mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
THE INVESTIGATION MUST CONTINUE
Raja Krishnamoorthi (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-7-11

, Jr has documented that he, Jared Kushner, and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort met with a Russian lawyer with the understanding that she was a Russian Government agent and would provide damaging information on Hillary Clinton as part of Moscow's effort to help President 's campaign. prgtoken The attempt by these top advisers to solicit the support of a hostile foreign power to win the American Presidency is unprecedented in our history. prgtoken When an American political campaign is approached by a foreign source promising information on an opponent, they should contact the FBI. Unfortunately, the campaign, instead, scheduled a meeting. prgtoken All those who participated in the Tower meeting must testify under oath before Congress. Mr Mr. Manafort, Mr. Kushner, Mr. Goldstone, and Ms. Veselnitskaya must disclose to Congress the nature and details of their conversations, including any sources in the Kremlin. prgtoken Special Counsel Mueller's investigation must continue, and so must ours.
Introductory Statement on S. 1524
Cory A. Booker (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2017-7-11

I rise to introduce the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act (Dignity Act), a critical criminal justice reform bill that would provide much needed reforms to address the unique needs women face in Federal prisons. This legislation helps shed light on the unique challenges women face behind bars, which seldom receive the attention they deserve in our criminal justice reform efforts. It is time we begin to remedy the barriers incarcerated women face, and that's what this bill would do. I thank Senators Warren, Durbin, and for cosponsoring this bill, and I am proud to have their support. prgtoken America is truly exceptional when it comes to incarceration. The United States has 5 percent of the world's population and 25 percent of the globe's prison population. Since 1980, our Federal population has grown by nearly 800 percent. prgtoken But let's look specifically at incarcerated women. Only 5 percent of the world's female population live in the United States, but nearly 30 percent of the world's incarcerated women are in our Nation--twice the percentage of China and four times as much as Russia. Since 1978, the number of women incarcerated in State and Federal prisons in the United States has increased by 716 percent, twice the growth rate of men. America currently has 110,000 women behind bars, and women account for a larger proportion of the prison population than ever before in our Nation's history. prgtoken The numbers of women in our Federal prisons has seen substantial growth. Although women represent a small percentage of Federal prisoners, the proportion of women in the Federal system rose from 12.1 percent in fiscal year 2009 to 13.3 percent in fiscal year 2013. Based on the most recent Sentencing Commission data, 9,400 women were in Federal prisons as of fiscal year 2013. In 2013, more than two-thirds of women in Federal prison were behind bars due to nonviolent drug, fraud, or immigration crimes and over 70 percent of women in Federal prisons had little or no prior criminal history. prgtoken An urgent need exists to address the unique challenges women face while behind bars. Women are often primary caretaker parents, meaning their incarceration impacts children. Incarcerated women face the unconscionable choice of either calling home to talk to their children or using commissary funds to buy sanitary napkins. Women in prison are frequently victims of trauma. According to data from Vera Institute of Justice, women in jails face high-levels of trauma: 86 percent experienced sexual violence, 77 percent report partner violence, and 60 percent were survivors of caregiver violence. These troubling statistics deserve our attention. prgtoken Today, I'm proud to introduce the Dignity Act, a comprehensive bill that would begin to remedy the unique challenges faced by women behind bars. The bill would require the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to consider the location of children when p
THE TEST OF OUR PROGRESS
John Garamendi (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-7-11

I look forward to this hour, although I will probably take something less than that. prgtoken I want to bring to the attention of the House and, more beyond that, the citizens of the United States what is happening here with all this talk about the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. I want to spend some time on that issue. I want to review exactly what the Affordable Care Act has done for Americans and what the repeal would do to Americans. Those are really two different ways to look at this. prgtoken I want to start someplace else that has been a very special part of my thinking about government issues, about policies of all kinds, and it was something that Franklin Delano Roosevelt said during the height of the Depression as the American government and Mr. Roosevelt were talking about the various policies that were being discussed at the time. He laid out a test to which he would apply his judgment of a policy. It reads this way: ``The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is rather we provide enough for those who have too little.'' prgtoken I see this as a profound and extremely important criteria upon which to judge many policies that come before us in bills, but it is also, I think, an extremely valuable way to judge the question of the Affordable Care Act: Has it added much to those who have little? prgtoken I will try to answer that in a few moments. prgtoken Similarly, in looking at the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much. When we consider the repeal of the Affordable Care Act--Care--does it add to those who have much? Does it add to those who have little? prgtoken I will try to answer these questions in just a few moments. prgtoken So does the Affordable Care Act add much to those who have little? prgtoken The answer is: Categorically, it does. There is absolutely no doubt that the Affordable Care Act has helped those who have little. I will give a couple of examples. Just a couple. prgtoken One, a beauty salon operator in Sacramento, California, around the age of 30, married, wanting to have children but not able to do so because she had no insurance. A small-business operator, herself, maybe one part-time employee, unable to get insurance prior to the Affordable Care Act. prgtoken My wife visited her after the Affordable Care Act went into place, and she was able to purchase private insurance through the subsidized market, and she happily, excitedly told my wife: And now my husband and I, we are going to have a baby. At last I have the insurance. And I want you to tell your husband ``thank you.'' prgtoken That thanks is not to me. It is to the men and women of the Congress in 2010, myself included, and the Senate, and President that signed the Affordable Care Act that set up a situation in which, through the California exchange, similar to other State
LYTTON RANCHERIA HOMELANDS ACT OF 2017
Jimmy Panetta (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-7-11

such time as I may consume. prgtoken Along with dozens of other California Tribes, the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians had its relationship with the Federal Government terminated in 1958. That resulted in the loss of its Federal status and all of its Tribal lands. prgtoken The Tribe's federally recognized status was eventually restored, but their reservation lands were not. As a result, with the exception of a small parcel of land that Congress provided for gaming in San Pablo, the Tribe has been left essentially landless and without a reservation since it was terminated. prgtoken This bill will take approximately 511 acres in Sonoma County into trust as part of the reservation of the Lytton Rancheria. By directing these lands into trust, the United States will ensure that the Lytton Rancheria will finally have a permanently protected homeland on which they can, once again, live communally and plan for future generations. prgtoken I commend Representative Denham, my neighbor to the east, for this bipartisan legislation, and I urge quick adoption of this legislation. prgtoken , .
HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION
Richard Blumenthal (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2017-7-11

I come to the floor today after a fourth field hearing in Connecticut. Every one of those field hearings has been packed. I spent time at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Hartford, as well as having visited others over the past year. I have spent time with numerous providers and at community health centers and heard firsthand from the people of Connecticut as to why the health bill, which has been unveiled after having been concocted behind closed doors, would devastate the health and finances of Connecticut's families and their communities. prgtoken The bill that we expect to be disclosed later this week will almost certainly be defective in the same ways as the bills that we have seen. To call these proposals mean or heartless, as the President has, is a gross understatement. The bill, very simply put, would cost both dollars and lives, eroding not just our ability to save money by investing in a healthier future but causing death and despair when neither term is really necessary. This wound would be self-inflicted, but it is a wound that is preventable and avoidable. prgtoken I pledge to the people of Connecticut that I will fight as long and as hard as necessary to stop this grotesquely cruel and costly proposal. prgtoken It is not, in fact, a healthcare bill. It is a wealth care bill. It decimates Medicaid, saving, supposedly, close to $1 billion so that those savings can be used for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. As Warren Buffett has said--and he is one of them--``I don't need it.'' He would rather see it be used for better healthcare and coverage, and that is what the majority of Americans want. That is why this proposal is so deeply unpopular. prgtoken Now, after weeks of secrecy, followed by chaos, we are back to secrecy again, with s retreating away from their constituents and going behind closed doors. Even over this past week, when we were back in our home States, they were crafting another bill. We have not seen it. We have not debated it. We cannot even say that we know anything about what is in it, and my colleagues know little more than we do on this side of the aisle. We know for sure, despite the secrecy, that the devastating effect would be overwhelming on people across income strata, geographic boundaries, and cultural backgrounds. prgtoken I am here not to talk in abstractions. I am here to talk about real people in real life and to share the stories that I heard at these field hearings--people's stories that they have entrusted me to bring to you. Many of my colleagues have refused to hear these stories from their constituents because they would hear how repugnant and repulsive this bill is and how deeply angry the people of the country are. The people of Connecticut and the country are outraged. prgtoken The reason is people like Ariella Botts, and here she is. Ariella is 4 years old. She came to my field hearing last week with her m
Healthcare Legislation (Executive Session)
Benjamin L. Cardin (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2017-7-11

I take this time to share with my colleagues the experiences I had in the State of Maryland during our most recent work period and shortly before that, when I took the opportunity to meet with different groups with regard to the healthcare debate. prgtoken I had a townhall meeting this past week at Atrium Village, which is a senior living place in Baltimore County. We had a robust discussion primarily with seniors, but not just seniors, about their concerns as to whether the changes in the healthcare law would affect their ability in the Medicare system as well as relating to long-term care and Medicaid. prgtoken A little bit earlier than that, I had a townhall meeting at one of our local hospitals where we had a chance to talk with lots of people. It was an open townhall meeting, and a lot of people from the community showed up. They expressed their concerns about what would happen under the changes being suggested in healthcare on coverage and quality of coverage, and we had a very robust discussion. prgtoken I also had a chance to meet with leaders of the faith community as we talked about our responsibility to make sure healthcare is a right and not a privilege in the United States. prgtoken I met with the leaders of the community health centers in Park West, in Baltimore City, to talk about the impact on the viability of health centers if the Medicaid Programs were cut. prgtoken I had a chance to visit with Mosaic Behavioral Health Center, which deals with behavioral health in Baltimore, and their concern is, if we eliminate the essential health benefits of mental health and addiction, what impact that would have on access to care. prgtoken There was a consistent message from each of the places I met with, with regard to whether we would be able to maintain coverage--under the Affordable Care Act, we expanded coverage by tens of millions--and whether that coverage would be compromised under the legislation being considered in the Senate. prgtoken We also had a chance to talk about whether there would be a weakness in what benefits would be covered. I already mentioned mental health and addiction. There were also concerns expressed about reductions of benefits regarding obstetrics and how it would affect women, and pediatric dental care, which is a particular concern in Maryland after the tragic death of Deamonte Driver. prgtoken They also raised many issues concerning discrimination in healthcare that was present before the Affordable Care Act and whether these conditions would be returning. A young father told me a story about how his daughter was born prematurely and, as a result, the baby was in the neonatal intensive care unit for 4 months. When his daughter was 4 months old, she had reached her lifetime limit of what the insurer would pay for healthcare if we returned to lifetime limits. Whether we would be returning to the predatory-type practices of the insurance companies that were pr
Healthcare Legislation (Executive Session)
Maria Cantwell (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2017-7-11

I have joined my colleague in coming to the floor to talk about how we need to make progress on healthcare and make sure that we don't pull healthcare out from millions of Americans. from Illinois for talking about his constituents. Like the Senator from Illinois, I was at home this past July recess talking to my constituents, and I heard many of them talk about their individual healthcare needs and their concerns about what is happening in Washington. prgtoken I met a young woman who told me about her daughter who was born prematurely and weighed less than 2 pounds. Her daughter required specialized, expensive treatment as a newborn. She was concerned that if we keep moving ahead with the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, she and her husband would be overwhelmed with crushing hospital debt if, in fact, we hadn't covered preexisting conditions. She is one of millions of Americans who are scared that they are going to lose their health insurance under the proposal that is being talked about, that has been talked about for the last several weeks, and from what we can tell-- because, obviously, there is a lot of secrecy--may still include details about reducing coverage for those who have access to care through Medicaid. prgtoken I have come to the floor tonight to talk about the latest idea because I think one of the things that is clear--and probably why the Senate majority leader said that he wanted, basically, to cancel the first 2 weeks of the August recess--is that my colleagues don't want to go home and talk about the proposal that was brought before them. In fact, they are now trying to bring up a new proposal, thinking that, again, with a very limited time period, without floor discussion, without committee debate, without an amendment process, somehow our colleagues on the other side of the aisle will fall prey to the notion that there is a silver bullet, a magic solution. I have come to the floor knowing that an amendment or a discussion piece or the new behind-closed-doors discussion proposal being advanced by my colleagues from Texas and Utah is basically to allow junk insurance into the marketplace. prgtoken What do I mean by junk insurance? I mean a proposal that basically offers less than the essential benefits, such as hospitalization, prescription drug benefits, lab costs, and all of those things; that, basically, by offering a market where you can get junk insurance, you can say: Oh, well, you have to have one offering of insurance that does cover all the basics and essentials, but then you can have junk insurance. prgtoken I say ``junk insurance'' because this is the wrong idea for the marketplace. It is basically mixing good and bad and not having adequate risk spread across--so basically it means that you don't have to have compliant plans for the market. I know this firsthand because we had this in Washington. We had this same experiment in Washington
REMEMBERING THE HONORABLE BONNIE PANNELL
Doris O. Matsui (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-7-11

it is with profound sadness that I rise to honor the life of my personal friend and former Sacramento City Councilwoman, Bonnie Pannell. Bonnie passed away on June 27th of this year at the age of 68. I ask my colleagues to join me in tribute to Bonnie's truly remarkable life, which she dedicated to public service and activism within her community. prgtoken Bonnie served Sacramento as a member of its City Council for sixteen years, fighting tirelessly on behalf of the communities of Meadowview, Parkway, North Laguna Creek, and Jacinto Creek. I was honored to work alongside Bonnie in providing flood protection, efficient public transportation, and other essential services for our shared constituents. She was incredibly dedicated to the people she represented, and her partnership was invaluable on numerous initiatives, such as extending Sacramento Regional Transit's Light Rail to Cosumnes River College and opening the Valley Hi-North Laguna Library. prgtoken Bonnie was the model of what a true public servant should aspire to be. She knew and loved her constituents, she never lost sight of what was best for them, and she was constantly striving to provide her community with the best resources and opportunities available. The entire Sacramento community suffered a blow when Bonnie was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia, which forced her to step down from office. I can think of no more fitting tribute to her than what the people of Sacramento did to mark Bonnie's retirement--naming a central and beloved community center in her district the Samuel and Bonnie Pannell Meadowview Community Center. This building, the people and families it serves, and the community in which it is located all remind us that we were honored to be in and experience the presence of Bonnie Pannell. prgtoken , I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating the life of the Honorable Bonnie Pannell. I will miss her professionally, and like so many in my beloved hometown of Sacramento, I will miss her personally.
HONORING THE MEMORY OF MRS. MARTHA RIVERA CHAVIS
Donald M. Payne, Jr. (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2017-7-11

I rise today in honor of Mrs. Martha Rivera Chavis, who passed away on July 6, 2017, at her home in Montclair, New Jersey. prgtoken After receiving her degree in French civilization at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, Mrs. Rivera Chavis served as the French- to-Portuguese translator for Angola's Ambassador to the United Nations. It was there she met Reverend Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr a civil rights leader and president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. prgtoken After marrying in 1988, Mrs. Rivera Chavis and her husband cared for nine Angolans, including six children with missing limbs, at their home in Montclair. Mrs. Rivera Chavis carried that empathy and compassion with her throughout life, including during her tenure as the head of the Women in NAACP committee, where she fought for justice, equality, and freedom for minority communities. prgtoken , Mrs. Rivera Chavis will be greatly missed by all who knew her. I send my thoughts and prayers to her husband, Benjamin, and her children and loved ones.
RUSSIA'S ONGOING ASSAULT ON OUR DEMOCRACY CANNOT GO UNANSWERED
Marcy Kaptur (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2017-7-11

Russia's ongoing assault on our democracy and democracies around the globe cannot go unanswered. prgtoken It has been a month since Russian sanctions passed the Senate 97-2, yet House leaders continue to stall on bringing that worthy bill forward here. Why? Who or what are they protecting? Surely not liberty. prgtoken Putin's Russia targets journalists and political opponents for death. He shelters hackers that target democratic nations, including ours, and Russia hacks businesses to enrich Putin's cronies. prgtoken Russia's illegal invasion of sovereign nations, the latest being Ukraine, with over 10,000 dead and over 2 million displaced, reminds us of the evil brutality of Russia's kleptocratic rulers. Russia's damaging expansionism needs to be stopped. prgtoken Despite earlier denials, reports state that , Jr Jared Kushner, and campaign manager Paul Manafort knowingly met with a Kremlin-aligned lawyer to secure damaging information about Hillary Clinton. This administration is not acting in the national interest, and the victim of their encounters is liberty herself. prgtoken Let House leaders stop the delays and bring forward strong sanctions legislation on Russia. Let us defend liberty and our rule of law as a beacon of hope for people everywhere, even those living in the grim reality of Russia.
MARKUS HAMRE
Ed Perlmutter (Democrat, CO) \u2014 2017-7-12

I rise today to recognize and applaud Markus Hamre for receiving the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. prgtoken Markus Hamre is a student at Drake Middle School and received this award because his determination and hard work have allowed him to overcome adversities. prgtoken The dedication demonstrated by Markus Hamre is exemplary of the type of achievement that can be attained with hard work and perseverance. It is essential students at all levels strive to make the most of their education and develop a work ethic which will guide them for the rest of their lives. prgtoken I extend my deepest congratulations to Markus Hamre for winning the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. I have no doubt he will exhibit the same dedication and character in all of his future accomplishments.