mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Brian Schatz (Democrat, HI) \u2014 2021-8-9

you know, this is a very important week in the United States Senate. Our infrastructure bill is big, it is bold, and it is bipartisan, and it reflects the needs of a population especially important to me--Native communities and Indian Country across the United States. prgtoken As chair of the Indian Affairs Committee, I have made it my mission to support these communities. This legislation contains more than $11 billion in direct investments for Native communities, including $3.5 billion for clean water access and delivery, $3 billion for safe roads and bridges, and $2 billion to close the digital divide for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian families. This bill will have a direct and long-lasting impact, and I am proud to support it. prgtoken Since taking the committee gavel, I have worked with President , with the Presiding Officer, with the members of the committee, and my colleagues in both Chambers to ensure that Native voices are always at the table. prgtoken Our Tribal provisions in the American Rescue Plan and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act were the two largest investments in Native communities in American history--the two largest investments in Native communities in American history. Both bills contained resources and policy reforms that were long awaited and desperately needed, and they are already paying dividends. prgtoken But our work has to continue, and this historic budget resolution is the next step. At its core, our budget is about restoring the middle class and giving more Americans the opportunity to get into the middle class. prgtoken It cuts taxes for millions of American families. It creates millions of American jobs while tackling the climate crisis, and it is paid for by the wealthy paying their fair share. No one who makes under $400,000 will see an increase in their taxes. prgtoken I used to hate charts. I used to not be a chart guy. I have a rule in my office: If you are coming in to present to me, no PowerPoints. I just don't like charts. prgtoken But I am making an exception right now because it is really important that the public understand what we are about to do. prgtoken We are going to lower costs for all Americans. We are going to cut taxes for American families. We are going to create millions of jobs while tackling the climate crisis. And it is going to be paid for by requiring the wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes. prgtoken The budget also addresses Native communities specifically. For far too long, historical underfunding of Federal programs serving Native communities and Tribes has left them vulnerable. Today, one in three Native Americans lives in poverty, and just 19 percent of Native American students are attending college. Native Americans have a life expectancy 5\1/2\ years lower than the general population, and Native Americans are on the frontlines of the climate crisis. prgtoken This budget reverses these systemi
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Patty Murray (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2021-8-9

you know, when a disaster strikes--a tornado or an earthquake or a wildfire--the first thing we do is work to keep people safe, but that is far from the last thing we do. When the storm has passed, we rebuild. We rebuild homes and schools, hospitals, businesses, communities; and, if we are doing our job right, we build them back even better so we are ready when the next crisis strikes. That is exactly what this budget is about--rebuilding our country now stronger and fairer. prgtoken We need to pick up where the infrastructure package leaves off by making bold investments in all of our infrastructure. In addition to building roads and bridges and even broadband, we need to build our public health infrastructure and help our local health departments expand their capacity and modernize their data and lab systems and more prgtoken We need to build our affordable housing infrastructure to make sure every family can keep a roof over their head, and it doesn't need to break the bank to do so. prgtoken We need to build our school infrastructure to make sure schools don't have lead pipes or mold and do have adequate lighting and electricity and AC systems, not to mention so many other resources students need to learn and grow, like libraries and gyms. prgtoken And we need to build our climate infrastructure. The climate crisis is here, and it is an existential threat. If we don't take this opportunity to protect our planet for current and future generations, we may not get another one. prgtoken Of course, rebuilding is about more than just infrastructure. We have to build a stronger, fairer country for our workers and our families too. Our Nation is stronger when no worker has to choose between a paycheck and taking care of themselves, a child, or a loved one who is seriously ill; and every worker can afford to take time off after giving birth, a partner's delivery, or adopting a child, which is why we must establish a national paid leave plan. prgtoken Our Nation is stronger when every parent can get quality, affordable childcare; every young learner gets a strong start with quality early learning programs; and every adult learner can pursue a higher education, which is why we need to expand quality, affordable childcare and establish universal pre-K, and why we need to open the doors of higher education to even more people, starting by providing tuition- free community college. prgtoken Our Nation is stronger when older Americans and people with disabilities have the care they need to live independently in their communities, which is why we need to invest in home- and community- based services and make sure the workers who provide that critical care get fair pay and better benefits. prgtoken Our Nation is stronger when healthcare is truly a right and not a privilege, which is why we need to extend the huge healthcare expansion we made in the American Rescue Plan, which has already helped 138,000 people
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Kirsten E. Gillibrand (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2021-8-9

I rise to join my colleagues in support of the Build Back Better plan budget resolution, which recognizes that care infrastructure is critical infrastructure. prgtoken We know that our economy has not been working for working families. Then, we saw a pandemic make a precarious situation even worse for families across the entire country. prgtoken Our economy cannot fully recover and will not survive another pandemic or health emergency if people can't keep their jobs or get back to work. That won't happen until we start providing the economic support that we have actually needed for decades--support like childcare, universal pre-K, and universal paid leave. prgtoken Paid leave is what allows people to keep their jobs when they get sick. It allows parents to stay home with children who are ill or forced to learn remotely. It lets hard-working people care for their aging parents. And, right now, far too many people don't have access to it. More than 8 in 10 workers lack access to paid leave, and they are often left to make the very impossible choices of: Do I care for my loved one? Do I stay by the bedside of my mother as she is dying or do I earn a paycheck and feed my children? prgtoken Those are choices that we shouldn't be forcing the American workforce to have to make every single day. prgtoken So this budget reconciliation will help end the United States' reign of being the only industrialized country in the world that doesn't have access to paid family and medical leave for all workers. prgtoken I have been fighting alongside Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro for years to pass the bill. Our bill is called the FAMILY Act, the model for the Build Back Better plan's paid leave program, which would provide every--nearly every worker with up to 12 weeks of paid leave. It will provide stability to workers, to families, to companies, and to our U.S. economy. prgtoken Now, this is the moment that we can actually make it happen. This budget also recognizes the essential nature of the childcare industry. Nearly 27 million people rely on childcare just so they can go to work and feed their children. prgtoken First, childcare is not readily available. Childcare deserts and shortages across the country leave families without local options. Before the pandemic in New York, there was one slot for every four children who wanted access to affordable, high-quality daycare. After the pandemic, there was one slot for every eight children who wanted access to affordable, quality daycare. In New York, a year of childcare is often more expensive than a year of in-State college tuition. prgtoken Those problems were exacerbated by the pandemic. Staffing at childcare centers, which was already a problem pre-pandemic, is now down 15 percent. This budget will help us make the critical investments that are so long overdue. Childcare investments ensure families have access to high-quality care that cost low- and middle-income fam
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Alex Padilla (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2021-8-9

I rise today because my home State of California is on fire. Nearly half a million acres have burned in the last month by the Dixie Fire alone. That is more than 10 times the size of the District of Columbia. It is larger in size than the city of Los Angeles. Thousands of Californians have been forced to flee their homes with only the clothes on their backs and the belongings they can carry in their cars. Entire towns have burned to the ground. As of Sunday, Dixie is the largest single-source fire in California's history. California is not alone. The entire Western United States is on fire. prgtoken Colleagues, this morning, the IPCC, the world's foremost body of climate scientists, presented a new report. I am hoping you have seen it. There are 195 countries, including the United States, that have agreed on every statement that it makes, and the verdict could not be clearer: Climate change is happening, and we must act now. prgtoken As the report says, in more than 1,000 centuries, the Earth has never seen a decade as hot as we have seen in the last 10 years. Scientists can show that particular disasters are fueled by climate change. The heat wave that is fueling fires, destroying crops, and sending areas across California into drought--that is on us. Devastating floods from Texas to Central Europe--those are on us. prgtoken We have pushed our planet to this point, and if we continue to stall, the pace of recordbreaking catastrophe will only increase. This is planet Earth's 10-alarm fire. Yet, my colleagues pretend that they can't see the smoke blowing across the country--smoke that is visible from space. prgtoken But the good news is, we have a ic majority, and we know how to fight this fire. If we race to zero out our carbon emissions, we can slow the pace of climate change. We can even bring down temperatures by the middle of the century. But our path to avert a catastrophic cycle is narrowing by the day. We must act boldly and with urgency to tackle this crisis head-on. prgtoken Across the country, across industries, and across the world, we need to end our dependence on fossil fuels. We also need to aim high and fully fund transformational infrastructure that will allow us not just to survive this transition but to come out better than we were before. On a zero-emissions schoolbus, students won't have to breathe dirty air. In an economy rebuilt to meet this challenge, millions of Americans will work in high-paying, sustainable jobs. prgtoken Sometimes, I have worried that we have grown numb to the idea of the climate crisis. If we truly understood the meaning of those words, how could we even contemplate business as usual? If my colleagues across the aisle were to listen to scientists, how could a single one of them argue that we need to spend less on climate? prgtoken As many of you know, my wife and I are raising three sons, trying to raise three gentleman. Today, th
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Benjamin L. Cardin (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2021-8-9

I thank my friend from Oklahoma. The two of us arrived in the House of Representatives on the same day. We have been friends for all this period of time. I thank him for his generosity. Budget Reconciliation prgtoken , I take this time to talk about legislation we will be considering tomorrow, which will be the budget resolution. It gives us a once-in-a-generation opportunity. prgtoken I would just like to pause for a moment because it is part of President 's Build Back Better, that we can have a more competitive nation, and we can create the jobs that we need for the future. prgtoken I was with Secretary Blinken earlier today in College Park, and he talked specifically about the challenges our Nation faces. We go back a generation ago, and America was clearly in the forefront of creating jobs, of taking advantage of all innovation and new, emerging fields. We were the envy of the world. Today, the rest of the world has caught up and in some cases, exceeds us. prgtoken This once-in-a-generation opportunity to build back better gives us an opportunity to do what we need to do for America's future and to show the world that our free market, democratic society is the best way to take care of its people. prgtoken This is an incredibly important part to deliver on President 's Build Back Better. We already did with the American Rescue Plan. That gave us the opportunity to get the COVID-19 vaccines distributed so we can get that behind us. It helped our State and local governments. It took half of our children out of poverty. In Maryland, 52,000 Maryland children were taken out of poverty. Forty million families nationwide benefited from the child credit and the earned income tax credit. We took a major step forward in building back better with the passage of the American Rescue Plan. prgtoken Tomorrow, with the passage of this bipartisan infrastructure package, we will take the second step in building back better, and there is a lot to be celebrated in the legislation that we will pass tomorrow prgtoken I was proud to work on the transportation and water infrastructure issues, along with my colleague who is presiding, to make sure that we provided the building blocks necessary for modern infrastructure--for transportation, for roads, bridges, transit systems, and our water infrastructure, which is critically important. prgtoken We will take a second step to build back better with the passage of the bipartisan bill, but there is a third step that is critically important, and that is the budget resolution we will be taking up starting tomorrow. prgtoken The budget resolution takes us beyond COVID-19. Yes, we have to rebuild from COVID-19, but we also need to rebuild our Nation, make it modern and provide the needs that Americans need. The budget resolution will provide America more competitiveness, better prepared for the future, create jobs, millions
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Lisa Murkowski (Republican, AK) \u2014 2021-8-9

I am pleased to be able to follow my friend and colleague, the Senator from Arizona. And while she is still on the floor, I want to thank her personally for her Herculean efforts that she has made throughout this process. It has not been easy. It has sometimes been challenging, and sometimes it takes somebody who just exudes optimism and enthusiasm and a deep-hearted, deep-seeded belief that what we are doing is good and it is right for all the right reasons. prgtoken We have acknowledged here on the floor, each and every one of us, this infrastructure bill is not the perfect bill. But I am waiting--I am waiting--for the day when we here in the U.S. Senate can come to a place where all 100 of us agree that we have the perfect bill. prgtoken But what we have for the Senate to consider is a product that is really built around core fundamentals and core principles that a group of Senators, equally divided, came together months ago to work through, knowing that the work was going to be hard. prgtoken This is probably one of the most consequential bills that I have been involved with in my Senate career, in the close to 19 years that I have been here. What we are presenting to the Senate is truly historic in its proportions. It is historic in its impact going forward. This is truly legacy infrastructure that we are speaking about. prgtoken Yesterday, it was a little frustrating. We have had some frustrating days where colleagues were sitting and waiting, hoping for things to move more rapidly than they were, and that is challenging. We have a process here in the Senate that is hard for those on the outside to understand and oftentimes hard for us on the inside to understand, but it is a process that, after a period of time, yields the results. prgtoken So as I was visiting with fellow Senators, I overheard somebody say: I am not really sure how we got here. How did we get to this point? prgtoken Well, I tell you, it wasn't magic. It wasn't magic that produced a legislative package that, again, is historic in its funding for roads, rails, bridges, ports, ferries, and waterways. It was certainly not an accident that negotiated this 2,700-page document that works to meet the broadband needs of Americans, particularly in unserved or underserved parts of the country, like my State in Alaska. prgtoken It also wasn't inevitable that this infrastructure deal would come together, and yet that is all following what we have learned in this past year and a half dealing with the COVID pandemic and the reality that we have true disparities when it comes to basic infrastructure, like clean water, sanitation facilities, and energy. It was not inevitable that this infrastructure deal would come together. prgtoken In an age of cynicism and punditry, we kind of grow accustomed around here to believing that it is hard to get good things done in Washington, DC, and that is not good for any of us. Those of us here in the Sena
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Cynthia M. Lummis (Republican, WY) \u2014 2021-8-9

I am pleased to join with my colleagues in urging the Senate to allow this widely supported bipartisan amendment to move forward. prgtoken I want to thank Ranking Member Toomey, Senator Warner, Senator Portman, Senator Sinema, and Chairman Wyden. Chairman Wyden, in particular, thank you for your early commitment to me to get this right and for your partnership. prgtoken The amendment before us specifies that persons who validate distributed ledger data, including digital asset miners and stakers, and those who provide hardware and software wallets, are not required to report customer information to the Internal Revenue Service. This is essential because those persons would not have access to the customer information necessary to comply with this requirement anyway. prgtoken Equally important in this amendment are clarifications to the definition of ``broker'' that will ensure that software protocol developers will not be swept up in IRS reporting requirements. Developers are the lifeblood of innovation and subjecting them to reporting would have far-reaching implications on privacy and on the evolution of technology in this country, not to mention that most developers would not have access to useful data. prgtoken This bill is very likely going to become law, and it is important that these changes become law along with the bill. That is why I urge my colleagues not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. prgtoken I recognize there is dissatisfaction on both sides of the aisle with the lack of opportunity to offer amendments and to expedite debate. prgtoken However, I ask you to weigh those concerns against the importance of providing millions of Americans with additional clarity on the scope of their coming obligations to the IRS. prgtoken America is a country of innovation. Right now, our financial system is evolving before our eyes in much the same way that the internet first began to find a foothold in the mid-1990s. Distributed ledgers, digital assets, and other forms of financial technology are in the early stages of transforming the way we share and store value. prgtoken This amendment has started the debate on many difficult questions related to financial technology that the Senate must address over the next few years. We are reacting to what was put before us. I wish that we were implementing from the get-go, but that is not where we find ourselves today. So prgtoken let's get this broker definition as good as possible now and then move forward this fall with other definitions that will be important to producing a regulatory sandbox for digital assets that allows innovators to keep innovating. prgtoken We are in a difficult space right now. We are transitioning from the industrial economy to technology, and it is a bumpy ride. It is disruptive for all of us, especially those of us who grew up at the end of the industrial age and are so new to this technology age. But we can adapt, we can
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2021-8-9

. Last week, Judiciary staff interviewed Jeffrey Rosen, 's former Acting Attorney General, and Mr. Rosen's Deputy at the Justice Department, Rich Donoghue. These interviews were done as part of the ' never-ending series of investigations into former President . prgtoken Their obsession with him has been very consistent, I will give them that. So, too, are the ' public comments that grossly mischaracterized--at least for now--the state of the evidence. prgtoken I will start with a little history. This country has had to deal with ' obsession with destroying for much too long. In the process, I fear my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have done and will do lasting damage to our political system. prgtoken For example, in May 2017, then-Ranking Member Feinstein and I met with then-Director Comey about Crossfire Hurricane. At that classified briefing, Comey said was not under investigation. But that didn't stop the from publicly saying that was under investigation. prgtoken And because Comey kept the answer classified, he couldn't and didn't rebut it. But knew it was a lie, and they kept on saying that lie until fired Comey because Comey wouldn't make the fact that wasn't under investigation public. prgtoken Unfortunately, the ' big lie eventually got them what they wanted because Comey then helped orchestrate an investigation over his firing. prgtoken Day after day, year after year, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle misled the country about the true facts relating to the Crossfire Hurricane. In doing so, they undermined their credibility. But, somehow, they kept investigations going, along with an all-too supplicant press. prgtoken My staff has participated in these staff-led interviews that have occurred in the last week, and I have been briefed on the matters at hand. I was also at the Rosen interview. prgtoken Within hours of Saturday's Rosen interview, the were already on television and in papers talking about the substance of the interviews. In their public comments, they provided politically slanted mischaracterizations about where the investigation currently stands. prgtoken I would like to specifically note that the chairman of the Committee, Senator Durbin, said, in part, to CNN on Sunday about the Rosen interview that ``the Justice Department had set it up for us and said we're waiving any privilege. He''--meaning these people being interviewed--``can speak to any issue. We're not holding back.'' prgtoken At the Donoghue interview on Friday, the Justice Department, contrary to what I just stated to you, objected to my staff's questions on several occasions and prevented Donoghue from answering. So to go back to what I said from the quote on CNN, it had been set up ``for us and said we're waiving any privilege. He can speak to any issue.'' But when it comes to some of the questions my staf