prevent that from happening so that if you flood a certain number of times, you have to move. And I know the Senator didn't--I don't think I am disagreeing with him on that. I think we are in agreement. prgtoken But let me tell you the second and main reason I can't accept Senator Paul's change. For me, it has to do with what is right. There are probably 20 different Senators--well, there are a hundred Senators who care about flood insurance, but there are about 20 different Senators who want to be involved in any changes made to this program
CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS AND BORDER SECURITY ENHANCEMENT ACT, 2024
J. French Hill (Republican, AR) \u2014 2023-9-29

this is an important day. This Congress needs to come together to go back and get our spending under control and also get our border under control. prgtoken Both are of concern to the American people. We hear about it in our offices every day. The spending is unsustainable, but 200,000 people a month coming across the border and living in this country illegally is also unsustainable. prgtoken This bill is a product of hard work for weeks to give us time to complete our appropriations work, to negotiate with the Senate while at the same time reducing spending, which has been an avalanche of out-of- control spending for the last 2 years, and to secure our border. prgtoken , I stand in support of it, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
HONORING COACH TOM IRWIN
John Joyce (Republican, PA) \u2014 2023-9-29

. Madam , I rise today to recognize former Bishop Guilfoyle High School football coach Tom Irwin. prgtoken Over his four decades on the sidelines and in the classroom, Coach Irwin taught thousands of young men to be team players, to work together for the common good, to sacrifice for one another, and to be men of character both on the field and off of the field. prgtoken As one of Coach Irwin's former players, I personally am grateful for his leadership. prgtoken Through his words and his deeds, Coach Irwin taught his students what it meant to be an individual of faith, prgtoken what it meant to pray, and to seek God's guidance during both victory and defeat. prgtoken Leading teams of young men onto the football field, Coach Irwin prepared his students not only to confront the conflict of crossing the goal line, but to prepare for the trials that each man would face later throughout their lives. prgtoken As a coach, as a teacher, as a mentor, and a counselor, Tom Irwin has impacted the hearts and the souls of countless young students, both those who wore football pads and those who did not.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2023-9-29

I know there are others who are waiting to speak, and I will yield to them momentarily, but I think it is important that the majority leader explain the entire story of where we find ourselves here today on the verge of a shutdown. prgtoken The truth is, the Senate has not passed a single appropriations bill that passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee by bipartisan support. Some of them were passed unanimously. The first bill, I believe, that passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee passed out some 80 days ago. Now, it may have taken until the end of July before we could get a House bill to then amend, which is a necessary procedural prerequisite, but the fact of the matter is, the majority leader, who is the only person who can schedule a vote on any of these pieces of legislation, has failed to bring any of these bills to the floor and successfully passed in the U.S. Senate. prgtoken So 18 days before the end of the fiscal year, which is the shutdown unless we pass another funding bill, the majority leader puts a so- called minibus, or a combination of three appropriations bills, on the floor. That was the first time the majority leader decided to actually schedule a vote on anything. prgtoken My point is that the majority leader likes to blame the House--and particularly because it is a majority of s--so he acts like this is all their fault. Everything is just hunky-dory and bipartisan in the Senate. That is false. The majority leader has contributed dramatically to this shutdown because of the Senate's failure under his leadership to pass any appropriations bills whatsoever. And, yes, it is no surprise to anybody that here we are needing to find some way forward on a continuing resolution--in other words, to keep the lights on--while we continue to work out other differences. prgtoken I think shutdowns are a mistake. Shutdowns are a mistake because they don't solve the underlying problem. They disrupt all sorts of people, and he mentioned some of the people they disrupt, including pay to our military. Our own staff aren't going to get paid. People aren't going to be able to get passports through the passport office. If they have immigration problems, if veterans are worried about getting compensation or other benefits, they are not going to be responded to because of this government shutdown. Completely, completely predictable and completely, completely unnecessary. prgtoken So I think if you are going to talk about who contributed to where we are today, the majority leader--I say this respectfully--this is in large part a Schumer shutdown because the Senate hasn't done its job. This is not governing. This is not responsible. Again, the only way we can consider legislation in the U.S. Senate is if he schedules something on the floor. That is his prerogative as the majority leader. prgtoken But people ought to be held accountable. People ought to be responsible fo
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Dan Sullivan (Republican, AK) \u2014 2023-9-29

I am going to try to keep this short because the issues that we are debating here are not that complicated. prgtoken I agree with my colleague from Washington State. We are working around the clock. We are in our conference right now trying to get an amendment to bolster border security, that the whole country, by the way, wants--, s--the whole country wants that. So we are working around the clock too. prgtoken And my colleague did misstate something. I actually voted to get on this bill. I voted to get on this bill. So her statement about my vote, she needs to check my vote the other day. prgtoken But be that as it may, once again, she says there is only one serious solution. Well, this body has done this before. The Senator from Washington State has done this before. On the eve of a shutdown in 2013, the Senator from Washington State voted for this bill. Every Senator voted for this bill. prgtoken So when she keeps saying, ``Let's get real,'' I agree, let's get real. Go look at your vote from 2013. You voted for this on the eve of a shutdown. prgtoken I will remind my colleague from Washington State, in 2019, when there was a partial government shutdown, focused on the Coast Guard which wasn't getting paid and the blocked my bill to pay the Coast Guard, she actually stated: It is absolutely unacceptable that our Coast Guard families went without their paychecks during the shutdown. We need to make sure President doesn't put them through this again. prgtoken Well, I am going to put the Senator from Washington State's words back at her: It is absolutely unacceptable that Coast Guard and other family members went without paychecks during the shutdown. We need to make sure it doesn't happen again. So vote for our bill. prgtoken Every time they object, the arguments of why they are objecting to something they already agreed to 10 years ago get more tangled up. We are all working to avoid a shutdown, but if it doesn't happen, let's make sure the men and women who are risking their lives for our country and their families know that they are going to get paid. That is all we are asking. That is all we are asking. prgtoken And everybody in this body 10 years ago did this, including the Senator from Washington State. And it is just beyond comprehension that they are coming up with arguments now to not do this. prgtoken This isn't about politics. This is about supporting our troops at the moment they really need it. And they are not doing it. prgtoken to my colleague from Texas.