mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
HONORING THE LIFE OF MAX STAUFFER
Jim Costa (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-4-4

I rise today to honor and pay tribute to the life of Max Stauffer, who passed away on March 10, 2017, at the age of 69. Max was a well-respected business leader who owned the beloved Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad in Fish Camp, CA, just outside Yosemite National Park. prgtoken Max Stauffer was born on June 7, 1947, in Switzerland and immigrated to the United States at the age of three. His father, Rudy and mother Luce, with the help of Max and his brothers, Guido and Bob, first opened the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad in 1965. The railroad is a beloved tourist attraction that takes visitors on a four-mile scenic excursion through the Sierra National Forest. prgtoken Max oversaw the business for more than 40 years. During his time running the popular tourist stop, Max gained the trust and respect of the community, as well as visitors from all over the United States. Known for his giving spirit, Max dedicated his time to those in need. He never denied a request for donations to charity and ensured the railroad was involved with the Boys and Girls Club, as well as the Make-a-Wish Foundation. prgtoken Max wanted to make an impact on the public and dedicated much of his time to making a difference in any way he could. For 20 years he held the position of director of the Mountain Area Ski School. He was at one time the president of the Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau and a board member for 30 years. An advocate for education, he was a 22-year trustee of the Bass Lake Joint Union School District. Ensuring his time and labor was spent giving back to the people, shows the morale and great character he held. prgtoken , I ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to the great life of my friend Max Stauffer, whose humbleness, compassion, and generosity will be greatly missed. Max's memory will live through his family and friends, and it is my honor to join them in celebrating his impactful life, which will never be forgotten.
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Tom Udall (Democrat, NM) \u2014 2017-4-4

. Thank you, . prgtoken We have many important responsibilities as U.S. Senators. We often have to make very difficult decisions. Deciding to vote against cloture and confirmation for Judge Gorsuch has been a tough decision. prgtoken Since coming to the Senate, I have been a strong advocate for reforming the rules, to curb abuses to ensure the body can function, and to make sure that the President's nominees are treated fairly. I believe our constitutional duty to provide advice and consent is one of the most important of all of our responsibilities as Senators, especially for nominees to our Nation's highest Court, and I believe that withholding consent should be rare--rare but not unheard of. Sometimes circumstances will be so extraordinary that filibustering a Supreme Court nominee is necessary. The gang of 14 knew this. That was the group of 14 Senators who forged a compromise in 2005. Three of them are still in the Senate. Their agreement allowed some controversial judicial nominees to be confirmed to appellate courts, but it also allowed the Senate to avoid triggering the nuclear option, and it addressed how they would weigh future nominations. prgtoken The gang of 14 agreed to the following: ``Nominees should be filibustered only under extraordinary circumstances and each signatory must use his or her own discretion and judgment in determining whether such circumstances exist.'' prgtoken I think that is a good standard, to only filibuster a nominee under extraordinary circumstances. Unfortunately, in my evaluation of Judge Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court, I can't think of more extraordinary circumstances. prgtoken First, this wasn't President 's seat to fill. Justice Scalia died on February 13, 2016. President still had nearly 1 year at that point to serve in his term. So President fulfilled his constitutional duty. He nominated one of the most qualified nominees in the history of the Court, Judge Merrick Garland. Shortly before Judge Garland was nominated, Senator Hatch, one of our most respected colleagues on the Judiciary Committee, said Judge Garland would be a great pick. Senator Hatch went on to say that President ``probably won't do that because this appointment is about the election.'' But President did do it. Judge Garland is not just a fine jurist, he is an exceptional human being. Judge Garland's lifelong commitment to public service is well known. He deserved far better treatment by the Senate majority. prgtoken Judge Garland was denied a hearing. Many of my colleagues wouldn't even give him the courtesy of a meeting, and he never got a vote, which was a disgrace. It is an injustice that needs to be remedied before I could ever consider voting for Judge Gorsuch. prgtoken President could fix this. He could make a commitment to nominate Judge Garland to the next vacant seat on the Court. It would be the right thing t
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Michael F. Bennet (Democrat, CO) \u2014 2017-4-4

our founders knew that ``while history does not repeat, it does rhyme.'' That is why they mined the politics of ancient Greece and Rome for lessons about the promise and the perils of self-government. In their wisdom, they placed those lessons at the heart of the American political experiment. Two hundred thirty years later, that experiment has exceeded their wildest hopes, in no small part because generation after generation of Americans--including elected officials, including Members of this body--understood that our government is far more than the sum of our laws or the letter of our Constitution. Our system is also held together by rules, written and unwritten, that help elected officials resolve their differences without unleashing a downward spiral of recrimination that could endanger the Republic itself. prgtoken They understood, for example, that while civility, compromise, and cooperation are not required by law, laws cannot pass without them. They recognized that while the majority may have the power to rule on its own, it should not trample over the minority. They understood that, at some point, partisanship should give way to patriotism. prgtoken Throughout history, including moments far more difficult than our own, these principles were the quiet guardrails of our politics, keeping dysfunction at bay. But in recent years, we have begun tearing these guardrails down, and in doing so, we risk the revenge of history by ignoring it. prgtoken There is a tendency around here to think that our problems are unique and that the consequences of our actions are fleeting. prgtoken Some 2,400 years ago, the ancient history of Korsia was consumed by civil war. According to Thucydides, both sides spared ``no means,'' he wrote, ``in their struggles for ascendancy. . . . In their acts of vengeance they went to even greater lengths, not stopping at what justice or the good of the state demanded, but making the party caprice of the moment their own standard.'' prgtoken As the civil war intensified, both sides struggled to end it because ``there was neither promise to be depended upon nor oath that could command respect; but all parties dwelling rather in their calculation upon the hopelessness of a permanent state of things, were more intent upon self-defence than capable of confidence.'' prgtoken The Founders read Thucydides. They knew that once factions cross the line, once they violate tradition in an escalating retaliation, it becomes very hard to turn back. prgtoken James Madison in particular understood the peril of faction. He wrote how people with ``a zeal for different opinions concerning religion, concerning government, and many other points'' have ``divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to cooperate for their common good.'' prgtoken They also feared that, once in power, majority factions would
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Tim Kaine (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2017-4-4

. I thank my friend, the deputy majority leader, the senior Senator from Texas. prgtoken I draw support for my conclusion about that language from two other cases that Judge Gorsuch was involved in in the Tenth Circuit, one case dealing with contraception and one case dealing with an effort to defund Planned Parenthood in Utah. prgtoken In both cases, the Tenth Circuit reached a decision that was pro- women's health, pro-women's health access. The parties were fine with the decisions. They were going back to the district court and they did not apply to have the cases reheard en banc. But in both those cases, Judge Gorsuch took the highly unusual step of trying to get the appeals heard anyway, even though the parties did not want to have them reheard. In my experience as an appellate advocate, that is virtually unheard of. I have talked to litigators in the Tenth Circuit, and they have said the same thing. It is highly rare. The fact that Judge Gorsuch would do it in two cases--both of which involved women's health access--is important. prgtoken Finally, in his confirmation hearing, Judge Gorsuch was asked directly whether he agreed with the decision in Griswold v. Connecticut, the 1965 decision that said married couples could not be criminalized for using contraception. prgtoken He said it was a precedent worthy of respect like all precedents, but he would not agree--he would not say he agreed with the case. Chief Justice Roberts, during his confirmation, said he agreed with the case. Justice Thomas said: I have no quarrel with Griswold. Justice Alito said he agreed with the case. But Judge Gorsuch would not. prgtoken Griswold v. Connecticut has been used repeatedly in the last 50 years to basically create a body of constitutional precedent that says the relationships of people--romantic, inmate relationships--should be free from the intrusion of Big Government. You can't criminalize somebody because of their relationship. I think somebody who is not willing to commit to that principle is somebody who has not earned my vote. prgtoken With that, . Again, I thank my friend from Texas.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Mike Quigley (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-4-4

there has been a lot going on around here lately. We have been conducting investigations, holding hearings, and some of us have even tried and failed to fundamentally change the way we provide health care in this country. prgtoken It has been easy to get distracted by the dozens of different headlines and breaking news stories we see each week. But no matter what else is going on here in Washington, one thing continues unabated: each day, the United States, like every other country on Earth, continues to release tons and tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and now we are starting to see the effects. prgtoken Over the last couple of years, the U.S. has joined 20 other countries from around the world in growing its economy while reducing its annual emissions into the atmosphere. This is not a small feat, and decoupling emissions from growth is the first step toward the substantive action needed to address the growing climate crisis. But I find this concept of reducing emissions can sometimes be a little misleading. prgtoken In the last few years, the U.S. has reduced the rate that it emits greenhouse gases. But even if we are doing it more slowly, we are still emitting harmful pollution into our air. prgtoken Imagine, , standing at the edge of an empty swimming pool with a garden hose. For a while, water was spewing out of that hose at a torrent; and each year, the volume got greater and greater. Now, the water is still running, but we have begun to turn the speed down. However, even if we manage to slow the rate of water going in, the pool still has more water than when we started and is still filling up. prgtoken Our atmosphere is that pool. For nearly 100 years, it has been filling up with greenhouse gases. And they don't just go away when the calendar flips. Reducing the annual emissions is vital, but we can't lose track of all the gases that have been accumulated year after year. prgtoken If we are going to hit the international goal of limiting climate warming to 2 degrees Celsius, we need to start acting now. Yet, this august body has been behind the curve on this issue for years. prgtoken Our colleagues seem content to ignore the climate crisis, to hold hearings with discredited, crank pseudoscientists bought and paid for by corporate interests, or to deny the value of scientific thinking altogether, an approach that is all too familiar given the post- research, post-intelligence, post-truth mindset that we have seen from this administration. They have adopted a ``hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil'' approach to climate change, hoping they can ignore it until it goes away. Sadly, that is not the way the world works. prgtoken We can't unfill the pool by pretending there is no such thing as water. This form of denial has been evolving over time. First, we heard that there was no way that climate is changing at all. prgtoken Now that the changes in the atmosphere are beyond doubt, we are starting
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR--Continued
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-4-4

. I would ask the Senator from Oregon, as well, through the Chair, in this situation where Senator McConnell, as the Senate leader, has exercised his so-called nuclear option to stop Merrick Garland, President 's choice, from filling the vacancy on the Supreme Court, does the Senator from Oregon believe, as I do, that this is part of a concerted effort by the s to take control of the Federal judiciary, the fact that we left the end of the last year with 30 Federal judicial nominees on the Senate calendar, nominees who had received a bipartisan vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee? They were left unresolved, unvoted on, when the Senate went out of session. Does the Senator from Oregon see as I do, a pattern of conduct on the part when it comes to filling the courts?
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Brian Schatz (Democrat, HI) \u2014 2017-4-4

what is the purpose of the Senate? The authors of the Constitution laid the foundation of the Senate without really knowing what it would look like once it was standing. They knew it would rival and restrain the House of Representatives. After all, the Senate has a higher age requirement, Members serve 6-year terms, and they have to represent not just a district but an entire State. But it was clear from the beginning of the formation of the Senate that it would take time before the purpose of this body was truly realized. prgtoken For several decades in our Nation's history, it was the House of Representatives--not the Senate--that hosted the great debates and introduced major legislation. It wasn't until the Nation began to splinter in the shadow of slavery that the Senate came into its own. While the rules of the Senate gave us its basic structure, it was the Members of the Senate--the people who made up this body--who had to stand up and lead. We remember them today as lions prgtoken of the Senate: Daniel Webster, John Calhoun, and Henry Clay. This body owes its status to them and their leadership because they began to define the Senate in a way that no one had before. prgtoken Over time, this place became one that valued bipartisanship, deliberation, and compromise. It has become a Chamber that balances the right to debate with demands for action. prgtoken In some of the toughest moments in our history, the Members of the Senate have used this body to lead, particularly when the President has faltered. prgtoken Take President Nixon. The Watergate scandal had weakened the Presidency in ways that do-nothing Presidents never had. But the Senate, led by a Member of the President's own party, didn't stand by and watch the void, unmoved. They filled the vacuum for the good of the country. prgtoken It is this kind of history that has shaped the Senate into what it is today, a body that examines, considers, and protects. prgtoken Senator Byrd, the longest serving Senator in U.S. history once said: ``The Senate is a source of wisdom and judgment--both on the actions of the lower house and on the executive.'' prgtoken That is what the Senate is for. That is our purpose. We achieve that purpose through customs and traditions; through members who serve 6- year terms and represent whole States; through rules that force bipartisanship, deliberation, and compromise. prgtoken Now the majority leader has placed one of those rules on the chopping block because they can't get to 60. He can't find the 60 votes needed to end debate on the President's nomination to the Supreme Court. prgtoken We shouldn't be surprised to find ourselves here because, after all, back in February, President told the majority leader to change the rules if he had to. Now, as this administration closes in on its first 100 days without passing a single piece of major legislation, the Senate majority leader is ready to fulfill the Preside
IN SUPPORT OF COMMEMORATING EQUAL PAY DAY AND EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR PAYCHECK FAIRNESS ACT
Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2017-4-4

I rise today to commemorate Equal Pay Day, a day in which President John F. Kennedy, on June 10, 1963, proclaimed the simple principle that women deserve equal pay for equal work. prgtoken The symbolism of this day is expressed in that, as we are more than three months into the year, women's wages are only now beginning to catch up to what men were paid the previous year. prgtoken Today, women on average make 78 cents for every dollar earned by men, amounting to an annual disparity of more than $10,876 dollars between full-time working men and women. prgtoken It is important to understand what 78 cents to ever dollar means to a family: $10,876 could purchase 86 more weeks of food; $10,876 could afford more than 3,200 additional gallons of gasoline; $10,876 could support families in incredible ways, and yet, even today, $10,876 annually is exactly what women currently do without simply because of being women. prgtoken For African American women and Latina women, the wage gap is even higher. African American women on average earn only 64 cents, while Latina women earn 54 cents to every dollar earned by white, non- Hispanic men. prgtoken In my home state of Texas, however, the average wage gap for African American women is 59 cents to the dollar. For Latina women, it is an abysmal 45 cents to the dollar. prgtoken This is why I support H.R. 1869, the Paycheck Fairness Act, which addresses loopholes in the 1963 Equal Pay Act. prgtoken H.R. 1869 would protect employees who voluntarily share their own salary information at work from retaliation by an employer and remove obstacles in the Equal Pay Act to facilitate plaintiffs' participation in class action lawsuits that challenge discrimination. prgtoken H.R. 1869 would also better align key Equal Pay Act defenses with those in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, requiring employers to prove that pay disparities exist for legitimate, job-related reasons. prgtoken On this Equal Pay Day, I call upon House s, all of whom have so far refused to co-sponsor the Paycheck Fairness Act, to answer this simple question: why are you opposed to woman earning the same amount as men? prgtoken I ask House s to stop wasting the time of this Congress with attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and focus on legislation that would actually help the American people. prgtoken Let us call this opposition to the Paycheck Fairness Act, and opposition to all acts of Congress dating back to the 1960's that have attempted to ameliorate the glaring disparities in wages between women and men, for what it is: deliberately and blatantly sexist. prgtoken I ask all my colleagues to make the Paycheck Fairness Act a reality. prgtoken We should remember: equal pay is not simply a women's issue--it is a family issue. prgtoken It is time now to update antiquated pay equality laws and to eliminate the wage gap entirely between men and women. prgtoken It is time for equal pay for equal work.
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR--Continued
Debbie Stabenow (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2017-4-4

I rise this evening to talk about an issue that will affect families all across Michigan, which is the nomination of Judge Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. He has a long record of siding with special interests and institutions instead of hard- working Americans, and this is of great concern to me. That matters. prgtoken I am concerned with his rulings that fail to protect children and students with disabilities in schools, and I am worried that he will limit access to critical healthcare for women and that he is not a mainstream candidate. I can't support a nominee whom I believe is disconnected from the challenges faced by families in Michigan and across America every day. prgtoken There is one important example which relates directly to someone from Michigan that Judge Gorsuch has ruled on. People from Michigan have been hurt by Judge Gorsuch's narrow judicial philosophy. prgtoken In 2009, a Michigan truckdriver named Alphonse Maddin was trying to complete a shipment driving all night, and his brakes froze in subzero temperatures--which we have. The heater in his cab broke as well. He called his company to report the issue and waited for help to arrive. prgtoken While he was waiting for hours in the freezing subzero temperatures, he realized he was having trouble breathing and his body was going numb. He called his company to report that he needed to get somewhere warm, but they told him he needed to either wait for the repair person, or drag his trailer even though the brakes were frozen. Worried he might freeze to death, he finally unhitched the trailer from his truck. Mr. Maddin drove off to seek help, returning in just 15 minutes with assistance. He did what any of us faced with a life-threatening situation would do. prgtoken A week later, Mr. Maddin was fired from his job, even though he was transparent in his actions and completed his delivery. He completed his delivery, despite the issues caused by his frozen brakes and the broken heater. prgtoken Two different entities within the Department of Labor ruled that what the trucking company did was illegal, and that Mr. Maddin was protected under Federal law because his life was in danger. Thankfully, a majority of the Tenth Circuit judges agreed. Judge Gorsuch, however, disagreed, arguing the law did not protect workers who drove away to avoid freezing to death. prgtoken According to Judge Gorsuch's interpretation, Mr. Maddin would have had to choose between his job and his life. What is deeply concerning to me is that when he was asked at his nomination hearing what he would have done, he said he really hadn't thought about it. Judges should think about what is happening to people in situations as they are ruling in a fair and impartial way. This does not look like the ruling of a mainstream nominee. prgtoken His rulings don't only affect Michigan workers. I am very concerned about Judge Gorsuch's rulings on legal protections for individuals wi
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Jeff Merkley (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2017-4-4

. As my colleague has pointed out through his question, the challenge we have with the appropriate treatment of our advice and consent responsibility isn't simply a problem with the Supreme Court nominee, but with strategies to prevent the consideration of judges from our former President--both at the district court and at the circuit court levels--leading to the circumstances you describe.