mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
WORLD REFUGEE DAY
Robert Menendez (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2018-6-20

I rise today in honor of World Refugee Day and to express my deep concern over the administration's systematic assault on refugees, asylum seekers, and the United States' refugee resettlement program. prgtoken Manmade conflict, natural disasters, poverty, and violence have left the world in the midst of the largest refugee crisis in recorded history with over 25 million refugees worldwide. Tragically, less than 1 percent of these individuals will ever be resettled to a third country. prgtoken The United States was built on the hopes and dreams of those fleeing persecution and oppression, those seeking better lives for themselves and their families. The values and moral compass that embraced these individuals and shone as a beacon of freedom have made this country great. In times of crisis, the United States traditionally asserted global leadership through these values that have made this country so successful. That leadership served as an important uniting and motivating voice in the face of tremendous international challenges. prgtoken Unfortunately, instead of asserting moral and strategic leadership, the administration has chosen to retreat. The President has traded in our proud tradition of lifting up the most vulnerable for an agenda of degrading and insulting those who seek our support. Starting with his assertion that Mexicans are ``rapists'' and ``drug dealers,'' this President has spent his tenure as our Nation's leader attacking America's immigrant and refugee communities. The President said he wanted to protect Dreamers; yet he abruptly ended the DACA program throwing the lives of 800,000 people into great uncertainty. He imposed a slap-dash Muslim ban that has been repeatedly struck down by the courts. He has slowed refugee admissions to a trickle, closing America's doors to some of the most vulnerable people on the planet, reducing America's global leadership standing. prgtoken Driven by vitriolic voices, the President and the Attorney General together have worked to effectively destroy the refugee resettlement program, which traditionally received broad bipartisan support. Last September, the President decreed that the number of refugees to be admitted in prgtoken fiscal year 2018 should be 45,000--half of the historic average. Even more concerning, it is now clear that this administration is further rigging the admissions program to ensure that only a fraction of that number of people will be allowed in. In the first quarter of 2018, just 6,704 refugees were resettled, compared to 25,671 in 2017 and 13,791 in 2016. prgtoken The U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program--and the faith groups, organizations, families and individuals that assist it--supports the most vulnerable. These are the victims of torture, people with urgent medical needs, and desperate women and children. They are not safe in their home country. They have gone through extensive multiagency vetting before
FORCED FAMILY SEPARATION
Mazie K. Hirono (Democrat, HI) \u2014 2018-6-20

I thank Senator Merkley from Oregon for his leadership and my other colleagues who are coming to the floor this evening. prgtoken Like so many people across the country, I have been deeply affected by what is happening on our southern border. Children are being ripped away from their parents, placed into mass detention, deprived of adequate legal counsel, and isolated from everyone they have ever known. Millions of people are rising up with sorrow and horror over what is happening and with good reason. prgtoken The President of the United States and this administration are playing games with the lives of these innocent children, and when confronted, they hide behind excuses that they are just ``following the law.'' This is just another lie from a President and an administration that have institutionalized lying to justify their unconscionable policies. There is nothing in the law that requires a zero tolerance approach at the border. It was a choice that and his administration made, and these children are suffering the consequences. prgtoken The President's actions are unnecessary and cruel, but they aren't particularly surprising, coming from him. On issue after issue, creates a crisis through his own actions, blames others for what is happening, and uses the ensuing chaos to demand a legislative solution that often harms even more people. prgtoken It is up to each of us and to the millions of Americans outraged by his actions to stand up, fight back, and demand action. This action remains urgent, even after the President announced earlier today that he would use his Executive authority to end family separation at the border. This Executive order just creates an entirely new problem. It does not end zero tolerance, and it does not end indefinite detention. It only means children are going to be incarcerated together with their parents. This is still unacceptable and echos back to one of the darkest periods in our history when, during World War II, the U.S. Government incarcerated 120,000 Japanese Americans. That this time we are incarcerating non-Americans misses the point. Due process applies to everyone--everyone--on American soil. prgtoken The President's order also instructs the Attorney General to challenge the Flores settlement, which sets national standards for humane treatment of children in immigration detention and ensures their prompt release. The elimination of these national standards would have profoundly negative consequences for thousands of children every year and is yet another demonstration of the cruelty with which this administration treats immigrants to our country. prgtoken The President has also hinted that legislation will accompany his Executive action. Any legislative solution must result in less chaos and more justice for these children and their families. prgtoken Congress certainly has a responsibility to repair our broken immigration syste
INDIVIDUALS IN MEDICAID DESERVE CARE THAT IS APPROPRIATE AND RESPONSIBLE IN ITS EXECUTION ACT
Frank Pallone, Jr. (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2018-6-20

I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. prgtoken , I support my colleague's, Representative Kildee's, amendment to this legislation. It is certainly important to require States to report information on individuals with co-occurring disorders and what disorders are suffered, and it is equally important to have information on access to community care for individuals suffering from a behavioral health issue other than a substance use disorder. prgtoken , I want to stress that this information is important, but the underlying problem with the IMD CARE Act continues. I believe this bill is, at best, an ineffective use of scarce Medicaid dollars. More importantly, it may undermine ongoing efforts to improve the full continuum of care for people with substance use disorders.
IMMIGRATION AND CHILDREN
Joseph Crowley (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-6-20

. Madam , there is only one word that goes through my mind when I think about what this White House is doing to children right now. It's ``shame.'' Shame on them. prgtoken For years, we saw s try to attack for having the gall to give millions of Americans healthcare or to address global warming. Your leaders stood up on this floor and said shame on us. prgtoken Shame on you for letting this happen, for being willing to let kids be kept in warehouses because you can't stand up to this President. prgtoken These are children, children who deserve the love of a mother and a father, not cages and concrete floors. These are children, babies in some cases. They need someone to comfort them when they can't sleep, to cool their food when it is too hot, to give them those basics of love and kindness that these children need. prgtoken What they don't need is to be used as hostages for President to get his anti-immigrant wish list and a wall. They don't need to be demonized when their families are seeking refuge. prgtoken If President and the s don't think these families deserve asylum or protection, if they don't think these people deserve a chance of a life of safety, they are wrong. But these are matters that we can debate. prgtoken But you mean to tell me you don't think these children deserve the love of their mother and the comfort of their father? You mean to tell me that the Bible puts law above keeping families together? Absolutely not. prgtoken Shame on this White House and on everyone who stands with them. Shame on our country if we let this continue.
ENERGY AND WATER, LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, AND MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019--Continued
Sherrod Brown (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2018-6-20

the images that we have seen from our own country over the past few days are shocking and heartbreaking. They don't reflect our values as a nation. I am glad the President is reversing course. I am glad that he is signing something, putting a stop to his administration's cruel, pointless, and heartless policy of separating children from their parents at the border. That is just the beginning of the work that needs to be done to undo the damage that the President's policy has inflicted on these children and to begin to create a more human and humane immigration solution. prgtoken Any parent can tell you that being separated from a child is one of the worst things you can imagine. We have seen pictures and heard the sounds of crying children--children who are still in diapers. When I first heard that prgtoken audio clip--I think all of us remember the first time we heard it--of children who were screaming and crying for their parents, I almost couldn't listen to it. prgtoken As an American, as a human being, as a father, as a grandfather, it was revolting. It should be hard to listen to. We should recoil at those terrible sounds. The second it is not heard, the second we shrug our shoulders and do nothing at the sounds of little children who are wailing, that is the second we lose our humanity. It is hard for us to listen to. If it is hard for us to listen to--if it makes us uncomfortable--that is nothing compared to what it must mean, to what it must feel like, and what those parents are going through. prgtoken Yesterday, the administration reported that some 2,300 children were taken from their parents at the border in just a single month. Everybody in this body has gone to a school, and probably everybody in this body has gone to a grade school to visit. Remember what it is like to walk down the hall or to walk into a gym or to walk into a classroom and see dozens or even hundreds of children. Think about that. Think of walking into a school and seeing happy children--lots of them, dozens of children--who are singing or talking or playing on a playground. prgtoken Now think of these 2,300 children who were taken from their parents at the border in a single month--from May 5 to June 9. For 5 weeks, there were 60 kids taken, every single day, on average. There were 60 kids yesterday, 60 kids the day before, and 60 kids the day before that. We don't know how many since June 9, but from May 5 to June 9, there had been 60 kids every single day. prgtoken Clearly, the President did the right thing. Clearly, the President did it under great political pressure. Clearly, the President never admitted he was wrong about it. That is not something he would do, unlike most human beings I know. Yet signing something today doesn't magically reunite those families overnight. It is not like these children now--as any of my colleagues who have watched children who are at a grade school, who will run out to the car
VOTE EXPLANATION
Bill Nelson (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2018-6-20

I was necessarily absent for the June 19, 2018, vote on Senate amendment 2914 to Senate amendment 2910 to H.R. 5895, Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2019. I would have voted yea. prgtoken , I was necessarily absent for the June 19, 2018, vote on Senate amendment 2920 to Senate amendment 2910 to H.R. 5895, Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2019. I would have voted yea.
ENERGY AND WATER, LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, AND MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-6-20

I am on leader time. Forced Family Separation prgtoken , as the purposeful, cynical, and shameful humanitarian crisis of family separation at the border continues to unfold, the vast majority of Americans are looking to President 's administration, which started this practice, to end it. prgtoken The Associated Press recently reported that the administration has been sending babies and young children to what they call tender age facilities. It is unconscionable--unconscionable--that the Government of the United States is warehousing babies and toddlers alone in an institutional setting. prgtoken The crisis was willfully and purposefully created by this President through his zero tolerance policy at the border. It can and should be ended by the same mechanism. With the simple flick of a pen, the President can end this policy. If the President wants to borrow my pen, he can have it. He can do it quickly and easily if he wants to. It is on his back. prgtoken The administration must end this gratuitously cruel and counterproductive policy that has brought such pain to innocent children and so much shame on this Nation. No law requires the separation of children from their families, no law says you must send babies to detention facilities, and no law is required to end it. prgtoken Nineteen s in the Senate have already called on the administration to reverse or suspend this policy administratively, without any congressional action. If our colleagues and the leadership in particular want to solve this problem, they ought to be directing their attention to the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue, to the White House, because that is where it can get done, done well, and get done quickly. This is at the administration's doorstep to stop or sustain. This is President 's responsibility. He could fix it this morning if he actually wanted to fix it. Instead, he points fingers of blame, he prevaricates, and he makes things up because he doesn't even want to own this policy. He knows how unpopular it is with the American people, but at the same time, he sort of wants to tell his base: I am with you. I am with you. prgtoken It is awful. prgtoken There is this idea that Congress could step in and pass legislation to deal with family separation. That is highly, highly dubious and unlikely. When has this Congress ever successfully passed immigration legislation in the last few years? Never. It is an illusion. Color us dubious that Congress--the House and Senate, with majorities and strong rightwing elements who hate any change in immigration--could successfully pass legislation. Here are the problems: prgtoken First, would Ryan agree to pass and put on the floor a narrow bill that just deals with this issue? Has he ever done that before? Never. Never. Even if the Senate passed something, in the House, it would be
FORCED FAMILY SEPARATION
Edward J. Markey (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2018-6-20

I first thank Senator Merkley from Oregon for organizing this very important session tonight. prgtoken Last month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions unveiled the administration's new zero tolerance immigration policy. Whether you come to this land fleeing violence, poverty, or persecution, justice isn't blind. It is now also brutal. prgtoken This inhumane policy sends a shudder down the spine of the Statue of Liberty, but not that of our President. Zero tolerance really means zero refuge. Zero tolerance really means zero discretion. Zero tolerance really means zero humanity. prgtoken The administration's mindless approach to our broken immigration system takes away the ability of Federal law enforcement officers to exercise any discretion that might be warranted based on the facts and circumstances on the ground. In other words, zero tolerance is an anti-immigrant dragnet, the shocking effects of which we have been witnessing these past few days as children have literally been ripped from their parents' arms and separated from them, as their mothers and fathers are taken into custody. prgtoken These horrific images were finally enough, even for President . This afternoon, he signed an Executive order that he says addresses the family separation crisis. It does no such thing. The Executive order that the President signed doesn't end the zero tolerance policy of prosecuting anyone and everyone who crosses the border. It reaffirms it. prgtoken If all parents are still being prosecuted as criminals, which the Executive order requires, what does this Executive order actually do? We can only assume that this Executive order would imprison, remand, and incarcerate children--some as newborns--into the same correctional facilities as their parents. They would be sleeping in cages instead of cribs. prgtoken In this country, our courts have decided that this treatment of children and families is malicious. In the Flores agreement, more than 20 years ago, we stopped this practice. Now, the President wants to bring it back with a vengeance. prgtoken The Executive order directs the Attorney General to try to modify the Flores agreement, but any attempt to undermine the critical protections for children that this landmark settlement has put in place should and will face immediate court challenge. Families and children don't belong in jail, period. prgtoken Our President's Executive order does not ask for trained child welfare workers to carry out his wishes. He has called in the military. He expects this cold-blooded tactic--a tactic he is using to negotiate his wall--to be implemented by the Pentagon. prgtoken Now, what does that mean? Apparently, he envisions internment camps, using existing military brigs or other facilities to lock up these families. It sounds like a return to the shameful internment camps of the 1940s, during World War II, one of the darkest chapters in our Nation's history. We
FORCED FAMILY SEPARATION
Amy Klobuchar (Democrat, MN) \u2014 2018-6-20

I thank Mr. Merkley, the Senator from Oregon, for his leadership and his calling attention to the tragedy that has been going on right on our border. prgtoken I rise today to join my colleagues to express my deep concern about the policy that was adopted by this administration to separate families at the border. prgtoken What we have seen over the past several days and weeks and actually months is simply unacceptable. While the President has now recognized publicly that we should not be taking children from their parents, this should not be happening in our country. prgtoken According to the Department of Homeland Security, 2,342 children were separated from their parents at the border between May 5 and June 9. The pace of these separations had been increasing, with nearly 70 children being taken from their parents up until today and being kept in facilities that are increasingly overcrowded. prgtoken The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have expressed their opposition. They said that this type of family separation does ``irreparable harm'' to children. The president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, who traveled to the border, called it ``a form of child abuse.'' prgtoken It is not just the medical groups. A bipartisan group of 75 former U.S. attorneys called on the administration to end its policy. The group included a former U.S. attorney who served under both President es, Tom Heffelfinger from the State of Minnesota. Their letter emphasized that the administration's zero tolerance policy was ``a radical departure from previous Justice Department policy'' and that it is ``dangerous, expensive, and inconsistent with the values of the institution in which [they] served.'' prgtoken All five First Ladies have been critical, and, as we know, probably the woman who said it best was First Lady Laura . She said: This zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart. prgtoken I think that says it all. prgtoken I am glad that several of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have recently stood up and said they disagree with this policy. prgtoken Senator Graham said: ``President could stop this policy with a phone call.'' prgtoken The weeks went by, and the families kept getting separated. prgtoken I am pleased that Senator Feinstein is leading a bill, the Keep Families Together Act. I was an original cosponsor of this bill, but I do want to note that we do not need the legislation to stop the separation of children and their parents. prgtoken While I am still reviewing this Executive order, I will note that it still raises serious issues, including with respect to the indefinite detention of children and their families, and that there are major questions about the order. That being said, action on this was necessary, and now we must move forward. prgtoken I see the Senator from Illinois, Mr. Durbin, here,
FAMILY SEPARATION
Bradley Scott Schneider (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2018-6-20

the administration's abhorrent immigration policy that is tearing families apart and separating children from their parents is a shameful betrayal of our values. It needs to end immediately. prgtoken Americans of all political stripes are contacting our office, heartbroken and outraged by the images and stories of the treatment of these vulnerable young people by our Nation. prgtoken The President and his Attorney General have created this crisis. The President has the power to immediately stop this cruelty, but so far, , he refuses to do so. That is why today I am proud to join more than 190 colleagues introducing legislation to stop this inhumane treatment of children at our border. prgtoken The Keep Families Together Act prohibits the Department of Homeland Security from separating children from their parents, except in extraordinary circumstances. The bill also limits criminal prosecution of asylum seekers fleeing persecution, increases child welfare training, and creates a policy preference for family reunification. prgtoken I urge my fellow Members of Congress to join us on this bill. Let's fix this stain on the character of our Nation and swiftly end this policy.