mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
REMOVAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM HOSTILITIES IN YEMEN THAT HAVE NOT BEEN AUTHORIZED BY CONGRESS
Adriano Espaillat (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2019-2-13

I thank Chairman Engel for allowing me this opportunity. prgtoken , I rise today in support of H.J. Res. 37, in which Congress will finally reclaim its constitutional authority over the power to declare war and will finally address the terrible suffering happening in Yemen. prgtoken For 4 years, we have aided the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen, which has contributed to the gravest humanitarian crisis in the world, a man-made crisis that we could help alleviate, rather than contribute to. This is 4 years too long. prgtoken The administration has cozied up to the Saudis, ignoring the harm they cause in Yemen and their egregious violations of human rights. The President has expressed his personal affirmation for the Saudi Kingdom on several occasions, saying, ``They give us a lot of business,'' and, ``They've been a great ally to me.'' prgtoken and those opposed to this resolution have argued that our ties to Saudi Arabia are too precious and that our cooperation on counterterrorism and countering Iran would be jeopardized by this resolution. But in December, when discussing an earlier version of this resolution, Senator Lindsey Graham wrote the following: ``The fear that the Saudis will stop cooperating with the U.S. on terrorism or Iran isn't rational. Those threats pose as much of a danger to the Saudis as they do to America. Demanding better from allies isn't downgrading the relationship; it's a sign that Americans take our principles seriously and won't be taken advantage of by anyone, friend or foe.'' prgtoken , I urge Congress to reassert its constitutional authority to work to end the suffering of millions and to pass this war powers resolution. This is what it is.
Black History Month (Executive Session)
Benjamin L. Cardin (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2019-2-13

54 years ago, 600 nonviolent protesters set off to march from Selma to Montgomery, AL, to protest the disenfranchisement of Black voters in the South. prgtoken They got as far as the Edmund Pettus Bridge when they saw police officers lined up on the other end, waiting with tear gas, clubs, and dogs. The iconic bridge stood between the police and protesters like a physical barrier between hope and violence, democracy and second-class citizenship. prgtoken Although the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments--which cemented into law the freedom, citizenship, and voting rights of Black Americans--passed nearly 100 years earlier across the country, literacy tests, poll taxes, violence, and intimidation stood in the way of this constitutional promise. This was especially true in Alabama. prgtoken According to the 1961 Civil Rights Commission report, at the time of the famous protests, fewer than 10 percent of the voting-age Black population was registered in Alabama's Montgomery County. This infamous march from Selma was intended to right the wrong and to shine light on the injustice of all the many laws that kept voting from being accessible to Black Americans. prgtoken For months leading up to it, a community of activists--led by Martin Luther King, Jr and of course our esteemed colleague Representative John Lewis--carried out voting registration drives and nonviolent demonstrations, all against the resistance of the local government and members of the Ku Klux Klan. These efforts laid the groundwork for the march from Selma, which ended with Alabama State troopers attacking the protesters. prgtoken The images of the State-sponsored violence were shown across the country, galvanizing the American public in favor of voting rights in a day that has since become known as Bloody Sunday. prgtoken Five months later, on August 6, 1965, the Voting Rights Act was signed into law. The bill is one of the crowing victories of the civil rights movement and for our American democracy. prgtoken This monumental legislation outlawed the malicious barriers to the polls and held States accountable for the discriminatory obstacles imposed on citizens who sought to fulfill their constitutional right. It opened doors for Black citizens across the South to register, to cast a vote, or to run for office in higher numbers than ever before. prgtoken As we celebrate this February as Black History Month, we must remember that Black history is American history. We must remember that too often in our Nation's past, the work to create a more perfect Union has fallen upon the shoulders of Americans whose full rights of citizenship were discounted simply because of the color of their skin. The right to vote is a fundamental American tenet. Yet it has historically been denied to men and women of color. prgtoken We must remember that when we tell stories of those who fought and struggled to secure voting rights in our Nation's past, it is bec
Nomination of William Barr (Executive Session)
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2019-2-13

let me thank the chair of the Energy Committee, the senior Senator from Alaska, for the wonderful work she always does around here. She has the respect of Members on both sides of the aisle. She tries to do the right thing and ends up there so often. This lands bill wouldn't have happened without a lot of the people she mentioned, but at the top of the list would certainly, certainly, be the senior Senator from Alaska. prgtoken Once again, I tip my hat to the junior Senator from Washington State, who worked so long and hard on this. The two of them were a great team, and Joe Manchin filled in when he became ranking member. We are all very glad that this wonderful lands bill, with so many good things in it, will, barring any unforeseen mishap, become law very soon.
Nomination of William Barr (Executive Session)
Cory A. Booker (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2019-2-13

I rise today to speak on the nomination of William Barr to be the next Attorney General of the United States of America. prgtoken Last Thursday, I voted against his nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee, as did nine of my fellow Committee Members. I voted against his nomination because of some very serious concerns I have with his record on everything from criminal justice to environmental justice, to defending the economic rights of Americans, the rights of immigrants, LGBTQ rights, and women's rights. prgtoken I want to go through those concerns here on the floor today, but I also want to be clear that Mr. Barr has been nominated at a time of extraordinary challenge when it comes to defending rights in this country. This is a crisis. prgtoken We are in a moment in history when, after years of attacks on civil rights by this President and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, some of our most fundamental democratic principles--the rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection under the law--are hanging in the balance. We now face a full-blown crisis when it comes to rolling back the rights of Americans. prgtoken From community to community across the country, we see what it looks like when the Department of Justice fails to pursue justice for all Americans. prgtoken It looks like hate crimes in this country are on the rise for the third year in a row but a Department of Justice that rolls back protections for LGBTQ Americans instead of strengthening them. prgtoken It looks like more than one-third of all the LGBTQ youth in the country missing school because they feel unsafe but a DOJ that refuses to fight for them and protect them against State laws that target transgender students. prgtoken It looks like unchecked voter suppression of Black Americans in Georgia, Native Americans in North Dakota, and the voter ID and voter purge laws across the country that tried to target and suppress minority voters but a Justice Department that has stood by and failed to take on one single voting rights case during the last 2 years. prgtoken It looks like communities that are being poisoned by corporate polluters pushing their costs of doing business onto neighborhoods least able to defend themselves, making their land and air and water toxic but a DOJ that has made it easier for polluters to get settlement agreements while cutting its own enforcement capacity to hold those corporate polluters accountable. prgtoken It looks like corporate malfeasance continuing to target the most vulnerable while DOJ enforcement of corporate penalties drops by 90 percent during the first 2 years of the administration. prgtoken It looks like doubling down on the failed war on drugs, which is known to be not a war on drugs but a war on the American people-- disproportionately low-income Americans, disproportionately mentally ill Americans, disproportionately addicted Americans, and disproportionately Black and Brown peo
HONORING THE LIFE OF REPRESENTATIVE JOHN DINGELL
Daniel T. Kildee (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2019-2-13

I thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Mitchell), and I remember, as well, when he told me--I used to call him , mainly because I was afraid of him most of my life. And when he told me to call him John, I think it might have been a full year before I developed enough courage to call him by that name. prgtoken Another one of our Members who I know is very close to John, has worked in Michigan politics and knew John Dingell for a long time, is our colleague Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence. prgtoken , from Michigan (Mrs. Lawrence).
Nomination of William Barr (Executive Session)
Amy Klobuchar (Democrat, MN) \u2014 2019-2-13

I want to join my colleagues today in making some brief remarks on William Barr's nomination to serve as Attorney General of the United States. prgtoken I had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Barr one-on-one in my office. We had a very good meeting, and we talked in some detail about securing our elections from foreign interference, something that is a major priority of mine, and we really are close in passing a bipartisan bill, which Senator Lankford and I have, called the Secure Elections Act. We just need a little help and support from the administration. prgtoken We also talked about modernizing our antitrust enforcement to fit the challenges that we have today and to make our laws as sophisticated as the trillion-dollar companies we are now seeing and the mergers we are seeing all across the United States. So we had a good discussion about that. prgtoken We also talked about his family and working in the Justice Department. During the hearing, I gave an opportunity for him to talk to those workers who were, through no fault of their own, furloughed or not getting paid, and he clearly showed respect for the people in the Justice Department. I appreciate all of that. I think that is important to have in an Attorney General. prgtoken But I have some serious concerns about this nominee. I had already announced I was opposing him during our Judiciary Committee vote, but I have some serious concerns when you look at the context in which he has come before us. prgtoken His nomination comes at a time when there are investigations by a special counsel and multiple U.S. attorney's offices in New York into campaign finance violations and an attempt, as we know, by a foreign adversary to interfere in our elections. This special counsel's investigation has led to indictments or guilty pleas from over 30 people and three companies, including seven former advisers to the President. prgtoken These investigations, as we know, go to the heart of the integrity of our elections, our government, and our institutions, and it is why it is essential, first of all, that Special Counsel Mueller and the U.S. attorney's offices be allowed to finish their work free of political interference. prgtoken The President, as we know, has made past statements and sent out tweets about Attorney General Sessions: I am critical of him for allowing these investigations to go forward. This is the context we are in. He has made it very clear as to what he is looking for in an Attorney General. He wants someone who will be his lawyer. He wants someone to use the Justice Department, in a way, to protect him. prgtoken I think this should worry us because, yes, the Attorney General works for the President, but, more importantly, who the Attorney General really works for are the people, the people of the United States. prgtoken The Attorney General of the United States is the people's lawyer and pledges to uphold the rule of law and apply th
TRIBUTE TO ALFRED K. NEWMAN
Tom Udall (Democrat, NM) \u2014 2019-2-13

today I wish to pay tribute to Alfred K. Newman, one of last remaining Navajo code talkers, who passed away on January 13 of this year. prgtoken Mr. Newman was born in Coolidge, NM, on July 21, 1924. He was Naaneesht'ezhi Dine'e--Zuni Clan--and born for Tsi'naajinii--Black Streak Wood People Clan. One of six children, his mother wove rugs that were sold at the Coolidge Trading Post and his stepfather worked as a silversmith there. prgtoken When Mr. Newman was about 8 years old, his family sent him to the Rehoboth Mission School, where he boarded during the 9 month school year and rarely saw his parents. During the summers, he herded sheep. At one point, they had a herd of 200, and the young shepherd loved watching the lizards, birds, and bugs that surrounded him as he herded. prgtoken Mr. Newman grew up knowing both Navajo and English. However, the boarding students were not allowed to speak Navajo at the school. One time, when he spoke in Navajo, in order to help another Navajo student who knew no English, he was punished by having to write ``I must not speak Navajo'' 500 times. prgtoken While the missionaries at the Rehoboth Mission School forbade Mr. Newman and other Navajo students from speaking their language, as did Federal Government Indian boarding schools, the U.S. military came to greatly appreciate the strategic advantage the unwritten Dine language held. prgtoken Mr. Newman enlisted in the Marines, in 1943, when he was 18, inspired to defend the Nation in light of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He, along with an estimated 44,000 other Native Americans, served in World War II, even though they couldn't vote in U.S. elections and faced discrimination within the military. prgtoken Soon after Mr. Newman enlisted, he was assigned to a secret mission, as part of the Navajo code talkers. He attended code school, learning the complex code by memory, and learned how to operate communications equipment. Serving in the 1st Battalion, 21st Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, Alfred was stationed in New Caledonia, Guadalcanal, Bougainville Island, Guam, and Iwo Jima, among other duty stations. He saw battle at the latter three locations and was stationed in Iwo Jima during 28 days of the famous battle and was there the day the Americans raised the flag over Mount Suribachi. Mr. Newman was honorably discharged with the rank of corporal in December 1945. prgtoken After his discharge, he came back to New Mexico, and married his sweetheart, Betsy Eleanore Denetsone. He worked as an ammunition inspector at Fort Wingate and then at an open-pit mine overseeing blasting at Kirkland Field. Together, he and Betsy have 5 children, 13 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren and were married 69 years before his passing. prgtoken The Japanese famously never broke the Navajos' code, and Navajo code talkers are credited with playing a decisive role in key World War II battles, including Iwo Jima. The Navajo code t
REMOVAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM HOSTILITIES IN YEMEN THAT HAVE NOT BEEN AUTHORIZED BY CONGRESS
David J. Trone (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2019-2-13

I rise today to voice my support for the joint resolution. It is important for us in this institution, in this critical moment, to undertake serious debate regarding the use of U.S. military in the conflict in Yemen. prgtoken As my colleagues have pointed out, Article I of our Constitution clearly states that the power to declare war belongs to the Congress. Congress must put down a marker stating it is unacceptable for our military to support hostilities we have not authorized. prgtoken Our support for the Saudi-led coalition's efforts in Yemen has proven problematic in so many ways. The impact on civilian lives is real and painful. Overall, 60,000 lives have been lost. prgtoken Ultimately, the question should be really simple: Did Congress authorize our military to engage in hostilities in Yemen? The answer is no. prgtoken So, today, we must pass this resolution to stand up for our Constitution and stand up for what is right. prgtoken , I urge my colleagues to lend their support to that effort.
Nomination of William Barr (Executive Session)
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2019-2-13

I rise to speak about the nomination of William Barr to be the next Attorney General of the United States. prgtoken Mr. Barr has an admirable record of public service in his career. He has dramatically more qualifications and experience than many of his predecessors and, certainly, the Acting Attorney General. We can see he brings more experience to the job. prgtoken I respect Mr. Barr and his family. I have told him as much to his face. He has a wonderful family, and he brought them with him to the hearing, and many of them have chosen public service careers, as he has. prgtoken I carefully reviewed his record, trying to consider him in not only the context of this awesome responsibility of being Attorney General, but at this awesome moment in history. prgtoken When it comes to the ongoing investigation of President 's campaign by Robert Mueller, I fear that Mr. Barr has said and done things that raise questions about his objectivity. He has clearly indicated to President and to all of us how he would oversee this investigation if he is confirmed. Just look at the unsolicited--unsolicited--19-page memo that William Barr sent to Special Counsel Mueller's supervisors and to the legal defense team just in June of 2018. prgtoken It is notable that Mr. Barr did not send this memo to Special Counsel Mueller himself, and he did not make it public. prgtoken This was the only time Mr. Barr had sent a memo like this to the Justice Department, and he did not disclose in his memo that he had personally interviewed with the President the previous year about serving on the President's defense team. prgtoken This memo is critical for its substance. In it, Mr. Barr argued that Bob Mueller, the investigator, the special counsel, should not be permitted to ask the President any questions about obstruction of justice, even though Mr. Barr's analysis focused only on one narrow obstruction theory. prgtoken The memo calls into serious question Mr. Barr's ability to impartially oversee the obstruction of justice issues in the Mueller investigation at a moment in history when that is an essential question. Mr. Barr has made no commitment to recuse himself from such questions. That is worrisome. prgtoken That William Barr would volunteer a 19-page legal memo with dramatic efforts at research and verification, give this to the President's defense team and to Mr. Mueller's supervisors at the Department of Justice, and basically make arguments diminishing the authority of the special counsel to move forward in the investigation raises a serious question about his impartiality. prgtoken Just as important, I am alarmed by Mr. Barr's continued hedging about what he will do when Mr. Mueller completes his investigation and has a presentation of his conclusions, his evidence, and his findings. prgtoken Make no mistake. Special Counsel Mueller's findings and conclusions should be shared with the American people
PASSING OF LORETTA JONES
Karen Bass (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2019-2-13

. Madam , I would like to honor the life and memory of a pioneer in the field of health policy, my long-time friend, colleague and fellow organizer, Dr. Loretta Jones, who passed away on November 22. She was a founding member of the Community Coalition for substance abuse Prevention and Treatment. In fact, she was the first staff person hired and developed the Coalition's Prevention Network. That network brought together social service providers from South LA to address substance abuse in the community. Loretta had a towering passion for justice and a caregiver's attention to detail. She founded Healthy African American Families (HAAF) in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles uprising to engage universities, think tanks, and community members together to seek solutions to longstanding health problems, including the scourge of pre-term births in the African American community. For this work she received two honorary doctorates and, last year, she received the UCLA Medal, the university's highest honor, for her career of working to address inequalities in health and health outcomes. She is best known for co-developing methods that give underserved communities a greater role in planning and implementing academic research. Community-Partnered Participatory Research (CPPR) calls for transparency, accountability and equal power-sharing between academics and communities. In 2007, with UCLA professor Kenneth Wells, she published the CCPR model in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In doing so, she demonstrated another tenet of CPPR--that community members co-author research publications alongside academics. Loretta had that rare ability to serve as a bridge between the worlds of policy and research, and the everyday lives of the people she cared about most. She mentored hundreds of physicians, nurses, public health practitioners, social scientists and community members to do the same. Those people went on to become tenured faculty members at medical schools, state officials and senior advisers in Congress and the White House. A native of Massachusetts, she earned a BA in psychology in 1963 and Master's degree in criminal justice in 1972, both from Northeastern University in Boston. She had been community faculty member at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science since 2010. A former foster youth herself, she fostered 20 children in addition to raising her daughter. She made a real difference in the world during her 77 years. Loretta always insisted that ``Everyone deserves the right to live, everyone deserves good health care, and we are all responsible for making it happen.'' I mourn her passing with all of those who loved her. I am grateful for her compassion, her dedication, and the work to which she dedicated her life: to empower families to lead truly healthy lives.