mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
END THE BORDER CATASTROPHE ACT
Bennie G. Thompson (Democrat, MS) \u2014 2024-4-19

I thank the gentleman for yielding me extra time. This bill is so overreaching that it would force the American Red Cross to verify every person's immigration status before providing lifesaving services following a natural disaster. This is just inhumane. prgtoken Furthermore, H.R. 3602 is so poorly drafted that it would bar many U.S. citizens from boarding commercial flights. This bill sets requirements for forms of identification that can only be used through airport security, but the list doesn't include a driver's license from Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico; Guam; or other U.S. territories. prgtoken , this bill is too extreme. It is just brought here today to appease certain elements of the party. Remote s must put an end to this chaos and dysfunction, and get back to serious legislating. Vote ``no'' on this unworkable bill.
FISA
Chris Van Hollen (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2024-4-19

our intelligence community relies on a range of tools to protect Americans from threats originating from abroad. One of them is section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act--FISA--which is used to gather information related to foreign individuals located outside of the United States and has produced valuable information to help uncover terrorist plots and thwart attacks. I strongly support maintaining that important capability. At the same time, I have long been concerned that, without adequate safeguards, section 702 can be abused in a way that violates Americans' Fourth Amendment rights and unnecessarily intrudes on their privacy, including for ``backdoor'' searches. That is why I have long pushed for guardrails to prevent governmental overreach and abuse. prgtoken Despite the fact that surveillance under this section is supposed to be limited to certain foreign nationals abroad, a FISA Court opinion released in July 2023 stated that the FBI conducted approximately 40,000-50,000 warrantless ``backdoor'' search queries of section 702 communications data targeting U.S. persons per quarter in 2022. Moreover, over the course of 2022, government data shows that the FBI's rate of compliance with the FISA Court-approved querying standard has risen to approximately 98 percent, which means the rate of violations is 2 percent. While that may sound like an impressive compliance rate, it still amounts to 4,000 violations each year. prgtoken I acknowledge and appreciate that the bill before us includes some reforms to strengthen privacy protections for Americans. It codifies newly implemented internal practices that the FBI has adopted to address many of the abuses that have arisen. However, I believe that those protections can and should be further strengthened. The major issue involves those occasions in which the FBI or other U.S. Government Agencies determine that a foreign target is communicating with an American citizen. The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board--PCLOB--found that the majority of the FBI's U.S. person queries of section 702 information that are conducted yield little or no results. In 2022, the PCLOB found that the FBI accessed content following U.S. person queries only 1.58 percent of the time. In these few cases, the question arises as to whether and under what circumstances the U.S. Government should be able to review the contents of the communication of an American citizen. Senator Durbin offered an amendment, which I supported, to require the FBI to obtain a warrant prior to viewing the content of prgtoken Americans' communications, subject to very important exceptions when exigent circumstances exist, when the U.S. person consents, and for certain cybersecurity imperatives. I am disappointed that this amendment was not adopted. prgtoken Another way to obtain the benefits of section 702 foreign intelligence collection without weakening the Fourth Amendment
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Benjamin L. Cardin (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2024-4-19

a year ago, artillery and gunfire erupted in the capital of Sudan. Smoke filled the air as people ran for their lives. It was the beginning of a vicious war between two armed factions: the SAF--the Sudanese Armed Forces--and the RSF--the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. prgtoken In the last year, there has been absolute devastation in Sudan. At every turn, unarmed Sudanese have been in the crosshairs. These armed groups have committed extrajudicial killings. They have indiscriminately bombed civilian targets, like hospitals. They have used rape and sexual violence against women of certain ethnic groups as a weapon of war. They have razed cities and towns, killing inhabitants and strangling commerce and trade. They have destroyed farmlands and forced farmers to leave, preventing harvests. They have looted humanitarian supplies, attacked aid workers, prgtoken and blocked aid delivery. The World Food Programme's Sudan director said this May could bring ``unprecedented levels of starvation.'' prgtoken According to the United Nations, more than 15,000 people have been reported killed, with an additional 10- to 15,000 in one town in Darfur alone. prgtoken Eight million people have fled their homes. Twenty-five million, including 14 million children, need humanitarian assistance, very basic materials like food, water, medicine, and clothing. prgtoken The president of Doctors Without Borders said: Sudan is one of the worst crises the world has seen for decades. prgtoken As I speak, the town of Al Fashir is under siege. Millions of civilians are trapped in that city, which is controlled by the SAF. The people in this town have no access to aid, and the international community has no plan to protect them should the RSF mount a full-scale assault. prgtoken My colleague on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Booker, has just come back from the region. He gave us a firsthand account of the hunger, the violence, and the trauma the Sudanese people are facing. Last week, Samantha Power testified in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the imminent famine. Just this week, the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights released a report concluding that the RSF is committing genocide in Sudan. prgtoken The evidence is clear and overwhelming. We must take action now. prgtoken At this week's humanitarian conference in Paris, the United States announced an additional $100 million in aid to respond to the conflict. The United States has been the largest donor to date. The French are also saying they raised more than =2 billion. Money pledged is not money in hand, however, and we all need to do more. prgtoken I am pleased that when the Senate passed the security funding supplemental, it included more than $9 billion in additional humanitarian aid. Part of that humanitarian aid would go to help the people of Sudan. prgtoken I know there is bipartisan support for humanitarian aid in Con
END THE BORDER CATASTROPHE ACT
Thomas R. Suozzi (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2024-4-19

. Mr. Roy, the histrionics and the hyperbole are not working. You said so yourself. prgtoken It is not working. It is not working. prgtoken The bottom line is that we face issues that are very serious in our country, including the border. There is a crisis there, and we have to address it by doing what we are doing today and tomorrow related to the foreign aid bill. prgtoken We have to work together. We have to find compromise. We have to find bipartisan solutions. prgtoken Every problem we face in our country is complicated, and you cannot solve complicated problems in an environment of fear and anger. People have to sit down and work with each other. prgtoken I know Mr. Moore is a very good man. There are a lot of good people on the side as well as the ic side. Let's work together to solve these very serious issues we face in our country. prgtoken We had a bipartisan solution by one of the most ethical, honest, hardworking conservative s in the United States Senate, James Lankford. We didn't go forward with that bipartisan bill because President and others said that we don't want to give the victory, that we want to campaign on the chaos.
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 8034, ISRAEL SECURITY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024; PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 8035, UKRAINE SECURITY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024...
James P. McGovern (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2024-4-19

I am prepared to close, and the balance of my time to do so. prgtoken , the have had to make some tough decisions about how to vote on this rule, and let me tell you why I voted to support it last night. I have disagreements with many aspects of the various pieces of legislation that will come before us, and there are some of these pieces that I will vote against. prgtoken Again, there will be separate votes, and there will be separate debates, but as we learned last night in the Rules Committee, the alternative that some of my friends were pushing to this approach was an Israel-only package with no humanitarian aid, not just for the people of Gaza, but for any suffering people that the aid would benefit and some really ugly border provisions, which I found unconscionable and some other bad stuff as well. prgtoken , once again, will be the adults in the room, and I am so glad s finally realized the gravity of the situation and the urgency with which we must act. But guess what, ? You don't get an award around here for simply doing your damn job. President told us last year, 6 months ago--over 6 months ago--that this was urgent and important, that Ukraine needed us, that Putin was not going to stop, that the war against Ukrainians was particularly vicious. Every major human rights organization in the world has told us the impact of Russia's attack against Ukraine. prgtoken The Senate voted months ago. The Senate can barely agree on what to have for lunch, and they voted months ago. What did the House do? What did my House friends do? They did nothing. There was no action to help our allies. It is all delay, distract, deny and blame . I would just say to my colleagues, look at what MAGA extremism has gotten you; nothing. It has gotten you nothing, not a damn thing. prgtoken In fact, it has empowered . At every critical juncture in this Congress, it has been who have been the ones to stand up for our country and do the right thing for the American people. ensured the U.S. didn't default on its debt last year in case anybody forgot. supplied votes to keep the government running in September of last year, in November of last year, and in March of this year. supplied the votes to pass the National Defense Authorization Act. supplied the votes for the tax relief bill that passed earlier this year. have done the job that s have refused to do. prgtoken Again, we have different priorities, and I think, based on what I have heard in this last Congress, different values. We don't even agree on a lot of what has come before the full House. have done the job that s have refused to do. We don't want an award for it. We don't want a trophy for showing up to work. All we want is for s to do their job, stop blaming for their
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Ron Wyden (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2024-4-19

I rise this morning to discuss what happened at the end of the debate in the House of Representatives on section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. prgtoken Particularly, I am going to be talking about the sweeping new authorities that were slipped into the legislation at that time by the chair of the House Intelligence Committee. prgtoken Then I intend to respond to each of the major arguments that have been given over the last couple of days in an attempt to justify these expanded authorities in that provision that was added at the last moment and why they do not hold water. prgtoken The chair of the House Intelligence Committee called this amendment-- expanding all of these authorities--he called it merely technical. I want to explain why it is not just technical and how it passed the House with virtually no debate. prgtoken As the Presiding Officer and I have talked about, this has never been considered--repeat, never been considered--here in the U.S. Senate, but Members of the Senate are now being told the same thing that came up in the House: Nothing to see here. It is technical. And it is all classified. So stop asking questions. prgtoken Now, I have spoken to a number of colleagues here, and I have urged them to just read the plain language of the provision. When they do so, they will see for themselves that this is actually a very substantial and dangerous expansion of warrantless surveillance authorities. prgtoken Under the provision, there would be virtually no limits to who can be forced into spying for the government. Any company that installs, maintains, or repairs Wi-Fi or other communications systems in any American business or home, for example, can be dragged into this. So can any other company that provides a service that gives its employees access to any communications equipment, which would include a server, a wire, a cable box, a Wi-Fi router, a phone, or a computer. prgtoken There are lots of examples here. Every office building in America has data cables running through it. Tens of thousands of commercial establishments offer Wi-Fi to their customers. Under this provision, landlords, the companies that maintain the cables and Wi-Fi, and any number of companies whose employees have access to any of that equipment can all be forced to cooperate with the government's surveillance. prgtoken Now, my view is there have been some pretty farfetched and misleading efforts to justify what the House of Representatives did at the last minute. So I am going to address each of the major arguments that I have heard in support of the House's dangerous expansion of surveillance authorities. prgtoken First, supporters of this provision just wave away the actual language of the provision and simply insist that no terrible thing is going to happen. But nobody has ever tried to explain why the plain language of this provision wouldn't authorize the government to force a huge number
FOURTH AMENDMENT IS NOT FOR SALE ACT
Joaquin Castro (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2024-4-19

. Mr. Chair, I rise concerning my vote on H.R. 4639. prgtoken This bill raises important issues that must be addressed by Congress. Law enforcement agencies should not be able to circumvent due process by buying information about the targets of their operations from third- party data brokers. The American people need a solution that covers federal, state, and local governments to ensure that their rights are fully protected. prgtoken During legislative negotiations on H.R. 4639, members raised concerns about conflicting possible interpretations of this bill that were not addressed before it came to the floor. As currently drafted, it is not clear whether H.R. 4639 appropriately covers federal, state, and local governments or whether the scope is limited to only cover the federal government. I also have concerns about restrictions that H.R. 4639 would impose on the Intelligence Community's ability to protect our national security by collecting data on foreign individuals operating abroad. prgtoken Given the ambiguity over the scope of H.R. 4639 and the challenges this bill would create for our ability to monitor foreign threats to the United States, I will vote PRESENT. I am hopeful these issues will be addressed by the Senate as they consider this legislation.
HONORING CHULA VISTA ASSISTANT POLICE CHIEF PHIL COLLUM
Juan Vargas (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2024-4-19

I rise today to honor Chula Vista Assistant Police Chief Phil Collum, a 29-year veteran of the department who we sadly lost to cancer. His service and his legacy will always be remembered. prgtoken Those who knew Assistant Police Chief Collum best emphasize his empathy, his compassion, and his reputation for being fair, his work ethic, and more than anything, his dedication to his community. prgtoken Community was at the heart of everything Assistant Police Chief Collum did. He gave the directive in 2022 to create the Community Engagement Division to help foster community relationships, and he personally led this division. prgtoken He was committed to building bridges between officers and the community they serve. Through the Community Engagement Division, he worked to make sure that the Chula Vista Police Department was actively connecting with community members, including residents, students, and businessowners. prgtoken Under his leadership, the division also worked to make sure community members were aware of how officers could help them. prgtoken Assistant Police Chief Collum was also deeply involved in charity work. He volunteered at his church. He went to Tijuana every month to support orphanages and help children in need as part of the Corazon de Vida Foundation. His empathy and his compassion for others were on full display. prgtoken Assistant Police Chief Collum was a true trailblazer. He was the Chula Vista Police Department's first Black lieutenant, first Black captain, and first Black assistant chief. He was also the first openly gay male officer in the department. prgtoken , we will remember him.
FOURTH AMENDMENT IS NOT FOR SALE ACT
Betty McCollum (Democrat, MN) \u2014 2024-4-19

. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 4639, the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act. prgtoken As Ranking Member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, my priority is our national security and to protect Americans from foreign threats. Our Intelligence Community agencies at times purchase what is known as ``commercially available information'' from data brokerage companies to gather information on foreign spies and bad actors, and to protect America from malign foreign influence. When they purchase this data, they cannot be certain that it is entirely free of any U.S. citizen's information. In order to protect citizens, agencies are already required to take steps to ensure that this incidentally obtained data is removed. prgtoken However, these data brokerage companies collect the personal information of Americans through their social media profiles, public records, and other commercial sources. They then sell this information to companies, organizations, or any entity with an interest in collecting data on American citizens--including foreign adversaries like China, Russia, or even cartels. H.R. 4639 would do nothing to keep any of these other entities from exploiting and sharing American's data. prgtoken Instead of prohibiting our own intelligence agencies from accessing commercially available information to obtain foreign intelligence, we must take steps to address the broader vulnerability of Americans' data. Congress needs to take steps to protect Americans, not undermine our Intelligence agencies and put the United States at a deep disadvantage against our adversaries.
HONORING THE LIFE OF DR. ROBERT BUNGER ZUFALL
Mikie Sherrill (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2024-4-19

I rise to recognize Dr. Robert Bunger Zufall, a beloved community healthcare leader from New Jersey. Dr. Zufall dedicated his life to serving others and leaves an incredible legacy in New Jersey's Eleventh Congressional District and beyond. prgtoken Dr. Zufall was born in Middleton, New York and raised in Irvington, New Jersey. He graduated from Princeton University and served our country in the Navy during World War II before continuing his education at Harvard Medical School. From his leadership in the military as U.S. Army First Lieutenant and Captain in the medical corps, to his service as a physician at Bellevue Hospital and Dover General Hospital, Dr. Zufall dedicated his life to caring for others. prgtoken Dr. Zufall's most well-known achievement is the creation of Zufall Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center serving communities across Northern New Jersey. After several medical service trips to Peru, he and his wife Kay committed themselves to providing healthcare to those in need closer to home. Initially a once-a-week, one-room clinic, Zufall has since expanded to seven counties and two mobile sites that serve 48,000 New Jerseyians annually. The clinic has received many accolades, including the Jefferson Award given to Dr. Zufall and Kay in 2009. Dr. Zufall, known lovingly by many as ``Dr. Bob,'' worked tirelessly to make sure that all New Jersey residents regardless of means have affordable access to healthcare. prgtoken Dr. Zufall deeply cherished his family and enjoyed spending time with his wife Kay, children Kathryn, Margaret, Ellen, Nancy, and David, his three siblings, nine grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren. prgtoken On March 5, 2024, Dr. Robert Zufall peacefully passed away at the age of 99. The selfless manner in which Dr. Zufall served his community is an inspiration to us all. He will not be forgotten and his impact will continue to be felt in New Jersey for generations to come.
END THE BORDER CATASTROPHE ACT
Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2024-4-19

those individuals need processes and they need funding. We won't even give them war funding. prgtoken As a member of the Homeland Security Committee, I can tell you that the issue is that we are not bringing groups together who are fleeing persecution, which is what we are seeing in the individuals coming to the country now. They are fleeing persecution, and we want to reject-- we want to reject the funding. prgtoken When I was on the Homeland Security Committee, we did not do that. We provided for the NGOs. It is shameful for us to think that we can live in this country and reject the NGOs, the nongovernmental entities, who are helping those who are in need. prgtoken That is how we did our work. When we did our work, we would be able to solve the problems. Those problems would be helping NGOs. Those problems would be making sure that we gave dollars to the agencies like Catholic Charities. Can anyone believe that we don't give money to Catholic Charities anymore? prgtoken The call that we have today, , and to my good friend, the whip of the House, working with our whip, the Honorable Katherine Clark----
IN MEMORY OF ROBIE HARRIS
Rosa L. DeLauro (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2024-4-19

I rise today to honor the life, the work, and memory of one of America's most impactful authors, Roberta ``Robie'' . prgtoken Robie, a gifted writer, a fierce advocate for free speech, a treasured friend. An educator at heart, she wrote to answer the questions that children asked her, the questions about how to understand their changing bodies, feelings, and experiences of the world they grew up in. Her award-winning writing treated children with respect and autonomy, covered a wide variety of topics from engineering and architecture to nutrition and genetics. prgtoken There are few people in this life who are kindred spirits. Robie was one for me. I am forever grateful for her friendship, humor, and generosity. Her illustrator and dear friend, Michael Emberly, described her best when he said: ``She was a complicated human being in the best sense, and she had one of the best attributes you can say about a human being--she was memorable.'' prgtoken I will always remember and be inspired by Robie. My heart is with her family as they grieve. Robie's passion for working with children was a shared mission. Her husband, Bill, founded KidsPac, which advocates for early-childhood education. Her sons, David prgtoken and Ben, have followed in their footsteps, working to address child poverty in this country and psychological needs. prgtoken Life without Robie will never feel the same again, but through her writing and her continued work and the work of her family, her kind and her generous spirit will always be with us.