mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
Kids Online Safety Act (Executive Session)
Richard Blumenthal (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2024-7-30

I come here today to talk briefly on the Kids Online Safety Act before the milestone, historic vote that we will take at about noon today. prgtoken For years--in fact, for decades--Congress has discussed and debated the need for reform and safeguards on the internet. We have held dozens of hearings, brought Mark Zuckerberg and every other Big Tech CEO to our committees, and there has been broad agreement: Something needs to be done. We need rules, safeguards. Despite countless polls showing public bipartisan demand for legislation, nothing has happened, nothing. prgtoken Senator Blackburn and I began working on our subcommittee when we held legislative investigations on kids' online safety. Throughout that process, we began to meet with parents who have lost their children because of social media's harms from bullying, fentanyl, sex exploitation, and other horrific harms. prgtoken As a parent of four children and Senator Blackburn also as a parent, we felt deeply the grief, but we admired the grit and the grace of those parents who came to us and demanded action. prgtoken I am haunted by one of the moms who said to us early on, I think speaking on behalf of so many of them and us: When will you stop them from killing people? When will you stop them from killing our children? prgtoken Voting today, the U.S. Senate is finally taking action on Big Tech. prgtoken At its core, the Kids Online Safety Act is a simple, straightforward measure. It gives young people and parents the tools and safeguards to take back control over their online lives. It gives them that measure of power. It empowers them. It enables them to make choices about what they want to see and hear on the internet rather than the algorithms that drive content--often repetitive, addictive content--about bullying and eating disorders that contributes to the destruction of their lives. prgtoken There are three key principles in this legislation: accountability, safeguards, and transparency. prgtoken First, social media platforms will be bound by a duty of care, legally required to exercise reasonable care to prevent their products from causing self-harm, suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, and other harmful impacts. prgtoken The duty of care is flexible because we wanted to keep up with the changes in technology and to be able to be fairly applied to companies with widely different sizes, business models, and products. prgtoken We recognize the obligations on Instagram or YouTube should be different from those for a startup and that social media platforms are different from video games. prgtoken Second, social media platforms will have to provide young people safeguards and set them to the strongest settings by default. prgtoken Finally, social media companies will no longer be able to hide harm. This legislation will require yearly independent audits and access to data. Researchers, Congress, and parents all will be able to
RECOGNIZING NATIONAL CORN GROWERS ASSOCIATION CHAIRMAN TOM HAAG
Angie Craig (Democrat, MN) \u2014 2024-7-30

I rise today to recognize Tom Haag, my close, personal friend and Chairman of the National Corn Growers Association. prgtoken Tom has served on the National Corn Growers Association board since 2016 and has led NCGA on the executive leadership team since 2021. Before NCGA, he was a longtime member of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, serving as its President from 2012 to 2013. Tom is also a fourth-generation family farmer in Eden Valley, Minnesota, growing over 2,000 acres of corn and soybeans with his son Nathan. prgtoken I am thankful to have had a strong working relationship with Tom throughout his time at NCGA. During his long career working on behalf of Minnesota corn farmers, Tom has been a strong leader and advocate for expanding opportunities for Minnesota's biofuel producers and refiners. Thanks to the hard work of people like Tom, Minnesota became the first state to require biodiesel in our diesel fuel blends in 2018. prgtoken In Congress, I am proud to be a co-chair of the bipartisan House Biofuels Caucus and a strong advocate for renewable biofuels. In particular, I have urged the EPA to consider how biofuels can address climate change and improve emissions standards. Minnesota-grown biofuels are critical tools that we have at our disposal right now to help address climate change and stimulate Minnesota's economy, thanks to leaders, and farmers, like Tom. prgtoken I'm grateful for our partnership, and I thank Tom, known as ``The Legend,'' for his tireless advocacy on behalf of Minnesota family farmers and corn farmers across our country.
ALZHEIMER'S ACCOUNTABILITY AND INVESTMENT ACT
Edward J. Markey (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2024-7-30

thanks to Senator Collins for her longtime leadership on this issue. prgtoken There is no more important issue in our country than the scourge of Alzheimer's. My mother, like Senator Collins's father, succumbed to Alzheimer's. But today, there are very few families in our whole country that do not have a similar story, some relative who has had Alzheimer's. prgtoken My mother was diagnosed, and she was a brilliant woman. She was president of her senior class in high school. prgtoken But her mother died--my grandmother--when my mother was 17. She had to be the mother and raise her three younger sisters so she never got to go to college. She ultimately finished raising the first family. Then, at 37, she married my father who was a milkman and then had me at 39 and my two brothers at age 40 and then she raised us. prgtoken Now, my mother was a completely brilliant woman. She could do calculus for fun at the table, even though she never had calculus in school. And my father used to say, after my mother contracted Alzheimer's, your mother was a brilliant woman. It was an honor that your mother married me. Your mother is never stepping foot in a nursing home. No one is touching your mother at 2 a.m. in the morning. It was an honor that she married me. prgtoken And so at age 80, 82, 84, 86, 88, 90, my father kept my mother in our living room. That is my story. That is my family's story. That is Senator Collins's story. That is the story of millions of families in our country. prgtoken Alzheimer's is a scourge that needs to be defeated. prgtoken And so I learned a lot from my father and his dedication to my mother. He was a milkman for the Hood milk company. He was 6 feet 1 inch, 265, so he could do it. But many families cannot do it, especially when it is the man who has Alzheimer's and not the woman-- although, two-thirds of all Alzheimer's cases are women. Can I say that again? Two-thirds of all Alzheimer's cases are women in our country. So these families are heroes, but heroes need help. prgtoken So in the House, as Senator Collins is leading in the Senate, we were able to pass the first law. And the first law said to the National Institutes of Health: Break down all the silos at NIH and all of your institutes. You all have information on the brain, and you don't even share that information on the brain. The Institute on Aging is not sharing with Infectious Diseases what you know about the brain. Break down all the silos and put together a plan to find the cure by 2025. prgtoken I was leading in the House; that was my bill. Senator Collins was doing it in the Senate; that was her bill. That became the law in 2011. prgtoken But we realized by 2014 that a vision without funding is a hallucination. Right now in our country between Medicare and Medicaid, our country spends the equivalent of one-third of the defense budget's money every single year just on Alzheimer's patients--one-third of the defense budget.
CELEBRATING MOTT'S LOUNGE 100TH ANNIVERSARY
Bill Foster (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2024-7-30

I rise today to commemorate a truly remarkable milestone: Mott's Lounge in Burlington, Illinois, celebrates 100 years of rich history, community spirit, and unwavering dedication to its patrons. Founded in 1924 by the pioneering couple Albert and Flora Mott, Mott's Lounge has encapsulated a century of history, evolving through the ages while remaining a cherished cornerstone of the community. prgtoken During the roaring twenties, Mott's found itself amidst lively dancehalls, just steps away from a train station that connected folks to the city of Chicago. It was during this era of Prohibition that Mott's Lounge was ingeniously labeled a cafeteria. But behind those walls, it thrived as a lively speakeasy. The cryptic whispers of train conductors providing coded announcements of ``Next stop, Vinegar Hills!'' have resonated through the years, echoing the spirit of resilience and adventure that characterized that era. Thanks to cleverly concealed back doors leading into cornfields, countless patrons found both refuge and refreshment, forging bonds of camaraderie that still stand strong today. prgtoken As we reflect on this remarkable journey, we honor not only the legacy of its founders but the remarkable women who kept the establishment alive. Following Albert's passing in 1950, Flora Mott led Mott's Lounge with grace until her retirement at the age of 85, living a remarkable 101 years. Upon her retirement in 1980, the reins were passed to her granddaughter, Shirley, who transformed the cafeteria into the vibrant lounge we all know and love. prgtoken Under Shirley's leadership, Mott's Lounge blossomed as a true community hub. Her unwavering commitment to philanthropy and community welfare is a legacy etched in the hearts of Burlington residents. From opening her home to those facing hardships to hosting successful fundraisers for the United Way, Shirley not only transformed a business but also transformed lives. prgtoken Today, the legacy of Mott's is preserved through Shirley's son and his family, who proudly represent the fourth generation of Mott's stewards. They continue to uphold the values of generosity and community spirit that have long defined this establishment. prgtoken , I am proud to celebrate this centennial achievement. I ask my colleagues to join me in a heartfelt congratulations on 100 years of exceptional service, generosity, and community spirit. May the next century bring continued success, growth and connection with this generous community.
Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 (Executive Session)
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2024-7-31

first of all, let me congratulate Senator Brown and Senator Casey and all the work they put into this effort and Chairman Wyden for his negotiation to where we are right now. prgtoken This is a big deal for Rhode Island. We actually tried the child tax credit during COVID. We know how it works. It helped 174,000 Rhode Island families through COVID, and what we saw is that it lifted many of them out of poverty, and what else we saw is that it enabled parents to get into the workforce. prgtoken There is a phony narrative that if you give the child tax credit to families, they will just avoid work. Our experience was the opposite. Once you had child tax credit revenues and you could afford, for instance, childcare for your kid, then you could go to work. And, of course, we needed a workforce through COVID, so people were paying attention to this, and that was our experience. This is a pro-child and pro-work tax credit. prgtoken Now, you think it would be an easy slam dunk over here because it came through the House with a big bipartisan vote and the corporate benefits included in this bill far exceed the family benefits included in this bill. So you would think our friends who are all about corporate tax benefits would be saying, hey, 3 to 1, 4 to 1, whatever the ratio is, we won this one big, let's close the deal; I support this even though it is a little bit out of balance. The Budget Committee did the work that showed the imbalance problem. We can always go back and solve the balance problem later. Families can't wait for the child tax credit. This really matters. prgtoken I support this deal, and I also support having a memory as we go forward and as we further decorrupt our Tax Code about how to bring that better into balance. It ain't forever. The child tax credit is the key here. I will only add that the low-income housing tax credit that is in here as well is extremely important. It is very important to Rhode Island. We have a housing crisis in Rhode Island. We have exactly zero of our municipalities left in which it is affordable for the average family to be able to own a home. And we have one--one--in which it is affordable to be able to rent a home. prgtoken So we have a lot of work to do, and the low-income housing tax credit is a huge lift that allows our very experts and very able housing community to build more and revamp more and produce more housing to meet the needs and quell the crisis. prgtoken So I will close by thanking Chairman Wyden for his leadership and his skilled negotiations that have gotten us to this point. And I hope that common sense, what is good for children, what is good for work, and what is good for the corporate sector can prevail here in the Senate. (Ms. CORTEZ MASTO assumed the Chair.)
Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 (Executive Session)
Robert P. Casey, Jr. (Democrat, PA) \u2014 2024-7-31

I am grateful to be here on the floor today and to join with our colleague from Oregon who has led this fight as the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee to bring us to this moment where we have the chance to vote on a bipartisan bill. prgtoken I will mention what happened in the House in a couple of minutes. But this bill addresses some of our long-term challenges. One of them is addressing our low-income housing shortage. prgtoken The bill also enables our businesses to continue to invest in research, development, and manufacturing. The bill eliminates fraud. The bill eliminates fraud. The bill reduces the deficit. For me, most importantly, it invests in America's children by expanding the child tax credit. prgtoken That is why groups from across the spectrum have lined up to endorse the bill. Groups like the National Association of Manufacturers, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Children's Defense Fund, and so many other groups support this bill that will grow our economy, reduce poverty, and reduce the deficit. prgtoken The House overwhelmingly passed this bill by a vote of 357 to 70. That happened back in January. So now we are hoping for a similar result in the U.S. Senate. I hope the Senate, in a similar bipartisan fashion, will pass this bill. prgtoken We know that, for example, just with regard to one provision in this bill, the child tax credit provision--in 2021, passed the American Rescue Plan, which had as one of its features an enhanced version of the child tax credit. I have often said we took the child tax credit in 2021 and we turbocharged it to help families in a much more substantial way. By passing that legislation in 2021, for 6 months--and only 6 months, unfortunately, but for 6 months--we cut child poverty in half, according to the Census Bureau. prgtoken So after all the years of work, decades of work to reduce child poverty, helping to set the stage for that reduction in child poverty, in 2021, we finally--finally--found the solution to substantially reducing childhood poverty and giving our children freedom from poverty. That solution was the child tax credit, in addition to other investments in children. prgtoken I want to thank Senator Brown, my colleague from Ohio, who is seated next to me here today, for his years of work on this, laboring in the vineyards long before this was popular and long before it had a chance to pass. I want to thank his work and Chairman Wyden's work to bring us to this moment. prgtoken I am one of eight children. My parents had eight children. I am right in the middle. I often think about how difficult it was for Mom and Dad to raise that many children. My mother passed away last August, August of 2023. We will be coming up on August 11, the 1-year anniversary of her passing. I was thinking today, what if my mother was not only the mother of eight children, but what if she didn't have a husband or what if w
Nomination of Dorothy Camille Shea (Executive Session)
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2024-7-31

today, the Senate will vote to confirm Joseph Saporito to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. prgtoken Born in Pittston, PA, Judge Saporito received his B.A. from Villanova University and his J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law. He then entered private practice in Pittston, where he represented clients in a wide variety of matters, including criminal defense, civil litigation, and commercial transactions. He tried more than 60 cases to verdict in which he was either sole counsel or chief counsel. In addition, he served as a part-time assistant public defender in the Luzerne County Office of the Public Defender and as a part-time law clerk in the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas. prgtoken Since 2015, Judge Saporito has served as a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in Wilkes- Barre. He has served as the chief magistrate judge since February 2024. During his time on the bench, he has handled a wide range of civil and criminal matters at various stages of litigation, and he has presided over 16 civil trials, including 14 jury trials. prgtoken Judge Saporito has deep ties to the Middle District of Pennsylvania. He enjoys the strong support of both of his home State Senators, Mr. Casey and Mr. Fetterman, and the American Bar Association unanimously rated him as ``well qualified'' to serve on the district court. prgtoken Judge Saporito's extensive litigation background and his courtroom experience as both an advocate and magistrate judge ensure that he will continue to be an asset to the district court. I am proud to support his nomination, and I ask my colleagues to join me.
Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 (Executive Session)
Margaret Wood Hassan (Democrat, NH) \u2014 2024-7-31

. Thank you very much, Chairman Wyden. prgtoken , I rise to join my colleagues in urging Members from both parties to come together and pass the bipartisan Wyden-Smith package to lower taxes for working families and for small businesses. prgtoken And I want to add my thanks to my colleague from Colorado for his remarks because this really is about making sure that our families and small businesses can get ahead and stay ahead. prgtoken As you know, earlier this year, Members from both parties in the House overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan package to cut taxes. Like any legislative compromise, it may not have included everything that people wanted, but it included commonsense provisions that a majority of Americans agree on. And as my colleague from Colorado and the chairman have just said, it has provisions that not only the majority of Americans agree on, but a significant, really large, outsized majority of the U.S. House of Representatives agreed on. prgtoken This bipartisan package to cut taxes includes provisions that would help keep our economy on the cutting edge by fully restoring critical research and development--R&D--deductions. This provision would give American creators and entrepreneurs the resources that they need to outcompete countries like China and help ensure that our country and our economy is second to none. I have been working on a bipartisan basis to pass this provision and have heard from small businesses in New Hampshire about the really tough financial decisions that they are making now that the full R&D deduction has expired. prgtoken Not only would this tax cut package help us build a more innovative economy, it also helps make our economy work better for everyone through a bipartisan expansion of the child tax credit. We know that families are still struggling with the burdens of high costs. Expanding the child tax credit is a commonsense, practical way to put more money back into the pockets of hard-working families. prgtoken And this child tax credit provision would have helped families who have the most children, the families who, because of their higher number of children, have the most costs. There is a reason that a majority of Americans support these proposals. It is because they are good ideas that will make a difference in people's lives. prgtoken But despite what our constituents are telling us in support of this legislation, despite the good-faith bipartisan discussions that we have had, and despite the fact that the House was able to come together to overwhelmingly pass this bill, we still don't have an agreement on how to advance the bipartisan tax cut package this week. Unfortunately, some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have seemingly allowed partisan politics to interfere with good-faith efforts to find a path forward. prgtoken Despite this setback, I am going to continue to work across party lines to pass the provisions of this bipartisan
Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 (Executive Session)
Sherrod Brown (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2024-7-31

I particularly appreciate the moral leadership of Senator Casey. As Senator Wyden just said, he always posts questions: How does this affect family? How does this affect children? prgtoken He knows it from his experience, and he knows it--as he travels the State of Pennsylvania, from Philadelphia to the Ohio border, he talks to a lot of families and children and sees what this means. prgtoken Senator Casey, thank you. prgtoken It seems like, listening to my colleagues--Senator Cantwell, Senator Casey, and Chairman Wyden--everybody not in DC is for this bill. It is a bunch of insiders here in this city--it is interest groups that are always looking for a handout. As Senator Casey said, so many of these interest groups get great tax advantages for themselves and maybe a few crumbs for others. prgtoken The interest groups that are always looking for tax cuts for the rich and for their large corporate interests frankly have too much influence in this body. Fortunately, in the House of Representatives, they overcame that, and they passed this bill with 357 votes. This ought to pass close to unanimously here because it really is helpful. It helps business, and it helps families. But it is still a struggle, and it should be easy. prgtoken I remember sitting on the floor on March 6, 2021, and I remember voting on this bill. It was on a bigger bill, but it had the child tax credit that Senator Wyden and others had helped to write. Senator Bennet played a big role and a couple of newcomers. Senator Warnock played a role. Senator Booker also played a role, but he was not a newcomer. Senator Warnock had been sworn in a couple of months earlier. I said to Senator Casey, who sits next to me, as he just said--I remember saying ``This is the best day in my career'' because we were about to pass the expanded child tax credit. I knew what it meant. Most of us knew what it meant. It passed 51 to 50. Unfortunately, for reasons I still don't entirely understand, it was a partisan vote. The Vice President came in and broke the tie. It passed 51 to 50. prgtoken Immediately after this passed--the President signed it soon after--I called Secretary Yellen, the Secretary of the Treasury. I said: We have to get this up and running. prgtoken By July, checks went out to the families of 2 million children in Ohio. Checks went out to the families of 60 million children around the country. As Senator Casey said, the child poverty rate dropped almost in half by September. Think about that. But then that tax break expired for reasons I won't go into here. But it tells you--I hear these numbers. I hear people say that the child poverty tax rate dropped by 50 percent. I hear people say, as Senator Casey said, that it means people can afford school fees for their kids. It means daycare is more available, good quality daycare. prgtoken It is a lot of statistics, and that is really important--these 60 million children and 2 million in m