mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
AGRICULTURE AND NUTRITION ACT OF 2018
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2018-6-27

let me read some of the words Judge Sabraw wrote last night in his order, in his conclusion, about the zero tolerance policy of separating children from their parents. The unfolding events--the zero tolerance policy [the judge writes] serve to corroborate Plaintiffs' allegations. The facts set forth before the Court portray reactive governance--responses to address a chaotic circumstance of the Government's own making. They belie measured and ordered governance, which is central to the concept of due process enshrined in our Constitution. This is particularly so in the treatment of migrants, many of whom are asylum seekers and small children. The extraordinary remedy of classwide preliminary injunction is warranted based on the evidence before the Court. For the reasons set out above, the Court hereby GRANTS Plaintiffs' motion for classwide preliminary injunction, and finds and orders as follows. prgtoken It goes into detail, and I will not read it in its entirety since it is now going to be printed in the Record, but it reads, clearly, that the court is enjoining the government--the administration--from separating minor children from their parents. prgtoken It goes on to read that it also orders the administration to reunify all class members with their minor children who are under the age of 5 within 14 days of the entry of this order, and defendants must reunify all class members with their minor children who are aged 5 and older within 30 days of the entry of the order. Defendants must immediately--and this is the government--take all steps necessary to facilitate the regular communication between class members and their children. prgtoken The court went on to say that within 10 days, the government--the defendants--must provide parents telephonic contact with their children if the parent is not already in contact with his or her child. prgtoken Last Saturday, the Department of Health and Human Services issued prgtoken what I consider to be a rosy and misleading press release about how much information they had about the parents and their children and how much telephone communication was taking place. I will tell you, in having contacted various people who are well aware of the situation, they have really overstated the contact information as well as the context between parents and children. Now they are being tested. The court has told them to return these children to their parents. prgtoken Last Friday, I was in Chicago at one of the agencies that was the custodian for 66 of these children who have been the victims of President 's zero tolerance policy. It was an experience I still remember and will not ever forget--of seeing six little children walk into a conference room, where I was sitting--little kids--and learning that two of them, who I thought might be twins because they had similar hairdos, were,
AGRICULTURE AND NUTRITION ACT OF 2018
Margaret Wood Hassan (Democrat, NH) \u2014 2018-6-27

before I begin my remarks concerning the Women's Health Protection Act, I want to state for the record that given Justice Kennedy's announcement today that he will retire, and there will therefore be a vacancy on the Supreme Court, any nominee for the Supreme Court must be committed to protecting the rights of all Americans, including the reproductive rights of women. Nominees can't just be focused on protecting corporate special interests and the powerful few. I also continue to believe that Supreme Court nominees should have broad support from both political parties and be able to clear a 60-vote threshold. A strong and independent judiciary that is above politics and is willing to stop abuses of power is more important than ever given that our current President regularly disregards established democratic norms and voices contempt for constitutional safeguards. Women's Healthcare prgtoken , with this attention on the Supreme Court, it is appropriate that I rise on the 2-year anniversary of a critical victory for women and families across our Nation. prgtoken Two years ago, the Supreme Court's ruling in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt reaffirmed that every woman has the right to make her own healthcare decisions and chart her own destiny. This decision preserved women's access to critical health services and reinforced that placing an undue burden on abortion access violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. prgtoken Unfortunately, despite the fact that the Court has made this clear, politicians in Washington and in States across our country have made it their mission to undermine women's access to safe and legal abortions. Here in Congress, we have seen bill after bill that marginalizes women and restricts their fundamental rights, and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have confirmed administration officials and judges who are vehemently opposed to women having the freedom to make their own healthcare decisions. prgtoken Additionally, State legislatures have pushed a number of burdensome restrictions. Politicians have pushed these restrictions under the guise of protecting women's health, but in the Whole Woman's Health case, the Supreme Court called their bluff and stated that the real point of these State laws was to deny women access to care. prgtoken Unfortunately, many States have remained persistent in their efforts. Since that 2016 decision, State legislatures have introduced 1,039 restrictive bills and have passed 180 of them. These bills have focused on everything from closing abortion clinics to criminalizing providers who offer reproductive health services. No matter their ZIP codes, women deserve equal access to care, but it is clear that there will continue to be attempts from politicians to violate women's rights. prgtoken With all of these relentless attacks, it is evident that what we need is Federal legislat
IN RECOGNITION OF CINDY McCOWN
Jackie Speier (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2018-6-27

I rise to honor Cindy McCown, a champion against hunger and for food security in our region. In her 34 years of work for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, Cindy has seen first-hand that nutritious food is an essential ingredient to a healthy and productive life. In fact, Cindy created many of the programs that have made nutritious food accessible to tens of thousands of children, families and seniors in Northern California. prgtoken Cindy rose through the ranks at the food bank and over the years built strong relationships with policy makers to create a more robust hunger-safety net. I count myself as one of those lucky policy makers who had the honor to work with Cindy on key legislation, such as the Farm Bill. It was Cindy who convinced me to take the Food Stamp challenge prgtoken in 2011. This profound and humbling experience changed my perspective on hunger and food dependence forever. I've also sorted food with Cindy at the food bank to get a more complete understanding of its role in feeding and supporting our residents. For almost 90,000 residents in my Congressional District, SNAP and the food bank are literally a life line. prgtoken Cindy's passion for food justice started early in her life. Originally from Spokane, Washington, Cindy's father, a psychiatrist, moved the family to San Luis Obispo to accept a job at Atascadero State Hospital when Cindy was in kindergarten. She earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in nutrition from California Polytechnic State University. During college, she did a nine-months internship teaching nutrition to migrant children in the agricultural town of Oceana. That experience made her see up close just how challenging it is to afford healthy and nutritious food when you are poor. prgtoken In 1984 the Second Harvest Food Bank had a job opening for a community nutritionist and Cindy jumped at the opportunity. Back then, the food bank was located in an old bottling plant and had an annual budget of less than $1 million. Today, the organization has three facilities, including a dedicated produce distribution center, and an annual budget of $42 million. Cindy grew and grew with the relatively new concept of a food bank. She led efforts to better organize the food distribution and to bring it closer to the people who needed it. She created partnerships with non-profit organizations and more than 900 distribution sites in almost every zip code. She also came up with the idea for a multilingual hotline to connect callers to the closest food. Instead of looking at the organization purely as a food provider, Cindy found creative ways to turn it into a local community leader on ending hunger. prgtoken After the Lorna Prieta earthquake in 1989, Cindy helped create CADRE, the Collaborating Agencies Disaster Relief Effort, to effectively respond to natural disasters. Second Harvest Food Bank is still part of the CADRE leadership team. I
AGRICULTURE AND NUTRITION ACT OF 2018
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-6-27

we recently received news that Justice Anthony Kennedy will be retiring, leaving a vacancy on the Nation's highest Court. This is the most important Supreme Court vacancy for this country in at least a generation. Nothing less than the fate of our healthcare system, reproductive rights for women, and countless other protections for middle-class Americans are at stake. prgtoken Will s and President nominate and vote for someone who will preserve protections for people with preexisting conditions, or will they support a Justice who will put health insurance companies over patients or put the Federal Government between a woman and her doctor? prgtoken The Senate should reject, on a bipartisan basis, any Justice who would overturn Roe v. Wade or undermine key healthcare protections. The Senate should reject anyone who will instinctively side with powerful special interests over the interests of average Americans. prgtoken Our colleagues in the Senate should follow the rule they set in 2016 not to consider a Supreme Court Justice in an election year. Senator McConnell would tell anyone who listened that the Senate had the right to advise and consent, and that was every bit as important as the President's right to nominate. prgtoken Millions of people are just months away from determining the Senators who should vote to confirm or reject the President's nominee, and their voices deserve to be heard now as Leader McConnell thought they deserved to be heard then. Anything but that would be the absolute height of hypocrisy. prgtoken People from all across America should realize that their rights and opportunities are threatened. Americans should make their voices heard loudly, clearly, and consistently. Americans should make it clear that they will not tolerate a nominee, chosen from President 's preordained list and selected by powerful special interests, who will reverse the progress we have made over the decades. prgtoken .
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019
John K. Delaney (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2018-6-27

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I want them to have one visual in their minds when they think about it. Prior to the Fisher House--which, again, is a public- private partnership; the government money is leveraged with third-party donations--prior to the Fisher House, family members of our veterans who were receiving care often camped out in tents on the grounds of VA hospitals or other military facilities. The Fisher House has solved that problem, which is one of the reasons we should be supporting it. prgtoken , .
PROVIDING FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 6157, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019, AND PROVIDING FOR PROCEEDINGS DURING THE PERIOD FROM JUNE 29, 2018, THROUGH JULY 9, 2018
Norma J. Torres (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2018-6-27

the balance of my time. prgtoken Let me remind this body of a brief history of our Nation. prgtoken During World War II, this country chose to round up Japanese American citizens and put them in internment camps across the country. prgtoken Some were held in my hometown at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, in Pomona, California. prgtoken In 1944, the Supreme Court ruled in Korematsu v. United States that the government had every right to incarcerate families in the best interest of our national security. It was wrong and immoral then, and it is wrong and immoral now, and we look back at Japanese internment as a dark moment in our history. prgtoken Just yesterday, the Supreme Court finally rejected the ruling and admitted that it was clearly unconstitutional to forcibly place Japanese Americans in concentration camps--74 years later. That is how long it took for our court system to catch up with the reality and to right a horrible wrong. prgtoken We are facing a similar dark period in our country now with what is happening at our southern borders. How long will it take this time for us to realize that what this administration is doing at our southern borders is morally repugnant, wrong, and illegal? prgtoken How long before we realize that what we are doing is causing emotional harm to families, especially to the children? How long before we consider how history will remember this moment and judge us? prgtoken What national security threat are we facing today that warrants such a barbaric response towards families and children? They are exactly that: children, families, babies. prgtoken They are coming to our borders pleading for help and protection. They are fleeing kidnapping, rape, murder, and threats. They are not MS-13; they are fleeing MS-13. They want to work and raise their children in peace. Is that so terrible? prgtoken This administration is deliberately choosing to inflict trauma onto thousands of children, holding children hostage, using child abuse as a scare tactic to deter families from coming here seeking refuge. prgtoken There are still more than 2,000 children separated from their families at this present moment. President may have signed his executive order last week, but he failed to implement a plan to reunite these families--no plan to reunite these families. prgtoken We are doing nothing to fix this problem today. And let's be clear: Ryan's bill, which we may or may not consider this week, does nothing to fix this problem either. All his bill does is pave the way for long-term incarceration of families in prison-like facilities. It would be replacing one form of child abuse for another. prgtoken I visited some of these detention centers at our borders. The horrendous conditions we are exposing families to are completely unacceptable. prgtoken Where are we, as a nation, when we place children in cage-like cells, inside warehouses, with nothing but an emergency thermal bl
AGRICULTURE AND NUTRITION ACT OF 2018
Patty Murray (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2018-6-27

from Oregon. Retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy prgtoken I would just say I have been planning to come to the floor about a specific issue related to women's healthcare and rights and freedoms, but before I get to that, I want to comment on the news that is clearly very closely connected. prgtoken It is clear that Justice Kennedy's retirement comes at a pivotal point in our Nation's history, when so many of our values are under attack by a President who has spent every day in office testing the limits of our Constitution. prgtoken I share the deep concern of so many families across this country who are already suffering under the administration and fear further erosion of the progress in this country. prgtoken So, first, I want to be clear. I am hopeful that leaders go back and look at what they said very recently and give families across the country the opportunity to weigh in with an election before moving forward to fill this seat. We don't know whom President will nominate just yet or when he will make that nomination, but I want to go back to something my dear friend and colleague Senator Kennedy said because it highlights the stakes right now. He was talking about an extreme nominee, Robert Bork. He said: Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists would be censored at the whim of government, and the doors of the federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is often the only protector of the individual rights that are at the heart of our democracy. prgtoken Robert Bork was rejected, and Justice Kennedy took his place. prgtoken Today, we face similar stakes right now, in this moment. Voting rights are at stakes. LGBTQ rights are at stake. The right to organize collectively is at stake. Those are just a few. There are a lot more. prgtoken Families across the country are paying attention, and they are going to be watching what President and individual Members of this Senate do right now. This is what they are going to want to know: Will their rights be protected? Will their freedoms be secure? Will the Supreme Court put people like them first, or will they stand with special interests, big business, and the most extreme ideologues in our country? Those are the questions people across this country will be asking. That is the conversation I expect we will have here in the Senate, and that is what President should be considering as he thinks about this issue and hopefully as he slows this down and gives people across the country a chance to weigh in. Women's Healthcare
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019
Ruben Gallego (Democrat, AZ) \u2014 2018-6-27

I rise in support just as strongly as my friend from Virginia in support of the amendment from my good friend from Connecticut. prgtoken , we have a serious strategic issue with respect to submarines. This amendment would give the Navy the option--just an option, , not a requirement--to procure submarines at a faster rate than it is currently planning right now. prgtoken As we face bigger threats from China, from Russia, and in force projection in general, we need to look at all options, all especially when we are routinely briefed, as we all are on the Armed Services Committee, on the strategic deficiencies that we find right now. prgtoken Finally, , I would like to point out and make sure everyone knows I have zero shipyards in Arizona. We do not build any ships in Arizona. We are landlocked. prgtoken I support this amendment not just because I am a marine and because I am a patron; I think it is in the best interests of our country and national defense.
FARM BILL
Michael F. Bennet (Democrat, CO) \u2014 2018-6-27

I would like to spend a few minutes on a major piece of business this week, our 2018 farm bill. prgtoken Unlike so much of what comes to this floor--or never comes to this floor, never makes it to the floor--this is not a 5-month bill or a 5- week bill or a 5-hour extension; this is an honest to goodness 5-year farm bill. That is 5 years of certainty and predictability for our farmers and ranchers. It is a testament to the great work of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and I want to thank Chairman Roberts and Ranking Member Stabenow for leading yet another bipartisan, consensus-driven process. prgtoken When were in charge way back in 2014, we passed a bipartisan farm bill then. Now we are doing it again, only this time the s are in charge. That is how this place should work. We have set aside the political antics and focused on our farmers and ranchers and rural communities, especially when they have all faced more uncertainty than they have in years. prgtoken In Colorado we have dealt with years of persistent drought. In the southern part of my State, waterflows in the Gunnison and Animas Rivers are at less than half of their average levels. Feed shortages are even forcing ranchers in Southwest Colorado to sell off their cattle. Besides drought, our farmers and ranchers are contending with erratic commodity prices, a broken immigration system that is actually putting some of them out of business because they can't find workers, and uncertainty over trade because of the administration's unusual approach to foreign policy. All of this has made it harder for them to plan for the next 5 months, let alone the next 5 years. This farm bill cannot come soon enough. prgtoken The Agriculture Committee has put together an excellent piece of legislation. For the first time in 80 years, this bill legalizes hemp. We forget, but hemp was widely grown in the United States throughout the mid-1800s. Americans used hemp in fabrics, wine, and paper. Our government treated industrial hemp like any other farm commodity until the early 20th century, when a 1937 law defined it as a narcotic drug, dramatically limiting its growth. This became even worse in 1970 when hemp became a schedule I controlled substance. prgtoken In Colorado, as is true across the country--I have talked to a lot of colleagues about this--we see hemp as a great opportunity to diversify our farms and manufacture high-margin products for the American people. That could help drive incomes in rural parts of my State, like Montrose County, CO. prgtoken Let me tell my colleagues about Montrose. It is a rural mountain area on Colorado's West Slope. It flattens out to the west. I managed to win 29 percent of the vote there in 2016, and I managed to win 29 percent the first time I ran as well. I can't seem to improve my position. prgtoken I want to show my colleagues a picture from there. This is from Montrose. Here is their