mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
HONORING THE LIFE AND SERVICE OF REVEREND DR. JAMES HARGETT
Jim Costa (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2018-1-29

I rise today along with my colleagues Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Lewis, and Ms. Waters, to pay tribute and honor the life of Reverend Dr. James Hester Hargett. Reverend Dr. Hargett was a community and civil rights activist who dedicated his prgtoken life to helping others. He passed away on January 1, 2018 at the age of 87. His presence will be greatly missed by those who had the opportunity to know him. prgtoken James Hester Hargett was born on July 24, 1930 in Greensboro, North Carolina to Reverend F.A. and Mrs. Florence Hargett. Throughout his childhood and into high school, he forged a love for reading, music, and extra-curricular activities. Following his graduation from Dudley High School, he attended Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science. While attending university, James met the love of his life Louilyn Funderburk and married her in 1954. In his senior year of college, he responded to the call of Christian service; the culmination of his childhood and influences from a professor in college. prgtoken Reverend Dr. Hargett would go on to earn a Masters of Divinity from Yale University Divinity School. Shortly after his graduation in 1955, he was named Associate Minister at the Church of Crossroads in Honolulu, Hawaii. After three years in Hawaii, James moved to Los Angeles in 1958 to join the Congregational Church of Christian Fellowship, United Church of Christ. The predominately African-American church focused on social justice in the community while also initiating change in vital areas. This included the development of a mental health clinic for low income earners, a student transportation program for overcrowded schools, and an enrichment program for minority students. James would march with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965. He also helped organize the Poor People's Resurrection City in Washington, D.C. prgtoken In 1969, James became the Secretary for Black Ministries, United Church of Christ Council for Church and Ministry in New York City. Through this role, he mentored young people and facilitated the creation of scholarships for seminary education. His journey would eventually take him to New Jersey, Chicago, and San Diego. No matter where he served, Reverend Dr. Hargett's ministry always focused on the recruitment of African Americans in Christian service in addition to community advocacy, education, human relations, mental health, and social justice. prgtoken Reverend Dr. Hargett retired after 42 years of service to the United Church of Christ in 1997. He was named Pastor Emeritus of the Christian Fellowship Congregational Church, UCC, San Diego. Following his retirement, he was awarded numerous honors, including being named a Living Legend by the United Black Christians and the Ministers for Racial, Social and Economic Justice of the United Church of Christ, General Assembly. prgtoken
REBUILD AMERICA'S CRUMBLING INFRASTRUCTURE
Daniel T. Kildee (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2018-1-29

tomorrow President will give his first State of the Union Address. It is an opportunity for the President to demonstrate leadership and bring to this floor a discussion for both parties to come together and pass, number one, a long-term budget that reflects the priorities of the American people. prgtoken I have come to this floor many times to express my disagreement with this President on a number of issues. I have disagreed on his efforts to take away healthcare for millions of people, adding costs to people I represent who have health insurance. I have disagreed with his tax policies and disagree vehemently with the policies enacted here, and I am going to continue to speak up when I find disagreement. prgtoken But I also look for areas where we can work together, and it is my hope that tomorrow the President will articulate one of those: a plan to deal with America's crumbling infrastructure, especially in America's older cities. It has been over a year since the President was here and laid out his plan for a big investment plan and a strategy on infrastructure. prgtoken Words are cheap. We need action. We need something specific. And I am hoping and willing to work with the President if he lays forward such a vision.
PAIN-CAPABLE UNBORN CHILD PROTECTION ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2018-1-29

tomorrow the Environment and Public Works Committee will have an opportunity to question Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt at an oversight hearing. Oversight of the executive branch is one of the Senate's great responsibilities. Unfortunately, the leadership of this body has shown little interest in holding the administration accountable, despite the fact that this administration is more ethically challenged, more riven by conflicts of interest, more captured by special interests, more defined by cronyism than any other. prgtoken After a year of Pruitt at the helm of EPA--a tenure that has been marked by mass staff departures, a slowdown in enforcement actions, questionable travel and other personal spending, rolling back critical clean air and clean water protections, a purge of scientists, an influx of industry insiders, a smorgasbord of meetings with industry bigwigs, many of whom coincidentally also bankrolled his political career back in Oklahoma, an obsession with secrecy, and heaps and heaps and heaps of climate denial--Pruitt will finally be appearing before our committee. I urge my colleagues on EPW to bring some good questions to tomorrow's hearing. prgtoken Judging by Pruitt's first year, he is running dangerously amok. He has turned EPA into perhaps the swampiest Agency in a very swampy administration. Pruitt's record at EPA demands the sort of oversight this body used to exercise. If you don't believe this about Pruitt's record, just take a look at what some distinguished s have to say. William Ruckelshaus, who under both Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan ran the EPA, has criticized Pruitt's penchant for secrecy in this Washington Post op-ed contrasting it with his own more transparent management style. He said: We release[d] my full schedule and the publication of written communications on a daily basis . . . Scott Pruitt is taking the absolute opposite approach. Pruitt operates in secrecy. prgtoken In an interview with HuffPost, former New Jersey Governor and chairman of the 9/11 Commission, Tom Kean, is also troubled by Pruitt's fixation with secrecy. I think this New York Times op-ed makes his opinion clear. He writes: [T]o satisfy his penchant for secrecy, [Pruitt] is installing--at a cost of nearly $25,000 to taxpayers--a secure phone booth in his Washington office to keep people, including staff members, in the dark. prgtoken Imagine that. While demanding massive cuts to EPA's budget, Pruitt is spending thousands of dollars to build himself, like Maxwell Smart, a cone of silence. He doesn't run the CIA. He doesn't run the FBI. He doesn't even run the State Department. What possible purpose could this very expensive, secure phone booth have at the Environmental Protection Agency? prgtoken Governor Kean believes Pruitt is doing this to keep his own staff me
PAIN-CAPABLE UNBORN CHILD PROTECTION ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED
Ron Wyden (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2018-1-29

the odds are quite good that when this -controlled Congress closes up shop in December, time spent attacking the healthcare of women is going to be right up at the top of how this Congress spent their day. They are back at it again, and this latest attack that we will be discussing this week goes after women's essential healthcare decisions. prgtoken In my view--and I want to be very clear about this point--this is another key part of the agenda of healthcare discrimination. This time, it is going after women. This entire agenda is what the s are doing their best to blast through the Congress into law. It is not just a one-off, either. prgtoken So I am going to spend a few minutes now to put this particular health proposal that discriminates against women in the appropriate kind of context. To do that, I think it is important to describe what has happened on healthcare since day one of the administration. prgtoken The administration and s in Congress came right out of the gate with legislation that would have deprived hundreds of thousands of women of the right to see the doctor of their choosing. There was another attack on Planned Parenthood that completely ignored the fact that the Congress already regulates what these trusted healthcare providers can and cannot spend public funds on. What Planned Parenthood does use public funding for are vital healthcare services that have absolutely nothing to do with abortion. Let me just make sure people understand what I am talking about. We are talking about cancer screenings, prenatal care, preventive services, routine physicals, and more. prgtoken I have townhall meetings in every county in our State. I have had more than 860 of them. The vast amount of terrain in Oregon is rural. When I go to those small communities and the least populated areas of our State, that is what people tell me they go to Planned Parenthood for--to get those basic essentials, ranging from cancer screenings to routine physicals. That is what women would lose with this agenda of healthcare discrimination. prgtoken Next up, given the way the year and a little bit longer has evolved, is the ongoing attempt by the administration to deny women guaranteed no-cost access to contraception. This is one of the most popular healthcare policies in recent memory. There are a lot of reasons why this is smart, not just because it is a matter of fairness for all women to have access to birth control. When women have access to contraception, it means healthier pregnancies and healthier newborns. It also reduces the risk of cancer among women. prgtoken You can also look at it in terms of dollars and cents. When you take away no-cost contraception, you are essentially taxing women based on their gender. You are driving up the cost of their routine healthcare. It flies in the face of everything my colleagues on the other side of the aisle
SMALL BUSINESS ACCESS TO CAPITAL AFTER A NATURAL DISASTER ACT
Nydia M. Velázquez (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-1-29

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , I want to start off by thanking both Chairman Hensarling and Ranking Member Waters for working with me on this legislation and moving it onto the floor. This has truly been a bipartisan effort. prgtoken My bill, H.R. 4792, the Small Business Access to Capital After a Natural Disaster Act, is simple and straightforward. prgtoken One of the most important functions of the SEC's Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation is to develop proposals and recommend changes to Congress that will promote the interests of small businesses and their investors, mitigate their problems, and help them secure access to credit. prgtoken When we created the Advocate's Office in 2016, we specifically charged it with looking into the unique challenges facing minority- and women-owned small businesses. My bill requires the advocate to now also consider the unique challenges that small businesses affected by hurricanes or other natural disasters have with securing access to credit and work to promote their interests. prgtoken I developed this legislation because, as ranking member of the House Small Business Committee, I understand that small businesses are the lifeblood of many communities around the country, and I have witnessed firsthand the terrible impact hurricanes and other natural disasters can have on the economic outlook for small businesses. prgtoken For example, in 2012, Superstorm Sandy ripped through the tristate area and decimated many communities along the New Jersey and New York coasts. Toms River, New Jersey, was considered ground zero for the storm. prgtoken Half a decade later, the Greater Toms River Chamber of Commerce reports that the small businesses in that community are still trying to recover at a cost of $600 million in lost ratables, even at this point. prgtoken For small businesses in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands trying to recover from the effects of Hurricane Maria, the situation is much worse. prgtoken 2017 was the costliest year on record for weather and climate disasters in the United States, and the effects of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico's small businesses are unprecedented. prgtoken Nelson Ramirez, the president of the Centro Unido de Detallistas, a small business advocacy group in San Juan, estimates two-thirds of the island's roughly 45,000 small and midsize businesses have closed at least temporarily, and as many as 10,000 will never reopen. prgtoken Small and midsized businesses represent 90 percent of the private companies on the island and about one-third of the workforce. In October, the Puerto Rican Retail Trade Association revealed that a study conducted by economists estimated that the island's small business sector will lose $8.9 billion in a period of 6 months due to a lack of electricity on the island. prgtoken But while the situation in Puerto Rico is unprecedented, this legislation is about more than just Pue
Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Bill (Executive Session)
Margaret Wood Hassan (Democrat, NH) \u2014 2018-1-29

I rise today to oppose dangerous legislation that would endanger the health of women by limiting their constitutional right to access a safe and legal abortion. We must recognize the capacity of every woman in our Nation to make her own healthcare decisions, control her own destiny, and ensure that all women have the full independence to do so. prgtoken Unfortunately, throughout the last year, the administration and s in Congress have repeatedly tried to roll back access to care and undermine the health of women. We have seen bill after bill targeting women's healthcare by restricting access to abortion, increasing the costs of maternity care, and allowing insurers to treat giving birth as a preexisting condition. prgtoken The administration issued interim final rules, allowing employers to deny women access to the birth control coverage they need. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle have confirmed administration officials and judges to the bench who are vehemently opposed to a woman's right to make her own reproductive health decisions. s have been relentless in their attempts to defund Planned Parenthood, which is an essential source of care for women in New Hampshire and provides key services like birth control and cancer screenings. prgtoken Here we are, once again, with leadership bringing a bill to the floor that attempts to marginalize women and take away their rights to make their own decisions. This bill prgtoken would ban abortions after 20 weeks--an extremely rare procedure that is often the result of complex and difficult medical circumstances. The bill lacks adequate exceptions for survivors of rape or incest, and it gets in the way of a woman and the judgment of her doctor, threatening to jail physicians for providing patients the care they need. prgtoken In fact, a group of medical and public health organizations have written to Congress, saying: This bill places healthcare providers in an untenable situation. When they are facing a complex, urgent medical situation they must think about an unjust law instead of about how to protect the health and safety of their patients. prgtoken This bill is a direct challenge to the precedent set in Roe V. Wade. We are at a moment in our country when women are speaking out and fighting for basic dignity and respect at home, in the workplace, and in their daily lives. They also deserve that respect with regard to the most deeply personal health decisions they can make. prgtoken Passing this legislation would send a message to women across the country that politicians in Washington do not believe that women have the capacity to make their own healthcare decisions--as if women don't understand or are unable to grapple with the physical, emotional, economic, and spiritual issues that are involved in deciding when or if to have a family or how to handle critical health challenges. prgtoken Rath
PROTECTING YOUNG VICTIMS FROM SEXUAL ABUSE AND SAFE SPORT AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2017
Lois Frankel (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2018-1-29

I want to thank Mr. Poe and Ms. Jackson Lee for leading this debate today. And, of course, I want to thank Susan Brooks, my co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, for her support. This is an example of bipartisanship at its best. And, of course, I also thank Dianne Feinstein over in the Senate, whose bill we are taking up, our companion bill. prgtoken , I rise in support of the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act. It is a long name, but it is important. It came about on the heels of reports of sexual abuse at the highest levels of USA Gymnastics. prgtoken Me Too has come to the Olympics, and we have heard from more than 150 very brave young women, extraordinary not only in their talent but in their courage, who have shared their harrowing stories of sexual abuse at the hands of a doctor, Larry Nassar, who they were told to trust. prgtoken One of these stories is from Mattie Larson, who was a budding young gymnast and a future Olympic medalist. At age 14, she hurt her hip and was sent to Dr. Nassar, the well-known and now disgraced doctor who cared for hundreds of athletes like Mattie. prgtoken Instead of healing her hip, he crippled her mind. For 5 years, this doctor molested this young woman. She became so desperate at one point that she feigned a slip and fall and a concussion just to try to get out of ever going back to the Olympic facility. prgtoken Mattie said: ``. . . I just couldn't take any more abuse. I was broken. Larry, my coaches, and USA Gymnastics turned the sport I fell in love with as a kid into my personal living hell.'' prgtoken These children are children, like Mattie, who want to represent our country and who give up so much of their childhood, getting up early, practicing hard, on weekends going to competitions, and then only to be subjected to sexual abuse by the team doctor, and then either ignored or encouraged to keep silent. prgtoken I say shame, shame, shame on those who enabled this. prgtoken It may be too late to protect Mattie and Olympic stars like Aly Raisman, but this legislation, by requiring proper reporting and notifying procedures, will protect our future young athletes. I urge my colleagues to support this very, very good bipartisanship legislation.
A THREAT TO LABOR UNIONS
David Scott (Democrat, GA) \u2014 2018-1-29

I thank the gentleman for his comments. prgtoken It is very important, as he has mentioned, to note that we are talking about not just AFSCME, as I said, but we are talking about nurses unions, educators, the teachers that teach our children, our police, firefighters, everyone. It is very important that the people of this country really get informed about this. prgtoken , from Pennsylvania, Representative Dwight Evans, who normally anchors this hour and does a great job.
PROTECTING YOUNG VICTIMS FROM SEXUAL ABUSE AND SAFE SPORT AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2017
Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2018-1-29

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , I rise in support of S. 534, the Protecting Young Victims From Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017, but s here in the House, Congresswoman Brooks and Congresswoman Frankel of Florida. prgtoken In Michigan, there was a volcanic action. One might call it the ``Nassar volcano.'' It acted, and there was no reaction. It was deadening silence. No one responded to the volcano that kept pouring poisonous lava in the way of young, beautiful athletes. prgtoken I would hope and wish that I was not on the floor today with my colleague from Texas having to discuss this life-changing experience for these young athletes who wanted to do nothing else but to make their families proud first, maybe exceed, and be able to adhere to their faith, determination, and resolve and make their Nation, their State, their school proud of them, young girls, women, who, heretofore, , had been held back or told that this sport was not for them. prgtoken I am reminded of the women's hockey team, and I heard a young hockey player indicate that her grandmother said that hockey was not for girls. prgtoken All they wanted to do was to make us proud. All they wanted to do is to show the strength of women and the resolve of women. That is why I think this bill not only is important, , but it is timely to come today; but all of us would have wished, with no condemnation, that we had it 5 years ago or 10 years ago. prgtoken But remember what I said: the volcanic action was faced with deafening silence, for those who knew and for the girls who wanted to make us proud thought that the best way to resolve it or to handle it was to embrace it, accept it, suffer, and still make us proud. prgtoken That is why I believe this bill is crucial, and I am very glad to be on the floor with the two House sponsors, and I thank Senator Feinstein for her efforts, because this bill would prevent the sexual abuse of minors and amateur athletes by requiring the prompt reporting of sexual abuse to law enforcement authorities. prgtoken This is a reasonable and important measure that is intended to protect young athletes--and listen to the sound of the volcano--from abuse and preserve the sanctity of sports associated with the U.S. Olympic Committee, the organization responsible for preparing and training young athletes who might one day represent our Nation competitively all over the world. prgtoken How proud we are as we sit and view them on the Nation's televisions, the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics that are about to start. How shameful it is that we have to have this legislation to protect them and, as well, the deadening silence at Michigan State University and Dr. Nassar. I guess the only words that he could say are how ashamed and embarrassed and sorry he is. prgtoken Eons and eons and eons of young women now live with that pain. Children deserve to fully enjoy the
COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER FUNDING
Marcy Kaptur (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2018-1-29

I rise to call out our colleagues for still having left community health centers falling off a funding cliff for this year. prgtoken Long-term funding for community health centers expired last September 30. These health centers serve more than 25 million patients in all States in this Union and U.S. territories and employ over 50,000 professionals in the health field nationwide. prgtoken In Ohio, more than 85 percent of health center patients fall below 200 percent of the poverty line--the poorest of the poor. In 2015, Ohio health centers served over 600,000 patients--over half a million. prgtoken Don't our colleagues understand an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure? prgtoken Community health centers remain the Nation's largest source of primary, comprehensive care for medically underserved populations. They are fundamental to life in our communities and neighborhoods, whether they be urban, rural, or small town. prgtoken In 2015, America celebrated 50 years of the success of community health centers. This Congress and its majority should not continue to let our constituents down who rely so heavily upon these health centers in life-and-death situations.