mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
NOMINATION OF NEIL GORSUCH
Tom Cotton (Republican, AR) \u2014 2017-3-30

when his nomination comes to the floor next week, I will vote to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. This is my first time voting on a Supreme Court nominee, and I don't take the decision lightly. It is a lifetime appointment, after all, and the Court's rulings have shaped our country's history--for good and for ill--and will continue to shape our future. But after reading Judge Gorsuch's writings, meeting with him in person, and listening to his testimony, I can say with confidence that it is not a hard call. I believe Judge Gorsuch will be a fine addition to the Supreme Court. prgtoken There is no denying Judge Gorsuch's distinctive qualifications. We all know his credentials: Columbia, Harvard law, and an Oxford doctorate to boot. He clerked for an appellate judge and two Supreme Court Justices. He had many years of experience in both private practice and in public service and, of course, over 10 years as an appellate judge. He possesses fine judicial temperament: highly erudite, highly accomplished, and highly regarded by those who know him best. It is no surprise, then, that the American Bar Association, in a unanimous vote, declared him ``well qualified'' for the job. prgtoken While I wouldn't outsource our responsibilities to any advocacy organization, I would note that the minority leader himself once said the ABA rating is ``the gold standard by which judicial candidates are judged.'' prgtoken But, of course, Judge Gorsuch is not just filling any seat, but the seat once held by the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Justice Scalia was a giant of American jurisprudence. Most Justices earn their place in history by writing opinions, giving voice to their colleagues, and speaking for the Court as a whole. Justice Scalia did that many times throughout his career, of course, but he did something more. He changed the way judges--both conservative and liberal--think about the law and defend their decisions. He reminded us all that a judge's job is to apply the law--including the Constitution, our most fundamental law--as written, to the case before him, not to rewrite it all together. prgtoken Adhering to the law, even when the judge doesn't like the result, is the greatest public service that a judge can render, because to respect the rule of law is ultimately to respect the rule of the people. prgtoken This is what Justice Scalia taught and what he inspired a whole generation of judges and lawyers to understand. As we prepare to fill his seat on the Supreme Court, let us also acknowledge that no man can fill his shoes. We honor the memory of Justice Scalia and we thank his wife, Maureen, and his whole family for sharing this great man with our country for so long. prgtoken Judge Gorsuch is a child of the Scalia generation. He has long advocated for and followed the originalist judicial craft--one rooted in the text, structure, and history of our Constitution, which is to say that he respect
COMBATING ANTI-SEMITISM
David Kustoff (Republican, TN) \u2014 2017-3-30

I rise today in support of H.R. 1730, the Combating Anti-Semitism Act of 2017. I am proud to introduce this important legislation with my colleague from the other side of the aisle, Representative Derek Kilmer from Washington. prgtoken Since this January, we have seen a wave of disturbing violence and threats towards religious institutions across America. In 2017 alone, more than 100 bomb threats have been made at 81 Jewish Community Centers across our Nation in 33 States. Tennessee, the State I call home, is also on that list. It is time that we send a clear message: religious intolerance has no place in this country. prgtoken The Combating Anti-Semitism Act of 2017 would increase the penalty for these violent threats and make them punishable as hate crimes under Federal law. We have a moral duty and responsibility to protect the rights of all Americans to worship freely and without fear, whether at a church, a synagogue, or any religious institution. prgtoken With this bill, we will deter threats and stand united against religious intolerance.
REPEALING HEALTH CARE LAW
Louie Gohmert (Republican, TX) \u2014 2017-3-30

it is indeed a pleasure to follow my good friend from Iowa, Steve King. I know Mr. King cares deeply about America. He not only cares deeply, but having been in the private sector in business where he, like our President, was involved in building things and making things work and making things accessible, he has good solutions. I have no doubt if he were not in Congress, he probably would have gotten the bid on the sections of the wall that the President is taking bids on even now. prgtoken We are at an interesting time. It has been interesting to see some of the messages. Some are hurtful. I know the liberal papers like the Longview newspaper immediately pick up on any dissension in the Party, especially if it is aimed at conservatives like me. I don't know why we use the term ``conservative.'' It used to be just somebody with common sense that believed in keeping our word, believed in following the Constitution. prgtoken We seem to get in trouble when we don't follow the Constitution. For example, it makes very clear that everyone who is an American citizen is supposed to have rights. We can't assure the rights of every person in every other country. That would turn into this remarkable experiment in a republican form of government that we have here. prgtoken It is really a democratic Republic--a Republic where you select representatives so that you don't have big gangs running around as a majority wreaking havoc when people disagree with them. We elect representatives so they can come together and, hopefully, read bills and not have to vote on them so they can find out what is in them, go ahead and read the bills in advance and hopefully have something to do with the writing of the bills, especially things that affect people's health. prgtoken When we see messages like have come out today, it is unpleasant. One was apparently sent out from the White House, condemning the Freedom Caucus, apparently, because we have the audacity to want s, including those at the White House, to keep our promise. I still remain in favor of--as do my friends on the Freedom Caucus and a lot of others--and remain committed to our promise to repeal Care. prgtoken I realize there can be honest disagreement. Some think if we give more power to Health and Human Services, more Federal Government, and give more power to the people we trust in the Federal Government, whom I do trust, then they can do what Congress is not willing to do, and that is repeal Care and have a system in place that will assure people can get health care that is affordable. prgtoken The fact is most people talk about how we have got to make sure people can get health insurance. And then, over the years, they use the term ``health care'' synonymously with ``health insurance.'' Actually, the fact is we should be most concerned about people, all Americans, having access to affordable health care, whether they have insurance or not
NATIONAL VIETNAM WAR VETERANS DAY
Doug LaMalfa (Republican, CA) \u2014 2017-3-30

this week was the first-ever celebration of National Vietnam War Veterans Day. prgtoken Over 40 years ago, after the last remaining Vietnam veterans returned home, many faced poor treatment from the country they were fighting to protect. These brave men and women are getting the welcome home finally that they deserve. prgtoken Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate introduced a bill that was passed, which introduced the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act, which unanimously passed both the House and Senate, and President signed it into law earlier this week. prgtoken I was proud to join my colleagues in supporting this bill. The overwhelmingly bipartisan support is proof that finally the perception of Vietnam veterans has shifted over the years as folks begin to better understand the sacrifices they have made. prgtoken Over 9 million Americans served in the military during the Vietnam war, and over 2.7 million actually served in Vietnam. I personally know many who came from my district and now live in northern California. prgtoken Over the course of the war, the United States of America suffered prgtoken 58,000 casualties, with hundreds of thousands more wounded and disabled. We need to remember the sacrifice they made, whether it was from Agent Orange or disabilities, or even the 22 veterans we lose each day to suicide. prgtoken We welcome home the Vietnam veterans. I am glad we could have this recognition for them.
FIRST RESPONDER APPRECIATION DAY
Jeff Denham (Republican, CA) \u2014 2017-3-30

I rise today to recognize the inaugural First Responder Appreciation Day on April 1, 2017, in Ripon, California. prgtoken Policemen, firefighters, and emergency medical servicemen play a crucial role in our local communities. In Ripon, they work diligently to serve the city and surrounding areas, improving the lives of those they have vowed to protect. Their job is not always easy and often not safe, but it is one they selflessly perform nonetheless. For this reason, First Responders deserve our unwavering recognition. prgtoken The Ripon City Council acknowledged this on November 8, 2016, when they passed a resolution to establish the first Saturday in April of each year as First Responders Appreciation Day. Dedicated to honoring all First Responders, past and present, this annual celebration serves as a reminder that we must not forget those who keep us safe. prgtoken I applaud the City of Ripon for honoring our local heroes and their incredible service. This Saturday is the first of many celebrations that will focus on the daily sacrifices performed by these brave men and women. prgtoken , please join me in honoring all First Responders and commending the city of Ripon for implementing First Responders Appreciation Day.
TOPICS OF THE DAY
Brian Babin (Republican, TX) \u2014 2017-3-30

I wish to thank the gentleman from Iowa, my good friend for yielding to me. prgtoken I rise to express my strong support for the announced policy by Attorney General Jeff Sessions that will terminate U.S. Department of Justice grants to sanctuary cities. These are the localities that have chosen not to cooperate with the Federal Government when its seeks to deport already-detained criminal aliens. prgtoken Under this policy, your hard-earned tax dollars will no longer go to cities and counties that thumb their nose at the Federal immigration authorities and refuse to cooperate. prgtoken In President 's first 2 months in office, this administration has acted to secure our borders, to encourage compliance with Federal immigration law, and to deport criminal aliens. The previous administration put out the welcome mat for criminal aliens. Thanks to , the welcome mat has now been removed. prgtoken A few short days ago, the national news broke on how two illegal aliens from Central America raped a 14-year-old girl in the boys bathroom of a public high school in Rockville, Maryland. These two young men, Henry Sanchez-Milian, an 18-year-old from Guatemala, and Jose Montano, a 17-year-old from El Salvador, came across our southern border last year as unaccompanied minors. The administration initially targeted them for deportation proceedings, but they were later released to join relatives in Maryland. prgtoken When asked about the situation, Rockville school officials said that the legal status of these two individuals did not matter, as Rockville has declared itself to be a sanctuary city. I beg to differ. It does matter. If the Federal Government had done its duty and immediately returned these illegal immigrants to their home country, this young girl would not have been brutally raped. prgtoken For the sake of this young girl, we must secure our borders. This vicious crime would never have taken place had the administration followed the law and secured our borders. The good news is that the new administration is working hard to secure our borders, to deport criminal aliens, and to protect the lives of American citizens. prgtoken Cracking down on sanctuary cities is an important first step. In the first month of the administration, ICE issued 3,083 detainers. These are orders for local authorities to keep criminal aliens in custody for 48 hours to enable U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents to come and get these criminal aliens for deportation. 206 of these detainees were just declined, meaning that local authorities deliberately ignored ICE's detainer requests and released these individuals back out onto American streets. prgtoken This is especially concerning because 44 percent of those individuals had already been convicted of crimes in the United States. These weren't just petty crimes, folks. These include: homicide, rape, assault, domestic violence, indece
VETERANS CHOICE PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT ACT
Jerry Moran (Republican, KS) \u2014 2017-3-30

I appreciate the remarks, as well as the working together with the Senator from Montana as we tried to make certain that a program that is so valuable to veterans across the country--in my case particularly, veterans who live in rural America, in Kansas--to make certain that veterans can attain the care they have earned and the care they deserve. prgtoken We had a scandal at the VA in which many tragic things happened, and Congress came together at that time and passed the Choice Act. What that law basically has given our veterans is, if they live more than 40 miles from a VA facility--in other words, if they live a long distance from access to care--they can, at their choice, have that care at home: hometown hospital, hometown physician, pharmacy, physical therapy. They can see a provider in their hometown. prgtoken In so many instances in Kansas--in fact, I have mentioned this before on the Senate floor. The House district I represented as a Congressman is larger than the State of Illinois, and there is no VA hospital in that congressional district. So veterans not having to travel 2, 3, 4, 5 hours to Denver or to Wichita or to Amarillo is of such value to our veterans, particularly those who have a disability or are aging. What we did in the passage of Choice was so useful to so many veterans. prgtoken The other part of that was that if you couldn't get the care you needed within 30 days at the VA, you could then attain your care at home. Again, with the backlog that was occurring at the VA, the lack of providers, this became important to another set of veterans who, because of their health condition, couldn't afford to wait that long to see a physician, to have surgery. prgtoken This is important legislation. If you are somebody who cares about veterans, you need to be in favor of this Choice Act. If you are someone who cares about particularly rural or veterans who need timely care, you especially ought to be supportive of Choice. prgtoken The challenge we have is that the Choice Act is expiring. It expires August 7, and it needs to be extended. There are dollars available in the program. Mandatory spending is available to pay for the services to a later date. prgtoken As the Senator from Montana indicated, there are a number of provisions that haven't worked very well in Choice because of the bureaucratic nature of the program, the way the program has been established. One of those that are most important is that you have veterans on one side who need the care and choose Choice, but you also need a willing provider. The local hospital, the local physician needs to be willing to provide that care. I have never known a provider who was not honored to provide care to a veteran, but the challenge in many instances becomes whether that provider, that doctor or hospital gets reimbursed, gets paid. prgtoken This legislation has a number of reforms, but in my view, one of the most critical and most
IN RECOGNITION OF KATHY REDMAN
Ron DeSantis (Republican, FL) \u2014 2017-3-30

it is my privilege to honor Ms. Kathy Redman's almost 39 years of distinguished federal service. On April 1, 2017, Ms. Redman will retire as the Southeast Regional Director for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). In her current role, she leads USCIS operations in nine states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands and manages nearly 1,000 employees. From her humble beginnings as an inspector at JFK airport in New York City, Ms. Redman has become a trusted USCIS employee who has served in posts from New Delhi to Detroit. Over the course of her career, she has naturalized more than 40,000 new Americans. Ms. Redman's expertise and knowledge of our nation's immigration laws have been an invaluable resource to my office. Ms. Redman and her staff have assisted countless constituents by expediting appointments in time of crisis and resolving complicated applications. On one memorable occasion, Ms. Redman helped our office expedite a Naturalization ceremony for the spouse of a deploying Air Force officer. It is always a treasured moment when a new American takes the oath of allegiance to support and defend our Constitution. I wish Ms. Redman all the best as she begins her retirement in our beautiful state of Florida.
EPA SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD REFORM ACT OF 2017
Clay Higgins (Republican, LA) \u2014 2017-3-30

I rise today in support of H.R. 1431, the EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act, of which I am an original cosponsor. prgtoken This bill intends not to deny science, but to deny manipulated science. This is a commonsense, good-government piece of legislation that will discourage ideologically based decisions by the Science Advisory Board and set it back on a path of making objective, science- based conclusions as originally intended by Congress. prgtoken Further, this bill would promote accountability within SAB, while also strengthening public participation, ensuring that there is a diverse makeup on its various boards and panels, reinforcing a strong system of peer-review requirements that work toward reducing conflicts of interest, providing ample opportunity for dissenting views by panelists, and, most importantly, requiring conclusions and reasonings be made available to the public. prgtoken , this is a crucial piece of legislation. The rules and regulations coming out of the Environmental Protection Agency have real-world implications on families in my State of Louisiana and, indeed, across the Nation. prgtoken The current system in place allows for the EPA to set forth ideological, biased, and nonscience-based rules and regulations. The standards set forth by this bill promote the use of good science and a strong and open system of transparency and peer review. prgtoken I urge all my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 1431.
EPA SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD REFORM ACT OF 2017
Pete Sessions (Republican, TX) \u2014 2017-3-30

yesterday, the Rules Committee issued announcements outlining the amendment processes for two measures likely to come before the Rules Committee next week. prgtoken An amendment deadline has been set for Monday, April 3, at 10 a.m for the following measures: prgtoken H.R. 1343, Encouraging Employee Ownership Act; and H.R. 1219, Supporting America's Innovators Act. prgtoken The text of these measures is available on the Rules Committee website. Feel free to contact me or my staff if anyone has any questions.
CONGRATULATING PENN STATE WRESTLING NATIONAL CHAMPS
Glenn Thompson (Republican, PA) \u2014 2017-3-30

I rise today to celebrate the Penn State men's wrestling team for winning the NCAA Division I National Championship earlier this month in St. Louis, Missouri. prgtoken , Penn State has been a force to be reckoned with in Division I wrestling. This is Penn State's sixth title in 7 years. It is the second consecutive national title. prgtoken I could not be more proud of my alma mater or this team that gave us a season to remember. prgtoken Many college athletes dream about participating at the NCAA championships. It marks the pinnacle of their athletic careers. prgtoken Among the Nittany Lion national champions, All-Americans Bo Nickal, Jason Nolf, and Zain Retherford combined for a total of 82.5 points, which would have placed the trio sixth overall in the final team standings. prgtoken Penn State also made history with All-Americans true freshman Mark Hall and redshirt freshman Vincenzo Joseph earning their first titles to become the first freshmen NCAA champions in program history. prgtoken Congratulations to Coach Sanderson and the Nittany Lions on this outstanding achievement. Your hard work and dedication shows, and you are the pride of Happy Valley.
150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PURCHASE OF ALASKA
Dan Sullivan (Republican, AK) \u2014 2017-3-30

today, March 30, marks that 150th anniversary of the date when President Andrew Johnson signed the treaty with Russia for the purchase of Alaska. It is a big day for my State, and for the past few months, I have been diving into the archives and doing some research about the treaty and about the first few years of challenges following the signing. As you can imagine, building a State out of a frontier, particularly one so far away from the rest of the country and in such an extreme climate, was challenging, to say the least. It demanded, and still does, a certain kind of person with a certain kind of toughness, vision, and a determination to work for the good of all. Let me give you an example of what it has required. prgtoken Some members of the first territorial legislature in 1913--46 years after the purchase--who lived in far flung places faced a challenge. Specifically how to get to Juneau to begin to hash out creating the rules of a new territory. prgtoken Of course, there were no commercial airlines in those days--no snow machines, so four members from Nome--lawyers, miners, and businessmen-- hitched up their dog teams, headed to Valdez, and took a steamship to Juneau. It took them nearly 2 months to get there. When they did arrive, the first order of business was this: granting women the right to vote, 7 years before Congress ratified the 19th Amendment. prgtoken That is the heritage of every one in Alaska, and that is the same spirit, of traveling far against the odds, to do what is right, that still animates my great State. It animates people who haven't even been to Alaska. My State is more than a place with set geographic boundaries. My State is also an idea, a dream; it goes beyond borders and represents so much about America that we hold dear: beauty, freedom, self-sufficiency. It has been this way even before Alaska became a territory--when a group of people, led by former Secretary of State William Seward, pushed the country to buy Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. As has been proven, that was a good deal. prgtoken Every week, I have been coming down to recognize an Alaskan of the Week, a special person who gives their time, energy, and talents to making our State the best in the country. prgtoken Today I want to speak about someone who I will call an honorary Alaskan. Today I would like to name Senator Charles Sumner our posthumous Alaskan of the Week. Senator Sumner prgtoken never set foot in my State, but he knew Alaska well. We are a State because of him, and others, including Secretary of State William Seward, who had vision and tenacity. prgtoken Senator Sumner was born on January 6, 1811, in Boston, MA. He was a lawyer, a professor, and then a politician. He was a man of purpose, principle, and many, many words and opinions. In fact, he was nearly caned to death while working in the Senate Chambers, by one of his colleagues--a congressman from the South--for expressing his