mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
HONORING MARIA WOLFE OF PENNSYLVANIA ON HER RETIREMENT AFTER MORE THAN 38 YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Scott Perry (Republican, PA) \u2014 2017-12-5

today I extend my sincere congratulations to my constituent, Maria Wolfe, on her retirement after more than 38 years of service to the federal government. prgtoken Maria began her federal career with the Federal Communications Commission in 1979 and transferred to the Navy Ships Parts Control Center in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania in 1981. Over the decades, Maria's hard work and commitment to excellence led to several promotions, culminating with her current efforts to support the Littoral Combat Ship, Outfitting Branch, and the U.S. Coast Guard Supply Support and Logistic programs. prgtoken Her peers describe a true professional who has provided great support to our Nation's Sailors and the United States Navy. Maria's dedication has touched the lives of countless people, and her legacy of service to our Nation is commendable. prgtoken On behalf of Pennsylvania's Fourth Congressional District, I thank and congratulate Maria Wolfe on her service and wish her great happiness and success in her future adventures.
CONDEMNING ETHNIC CLEANSING OF ROHINGYA AND CALLING FOR AN END TO ATTACKS IN AND AN IMMEDIATE RESTORATION OF HUMANITARIAN ACCESS TO RAKHINE, BURMA
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Republican, FL) \u2014 2017-12-5

I thank Chairman Royce and Ranking prgtoken Member Engel for their leadership in bringing this important resolution to the floor. prgtoken , I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 90, condemning the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya and calling for an end to the attacks in Burma and the immediate restoration of access to humanitarian aid. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this resolution. prgtoken I thank our previous speaker, my colleague, Joe Crowley, as well as our colleague, Steve Chabot, sitting in front of us, for authoring this measure. prgtoken We are seeing condemnations of the atrocities occurring in Burma from across the world, , as well as calls for the nation's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to make greater efforts to stop the violence there. prgtoken Last month, our U.S. administration issued an official determination that the Burmese military's actions constitute ethnic cleansing, and rightly so. The atrocities being committed against this ethnic minority have been well documented and they deserve the utmost condemnation. prgtoken The reality on the ground is shocking, . Over 600,000 were forced to flee to neighboring Bangladesh; the systematic massacre, the rape, the pillaging, all in an effort to eliminate any trace of these Muslim minorities in Burma. prgtoken No one is safe, no Rohingya is safe, yet the world continues to sit back and watch as these individuals are targeted for extinction and eradication from the history books. prgtoken We as a United States Congress can do more, we must do more, and we expect responsible nations and responsible actors to do more to end this persecution. prgtoken Last week, Pope Francis met with Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma's top military commander, delivering the message that these atrocities must be stopped. The Dalai Lama has spoken out against this systematic campaign. prgtoken Now it is time for us in the U.S. Congress to add our voice and send a strong message of our own, and this resolution does just that. prgtoken , I thank the chairman for yielding.
RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS
Jodey C. Arrington (Republican, TX) \u2014 2017-12-5

the chief reason the ``American experiment'' in liberty and democracy has been so successful is our belief in God-given, inalienable rights. One of these fundamental freedoms is an individual's right to ``keep and bear arms.'' prgtoken While the original intent of the Second Amendment to the Constitution was the defense against an abusive, tyrannical government, the central principle is to empower Americans to protect themselves, their families, and, as we witnessed in the Sutherland Springs shooting, their communities. prgtoken Statistics show annual reductions in murder rates as concealed carry laws have gone into effect and that violent crime has decreased as gun ownership has increased. In fact, according to Gun Owners of America, citizens defend prgtoken themselves with lethal force against criminals twice as often as police do every year. prgtoken The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which I cosponsored, simply allows law-abiding citizens who are licensed to carry a firearm the freedom to travel between States, closes gaps and strengthens due process regarding our national criminal background check system, and maintains the reasonable prohibitions that are in place today, like keeping guns out of the hands of convicted felons. prgtoken I urge my colleagues to support it.
SEXUAL ASSAULT ON UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
Ted Poe (Republican, TX) \u2014 2017-12-5

when teenagers select universities to attend, they assume that their school will protect and take care of them if something horrible occurs. Hannah was no different when she decided to attend Howard University in 2006. But on a Friday night of her sophomore year, she realized how deeply misplaced her trust in the school was. prgtoken On that night, Hannah and her friends went to a fellow student's house party. It was a typical college evening filled with dancing and laughter, but it wasn't until the party began to wind down that Hannah's friends noticed she was missing. Hannah was always very safety conscious and never wandered off alone, so her friends were immediately worried and began frantically looking for her in the house. They called her name and searched the entire first floor. Hannah was nowhere to be found. prgtoken They tried to go upstairs to search the second floor, but a man grabbed them and forced them down the stairs. He said that nobody was allowed to go upstairs. Hannah's friends argued with him. They screamed her name and threatened to call the police. prgtoken Just as the situation was escalating, Hannah appeared at the top of the stairs. She was a mess. She was confused, and she was barely able to walk or to speak. The girls took Hannah by the arms and immediately left the house. Something really awful had happened to her, so they rushed her to the Howard University emergency room. prgtoken , here is where the university system completely failed her. When the doctor finally came to see Hannah, he told her she was too drunk and she should go home and just sleep it all off. The friends begged the doctor to give her a rape kit, but he just refused and sent them away. prgtoken This is malpractice, . Rape kits can provide critically important evidence in sexual assault cases, especially cases where the victim has been drugged. prgtoken When Hannah woke up the next morning, she was in so much pain she could barely walk, so she called the police and returned to the university emergency room for a rape kit. But because Hannah couldn't remember exactly what happened and who her assailant was, the police and the hospital staff again refused to conduct a rape kit. prgtoken , the purpose of a rape kit is to find out who the assailant was. prgtoken Desperate and denied any assistance from her own university, Hannah still reached out for help. She went to George Washington University Hospital, but they told her that, since she was denied a rape kit at Howard University, she was not allowed to get one at this hospital. Hannah sought help and was rejected at every turn. prgtoken This is tragic, . prgtoken Most of us have kids. A lot of them go to universities--all four of mine did; three of them are girls--and we expect universities to do something to protect those students when a crime is committed against them. The doctors and medical staff at both university hospitals were apparently not trained to
SECURE Act (Executive Calendar)
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2017-12-5

I know the Senator from Arkansas has some remarks to make, so I will keep mine brief. I want to speak on the introduction of the Security, Enforcement, and prgtoken Compassion United in Reform Efforts Act, or the SECURE Act, which we will, under the provisions of rule XIV, put on the Senate calendar following the vote on the nomination at 4 o'clock. This bill is a product of a working group formed by Chairman Grassley of the Senate Judiciary Committee--the committee with jurisdiction over immigration matters. I have been a part of that, as have Senators Graham, Tillis, Lankford, Perdue, and Cotton. prgtoken I would say to our friend from Illinois, we are all united in the desire to actually come up with a solution to this problem. prgtoken Our working group had two assignments. The first was to adopt reforms to secure America's borders and enforce our immigration laws. The second was to find a compassionate solution for those individuals who received deferred action under the DACA Program created by President in 2012. prgtoken When I introduced a border security bill--the Building America's Trust Act--in August, I made clear that the main purpose for that was to create solutions that we could put in place to deal with our porous borders and that throwing money at the problem is not the answer, but it was also contemplating that at some point in the not too distant future, we would need to combine border security and enforcement measures with a solution for the recipients of the deferred action under President , which now President has appropriately sent back to Congress for us to address. prgtoken Coming from the State with the longest border with a foreign country--the State of Texas--I can tell my colleagues that my understanding and appreciation for border security are multifaceted. It requires boots on the ground, it requires technology, and it requires improvements in aging infrastructure at our ports of entry. But it also requires new authorities and enhancements to existing immigration laws to close loopholes that incentivize people who repeatedly violate our laws. prgtoken We can all agree that we need to protect America's international borders, whether they be to the north or south. Each day that we fail to put the needed resources and laws in place for border security and interior enforcement, we strengthen the resolve of drug cartels, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations to encroach on our sovereignty with impunity. prgtoken If we are going to act to help folks who were brought here by their parents, for whom we all have compassion--and thanks to President 's insistence on going around Congress in violation of the law, they now find themselves in limbo--prioritizing the resources needed to secure the border is the first step. It is not the last step, it is the first step. If we can demonstrate our ability to deal with a compassionate solution for the D
SECURE Act (Executive Calendar)
James Lankford (Republican, OK) \u2014 2017-12-5

I am honored to be here with several other Members to talk about the issue of immigration. This has become a very contentious issue. As soon as you say the word ``immigration,'' there is a whole group of people who immediately start screaming amnesty on every part of the conversation. Another whole group starts screaming ``jack-hooded thugs'' trying to take grandmothers out of their homes, and the whole conversation diminishes, and we lose the policy issues that are in place. prgtoken There are obvious problems with immigration. We have not taken those obvious issues on in decades. They need to be resolved, and every year they are not resolved, this issue gets harder and it gets more complicated. We should address the issue of immigration. For years, the conversation has been out there, and for years, it has remained unresolved. I would challenge this body in the next 3 months: Let's resolve some of the big issues in immigration. prgtoken Almost 4 years ago, I was in Central America with a group of other Senators and House Members. We were meeting with Central American leaders, and we were meeting with them to talk about immigration and about some of those individuals leaving those countries who were coming to the United States illegally. But also, we met with them in Central America to determine what they should do for immigration. Multiple countries that were there in the conversation were talking about how they were increasing their border requirements at their borders, how they were managing their workforce within their country, and how individuals from other Central American countries were traveling to their countries and changing the job structure and changing the pay structure. prgtoken We somehow get this belief that the immigration issue is only an American issue. Every country in the world deals with immigration because every country in the world has the right and the responsibility to know who is in their country. Are they citizens? Are they noncitizens? I should have the ability, in my country, to be able to know who is coming in as a guest and to be able to say yes or no. That is a basic right. For some reason, that becomes lost in all of this conversation. prgtoken When we fly anywhere else in the world, we have a visa or we have a passport because when we enter that country, that country requires it. That country, when we land, wants to know who is in their country and where they are. That seems normal to us when we talk about travel, but for some reason, it gets lost in this issue of immigration. This should be a normal conversation--that our country would know who is in the country, that we would know where they are, if they are a guest, and that we would know when they are leaving. prgtoken After the 9/11 Commission finished, they challenged our Nation to resolve one of the issues of immigration that sat out there that is still unresolved to this day. It is entry-exit visas.
SECRET SERVICE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION ACT OF 2017
Bob Goodlatte (Republican, VA) \u2014 2017-12-5

I support the passage of H.R. 3731 today to strengthen the resolve of our men and women in the Secret Service to continue performing their essential duties in protecting the President while receiving the appropriate compensation for their efforts which go beyond normal working hours. This legislation ensures that a pay cap is no longer a barrier to paying Secret Service agents who stand watch at all hours of the night, often racking up significant overtime. The current pay cap restricts the Secret Service from paying their employees what is due to them. prgtoken Director Alles believes this legislation to be such an important initiative to pass that he personally came to discuss it with me as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee with oversight of the Secret Service. I am glad that we are, in a bipartisan way, enabling the men and women of the Secret Service to now receive the necessary compensation for the significant overtime work they perform. prgtoken The GAO reporting requirement in the legislation will also provide to Congress important analysis of how well the Secret Service has implemented the recommendations of the Protective Mission Panel. Knowing these results will help in conducting crucial oversight of the agency. prgtoken I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
RECOGNIZING THE LINCOLN STATION ON THE OPENING OF THEIR RENOVATED DEPOT
Darin LaHood (Republican, IL) \u2014 2017-12-5

today, I would like to recognize the Lincoln Depot, in Lincoln, Illinois, on the opening of their newly renovated Depot building this morning. prgtoken In the 1850's, Abraham Lincoln helped citizens and railroads establish a needed rail line through Logan County. Soon after, this town was christened, by its founders, in Lincoln's name, beautifully described by the Looking for Lincoln marker just outside the Depot. Constructed in 1911, the Lincoln Depot enhanced this critical railway stop, essential for commerce and the pioneers of the last century and a half who were looking to explore and develop to the west. With an estimated 450,000 people now traveling through Lincoln and central Illinois annually, the depot will continue to be a vital part of the Midwest travel experience. prgtoken Today, the depot is again restored as a beautiful landmark in downtown Lincoln that is crucial to the economy of this community, the students of both Lincoln College and Lincoln Christian University, and the residents of Logan County. Lincoln, and Central Illinois, rely on these very rail lines to connect them to communities and commercial markets throughout the Midwest and across America. The new Lincoln Depot modernizes the previous facility, ensuring improved safety and an enhanced travel experience, including improved on-time performance for Amtrak. prgtoken I extend my sincere congratulations to the Lincoln community on the newly renovated Lincoln Station Depot. This renovation will ensure the legacy of the depot and the railway, envisioned by Abraham Lincoln as a catalyst for the future growth of central Illinois, will carry on for generations to come.
TAYLOR FORCE ACT
Christopher H. Smith (Republican, NJ) \u2014 2017-12-5

I want to thank Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Eliot Engel for, again, working so well together to bring this legislation to the floor; and Lee Zeldin, one of the principal cosponsors of the bill; and Doug Lamborn, of course, the prime author of this legislation. prgtoken I, too, am proud to be a cosponsor. This is a very important bill that will serve as a measure of justice for the memory of U.S. Army Officer Taylor Force and many others who have been victimized over the years by Palestinian terrorism subsidized by the Palestinian Authority. It is well past time for us to apply real pressure to the Palestinian Authority for continuing incitement for anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, and anti-American violence. This bill takes aim at the PA's ongoing financial incentivizing of murder. prgtoken , when you pay someone to kill somebody else and pay their family to kill somebody else, that is a crime. So this just ought to be seen as a step in trying to say we mean business. Those who authorize those payments ought to be held liable for these crimes. prgtoken Although 2 years ago Congress deducted the PA's compensatory payments to terrorists and their families from U.S. assistance, there has been no change in the PA's twisted and perverted policy. By conditioning most U.S. assistance to the PA on its commitment to cease payments to terrorists, the Taylor Force Act takes the necessary next and important step to guarantee that American taxpayer dollars are not being used to reward terrorism. prgtoken , the PA cannot be a partner for peace until it stops subsidizing terrorism. Amidst increasing talk of a new peace initiative in the region, we must be absolutely clear that there could be no true peace until Palestinian public policy stops inculcating a culture of death in the minds of the people. prgtoken Years of diplomacy, , and public pressure aimed at stemming Palestinian incitement have not succeeded. Congress must act now with the power of the purse.
SECURE Act (Executive Calendar)
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2017-12-5

I want to make a few brief remarks regarding the introduction of the Security, Enforcement, and Compassion United in Reform Efforts, and we have selected the acronym SECURE for this piece of legislation we are introducing today. This bill promotes and protects the interests of the American people in a lawful immigration system and provides a fair and equitable solution on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and everyone in the Senate knows that by the acronym DACA. It is the product of several months of hard work between this Senator and Senators Cornyn, Graham, Tillis, Lankford, Perdue, and Cotton. I think, before the day is out and the Senate closes down, you will hear from almost all of those folks on their approach to this legislation and their support for it. prgtoken Before I discuss what the bill does, I want to explain the process we used to reach this point. On September 5, 2017, Attorney General Sessions announced that President had decided to rescind former President 's unlawful Executive amnesty program. Because almost 700,000 young people relied on President 's false promise, the administration called upon Congress to do what the President doesn't have the legal authority to do and to find the only real type of long-term solution to this issue. Obviously, we are here because that is a legislative solution and not something the executive branch thinks up and tries to put in place. prgtoken Starting in September, I have held multiple meetings with Senators Cornyn, Graham, Tillis, Lankford, Perdue, and Cotton to determine how best to fix DACA. Our aim was to find a solution that not only is fair for DACA recipients but also promotes the interests of the American people. The immigration policies of the previous administration carried consequences that weren't always in our best interest. For example, President allowed thousands of people to illegally cross our borders and to stay in our country, including dangerous gang members, sex offenders, and violent criminals. So robust border security is crucial to bring integrity back to our Nation's immigration enforcement. prgtoken The enforcement policies of the previous administration enabled dangerous, unauthorized criminals, individuals like Kate Steinle's killer, to have free rein in our country, risking the safety of innocent Americans. The prgtoken flagrant disregard of so-called sanctuary jurisdictions unfairly takes tax dollars from hard-working Americans, only to ignore the rule of law and their own people's public safety. prgtoken In crafting our bill, we also considered the inherent unfairness in our Nation's immigration court and asylum adjudication systems and how hundreds of thousands of aliens wait in backlogs for years at a time. That is wrong. It hurts the people who are stuck in the backlog, and it is unfair to ask the American people and legal immigrants to bear the burden of supporting th
CONGRATULATING ALEC BAKER ON BEAR RESEARCH PROJECT
Glenn Thompson (Republican, PA) \u2014 2017-12-5

I rise today to acknowledge the work of a student at Penn State DuBois. prgtoken Alec Baker, a native of Clarion, Pennsylvania, is a student in the wildlife technology degree program at Penn State DuBois. He was recently awarded an Erickson Discovery Grant from Penn State's Office of Undergraduate Education for an independent research project. prgtoken Alec's area of study focused on black bears and the impact the bears have on agriculture and farmers in Pennsylvania, particularly, the Commonwealth's corn crop. Alec conducted the project this summer for the Pennsylvania Game Commission and gathered information in the field through October. He is processing his findings this fall. prgtoken Alec has conducted his research primarily using Clarion County as his study area. He has obtained nuisance bear reports for crop damage from the area dating back to the year 2000. He plans to chart trends in the data through these years and monitor sites for continued activity using cameras. prgtoken In total, 219 students applied to receive an Erickson Discovery Grant this year, and Alec was one of 83 students from all Penn State locations and campuses who received a grant. The Erickson Discovery Grant allows students to immerse themselves in original research under the direct supervision of a faculty member in order to obtain hands-on experience in their chosen field. prgtoken Alec has just completed his sophomore year in the wildlife technology associate degree program and will go on to earn a bachelor's degree in wildlife and fishery science. prgtoken , I applaud Alec Baker for undertaking this important area of study. I have no doubt that his research will help farmers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania better protect their crops from bear- related damage. Pennsylvania has one of the largest populations of black bears in North America, and thanks to studies like Alec's, the Commonwealth will be better able to understand how bears influence agriculture and how farmers can implement better management tactics to protect their crops. prgtoken I congratulate Alec for his achievement and all those who received the Erickson Discovery Award, and I look forward to the results.