mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
SUPPORTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2020
Gilbert Ray Cisneros, Jr. (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2019-7-15

. Madam , I rise today to express. my gratitude that the House has approved H.R. 2500, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year FY) 2020. The bill contains many much-needed and valuable provisions and I am proud to have had the opportunity to work with Chairman Smith as well as ic and members of the Armed Services Committee to secure them. I urge these provisions to be maintained through the conference process. prgtoken H.R. 2500 is a boon for transition assistance that servicemembers rely upon when they leave the military. I am proud to have secured bipartisan language to assist active-duty reservists and national guardsmen, veterans, their dependents, and Gold Star families apply for and secure jobs in the civilian workforce. Specifically, the provision would help states across the nation expand or establish a pilot program to provide job placement assistance and related employment services to those servicemembers, veterans, and their families. As a veteran myself, I understand firsthand the challenges servicemembers, and their families, face when they enter the civilian workforce, and I am proud to have been able to secure provisions to assist these heroes as they transition to civilian life. Similarly, I am proud to have fought for and secured language calling on the Department of Defense to provide separating servicemembers with a comprehensive and individualized statement of benefits listing the benefits to which each servicemember is entitled and directing them to modernize the DD214 form that will facilitate better connectivity with veterans that have separated from the military. Additionally, at my request, H.R. 2500 requires the Department of Defense to review recent Transition Assistance Program reforms and provide a progress report on implementation to date. I look forward to receiving this report so that Congress may determine how to best improve upon the program and ensure our servicemembers are receiving the guidance and services they need to succeed when they transition to civilian life. Finally, I am pleased that H.R. 2500 includes language from my bill, H.R. 2944, the TALENT Act, which directs the Department of Defense to create a two-way exchange program between the Department's acquisition workforce and the private sector. The program will enable Department personnel, including military officers, to gain private sector experience and bring best practices they have learned back to the Department. Such a program brings benefits to the Department and to the individuals who may seek civilian employment after they conclude their military service. prgtoken Another area of importance I worked to address in H.R. 2500 is improving access to and outcomes in military health. I am proud to have secured language in the bill to extend and expand an ongoing pilot program jointly run with the U.S. Air Force and Department of Veterans Affairs under the Transitio
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2019-7-15

over the weekend, President launched a series of insults at ic congresswomen, suggesting they ``go back'' to the countries they came from, despite the fact that three of the four were born in the United States and that citizenship in America, by birth or naturalization, is inherently equal and has been for centuries. prgtoken These lawmakers are women of color. Telling them to ``go back'' to their countries is one of the oldest and crudest tropes to malign nonwhite Americans. The President's comments drip with racism. prgtoken We don't know why the President woke up on Saturday and made these comments--perhaps to distract from his administration's barbaric immigration policy, which rips children away from their parents, even little children; perhaps to distract from the humanitarian crisis he has exacerbated at our border and perhaps to detract from his planned but not really executed deportation raids, which many in his own bureaucracy do not want to carry out and feel are difficult to carry out in a fair way because they can't be done fairly. Perhaps it is even to distract from his administration's attempt to dismantle our healthcare system through the courts. Maybe the President just feels comfortable stoking racial divisions in this country. Maybe that is his milieu. After all, this is part of a pattern of behavior that began with the birther treatment of President and his characterization of Mexicans in his announcement speech, continued with his attack on an American-born judge of Mexican descent, his proposed Muslim ban, his response to Charlottesville, and includes comments about Caribbean and African nations that cannot be repeated here on the floor of the Senate. prgtoken Whatever the reason, whatever the motivation, the President's comments demand condemnation from all corners of the political spectrum--all corners. It has become frightfully common for many of my colleagues to let these moments sail by without saying even a word. prgtoken leadership especially rarely criticizes the President directly, even in a situation like this that so clearly merits it. I am left to wonder if the silence of many s in the wake of President 's xenophobic tweets is out of embarrassment or agreement--embarrassment or agreement. Both are inexcusable. prgtoken Some of my colleagues are hoping that the President realizes the error of his ways and disavows or deletes his tweets from yesterday. But the President just walked out of the White House a few hours ago and doubled down on his racist comments. prgtoken My friends, he is not backing off. Where are you when something this serious, this bigoted, this un-American, happens? If you are saying to yourselves ``Well, he got us our big tax cut; well, he's taking regulations off big corporations; well, he pulled out of the Paris Accords, so we have to go along with this racism,'
THANKING HOUSTON FOR OPENING ITS DOORS
Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2019-7-15

on this past Saturday, Houstonians gathered together at the Living Water International Apostolic Ministries in Houston with Pastor Stearns and about 10 other churches. I convened the press conference in the warehouse of this church filled with goods and necessities to respond to the most objectionable national order that I have ever heard from any President of the United States: to manipulate law enforcement and calling for national predawn raids across America. prgtoken Now, no one in America wants open borders, and do not, but we do believe in due process, the Constitution, and the justness of the phraseology on the Statue of Liberty to bring our forlorn and worn to this country. prgtoken We are the greatest experiment, and people in my constituency were frightened. I came home to say we must do something about it. prgtoken And how powerful it was for the churches in our community to say: We will open our doors to those who are frightened about the fact that they will be separated from their children or their children separated from them. prgtoken What a horrible image, internationally; how the United Nations has condemned it. prgtoken And so on that day, we opened the churches of Houston for those migrants who were frightened by these predawn raids. One even occurred today. prgtoken I finish my remarks by saying the 16th President of the United States really said what America is all about: ``We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.'' prgtoken That is Abraham Lincoln. That is who we are. prgtoken I thank Houston for opening its doors for those who are in fear.
REFLECTING ON PRIORITIES FACING AMERICA
Dwight Evans (Democrat, PA) \u2014 2019-7-15

I applaud the gentleman and the coleader for leading this event for the Congressional Black Caucus under the leadership of Chairwoman Karen Bass. The Congressional Black Caucus is the conscience of this Congress. prgtoken I don't know if you know, and I am constantly reminding people, Mr that the President, in August 2016, came to Philadelphia and said, ``What the hell do you have to lose?'' That is what he said. prgtoken , I rise to join my colleagues from the Congressional Black Caucus in calling for an increase in the Federal minimum wage. I am pleased that the ic leadership plans to put the Raise the Wage Act up for a vote in the House. prgtoken A raise for these workers is long overdue. Congress has not raised the national minimum wage in 10 years. prgtoken My home State has not raised its minimum wage for 13 years. Inflation has increased the cost of living nearly 19 percent from 10 years ago. Food, healthcare, and utilities all went up. prgtoken Let me repeat that. A raise for these workers is long overdue. Congress has not raised the national minimum wage for 10 years. My home State of Pennsylvania has not raised its minimum wage for 13 years. Inflation has raised the cost of living nearly 19 percent from 10 years ago. Food, healthcare, and utilities all went up. prgtoken Members from both parties should be able to agree that no one who works full-time should live in poverty. I am very focused on poverty because my city of Philadelphia has a 26 percent poverty rate. prgtoken Raising the minimum wage is one of the best tools in the toolbox for lifting Americans out of poverty. That includes 600,000 children who will be lifted out of poverty by the Raise the Wage Act. prgtoken It is important, , to understand that one of our colleagues, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who leads the effort around the reduction of poverty, particularly child poverty, when we talk about the issue, 600,000 children will be lifted out of poverty by the Raise the Wage Act. How can my colleagues say no to that? prgtoken We need to find some way to move forward. We have an opportunity, and that opportunity is the Raise the Wage Act. Americans who are working the hardest to grow our economy need to share the rewards of that growth. Just think, that raise in their pocket allows them to spend money in the economy. That is not something to take lightly. prgtoken When we talk about small businesses--and I am the vice chair of the Small Business Committee--and we talk about small businesses being the backbone of our community, obviously, they need customers. They need customers who have money in their pockets. prgtoken It is not just enough for that individual, but it is enough for entrepreneurs. It is enough for building businesses. It is enough for building communities. It is enough for all of us to recognize the importance and the significance of raising the wage. prgtoken We need to not take that lightly. We need to understand t
Election Security (Executive Session)
Ron Wyden (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2019-7-15

I stand here this afternoon in a state of disbelief. Last Wednesday, my colleagues and I in the Congress were briefed on the state of election security in America. prgtoken I am prohibited from talking about the details of that classified briefing, but the message from my colleagues after that elections security meeting was very clear: Nothing to see here. One Senator said it is clear the Federal Government is doing ``everything you can do.'' The top on the House Homeland Security Committee said: ``I wouldn't say we've got a need for more election security legislation.'' A Member of the House leadership said: ``The agencies have the tools they need, and I am confident they are addressing the threats.'' prgtoken It is case closed for those s--mission accomplished. My colleagues were just so satisfied that the foundation of our democracy is in good hands. Election security is not a problem for those colleagues I just quoted. prgtoken It was to my enormous shock this weekend when I picked up my phone, and I read the following headline: ``Old Software makes new electoral systems ripe for hacking.'' prgtoken Over the weekend, I said: Gosh, that just can't possibly be right. After all, my colleagues said after the classified briefing that election security issues were in good shape. I just kept reading, and as it turns out, according to an exhaustive analysis by the Associated Press, the vast majority of 10,000 election jurisdictions nationwide use election management systems that run on old software that is soon going to be out of date and ripe for exploitation by hackers. prgtoken According to the Associated Press, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Arizona, and North Carolina, among others, are all at risk. Even the State of Georgia, which just passed legislation to buy new voting machines, is on track to buy equipment that suffers from this significant cyber security weakness. Worse, two of the three largest voting machine companies, ES&S and Hart, don't make election systems that are free from this vulnerability. Many election officials will be buying election systems that will be out of date the moment they start using it. prgtoken I am reading this story, and I am thinking to myself: Maybe--just maybe--this administration hasn't solved the election security issue. prgtoken Now, colleagues, I am being a little bit disingenuous here. I have actually known about this problem for some time. In fact, I wrote to the Election Assistance Commission about it because, of course, our elections weren't secure last week, and they sure as heck aren't secure this week. Anybody who says otherwise is either selling you a voting machine or simply has a malicious intent toward our elections. prgtoken Russia attacked our democracy on every front in 2016, including voter registration databases and election software vendors.
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
Ed Perlmutter (Democrat, CO) \u2014 2019-7-15

. Madam , I was not present to vote on July 11, 2019 and July 12, 2019 due to a family obligation. prgtoken Had I been present for roll call No. 473 on passage of H.R. 2500, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, I would have voted AYE. prgtoken Had I been present for roll call No. 474 on passage of H.R. 1327, the Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer, and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act, I would have voted YEA.
SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS
Dianne Feinstein (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2019-7-15

I rise today to introduce a Senate Resolution calling for the international prgtoken community to come together and determine the ethical limits of gene- editing technology to avoid future misuse like what was recently discovered in China. prgtoken Gene editing is a powerful new technology that has the potential to lead to new therapies for devastating and previously untreatable diseases. Today, there are already promising clinical trials using gene-editing technology that hope to treat cancer, sickle cell disease and other terrible diseases. prgtoken However, like any new technology, there is potential for misuse and that is what happened with recent experiments in China. These experiments involving gene-edited human embryos failed in every measure to meet the ethical and scientific standards for research with human subjects. prgtoken First and foremost, the scientist put the health of the mother and her children at risk by using an unproven technology without adequate safeguards. prgtoken Furthermore, human clinical research must be conducted for a legitimate medical purpose. In this case, gene-editing was used to prevent the children from being able to acquire HIV. There are already safe and effective ways to prevent HIV infection that do not involve the use of gene-editing technology. prgtoken In addition, clinical research participants should never be misled when obtaining informed consent. According to reports, the scientist in charge of the experiments told the participants that the study would be testing a new vaccine for HIV, which is a gross mischaracterization of the gene-editing technology. prgtoken Finally, the scientist reportedly proceeded with the experiments knowing the genetic changes he created were different from what he originally intended. As a result, the children likely possess genetic mutations that did not undergo any pre-clinical testing and have never before existed in humans, leaving their long-term health in question. prgtoken Moreover, these unethical experiments have the potential to create new genetic diseases that could be passed down to future generations. prgtoken The international community must come together to condemn unethical human experimentation and prevent this from happening again. No one country can make this decision alone. International standards must be established to prevent unethical researchers from moving to whichever country has the loosest regulations. prgtoken Already, the World Health Organization and the United States' National Academies of Sciences, along with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have begun this important work. prgtoken Our resolution makes clear that unethical human experimentation has no place in a modern society and encourages collaborative international efforts to continue. prgtoken I am proud to introduce this resolution today. I hope my Senate colleagues will join us to ensure that gene-editing research is conducted in a respon
PASS OUR 2020 NDAA BILL
Joe Courtney (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2019-7-15

there are also things happening over at the U.S. Department of Education regarding higher education which are of great concern. prgtoken On Thursday, the American Federation of Teachers filed a lawsuit in the District Court of Washington, D.C basically asking the court to rule that the Department's foot-dragging in terms of discharging student loan debt through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program has got to come to an end. prgtoken In 2007, we passed the College Class Reduction Act which set up a mechanism for those who serve in critical public service occupations, such as teaching, nurses, doctors, police, prosecutors, social workers, veterinarians, and people who work in nonprofit organizations. If they make their student loan payments consistently over a 10-year period, under the College Class Reduction Act, they could apply for a discharge of the balance of their student loan, recognizing that these are people who are going into occupations for which the payment of student loan debt can be too onerous. prgtoken So, 2007 was the year that this program was supposed to kick into effect. As the Government Accountability Office determined, since that period--and these are our figures from 2019--7,555 borrowers have submitted applications to have their loans discharged. Only 864 have been approved, and only 516 borrowers, less than 1 percent, have had their loans forgiven. prgtoken Again, the loan servicers working for the Department of Education, as determined by GAO, are giving bad information and are not crediting the monthly loan payments that teachers and nurses and others have been faithfully making, relying on this program. They built their employment history around the opportunity, knowing that that student loan debt could be discharged. prgtoken Again, what we are seeing are shocking figures from the Department of Education that have not followed through and implemented this law. prgtoken Not a great surprise to those of us on the Committee on Education and Labor because the administration, for the last 3 years, has submitted budgets that would eliminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. prgtoken We have to change this administration's policies toward higher education. We did it on Friday, and we have to do it with public service loan forgiveness to reward the good guys, the people who are out there doing critical work for our Nation.
Border Security (Executive Session)
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2019-7-16

last Friday I joined the Vice President of the United States and a number of our colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee for a trip to the Rio Grande Valley and, specifically, to McAllen, TX. prgtoken The Rio Grande Valley Sector, headquartered in McAllen, is ground zero for the humanitarian crisis on our southern border. I know some of our colleagues refused to acknowledge that this was indeed a humanitarian crisis on our border, but that seems to have waned in recent days in light of the overwhelming evidence. In fact, in 2014 President himself called it a humanitarian and security crisis, and it has gotten nothing but worse. prgtoken Of all the sectors, it is head and shoulders above the rest in terms of apprehensions of people trying to enter the country illegally. In fact, 46 percent of all apprehensions along the southern border last month occurred in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. Across prgtoken the entire border, 68 percent of those apprehended in June were unaccompanied children or part of a family unit. In the Rio Grande Valley, that figure shot up to a whopping 79 percent. prgtoken People may be asking themselves: Why are unaccompanied children and families--that is, an adult with a child--the ones predominantly coming across the border? It is because human smugglers know our laws better than we do, and they are exploiting the vulnerabilities in our asylum laws in order to make a lot of money. They charge roughly $5,000 to $10,000 per person whom they deliver across the border from Central America or from anywhere around the world. As a matter of fact, the Border Patrol told us on Friday, when we were in McAllen, that just in the last year they had detained people from 60--six-zero--different countries coming across the border at the Rio Grande Valley Sector. That is because these human smuggling networks are really worldwide. If you want to come from Bangladesh or Syria or Iran or Russia, all you have to do is make your way to Central America, hire one of these human smuggling networks, and they will work your way up across the border into the United States. This is a national security as well as a humanitarian crisis. prgtoken As of July 1, the Rio Grande Valley Sector had 8,000 migrants in custody. They are overwhelmed, to be sure. This is placing a huge strain on our resources. Our Border Patrol stations were never designed to hold that many people. prgtoken The men and women who apprehend and care for these migrants have been unfairly criticized and mischaracterized as bad guys, but last week I got to see once again that they aren't the real villain in this scenario. In fact, they are the heroes. prgtoken The Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley, and those along the entire border, are pulling double duty as law enforcement officers and caregivers. They are hired to be law enforcement officers, but they have had to basically end up handing out juice boxes and di
United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (Executive Session)
John Hoeven (Republican, ND) \u2014 2019-7-16

. I would like to thank the Senator from Indiana. Like our State, it is a major ag State. It also has manufacturing and many other areas. The USMCA is very important to the State of Indiana. I thank the good Senator for his comments today. prgtoken I turn to the senior Senator from Iowa--another State that certainly has a big part in ag--and ask for his comments on the importance of the USMCA.