mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019
Richard Blumenthal (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2018-6-13

I am honored to follow my colleague from Connecticut on a topic that has bedeviled and baffled us together almost since the time we became Senators. It is a topic that is heartrending and gut-wrenching for both of us. prgtoken I thank him for his leadership and partnership in this effort. prgtoken , we are here on the 2-year anniversary of the tragic Orlando prgtoken nightclub attack. On June 12, 2016, a man armed with an assault rifle and a pistol, with hatred in his heart, stormed the Pulse nightclub and murdered 49 people. This man turned a safe haven, a place of joy and celebration, into an unimaginable nightmare. prgtoken On that day, and on so many other days--in fact, virtually every day--all of us who lived through the Sandy Hook massacre firsthand relived the terrible tragedy of that day in our State. prgtoken Tonight, coincidentally, Sandy Hook Promise, a group that was formed in the wake of that tragedy and has done so much good work around the country to make our Nation safer, is having its annual dinner. I will be attending and speaking there with many who were involved in seeking to make sense of that tragedy and accomplish specific, tangible, commonsense measures since then. prgtoken The Orlando nightclub attack remains the deadliest incident of violence against LGBT people in our Nation's history. We ought to take particular time today to commemorate this national tragedy. We also should think about the epidemic of gun violence, like Sandy Hook, and hate crimes generally across the country--which may not involve gun violence--that plague our Nation daily, the greatest Nation in the history of the world. This scourge of hate crimes and gun violence-- often the two go together--is a continuing plague. prgtoken In an average year, more than 10,300 hate crimes that are committed involve a firearm. That is more than 28 every single day. prgtoken Meanwhile, the FBI tells us that for the second year in a row, hate crime offenses are on the rise in this country, an increase of 6.3 percent from 2015 to 2016, and that increase itself follows a 7-percent increase from 2014 to 2015. These statistics are stunning. They are particularly sad, given the underreporting of hate crimes. We know that many hate crimes are never reported because of embarrassment and fear of retaliation. The real incidence of bias-motivated crimes is likely much higher than even these intolerable numbers tell. prgtoken We know that LGBT people are more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other minority group. I am heartbroken to report that LGBT people are introduced to these instances of violence at a very young age. There is no preparing children for it. prgtoken The youth experience of this kind of bias, bigotry, and hatred is extraordinarily high, and it often is manifested in violence and physical harassment in school. Students report being severely beaten and robbed by their peers. One young man rec
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2851, STOP THE IMPORTATION AND TRAFFICKING OF SYNTHETIC ANALOGUES ACT OF 2017; PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5735, TRANSITIONAL HOUSING FOR RECOVERY IN...
Ben Ray Luján (Democrat, NM) \u2014 2018-6-13

every community in America has suffered from the opioid epidemic. These are our moms and dads, our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters. All across America, families are suffering. prgtoken This is not a new problem. Earlier this year, The New York Times wrote about how one of the most distressing truths of America's opioid epidemic is that it has been with us for 150 years. For more than a century, this crisis has been breaking communities. prgtoken This certainly isn't a new problem in New Mexico. Since 2000, New Mexico has had one of the highest rates of drug overdose deaths in the United States. This cycle must be broken because, if there is no action, America is doomed to see these tragedies repeat for another 150 years. prgtoken This week, we are working on passing a package of bipartisan bills to address this crisis, and that is good. However, if you listen to our friends on the other side of the aisle, you might think that congressional s think this problem has been solved. prgtoken We need to do more and be more aggressive. As The New York Times wrote, serious legislation needs to be considered, such as proposals modeled on the Ryan White CARE Act that would appropriate $100 billion over 10 years for research, treatment, and support. One of the packages we have today is a bipartisan approach around the Ryan White CARE Act. The funding is not sufficient. We can do more. prgtoken Last year in Congress, we came together in a bipartisan fashion to provide a billion dollars to States to address the opioid crisis in the 21st Century Cures Act. We all knew that the billion dollars included in Cures would only be a first step. That is what people said. prgtoken I am going to say today what I said last Congress when we were debating these bills: While the House is taking a step toward addressing the opioid epidemic, this is a missed opportunity. prgtoken There are good policies in this package of bills, but I am deeply disappointed in the lack of investment on such an urgent crisis facing America. Congress can and must do more. prgtoken On behalf of 129 people who will die today from a drug overdose, Congress must do more to address this crisis in a deeply meaningful way. And to do that, real investment must be made, large dollar investments that save lives across America. prgtoken My bill extends the bipartisan block grant funding passed in Cures for an additional 5 years. These grants would continue to support States in their efforts to enhance access to treatment, bolster substance abuse prevention programs, and expand evidence-based initiatives that will help address this deadly epidemic. prgtoken , I include in the Record an editorial written by The New York Times, titled, ``An Opioid Crisis Foretold,'' from April 21, 2018. [From the New York Times, Apr. 21, 2018] An Opioid Crisis Foretold (By The Editorial Board) On
TEARING IMMIGRANT CHILDREN AWAY FROM THEIR PARENTS
J. Luis Correa (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2018-6-13

Congresswoman Jackson Lee, for her comments. prgtoken I agree with her. This is a call to action. At this moment in history, we cannot be silent. At this moment in history, we cannot look away. And in this moment of history, we cannot ignore what we know is clearly going on around us. I thank the gentlewoman for her comments. prgtoken , I now yield to Mr. Joaquin Castro, my good friend and distinguished colleague from Texas.
ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019
Ron Kind (Democrat, WI) \u2014 2018-6-13

. Mr. Chair, I will vote against H.R. 5895, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, because the process failed to live up to the Majority's promise of regular order, didn't invest in Americans back home, and included controversial policy riders that have no place in appropriations bills. Rather than investing in Americans by fully funding critical domestic programs, this bill overspends on wasteful programs under the guise of national security. Further, it included controversial policy riders, which should be considered under their own merit-not hidden in a spending bill. prgtoken I am particularly concerned about the additional money in the bill that is allocated for new weapons systems that may actually threaten our national security. In particular, the bill included new funding for nuclear weapons activities at the expense of critical defense nonproliferation accounts, while offering little evidence as to how new nuclear weapons could be used to improve national security. prgtoken Despite voting against the bill, I am happy to see over $52 million provided to the VA to implement the Jason Simcakoski PROMISE Act. The funding will assist in increasing programs to help medical professionals and patients understand the risks associated with pain medication and examine alternative treatments. I am also encouraged that the bill included over $196 million for veteran suicide prevention, $5.6 billion for homeless veterans' treatment costs, and $270 million for rural health initiatives. These efforts will help address the opioid epidemic and give veterans and their families the tools they need and the accountability they deserve prgtoken I understand how important it is to provide ample support for our military, which is why I recently voted in favor the National Defense Authorization Act. Supporting the brave men and women who defend this nation is of paramount importance; however, we should not be inserting partisan riders into our spending bills. I will continue to work with my colleagues to support our military and pursue fiscally responsible policies that invest in Americans.
HONORING LISA ROMERO-MUNIZ
Ruben J. Kihuen (Democrat, NV) \u2014 2018-6-13

today I rise to remember the life of Lisa Romero-Muniz. prgtoken Not only was Lisa the mother to her son, Anthony, but she was also known as a second mother to all the children she worked with. Lisa attended the Route 91 festival in Las Vegas on October 1. prgtoken Lisa was a discipline secretary at Miyamura High School in Gallup, New Mexico. The students she worked with remember her as a woman who looked out for children dealing with personal issues and for never turning her back on a kid who needed help. prgtoken Lisa would give anyone the last dime she had with no questions asked and would treat everyone like they were family. prgtoken Lisa loved purses, Jason Aldean, and Las Vegas. She was always smiling, outgoing, kind, and considerate. prgtoken Lisa is remembered as being incredibly generous and always wearing her heart on her sleeve. prgtoken I would like to extend my condolences to Lisa Romero-Muniz' family and friends. Please know that the city of Las Vegas, the State of Nevada, and the whole country grieves with you.
ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON OPIOIDS AND THE WORKPLACE
Matt Cartwright (Democrat, PA) \u2014 2018-6-13

. Madam , I rise in support of H.R. 5892, a bill I am proud to have cosponsored with Representative Lewis. prgtoken I thank Congressman Lewis, as well as the Education and the Workforce Committee, for their hard work on this bill. prgtoken Madam , Pennsylvania has the fourth highest rate of death due to drug overdoses in the Nation, and northeastern Pennsylvania, where I represent, has one of the highest rates of fatal drug overdoses in our State. Beyond the statistics are stories of broken families and broken dreams, due to the addiction to and the abuse of these drugs. prgtoken In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that approximately 91 deaths from opioid overdoses occur every day in our Nation. This epidemic breaks our hearts. But it also hurts our economy. An estimated 20 percent of men's and 25 percent of women's decline in labor force participation between 1999 and 2015 can be attributed to the increase in opioid prescriptions. This is a public health and economic crisis that we have to address right now. prgtoken That is why I am so pleased to see the House taking up this legislation. Establishing this advisory council to study the impacts of opioid abuse on the workplace is essential to understanding how damaging this epidemic is, both to individuals and communities. prgtoken We know that we must confront this epidemic on all fronts. It is a bill that is an important step towards helping those dealing with substance abuse remain in the workforce. prgtoken Our work on opioids has to continue after this week. Our communities have not yet healed from the traumatic losses they have suffered, and we have to continue to focus on this issue if we are to have any hope of adequately addressing the harm to public health that opioid abuse has caused. prgtoken Again, I thank Congressman Lewis for his work on this bill, I am proud to join him in that work, and I urge my colleagues in the House of Representatives to support it.
TEARING IMMIGRANT CHILDREN AWAY FROM THEIR PARENTS
Carolyn B. Maloney (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-6-13

I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his leadership, and for organizing this and for reminding us of the leadership that the Party took under President Reagan for comprehensive immigration reform, which we have all been calling for for years. prgtoken Today, I rise because I believe our country is in a moment of crisis. This administration is turning its back on our ideals, our values, and our history as a safe harbor and beacon of light for the world's oppressed and threatened peoples. prgtoken President 's heartless policy of ripping apart families who are coming to the United States seeking freedom from fear, from violence, is cruel, inhumane, and blatantly un-American. prgtoken These families have traveled hundreds, if not thousands, of miles to keep their children safe and away from the harm that awaits them at home. No one takes that journey lightly. No one leaves behind the only home they have known, their friends, their extended family, if they have any other choice. prgtoken Yet, instead of accepting these refugees with compassion, this administration is persecuting and prosecuting those fleeing danger, taking babies from their mothers' and fathers' arms, causing great trauma. prgtoken There is absolutely no justification for this policy. It is cruelty for cruelty's sake. This is not who we are as a Nation. prgtoken It is why I have joined Ranking Member Cummings to demand an Oversight and Government Reform hearing on this reckless policy, and why I have signed on to a resolution condemning this horrific behavior as the child abuse that it is, and why I am joining the Women's Caucus next week at a shadow hearing, because we have requested a hearing from the majority, and they have not granted it, so we are having our own hearing to explore this issue more. prgtoken The administration needs to immediately change course, and every Member of Congress must hold it accountable for doing so. prgtoken These children, these families, and this country deserve so much better. prgtoken , I again thank my good friend, Representative Correa, for hosting this Special Order, for his leadership, and for allowing me to participate in this Special Order this evening.
THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT'S REFUSAL TO PROTECT PATIENTS WITH PREEXISTING CONDITIONS
Gene Green (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2018-6-13

115 people in America die from opioid overdose every day--115. While we are spending the next 2 weeks passing bipartisan legislation to combat the opioid crisis, President 's Department of Justice is abandoning the Affordable Care Act and its popular rule that protects Americans from preexisting conditions like opioid addiction. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, nearly 130 million adults under the age of 65 have preexisting conditions. prgtoken This action taken by the Justice Department is bad policy, and it will do more harm to Texas, which already has the highest population of uninsured in the Nation. prgtoken In fact, it will add more uncertainty to the Affordable Care Act markets at a time when Americans throughout the country will witness double-digit rate increases for the ACA plans next year. We can't combat the opioid crisis if we deny treatment and access to care for Americans with substance abuse. prgtoken I urge my colleagues to do the right thing, speak out, and oppose the huge health insurance premium increases.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE IG REPORT
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-6-13

. Finally, there is the IG report. Tomorrow, the inspector general of the Justice Department will release a report about the Department's handling of an investigation of Secretary Clinton in 2016. We look forward to the report and learning what it has to say. prgtoken Now, we hope our colleagues don't take the cynical track of trying to spin the report's contents to somehow sully the completely separate and ongoing investigation into Putin's meddling in the 2016 election. The DOJ IG report is likely to focus on the conduct of the Justice Department and the FBI in handling the Clinton email investigation in the runup to the 2016 election. Mueller was not appointed at that point. He wasn't a gleam in anyone's eye. So what he is doing is totally independent of what happened here. prgtoken Furthermore, when the President says ``witch hunt'' and somehow blames for this, well, whatever Comey did hurt Hillary Clinton, and he didn't do the same thing to President , which would have hurt him. He released the details of Hillary's investigation--many of us thought he did that wrongly--but didn't release any details of the investigation into possible collusion of the campaign with the Russians. prgtoken So this idea that somehow what Comey did and what Mueller is doing was designed to hurt President and s at ' behest is like ``Alice in Wonderland''--it is the opposite of the facts. The investigation into Putin's meddling in our elections and any potential associations between Russian intelligence and the campaign is an entirely separate investigation from what happened with Hillary Clinton. prgtoken It would be erroneous to try to use the information in the IG report to discredit the special counsel, but we hear rumblings that some of these very partisan s, led by Chairman Nunes, may try to go down that road. We hope they won't be so cynical or so willing to twist the facts inside out and turn truth on its head, all for political gain. prgtoken It is crucial--critical--that Special Counsel Mueller's investigation get to the bottom of what happened and who was involved in Russia's efforts to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. prgtoken , , and .
ASYLUM POLICY
Jeff Merkley (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2018-6-13

for generations, the Statue of Liberty-- Lady Liberty we like to call her--has stood as a symbol of how open America has been to treating those fleeing oppression when they arrive on the shores of America. We hear those famous words written by Emma Lazarus: ``Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.'' That is a vision that we can connect to because virtually every American family has family roots tied to immigrants and tied to people pursuing freedom and fleeing oppression--fleeing religious oppression, fleeing civil war, fleeing famine--but who come to the refuge of the United States of America, knowing that here they could be treated well and have a fair chance to thrive. prgtoken In modern times, we have converted this into an asylum policy. An asylum policy means, if you are truly fleeing repression, oppression-- if you are truly fleeing danger and your life would be in danger if you returned--you could gain admission into the United States of America. In fact, we put into international treaties and into national law-- there it is--the torch, the beacon, that signals to the world that we stand for human rights. prgtoken Yet now we are in a new and different place. On May 7, our Attorney General announced a dramatic change that is completely contrary to the Statue of Liberty. What the Attorney General put forward was, should you flee oppression overseas and find yourself washed up on the shores of the United States of America, we will not greet you with a fair chance to present your case and thrive. Instead, we will grab you, treat you as a criminal, rip your children out of your arms, and lock you up. That is the new policy. That is the Jeff Sessions-- John Kelly policy of the United States of America. prgtoken When I heard about this, I didn't really believe it was possible that any administration could adopt a policy of inflicting deliberate trauma on children. There is no moral code in the world that supports such an action, and there is no religious tradition on our beautiful planet that supports such an action. Yet there it was--the decision to create a deterrence for people to come to our shores by our mistreating the children who had already arrived. Mistreat the child today, and deter some family abroad from ever thinking about coming. That is a dark stain on America, this strategy of deliberate harm to children. prgtoken Last Sunday, a week ago Sunday, I went down to find out if this were really true. I went to a detention center and gained admission to the detention center. The detention center is a large space that is split into different cells--you can call them cells--of fencing. There are fencing posts, and there is chain link fencing. The first room that I went into had smaller cells, maybe 12 by 12 or 15 by 15. They looked like cages. People were just arriving and being put into them. prgtoken It is, really, deeply saddening to see
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
Rosa L. DeLauro (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2018-6-13

due to an unavoidable family commitment I missed Roll Call vote number 258 regarding the ``Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act.'' Had I been present, I would have voted Yes. prgtoken On Roll Call vote number 259 regarding the ``Safe Disposal of Unused Medication Act,'' I would have voted Yes. prgtoken On Roll Call vote number 260 regarding the ``approving of the Journal'', I would have voted Yes.
TEARING IMMIGRANT CHILDREN AWAY FROM THEIR PARENTS
Filemon Vela (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2018-6-13

I rise today to express grave concern about the acceleration of the separation of families at the U.S.-Mexico border due to the Administration's ``zero tolerance'' policy toward border crossers. According to Reuters, more than 1,800 families have been separated from their children in the periods between October 2016 and February 2018. prgtoken Since then, the number has dramatically increased. Recent testimony from CBP officials shows that in the two weeks following Attorney General Jeff Sessions' May 7th announcement of the policy, 638 adults with 658 children were placed in the prosecution process, effectively separating them from their children for an indefinite time period. In McAllen, Texas alone, federal defenders counted 421 immigrant parents coming through the court room in the period between May 21st and June 5th. This number is alarming and disgraceful. prgtoken While their parents are prosecuted, children are placed in Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) contract facilities like Southwest Key in Brownsville, Texas, an old Wal-Mart now being used to house children detainees. Several reports indicate that children in CBP custody are held in kennel-like cages and are being verbally, emotionally, physically, and sexually mistreated. We do not know the exact number of children being held, what they are doing with them inside, or how long these children remain ``in custody'' before they are able to see their parents. What we do know is that allowing children to be ripped from their families is a terrible policy that the United Nations has already explicitly condemned. prgtoken The Administration, through their own volition, decided that it is in the national interest of the United States to cause such pain and suffering. Multiple studies have shown that separating children from their families is a traumatizing experience with lifelong consequences. To be clear , there is no law that requires families to be torn apart. There is no law that requires that a child go through such a traumatizing experience. What these children are going through is reprehensible, unacceptable, and in blatant disregard to the values of these United States. prgtoken Our country was founded on the notion that all peoples are worthy of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Immigrants come to this prgtoken country searching and hoping to fulfill the American Dream. Many immigrants risk their lives fleeing their countries plagued with violence. It is repugnant that the Administration continues to torment such vulnerable individuals, particularly toddlers, in such an atrocious manner. prgtoken As the world's leading democracy, we should strive to protect human rights, regardless of one's citizenship or place of origin. Our nation's child welfare laws have long recognized family unity as an essential human right. As such, I joined with Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie Thompson to demand i