mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
CORONAVIRUS
John Barrasso (Republican, WY) \u2014 2020-5-6

I come for an additional reason, and that is to tell you that in my home State of Wyoming, we have reopened. We did that starting last Friday. Many States across the country are continuing to do so, and people all across my home State are ready, willing, able, and needing to get back to work. We are doing it safely, we are doing it smartly, and we are following the guidelines set out by the White House. prgtoken States all across the country are doing it. Governors and local leaders are reopening, and they are doing it in a responsible way. As of today, over 30 States have reopened. On Thursday, Michigan will reopen. On Friday, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, as well as California will begin to reopen. By this time next week, nearly 40 States will have opened again. prgtoken Now, we do hear, on the other side of the aisle, complaining about wanting to do significant amounts of additional spending. Americans are busy getting back to work. That is where our focus should be. People are packing their lunches. They are taking proper precautions. They are putting on their work gloves. They are earning their keep. They aren't looking for favors. They are not looking for frills from Washington. They just want to do their jobs, and they want to make sure that we do ours as well. prgtoken We have spent close to $3 trillion in this country over the last 2 months, and we have a duty to make sure that money is spent properly and that we got it right. We need to make sure we are here and focused on work-friendly policies, and this doesn't necessarily mean additional spending. It means making it easier for the 30 million people who currently are out of work and who have lost their jobs to get back to work sooner. prgtoken Our priorities are America's priorities: rebuilding the economy and jobs, addressing the coronavirus, and helping our health systems. Plenty of dollars have started to go out the door. Many more dollars, already approved, are still slated to go to the American people, to small businesses, to States, and to our healthcare system. The $3 trillion doesn't get spent overnight. The support we have provided is finding its way through the economy, through the healthcare systems, and through the States to the men and women of America. States are looking at the dollars coming in, and they are figuring out how best to use the resources. They are asking for more flexibility, and I believe they need to have more flexibility in how the money is spent. prgtoken Senators and committees are here to make sure that we get this right. We prgtoken need to do that through hearings, through oversight, and through confirmations. Just this week, the Senate will be having COVID-19- related hearings in the Banking Committee, in the Homeland Security Committee, in the Commerce Committee, and in the Health and Education Committee. We are just getting started. prgtoken Importantly, this is not the time to resha
Nominations (Executive Session)
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2020-5-6

the core business of our Nation does not stop while we fight the coronavirus. This week, Senate committees are conducting oversight and holding hearings. Members are tracking the implementation of the CARES Act. We are discussing how Congress could do everything from further strengthening the health response to ensuring that a second epidemic of frivolous lawsuits does not redirect the national recovery into a trial lawyer bonanza. prgtoken Here on the floor, we are filling major vacancies in the Federal Government. Today, we will confirm Bill Evanina to lead the National Counterintelligence and Security Center. As our Nation grapples with challenges at home, it is critically important that a full complement of skilled professionals keep a close watch on our foes, adversaries, and competitors. prgtoken Mr. Evanina's nomination will make him the first Senate-confirmed Director of the NCSC. This role represents our government's senior-most expert in counterintelligence. Fortunately, this nominee has served for 3 decades as special agent with the FBI, as chief of the CIA's Counterespionage Group, and as one of the principal advisers to the Director of National Intelligence. prgtoken Mr. Evanina's long professional experience has given him a well- trained eye. He has made clear he is focused on the most serious espionage threats facing our country today: China's insidious efforts to steal our industrial, governmental, technological, and political secrets and Russia's continuing efforts to meddle in our democracy. We have a qualified professional who is tailor-made for an important job. Our colleagues on the Intelligence Committee have reported him out on a unanimous bipartisan basis twice. The vice chairman, Senator Warner, said: ``Bill Evanina should be confirmed without further delay.'' prgtoken But even still, our ic colleagues chose to obstruct his nomination on the floor this week and require a full day of floor time to confirm. Ironically, at the same time, we have also heard some of our ic colleagues complain that we spend too much time voting on nominations. It is bad enough to spend 3 years delaying nominations to a historic degree and deliberately making the process painful, but it reached a new level of irony for our ic friends to do all that and then complain that their own strategy is inconveniencing their schedules. prgtoken Essential matters of government do not cease because of the coronavirus. They do not cease because of partisanship either. As long as Senate continue to make incredibly qualified nominees travel the hard way, including someone whom their own ic ranking member openly praised, then, I will assure them they will need to continue to show up and cast votes. The country's business will not go undone.
CORONAVIRUS
Marsha Blackburn (Republican, TN) \u2014 2020-5-6

I so agree with the comments that the Senator from Wyoming was just making, and I hear them repeated every day in Tennessee by my constituents. prgtoken s who have asked me this week how Tennessee is doing. You know, we had another terrible storm. It was our third this year. We have had two tornadoes, and we had lots of power outages and damaged trees that were down in Middle Tennessee. The tornadoes, the storms on Sunday evening, and COVID are a lot for anybody to handle, but I think the Senator's point is so well taken. prgtoken Wyoming and Tennessee--these are States that are saying: We can do this. We are going to use the resources that are there for us because, yes, we want to get back to work, and we want to get back to normal. prgtoken What is normal is a question and the right question for people to be asking because what is it going to look like and how is that daily routine going to be reshaped? How do we give up these worries that we have about health and wellness and safety and protection for ourselves and our families, our employers, our employees, and healthcare workers? All of this goes into the shape of a new routine for the day--the things you worry about, the things you are focused on, about your jobs, about businesses, about the future. prgtoken Another point that comes up regularly from Tennesseans was well made by a Wall Street Journal article that ran on Monday, and it was discussing that the U.S. Government would borrow $4\1/2\ trillion this year for this fiscal year. Now, that is something that I think legitimately could be added to the worry list for those of us who are fiscal conservatives, and we are looking at $25 trillion in debt. We are looking at this debt load and thinking about that in relation to our GDP and thinking about the importance of federalism. We are very concerned about this. We are going to have--CBO says our annual deficit is going to be the highest it has been since World War II. prgtoken When we think about that, we have to think about the fact that the ``greatest generation'' looked at that, and they said: Let's get in behind this, and let's get that debt down. They were good about that. I think about the parents and relatives and grandparents, and what did they say? If there is a task to be done, let's go do it. That is why they lined up and they fought in World War II, and they reshaped the way our communities worked. They planted victory gardens. They changed their daily routines, and they went to work. They said: Let's get in here, and let's get this job done. They then put their focus on economic growth when they came out of the war, and look at what they accomplished. prgtoken So while we think about the economy shrinking and jobless numbers growing and our vulnerable citizens, we have to think about the high price that is being paid there. We also have to think about what it does to our children and our grandchildren bec
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
Kevin Cramer (Republican, ND) \u2014 2020-5-7

I would like to congratulate and honor four North Dakota students who have been recognized for their remarkable volunteer service by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program. prgtoken This year's State honoress are Micah Schilittenhardt and Alexis Thompson of Bismarck. Distinguished finalists are Teagen Nicholes of Minot and Amorelle Upton of Fargo. prgtoken Micah, a student at Legacy High School, has spent more than 150 hours raising awareness across North Dakota about the benefits of dance for people with Parkinson's disease, while also raising funds for dance lessons, support groups, and research. Alexis, who attends Horizon Middle School, started an annual toy drive which has provided gifts for more than 400 adolescent hospital patients, launched a campaign to increase scoliosis awareness and screening, and organized a support group for girls with curvature of the spine. prgtoken Teagen established a food pantry at Erik Ramstad Middle School, along with contacting local businesses for financial support, spreading awareness about food insecurity and organized schoolwide activities to raise funds and donations. Amorelle, who attends Davies High School, has raised money to benefit the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center, has secured donations from local businesses, hosted several fundraising events, and sent more than 300 letters soliciting support from her local community. prgtoken The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards were created by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals in 1995. Their purpose is to impress upon all youth volunteers their contributions are critically important and highly valued and to inspire other young people to follow their example. Over the past 25 years, the program has become the Nation's largest youth recognition effort based solely on community service. It has honored more than 130,000 young volunteers at the local, State, and national level. prgtoken These young volunteers inspire all of us and are among our brightest hopes for a better tomorrow. I heartily applaud them for their dedication to making their communities better places to live and for the positive impact they have had on the lives of others. Their actions show that young Americans can and do play important roles in their communities and that America's community spirit continues to hold tremendous promise for the future. Again, congratulations to Micah, Alesis, Teagen, and Amorelle. I fully expect to hear much more from each of them as they emerge as leaders of our next generation.
REMEMBERING Q. TODD DICKINSON
Thom Tillis (Republican, NC) \u2014 2020-5-7

today, on behalf of myself and Senator Coons, we honor the life and legacy of The Honorable Q. Todd Dickinson. Todd was a great friend to our offices, and we often relied on him for impartial counsel as we endeavored to reform patent law. Todd was incredibly generous with his time and his intimate knowledge of patent law, and we will greatly miss him. prgtoken Todd had an immeasurable impact on our patent system during a career spanning more than four decades. Todd served as the first Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the Patent and Trademark Office from 1999 to 2001, where he transformed the USPTO into a more modern and independent agency. Todd also served as executive director of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, where he played an essential role in the enactment of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. prgtoken Todd is survived by his husband, Robert Atkins, and his brother, John Dickinson. Our thoughts and prayers are with Todd's family during this difficult time.
CORONAVIRUS
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2020-5-7

my Iowa offices are located in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Sioux City, and Waterloo. My State staff serves as my eyes and ears in communities from one side of the State to the other. From the Mississippi to the Missouri Rivers, my staff has their fingers on the pulse of Iowans, and this pandemic is no exception. They are working tirelessly to troubleshoot problems Iowans are facing related to the public health emergency and the economic fallout. No matter the concern, the problem, or circumstance that is affecting a farm, a business, school, or local hospital, my staff is on the ground ready to help. prgtoken In the early weeks of the pandemic, they helped troubleshoot issues for Iowans who were overseas to get them back home to the United States. One example: In Peru, several young people were stranded and wanted to come home. They didn't get them home very fast, but they are home now. prgtoken Since Congress passed the CARES Act, my staff has answered countless questions from Iowans about the Paycheck Protection Program, economic injury disaster loans, and economic impact payments. Whatever the question or redtape may be, my staff goes the extra mile to serve Iowans. They do whatever it takes to track down an answer and help make government work for the people as the government should work for the people. prgtoken As always, they are in the trenches during this pandemic, working to help Iowans get through this and get through it together. prgtoken .
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--S. 3608
John Kennedy (Republican, LA) \u2014 2020-5-7

$3 trillion. As best I can tell, that is how much money the Congress has appropriated--let me amend that. That is how much taxpayer money Congress has appropriated to fight the coronavirus and its aftermath--$3 trillion. That is 12 zeros. Three trillion dollars is 3,000 billion dollars. prgtoken These numbers take my breath away. We spent this money even though we don't have it. We don't even have 5 percent of it. We borrowed every penny. Our national debt will now be approximating, maybe exceeding $25 trillion. prgtoken The last coronavirus bill that we passed, as you know, was the CARES Act, but it was not the only bill. We have passed a number of pieces of legislation to try to fight this virus and the COVID-19 that it causes, and those bills were very hard for me to vote for, not because I don't care about the American people--I do, of course; we all do--but because of the fact that this is such a staggering amount of money. prgtoken I have spent my career in government--more at the State government level than the Federal Government level--I have spent my career in government being cheap when it comes to taxpayer money, and it bothers me, as it should bother all of us, that we spent money we don't have. prgtoken I have driven all over Washington, DC, and I can't find the money tree. These are taxpayer dollars. But I voted for the bills, including but not limited to the CARES Act, because it was clear we had to do something. We had to appropriate money to fight the virus. We had to appropriate money to help people and their businesses to recover economically from the impact of the virus. prgtoken We don't know what works in the CARES Act and what doesn't work, and we won't know for a while. I suspect we will look back and say: Well, this measure was a pretty smart thing to do--and with hindsight, but this measure fell a little bit short. prgtoken But already many of my colleagues, and I say this with respect, have other bills to spend even more money, primarily to help State and local government. It is like a Labor Day mattress sale around here, the number of bills flying around. Someone wants to spend another $250 billion. Somebody else wants to spend $500 billion and give it to State and local government. Pelosi wants to spend $1 trillion. I think all that is premature. I suggest that we pause once again, we see what works, we see what has worked, and see what hasn't worked. prgtoken Also, it would seem to me that any fair-minded person would have to conclude that we should open up. Once we open up government and see the economic impact, we will have additional information. And make no mistake about it--we are going to have to open up the economy again. I don't see any reason why we can't both save lives and save jobs. prgtoken But I want to make it clear that every single one of these 3 trillion dollars, as far as I am concerned, is a precious commodity because they come from taxpayers. <|p|
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2020-5-7

the coronavirus has challenged our country--indeed, the entire planet--like few crises before, certainly in my lifetime. I was part of the post World War II generation. No doubt, world war presented the preeminent crisis within memory. It was, I think, 1917 and 1918 when the Great Influenza hit the planet and tens of millions of people died in that. prgtoken When this virus began spreading, it became clear it would place a severe strain on our hospitals and healthcare providers. As businesses closed their doors and employees lost their jobs, it was obvious it would take a toll on the incredible economy we had in this country. It is like it fell off a cliff. prgtoken The combination of new stresses brought on by this virus have led to a range of lesser-known but no less severe consequences. Earlier this week, I spoke about the impact the coronavirus is having on our country's mental health. As our lives have been flipped upside down, many Americans are facing financial struggles, isolation, and anxiety. prgtoken For those who have children at home, the challenges are compounded even further. A recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation disclosed that nearly half of Americans polled reported that the coronavirus was having a negative impact on their mental health. That is up from one- third in March, and it is not surprising. prgtoken When we talk about the resources that we need to overcome this crisis, the relationship between the coronavirus and America's mental health cannot be ignored. Beyond the silent impact these stresses are having on individuals, they can quickly lead to violence in relationships. We have learned that, in a time of crisis, the frequency and severity of domestic violence incidents are likely to increase. prgtoken Texas experienced the heartbreaking reality of that trend in post Hurricane Harvey, and we are seeing it again now prgtoken Last month, I participated in a virtual roundtable with representatives from the Texas Council on Family Violence, the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, and more than a dozen other organizations across my State that support survivors of domestic violence. We discussed these stresses and how they are impacting victims and the barriers that are being created that make it harder for these organizations and people of good will to provide support. prgtoken One of these representatives was the CEO of the Houston Area Women's Center, Emily Whitehurst. Houston is the hardest hit area in our State, with about 7,000 cases in County alone. Emily said that, in the early stages of the virus spreading, they weren't sure whether they would see an increase in calls, given that stay-at-home orders meant people would be isolated with their abusers, but they soon found out the answer. prgtoken In early April, the Houston Area Women's Center saw a 40-percent increase in the daily calls to their hotline. Compared to the same time last year, there was
REMEMBERING JOHN A. MEANS
Tim Scott (Republican, SC) \u2014 2020-5-7

today I would like to take a moment to recognize and honor the life of a great South Carolinian, Lt. Col. John A. Means, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), of Summerville. prgtoken John was born on a farm in Kansas on December 11, 1918. In his lifetime, he witnessed many remarkable social changes, technological advancements, and international developments that transformed the world. prgtoken He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942 and became a pilot in 1943. In 1950, he was called to Active Duty and was deployed to Korea as part of the 6147th Squadron, known as the Mosquitoes. John served in Washington, DC, with the Special Air Missions, SAM, unit, flying dignitaries at home and abroad in Air Force Two. During his time in the SAM outfit, he flew Herbert Hoover, Richard Nixon, Charles Lindbergh, and many others. prgtoken He then retired from the military in 1965 with the rank of lieutenant colonel and moved his family to Summerville, SC. After returning to civilian life, he worked as a mechanical engineer at Avcco and as a machine operator at Bosch. He also owned and operated his own service station. prgtoken John served his community as a member of the Masons for over 75 years, Scottish Rite, Shriners, and was also president of the Lions Club of Summerville. He also served on the board of directors as vice president of Charleston Mental Health, was an active booster of the Summerville High School Marching Band, and was a founding member and Elder of Dorchester Presbyterian Church. prgtoken Though Mr. Means has left us, his legacy will continue to live on in the hearts of many. Mr. Means' patriotism, integrity, dedication, and commitment to serve his country are an inspiration to us all. He will not be forgotten, and I am certain South Carolina will continue to benefit from his labors for generations to come.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2020-5-7

the United States is battling the worst pandemic in 100 years. Our Nation has poured unprecedented resources into defending Americans' health and blunting the damage to our economy. prgtoken The Senate will continue to work on this front. We will find more ways to keep strengthening our healthcare response and pivot the Nation toward recovery. That will include strong legal protections to defend healthcare workers, small businesses, and other institutions against the trial lawyer feeding frenzy as they work hard to keep serving their neighbors.