mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
EMMETT TILL ANTILYNCHING ACT
Danny K. Davis (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2020-2-26

. Madam , let me thank the gentleman for yielding, and, of course, I come to join with all of those who have extolled the virtues of this bill and urge its passage. I also reflect on the fact that I grew up in the State of Arkansas. prgtoken My father, who was a tremendous historian, would often point to places and show us sites in trees where lynchings were supposed to have taken place. The fact that we are now saying that any lynching activity should be a Federal crime is one that I concur with. prgtoken I want to thank the Reverend Jesse Jackson because that is really who called me one day and said: You know, we need to do something about this. prgtoken So I was pleased to interact with Congressman Rush and say: Let's do something about this. prgtoken I want to thank Congressman Rush for taking the leadership on this bill. I want to thank the Judiciary Committee for passing it.
CLIMATE CHANGE IS A GLOBAL PROBLEM
Adriano Espaillat (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2020-2-26

. Madam , today we are convening our monthly special order hour of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to talk about a pressing issue to our Nation, to our planet, in fact, and especially to communities of color. prgtoken Climate change is a real global problem. It is affecting folks around the world contributing to natural disasters and droughts that lead to immigration and increased conflict. prgtoken We have seen how the Caribbean, which stands in the pathway of natural disasters, has been hit time and time again from Superstorm Maria to Hurricane Irma to the recent earthquakes in Puerto Rico. We have seen how this region of the world, the Caribbean, which is our third border, continually gets hammered by natural disasters. prgtoken In fact, just 2 days ago, the National Security, Military and Intelligence Panel of the Center for Climate and Security, a nonpartisan security policy institute, released a damning report. Within the report it said that higher levels of warming will pose a catastrophic and likely irreversible global security risk over the course of the 21st century. prgtoken Last September, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released yet another dire warning that the effects of climate change are already irreversible, and we only have just about a decade to act before it is too late. prgtoken One thing that is important, though, about climate change is the disproportionate impact it has on communities of color. This is called environmental injustice, and that is why it is important that we address this from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus perspective, the perspective of those representing communities of color. prgtoken Climate change affects our everyday lives in big ways and small ways. Take my grandson, for example. He suffers from asthma and acute allergies, and other health issues that a lot of our kids have that are worsened by air pollution. prgtoken The issue is communities of color are not the biggest contributors to the pollution of climate change. In fact, they contribute less but are disproportionately hurt by climate change. We take public transportation. We don't fill our streets with very expensive polluting cars, but we bear the greatest burden from this and many other pollutants. This is also called environmental injustice. prgtoken That is why I have introduced a resolution on environmental justice to ensure that the government acknowledges and addresses the disproportional harm that climate change has on our community and communities of color. prgtoken Let me just take a moment to talk about some of my other work on this issue, because I believe it is a good summary of aspects that need to be addressed. prgtoken I was proud to support H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act, which passed the House last year and will keep the U.S. in the historic Paris climate accord. I was able to include an amendment to that bill stating that climate justice and environmental ju
VIRGIN ISLANDS WELCOME U.S. HOUSE COMMITTEES ON THEIR VISIT
Stacey E. Plaskett (Democrat, VI) \u2014 2020-2-26

. Madam , this is a time of unprecedented opportunity to rebuild our highways and roads as well as harden our utilities and infrastructure. prgtoken I was delighted to welcome Chairmen Peterson and DeFazio, along with members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Agriculture Committee to the U.S. Virgin Islands. prgtoken Members were able to meet with FEMA officials to discuss the territory's disaster recovery progress and objectives regarding housing, power, education, and project obligations and formulation. prgtoken The delegations toured the hospital, the Arthur Richards School, Alexander Henderson School, as well as the STEP home. prgtoken Members of the Agriculture Committee, with local farmers, officials, and USDA representatives, discussed challenges and opportunities for agriculture in the Virgin Islands. They also visited the U.S. Virgin Islands Agriculture Fair, which is the largest in the Caribbean. They saw firsthand the diversity of agriculture in the Virgin Islands and the resourcefulness of farmers to supply the growing demand for local and regional products. prgtoken Madam , I am grateful to the committee members for coming. I am looking forward to working with them. My staff and I are committed to continuing to work with Chairmen DeFazio and Peterson to ensure that the future of local farmers, highways, and infrastructure are guaranteed all the resources needed.
RECOGNIZING REVEREND J. EDWARD NASH
Brian Higgins (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2020-2-26

. Madam , I rise today as we celebrate Black History Month and adopt antilynching legislation to recognize civil rights trailblazer Reverend J. Edward Nash. prgtoken The son of slaves, Reverend Nash served as pastor of the Michigan Street Baptist Church in Buffalo, New York, which opened its doors up as a meeting place for abolitionists and antilynching activists and as a stop on the Underground Railroad. prgtoken Last week, I visited the Nash House, a site on the National Register of Historic Places and a testament to his work as part of our national story. Our gracious hosts, former Buffalo Council President George K. Arthur and Sharon Jordan Holley, shared with me their vision, enthusiasm, and dedication to Nash, his home, and his legacy. prgtoken Among his papers are notes from the 1939 Urban League meeting benediction in which he applauds those working to ``free us from the shackles that hold us in the bondage of narrowness, selfishness, and prejudice.'' prgtoken Let us heed the advice of Reverend Nash.
CLIMATE CHANGE IS A GLOBAL PROBLEM
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2020-2-26

. Madam , from New York, Representative Espaillat, for holding this incredibly important hour on not just the climate crisis but the Green New Deal, in particular. prgtoken As I was preparing for this evening, I would be remiss but to say that, last night, we had a national ic debate, and not a single question was asked about our climate crisis. prgtoken Right now, the global consensus, the IPCC report coming out the U.N is sounding the alarm on what will happen if we do not keep emissions down to contain our warming levels below 1.5 degrees Celsius. But if you look at today, we are on track to hit 3 degrees Celsius by 2100. This can bring unprecedented chaos to our order. prgtoken Throughout this entire year, as we discussed the Green New Deal, I have noticed that there has been an awful lot of misinformation about what is inside this resolution. A tremendous amount of wild claims, everything from saying we are seeking to ban airplanes to ending ice cream. As a consequence, I realized that many of my colleagues have never even read the resolution that they are speaking on. They haven't opened a single word of it. It is actually only about--I have it right in front of me--14 pages long. prgtoken So I have decided that since some of my colleagues across the aisle could not, for some reason, read the resolution, that perhaps this hour would be spent best reading it to them for the public record. prgtoken So, today, what I would like to do is to read the Green New Deal resolution for all those who are interested, who may want to fire this up on C-SPAN, or who may want to sit in the audience today. H. Res. 109, resolution recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal. Whereas the October 2018 report entitled ``Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 Celsius'' by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the November 2018 Fourth National Climate Assessment report found that-- (1) human activity is the dominant cause of observed climate change over the past century; (2) a changing climate is causing sea levels to rise and an increase in wildfires, severe storms, droughts, and other extreme weather events that threaten human life, healthy communities, and critical infrastructure; (3) global warming at or above 2 degrees Celsius beyond preindustrialized levels will cause-- (A) mass migration from the regions most affected by climate change; (B) more than $500 billion in lost annual economic output in the United States by the year 2100; (C) wildfires that, by 2050, will annually burn at least twice as much forest area in the Western United States than was typically burned by wildfires in the years preceding 2019; (D) a loss of more than 99 percent of all coral reefs on Earth; (E) more than 350 million more peopl
IN REMEMBRANCE OF FIONA HECKSCHER
Richard E. Neal (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2020-2-26

. Madam , I rise today to offer my condolences to the family and friends of Fiona Heckscher, a valued member of the Office of House Legislative Counsel, who we lost over the February recess. At just 33 years of age, Fiona was one of only four members of the prestigious tax drafting team; her skilled draftsmanship can be seen throughout the tax code. From her work on the TCJA, to her work on important initiatives in the 116th Congress such as the Economic Mobility Act, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, and the Protecting American Lungs Act, the knowledge and creativity that Fiona brought to the tax drafting process has left a lasting impact on our nation's laws. A graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Law, Fiona began with the Office of House Legislative Counsel in 2014. Since that time, Members and staff alike had come to rely on Fiona's wisdom beyond her years, the depth of her knowledge of the tax code, and the patience and warmth she exuded day in and day out, no matter how stressful the job got. Fiona was an institutionalist and deeply believed in the worth of the non-partisan work done by the Office of the Legislative Counsel: for the members, their staff and most of all for the American people. She often said that she felt lucky to be doing work that could further bipartisan collaboration. Fiona will be remembered for her dedication to the Congress, for the passion she showed for her work, and for the kindness with which she treated others. Fiona and her fiance Neal Desai had scheduled their marriage to take place when Congress would be in recess for the 2020 election. Her parents, Lavinia Hall and Charles Heckscher, her brothers Alexander and Dylan, and her fiance Neal mourn the loss of her light in their lives. I send my deepest sympathies out to them, and to all of Fiona's close friends and colleagues, and I ask my colleagues to do the same. Please know that Fiona's good work has left a meaningful and lasting mark on the Congress, and on the country.
EMMETT TILL ANTILYNCHING ACT
Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2020-2-26

. Madam , I thank the gentleman for yielding and thank him and the ranking member for bringing this legislation to the floor. It is so appropriate that it is bipartisan because it is about American values. I rise to join you in passing H.R. 35, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which finally explicitly designates lynching as a Federal hate crime. prgtoken More than a century ago, the first antilynching legislation was introduced and later passed by this House ``to assure to persons within the jurisdiction of every State the equal protection of the laws and to punish the crime of lynching.'' But over 100 years and 200 attempts later at passage, it is still not law. prgtoken I salute Congressman Bobby Scott--excuse me, Bobby Rush. I know Bobby Scott had something to do with this as well, but, in this case, the leadership of Bobby Rush--a lifelong civil rights champion in the Congress and in our country, for his leadership on H.R. 35, which will right this historic wrong. prgtoken I thank Chairwoman Karen Bass of the Congressional Black Caucus for her commitment and that of the entire Congressional Black Caucus for bringing this legislation to the floor. prgtoken I thank Chairman Nadler and Ranking Member Collins for their leadership as well, and Senators Cory Booker and for leading this legislation in the Senate. prgtoken Today, Congress has an opportunity to acknowledge its responsibility for its historic failure to confront and end the horror of lynching in America. We must begin by acknowledging the heartbreaking truth that racially motivated acts of terror have long been a part of American history and that they remain a stain on our Nation's soul today. prgtoken We must never forget: prgtoken The massacre in Wilmington, North Carolina, 122 years ago in which 60 Black Americans were brutally murdered; prgtoken The race massacre in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, 100 years ago next year, called the single worst incident of racial violence in American history; prgtoken The mutilation and murder of Emmett Till--for whom this legislation is named, a 14-year-old boy--65 years ago, one of the most appalling acts of racial violence in our history, forever seared in our collective memory; prgtoken And we must remember the victims of more than 4,000 other lynchings and countless other acts of racial terror perpetrated throughout our Nation's history. prgtoken As recent events remind us, racially motivated violence and other forms of violence and hate targeting vulnerable communities are not a relic of the past. prgtoken When a white supremacist guns down nine parishioners in Charleston, South Carolina, at Mother Emanuel, one of America's oldest African American congregations; when neo-Nazis and white nationalist mobs carrying tiki torches march through Charlottesville in broad daylight, taking an innocent prgtoken life; when a domestic terrorist murders 22 innocent souls in El Paso after penning
CLIMATE CHANGE IS A GLOBAL PROBLEM
Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2020-2-26

. Madam , allow me to thank the gentleman from New York for his friendship and for the recognition that the clarion call has to be called. prgtoken Let me thank my colleague and friend from New York as well, from the great borough of the Bronx, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for her clarion call. prgtoken I want to take this from a perspective of civil rights and the idea that, most often, civil rights are defined by the movement of the 1960s, framed around the marches of poor people led by Dr. King and many others who saw the inequities dealing with the treatment of African Americans and others in the social justice system. prgtoken One might not think that that movement ties directly to where we are today. As a cosponsor of the Green New Deal, I see this as a question of social justice. When the foot soldiers marched, many did not understand why they were attempting to change the way people had lived for decades and, yes, centuries. They didn't fully understand that the unequal treatment under the law was oppressive and denied families, children, regions of the country the ability to reach their highest dream. prgtoken I represent, still, the many communities that are experiencing inequities. When I held a meeting some weeks ago to deal with what we call cancer clusters, I had a thousand people at a townhall meeting. A chemical, creosote, had gotten into the soil of neighborhoods, which, in Texas, with your patches of land, front yard or back yard, you plant your fruit trees and other garden vegetables. prgtoken I asked: ``If you have cancer or your relatives have cancer, would you stand up?'' Two-thirds of that audience stood. Today, I am still getting calls from people in surrounding neighborhoods, talking about that chemical. prgtoken When you begin to look at purifying and cleaning, making sure the air quality is clean, making sure the soil quality is clean, it is looking at ways not to diminish people who are working in industries, who are in hardworking, blue-collar jobs, but to expand their vision of what can happen if you commit to the reasonable policies of the Green New Deal that speak to bringing everyone to the table and addressing this as a civil rights moment, not judging it on the inequities of race but on the inequities of the quality of your neighborhood and the quality of your life. prgtoken As I listened to the reading of the legislation, there is room at the table for everyone. There is room at the table for scientists. I was a member of the Science Committee for a good number of years. I believe in good science. prgtoken There is room at the table for technicians, people who are embracing technology. prgtoken There is room at the table for primary and secondary students who can prgtoken learn what climate change has done and what the impact is, and how science is connected to a green economy. prgtoken There is room at the table for elected officials. prgtoken There is room at the table for large indus
NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS RESIDENTS RELIEF ACT
Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (Democrat, MP) \u2014 2020-2-26

. Madam , I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time. prgtoken I have been working for the last dozen years to make the transition to Federal immigration policy in the Marianas as least difficult as possible. prgtoken In 2018, with Chairman Rob Bishop's essential help, we protected the rights of U.S. workers against the unfair competition from foreign workers in the Marianas' economy with Public Law 115-218. prgtoken Last year, President signed Public Law 116-24 and helped us convert about 1,000 people living under administrative parole into residents with a permanent legal status in the Marianas only, not eligible for any public charge at all. prgtoken Just last week, the administration issued the necessary guidance to allow those 1,000 people to begin the application process, and I am very grateful to the President and to everyone at USCIS and the Department of Homeland Security for their support. prgtoken Today's bill, H.R. 560, continues this work of smoothing over the rough places in the application of national immigration law to my isolated district. prgtoken H.R. 560 provides the same permanent status--in the Marianas only-- that President approved for parolees in June. This time, we want to give stability to a small group of investors who were in the Marianas even before Federal immigration. They have been holding on with short-term visas ever since, never certain from year to year about their business investments. prgtoken We want to give the same certainty to a group of long-term workers-- some of whom have been in the Marianas for 40 years--and to the businesses that employ them. prgtoken The Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on H.R. 560 last February. Our Governor, the Honorable Ralph Torres, testified in favor of the bill. The administration did not take a position, but their witness said: ``Without a sustained labor force, projected investment in the CNMI likely will wither.'' prgtoken Well, we can do something to avoid that consequence by passing H.R. 560. Again, this bill is Marianas only. It has bipartisan support. Chairman Grijalva and Ranking Member Bishop are both cosponsors, for which I am grateful. prgtoken Madam , I ask all Members now to vote in favor.
HONORING JOYCE WATTERMAN
Donald M. Payne, Jr. (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2020-2-26

. Madam , I rise today to honor a truly great person in my district, Council President Joyce Watterman, who was honored in my celebration of Black History Month. prgtoken Ms. Watterman is the first African American woman to be elected council president for Jersey City. Right now, she is working to improve disabled parking, increase affordable housing, provide a safe environment for our children, and empower prisoners to better their lives. prgtoken In addition, she has one of the strongest commitments to promoting diversity and inclusion throughout the district. She is an active member of the local NAACP and co-chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board. prgtoken This is not my only tribute for Ms. Watterman. I honored her during a special Black History Month celebration on February 21. She is a tremendous asset to my district and deserves all these accolades and more. She is a truly great public servant through her ministry in church and her public office.
BORIS NEMTSOV AND RUSSIAN MALIGN INFLUENCE
Marcy Kaptur (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2020-2-26

. Madam , I rise in commemoration of the life of Boris Nemtsov who was tragically assassinated by Vladimir Putin's Russian regime 5 years ago this week in Moscow. Boris served as deputy prime minister and was a prominent voice for political freedom in Russia itself. prgtoken Cities across the world have commemorated Boris' sacrifice, including here in Washington, D.C which named the square outside the Russian Embassy Boris Nemtsov Plaza. Just recently, Czech authorities in Prague have joined in solidarity. prgtoken In the years since Boris' assassination, Russia's efforts to dismantle democratic institutions across the globe have increased, including here in the United States where they are continuing to interfere in the elections of this year. prgtoken We must stand together against Russia's aggression and malign behavior. Sanctions are a commonsense step. prgtoken Today, I call upon the administration to broaden stronger, targeted sanctions on Russia. To keep backpedaling, as the administration has done, on an enemy of liberty is not acceptable.