mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
TRIBUTE TO JOHN SHIMKUS
Janice D. Schakowsky (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2020-9-29

. Madam , although I was unable to join in person tonight, I want to lend my voice to the chorus of colleagues assembling to honor John Shimkus' service in Congress. I thank John for his friendship, and commitment to public service. I wish him nothing but health and happiness for himself and his family during his upcoming retirement from Congress. prgtoken John came to Washington one term before I did. We had offices next to each other on the fifth floor of the Cannon Building. As most members and staff know, most of the elevators in Cannon do not go to the fifth floor, making those offices not the most desirable real estate. But John and I not only stayed there as Freshman members, but we stayed a few terms, enjoying the larger offices and the somewhat quieter halls. John and I, as well as our staff, got along well, especially Cathy Hurwit, my long time Chief of Staff and Craig Roberts, John's then and current Chief. prgtoken Though there were issues on which John and I disagreed, we had the opportunity to work closely together on issues affecting our state. The Illinois Delegation had a tradition of monthly bipartisan lunches. The agendas focused on issues specific to Illinois. Often we would agree to support legislation, funding or projects that could help all our constituents and benefit our state. Illinois was one of the few delegations that was able to work so smoothly together, and John was a leader in that effort. prgtoken John and I both earned positions on the prestigious Energy and Commerce Committee. I saw up close how passionately John fought for his beliefs and constituents. His tone was always positive, even as he disagreed with other members. I have enjoyed serving with him on the Committee all these years. prgtoken John Shimkus is well liked on both sides of the aisle. Why? Because John Shimkus is a kind man, a smart man, and a gentleman. We have been able to debate without spite, collaborate, and sometimes find common ground. This is how collegiality and compromise work, and I wish we could bottle it and send it around the halls of Congress. prgtoken John will be missed here. I hope he enjoys every extra moment he's earned with Karen, David, Joshua, and Daniel.
RECOGNIZING THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CHICAGO
Mike Quigley (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2020-9-29

. Madam , I rise today to recognize the Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago (UNM), a cultural landmark in the heart of my district, on the occasion of its annual banquet. The UNM prides itself, for good reason, on its museum artifacts, library, and archives, which highlight Ukraine's history, its ongoing fight for freedom and democracy, and the rich culture and contributions made by Ukrainian Americans and Americans of Ukrainian heritage, both to Chicago's cultural tapestry and to that of the United States. prgtoken Each one of the four waves of immigration from Ukraine, as well as the generations of American Ukrainians who have followed, have brought with it a wealth of literary, music, artistic, and cultural artifacts, historical testimonials, relics, scientific patents, personal keepsakes and reminders, all of which speak to the importance of Ukrainian heritage and the personal and professional accomplishments of American Ukrainians across our country. prgtoken Themselves a part of the third wave of Ukrainian immigrants to the United States, Olexa Hankewych, Julian Kamenetsky and Orest Horodysky, founded the Ukrainian Library and Archival Center in 1952 in order to preserve books and other documents at risk of destruction in Ukraine. Shortly after the establishment of the Library and Archival Center, a call went out to the Ukrainian community, which enthusiastically responded. Several years later the Library and Archival Center grew into the Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago, fully funded by community donations. While some artifacts in the Museum's burgeoning collection were purchased in Ukraine, others were donated by Ukrainian American collectors and artists, as well as from personal libraries and individuals throughout the community, in Chicago and beyond. Over 100,000 Ukrainian Americans live in Chicago, and I am proud that the Museum has its roots in our great city. prgtoken The Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago too has much to be proud of, due to the hard work of its staff, board of directors, and officers. Unfortunately, only two of its past presidents remain with us--Dr. George Hrycelak and Jaroslaw Hankewych, son of the Museum's founder, Olexa Hankewych. Today, under the leadership of Lydia Tkaczuk, the Museum's first female president, the UNM continues its work in one of Chicago's most historic neighborhoods, Ukrainian Village. More than just engaging visitors and adding to their understanding of Chicago's rich and diverse communities, it also serves as a window to Ukraine, its history, and its people. prgtoken The Museum's diverse collection of folk-art, fine art, tapestry, traditional dress and artifacts help to illuminate the societal impact American Ukrainians have had on Chicago and across the United States. Its permanent exhibitions educate visitors on the history, heritage, politics, culture and religions of Ukraine and the broader Ukrainian American community, including exhibits
HONORING PETER BLACKSTOCK
Jimmy Panetta (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2020-9-29

. Madam , I rise today to celebrate the career achievements and community dedication of Peter Blackstock, a prominent businessman, community steward, and philanthropist who has called the central coast of California his home for nearly 40 years. prgtoken Peter Blackstock was born on the East Coast and served in the Army as an officer in Vietnam before working for the Ford Motor Company. In 1982, Peter moved to the Central Coast and purchased the Leslie Motors Toyota dealership in Seaside and renamed it Victory Toyota. Later, he opened Lexus Monterey Peninsula, forming Victory Dealership Group. prgtoken During his time as owner of Victory Dealership Group, Peter was a significant supporter of the automobile dealer community. He advocated for and actively contributed to industry priorities as a member of the American International Automobile Dealers Association's board of directors, President of the California New Car Dealers Association, and a director on the board of the National Automobile Dealers Association. He also set the bar for dealerships across the country when Victory Toyota was LEED certified for environmental responsibility in 2014. As a businessman, Peter is held in high esteem by all he worked with for his personal integrity, thoughtful contributions, professional demeanor, and engaging personality. prgtoken Peter is an especially involved member of his community on the Central Coast. He has secured resources for and served in many roles in countless organizations, including the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, Boy Scouts, Monterey Bay Symphony, Monterey Museum of Art, Make a Wish Foundation, AIM Youth Mental Health, Pac Rep Theatre Groups, SPCA, AT&T Junior Golf, Church prgtoken in the Forest, Hospice Giving, Arthritis Foundation, National WWII Museum, Marine Scholarship Foundation, Meals on Wheels, and Rancho Cielo. Most notably, he is Director Emeritus of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County, a past President of the Ventana Wilderness Alliance instrumental in protections for the California Condor, falcons, and other raptors, trustee emeritus of the Naval Postgraduate School Foundation, and was Vice-Chairman of the Economic Development Committee of the Fort Ord Reuse Committee. He has also served on the Monterey County Sheriffs Advisory Council, the task forces of the City of Seaside, the boards of All Saints and Stevenson Schools, and as foreman pro tempore on the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury. prgtoken As he begins his retirement, I have no doubt that Peter will continue to find myriad ways to support his community and cherish his time with his beloved wife, Barbara, and his daughter, son-in-law, and three grandchildren, who are triplets. We, as a community, are grateful for his contributions to the Central Coast and celebrate his successful career.
REAFFIRMING THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES' COMMITMENT TO THE ORDERLY AND PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POWER CALLED FOR IN THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
Eric Swalwell (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2020-9-29

the balance of my time. prgtoken This resolution simply calls for a commitment to the peaceful transfer of power. I know my colleagues on the other side have their own suspicions about what the motive is behind this and want to project onto it something that is not in the language, but this was passed by 100 Senators last week. Every and ic Senator voted for this because it reaffirms America's commitment to having a peaceful transfer of power. prgtoken What my colleague on the other side just brought up are process issues in the election, but that does not relate or compare to the suggestion that there would be violent opposition to the outcome. prgtoken Both sides have a right to use the courts and then accept the outcome. One of my colleagues referenced the 2000 election, litigated all the way to the top of the Supreme Court, and the loser accepted the outcome. prgtoken This resolution is calling on us, and it is sad that we have to do this, to reaffirm that principle. It asks the question: Are we Gambia, where an outcome was not accepted and people died, or are we a country that, even in the thick of the Civil War, had a President who was willing to accept the outcome? prgtoken Are we Congo where the outcome was not accepted and people died, or are we the country that fought the great war, prgtoken the Second World War, the Greatest Generation, who would build a new economy and afford new opportunities? prgtoken Are we Bolivia, where the outcome was not accepted and there was violence in the streets, or are we the country that sent someone to the Moon, saw contested election after contested election, but losers left office graciously, just as President H.W. did in the letter I read earlier. prgtoken Who do we want to look like? We are imperfect, but the ideas that we are founded upon are perfect, that we are governed by consent, not by leaders or violence, consent of the people. That is what this resolution says. prgtoken Thirty-five days to go to the election. I know it is going to be tense in this Chamber, it is going to be tense in this country, but unity in our country during our darkest times has always been an antidote against anything that would seek to divide us or take us away from who we want to be, who we can be, and who we should be--a more perfect Union. prgtoken , .
REAFFIRMING THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES' COMMITMENT TO THE ORDERLY AND PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POWER CALLED FOR IN THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
Joe Neguse (Democrat, CO) \u2014 2020-9-29

I stand in strong support of this resolution. prgtoken There has been quite a bit of discussion regarding partisanship from some of my friends on the other side of the aisle. I would offer the following quote, which was uttered 39 years ago: ``To a few of us here today, this is a solemn and most momentous occasion, and yet, in the history of our Nation, it is a commonplace occurrence. The orderly transfer of authority, as called for in the Constitution, routinely takes place as it has almost for two centuries, and few of us stop to think how unique we really are. In the eyes of many in the world, this every-4-year ceremony that we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle.'' prgtoken Those words were uttered in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan, and his words couldn't have been more prescient. prgtoken It is a shame that we are here today, a shame that the current President has refused to affirm perhaps that most basic tenet of American democracy, the peaceful transfer of power after an election. prgtoken I don't believe that this should be partisan. We may be on different sides of the aisle; we have different solutions to some of the most pressing challenges that our country faces; but we all should, we all must, believe in this grand American experiment. prgtoken The peaceful transition of power is a hallmark of our Republic. For over 200 years, as President Reagan noted, every President has honored the orderly and peaceful transfer of power to his successor. prgtoken So, in my view, the House of Representatives must speak loudly here. We must meet the unrelenting insistence on undermining our democracy with the full force of the United States Congress by joining together today, on a bipartisan basis, to reaffirm our commitment to the peaceful transition of power, as our colleagues in the United States Senate did just last week. prgtoken , I thank Representative Swalwell for leading on this issue, and I would urge every one of my colleagues in this Chamber, , , and independent, to support this important resolution.
CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 20201 AND OTHER EXTENSIONS ACT-- Continued
Christopher Murphy (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2020-9-29

Wendy is a constituent of mine from Stanford, CT, and she tells a story that is going to sound incredibly familiar to folks who have been part of this healthcare debate over the last 10 years in this Chamber. She said: When my daughter was 15, she was diagnosed with a type of bone cancer and underwent a year of treatment. We were hopeful that she was cured, but exactly 1 year ago--it was 2 months after she graduated from college and was about to move across the country to begin her career when she underwent a routine checkup and found out that the cancer had returned. The past year has included more chemo, surgery, and immunotherapy. My daughter is now 23 years old, and she is the definition of a preexisting condition. She is still on our health plan, but we are already looking at the time in about 2 years when that will no longer be possible. Although she is at least feeling well enough to begin the job search again, there is no security for any of us without the existence of the Affordable Care Act as an option should she not have employer-based healthcare. She is a young woman who has already gone through so much in these short years. There are enough unknowns. Please continue-- prgtoken This is her writing to me-- to protect the Affordable Care Act so she knows she has healthcare. prgtoken President last night contested the idea that 100 million Americans have preexisting conditions. Well, maybe he is right because most data suggests that the number is 130 million Americans who have some form of preexisting condition that, if insurance companies were allowed to, would either result in rate hikes for them because of their diagnosis, or insurance would be made unavailable to them entirely. prgtoken Now, it has almost been 10 years since we lived in a world where insurance companies could deny you healthcare because of a preexisting condition or could raise your rate simply because you are a woman. So for many Americans, it is even hard to remember those days in which you could be discriminated against just because of a childhood cancer. But those days are about to come back. We are literally months away, if President is successful in ramming through this Supreme Court nominee, from insurance companies once again being able to deny coverage to anybody they want based upon their gender, based upon their medical history, based upon their prior diagnosis. prgtoken This isn't hyperbole because I have been in the Congress long enough to know two things. One, s will stop at nothing in order to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and we will talk this afternoon about what that means beyond the 130 million Americans who will have their rates increased. But I know something else as well, which is that there is no replacement. There is nothing coming from the majorit
Climate Change (Executive Session)
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2020-9-29

I am back again, thee and me once again together, to discuss climate change as unprecedented wildfires scorch the west coast and a deadly hurricane season turns in the Atlantic and Americans cry out for action. prgtoken Powerful players outside this Chamber hear that cry, including, recently, over 200 CEOs of major American corporations who form the Business Roundtable. prgtoken Here are some of the 200 companies represented by those CEOs. As I discussed last week, the Business Roundtable just earlier this month called for science-based climate policy to reduce carbon pollution, consistent with the Paris Agreement, and specifically endorsed carbon pricing--from Verizon, to Chevron, to Apple, to Wells Fargo, to McKinsey, to American Airlines, to Amazon, to Pfizer, to Ford. It is quite the who's-who of corporate America. prgtoken So why, you might ask, did the Business Roundtable do this when normally business lobbyists are up here telling us to get out of their way? The answer is economics 101. Pollution is the textbook example of market failure. A factory dumps toxic pollution into a river, and anyone living downstream bears the costs of that pollution. They can't use their well, perhaps. Their property values decrease. They may even get sick. It is basic economic theory that polluters ought to bear those costs, called negative externalities--the downstream costs, if you will. Even Milton Friedman, the patron saint of free market economics, agreed that polluters should pay the costs associated with their pollution. prgtoken For climate change, for the big carbon polluters, this is big bucks. The International Monetary Fund calculates that fossil fuel enjoys a $600 billion--not million but billion with a ``b''--subsidy in the United States every year--every year, $600 billion. It is mostly because the industry has managed to offload the costs of carbon pollution onto the general public. Why do you think they are so busy here in Congress all the time? They are trying to protect that subsidy. prgtoken So if it is economics 101 that a product's price should reflect its true cost, and if, in the case of fossil fuels, they are cheating on that rule, then a price on carbon pollution, as the Business Roundtable recommends, is a correction to that market failure. prgtoken The CEOs also read the same warnings as the rest of us. Dozens of central banks, economists, and other financial experts warn of massive economic risks caused by our failure to address climate change--risks one recent estimate put at triple the 2008 great recession; risks that are commonly called systemic, meaning they take down the whole financial system, not just fossil fuel. Business executives tend to take that kind of warning seriously. prgtoken So this is a good-news story if you look at the business voice coming through the Business Roundtable. Here is the problem: The business voice doesn't just come through the Business Roundtab
Cloture Motion (Executive Session)
Robert Menendez (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2020-9-29

I won't stay the whole night debating my colleague, although I would enjoy that. But let me just say, No. 1, he has the power, as a colleague in the majority, to go to the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and say: I really think this resolution is timely and needs to be done. prgtoken We are going to be in session next week. The chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee can call a markup next week. For his resolution, I will give him my word that I will support asking the chairman to put his resolution on the business meeting, and, probably, with some modifications, I would support it. But he needs to ask the chairman to hold a markup, No. 1. prgtoken No. 2, the reality is that the concern about TPS not being ``temporary''--well, that concern was vitiated. I don't know if it was the Ninth or Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals that recently held a decision that said the President of the United States can give TPS, and he can end TPS, in his judgment. I don't necessarily agree with that judicial decision, but, nonetheless, that is, right now, the law of the land, so that concern is over. prgtoken The suggestion that we have to end TPS as we know it in order to make sure that it only remains a temporary protected status--the courts have determined that. They have said that the President can give TPS and can take it away. So, as far as I learned in my civics lessons, the court is the final law of the land in interpreting what it is that the law is. prgtoken Lastly, I am going to look at--I would like the gentleman to get in contact with--I don't know what legislation he keeps referring to that somehow we blocked, but before the gentleman even arrived here, I have been pursuing the Castro regime for 20-something years--since I was in the House of Representatives, passing the LIBERTAD Act and so many others--and, certainly, the Maduro regime as well. So I am happy to look at that. prgtoken But let's get the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee to hold a markup, and I think we can solve a lot of these problems. prgtoken With that, .
IN HONOR OF THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE AND LEGACY OF REVEREND ROBERT S. GRAETZ, JR.
Terri A. Sewell (Democrat, AL) \u2014 2020-9-29

. Madam , I rise today to honor Reverend Robert S. Graetz Jr a Lutheran minister and heroic Civil Rights Activist who passed away at the age of 92. In 1955, as a white minister Rev. Graetz alongside his wife Mrs. Jeannie Graetz came to Montgomery, Alabama to serve the all black congregation of Trinity Lutheran Church. Demonstrating tremendous courage, Rev. Graetz played a critical role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott by personally sacrificing his time and resources in the fight for equal rights. prgtoken Born on May 16, 1928 in Clarksburg, West Virginia, Rev. Graetz studied Theology at Capital University in Ohio, where he became interested in civil rights through his studies, founding a campus group to discuss race relations. After graduating in 1950, he attended Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio where he founded the Columbus N.A.A.C.P. chapter. In 1951, Rev. Graetz and Jeannie Ellis were married in East Springfield, Pennsylvania and together they had seven children. prgtoken Shortly after his arrival in Montgomery, Rev. Graetz became acquainted with the local N.A.A.C.P. youth council director Rosa Parks who held weekly meetings in the church pastored by Rev. Graetz. Rev. Graetz became active in the protest upon learning of the arrest of Rosa Parks. At his next Sunday service, he urged his parishioners to participate in the Bus Boycott and offered them a ride to work. prgtoken What originally began as a single day on December 5, 1955 turned into over a year of boycotting that ended on December 20, 1956. Rev. Graetz spent three hours every morning driving black members of the community to work. With his increasing involvement, he became an instrumental part of the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. prgtoken Rev. Graetz became the Secretary of the Montgomery Improvement Association, where he worked closely with Rosa Parks and avidly supported Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Rev. Graetz was the only white minister to publicly support the efforts of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, making him and his family a target of the Ku Klux Klan. There were several threats and attempts on Rev. Graetz and his family's lives-- including two firebombs that damaged their home but thankfully harmed no one. Not to be deterred, Rev. Graetz loudly and proudly continued to fight for what he believed was the work of God in securing and defending the equal rights of his black church members. In support of Rosa Parks, he attended her court hearing and even attempted to sit in the colored section in the courtroom. Later, when the FBI urged Rev. Graetz and his family to leave Montgomery for their safety, they refused and remained unwavering in their public support of the Civil Rights Movement. prgtoken After the end of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Rev. Graetz and his wife Jeannie left Montgomery and returned to Columbus, Ohio in 1958 where Rev. Graetz served another predominantly black congregation. In the following years, he and hi