mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
COMMEMORATING JUDY McKIERNAN
Jennifer Wexton (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2021-12-14

. Madam , I rise today in remembrance of Judith Ann McKiernan, wife, mother, public servant, and community leader. Mrs. McKiernan passed away on November 30th. prgtoken Judy is survived by her husband of twenty-nine years, Michael and their two children, Hannah, and Adam. Lovingly known to Judy as, Team McKiernan. prgtoken A native of Shreveport, Louisiana, Judy grew up in Houston, Texas and made her way to Winchester in the late 1980s. Judy dedicated her life in Winchester to community service, as a social worker, public school counselor and administrator for over thirty years, and as a Member of Winchester City Council. She was currently serving as Director of Student Support Services for the Winchester Public Schools. prgtoken Judy was known for her spirited personality and fierce determination to advocate for those she loved. She enjoyed dancing, being out in nature, and welcoming all who came through her door. She loved serving her community and found great joy in supporting the development of making it a more equitable place to thrive and grow. Judy supported the many organizations whose missions aligned with her values, including Bright Futures, Winchester Area Thermal Shelter (WATTS) NAACP, and many others. prgtoken Judy McKiernan leaves behind a lasting legacy of dedicated public service and will be missed by family, her many friends and the community she served.
VOTE EXPLANATION
Kyrsten Sinema (Democrat, AZ) \u2014 2021-12-14

I was necessarily absent, but had I been present I would have voted yes on rollcall vote No. 492 on the Motion to Invoke Cloture on Lucy Koh, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit. prgtoken I was necessarily absent, but had I been present I would have voted yes on rollcall vote No. 493 on the Motion to Invoke Cloture on Jennifer Sung, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit.
RELATING TO INCREASING THE DEBT LIMIT--Continued
Raphael G. Warnock (Democrat, GA) \u2014 2021-12-14

I come to the floor today after a long week of wrestling with my conscience. Before we left Washington last week, we in this Chamber made a change in the Senate's rules in order to push forward something that all of us think is important. We set the stage to raise the Nation's debt ceiling. prgtoken Yet as we cast that vote to begin addressing the debt ceiling, this same Chamber is allowing the ceiling of our democracy to crash in around us. The American people have been pushing for leaders in Washington to address voting rights. prgtoken Everywhere I turn, I have been hearing from my constituents in Georgia. They are deeply worried. I heard it all weekend. I have been hearing it over the last several months. prgtoken And I submit that they are worried for good reason. They know their history. They are witnessing what is happening to our democracy in real time, and they see the handwriting on the wall. They see the sweeping voter suppression proposals in 49 States and the dozens of new laws that have now popped up across the Nation, fueled by the Big Lie that seeks to delegitimize the voices of millions of Georgians and Americans who made their voices heard, made history, and, more importantly, made a difference last November and last January. prgtoken The American people see what is happening in Arizona and in Texas and in Florida and in Wisconsin and in Iowa. They see what is happening in Georgia, my home State, where a new law, SB 202--passed right after I won--will make it harder for some voters to access their ballots by making it more difficult to vote by mail, allowing far fewer drop boxes, and only allowing for the use of those boxes--listen--during business hours. You can use the drop boxes during business hours, which sort of defeats the purpose of having a drop box. In fact, back home, the second most senior in the Georgia State Senate announced recently that he wants to do away with election drop boxes altogether-- literal boxes where registered, eligible voters simply can drop off their ballots on their way to the night shift or on their way back home. It seems to me that they want fewer voters and more dark money in our elections, and that is the sad place we are in right now. prgtoken But what is even more disconcerting is that these politicians in the State legislature have already laid the tracks to take over local boards of elections, for almost any frivolous reason, to undermine the voices of local voters and local election administrators, control the count, muddy the waters, question or determine the outcome. prgtoken In the face of this crisis, the question is this: Has this Chamber risen to the occasion to take on the issue of voting rights, which I submit is the central moral issue confronting this Congress in this moment? What have we done to strengthen access to the ballot as bedrock voting rights protections have been shredded by our courts or to protect the
RELATING TO INCREASING THE DEBT LIMIT--Continued
Cory A. Booker (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2021-12-14

. It is frustrating, I know, to see such an incredible action taken, where we have made a difference, where the child tax credit already has had a significant impact. The Columbia Center on Poverty found that the October payment of the expanded child tax credit helped ensure 3.6 million American children--3.6 million American children--are no longer living below the poverty line. prgtoken What does that mean? When a child is raised above the poverty line, their horizons are transformed. It actually saves an incredible amount of taxpayer dollars. For every dollar we spend bringing a child above the poverty line, we return $7 back to our economy. prgtoken But it is deeper than that. There is a moral urgency. Children below the poverty line have so many more challenges. Their horizons are constrained, their life outcomes are lessened. prgtoken Above the poverty line, our children start to exhibit their genius. Children raised above the poverty line have higher lifetime earnings. They have lower medical costs. Children above the poverty line are less likely to go to the hospital, less likely to get in trouble with the police. Children above the poverty line have less inhibitions with their contributions to this country. prgtoken I, too, like my dear friend Senator Brown, have heard lots from people in my State about what this little bit of money in their bank accounts--how that little bit of investment makes a transformation in the lives of those families. prgtoken Take Kelly in Pitman, NJ. She was forced to quit her job when her children's school and daycare closed due to the pandemic. She hasn't been able to return to work without reliable childcare, and the child tax credit is helping her family. It is helping to make up costs that were lost when she lost her income. It is helping her provide for her children. It is that little bit of help by returning those tax dollars which she has paid in--she is getting more out now--and helping that family. prgtoken Take Stacey in Kearny, NJ, the child tax credit payments were a lifeline and helped her and her husband keep their family afloat during this pandemic, during this crisis. She was indefinitely furloughed, and Stacey used those payments to send her two daughters back to preschool. prgtoken Well, we know the evidence is in. Sending her two daughters back to preschool means her children will do better in school, are more likely to go to college, have higher lifetime earnings, more success that inures to the benefit of us all in society. prgtoken Senator after Senator, on both sides of the aisle, has thousands of these stories about what getting more of their hard-earned tax money back means. In a nation where we have seen the tax cuts of the last decade inure overwhelmingly to the richest of the rich, this was the first tax cut in my lifetime--the biggest of the tax cuts in my lifetime that went overwhelmingly to middle-class families, working- class families, low-income
HONORING THE RETIREMENT OF DR. ELOIS LEWIS EDGE
Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (Democrat, GA) \u2014 2021-12-14

. Madam , I rise today to honor Dr. Elois Lewis Edge of Albany, Georgia, who will be retiring after a distinguished, 43-year career as a nurse, midwife, and instructor serving the families and communities of Southwest Georgia. prgtoken Dr. Edge has been a Certified Nurse Midwife at Albany Area Primary Health since 2009. Before that, she worked at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital for 30 years. In these positions, Dr. Edge earned the gratitude of thousands of expectant mothers for her skillful assistance, compassionate care, and warm personality. prgtoken Dr. Edge also attained distinction in academia as well. She earned her Associate Arts in Nursing at Darton State University in Albany, which was followed by a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Georgia Southwestern University in Americus, Georgia; a Certificate of Midwifery from the Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing in Hyden, Kentucky; a Master of Science in Nursing from Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio; and a Doctorate in Nursing Practice from Frontier Nursing University in Hyden, Kentucky. While Dr. Edge was receiving her degrees, she was teaching future generations of medical professionals at Georgia Southwestern University and Frontier Nursing University. prgtoken Shirley Chisholm often said that: ``Service is the rent that we pay for the space we occupy on this earth.'' Dr. Edge paid her rent and she paid it well. The world is a much brighter place due to the thousands of children Dr. Edge has helped usher into the world, either directly as a midwife, or by virtue of the instruction she provided to the scores of midwives and nurses who learned their trade from her. prgtoken Madam , I ask my colleagues here in the United States House of Representatives to join my wife, Vivian, and me, along with the over 730,000 residents of the Second Congressional District of Georgia in honoring Dr. Elois Lewis Edge on her outstanding career and upon the occasion of her retirement. We wish her well as she begins a new chapter in her life.
COMBATING INTERNATIONAL ISLAMOPHOBIA ACT
Danny K. Davis (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2021-12-14

. Madam , I rise in strong support of passage of H.R. 5665, and commend its sponsor, Representative Omar, and my colleague from Illinois, Representative Schakowsky, for its introduction. prgtoken I was taught early in life to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and don't mess around with Mister-In-Between. prgtoken This resolution reaffirms many of the principles in practice that we have been taught and learned that religion is sacrosanct, that religion is sacred, and every person deserves to have their religious thoughts, ideas, and ideology protected. prgtoken I urge support and passage of this legislation.
RELATING TO INCREASING THE DEBT LIMIT--Continued
Mike Lee (Republican, UT) \u2014 2021-12-14

in her 1993 Nobel lecture, Toni Morrison-- no conservative--told a story of an old woman who was approached by a group of kids, mocking her and asking her to offer her conjecture: Old woman, I hold in my hand a bird. Tell me whether it is living or dead. prgtoken The blind, old woman was revered for her wisdom and experience. prgtoken She responded: I don't know whether the bird you are holding is dead or alive, but what I do know is that it is in your hands. It is in your hands. prgtoken The old woman, of course, meant whether the bird is alive or dead is the responsibility of the person who holds it. prgtoken Morrison said: The blind woman shifts attention away from assertions of power to the instrument through which that power is exercised. prgtoken Now, Morrison could have been talking about Congress. I will leave to your judgment who in Congress is a mocking youth and who is the old woman, but in politics it is the instrument of power rather than the assertion of power that matters. prgtoken Just this last week, the instruments of power were used, despite assertions otherwise, to quietly pave the way for the ' ``Destroy America'' bill, which they have called Build Back Better. Congress used a novel procedure to pass a bill, giving a blank check to raise the debt ceiling to pay for Build Back Better. Procedural jujitsu is hardly the stuff of base-motivating campaign rhetoric, but it is the instrument of power. prgtoken Now I will describe how this happened, but a bit of background is necessary. prgtoken Like most legislation in the Senate, raising the debt ceiling, which has been done now 99 times since the end of the Second World War, ordinarily requires 60 votes, which, in an evenly divided Senate, means and s have to work together to find an acceptable outcome. prgtoken There is, of course, an exception that would allow to use a special budget reconciliation procedure to raise the debt ceiling without help, with a simple majority vote--a simple majority vote that they could achieve if all 50 cast their votes. If there is an evenly divided vote at the end of the day, it can be broken by the Vice President. But they didn't want to use this special procedure, and I believe they didn't want to use it for two independent reasons. prgtoken First, it was inconvenient. The special reconciliation procedure would require too many steps and too much time for their tastes. Still, I don't know of a single Senator, myself included, who would unduly stall the from proceeding to its consideration. In fact, under the rules, if they follow the right steps, it is, more or less, a guaranteed outcome, one that doesn't require a supermajority and, at the end of the day, can be accomplished with a simple majority. prgtoken Second, I suspect that didn't want to bear th
RECOGNIZING THE SERVICE OF DR. JAMES L. LEE
Ralph Norman (Republican, SC) \u2014 2021-12-14

. Madam , I rise today to recognize the outstanding service of Dr. James L. Lee of Conway, South Carolina. prgtoken In June of 1922, Dr. Lee was appointed to a small country church of only a few people. Under his strong leadership, Catoe Chapel Church of God in Christ has grown to be one of the largest churches in Kershaw County, with over two hundred active members. Throughout the community, Dr. Lee is known as a dynamic preacher and prolific teacher of God's word, and he lives exactly by what he preaches. prgtoken Although he lived in Conway, Dr. Lee abided by his faith and took the helm of leading this small ministry, believing God would use him to take the church to insurmountable heights. God did exactly that and more. Dr. Lee even inspired church members to build a beautiful new edifice, seated off Highway 341. prgtoken Dr. Lee's guidance and wisdom has aided and encouraged countless families through difficult times. He has helped families find housing assistance, student scholarships, and numerous community enrichment and outreach programs. Despite dealing with his own health challenges, Dr. Lee has remained committed to his ministry and the church. His life as a servant of the Lord is so deeply evident in how he cares for those around him. prgtoken On behalf of the 5th District of South Carolina, I thank Dr. James L. Lee for his thirty years of faithful service. He is a true example of a servant leader and has been a tremendous resource to our community. May God continue to bless Dr. Lee and his family.
RELATING TO INCREASING THE DEBT LIMIT--Continued
Rob Portman (Republican, OH) \u2014 2021-12-14

first, I want to offer my congratulations to Bryn Stewart. prgtoken That was a beautiful speech about the public service that he has contributed to Wyoming and to the U.S. Senate. from Wyoming for that. Kentucky prgtoken , I also want to say that over the weekend, I had the opportunity to travel to Kentucky. prgtoken I live in Ohio so Kentucky is our neighboring State. I went down to help some of our neighbors get back on their feet after these devastating tornadoes. It was very emotional, partly, obviously, seeing people's lives just be devastated--houses ruined and family heirlooms lost and, unfortunately, some loss of life--as the tornado hit some of the residential areas in Western Kentucky, but also another emotion, which is gratitude for the people who came forward as volunteers to help, neighbor helping neighbor. prgtoken As always happens when you have one of these natural disasters, the only silver lining is that people do come together in providing water and food and help getting people out of their homes through urban search and rescue teams, like Ohio Task Force One, that went down to Kentucky chain-sawing trees down so that people can get their cars out and try to repair some of the damage, get their lives back together. prgtoken It was a terrible thing to see the devastation but also a wonderful thing to see people coming together to help one another to get through a tough time. Inflation prgtoken , I am on the floor today primarily to talk about the legislation that has been proposed by the administration and by the ic leadership. prgtoken This is the 11th consecutive week that I have come to the floor to talk about this because, every week since it was introduced 11 weeks ago, I have wanted to talk about what is actually in this legislation, how it would impact our communities, how it would impact our economy. prgtoken So, today, I am here to talk a little about some of the new numbers we have in terms of inflation and how this would impact inflation and some of the new numbers that just came out since last week from the Congressional Budget Office, which is the nonpartisan group up here that analyzes these legislative efforts, and what they are saying about what the cost of this bill will be. prgtoken So I think it is worth having this conversation before Congress--the Senate and the House--votes on this massive tax bill, a massive spending bill that could fundamentally change the way our economy works and, I think, put us in a very difficult position as it relates to inflation and the economy and our debt and our deficit. prgtoken want to push this through under what is called reconciliation, which is a special procedure here in the Senate where, instead of getting the normal supermajority of 60 votes, they could do it with only 50 votes and the
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5665, COMBATING INTERNATIONAL ISLAMOPHOBIA ACT
Dan Crenshaw (Republican, TX) \u2014 2021-12-14

I thank my friend for yielding. prgtoken , `tis the season of misplaced priorities. In the midst of rising inflation, labor shortages, open borders, and foreign policy blunders, my colleagues seem to think that Islamophobia is what Americans care about. prgtoken I would rather talk about something that Americans actually care about: gassing up their cars and keeping the heat on. In November, President said: `` . . . the reason Americans are facing high gas prices is because oil-producing countries and large companies have not ramped up the supply of oil quickly enough to meet the demand, and the smaller supply means higher prices. . . .'' prgtoken Well, that is true. But he is not making the point that he thinks he is. Yes, there is a lack of production, but the question is why. Why has the world's number one oil and gas producer, the United States, not been able to ramp up production? The answer is actually simple: because has made it a priority to kill the American energy industry. prgtoken President cancelled the Keystone pipeline, outlawed new oil and gas leases on Federal lands and waters, and has threatened even more burdensome regulations that put a freezing effect on any kind of new production that even himself recognizes is needed. prgtoken Of course, most recently, with the help of even my colleagues from Texas on the side, they managed to pass an unprecedented tax on natural gas through the House as part of their socialist spending package. prgtoken It gets more interesting. In a letter to Pelosi, seven Texas put the natural gas tax in stark terms saying: This tax will ``cost thousands of jobs, stifle economic recovery, increase energy costs for all Americans, strengthen our adversaries, and ultimately impede the transition to a lower carbon future.'' prgtoken These are very strong and very true words from my ic colleagues, but guess what? They voted for it anyways. And now are scrambling because they know Americans are starting to feel the pain of their policies. It has gotten so bad that are celebrating a two-cent decline in gas prices. Oh, I thank for the two-cent decline. prgtoken It would be funny if it weren't so serious that the Energy Secretary doesn't even know that their plan to release from the strategic petroleum reserve was only about 2 days' worth of oil. There is nothing funny about this. And the administration responds by telling people to put on a sweater and buy an electric vehicle.
RELATING TO INCREASING THE DEBT LIMIT--Continued
Deb Fischer (Republican, NE) \u2014 2021-12-14

after months of delay with NDAA, it has finally made its way to the Senate floor. The Senate Armed Services Committee passed its version by a strong, bipartisan vote of 23 to 3, and that was back in July. prgtoken As a member of the Armed Services Committee since my first day here in the Senate, I have been proud to help draft this bill each year since 2013, and I was honored to play a part in drafting the bill this year. prgtoken First and foremost, the 2022 NDAA takes care of the greatest asset America has--our men and women in uniform. It supports a well-deserved pay raise for members of the military, and it reauthorizes important special pays and bonuses. prgtoken Keeping faith with our All-Volunteer Forces is essential so that our military men and women are able to focus on combating the threats that our Nation faces abroad. You don't have to look far to see the threats I am talking about. prgtoken Vladimir Putin has placed nearly 100,000 Russian troops right on Russia's border with Ukraine, essentially posturing to invade a sovereign country. China continues to make shocking progress in developing new types of weapons. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that China's recent test of a fractional orbital bombardment system was very close to a ``Sputnik moment.'' This new missile could potentially carry a nuclear warhead anywhere in the world, and it was specifically designed to evade U.S. defenses. Our adversaries are making huge strides forward. The NDAA recognizes that and addresses it. prgtoken This bill will keep the modernization of our strategic nuclear deterrent on schedule. This is crucial because even though our nuclear forces are still effective, we have pushed our weapons far beyond their designed lifetimes--in some cases, by decades. This bill authorizes the resources necessary to keep modernization on track, and it will help make sure the next generation of systems is available before our current nuclear triad ages out. prgtoken Perhaps most importantly, the NDAA tries to keep defense spending on pace with rising inflation. Inflation is at its highest level in decades, and it doesn't look like it is slowing down anytime soon. prgtoken The administration originally proposed a top-line defense spending increase of just 1.6 percent. That would not have kept pace with inflation even in a normal year, but in a year when it is threatening to spiral out of control, it would have meant an unacceptable cut in resources for our military. The NDAA takes this year's runaway inflation into account. It offers an increase of $25 billion on top of President 's proposal, and we came together across party lines to agree to that because it is what our military needs. prgtoken At the risk of stating the obvious, the NDAA is about investing in our national defense. It is in the name, the ``National Defense Authorization Act.'' But every State contributes in its own way to that