mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
HONORING THE SERVICE OF BRIGADIER GENERAL DEREK M. SALMI
John Garamendi (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2024-6-25

I rise today to recognize United States Air Force Brigadier General Derek M. Salmi for his critical service and outstanding leadership as Commander of the 60th Air Mobility Wing, Travis Air Force Base. prgtoken Brigadier General Salmi commissioned from the Air Force Academy in 1998 after earning his Bachelor of Science in political science. Throughout his 25-year-long career, he has prgtoken commanded at the squadron, group, and wing levels and served as a command pilot with more than 3,000 hours in mobility and trainer aircraft. In addition, he has deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn. prgtoken As the Travis Air Force Base 60th Air Mobility Wing Commander, Brigadier General Salmi led the Air Force's largest air mobility organization in terms of personnel and was responsible for the well- being and readiness of more than 26,100 active-duty, reserve and civilian personnel, and their families. In addition, he managed $13 billion in capital assets, executed a $650 million budget, and oversaw the Air Force's largest medical center in the continental United States. Brigadier General Salmi's critical leadership and expertise not only made our country safer, but also helped improve the lives of the thousands of military and civilian personnel who work at Travis Air Force Base. prgtoken Brigadier General Salmi's commitment to preparing the units at Travis Air Force Base to respond to any potential threat characterized his tenure as Commander of the 60th Air Mobility Wing. He led the 60th Air Mobility Wing in executing two intensive joint Agile Combat Employment exercises in the United States Indo-Pacific Command theater of operations while simultaneously providing 35 percent of all Department of Defense logistics support to Ukraine. prgtoken Under Brigadier General Salmi's leadership, the 60th Air Mobility won 117 United States Air Force and Air Mobility Command awards. In addition, he directed multiple key military construction projects that will make Travis Air Force Base more resilient and our country more secure. prgtoken Brigadier General Salmi's selfless commitment to the military personnel and families stationed at Travis Air Force Base has undeniably improved the base for future generations of servicemembers. On behalf of California's Eighth Congressional District, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude for Brigadier General Salmi's dedication and service to our country and community. I know Travis Air Force Base and the Solano County community join me in extending our best wishes as Brigadier General Salmi embarks on his future endeavors.
RECOGNIZING DR. JEFFREY DUCHIN'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO PUBLIC HEALTH
Pramila Jayapal (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2024-6-25

I rise today to recognize Dr. Jeffrey Duchin who is retiring after a thirty-year career in public health, most recently as the Health Officer for Public Health--Seattle & King County. prgtoken Dr. Duchin began working at Public Health--Seattle & King County in 1994 on assignment from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to handle the Tuberculosis and HIV programs. Four years later, Dr. Duchin served as the Public Health--Seattle & King County Chief of Vaccination and Communicable Disease Epidemiology, a position he held until he was named Health Officer in 2015. He has lent his expertise to numerous national policy and advisory bodies where he helped shape approaches to immunizations and infectious diseases. Dr. Duchin is also a longtime Professor at the University of Washington's Schools of Medicine and Public Health. In this capacity, he provides mentorship to students and publishes research on communicable disease. His contributions to infectious disease research will undoubtedly leave a mark on the field for years to come. prgtoken Dr. Duchin's outstanding work helped King County and Washington State navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and better prepare for public health emergencies. In 2020, King County experienced America's first known COVID-19 case and the first large outbreak. Dr. Duchin immediately stepped into action and his leadership was nationally recognized. During this time, Dr. Duchin prioritized community engagement and solutions that centered equity. My staff and I partnered closely with Public Health--Seattle & King County during the pandemic. Dr. Duchin's invaluable expertise, frequent updates and excellent communication were essential for the intergovernmental partnerships that supported our communities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Duchin's prioritization of science and deep understanding of the intersectionality of health saved countless lives. prgtoken Dr. Duchin's tireless commitment to public health has benefitted the lives of so many in King County and beyond. His leadership will serve as a model for Washington State's leaders for years to come. I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating his many accomplishments and contributions to public health. On behalf of Washington's 7th Congressional District, I thank Dr. Jeffrey Duchin for his service to the people of the Pacific Northwest.
HONORING REV. DR. WADE A. STEVENSON ON THE OCCASION OF HIS 21ST PASTORAL ANNIVERSARY
Bradley Scott Schneider (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2024-6-25

I rise today to honor and congratulate my dear friend, and a respected faith leader, Rev. Dr. Wade A. Stevenson, on the occasion of his 21st pastoral anniversary at Gideon Missionary Baptist Church in Waukegan, Illinois. For more than two decades Pastor Stevenson's leadership has helped further the spiritual well-being of not only his congregation at Gideon, but the entire surrounding community. prgtoken Rev. Dr. Stevenson was invited to become pastor of Gideon Missionary Baptist Church in 2003. At the time, he was the Pastor for Farristown Baptist Church in Berea, Kentucky, the state in which he grew up and where he earned his degrees from the University of Kentucky and Lexington Theological Seminary. On October 19, 2003, Gideon held a formal installation service for Pastor Stevenson. prgtoken As a man of faith, Pastor Stevenson's mission for leadership is: To Equip the Saints to Serve, True to this mission, he has empowered his congregation to support their families, their church and their community. prgtoken I am honored to have personally observed, and experienced, the extraordinary leadership and powerful ministry of Pastor Stevenson for more than a decade. Across the year's, I have come to know Pastor Stevenson as an exceptional leader, teacher and friend. prgtoken Pastor Stevenson is widely recognized in our community for his remarkable service and many accomplishments. He even had the honor of delivering an opening prayer as guest chaplain in this chamber in 2016. Yet, more than the accolades and awards, he is beloved as a beacon of hope, optimism and spirituality for all who know him. prgtoken I congratulate Rev. Dr. Wade A. Stevenson, his wife Gloria, his three sons, and the entire Gideon family in honor of his twenty-first pastoral anniversary with Gideon Missionary Baptist Church, and in recognition of his 34 years in the pastoral ministry, I wish him and the entire congregation blessings of health, happiness and peace.
RECOGNIZING GUN VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH
Lucy McBath (Democrat, GA) \u2014 2024-6-25

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , I am honored to host tonight's Special Order 30 minutes with the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force and Assistant Leader Neguse. prgtoken We are entering the final week of Gun Violence Awareness Month. On this 25th day of June, it is estimated that over 2,500 Americans have lost their lives due to gun violence in this month alone. Over 100 people are dying in this country every single day. prgtoken Back in my home State of Georgia, I have seen the compounding impact of gun violence in our communities. Earlier this month, there was a shooting at the Peachtree Center mall where a gunman shot and injured three people. Just hours later, a man who was interviewed by local news as a witness to the first shooting went on to commit an act of gun violence himself, hijacking a Gwinnett County bus and fatally shooting a passenger that very same day. prgtoken I don't know what anybody else thinks, but this epidemic is truly real. I know firsthand the pain of losing a loved one to senseless gun violence. It has been nearly 12 years now since I lost my son, Jordan, when he was just 17 years old. prgtoken On Black Friday in 2012, Jordan and his friends were simply going out shopping at the mall. They stopped at a convenience store gas station for all of 3\1/2\ minutes because my son, Jordan, said: Hey, guys, if we are going to pick up girls at the mall, you have to have fresh breath. prgtoken In those 3\1/2\ minutes, a man pulled up next to the boys in their car, and he started complaining about the loud music that they were playing. He racially profiled them, called them gang bangers. He called them thugs. prgtoken Then, he fired 10 shots into the car, killing my only son, and then he simply drove away. He acted as if nothing had ever happened. prgtoken He went back to his hotel with his girlfriend. They walked their puppy, Charlie. They ordered a pizza, and they made themselves a couple of stiff rum and Cokes. Then, they simply went to bed. prgtoken It was only the next morning that they saw on television that a young Black male had been killed by 10 bullets at a convenience store gas station. This man and his girlfriend just simply got in their car and drove 170 miles back to Satellite Beach, Florida. prgtoken During the trial of my son's killer, I made a promise that I would spend the rest of my life fighting to make sure that no one else ever had to experience the pain and trauma that not only my family has experienced but the ever-growing club of people in this country who are succumbing to it every single day, parents who are burying their children who have been taken from this Earth far too early. prgtoken I became an advocate for gun safety. I became a spokesperson for Everytown for Gun Safety in America. In a district that was once held by Newt Gingrich, I ran for Congress strictly on a platform of gun safety and to save as many lives in this country as I possibly c
THE STATE OF VOTING RIGHTS IN AMERICA
Terri A. Sewell (Democrat, AL) \u2014 2024-6-25

as we conclude our Special Order hour on this very important day, the 11th anniversary of the Shelby County v. Holder decision, we issue a call to action. We in the Congressional Black Caucus understand that the vote is the most fundamental tool of our democracy. prgtoken I cannot believe that 60 years after John Lewis was bludgeoned on a bridge that my colleague and I stand here today to talk about restoring the full protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. prgtoken It tells us that progress is elusive, and every generation has to fight and fight again in order to hold onto the progress that we have made and to extend it. prgtoken John Lewis reminded us that ours is not a cause of 1 day, 1 week, 1 month. No, our struggle is a struggle of a lifetime, and everyone must do their part. prgtoken We here in the Congressional Black Caucus are doing our part. We are signing off and making sure that everyone understands that the alarms are going off. The alarms are going off because every American does not have equal access to the ballot box. prgtoken We see States all across this country that are imposing more restrictive voting laws. Voter suppression has become the cause of the day, and we must do our part. Our part is to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and to fully restore the full protections of the Voting Rights Act. prgtoken Now, we know that the Supreme Court told Congress that we must come up with a modern-day formula. That is exactly what this bill does. It has a lookback of 25 years. We are not trying to make Alabama and Mississippi be held accountable for what happened in the 1960s and the 1950s. We are talking about 1997 and moving forward. We are talking about recent acts of voter discrimination. prgtoken We know that if we look back just 25 years, even 15 years, we know that there will be jurisdiction after jurisdiction that still has suppressive voting laws. As long as States are suppressing the right to vote, I believe that we have a moral obligation in the Federal Government to provide oversight. prgtoken We know that that oversight is critically important, and that is exactly what the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act will do. prgtoken As I take my seat, I want it to be heard around this Nation that we in the Congressional Black Caucus will not rest. We will not rest until we pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. prgtoken To the gentleman from Illinois, it has been a pleasure talking about this most important topic. I know that I have welcomed you and your father time and time again to Selma, Alabama, to cross that bridge one more time. We know that a very frail John Lewis, with a body riddled with cancer, took to that bridge one more time in 2021. He told us to never give up, never give in, that ours is a just cause. prgtoken Because of that, we in the Congressional Black Caucus stand tall in our commitment to never go back to those days. We need to
THE STATE OF VOTING RIGHTS IN AMERICA
Jonathan L. Jackson (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2024-6-25

. Madam , it is with great honor that I rise today to coanchor this Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour along with my distinguished colleague, Representative Terri Sewell, of the great State of Alabama. prgtoken For the next 60 minutes, members of the Congressional Black Caucus will have an opportunity to speak directly to the American people on the subject of the Shelby v. Holder decision and the American Voting Rights Act, specifically the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, an issue of great importance to the Congressional Black Caucus, Congress, the constituents we represent, and all Americans. prgtoken , from Alabama (Ms. Sewell).
RECOGNIZING DONNA M. CHIERA
Frank Pallone, Jr. (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2024-6-25

I use today to congratulate Donna M. Chiera on her retirement as President of the American Federation of Teachers New Jersey (AFTNJ). Ms. Chiera has dedicated over 40 years of service to the education field and her contributions and accomplishments are truly deserving of this body's recognition. prgtoken As President of AFTNJ, Donna Chiera brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to the position. She worked as a special education teacher and resource room teacher for the Perth Amboy Public School District for more than 30 years until her retirement from teaching in 2011. Furthermore, Ms. Chiera also served as president of the local union, Perth Amboy Federation of Teachers, from 1991 until 2013, as well as AFTNJ executive vice president for grades pre-K through 12. Her long- standing involvement with AFT and her tenure as an educator exemplify Ms. Chiera's commitment to serve and advance New Jersey's teachers and students. prgtoken Representing the interests of 30,000 members of AFTNJ, Ms. Chiera has been an active member of AFT national, chairing the Teachers program and policy council, serving on subcommittees, and participating in both the National and New Jersey Teacher of the Year selection prgtoken In addition to her leadership of AFTNJ, Ms. Chiera is Vice President of the New Jersey State AFL-CIO Executive Board and previously served as Vice President of the Middlesex-Somerset County Central Labor Council, Education Chair of Perth Amboy's Strategic Planning Task Force, and Education Co-Chair for New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy's transition committee. prgtoken , please Join me in leading this body in acknowledgement of the contributions of Donna Chiera. She has tirelessly devoted her time to New Jersey's education and labor communities, and I am honored to recognize her today.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION GUN SAFETY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Katie Porter (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2024-6-25

. Madam , I rise today to celebrate President 's historic gun safety accomplishments. prgtoken The administration recently closed a loophole that let unlicensed dealers sell guns without a background check. This action clarifies who qualifies as a gun dealer, and it gives the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives the ability to hold gun sellers accountable to the American people. prgtoken This is just one example of President 's commitment to tackling gun violence. The White House also created the first Office of Gun Violence Prevention to investigate how to reduce gun violence and create safer communities. prgtoken Each death from gun violence is one too many. Congress needs to step up and do its part to stop preventable gun violence.
CONGRATULATING ROMEO LUCCHESI
Steve Cohen (Democrat, TN) \u2014 2024-6-25

I rise today to commend Romeo Lucchesi, the Visual Information Specialist at the Lt. Col. Luke Weathers Jr. VA Medical Center in Memphis, for his successes in video marketing and film-making. Earlier this year, he won a Gold Aster Award for excellence in healthcare advertising for his special video production ``A Tribute to Lt. Col. Luke Weathers Jr.'' Earlier this year, he also won an Emmy Award for his documentary video essay ``The Green Beret Who Fought Muhammad Ali.'' Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. was a Tuskegee Airman from Memphis. During World War II, Weathers was credited with shooting down German planes while protecting U.S. Army Air Corps bombers. As a result of his stellar flying record, he earned an Air Medal with 7 Clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the American Theater Ribbon Victory Medal WWII. After the War, he worked for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and eventually returned to Memphis, where he continued to support African Americans in the military, aviation, and elsewhere. Lt. Col. Weathers's inspirational story moved me to introduce legislation to rename the Memphis VA after him. Lucchesi produced a memorial video of Lt. Col. Weathers for a renaming ceremony of the Memphis VA Medical Center in July 2023. ``The Green Beret Who Fought Muhammad Ali'' tells the story of Memphis native Henry Hooper, a Booker T. Washington High school graduate who enlisted in the Marines and later joined the U.S. Army's Special Forces Green Berets. As a Green Beret, he was invited to the U.S. Olympic Boxing Trials in 1960 held at San Francisco's Cow Palace, where he sparred with Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, who won the Gold Medal in the light heavyweight division in the Rome Olympics later that year. Hooper describes the fight in the film, explaining that for a split second, he took his eyes off Ali, and got knocked down. Ali won the match on a technical knock out. Hooper spent 11 years on active duty, some of it in Vietnam, while Ali resisted the draft and was charged with draft evasion in a case later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Hooper later became a Secret Service agent and was assigned White House duty during the Carter Administration. At a state dinner to which Muhammad Ali had been invited, Ali approached Hooper saying he was sure they'd met before. Hooper said they'd met at the Cow Palace and they embraced. Hooper's colleagues asked about the encounter because they had never heard the story of the boxing match. As Hooper explains it, he didn't talk about it: ``I lost. I got beat . . . but he (Ali) remembered.'' Hooper, now a retired insurance agent in Memphis, is finally getting the adulation as a veteran that he deserves, and it is thanks to Mr. Lucchesi's talented filmmaking. The six-minute documentary can be viewed on the Medical Center's Facebook page. Romeo Lucchesi's talent is apparent, and I am pleased that he is working at the Lt. Col. Luke W
HONORING THE LIFE OF DOUG DURHAM
Jared Huffman (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2024-6-25

I rise today to honor Doug Durham who passed away at the age of 94 on April 11, 2024. Doug served honorably in the United States Navy during the Korean War and continued his dedication to serving our country after leaving the service. prgtoken Born in Reed City, Michigan on July 7, 1929, Doug served on the first ship to leave the United States for Korea, the USS Endicott DMS 25. On the Endicott, Doug took part in the mission to sweep mines in Hungnam Harbor and assist in the Christmas Miracle evacuation of 105,000 servicemembers from the Chosin reservoir. He was honored as a Humboldt Hero and was selected to participate in an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. to see the memorials built to honor him and others that served. prgtoken Doug continued to serve his country in the private sector after leaving the Navy. He was instrumental in the development of a groundbreaking missile detection system during his 30-year career at Lockheed. His contributions to this field were invaluable. He was a committed patriot, but his service to this country was not purely through national defense. prgtoken Doug had a passion for volunteering. He devoted much of his time to the Humboldt Senior Resource Center, Area 1 Agency on Aging, the Ingomar Club Board, and the Historical Committee. When Alzheimer's claimed the life of Doug's spouse, Virginia, he established a caregiver support group to make sure that others had the help and training they needed to care for family members stricken by the disease. prgtoken Doug was captivated by the beauty of our natural world and found solace in nature. He prgtoken was an avid hunter and fisherman. He was a strong advocate for the protection of salmonids and worked tirelessly with CalTrout to push for the enactment of policies protecting these fish and their habitat. He was a master rosarian and taught classes on the cultivation of roses. He loved spending time with his many friends. His wit, humor, and kindness left an indelible mark on all he met. prgtoken Doug is survived by his sister, Judy, and preceded in death by Virginia, his wife of 50 years, as well as his father, Jules, mother Harriette, stepmother Eleanor, and sister Georgia. He is remembered as a loving husband and brother, a community leader, a patriot, and a dear friend to all who knew him. prgtoken , there is no doubt that Doug Durham was a dedicated public servant who will be missed and whose many contributions to Humboldt County and the nation are worthy of commendation. Therefore, it is fitting and proper that we honor his many contributions and express our deep condolences to his family and friends.