mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
CONDEMNING TERRORIST ATTACKS IN MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM
Edward R. Royce (Republican, CA) \u2014 2017-6-6

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , following the killing in London this past weekend, British Prime Minister May compared the attacks in Manchester and those in the capital, and she said: `` . . . while the recent attacks are not connected by common networks, they are connected in one important sense. They are bound together by the single evil ideology of Islamist extremism that preaches hatred, sows division, and promotes sectarianism.'' ``Defeating this ideology is one of the great challenges of our time. . . .'' prgtoken Those were the Prime Minister's words. prgtoken We are committed to standing with our British friends and allies in this important fight. This resolution signals our resolve to deepen our collaboration with our friends and allies in the United Kingdom to counter terrorism and to counter radicalization. prgtoken , I, therefore, urge my colleagues to join me in unanimous support of this resolution, and .
BATTLE OF MIDWAY
Ted Poe (Republican, TX) \u2014 2017-6-6

after his victory over Pearl Harbor, when asked why he wasn't celebrating, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto replied, ``I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.'' Admiral Yamamoto was right, and he felt the terrible resolve of this giant on June 4, 1942 at the Battle of Midway. Midway was an important battle in the Pacific theater: it was the turning point that put the United States in an offensive position to take on the Empire of Japan. Those of the Greatest Generation proved that when the peace of this nation is threatened, our people will stand up and fight, bringing the thunder of God upon our enemies. prgtoken Japan's goal at Midway Island was to destroy and ambush the remainder of our fleet in hopes of invading Hawaii. In the early morning on June 4th, Japan launched its attack on Midway by bombing the island. This strategy proved to be ineffective. In response, the three U.S. carriers--Enterprise, Hornet and Yorktown--launched fighters and bombers against the Japanese fleet and sank all four Japanese carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu. These four Japanese aircraft carriers were the same carriers that attacked Pearl Harbor six months earlier. Over the next two days, the Imperial Japanese Navy suffered the loss of four aircraft carriers and hundreds of pilots--pilots that had bombed Pearl Harbor. Japan's defeat at Midway began America's drive on toward Tokyo. On that day, over 300 American sailors gave their lives for our country. It was Japan's first defeat of WWII. prgtoken The victory at Midway was in part due to American intelligence, US codebreakers. These codebreakers were able to decipher the Japanese radio code called JN-25b, which enabled Pacific Fleet Commander and Texan, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, to learn of their exact plans of attack. Admiral Nimitz gained valuable intel leading up to the battle, including the logistics and timing of the attack. As a result of the Navy codebreakers Admiral Nimitz was able to reconstruct the Japanese plan of attack in detail. prgtoken Like Admiral Nimitz, there were other great Texans who helped contribute to the victory at Midway. Baytown resident Ronnie Anderson told me the story of his dad, James Wyatt Anderson who served during this time. SF3/C James Anderson was a twelve year Naval veteran of both World War II and the Korean War. He served in the United States Navy on the survey ship, the USS Bowditch. He surveyed many invasion sites, including the Marshall Islands, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Midway Island was the only overseas assignment where SF3/C James Anderson was able to bring his family. Ronnie said, living on Midway Island, was like living in a kids paradise, especially for a 10 year old boy. Much of Ronnie's time was spent playing war games in the bunkers with the left over mortars and with anti-aircraft shells. Ronnie has several artifacts from the Battle of Midway including a 40mm brass shell
LT. COL. AND STAFF
Vicky Hartzler (Republican, MO) \u2014 2017-6-6

I rise today to recognize United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Molly Nelson and her entire Veterans Affairs staff. Lt. Col. Nelson is a Doctor in the Missouri VA Clinic and has dedicated her life to healing and helping veterans who have risked their lives for our country. prgtoken Lt. Col. Nelson and her staff continuously go the extra mile for our veterans to make sure they get immediate and effective care. I am honored to share my gratitude and respect for this Missouri Clinic and their dedication and compassion are an inspiration to us all.
HONORING CLAUDE CARTER
Andy Barr (Republican, KY) \u2014 2017-6-6

I rise to honor a very special person, Mr. Claude Carter, of Bath County, Kentucky. Mr. Carter, a veteran of World War II, is a member of the Greatest Generation. prgtoken Mr. Carter enlisted in the United States Navy at the age of 18. After completing basic training at the Great Lakes Naval Base in Illinois, he was then placed on a troop transport train to San Francisco. There, he received hatchman and winchman training. The sailors were trained to load and unload tons of supplies from the merchant ships as quickly as possible. Mr. Carter and 3,000 others then boarded the U.S.S. Pondera for Honolulu. There they were transferred to a naval supply depot where they were in charge of transporting supplies to ships outside the harbor. Mr. Carter and others were struck by the destruction left following the attack on Pearl Harbor, and were always mindful of the sacrifices made there on December 7th, 1941. During his time in Hawaii, the names of all those in his company were listed on the wall, and every other man was chosen to transfer to Iwo Jima or Okinawa. Mr. Carter was not chosen and stayed on the island to finish his service. He reached the rank of 3rd Class Boatswain's Mate Coxswain and was discharged in June of 1946. prgtoken Mr. Carter returned home where he attended Tennessee Tech, worked at the family hardware store, and built electricity and telephone line systems. He and his wife Lena have lived in Owingsville for 22 years where they enjoy retirement. prgtoken Mr. Carter and so many other men and women accepted the call of their country and volunteered to serve. Their sacrifice protected freedom and preserved it for future generations. Mr. Carter is truly an American patriot. I am honored to recognize Mr. Claude Carter before the United States House of Representatives.
CONDEMNING VIOLENCE AGAINST PEACEFUL PROTESTERS OUTSIDE THE TURKISH AMBASSADOR'S RESIDENCE
Christopher H. Smith (Republican, NJ) \u2014 2017-6-6

I rise today to support H. Res. 354, condemning the violence perpetrated against peaceful protesters outside the Turkish Ambassdor's residence during Turkish President Erdogan's visit last month. This timely and critically important measure was introduced by my good friend, and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, Ed Royce. prgtoken , as representatives of the American people, we take a solemn oath to ``support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.'' This sworn commitment spurs us to speak out now after the violent attack last month on peaceful protesters in Washington, D.C. who were peacefully exercising their First Amendments rights. prgtoken On that day a group of peaceful demonstrators--including a resident from my home state of New Jersey, Ceren Borazan--gathered outside the Turkish Ambassador's residence to protest the policies of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Shortly after President Erdogan's arrival at the residence during his official visit to the United States, a contingent of his security guards, joined by some supporters, rushed across the street where the protesters were gathered. Before the demonstrators knew it, this group of thugs was upon them, throwing them to the ground and raining blows upon them. prgtoken By now we are all familiar with the shocking video images captured of men in dark suits, some with guns, and others in plainclothes mercilessly kicking protesters in their faces while they lie helplessly on the ground. Some demonstrators were outnumbered four to one by their assailants who punched and manhandled them until DC police intervened. When police stepped in, some attackers turned to assault our uniformed officers. prgtoken Among this group of protesters were Kurdish- and Armenian-Americans, members of minorities with a painful history of persecution and marginalization in their ancestral homelands. These individuals came to the United States to seek the freedom and safety they were deprived in their lands of origin. prgtoken The United States and its Bill of Rights are a promise to these people that must not be broken. That members of the President's security detail and others felt they could attack these sacred rights with impunity should offend us all. That Erdogan would calmly watch the melee unfold--as video evidence shows--is as galling as it is unsurprising. Indeed, just a year ago his security detail was involved in an all-too-similar incident at a public event in Washington. prgtoken , the steps recommended by this measure should be urgently implemented. Among other things, the United States should charge and prosecute all those involved in the attack. The State Department should request a waiver of immunity for any Turkish officials charged and detained in connection with the incident. Finally, the United States should redouble its efforts to promote democracy and human rights in Turkey. prgtoken , th
FINANCIAL CHOICE ACT WOULD BE A DISASTER FOR THE ENTIRE FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Carolyn B. Maloney (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2017-6-7

I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 10, the ``Wrong'' CHOICE Act. prgtoken This bill would take us back to the regulatory stone age and would be a disaster for our entire financial system. It would actually increase risk in the financial system because, under this bill, any bank that meets an arbitrary new 10 percent leverage ratio would be exempted from all other capital and liquidity requirements. The problem with the leverage ratio is that it treats all assets equally risky. Under the leverage ratio, a subprime mortgage-backed security is considered just as risky as a U.S. Treasury bond. prgtoken As a result, many banking regulators have pointed out that relying solely on the leverage ratio would give banks an incentive to get rid of their safest assets, like U.S. treasuries, and load up on riskier assets. prgtoken Incentives matter, , and this bill gives banks a huge incentive to load up on risk. We know what risk is like. Eleven million people lost their homes, and many lost their jobs. Let's not remove the safety net that was put in place with the Dodd-Frank bill. prgtoken I oppose the ``Wrong'' CHOICE Act. It is bad for America, bad for people, and the wrong direction. I urge a strong ``no'' vote.
COUNTERING IRAN'S DESTABILIZING ACTIVITIES ACT OF 2017--MOTION TO PROCEED
Debbie Stabenow (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2017-6-7

I want to first thank my friend and colleague, the senior Senator from Minnesota, Ms. Klobuchar. She is a very important part of our Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee. She provides tremendous leadership. We both come from great ``M'' States. So it is always great to have an opportunity to be part of sharing remarks on such an important topic. I am also pleased to state that Senator Heitkamp will be joining us today, as well, from another very important rural State. prgtoken Michigan small towns and rural communities embody much of our State's way of life and drive our economy forward. I grew up in one of those small towns, in Clare, in Northern Michigan. I believe that towns like mine should be celebrated and strengthened. We want young people to go to college and feel that there is a future to come home to, either back to the farm or the small business or participating in the community or maybe working at the local hospital, but being part of continuing this important way of life. prgtoken People in our communities deserve every opportunity to be able to raise their families with well-paying jobs and a high quality of life, like everyone in every part of Michigan and all across the country wants to have, but many rural areas and many small towns face unique challenges in developing and maintaining infrastructure. prgtoken Broadband. We now need to make sure that the farm at the end of the road is connected with high-speed internet. At one point in our country's history, it was the telephone. It was electric poles and being able to connect the farm at the end of the road to the rest of the community. Now it is high-speed broadband, and it is critically important that that happen. prgtoken Providing high-quality health services and education. My mother was a nurse--the director of nursing--at the small hospital in Clare for many, many years. So I know how important not only healthcare was and making sure there were doctors in our town but also making sure there were jobs, because one of the top employers in our community was the hospital. That remains true today. prgtoken When the administration released its budget proposal at the end of the month, frankly, I was shocked to see the kinds of disinvestments and sharp cuts that would hurt small towns like Clare and rural communities all across Michigan and all across the country. No matter which part you look at, President 's budget is bad for rural Michigan, and it is bad for rural America. prgtoken First, the budget calls for a 21-percent cut to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is our second largest industry. One out of four jobs in Michigan is connected to agriculture and the food economy. In the President's budget, it was decided that the third largest cut to any Federal agency would be in the Department of Agriculture. This will dramatically reduce and eliminate very key rural development services. prgtoken
COUNTERING IRAN'S DESTABILIZING ACTIVITIES ACT OF 2017--MOTION TO PROCEED
Michael F. Bennet (Democrat, CO) \u2014 2017-6-7

it is nice to see the Presiding Officer in the Chair. Because he is a student of history, I know it will come as no surprise to my colleague from Colorado that this week marks the 70th anniversary of the Marshall Plan. prgtoken In 1947, Europe was in ruins. After years of war, factories from Manchester to Munich had been bombed out. Railroads laid disfigured from artillery. Farms stood defaced by the tracks of a thousand tanks. Across the continent, Europe's once humming economies stood silent. Over 60 million people had died, including 6 million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. prgtoken Here in the United States, we mourned the loss of over 400,000 of our soldiers. We had spent, in today's dollars, nearly $4 trillion to secure that victory in World War II. But to secure the peace, our leaders understood that even more was required of us. Truman's Secretary of State, George Marshall, told the Nation that without a return to ``normal economic health in the world,'' there could be ``no assured peace.'' In other words, if famine and poverty remained unchecked across Europe, unanswered, fascism and communism would soon follow, threatening U.S. interests and global stability at the same time. prgtoken So after years of sacrifice--sacrifice that this generation of Americans, thank goodness, has never had to endure--the easy course would have been to withdraw behind the Atlantic and the Pacific, turn our back on the world, and embrace isolation. prgtoken Instead, we proposed the Marshall Plan, a bold investment to revive Europe's economies, modernize industry, and expand trade, not only for allies like France and Britain but also for our enemies, Germany and Italy. It was extraordinary that political leaders here once made those decisions. I struggle to think of a time in human history when the victor helped to revive the vanquished with no strings attached, no colonial objective. prgtoken As the Marshall Plan made its way through Congress, leaders in Washington made the case to the American people, even standing firm against some who wanted to require European countries to buy only American products with the aid that we gave them. Still in the years to come, American farmers and manufacturers would fill millions of crates of wheat and wood, of sugar and steel to rebuild Europe from the ravages of war. prgtoken President Truman understood that, in time, strong European economies would become strong trading partners, strong military allies, and a bulwark of freedom against Soviet expansion. History proved him right, to say the least. prgtoken After the Marshall Plan, Western Europe surged back to life as Eastern Europe stagnated behind the Iron Curtain. In the West, production rose and hunger fell. Foes became friends. Bonds across the Atlantic solidified. Investments through the Marshall Plan helped lay the foundation for NATO, the common market, and the European Union. prgtoken Few actions in our
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2213, ANTI-BORDER CORRUPTION REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2017
Zoe Lofgren (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-6-7

I rise in opposition to the rule and the underlying bill. The bill, in fact, does weaken critical screening of potential CBP officers, and our country actually should be working to increase the security relative to CBP. CBP is essential. It is our first line of defense to stop terrorists, to stop drugs, to stop dangerous persons coming in, and we should not weaken our standards. prgtoken Now, the overwhelming majority of CBP officers are honest, hardworking public servants. Crime and corruption has, however, been a persistent problem for the agency. Numerous CBP officers have been found to have strong connections to organized crime, including drug cartels. They are in prison now. prgtoken In many cases, cartels try and infiltrate the CBP by recruiting people to apply for CBP positions. This results in illicit drug smuggling and other dangerous activities. prgtoken In 2015, the CBP Integrity Advisory Panel found that--and this is a quote--``arrests for corruption of CBP personnel far exceed, on a per capita basis, such arrests at other Federal law enforcement agencies.'' prgtoken In 2016, this same panel observed that ``corrupt CBP law enforcement personnel pose a national security threat.'' And it recommended that the current polygraph test be expanded, not reduced. prgtoken Now, this bill allows for an exemption for local law enforcement and former members of the Armed Forces from the polygraph requirement. For example, if a polygraph has been taken in the prior 10 years, I think it is a mistake to think that that will protect us. prgtoken In fact, the Inspector General at DHS, John Roth, advises against this bill. He explained that the polygraph changes, including this legislation--and this is a quote--``could put CBP at significant risk.'' prgtoken He says: ``While it may sound reasonable to say you could waive requirements from former military personnel because they have passed a polygraph, Border Patrol agents work in a different environment that is not as controlled as the military.'' prgtoken Now, it is important to note that, of the applicants for the CBP, two-thirds fail the polygraph test. That may be a concern, but we ought to be glad that people who are a risk are not actually hired by the CBP. prgtoken I will just note that the Government Accountability Office advises that, between 2005 and 2012, there were 2,170 reported incidents of arrest of CBP personnel for misconduct. That is about one arrest a day of CBP officials. prgtoken CBP's own Integrity Advisory Panel, and these are law enforcement experts, outside law enforcement experts, concluded in 2015 that ``there is data indicating that arrests for corruption of CBP personnel far exceed, on a per capita basis, such arrests at other Federal law enforcement agencies.'' And in its final report, that panel recommended that the current polygraph testing be expanded to include postemployment tests that are best practices at the FBI and agencies in the
COUNTERING IRAN'S DESTABILIZING ACTIVITIES ACT OF 2017--MOTION TO PROCEED
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-6-7

I voted no today on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to consideration of S. 722, the Iran sanctions bill. prgtoken I did so not because I oppose the underlying bill and the need to further sanction Iran's belligerent missile and terrorist activity; in fact, I support that legislation. I voted no to give a moment's pause after the terrible ISIS attack in Tehran that just occurred. prgtoken Earlier today, a pair of deadly attacks occurred over several hours in Tehran, including in the nation's parliament building, indiscriminately killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens more. The heavily armed assailants targeted guards, cleaners, and administrative employees of the parliament. ISIS later claimed responsibility for this barbaric attack. prgtoken I certainly have my differences with the Iranian regime, its continued sponsorship of Hezbollah and Hamas, its threats to Israel, its proxy wars in Yemen and Syria, and its human rights abuses, but we must remember that the Iranian regime isn't the same as the Iranian people, many of whom expressed sympathy with the American people after we suffered the horrific attack on September 11. prgtoken In fact, the Iranian Government issued a surprisingly strong statement of condemnation of the terrorists responsible after the September 11 attack. prgtoken There was even some hope after those statements that our two nations might work together on other shared interests, although unfortunately, other than the historic nuclear agreement, that has not come to pass. prgtoken Nevertheless, I think it is important that we pause and reaffirm the statement made today by our State Department that condemns the attack in Iran prgtoken and expresses condolences for the families and victims. prgtoken I also think it is critical that we finally take some action here in the Congress to address Russia's attack on our election, which occurred more than 7 months ago. prgtoken We have overwhelming evidence of this historic attack--an attack that I liken to a cyber act of war. prgtoken The majority party here in Congress has done nothing to respond to Russia's aggression or to help protect America against any future such attack on our democracy. prgtoken President still refuses to acknowledge the Russian attack-- seemingly more interested in befriending the Russians and complaining about former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Comey than convincingly telling Russia to never interfere in our election again or face the consequences. prgtoken This lack of resolve is truly an abdication of our national security responsibilities in Congress. prgtoken As one Polish security expert recently warned me, if the United States does not respond to the Russia attack on its own democracy, then Putin will feel emboldened and free to conduct further such attacks against other Western democracies. prgtoken Sadly, that has already proven true--just look at Russia's meddling