mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
IN RECOGNITION OF SANDRA L. FENWICK'S SERVICE AS CEO OF BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
Katherine M. Clark (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2021-4-14

. Madam , I rise today to honor Sandra Fenwick's achievements as the Chief Executive Officer of Boston Children's Hospital. Ms. Fenwick, known to most as Sandi, has served as CEO of Boston Children's since 2013 and for fourteen years prior, served as the hospital's Chief Operating Officer. Sandi has led the hospital's efforts to control costs and adapt to a changing health care environment. As CEO, she leads a team of 20,000 people dedicated to improving and advancing child health through the delivery of high quality clinical care, advancing groundbreaking biomedical research, providing medical education to the next generation of pediatric providers and investments in the community. Boston Children's is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate for Harvard Medical School and the largest pediatric training program in the nation. The hospital is the largest pediatric research entity in the world. Each year, they care for children from all 50 states and more than 100 countries, seeing more pediatric patients with rare diseases and complex conditions than any other hospital in the world. Boston Children's has been ranked the No. 1 children's hospital by U.S. News and World report every single year since Sandi has been the CEO. prgtoken As a Member of Congress who represents children and families in the Boston area, and as a parent myself, I am deeply grateful to have an institution like Boston Children's in my home state. It is the leadership, provided over the years by Sandi Fenwick and the fantastic team that she has cultivated, that has led this institution to thrive and become one of the greatest resources for children in our local communities and around the world. prgtoken My work with Sandi goes back many years to my time at the Massachusetts State House and more recently, here in Congress. In the face of growing threats to our children's health and well-being, there is no better advocate for them than Sandi Fenwick. She has walked with patients and families through the State House and the halls of Congress, to help tell their stories and she has worked passionately behind the scenes to ensure investments in their care every day for years. Her voice for children reaches beyond the walls of the hospital and indeed, beyond Boston--in particular through her service as the Chair of the Public Policy Committee of the Children's Hospital Association. prgtoken Sandi had planned to announce her retirement a year ago and chose to remain at the helm of the hospital to see them through the most intense part of the COVID-19 pandemic. We all know what challenges that hospitals have faced in the past year. Under Sandi's leadership, Boston Children's has been a constant presence for our children and this month, she leaves the institution poised and ready to work on the challenges of the future. I applaud her achievements and want to wish her well in her retirement and all future endeavors.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter from the Birmingham Jail (Executive Calendar)
Alex Padilla (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2021-4-14

I thank Senator Brown for including me on this reading. It is a tremendous honor. I will continue. When I was suddenly catapulted into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery, Alabama, a few years ago, I felt we would be supported by the white church. I felt that the white ministers, priests and rabbis of the South would be among our strongest allies. Instead, some have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows. In spite of my shattered dreams, I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership of this community would see the justice of our cause and, with deep moral concern, would serve as the channel through which our just grievances could reach the power structure. I had hoped that each of you would understand. But again I have been disappointed. I have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers declare: ``Follow this decree because integration is morally right and because the Negro is your brother.'' In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard many ministers say: ``Those are social issues, with which the gospel has no real concern.'' And I have watched many churches commit themselves to a completely other worldly religion which makes a strange, un-Biblical distinction between body and soul, between the sacred and the secular. I have traveled the length and breadth of Alabama, Mississippi and all the other southern states. On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings I have looked at the South's beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward. I have beheld the impressive outlines of her massive religious education buildings. Over and over I have found myself asking: ``What kind of people worship here? Who is their God? Where were their voices when the lips of Governor Barnett dripped with words of interposition and nullification? Where were they when Governor Wallace gave a clarion call for defiance and hatred? Where were their voices of support when bruised and weary Negro men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest?'' Yes, these questions are still in my mind. In deep d
TRIBUTE TO HONOR THE LIFE OF CLAIRE CULLEN EARLEY
Anna G. Eshoo (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2021-4-14

. Madam , I rise today to honor the life of Claire Cullen Earley, a San Carlos, California resident, who died on March 28, 2021, Palm Sunday, at the age of 85. prgtoken Claire Cullen was born on May 29, 1935, in Larchmont, New York, to Colonel William Joseph Cullen and Alice Cunningham Cullen. She was raised in Larchmont and Manhattan and earned a degree in Mathematics from Rosemont College. She worked as a computer programmer at Union Carbide in New York City where she met and later married Martin Vincent Earley. In 1971 they moved to San Carlos, where she began her lifelong commitment to her community. prgtoken Claire Earley was the former President of the San Mateo County Association of Realtors, Director of the California Association of Realtors, a member of St. Charles Church in San Carlos and the San Carlos Rotary Club. prgtoken She was predeceased by her husband Martin and her parents. She leaves her four beloved sons and their wives, and 11 adored grandchildren. She will be sorely missed by each of them as well as the many people who were blessed by her loyalty and generosity. I was blessed with her friendship for almost five decades. prgtoken Madam , I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in expressing our condolences to the family and friends of Claire Earley. She was a woman of great faith, a force of nature and always a force for good. We are a better community because of her and a stronger country.
COMMITTING TO RECONCILIATION
Al Green (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2021-4-14

and still I rise because I love my country. prgtoken And, , I rise today understanding that we are in mourning. Our country is grieving. There are many reasons for this, but we still haven't acknowledged that there is something we can do to eliminate some of the mourning and grieving. prgtoken We are mourning because police officers are being murdered. Many have been murdered across the length and breadth of the country. We are mourning because persons are losing their lives at the hand of the police. Many have lost their lives. We are in a state of mourning, but it goes back far beyond George Floyd, Breanna Taylor, Sandra Bland. It goes back to really the founding of the country because we have not atoned for some of our transgressions. Literally, we have committed crimes against humanity for which we have not atoned. prgtoken Slavery was a crime against humanity; we have not atoned. What we did to the indigenous population was a crime against humanity; we have not atoned. The internment of the Japanese, based upon our xenophobia, we have not atoned. Banning Chinese from the country, we have not atoned. What we did to Muslims, banning them from the country, we have not atoned. prgtoken There must be atonement. We have to reconcile. We did not do so in 1868, as it relates to slavery. We should have, but we had a President who was antithetical to it, Andrew Johnson. prgtoken So, I am going to offer a resolution, a resolution to create a department of reconciliation such that we can accomplish our atonement, get out of this grieving, and bring our country together. prgtoken When we had a systemic need for dealing with agriculture, we created a Department of Agriculture. When commerce was in need of some help, we created a Department of Commerce. We have a Department of Labor because labor needs the kinds of legislation and the kinds of benefits that a Congress can accord labor, the persons who actually work for a living. When we needed defense, we created a Department of Defense and a Department of Homeland Security. prgtoken So, I am proposing that we have a department of reconciliation so we can deal with the issues that have haunted this country for centuries. A department of reconciliation with a secretary of reconciliation, a department of reconciliation with a budget, a department of reconciliation with under secretaries so that we can accomplish our atonement with a department of reconciliation. It can be done. prgtoken I am not asking for a commission. This is about a commitment. A department indicates that you are committed to a cause. We were committed to labor; that is why we have a Department of Labor. We were committed to education; that is why we have a Department of Education. We now need a department of reconciliation, a commitment to ending this long, sorrowful grieving that we have suffered over the years so that we can understand each other better and work together better with each other. <
COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act (Executive Calendar)
Mazie K. Hirono (Democrat, HI) \u2014 2021-4-14

on March 29, Vilma Kari was walking to church near Times Square in Manhattan when a man pushed her to the ground and violently assaulted her in broad daylight. prgtoken A silent video of the incident captured by a security camera inside a luxury apartment building showed the attack in vivid detail. In it, we can clearly see the assailant pushing Ms. Kari to the ground and kicking her repeatedly in the head and torso before leaving the scene. This video, which has gone viral, is disturbing enough to watch, but it doesn't capture the full picture of what happened. Witnesses to the attack recounted the assailant's repeatedly yelling ``You don't belong here'' to Ms. Kari--an immigrant from the Philippines who has lived in our country for decades. prgtoken Now recovering from multiple injuries, including a broken pelvis, Vilma Kari has become one of the latest victims in a surging wave of hate crimes targeting the Asian-American, Pacific Islander community during the COVID-19 pandemic. prgtoken Over the last year, we have seen businesses defaced with anti-Asian graffiti, elders verbally accosted on the street, women assaulted, and eight people murdered in cold blood at Asian-owned businesses in Georgia during unprovoked attacks. All told, people of Asian descent have reported more than 3,800 hate incidents across all 50 States and the District of Columbia. prgtoken These attacks are disturbing and horrifying, but they are, in many ways, a predictable and foreseeable outgrowth of the use of racist and inflammatory language, like ``Chinese virus,'' ``Wuhan virus,'' and ``Kung flu,'' to describe the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, as some political leaders, including the former President, started using this language, the FBI warned of a potential surge in hate crime incidents targeting people of Asian descent. prgtoken At the same time, public health experts warned of the danger of singling out the Asian-American community as being responsible for the virus. These warnings proved prophetic. A study recently published by the American Journal of Public Health found there was a dramatic increase in tweets using anti-Asian phrases after the first time the former President tweeted using the hashtag ``China virus'' on March 16, 2020. prgtoken This rise in hate crimes targeting AAPIs over the past year has shown the extent to which this inflammatory rhetoric has normalized racist attitudes toward and the stigmatization of Asian Americans with devastating consequences. The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, for example, assessed that, in 16 of the Nation's largest cities, hate crimes targeting AAPIs spiked nearly 150 percent during the pandemic. prgtoken The current dramatic rise in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans might be a recent development, but we all know that racism is never far below the surface in our country, sadly. Asian Americans have always been targeted as the ``other'' in our countr
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 7, PAYCHECK FAIRNESS ACT, AND PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1195, WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION FOR HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL SERVICE WORKERS ACT
Mark DeSaulnier (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2021-4-14

such time as I may consume. I include in the Record a March 25 New York Times article entitled `` In 25 Years, the Pay Gap Has Shrunk by Just 8 Cents.'' [From the New York Times, Mar. 25, 2021] In 25 Years, the Pay Gap Has Shrunk by Just 8 Cents (By Francesca Donner and Emma Goldberg Megan Rapinoe is a two-time World Cup champion who has played to sold-out stadiums around the globe; what she has in common with nearly every American woman is that she's underpaid. On Wednesday, Ms. Rapinoe testified during a hearing held by Representative Carolyn B. Maloney to examine economic harm caused by gender inequalities, particularly for women of color. Today is All Women's Equal Pay Day, Ms. Maloney said. But it's not Equal Pay Day for all women. Black women would have to work until Aug. 3, 2021, to earn what men made in 2020. For Latina women, the date doesn't come until Oct. 21. ``This is a disgrace,'' Ms. Maloney said. ``And it has long-term consequences for women and families.'' Wage discrimination isn't limited to any one sector or income level. Take Ms. Rapinoe, whose fight for equal pay has become something of a calling card for the U.S. women's team, and who played a central role in the team's lawsuit on unequal pay filed in 2019. ``One cannot simply outperform inequality,'' she said. ``Or be excellent enough to escape discrimination.'' If it can happen to me, she said, ``it can--and it does-- happen to every person marginalized by gender.'' In Her Words looked at the history of Equal Pay Day, the reasons for the wage gap and what can be done to close it. It's a symbolic day that illustrates how far into the current year American women would need to work to earn what their male counterparts earned last year. Put another way, because there is a disparity in what women and men are paid, women would need to work around 448 days to earn what men earn in just 365 days. Race plays a part, too: For Black and Hispanic women, the numbers are worse. For Asian women, the numbers skew a bit better. Estimates vary on how much the wage gap will cost an American woman over the course of her career. The National Women's Law Center puts it at $406,280 in lost income on average, but that number can top $1 million for Hispanic women and is just shy of $1 million for Black and Native American women. How did it become a thing? Equal Pay Day was established in 1996 by the National Committee on Pay Equity. Today marks the 25th. But debates around pay equity date back much further than that. Carolyn York, secretary-treasurer of the National Committee on Pay Equity, pointed out in an email that in 1942, a
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Debbie Stabenow (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2021-4-14

first, I want to say I want to thank the Senator from Oregon for objecting to the previous motion, and I share his concerns. prgtoken I rise today to speak about some big choices our Nation has to make. Will we continue to limp along with an economy that works for only a few wealthy people or will we invest in making things in America and in our infrastructure and, most importantly, in our people? prgtoken Will we continue to allow other countries to outpace us on technology while remaining dependent on critical parts made on the other side of the globe or will we seize a future that is made in America? prgtoken And will we continue to ignore the climate crisis and leave it for the next generation to deal with and leave an even bigger catastrophe or will we take action right now--right now--to put our Nation on a path to a future of good-paying jobs fueled by clean energy? prgtoken I have often said that in Michigan we don't have an economy unless someone makes something and somebody grows something. That is what we do in Michigan. We make things and grow things. And I know that my friend, the Presiding Officer from Minnesota, feels the same--making things, growing things. That is how we have an economy. It has been the secret to our success in Michigan and in so many other places around the country. We need to make things, and we need to grow things. prgtoken Unfortunately, while we have been talking about making things for a long time, the rest of the world has actually been acting. prgtoken It is estimated that the Chinese Government has invested at least $100 billion to support its electric vehicle industry. That might be why they have hundreds of companies making electric vehicles. prgtoken You can't build a competitive auto industry without electric vehicles, and you can't build electric vehicles without a whole lot of batteries and a whole lot of other component parts. They could all be made here, but most of them aren't. prgtoken Right now, none of the major electric vehicle battery providers are American companies. They could be if we helped partner with them to make that happen. prgtoken And we have seen what happens when our automakers depend on semiconductors made overseas. Over the past few months, a shortage of computer chips no bigger than a Kellogg's cornflake have idled multiple plants and led to layoffs in Michigan and across the country. prgtoken In fact, the Alliance for Auto Innovation estimates that U.S. automakers will produce a million fewer cars this year because of this shortage of this little chip. prgtoken It is not enough to say we need to build things in America. We all know that. But we can't build things here without first investing in our capacity and having a national strategy to build things here in America. Thankfully, we have a President of the United States who understands that. He understands the moment we are in and is ready to meet the moment. prgtoken Now it is
PAYCHECK FAIRNESS ACT
Katherine M. Clark (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2021-4-15

in December, American women lost 156,000 jobs, accounting for 100 percent of jobs lost; and since the start of this pandemic, nearly 3 million women have been pushed out of the workforce. prgtoken Women have borne the brunt of the economic crisis brought on by this pandemic, and gender pay inequality is at the root of the problem. More than five decades after the passage of the Equal Pay Act, women still only make 82 cents for every dollar earned by men, and that gap is even wider for women of color. prgtoken By passing the Paycheck Fairness Act today, we are correcting this injustice and ensuring that all people receive equal pay for equal work. prgtoken Let's be clear: this isn't a women's issue. Pay inequity hurts children, families, and our entire economy. It is fundamental to our recovery and our ability to not just rebuild to status quo, but to rebuild a just and inclusive America for all.
TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL ``MICKEY'' DePALO
Adam B. Schiff (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2021-4-15

. Madam , I rise today to honor Michael ``Mickey'' DePalo for his innumerable contributions to veterans and the residents of the City of Burbank, California. prgtoken Mickey has been a Burbank resident for sixty-five years. He graduated from Burbank High School in 1964, and the following year, began his four-decades-long career with the City of Burbank Parks and Recreation Department. Shortly after graduating from college, Mr. DePalo briefly left the City of Burbank to honorably serve in the U.S. Army for two years during the Vietnam War. prgtoken As a child, Mickey played many sports, including flag football, baseball, softball and basketball. His love of sports continued into adulthood, and along with participating in Burbank sports leagues, he has generously volunteered his time and knowledge to the sports organizations for decades. He was a volunteer baseball, flag football and basketball coach for the City's Parks and Recreation Department, and a volunteer assistant coach for his son, Michael's youth basketball teams. Additionally, Mr. DePalo was Loyola High School Cross Country Team's volunteer coach and the race director for Burbank's Run for the Hungry for ten years. prgtoken A staunch advocate for veterans and their welfare, Mickey has been Chairperson of the Burbank Veterans Commemorative Committee and the emcee for the Veterans Day and Memorial Day ceremonies at McCambridge Park in Burbank for over thirty years. Under his leadership, the committee has organized numerous veterans events in Burbank, including one event that Mr. DePalo is most proud of--assisting the City in 1998 to be selected as a site to host The Moving Wall, a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. that tours the nation. He also worked on the Hands Across the Battlefield program, which partners with community businesses and individuals to collect and send supplies to our troops, and has raised funds for youth and veterans organizations in his role as Sr. Vice Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8310. prgtoken A few of the numerous community awards and commendations Mr. DePalo has received include the Burbank Association of Realtors' Citizen of the Year Award, an induction into the City of Burbank's Athletics Walk of Fame, the L.A. County Older Americans Volunteer Service Award, and the Veteran of the Year Award from both Assemblyman Paul Krekorian in 2009 and from Assemblymember Laura Friedman in 2017. prgtoken It is my honor to call Michael ``Mickey'' DePalo a friend and I want to thank him for over half a century of extraordinary support and dedication to our nation's veterans and the community of Burbank. I ask all Members to join me in paying tribute to this extraordinary American patriot.