mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
CONGRATULATING THE KNOXVILLE HIGH SCHOOL DANCE TEAM FOR ITS WIN AT THE IDTA STATE FINALS
Cheri Bustos (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2020-3-4

. Madam , I rise today to recognize the Knoxville High School Dance Team for its win at the Illinois Drill Team Association (IDTA) State Finals for Class A Kick Dance. The Knoxville High School Dance Team overcame significant adversity to win this title and I commend them for their hard work and dedication. prgtoken After parting ways with two coaches who could not stay and coach the team, volunteer moms Tammy Myers and Jennifer Stoneking prgtoken came on board to help high school captains Fionna Drake and Clara Ponder complete the season. The team practiced whenever they could, outside of their mandatory three lessons per week. Parents across the community opened their garages and other spare spaces to the girls for practice. The teamwork and dedication displayed by the moms, team captains and the dancers is remarkable and led them to victory at the IDTA State Finals. As a former athlete, I admire the fortitude the Knoxville High School Dance Team displayed to achieve their dreams of being state champions and I commend them for their efforts and can-do attitudes. I am proud to see them represent Knoxville so well throughout the state with their talent and passion. prgtoken It is because of student leaders such as the Knoxville High School Dance Team that I am especially proud to serve Illinois' 17th Congressional District. Madam , I would like to again formally congratulate the Knoxville High School Dance Team on its victory at the IDTA State Finals in the Class A Kick Dance category.
RIGHTS FOR TRANSPORTATION SECURITY OFFICERS ACT OF 2020
Bennie G. Thompson (Democrat, MS) \u2014 2020-3-4

such time as I may consume to say that I appreciate my colleague next door to me citing the section about Federal Labor Relations Authority because that is my reference. prgtoken It says, ``or successor labor organization.'' And it says in the ``Sunset Provision--The provisions of this section prgtoken shall cease to be effective as of the conversion date.'' prgtoken So there are options available. It is not a closed-door process, and we wouldn't have it that way anyway. prgtoken , I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Titus).
ADVANCED GEOTHERMAL INNOVATION LEADERSHIP ACT OF 2019
Thomas R. Carper (Democrat, DE) \u2014 2020-3-4

I commend the Senator from Louisiana for his leadership and for his courage in not just helping to develop this proposal that we have offered in a legislative forum but in trying to make sure that it gets the debate it needs and the vote it needs on this floor. prgtoken For a couple of centuries, Members of the Senate would introduce legislation, and that legislation would be debated. and s would have the opportunity to offer amendments to that legislation and to get votes on that legislation and on their amendments. We would hammer out a compromise in the Senate and eventually with the House and with whoever was President. prgtoken The Presiding Officer may remember an old movie called ``The Way We Were.'' That is the way we were, and we need desperately to get back to the way we were when we were the world's greatest deliberative body. A good way to get started on that path is by supporting the legislation that my friend from Louisiana and I have coauthored with the support of a broad coalition of Senators and with the support of the business community and the environmental community as well. prgtoken Our amendment, as Senator Kennedy has described today, is identical to legislation called the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act. I am not a really big one for acronyms, but the acronym that the Senator has used is AIM, the AIM Act. It is currently supported by a bipartisan group of 32 Senators--16 s and 16 . I would describe this as Noah's Ark, whereby, for every , we add a and on and on and on. Even today, we are continuing to add sponsors and cosponsors to our bill and to this amendment. prgtoken This amendment, like the stand-alone bill, would save consumers money; it would create jobs; it would support economic growth; and it would help us to address the climate crisis. This amendment would authorize the EPA to implement a phase-down of the production and consumption of something called hydrofluorocarbons, known as HFCs, over the next 15 years. HFCs are used as coolants in refrigerators and air conditioners. They are prgtoken substances that help to make sure our air conditioners work and our freezers work and our refrigerators work, among other things, and that our chillers work. prgtoken Unfortunately, what came before the HFCs was bad for our ozone and our planet, and it created a big hole in the ozone layer of our planet. We figured out that it was not good. It turned out to be the refrigerants that we were using that were causing it. Scientists came along and said: Let's replace them. Let's get rid of those CFCs and replace them with something that doesn't give us a hole in the ozone layer. prgtoken Guess what. HFCs work. They do. They do a really good job at that. That is the good news. The bad news is these hydrofluorocarbons are 1,000 times worse than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas--1,000 times worse. So they are
ADVANCED GEOTHERMAL INNOVATION LEADERSHIP ACT OF 2019
Jeanne Shaheen (Democrat, NH) \u2014 2020-3-4

reserving the right to object, I am disappointed that my colleague would try to codify a policy that has been proven to cause extensive harm to the most vulnerable women and families around the world. prgtoken In the past 3 years, we have seen the global impact of this policy. Health clinics have closed, access to care has decreased, and lives are needlessly put at risk. When women in developing countries and other parts of the world don't have access to family planning and information they need for women's reproductive health, abortions actually increase rather than decrease. Research shows that by decreasing access to information about modern contraceptive options, abortion rates increase. This policy doesn't stop abortions; it only limits the resources that are available that prevent women from having unwanted pregnancies. prgtoken My colleagues can call it whatever they want--the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy, the Mexico City Policy--I call it dangerous and deadly. In fact, instead of protecting life, the global gag rule erects new barriers to critical health services, including reproductive health services, for people and communities who already have limited access to affordable, high quality healthcare. prgtoken Across U.S. global health assistance, we are seeing a breakdown in systems of health care provisions which disproportionately impacts the most vulnerable, hard-to-reach populations. In Uganda, mobile health teams that go into communities and provide sometimes the only health care available are being cut. prgtoken ABBEF, the International Planned Parenthood Federation member in Burkina Faso, was forced in 2017 to prematurely end its U.S.-supported pilot initiative to distribute contraceptives in secondary schools where there is a huge family planning need. prgtoken Marie Stopes International, MSI, received 17% of its donor income from USAID at the time the global gag rule was reinstated. These funds were exclusively used for voluntary contraception services and the loss of funding has impacted work with poor and marginalized communities most in need of accessing services. prgtoken Marie Stopes Ethiopia, with expertise in reaching remote communities, ended its U.S.-funded program providing vasectomies and tubal ligations to rural populations. No other organization has the technical skills and expertise to provide the same quality of service and choice. prgtoken Clearly this policy decreases care, increases abortions, and risks the lives of women around the world. And this is not about abortion, this is about controlling a woman's body and limiting her choices. prgtoken If we are actually going to get serious about improving women's health, we should be working to end the global gag rule. prgtoken Given the negative impact this policy has already had on so many women and families around the world, codifying it would just exacerbate those issues, so I obje
REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE FOR WOMEN
Alan S. Lowenthal (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2020-3-4

I would like to thank my colleagues, Representatives Tlaib and Pressley, for yielding and allowing me to speak. prgtoken As we all know, this morning the Supreme Court heard the oral arguments in Medical Services v. Russo, a case that challenges the unconstitutional abortion restrictions in Louisiana. The Louisiana law would require abortion providers to obtain admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles or else they must stop providing care. prgtoken Let's be clear what this is about. This restrictive law is meant to eliminate access to abortion care. In fact, if this law were allowed to stand, all but one of Louisiana's abortion clinics would be shut down. prgtoken This should be a straightforward decision for the Supreme Court. Three years ago, the Court struck down an identical Texas law in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt. prgtoken Americans overwhelmingly support abortion access. Nearly 80 percent of Americans do not want to see Roe v. Wade overturned. Polling consistently shows that there is not a single State in the Union where residents want to outlaw abortion. Not one. prgtoken Reproductive rights are central to individual liberties. What we are talking about are deeply personal decisions that should remain up to the woman, not be decided by politicians. These rights enable women to decide if or if not and how they should start to grow their family. This right should be an absolute right and solely up to women to make their own decisions about their health and their future, and we should respect them for making that decision. prgtoken Reproductive rights also allow women to control their economic security and make the best choices for themselves and their families. It is not our place--any of us--to decide whether a woman should or should not get an abortion. prgtoken Abortion remains one of the safest outpatient medical procedures. However, placing the burden of admitting privileges on abortion providers threatens the safety of these procedures. Nearly every professional medical association has said having admitting procedures will not make women safer. prgtoken But let's be honest. We know there is no medical reason for these outrageously restrictive laws. There are only political reasons behind these moves. Admitting privileges, as we know, are often difficult for abortion providers to obtain, solely because of the ideological opposition to abortion. prgtoken Therefore, it is imperative that we protect individual liberties and that we protect reproductive rights and reproductive education in order to build healthy communities.
ADVANCED GEOTHERMAL INNOVATION LEADERSHIP ACT OF 2019
Roger F. Wicker (Republican, MS) \u2014 2020-3-4

I call the Senate's attention this afternoon to a pair of bills that are critical to the deployment of broadband access across the United States and the worldwide race to 5G, which we, of course, hope to win and will win. prgtoken The first of these measures will ensure that telecommunications networks are safe and secure from foreign intrusion. The second bill, which I hope the Senate will take up and pass even today by unanimous consent, would help create highly accurate broadband coverage data that will help expand access to high-speed internet. Both of these measures are Commerce Committee priorities and are the result of extensive negotiations and work on a bipartisan and bicameral basis. prgtoken Our economic and national security depend on nationwide access to high-speed internet that is safe and secure. The threat of foreign espionage through our broadband infrastructure is real, and it stems directly from the Chinese tech firms, like Huawei and ZTE. prgtoken These companies are pawns of the Chinese Government. As a matter of fact, for all practical purposes, they are wholly owned entities of the Chinese Government, and they are putting on a full-court press to establish their footprint in wireless networks around the world and right here in the United States. prgtoken Huawei and ZTE receive massive subsidies each year from the Chinese Government, and it is really beyond dispute that they are doing the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party. prgtoken Some of our allies have come to realize this threat and have taken decisive action. I want to commend Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. They have all banned Huawei technologies from their networks. prgtoken I am grateful that the administration has shown strong leadership on this issue. prgtoken Last year, the Department of Commerce placed Huawei on its Entity List, severely limiting its ability to do business with U.S. companies. That was a bold step, but, unfortunately, some of our networks had already been compromised by Huawei by the time the Commerce Department took action. prgtoken So last week, the Senate took a major step toward removing the Chinese threat by passing the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act. prgtoken This bill, which some refer to as the ``rip and replace'' bill, would rip out the Huawei equipment and replace it with reliable equipment that will not engage in espionage. prgtoken This legislation will lay the foundation to give strong financial incentives to U.S. firms to strip out their Huawei and ZTE technology and replace it with secure alternatives. It will also help small, rural telecom providers transition away from firms that are controlled by Beijing. prgtoken That bill is now on the President's desk, awaiting his signature, and it may be that he is going to wait until it can be joined by the Broadband DATA Act, which, again, I say can be passed by this body as early as this evening, when we adjourn.
ADVANCED GEOTHERMAL INNOVATION LEADERSHIP ACT OF 2019
John Barrasso (Republican, WY) \u2014 2020-3-4

I come to the floor today to address America's aging roads and bridges. prgtoken Our highways are in need of repair all across the country. In some places, we actually need to rebuild new roads. That is why I, along with Senators Carper, Capito, and Cardin, have introduced America's Infrastructure Act. prgtoken This bipartisan legislation is going to make a significant investment in our roads, in our bridges, and in our tunnels. It will fund our highways at historic levels. prgtoken These investments are critical, but just as critical is speeding up government's approvals for important road projects. prgtoken Last Congress, the Environment and Public Works Committee, which I chair, heard testimony about a highway project in my home State of Wyoming. The project took a decade--a full 10 years--to get the required permits--one after another after another--but then it only took a couple of months to get the project done. It is a project that is going to make our roads safer and more efficient, which was the whole desired effect of this project. It was held up because of 10 years of waiting for Washington permits. A decade to permit, months to build--any American with common sense knows that is absurd. America's Transportation Infrastructure Act cuts through Washington redtape so projects can get done faster, better, cheaper, and smarter. That is key. prgtoken We used President 's One Federal Decision policy as a model. It is a great plan, a great policy put forward by the President. Under the policy, the President has set a goal for his administration of completing environmental prgtoken reviews within 2 years. It is a goal I absolutely applaud. Our legislation will codify key elements of that policy into law. prgtoken The bill will streamline duplicative requirements by many different Federal agencies on the same project. The permitting process will be simplified and will occur faster. prgtoken Our bill also gives States increased flexibility--something States want. So Federal approvals can get moving and the project construction can get started sooner. It reduces the amount of paperwork needed from States to complete the projects. It is unacceptable that the Federal Government would hold up State projects and put drivers at risk. Washington should never prioritize paperwork, which is what Washington tends to do--prioritize paperwork over people's safety. prgtoken America's Transportation Infrastructure Act cuts redtape. It makes safety a top priority. prgtoken Our legislation is bipartisan, passing the Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously, 21 to 0. prgtoken President called on Congress to pass the bill. He did it during his State of the Union Address last month. prgtoken This legislation is a win for the entire country. The time is now to pass America's Transportation Infrastructure Act so we can reduce the punishing and costly regulations and then do the important work of imp
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
John Boozman (Republican, AR) \u2014 2020-3-4

I rise today to recognize the career of Scott Bennett, who is retiring as director of the Arkansas Department of Transportation after nearly 32 years of service and dedication to the State. prgtoken Scott assumed his current post as director in 2011; however, he has been an asset to ARDOT since his summers as an engineering intern. Scott's hard work, passion, and knowledge allowed him to build a celebrated career that has greatly benefited the State and its citizens. He received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Arkansas in 1989 and became a full-time employee of the Planning and Research Division. He also earned a master's degree in civil engineering in 1994 while working for ARDOT. prgtoken During the past 9 years, his effective and influential leadership has been indisputable. Scott led ARDOT's efforts to implement significant highway rehabilitation efforts, including the 2011 Interstate Rehabilitation Program and the 2012 Connecting Arkansas Program, both of which were approved by voters. prgtoken Scott is an active leader in the transportation and engineering communities in the State and at the national level. He was appointed to the Arkansas Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors in 2015, where he currently serves as president. In 2017, Scott was elected secretary-treasurer of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, after previously serving as a member of the board of directors. Scott has served on other various organizations to support the transportation industry and improve roadways for all Americans. prgtoken Scott has earned many accolades over the course of his career. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials presented him with the Thomas H. MacDonald Memorial Award, which recognizes top engineers in the transportation profession. In 2005, he received the University of Arkansas Young Engineer Alumni of the Year Award, and in 2019 he was honored with the University of Arkansas College of Engineering's Distinguished Alumni Award. In 2010, Scott was inducted into the Arkansas Academy of Civil Engineering. prgtoken I applaud Scott for his accomplished career with the Arkansas Department prgtoken of Transportation. He has displayed his commitment to improving the quality of life for Arkansans, and he leaves behind a legacy that will continue to be felt across the State. I appreciate his friendship and am grateful for his years of devoted service to the Natural State.
ADVANCED GEOTHERMAL INNOVATION LEADERSHIP ACT OF 2019
John Kennedy (Republican, LA) \u2014 2020-3-4

I want to talk to the Senate for a few minutes about refrigerators and air conditioners. Thank the Lord for both of them. They make our lives so much better, especially in the Presiding Officer's home State of Mississippi and, certainly, in my home State of Louisiana. prgtoken Refrigerators and air conditioners and the like are able to keep people and things cold by using coolants or refrigerants, I think some people call them. I am going to call them coolants. Basically, I will not go into the chemistry and/or the physics, but when a coolant in liquid form is converted to a gas, it is called phase conversion. It absorbs heat. That is why you will hear people, including but not limited to repair women and repair men, talking about coolant for an air conditioner or coolant for a refrigerator. It is that coolant that keeps us and our food cool. prgtoken Years ago, we used to use a coolant called Freon. You probably have heard that term. It is seldom used today. There are some small occasions when it is used, but for the most part, we have decided Freon is not a good coolant, not because it doesn't work but because it is very, very harmful to our environment. So a number of years ago, people the world over, including the U.S. Government, said: OK, we are not going to use Freon anymore. We are going to use another coolant, which we generally refer to as hydrofluorocarbons. If you hear me use the expression HFC or the acronym HFC, that is what I mean. prgtoken So we went along and, instead of using Freon, we started using HFCs, hydrofluorocarbons. Then we discovered--and by ``we'' I mean that most of the scientists throughout the world came to realize that prgtoken hydrofluorocarbons or HFCs are not very good for the environment either. The people who made this decision, many of whom were American scientists, decided we need to develop a third type of coolant other than Freon and other than HFCs to run our air conditioners and run our refrigerators and protect our environment at the same time. prgtoken A few years ago, most of the countries throughout the world made this decision. The representatives of these countries got together and said: OK, you remember we decided to stop using Freon, and now we have been using these HFCs. Yet we have discovered these HFCs are also harmful, so we are going to agree--all of these countries said--to develop a third type of coolant that is not as harmful to our environment. prgtoken That is the direction in which the world is headed. Within 5, 10, 15 years, not only will Freon be eliminated, but so will hydrofluorocarbons because the rest of the world is going to be using a third type of coolant, which has been developed and is being developed as we speak. prgtoken There is just one problem. The United States has not agreed with those other countries. That is OK. That is our right to do it our way. But that presents yet another problem because in 5 or 10 or 15 year
IOWA HISTORY MONTH
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2020-3-4

this month is Iowa History Month. For Iowa History Month, I will probably give a few 1-minute speeches about the history of Iowa, but today I want to recognize the role Iowa's veterans have played in our history. prgtoken For instance, in the Civil War, Iowa sent over 75,000 soldiers to fight for the Union--the most per capita of any State. I have been saying ``the most per capita of any State'' because I thought that was the history, but I have heard other States also say the same thing for their States, so I want to be intellectually honest. But I am still proud of those 75,000 Iowans who fought for the Union. prgtoken Iowa has kept that tradition of service, and I often have the pleasure of meeting our veterans. Yesterday, I met an Iowa delegation for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. I participate in the Library of Congress project called the Veterans History Project. Accordingly, I have had the honor of helping preserve 31 interviews with Iowa veterans as part of the Veterans History Project. That has taken place over just the last 2 years, preserving the oral history of these Iowa veterans. So the Iowa Veterans History Project will have their stories for future generations to ensure that the service and the sacrifices of these Iowans are never forgotten. prgtoken .