mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF LEON FLEISHER
Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2020-8-11

. Madam , I rise today with my colleague, Congressman Adam Schiff, to honor a musical virtuoso, whose nearly 80- year-long career was marked by extraordinary triumphs, profound struggles and inspiring perseverance: the incomparable Leon Fleisher. prgtoken Born in San Francisco in 1928 to Jewish immigrant parents, Leon's life embodied the American Dream. At the age of four, he began listening to his brother's piano lessons before sneaking in afterwards to play everything he had heard by ear. It soon became clear that young Leon Fleisher was a piano prodigy. At age eight, he gave his first recital. At nine, he began training with the world-famous pianist Artur Schnabel. By sixteen, Fleisher was making his debut at Carnegie Hall. At 23, Fleisher became the first American to win the Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition in Brussels and at 25, he released his first studio album. prgtoken Leon Fleisher's career was meteoric, vaulting him to the top of the classical music world and making him a sought-after soloist for some of the world's most prestigious orchestras. Music critics of the time described Fleisher as ``transcendent,'' and that he had ``this kind of Apollonian perfection . . . When you hear something that he's playing, you think that is the way it needs to be played.'' prgtoken But Fleisher's true greatness became clear when, at the age of 36, he received the catastrophic diagnosis of Focal Dystonia, which lost him the use of his right hand. While he faced many years of failed treatments and depression, he never lost hope. Instead, he found strength in the healing power of music. Harnessing his extraordinary talents, he continued the work he loved, becoming a master of the left hand repertoire; passing on his knowledge and expertise to younger generations of musicians as a teacher at The Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland; and forming the acclaimed Theater Chamber Players, now based at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He also served as Artistic Director of the Tanglewood Music Center, Resident Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra. prgtoken In 1995, more than three decades after his initial diagnosis, Fleisher found a course of treatment that allowed him to slowly regain use of his right hand that had eluded him for so long. In reflecting on his years of struggle, Fleisher noted, ``There are forces out there, and if you keep yourself open to them, if you go along with them, there are wondrous surprises.'' prgtoken Fleisher received many awards and accolades over the years, including being named a Commander in the Order of Arts and Letters by the Minister of Culture of the French government and a 2007 Kennedy Center Honor--fitting tributes to a remarkable career. prgtoken Fleisher's musical brilliance and visionary career strengthened and enriched the artistic fabric of our nation. He leaves a profound legacy for his countless students
HOUSING
Catherine Cortez Masto (Democrat, NV) \u2014 2020-8-11

oftentimes, when I am home and I am talking to constituents in Nevada, they look at Washington as a bubble. They don't really think that things happen here unless they see it on the news or they have no trust in us really coming together to work on behalf of our constituents. prgtoken I think it is time we focus on what needs to be done in the best interest of our country than focusing on political gain or gamesmanship. prgtoken The reason why I say that is, I don't know about the President pro tempore, but I know every single Senator comes from a State, and they care about their constituents. They get emails from their constituents and letters from their constituents. When we go home, we claim to be in a recess, but it is not really a recess. We are home working. We are talking to our constituents and businesses and the individuals who are there. And if we are really listening to our constituents, particularly at a time like now, when this pandemic has created the worst health crisis we have seen not just in this country but around the world and has contributed to an economic crisis, then we are hearing from our constituents that they are struggling right now. prgtoken The reason they are struggling is because we have asked them to stay at home and shelter in place to stem the spread of this virus. We have said: Listen, we don't have a vaccine. We are working on it, but we don't have it right away. We need to ramp up our tests so we can make sure you can get it, and quickly, to determine whether you have this virus or the antibodies so we can then quarantine you and shelter you. But until we even get to that point, we have asked everybody to stay home. And they have done it. prgtoken I know in my State of Nevada, we have the highest unemployment rate in this country right now--25 percent. prgtoken Businesses have shuttered. People have stayed home to help us stem the spread of this virus. What we told them months ago is that, if you do this, we will be there. Our Federal Government will be there to work with you. We will help you. We will make sure you have money in your pocket so you can afford healthcare, so you can pay your bills, so you can pay your rent, you can pay for your food, so you do not have to have any economic insecurity. We made that commitment to them. We promised them. prgtoken I have to say that we still have to follow that obligation. They are doing their part, so why aren't we doing ours? prgtoken At the end of the day, the President pro tempore and I both know, and all of our colleagues know, that there is more economic insecurity in this country right now than we have ever seen before because of this pandemic: food insecurity, housing insecurity, job insecurity, education insecurity. There is a homework gap. We know it. It is happening. So now it is time for us to stop the posturing, stop the political gamesmanship and really do what we committed when we swore an oath to
CORONAVIRUS
Roy Blunt (Republican, MO) \u2014 2020-8-12

I think the President of the United States has done the things he can do within his authority to try to address the issues before us, but the truth is, his authority just doesn't go far enough. prgtoken Now, I have frequently questioned the President's view of how broad the Presidential authority is, but in these actions he took in the last few days, I looked at them carefully, and I think he had the authority to do what he did, but he would probably be the first to admit that the authority he has doesn't solve the problem the way it needs to be solved. prgtoken It is time that the Congress stepped up and did its job. You know, in this debate with the President, there is the article I view of the government. There is a reason that the legislative branch is article I. There is a reason it is our job to pass laws, and there is a reason that it is the President's job to execute those laws. Occasionally, the President has to act quicker on some emergency basis than the Congress, and within the fairly narrow ability he has to act on this issue, he has tried his best to step up where the Congress has failed to step up. prgtoken My good friend from Virginia just said: Well, the House bill is $3 trillion, and the Senate bill is $1 trillion. We should figure out how to compromise at $2 trillion. Now, I believe in compromise. I think it is the essence of democracy, but compromise actually has to be based on some principle of the issue you are dealing with. You know, if the House bill had been $5 trillion, I guess the logic would be that we compromise at $3 trillion. If they had known that, their bill would have probably been $5 trillion. prgtoken When the bill was passed, it was described by more than one reporter as a ic wish list or the ultimate campaign platform having everything in it. It was described by a whole lot more than one reporter that about a third of their bill had nothing to do with COVID, and another third of their bill is about the big question of what we can do to help State and local government. prgtoken Let's put that issue aside for a minute. It is an issue that clearly the House feels strongly about. Clearly, there are challenges to governments, particularly at the local level, I think, and that has to be dealt with in some way and maybe not at the $871 billion level or whatever they have suggested. But that is a different issue that I will, first of all, concede is very much part of the discussion and should be. prgtoken But if you take out the third of the bill that has nothing to do with COVID--let's get that off the table. We could have a debate about whether people who are in the legal marijuana trade should get access to banking, but I think you have to work really hard to make that a COVID issue. We could have a debate about whether the Federal Government should require every State in the country to allow ballot harvesting, but I think that is very hard to make a CO
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
Steve Daines (Republican, MT) \u2014 2020-8-12

this week I have the honor of recognizing the women of the TreasureBelles out of Treasure County for their efforts to promote Montana ag in their community. prgtoken The TreasureBelles are made up of over 20 women who have made it their goal to promote and highlight the importance of beef through various efforts to integrate agriculture into different community organizations and events. prgtoken The TreasureBelles enjoy hosting Ag Day at the school in Hysham each Spring, feeding Lions Club members each month, serving food at the annual StreetFest, and rallying community members together to donate beef for student lunches. prgtoken The TreasureBelles are also proud members of the Montana Cattlewomen Association and the American National Cattlewomen Association. prgtoken It is my honor to recognize the TreasureBelles for their commitment to Montana ag, and I applaud their efforts to serve their fellow Montanans in the Treasure County community.
CORONAVIRUS
Catherine Cortez Masto (Democrat, NV) \u2014 2020-8-12

you know, as I sit and listen to my colleague from Virginia, I can't agree more. Now is the time, really, for us to come together to do what the Senate traditionally does best, and that is working on the best interests of the people across this country who are struggling right now. prgtoken Compromise is not a bad word. It is time for us to get in a room and really do the job that the American public expects us to do, and that is looking out for their best interests at a time when we have a healthcare pandemic. Now, keep in mind that this is a once-in-a- lifetime pandemic--once in a lifetime. So that requires us to come together and really focus on how we help Americans across this country who are struggling right now. They shouldn't be penalized. prgtoken We have asked them to stay home and shelter in place because we are trying to address how we do the research that is necessary for a vaccine. Hopefully, one day, we will have that vaccine. We need to ramp up the testing that is needed so everybody can feel safe and comfortable knowing whether they have this virus or not or the antibody, but we are not there yet because more work needs to be done, particularly by this Congress. prgtoken The American public has heard us, and they are sheltering in place, they are staying home, and they have shuttered their businesses. Now, more than ever, this country needs the Senate to act. prgtoken The House has done its job 2 months ago. They worked a comprehensive package, and I say ``comprehensive'' because we can't just pick and choose winners and losers here. This isn't what this is about. This is about making sure we are bringing relief and helping those across this country. Everybody is impacted. We have promised them: If you do what we say and we help stem the spread of this virus, we are going to have your backs, and we are going to take care of you. prgtoken I will say that we have failed at that. This administration has failed. We have failed at that promise. I know when we all go to our offices or we go home to our States, we are hearing from our constituents. We get emails, we get calls, and we get letters. I know you all feel the same as I do, and we read them and we listen to them. I don't know of one State in this country right now where somebody is not suffering from this pandemic who needs our help. prgtoken I know that is why I am here, because we all took the oath. We said we are going to be here to work in the best interests of our States and this country and to make sure that those individuals across this country who pay our salaries--those taxpayers--expect us to do our jobs and work. And that is what I am asking for right now. prgtoken You know, I have been to the floor of the Senate this week to talk about the struggles that I see in my State. We all get letters, and I do want to focus today on one. There are so many, and that is why a comprehensive package is necessary. Right now, I wou
VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION
Tim Kaine (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2020-8-12

I rise today to speak about the latest coronavirus emergency aid package, but before I do, as a matter of personal privilege, I want to offer some comments in praise of a colleague. prgtoken Just as we gather together, regardless of party, to mourn when a colleague dies or be together with a colleague who is undergoing a challenge, I think it is good to gather together and acknowledge when something positive happens to a colleague, regardless of our political affiliation. prgtoken This is the first opportunity on the Senate floor to offer a word about Senator , one of our colleagues, who, in a historic move, was asked by another former Senate colleague, Vice President , to join him as his preferred nominee to be Vice President of the United States. prgtoken I have come to know Senator in her 4 years in the Senate, as many of us have, through her service on especially the Judiciary Committee and the Intelligence Committee. prgtoken Her public service track record is a significant one worthy of praise, from her work as a district attorney, first a line prosecutor, and then the elected district attorney in San Francisco, where she focused on trying to keep her community safe, to serving as California's attorney general, broadening the portfolio to include environmental justice and consumer protection, and now her work in the Senate since 2016. prgtoken What I find so compelling about Senator , in addition to her track record of public service during a very long career, is her personal story. Raised as the child of two immigrants, a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, as so many in this country raised as children of immigrants, she developed a passion to serve and a patriotic love of country. prgtoken She is the first African-American woman nominee ever to be on a ticket. She is the first person of South Asian descent ever to be on a ticket. And in the year 2020, when we are commemorating the 100th anniversary of the amendment that guaranteed women the right to vote, I can think of no prgtoken greater way to celebrate a centennial than for one of our colleagues who is a woman to have a chance to break a glass ceiling that still has existed, whereby no woman in this country has ever been a Vice President or President. prgtoken We are so good at so much in this country. In fact, we are so good at many things with regard to women in this country, but we are sort of uniquely bad in electing women to higher office. In Congress right now, 24 percent of Congress is women, and that ranks us 76th in the world in terms of our percentage of women in a national legislative body. We are tied with Afghanistan, but we trail Iraq and Mexico and many other nations. prgtoken So regardless of how it all works out between now and November, and regardless of our own political affiliations, this is a good day, I believe, for the country and a good day for the Senate when 1 of the 100 i
CORONAVIRUS
Tim Kaine (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2020-8-13

here we go again. Another day has passed. Nothing has happened--no incremental progress, no compromise. To some it might just be one day, but for too many Americans, another day fighting for your health or how you will pay your rent or how you will feed your kids is a brutal and terrifying thing. prgtoken What is one more day to an average American? It might be a day closer to the rent being due without having money to pay it. It might be another day with insufficient unemployment benefits while bills pile up. It might be another day closer to possibly needing SNAP assistance or help from a food bank. prgtoken One more day could mean constrained testing supplies don't pick up as many cases of COVID-19, so the carriers can isolate and protect others. One day today means for one of my staffers--it was move-in day for his oldest daughter at college, but because she couldn't get her test result back quickly enough, that experience, which is an exciting one for a young person, could not happen. prgtoken These are not simple legislative days while we follow a negotiation strategy. These are days when Americans are struggling and suffering, and we are not responding. prgtoken are here. We are ready to compromise any day. In fact, we have already offered to meet the White House halfway on the size of the relief effort. Our meet-in-the-middle offer was rebuffed Friday, and it was rejected by the White House again yesterday. prgtoken I have heard the majority leader today and on other days characterize the Heroes Act in his remarks as a ic wish list. So what I would like to do is walk through the ic and proposals side by side. At every step I hope listeners will ask themselves: Which of these agendas is oriented to helping Americans through hard times? prgtoken The ic proposal includes this: continuing expanded unemployment benefits for the duration of this prgtoken crisis; cash assistance for struggling families to avoid eviction and foreclosure rather than just delaying bills and piling up debt; sufficient funding and flexibility for State and local governments so that we don't have a second wave of job loss when those governments are forced to cut their budgets, and so they don't have to cut vital programs and lay off first responders during a global health pandemic; sufficient childcare funding both to help working families and to allow childcare providers to reopen so that we can get back to work; providing K-12 schools with the funding they need regardless of how they choose to reopen so that they can effectively educate students; ensuring every American can have access to free treatment for coronavirus; helping families keep food on the table by giving an increase in the SNAP benefit plus additional funding for nutrition programs; continuing support for America's small businesses; protection for the integrity of our elections during a period of uncertaint
RECESS SUBJECT TO THE CALL OF THE CHAIR
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2020-8-13

for the information of all Senators, after the Senate adjourns today, we will have our regular pro forma meetings through the end of the State work period. prgtoken If the of the House and the minority leader of the Senate decide to finally let another rescue package move forward for workers and for families, it would take bipartisan consent to meet for legislative business sooner than scheduled. As has been the case, prgtoken Senators would receive at least 24-hours' notice before any unanticipated votes. prgtoken The American people need more help. The coronavirus is not finished with our country, so Congress cannot be finished helping our people. The s have been waiting and trying to pass bipartisan relief, literally, for weeks. I hope our ic colleagues will let the Senate act sometime soon.
HONORING SPC. VANESSA GUILLEN
Sylvia R. Garcia (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2020-8-14

. Madam , I rise today to honor my constituent, Specialist (Spc.) Vanessa Guillen--a daughter, a sister, and a beloved member of the Southeast Houston community. She was a beautiful, talented, and intelligent 20-year old Latina soldier who tragically went missing on April 22, 2020 after she was brutally murdered by another soldier at Fort Hood. prgtoken Spc. Vanessa Guillen was born on September 30, 1999 to her loving parents Rogelio and Gloria Guillen, and was one of six brothers and sisters. Her father Rogelio likes to recount the story of how Vanessa dreamed of joining the U.S. Army since she was 12 years old. She would often tell him, ``Papa yo me quiero inscribir en el Army. I want to enlist in the Army.'' She felt a deep sense of love for America and the Army represented an opportunity for a better life--her shot at achieving the American Dream. She worked really hard towards this goal and in 2018 she graduated in the top 15 percent of her class from Cesar E. Chavez High School where she loved playing soccer. Shortly after her graduation, Vanessa fulfilled her dream to serve our country by enlisting in the Army where she was trained as a 91F, small arms/ artillery repairer. prgtoken Unfortunately, her dream turned into a true nightmare. Before her murder and disappearance, Vanessa confided in her family that she felt unsafe at Fort Hood due to experiences with sexual harassment. She did not file a report out of fear of retaliation. The Army failed her and the Guillen family, and all those responsible for this failure must be held responsible. prgtoken Vanessa did not deserve to die the way she did, and her story has hit so many of us in our hearts, especially in the Latino community of Houston. We mourn with the Guillen family because Vanessa was one of us. So many of us have sisters, daughters, nieces, cousins, and friends who could have easily been Vanessa because so many Latinas have answered the call to serve our country. prgtoken Unfortunately, Vanessa's story is not unique. In response to this case, current and former Latina servicemembers have demonstrated incredible bravery in sharing their experiences with sexual harassment and assault in the military. Their stories reinforce the troubling reality that too often female servicemembers do not report their sexual trauma because they fear how their chain of command will respond. This is not only wrong, but Vanessa's story has galvanized efforts across the country to put an end to a culture that perpetuates sexual assault and harassment in the military. We must seize this opportunity to ensure this never happens again to another soldier or their family. prgtoken Madam , the Guillen family, current and former female servicemembers, and everyone in the Houston region, myself included, ask that we make sure that what happened to Vanessa Guillen never happens again, so not one more family has to suffer like the Guillens have. prgtoken We want justice fo