mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
ADDITIONAL SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR DISASTER RELIEF REQUIREMENTS ACT, 2017
Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2017-10-12

Puerto Rico has no power. The U.S. Virgin Islands has no power. St. Johns is completely collapsed in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The people are dying from contaminated water. prgtoken , how can you abandon the American people? prgtoken This bill is going to provide FEMA assistance to keep giving so they can have it. It is going to give $16 billion to the senior citizens in my district, who have paid their flood insurance, who are desperate to get their houses repaired, to get the mold out after being impacted by Hurricane Harvey. prgtoken Yes, I woke up this morning to the outrage of the fires and people dying in California. That is what is in this bill. prgtoken I can't imagine that a President would make this comment of walking away, but I am here to fight for those who have been impacted by Hurricane Harvey. We are still suffering. Senior citizens are out of their homes. We have been evicting people in public housing. We need community development block grants. The Army Corps of Engineers is greatly needed. prgtoken The funding that we ask for is not in here, block grants is not in here, and as well the restoration that we need. We will fight. I will not turn my back on Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands and vote ``no''. I will vote ``yes''----
RECOGNIZING HERMAN ROBERTS
Bobby L. Rush (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-10-12

I rise today to congratulate Mr. Herman Roberts who is to be inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame this Sunday, October 15, 2017. Born in Beggs, Oklahoma in 1924, Herman Roberts and his family moved to Chicago when he was 12. He entered the workforce a few years later working for a cab company washing cars. At the age of 15, he was given the responsibility of driving those cabs and by 1944, he became owner of his own business, the Roberts Cab Company like many young men of the era Mr. Roberts fulfilled his patriotic duty by serving in the army during World War II. After returning from war, his ambition drove him to innovation when, as he recalls, in 1947, he became the first to install two-way radios in his cabs. Mr. Roberts has been a longtime resident of the Southside of Chicago and a pioneer in Chicago's entertainment industry. He was one of the first club owners in Chicago to provide a non-segregated venue for Black entertainers and in 1960, he expanded his enterprise to include motels. His success as a club owner is evidenced by the headliners he booked: Nat ``King'' Cole, Sammy Davis, Jr Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, R&B acts like the Treniers, Brook Benton, Sam Cooke, and Jackie Wilson, and jazz diva Dinah Washington. While Mr. Roberts focused primarily on black acts, he would make exceptions for people like Tony Bennett and Gene Krupa Mr. Roberts' pioneering spirit wasn't limited to the musical sphere. In fact, he was the first entertainment business owner to give the famed Dick Gregory a chance when he hired him as a late- night emcee at the Herman Roberts Show Lounge in Chicago in 1958. In the political realm, his motel served as the original meeting place for another pioneer when he hosted Chicago Mayor Harold Washington's initial campaign. In short, , Mr. Roberts' venues served as the epicenter for Chicago's Black civil society and he served as the Godfather of Chicago's Black entertainment industry. Finally, after decades of hard work, Mr. Roberts retired in 1992 and still, today, maintains his home on Chicago's Southside clearly Mr. Roberts is an accomplished individual and we, in Chicago, are proud to call him one of our own. I am delighted to congratulate my longtime friend and supporter, Mr. Herman Roberts, on this important achievement. On behalf of all my constituents in the 1st Congressional District of Illinois, I extend my heartfelt congratulations.
ADDITIONAL SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR DISASTER RELIEF REQUIREMENTS ACT, 2017
Stacey E. Plaskett (Democrat, VI) \u2014 2017-10-12

I thank Chairman Frelinghuysen and Ranking Member Lowey for bringing more disaster relief legislation to the floor today. prgtoken I am pleased to see much-needed support for ongoing disaster response efforts in the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and other hurricane- affected areas, including direct assistance to families, debris removal operations, and emergency protective measures carried out by FEMA, and additional activities of numerous other Federal agencies that are on the ground working around the clock to help us to recover and rebuild. prgtoken I cannot thank enough all of our Federal and local personnel helping us through this. I have been on the ground after Irma, after Maria, and just recently, and I tell you, their support is invaluable. prgtoken I am particularly pleased to see the subdivision of $5 billion for Disaster Direct Loan Program to assist local governments and with measures taking into account the unique aid and flexibility needed for the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. prgtoken Multiple loans will be available based on different types of losses and unanticipated spending needs, and waivers of amount limits are also helpful. Additional loans to pay for local matching requirements is an important support. prgtoken However, I am deeply concerned about the important relief that was left out of this bill and the administration's disaster relief request last week. This does not incorporate the medium and long-term assistance that played a clear critical role in the recovery following previous disasters like Katrina and Sandy, and the Virgin Islands cannot afford to wait for this to be a higher priority of the Federal Government. prgtoken The package does not include community development and social service block grant funding, Economic Development Administration funds, supplemental housing assistance, nor additional funds for repair of our water infrastructure, ports, community facilities, airports, roads, parks, wetlands, and fisheries. prgtoken Damage sustained in all of these areas has been catastrophic, and waiting around until another end of the year for auxiliary funding for these pressing needs is not acceptable. prgtoken Perhaps most concerning is the lack of Medicaid program assistance to the territory. Even before two consecutive Category 5 hurricanes that decimated our hospitals and medical infrastructure, the Virgin Islands was forced to operate a Medicaid program that is capped in an amount that has no relationship to local needs, and our rate of Federal matching funds, our FMAP, is limited to an arbitrarily low 55 percent Federal to 45 percent local contribution. prgtoken Thousands of our citizens go without adequate care due to this treatment every year, in addition to the impacts on our providers and hospitals due to uncompensated care, but after these back-to-back storms, there is no revenue being generated in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico at this time. Our tourism-relat
RECOGNIZING RUBY'S PLACE ON ITS 45TH ANNIVERSARY
Eric Swalwell (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-10-12

I rise to recognize Ruby's Place on the celebration of its 45th anniversary, to take place on Thursday, October 19. prgtoken Ruby's Place is a nonprofit organization founded in 1972 in Hayward, California. It was a pioneer in California in recognizing the need to provide shelter to victims of domestic violence. prgtoken Ruby's Place today provides services and shelter to homeless individuals and families, with a focus on helping victims of domestic violence and human trafficking. These services include a 24-hour crisis hotline, case management, mental health treatment, and children's programming. As this shows, Ruby's Place helps people both in their time of immediate need and provides assistance so they can get back on their feet. prgtoken Just as one example, during the 2015-2016 fiscal year, the counselors at Ruby's Place answered over 4,500 calls on its crisis hotline and provided 724 individual counseling sessions. One hundred seventy of these sessions were with children who have been affected by domestic violence. prgtoken I had the honor of recognizing Ruby's Place on the House Floor in October 2013, in support of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. I am committed to continuing to fight domestic violence and working with organizations on the front lines, like Ruby's Place. prgtoken Over an amazing 45 years, about 6,000 adults and children have benefitted directly from Ruby's Place. I am incredibly grateful for its commitment to securing stable housing and supportive services for those in need, and I am honored to represent it in Congress. Our community is better and stronger for its tireless efforts. prgtoken I want to congratulate Ruby's Place on stabilizing the lives of individuals and families in the Bay Area for the last 45 years, and I wish it continued success in the future.
ADDITIONAL SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR DISASTER RELIEF REQUIREMENTS ACT, 2017
Barbara Lee (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-10-12

I want to thank our ranking member for yielding time to me and for her tireless leadership. prgtoken , as a Representative from northern California, let me just say that my thoughts and prayers are with our neighbors in the North Bay. prgtoken I remember the Oakland Hills. I represent Oakland and Berkeley, California; and just as many helped us then, we will help our neighbors now. prgtoken I am deeply grateful to our firefighters and our first responders who have been working around the clock to extinguish these fires. prgtoken , I also rise in strong support of this emergency supplemental. Our neighbors in the North Bay, the Gulf Coast, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Texas, they need our help, and they need it now. Communities are devastated, and many are still without power and water. This is a life-and-death situation for so many. prgtoken Make no mistake, the recovery process is just beginning, and we cannot forget our Caribbean neighbors who are also suffering. prgtoken , the supplemental is a good first step. It is a good first step in a very long process, but we must provide more long-term assistance to help communities rebuild and to help them recover very quickly, and we must leave no one behind.
DACA
Mark Takano (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-10-12

. Madam , Delila is a graduate student at the University of California, Riverside, who exemplifies the American spirit. As a young woman, she worked two and three jobs to support her family and help her father, who was their sole provider. prgtoken Three years ago, when her father suffered a stroke, Delila stepped up and kept the family afloat while he recovered. She went on to take a full-time position as a sexual assault advocate in our community. Delila says that job allowed her to help those who live in fear and live without hope. prgtoken This year, she will graduate with a master's degree, and there is no question that she is destined to accomplish great things. The only question is where she will accomplish them. prgtoken Delila is a DREAMer, and her future in this country depends on whether we pass the Dream Act. Once again, I am asking my colleagues to do the right thing. Pass the Dream Act so people like Delila can continue to make our communities proud.
FEMA CAN DO BETTER FOR OUR FELLOW AMERICANS
Marcy Kaptur (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2017-10-12

there was applause from the gallery, and every American applauds. prgtoken , I have an alert for the administration. The - led FEMA, that is the Federal Emergency prgtoken Management Agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, is falling far short on disaster relief in Puerto Rico. In fact, I think one could say they are actually perilously short on helping the people, our fellow citizens, in Puerto Rico. prgtoken It has now been 22 days, that is 528 hours, since Hurricane Maria destroyed Puerto Rico. Hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico still--still--have no fresh water, no power, little food, with many villages lacking any means for communication. Many have no dry cots or even dry sleeping bags to replace the wet mattresses and moldy surroundings that characterize the Puerto Rico of today. prgtoken Let me say that Puerto Rico is not a large island. It is a little over 100 miles wide, not much larger than my congressional district in Ohio which extends from Cleveland to Toledo. The difference with Puerto Rico is the topography is much more hilly. prgtoken I ask myself the question: Why hasn't FEMA had airdrops of vital sustenance from the very start? Where is that help to these far-flung villages that have been cut off because, when the rains came, they washed out bridges and roads that make all these tiny towns inaccessible? Inaccessible. prgtoken Fresh water packets can be airdropped. Our military does that all over the world. Why can't those fresh water packets be dropped in Puerto Rico? prgtoken We can drop packets with peanut butter and bread. We do that all over the world. Why can't we do that in Puerto Rico? Why can't we airdrop food? prgtoken Citizens in Ohio with families and friends in Puerto Rico about whom they are desperately worried have been told that many smaller towns where they have relationships lack relief and any assistance now 528 hours, 22 days, into this deep human tragedy. prgtoken I want to place in the Record, and I hope somebody at FEMA is listening, names of some of the villages that are completely cut off because roads and bridges were destroyed and no relief has come. No relief has come. prgtoken Ponce, in the south, is one. Utuado, Jayuya, Arecibo, Yauco, Corozal, Comerio, Loiza, Toa Baja, Cabo Rojo, and Llanadas. Those are names we have been given. Aid to these pockets of desperation is almost 3 weeks overdue. People need relief now. prgtoken FEMA also needs a better plan. In fact, they need a plan. I don't think they have any plan to immediately evacuate people to the mainland for respite. Places like Cleveland, Lorain, and Toledo, Ohio, we could accept people who now are living in conditions you would wish on no American. prgtoken We cannot risk more illness and death. Children should not be missing school after the horror they have experienced. We shouldn't have the level of hardship that has been subjected to people who are still endu
STRUGGLES IN PUERTO RICO AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
Anthony G. Brown (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2017-10-12

it is hard to tell where and in what direction Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are heading today. There is not enough food, millions are struggling to live without drinking water and electricity, and only 8 percent of the roads are open to traffic. prgtoken Containers with supplies, medical supplies, and food and other commodities are sitting in containers on the docks in the Port of San Juan and are not moving towards the people and the communities that need them the most. Struggles in the Virgin Islands are less heard about but no less real. prgtoken The question is whether we, as a nation, are doing all we can for the citizens of this Nation. Let's compare. After an earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, where the infrastructure was severely damaged, the U.S. military mobilized as if we were going to war. prgtoken The very next morning, after the earthquake hit, an Army unit was airborne. Within 2 weeks, 33 ships and 22,000 soldiers had arrived, and more than 300 helicopters were delivering millions of pounds of food and water, not just to the port, but the people of Haiti. prgtoken By contrast, today, there are fewer than 14,000 military personnel assisting in relief efforts in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and there are only 88 helicopters and only 4 naval ships, one of them the USNS Comfort that are aiding 3.5 million Americans--3.4 million Americans in Puerto Rico, 100,000 Americans in the Virgin Islands. prgtoken In Haiti, , we airlifted 15,000 U.S. citizens in 2010 after the earthquake, but in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, we are unwilling to evacuate a single American, even those who have relatives and friends in the many communities across the 50 States of this great country. prgtoken As Americans are starving and Americans are desperate, our response needs to be more vigorous. prgtoken Now, let's be sure, the military is doing what we are asking them to do. This is not a criticism of the military prgtoken not doing what we are asking them to do, but the White House is not asking the military to do enough. prgtoken , the President must lead on this issue. We have got dedicated members of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard who are willing, ready, and able to be in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to deliver the relief to our neighbors and our citizens. prgtoken We need to ask the Department of Defense to send more engineers, more transportation companies, and expeditionary sustainment battalions. prgtoken Yesterday, I asked a senior military leader: How many pontoon bridges have been erected in Puerto Rico to cross those washed out roads? Zero. How many miles of power transmission lines have been reestablished to get electricity out to more communities? The answer is zero. prgtoken We have military engineers on the ground, but they have not been asked to do that. We need to direct our military to provide the direct services on the local or, in military parlance, on the tactical le
MOTION TO INSTRUCT CONFEREES ON H.R. 2810, NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018
Jacky Rosen (Democrat, NV) \u2014 2017-10-12

I rise in opposition to a provision in the NDAA authorizing the transfer of nearly 100,000 surplus military-grade firearms to the Civilian Marksmanship Program for sale to the public. prgtoken This multimillion-dollar government handout to a private corporation is bad policy. It places more military-grade prgtoken weapons on our streets and in our communities. prgtoken The horrific violence on October 1 in Las Vegas, the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, has forever altered the lives of hundreds of thousands of families related to those 22,000 victims that were there the day of the shooting. prgtoken It is now more urgent than ever that we take meaningful action on passing gun safety measures. That should be our priority, yet here we are taking a step backwards. prgtoken Instead of bringing legislation on the floor to ban the manufacture of bump stocks that allow semiautomatic rifles to fire hundreds of rounds per minute, instead of being on the floor to ban the sale of high-capacity magazines used to inflict widespread carnage, or instead of being on the floor to expand background checks to all commercial gun sales so that felons and the seriously mentally ill and terrorists cannot obtain access to dangerous weapons, we are here debating a provision that increases a number of military weapons on our streets. prgtoken I know we can uphold the Second Amendment while taking reasonable steps to reduce the toll of gun violence inflicted on our communities. Putting nearly 100,000 more military-grade firearms designed for Army use into our neighborhoods is not a reasonable step in the right direction. prgtoken According to its text, the provision included in this bill mandates the immediate transfer of an unlimited number of guns to the Civilian Marksmanship Program for sale to the public. prgtoken This program was originally created to instruct Americans in marksmanship, promote firearms safety, and conduct friendly shooting competitions in controlled environments. prgtoken The NDAA provision we are speaking of today would turn this program into a mass firearms retailer, with the new mission to sell as many military-grade weapons to the public as possible. It defies logic and common sense. Gun violence has become a public crisis. prgtoken So I urge my colleagues to join together and work across the aisle to decrease the scope and devastation caused by tragic mass shootings. No community across America should be forced to experience the grief and trauma that my community and others like mine have gone through in these past few years. prgtoken I ask all Members of Congress to support the ic motion to instruct conferees to remove this dangerous provision from the NDAA.
HUMAN RIGHTS IN PAKISTAN AND SINDH
Brad Sherman (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-10-12

I thank you for yielding me 30 minutes, more than enough time to deliver three separate speeches that I have prepared for presentation. The first two are informed, or two of these speeches are informed. The first and the third are informed by my 20 years of experience on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and the second speech I will deliver is informed by 40 years as a CPA in the world of taxation. prgtoken , I am the ranking member on the Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee and the founder of the Sindh Caucus. In those two roles, I have focused on human rights and the rule of law in Pakistan, and particularly in its perhaps largest province, Sindh, comprising most of southern Pakistan. prgtoken We have dedicated ourselves in the Sindh Caucus to efforts to preserve the culture and the language of the Sindhi people, and particularly their dedication to religious tolerance. Unfortunately, the human rights picture in Pakistan and in Sindh are not good. prgtoken I would like to say a few words about the disappearance of Punhal Sario, the leader of the Voice for Missing Persons of Sindh movement, and about the very serious problem of disappearances in Sindh in southern Pakistan. prgtoken Just this past summer, Punhal Sario led a march between Sindh's two major cities, Hyderabad to Karachi, demanding accountability for Sindhi activists who have been abducted by Pakistani security forces or simply disappeared. prgtoken Where is Punhal now? It appears that he, too, has fallen victim to the very serious forces that he marched against. prgtoken Punhal's case is hardly an isolated one. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported that over 700 people disappeared, were kidnapped, and never heard of again in Pakistan in the year 2016 alone. prgtoken In the past year, the United Nations Human Rights Committee, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the State Department's own Report on Human Rights have all noted serious concerns about extrajudicial and targeted killings and disappearances in Pakistan and, particularly, in Sindh. prgtoken Elements of the government or military see an opportunity to simply make their opponents disappear. Here are a few particulars. In 2016, Amnesty International reported that the Pakistani security forces had, and these are their words, ``committed human rights violations with almost total impunity.'' prgtoken While Human Rights Watch observed that, ``law enforcement and security agencies remained unaccountable for human rights violations.'' prgtoken The State Department itself noted in Pakistan, ``the most serious human rights problems were extrajudicial and targeted killings disappearances, torture, the lack of the rule of law.'' prgtoken Two years ago, in 2015, Sindhi leader Dr. Anwar Laghari was brutally murdered in Pakistan. Days before his death, he had sent a memorandum to President about human rights violations by the Pakistani military and its ISI, the Inter-Servic