mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT
Jack Reed (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2019-6-24

I commend the chairman for the bipartisan and thoughtful way he has approached this entire process of crafting the National Defense Authorization Act for this year. We had a very successful markup. The result was a strong bipartisan vote of 25 to 2 on the committee. Subsequently, with our staff, we have done an extraordinary job. We have been able to include an additional 100 amendments, on a bipartisan basis, to the substitute. So we have been able, I think, to respond to all of the concerns of our colleagues or very many of these concerns of our colleagues. prgtoken The chairman has indicated some of the strengths of the bill. We have increased our operations and maintenance funding so our readiness stature and posture is increasing. One area, too, that I think is very important is the fundamental reform of privatized housing which was a real problem that we discovered. Again, the chairman led two very thorough hearings in which we had not only the operators but also the families who live there. The legislation before us contains significant improvements in the privatized family housing at the Department of Defense. That is something critically important. prgtoken I, too, like the chairman, would like to see a very open amendment process so we can bring to the floor amendments that are important and linked to the national defense bill, have votes on these amendments, and then move forward. prgtoken Let me just conclude my brief remarks by thanking the chairman for his leadership. prgtoken .
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2020--MOTION TO PROCEED--Resumed
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2019-6-24

tomorrow my friend John Feal and fellow survivors who were first responders on September 11 will visit with Leader McConnell to press for the passage of legislation to fix the shortfall of the Victim Compensation Fund. This is the fund that awards compensation to the families of 9/11 first responders who died from 9/ 11-related illnesses, often cancers and fatal respiratory illnesses. prgtoken It makes me sick to my stomach that every time we have this debate, these suffering first responders, many in wheelchairs, are forced to travel to Washington to shame politicians into supporting their healthcare. prgtoken I am sick of all of these delays; I am tired of temporary reauthorizations; and I have had enough of watching our first responders endure the indignity of waiting for a last-minute, must-pass bill to hide their issue in so Members will not vote against it. It shouldn't be this way, and it shouldn't be this hard to pass aid for our 9/11 responders and everyone who worked on the pile in the weeks and months thereafter. prgtoken Who has been standing in the way? At the top of the list, unfortunately, is my colleague the leader. Leader McConnell has to do the right thing here. He is meeting with these brave responders, and that is a good thing, but it is not enough. At the end of the meeting, he should promise them, and promise all of us, that he will put the Victim Compensation Fund fix on the floor as soon as it passes the House as a stand-alone bill--no more delays for these brave people, no more people like Ray Fifer, my dear friend who passed away, having to come to Washington five or six times begging and pleading, not for himself--he knew the cancer was fatal for him--but for his colleagues and allies. Let's do the right thing here. prgtoken Let's do the right thing, Leader McConnell. Iran prgtoken , on another matter, amid escalating tensions with Iran, the President today announced a new round of sanctions. It remains unclear what, if any, strategy this latest round of sanctions fits into and whether this latest round of sanctions will compel Iran's leaders to alter their current course. I worry that the President continues down a path of escalation. prgtoken Besides a small group of hawkish advisers and cheerleaders in Congress, nobody wants a war with Iran. The American people are weary of endless wars in the Middle East, the trillions of dollars wasted, the thousands of American lives lost. Americans want the money spent here at home on things like our crumbling infrastructure. Americans don't want to see their sons and daughters dying in a war that seems to go on forever without a conclusion. prgtoken While I am not convinced the President is eager to go to war, I am very concerned that he could bumble us into war. His strategy seems erratic, changing from day to day and week to week. It seems opaque. There is
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2020--MOTION TO PROCEED--Resumed
Doug Jones (Democrat, AL) \u2014 2019-6-24

I want to echo what my colleague and friend, the Senator from Maine, has said about the elimination of the widow's tax and rise today to urge this body to bring the Military Widow's Tax Elimination Act of 2019 to the Senate floor for a vote this week as an amendment to the NDAA. prgtoken I introduced this bipartisan legislation with my friend and colleague Senator Collins this year. It has been introduced numerous times. Legislation that is designed to right a terrible wrong has been introduced numerous times over the last 18 years but without success. prgtoken Today, we are at an alltime high for cosponsorship. Seventy-five Members of this body, s and , support this legislation and have signed on as cosponsors. The only other major bill with support in this Congress like that was the one we recently passed by unanimous consent to crack down on robocalls, which I know is something we can all agree needed to be done, and just like that, this legislation is needed as well. prgtoken As Senator Collins talked about, the military widow's tax bill has earned overwhelming support on both sides of the aisle and from groups like TAPS, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, the Military Officers Association of America, and the VFW. Support out there is overwhelming because it is simply the right thing to do. prgtoken The law currently prohibits military widows from receiving their full survivor benefits from both the VA and the additional Department of Defense Survivor Benefit Plan that they paid into voluntarily. These Gold Star families--as many as, I think, 65,000 across the country and as many as 2,000 in my home State of Alabama--are being ripped off. It is just that plain and simple. prgtoken To add insult to injury, they are being ripped off by the very U.S. Government that their loved ones swore to protect. That is absolutely shameful, that we would treat our military families in such a way. We obviously--obviously--can never repay these families for their loss and the sacrifices they have made, but it is our duty, I submit--our duty-- to try to do all we can. And we can dang sure stop the government from robbing them of the benefits they have paid for and earned. prgtoken At the end of the day, this is a cost of war. It is a cost of freedom, more importantly. It is a cost of freedom. So for folks to say that this fix is too expensive or that there is not an obvious pay-for in our budgets that we have today, I would remind my colleagues that this bill has made it into the NDAA several times before, and we have waived--this body has waived the pay-go rules for it several times in the past because Members of this body have recognized that there are more important issues at play here. Many of my colleagues have supported this bill without a pay-for in the past. prgtoken This week, we will be considering the NDAA, and I am very grateful to Senator Inhofe, the chairman of the Arm
JOB CORPS CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CENTERS
Peter A. DeFazio (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2019-6-24

. Madam , there were a number of concerns raised about Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers (CCC) during debate over my amendment to the LHHS Appropriations bill, and I would like to respond to those directly. prgtoken Contrary to the assertion that the transfer of operations of all U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service Job Corps CCCs to the Department of Labor (DOL) will ``allow more students to engage with the program,'' this move would have forced the immediate closure of nine centers across eight states, quite literally closing off DOL's ability to serve thousands of at-risk youth across the country, while also negatively impacting the rural communities these CCCs are built around and reducing the Forest Service's capacity as both wildfire and hurricane seasons get underway. prgtoken During debate, it was also asserted that CCCs produce ``phenomenally bad results.'' Of the nine centers that were slated for closure, seven of them were in top half of Job Corps centers for Performance Year 2017, the most recent program year data is available for. In the state of North Carolina, where at least two CCCs were slated for closure, the Lyndon B. Johnson Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center, the Oconaluftee Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center, and the Schenck Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center rank 76th, 18th, and 4th respectively out of all 126 Job Corps sites. Schenck finished Program Year 2017 as the country's top performing Job Corps center. While not a CCC, the Kittrell Job Corps Center currently ranks sixth overall, meaning North Carolina has three of the top 20 Job Corps centers. prgtoken Concerns over the safety and security of Job Corps sites were also consistently mentioned. In highlighting these concerns, no distinction was made between CCCs and regular Job Corps sites. In Program Year 2017, CCCs served more than 14 percent of Job Corps' total residential students and accounted for 13.5 percent of total reported incidents of violence at Job Corps centers across the country. This clearly shows that CCCs are not disproportionately violent compared to other Job Corps centers. It is important to note that the high-profile crimes that occurred several years ago did not occur on a Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center site. prgtoken As was testified at a hearing last Congress, the reality is that the mortality rate for Job Corps center students in recent program years was about 4.7 per 100,000. The national mortality rate for individuals ages 16 to 24 during that same time period was 70.88 per 100,000, more than 15 times higher. Students at Job Corps centers are also 19 times less likely to die of a drug overdoes than youth their age outside ofthe program. prgtoken That being said, I agree that we must do everything we can to minimize violence at Job Corps centers. In the wake of tragic events in 2015, the National Job Corps Association (NJCA) submitted policy recommendations to DO
CONSTITUTIONAL POWERS
Jeff Merkley (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2019-6-24

this Chamber has the responsibility to debate tough issues that face our Nation. It has been devoid of such tough debates now for a very long time, essentially failing to perform its responsibilities to the American people under the vision of our Constitution. I am more troubled at this moment about this failure than any previous moment because, at this moment, the drums of war are beating, and this Chamber stays silent. prgtoken At this moment, we have a bill before us to address security issues. Yet we are being denied the chance to debate the most important security issue of all--whether or not the United States goes to war. prgtoken The question before us in the amendment put forward by Tom Udall of New Mexico and Tim Kaine of Virginia is this: Has there already been an authorization by this body for the President to go to war against Iran? Their amendment answers this question. It says with great clarity that the answer is no. The President does not have authority to go to war. The power to make that decision is vested with Congress, and no bending and twisting and contorting of any previous authority can be used in this situation. That is what their amendment says. It says: , if you want to go to war, you have to come to Congress to get authority--authority voted on after the date of their amendment. prgtoken It is a fundamental question: Are we going to follow the Constitution or not? When our Framers were working on the Constitution, many feared that a President would become a King, and many feared that Kings take countries to war to the benefit of their treasure and their power but to the disadvantage of the people. But we are supposed to be a country with a different vision--not government by and for a King or by and for the powerful, but by and for the people. prgtoken They debated this at great length and decided with clarity and authority that Presidents in the United States would not have that power. Hamilton wrote about this in his Federalist Paper 69 in 1788: The President is to be the commander-in-chief of the army and navy. . . . In this respect his authority would be nominally the same with that of the king of Great Britain, but in substance much inferior to it. It would amount to nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces . . . while that of the British king extends to the DECLARING of war. prgtoken This declares a huge difference between a kingship that can decide on war, but here in America, it is the power vested in this body-- Congress. prgtoken At another point Hamilton wrote that the President of the United States ``would be an officer elected by the people for FOUR years,'' again, describing the difference between a President and a King. ``[T]he king of Britain is a perpetual and hereditary prince. . . . The one would have a right to command the military and naval forces of the
COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2020
Raja Krishnamoorthi (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2019-6-24

. Mr. Chair, such time as I may consume. prgtoken Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of amendment No. 267 and in support of H.R. 3055, legislation that includes robust funding for the Department of Transportation. prgtoken Simply put, H.R. 3055 will bolster our infrastructure and increase the safety and security for citizens across the country, and I am proud to support it. But, Mr. Chair, when we use billions of dollars in taxpayer money to invest in our infrastructure, our constituents are relying on us to do so in a manner that is fair, transparent, and ethical. prgtoken That is why I am introducing, today, amendment No. 267, which would prohibit any funding in the appropriations bill from being used in violation of section 2635.702 of title 5, which is the law mandating that no public office be used for private gain. prgtoken In light of recent reporting alleging potential misconduct by the Secretary of the Department of Transportation, it is imperative that we remind Federal officials that public money cannot be used for private purposes. Government officials across agencies should not make policy decisions with the intent of benefiting family businesses. They should never use their position in an official capacity to promote their own personal financial interests, and when tasked with any decision where there are potential conflicts of interest, they must recuse themselves. prgtoken Government officials should make decisions only for the public good, not private gain. Favoritism corrodes trust in government and in the vital institutions that have kept our democracy strong for over 200 years. For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. prgtoken Mr. Chair, .
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
Catherine Cortez Masto (Democrat, NV) \u2014 2019-6-24

I come forward today to recognize the 100th anniversary of one of northern Nevada's most treasured traditions, the Reno Rodeo. A celebration of Western culture and daring, the rodeo has grown into a Nevada institution that draws visitors from across the country. Over the past 100 years, Northern Nevada has seen a constant state of change and evolution. Yet, throughout that time, the Reno Rodeo has been a reliable and steady source of entertainment and community. prgtoken In 1919, the Commercial Club of Reno devised the first iteration of the Reno Rodeo, then the Nevada Round-Up, in order to celebrate the end of World War I. Cowboys such as Hippy Burmister and Curly Howe won events in the 1919 rodeo. The most notable winner of the first Reno Rodeo was Jesse Stahl, one of the first African-American professional bronc riders. Stahl was known for his ability to ride bucking horses while sitting backwards and ``winning first but placing third'' due to the color of his skin. Stahl went on to win four events over the first 3 years of the Reno Rodeo. prgtoken Despite only 6 weeks of event planning, the inaugural rodeo was a wildly popular event, and there was immediate interest in establishing the rodeo as an annual celebration. Nearly 17,000 people attended the following year, and the rodeo proved it was not a fleeting success. In 1922, rodeo organizers plotted a publicity strategy around sending reigning rodeo queen, Mary Harrington, to invite President Warren G. Harding to the event. President Harding declined the invitation. To make matters worse, the campaign led to the organization's bankruptcy and a 10-year hiatus of the rodeo. In 1932, Charles Sadleir, now frequently referred to as the Father of the Reno Rodeo, led an effort to revive the event. To stabilize the rodeo's finances, Sadleir recruited local businesses to help underwrite the events' expenses, which is still a crucial mechanism today. prgtoken Fortunately, Sadleir's revitalization efforts were successful, and the Reno Rodeo has withstood economic downturns, event growing pains, and a fire to the venue. Today, the Reno Rodeo is a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association-sanctioned competition, billed as the ``Wildest, Richest Rodeo in the West!'' Each year, the rodeo generates roughly $42 million for the region and draws over 14,000 fans. Through its charitable foundation, the rodeo has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in academic scholarships to Nevada students and grants to non- profit organizations. In 2008, the foundation built a horseback riding facility for children with special, physical, or mental needs, and later built an activities center for abused, neglected, and at-risk children under the care of Washoe County. prgtoken One hundred years after the first event, Northern Nevada's support and appreciation for the Reno Rodeo has never been stronger. Nevadans are immensely proud of this homegrown tradition and excited
DEATH OF JAMAL KHASHOGGI
Ron Wyden (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2019-6-24

tonight I am going to speak about Saudi Arabia's brutal murder of U.S. resident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi. This despicable act has been condemned by the Congress, by the American people, and by governments and citizens around the world, but and members of his administration will not talk about it. They seem to think it is just fine to sweep this atrocity under the rug. I am here to describe why the Congress must not let that happen and how I intend to do everything in my power to make sure it does not happen. prgtoken The Senate is now debating the Defense Authorization Act, which this year includes the Intelligence Authorization Act. I serve on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Intelligence bill that is part of the defense legislation contains an amendment I offered with my colleagues, Senator Heinrich, Senator , Senator Feinstein, and Senator Bennet. That amendment requires that the Director of National Intelligence provide a public report identifying those who carried out, participated in, ordered, or were otherwise responsible for the killing of Mr. Khashoggi. prgtoken Last Wednesday, the United Nations released a detailed report on the Khashoggi murder. The report described how even before Mr. Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Saudi officials had meticulously planned his killing. prgtoken A team of more than a dozen Saudi agents were organized. Their travel and accommodations were designed to mask the purpose of their trip to Turkey. The consulate office where the killing took place was cleared of staff. In the moments before Mr. Khashoggi's arrival at the consulate, the Saudi agents were recorded discussing how to kill and dismember him and dispose of his body. prgtoken They referred to Mr. Khashoggi as ``the sacrificial animal.'' The report even describes the recorded sounds of the killing and the dismemberment. prgtoken Who bears ultimate responsibility for this brutal, horrendous, despicable crime? The U.N. report stated that every expert--every expert--who was consulted found it inconceivable that an operation of this scale could be implemented without the Crown Prince. They found that, at the very least, being aware that some kind of criminal act was to be conducted against Mr. Khashoggi was, in their view, clearly, something the Crown Prince knew about. prgtoken The U.N. then concluded that there was ``credible evidence warranting further investigation of high-level Saudi officials' individual liability, including the Crown Prince.'' I have read that directly from the U.N. report. prgtoken The Senate has also spoken on this in a resolution passed unanimously. The Senate stated that it believes the Crown Prince is responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. prgtoken and his administration refuse to discuss this publicly. Last November, said the intelligence community was continuing to assess infor
HONORING CHRISTOPHER BORDON, EDDIE JEAN PULLUM, MARK FRYE, AND SEAN GALLAGHER FOR BEING AWARDED THE VALOR AWARD
Richard Hudson (Republican, NC) \u2014 2019-6-24

. Madam , I rise today to recognize Captain Christopher Bordon, Master Firefighter Eddie Jean Pullum, and firefighters Mark Frye and Sean Gallagher as recipients of the Public Safety Valor Award. prgtoken The Valor Award is a prestigious honor presented to men and women of the greater Fayetteville region who perform acts of heroism under extreme risk. Proudly serving the Fayetteville Fire Department, Captain Christopher Bordon, Master Firefighter Eddie Jean Pullum, and firefighters Mark Frye and Sean Gallagher prgtoken went above the normal call of duty in January 2019. prgtoken After responding to reports of a fire inside the home of a woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease, the four of them searched her 1,700 square foot home, extinguished the fire, moved the victim to safety, and provided her with medical assistance. Remarkably, they accomplished this in only 5 minutes and 25 seconds. As firefighters Mark Frye and Sean Gallagher initiated a rapid primary search to find the victim with zero visibility, Captain Christopher Bordon and Master Firefighter Eddie Jean Pullum coordinated a fire attack made in order to provide the best chance of survival for the victim. prgtoken This incredible display of teamwork and heroism is a credit to them, their families, and the Fayetteville Fire Department. I know I speak for everyone in our community when I say we are truly grateful for their unwavering service and cannot thank them enough. prgtoken Captain Christopher Bordon, Master Firefighter Eddie Jean Pullum, and firefighters Mark Frye and Sean Gallagher are deserving of this honor and I would like to offer my sincerest appreciation and wish them success as they continue to protect our communities. prgtoken Madam , please join me today in celebrating Captain Christopher Bordon, Master Firefighter Eddie Jean Pullum, and firefighters Mark Frye and Sean Gallagher on receiving the Public Safety Valor Award.