mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
FORCED FAMILY SEPARATION
Michael F. Bennet (Democrat, CO) \u2014 2018-6-20

the headline of the article reads: `` Retreats on Separating Families, but Thousands Will Remain Apart.'' prgtoken We need to know, and that, obviously, isn't going to be acceptable to the American people if that is what it is. prgtoken The last point I want to make tonight, because I know I have other colleagues here, is that it does not help matters when the President is completely allergic to the truth on any dimension but especially on this one. prgtoken Today, at the White House, in front of all of the cameras and in front of the s he invited there--he didn't invite any --this is what he said in lamenting the fact that he couldn't do a deal with . prgtoken This is the President: We're having a lot of problem with . They don't care about lack of security, they would like to have open borders, where anybody in the world can just flow, including from the Middle East--from anybody anywhere they can just flow into our country. Tremendous problems with that. Tremendous crime caused by that. We are just not going to do it. prgtoken That is what he said is our position. prgtoken As the Presiding Officer knows, I was on the Gang of 8 in 2013 that negotiated what was called the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Enforcement Act of 2013. The first two words in that title are ``border security.'' It got 68 votes on this floor. Every single voted for it. I want the American people to know what is in it because they will never hear from the President as to what was in it: prgtoken There is $46 billion dollars for border enforcement; $30 billion to hire and deploy nearly 20,000 new Border Patrol agents, doubling the total number, a doubling of the number of Border Patrol agents; $8 billion for a fence along the southern border at least 700 miles long; $4.5 billion for new surveillance technologies, including air and marine surveillance so we could see every inch of the border, so we would know what was happening there; $2 billion to enact recommendations of a newly established southern border security commission; $750 million to expand the E-Verify; the remaining $1.5 billion dollars for administrative costs to the Departments of State, Labor, Agriculture, and Justice. prgtoken That was the border security bill we passed in 2013, and that is the border security bill we should pass today. The only reason it is not the law of the land today is that the House would not let it come to a vote. Had they let it come to a vote, had the allowed it to come to a vote, it would have passed. prgtoken I think, collectively, we should go back to that work and see if we can't actually solve the problem rather than just play politics with it or, in the case of what we have just seen, rather than play politics with the lives of the children on the southern border. prgtoken .
FORCED FAMILY SEPARATION
Tim Kaine (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2018-6-20

I rise on World Refugee Day to thank the American public for standing up against the heartless decision by the administration to separate children from their families at the southern border of the United States. Because the administration's policy triggered our moral gag reflex, you spoke up loudly--everyday citizens, business executives, faith leaders, Governors pulled back Guard troops from missions on the border, and airlines announced they would not facilitate separation of families by flying children hundreds of miles away from their parents. Because of you, the American public, this administration has altered its cruel policy, at least for the time being. prgtoken A new Executive order suggests that families will not be separated, but many questions remain. Will they be detained indefinitely? Where will they be detained? What process will be used to determine their fate? Will people seeking to use our legal asylum process be treated like criminals? prgtoken The most urgent question I have is this. What is the fate of the 2,300 children you have stripped away from their families? How will you assure that these children are properly returned to parents who are worried to death about them? prgtoken Congress has to exercise the most persistent oversight to ensure that these children are restored to their families. An administration that so cavalierly separated them from their parents out of a mistaken belief that the American public wouldn't care about it can hardly be trusted to reunite these families with speed and compassion. We have to stay on the task to ensure that they do. prgtoken Much has been said about the trauma inflicted upon these children taken from their parents. I want to say a word about how traumatic it is for a parent to have a child taken away without any idea when or if a child will be returned. Marco Antonio Munoz was a 39-year-old father from Honduras who made the difficult trek to the United States with his wife and 3-year-old boy. They came here in May after his brother-in-law was murdered by a drug gang near Capon. Honduras has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, and they just wanted their family to be safe. The family crossed into the United States on May 12, in Granjeno, TX--a popular crossing point for Central American families and teens who want to turn themselves in and seek asylum in the United States. prgtoken I know a little bit about families like the Munoz family. I lived in Honduras in 1980 and 1981 and have returned a number of times, most recently in 2015. The violence in these neighborhoods is severe, driven by gangs connected to a drug trade that has its origins in American demand for illicit drugs produced in Mexico, Central, and South America. The violence in these Honduran neighborhoods has a direct connection to the sad reality of addiction in the United States. When a family like the Munoz family leaves their home, they leave e
KEEP FAMILIES TOGETHER
Tim Ryan (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2018-6-20

I think about my wife, Andrea, and I when we go to take a couple days away from the kids and we leave our 4- year-old with his grandparents, how heartbreaking it is to even leave that kid when you are leaving him with grandparents. prgtoken I think about my great-grandparents, who came here from Italy as immigrants. I think about the 13 years of Catholic school that I attended. I think about the conversations in Washington, D.C about family values. prgtoken And then I think about how, in the most powerful country in the world, our governmental policy is to strip kids--babies, toddlers, infants--from their parents. The most powerful country in the world has resorted to this nonsense. This is a joke. prgtoken It is by choice, . This is a choice that the most powerful men in the most powerful country are choosing to take poor kids away from their parents. prgtoken It is time for this most powerful President to act immediately and stop the American carnage.
HONORING THE CAREER AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF MR. JORGE RAMIREZ
Daniel Lipinski (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2018-6-20

I rise today to honor Mr. Jorge Ramirez on the occasion of his retirement as president of the Chicago Federation of Labor. Jorge's reputation as an esteemed and extremely effective leader is well-deserved after 8 years as president and 12 years on the board of the CFL. He fought for and succeeded in making life better for hundreds of thousands of workers and their families. Jorge Ramirez is the son of Mexican immigrants who grew up on the Southwest Side of Chicago near Midway Airport. His father was a meat packer in Chicago's Back of Yards neighborhood during the 1960s, working long hours for limited pay and with limited rights. Eventually his father and fellow workers formed a union, knowing that they were stronger together than they were alone. Jorge continued this tradition and found his own way into the industry, first joining the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 1546 in 1988 where he served as Executive Director. Since his election as the first Latino President of the Chicago Federation of Labor in 2010, Jorge Ramirez worked closely with stakeholders and cultivated a mutual respect with them, avoiding layoffs, improving health insurance for union workers, and stabilizing Chicago's pension funds. He was critical in ushering in a higher minimum wage for the city starting in 2019, guaranteeing a much better standard of living for so many workers. Jorge's work was also crucial in establishing a new five-year contract between the city of Chicago and the Coalition of Unionized Public Employees. That agreement alone benefited approximately 20% of the city's employees, including motor truck drivers, plumbers, laborers, and members of the building trades. Most recently, he led the charge for an $8.5 billion O'Hare Airport expansion plan--an effort that will both modernize one of Chicago's aviation hubs and create over 60,000 jobs. In addition to his accomplishments with the Chicago Federation of Labor, Jorge is an active community leader, as well as a devoted husband and father. His roles have included positions with the Cook County Health and Hospitals System Board of Directors, Chicago Infrastructure Trust, the Cook County President's Council of Economic Advisors, and Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Philanthropically, he has donated his time to the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, and the Archdiocese of Chicago Office for Immigrant Affairs. All the while, Jorge and his wife, Catrina, have raised four amazing sons for whom he bakes as a hobby; his specialty being cheesecake. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Mr. Jorge Ramirez. His resilience and commitment have helped countless people improve their lives and the lives of their families. I congratulate him on his accomplishments, thank him for his service, and wish him well in his future endeavors.
ENERGY AND WATER, LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, AND MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019
Tammy Baldwin (Democrat, WI) \u2014 2018-6-20

I rise today to urge my colleagues to support my bipartisan amendment regarding an essential medical isotope. This amendment that I have introduced, along with Senator Portman, would achieve three simple goals: It would safeguard and improve patient access to critical health screenings, it would promote medical innovations needed for cutting-edge diagnostics and new treatments, and it would move us away from our dependence on foreign sources of medical isotopes, while supporting America's medical innovation industry. prgtoken Let me explain quickly why my amendment is needed. The United States does not currently produce the medical isotope our healthcare system uses the most. This isotope is used in medical screenings and helps 50,000 patients per day in the United States by providing early detection and enabling treatment of cancer and heart disease. prgtoken U.S. patients are currently relying on supplies of this key isotope that come from Canada, the Netherlands, and South Africa. This raises costs and risks supply disruptions. Mind you, this isotope only lasts for 3 days. prgtoken For security in the healthcare system and certainty in patient access to essential medical tests, which are often needed in urgent situations, we must develop a domestic supply of these isotopes. The Department of Energy has been working diligently with the private sector to develop sources that are made in America, and this amendment would dedicate $20 million to ensure that work continues so we can secure domestic production as soon as possible. prgtoken I urge my colleagues to support this important and bipartisan amendment. prgtoken . Recognition of the Minority Leader
MOTION TO DISCHARGE--H.R. 3
Robert P. Casey, Jr. (Democrat, PA) \u2014 2018-6-20

I rise to address the issue that I know folks in both parties of both Houses, and, of course, across the country, are concerned about; that is, the issue of child separation at the border. prgtoken This is, unfortunately, an issue that because there is so much outrage, there is, in fact, substantial unity against the policy that is in place right now. I am, like a lot of Americans, vehemently opposed to the policy of what, in essence, amounts to ripping children away from their parents. I, like a lot of Americans, have demanded that the President and his administration end this cruel policy immediately. prgtoken We are hearing some reports that there may be an action taken. I don't know what that action will be, but I hope it is an action that will end the policy. Until we know that, we have to continue to urge the President to do the right thing. prgtoken Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security released data showing that between May 5 and June 9--just a little more than a month--2,342 children were taken from their parents at the border. That is about 70 children per day taken from their parents. prgtoken I have received thousands of emails, letters, and phone calls from concerned Pennsylvanians who are demanding an immediate end to the policy. I never imagined that I would have to stand here today, nor should anyone, to talk about a scenario where the U.S. Government is separating children from their parents at the border. That seems incomprehensible that would ever happen, but it has. prgtoken I am reading part of a statement that reads as follows: Our government is forcibly separating children--including toddlers--from their parents and sending them to detention facilities as a means of sending a message and influencing Congress. prgtoken That was a statement not made by a ic Senator or a ic House Member or a or any politician; that was part of a larger statement made by Thomas Donahue, the president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce--not someone who is very often lined up on the same side as ic Senators. I think that is an understatement. prgtoken To say this policy is cruel, inhumane, and an insult to the values of our Nation is to utter an understatement. This is a policy that is straight from the pit of hell, and there is probably worse that we could say about it. It is hard to comprehend that any administration at any time would propose, let alone implement, a policy that would result in children being separated from their parents. prgtoken Unlike what the administration has tried to argue, this is not about following the law or securing the border. Neither of those statements is relevant here. This is a conscious decision by this administration, which is contrary to the decisions by the last two administrations--one a administration, the other a ic administration-- that decided not to separa
ENERGY AND WATER, LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, AND MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019--Continued
Kirsten E. Gillibrand (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-6-20

I rise to speak about the humanitarian crisis that is at our southern border right now. We are living through a moment in history when we are literally sending babies and toddlers into detention camps. prgtoken Think about that. Think about what I just said. Our Federal Government is sending babies and toddlers to detention camps. This is immoral. It is wrong. prgtoken The AP broke a story last night that left me speechless, and I want the details of this horror recorded and documented in the official Senate Record so Americans years from now will look back on us and will see how wrong we were. prgtoken I will read this article from the Associated Press, called ``Youngest Migrants Held in `Tender Age' Shelters.'' It is by Garance Burke and Martha Mendoza. administration officials have been sending babies and other young children forcibly separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border to at least three ``tender age'' shelters in South Texas, the Associated Press has learned. Lawyers and medical providers who have visited the Rio Grande Valley shelters described play rooms of crying preschool-age children in crisis. The government also plans to open a fourth shelter to house hundreds of young migrant children in Houston, where city leaders denounced the move Tuesday. Since the White House announced its zero tolerance policy in early May, more than 23,000 children have been taken from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, resulting in a new influx of young children requiring government care. The government has faced withering critiques over images of some of the children in cages inside U.S. Border Patrol processing stations. Decades after the nation's child welfare system ended the use of orphanages over concerns about the lasting trauma to children, the administration is starting up new institutions to hold Central American toddlers that the government separated from their parents. ``The thought that they are going to be putting such little kids in an institutional setting? I mean it is hard for me even to wrap my mind around it,'' said Kay Bellor, vice president for programs at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, which provides foster care and other child welfare services to migrant children. ``Toddlers are being detained.'' Bellor said shelters follow strict procedures surrounding who can gain access to the children in order to protect their safety, but that means information about their welfare can be limited. By law, child migrants traveling alone must be sent to facilities run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services within three days of being detained. The agency then is responsible for placing the children in shelters or foster homes until they ar
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 6, SUBSTANCE USE-DISORDER PREVENTION THAT PROMOTES OPIOID RECOVERY AND TREATMENT FOR PATIENTS AND COMMUNITIES ACT; PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5797...
Raul Ruiz (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2018-6-20

as an emergency medicine physician, I know firsthand what this devastating opioid crisis does to families, to individuals, to children, to parents. I have taken care of many who have come in overdosed, blue in the face, not breathing, many of which I have been resuscitated successfully and a few tragic losses along the way. prgtoken I know that many of them rely on being able to get the treatment whenever we are able to convince them to get treatment, but one of the biggest concerns that they have is: How much is this going to cost? prgtoken Many of them rely on Medicaid to be able to take advantage of some of the rehabilitation and the medication-assisted treatments that are offered to them. But, unfortunately, many of them, being uninsured, are unable to do so, and so then they repeat the cycle of abuse and misuse, and unfortunately, again, they present themselves overdosed in the emergency department. prgtoken I have an article here that sheds light on the importance of Medicaid. I bring Medicaid up because I feel like we are taking a few good steps forward in this opioid crisis, but we are missing the big picture when we have to defend Medicaid over and over again. Up to 45 percent of opioid-addicted patients rely on Medicaid to get their opioid rehab or misuse treatments to get back on steady footing. prgtoken There is an article here that I brought by Alana Sharp, et al that was published in the May 2018 American Journal of Public Health, entitled: ``Impact of Medicaid Expansion on Access to Opioid Analgesic Medications and Medication-Assisted Treatment.'' prgtoken Basically, by using Medicaid enrollment and reimbursement data from 2011 to 2016 in all States, they evaluated prescribing patterns of opioids and the three FDA-approved medications used in treating opioid use disorders by using two statistical models--I won't bore you with which ones they used--and they found that although opioid prescribing for Medicaid enrollees increased overall, they observed no difference between expansion and nonexpansion. These are States that expanded Medicaid. prgtoken By contrast, per enrollee rates of buprenorphine and naltrexone prescribed increased more than 200 percent after States expanded eligibility, meaning that States that expanded Medicaid increased medication-assisted treatments for opioid misuse disorders by 200 percent. That means it works. That means when people get Medicaid, they use their Medicaid insurance to help get off of their dependency on opioids. prgtoken In the States that did not expand Medicaid, only less than 50 percent expansion of use.
MOTION TO DISCHARGE--H.R. 3
Patrick J. Leahy (Democrat, VT) \u2014 2018-6-20

I have been in the Senate long enough to think that maybe the Senate can start to go back to being the Senate. A Senate that votes on things and debates things and reflects the will of the people--not what is dictated from the White House. Perhaps that was wishful thinking on my part, because in just the latest example of the ``cut first and ask questions later'' policies of the administration, we are now going to vote on a bill that will claw back billions of dollars from children's health insurance, affordable housing investments, infrastructure, rural development, and innovative energy programs. This is the same White House that just forced through Congress a $1.9 trillion--not billion, but trillion--tax giveaway, most of which goes to billionaires and corporations. Then, they say we have to cut children's health insurance because we have to reduce the deficit. We can give billionaires and corporations $1.9 trillion, but this might increase the deficit. So we have to cut children's health insurance, affordable housing investments, infrastructure, rural development, and innovative energy programs. That goes beyond laughable. It is unconscionable. prgtoken President is seeking to cut $7 billion from funding for children's health insurance. If you strip this funding from the Children's Health Insurance Program, we leave children unprotected from unforeseen events like a flu outbreak or a natural disaster. prgtoken This takes away the ability of Congress should be able to make critical investments in healthcare and education. Even if the money can no longer be dedicated to CHIP, we should reinvest it in other important programs as we have done in the past--programs that support our Nation's children and families. I don't think there is any Member of this body who, when they are campaigning, doesn't talk about how important children and their families are to them. I hope those same families will ask them: How much money did you take out from children and families? prgtoken Earlier this year, the Congress did what they were supposed to. s and came together to direct this funding to the Federal response to the opioid epidemic, the childcare and development block grants, Head Start, and the National Institutes of Health. These are investments in our country. They are not tax giveaways. They are investments in our country. If you strip this funding, it is penny wise and pound foolish. prgtoken President wants to claw back billions of dollars from infrastructure programs. I see so many of these photo ops he does, speaking about how we want to have better infrastructure. However, we don't want to pay for it so we will take the money back. prgtoken Let's look at what the money is that he wants to take away. It is programs to do everything from supporting loans to helping factories produce more efficient vehicles to building bridges in small communities. These ar