mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE SURFACE NAVY
Nanette Diaz Barragán (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2020-9-24

commissioned in 1943, the USS Iowa was the most powerful American warship of her time. The ship saw action in World War II, and even transported President Franklin D. Roosevelt. prgtoken Since 2012, the battleship has been berthed in my district in San Pedro, California. prgtoken Today, Senator Feinstein and I introduced a resolution to formally name the Battleship USS Iowa Museum the ``National Museum of the Surface Navy.'' This resolution honors the men and women who have served and continue to serve in the surface forces of our Nation by designating this museum as a monument to their sacrifice. prgtoken In decades past, the USS Iowa defended our Nation. Today, it educates the next generation as a museum and promotes the causes of veterans. prgtoken Given the challenges of operating the museum in the COVID-19 era, I say thank you to the dedicated people who have kept this museum afloat--literally.
JUSTICE FOR BREONNA TAYLOR
Al Green (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2020-9-24

and still I rise. prgtoken , and still I rise in the name of justice for Breonna Taylor. prgtoken , it has been widely reported that the death of Breonna Taylor is a tragedy. Her death is being reported as a tragedy: a tragedy because she was innocent, she committed no crime; a tragedy because it happened in her home in the midnight hour; a tragedy because she was unarmed. It has been reported that her death was a tragedy. prgtoken But there is a question, , about her death that we have to ask that few want to hear, because few want to consider the answer. But this is the preeminent question as it relates to her death, a question that will haunt us because of the history that we have with race relations in this country. prgtoken We have to ask the question. It is a question that the status quo doesn't want to hear, because the status quo is concerned about the answer. It is a question that deals with systemic discrimination. prgtoken Today I ask the question: If Breonna Taylor were a 26-year-old innocent White woman--innocent White woman, innocent White woman--who was killed in the middle of the night when Black police officers intruded into her home, prgtoken would her death be a tragedy or a crime?
CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2021 AND OTHER EXTENSIONS ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED
Kirsten E. Gillibrand (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2020-9-24

I rise today to remember a daughter of New York and an American giant. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an icon, a legend, and a role model for so many people, myself included. We may never see a jurist with her kind of courage again in our lifetimes. prgtoken The daughter of an immigrant furrier and Garment District bookkeeper, born and raised in Brooklyn, she pushed back against every expectation and limitation that society had for her and rose to the bench of the highest Court in the land. She was a brilliant legal mind, an unparalleled jurist, an opera fan, fearless dissenter, and the ``Notorious RBG.'' prgtoken Justice Ginsburg spent her whole life fighting against injustices, those she faced personally and those she could not abide in society. prgtoken When Ruth Bader Ginsburg went to law school, she was one of just 9 women in her class of 500. She graduated at the top of her class but was rejected by law firm after law firm because she was a woman and because she was a mother. Undaunted, she found a different path to success. prgtoken She educated generations of law students at Rutgers and Columbia and spent her time outside the classroom at the ACLU, becoming an architect of the plan to eradicate gender discrimination. One strategically chosen case at a time, she proved to a male-dominated legal system that discrimination on the basis of sex is real. She was a trailblazer. She took herself to places that few women had ever been, and she took the law to places it had never been. prgtoken She stood for all of us. She stood against discrimination in all its forms. She was someone who fundamentally understood the gifts that people have to give to this country regardless of one's sex, one's gender orientation, one's race, or one's background. prgtoken She knew that the words etched in stone above the entrance of the Supreme Court--``Equal Justice Under Law''--were still a goal, not a given, and she fought to make them a reality every day of her life. prgtoken As has been noted, in the Jewish tradition, only those of great righteousness die on Rosh Hashanah--because God determined that they were needed until the end. Justice Ginsburg was truly someone of great righteousness, and at the very end, she left us with one final message: ``My most fervent wish is that I not be replaced until a new president is installed.'' prgtoken She asked us to respect the right of the American people to be heard, but within just hours of her passing, that wish was denied by Members of this body. prgtoken The hypocrisy of my colleagues is breathtaking. The same Members rushing this process are the very same ones who denied Merrick Garland hearings because his nomination was supposedly too close to an election. He was nominated in March. It is nearly October. This election is not just close. It is already happening. People across the country are already casting their ballots. Yet this is about more than rank hypocrisy.
RECOGNIZING NATIONAL CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY WEEK
Dina Titus (Democrat, NV) \u2014 2020-9-24

. Madam , I rise today during National Child Passenger Safety Week (September 20-26, 2020) to recognize the great strides we have made protecting our most vulnerable passengers: our children. We have moved from a high in the 1970's of over 6,000 deaths annually of children under 14 to fewer than 1,300 such deaths in 2018. While one death is too many, this is a monumental shift. Much of our progress is the result of child passenger safety (CPS) efforts to secure children correctly in car seats that meet federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS) and are installed correctly in vehicles during every ride. prgtoken Today, motor vehicle crashes remain a leading cause of childhood injuries and fatalities and there is more we can do to protect children. The more than 43,000 nationally certified child passenger safety technicians (CPSTs) are a great resource for new parents and caregivers who need help with the proper installation and use of car seats. Their expertise in choosing and installing car seats has saved lives, and there is a new platform to help them do this important job even better. prgtoken Over the past several years, the National Digital Car Seat Check Form (NDCF) was created through a partnership of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), AAA Northern California, Nevada, and Utah, the National Child Passenger Safety Board (NCPSB), Tennessee Tech University's iCube, and Westat. The NDCF, managed by the National Safety Council, is the first national electronic car seat check data collection tool that is available to all nationally certified child passenger safety technicians in the United States. prgtoken In addition to streamlining the collection of national data, this information can assist state child passenger safety coordinators in considering where services may need to be expanded to meet the needs of all families, including those in rural and underserved communities. In fact, this data can help support the provisions I authored in H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, to support expansion of CPST training for underserved populations. prgtoken Highway Safety Offices can tailor state marketing campaigns that address child passenger safety and include information about the highest forms of car seat misuse in their state. Further, available data will lend insight into trends and patterns regarding misuse of car seats and vehicle compatibility. This information has the potential to influence engineering and design of car seats and vehicles and subsequently increase safety for vehicle occupants. prgtoken The NDCF has been in development for almost four years through an iterative process involving diverse representation from the field of child passenger safety. As of September 20, 2020, 2,743 CPSTs have created NDCF user accounts and more than 31,000 car seat check forms have been submitted to the system. Every state in the United States has registered CPSTs and has submitted data to
EXPANDING ACCESS TO SUSTAINABLE ENERGY ACT OF 2019
Frank Pallone, Jr. (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2020-9-24

. Madam , such time as I may consume. prgtoken Madam , I include in the Record letters that we received in support of the legislation from U.S. PIRG and the League of Conservation Voters. Dear Katie: On behalf of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Environment America and our tens of thousands of members, we urge you to support the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act (H.R. 4447). U.S. PIRG and Environment America will consider scoring final passage and certain amendments on our annual scorecard. The American West is on fire, East Coast and Midwest communities are facing major flooding, and southern states are being battered with hurricanes. The climate crisis is here and if we want to have any chance of avoiding its worst impacts, it is imperative that we take swift action. The ``Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act'' marks significant progress in the transition to a clean energy future and in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Among the most impactful pieces, the legislation includes provisions that: Phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are extraordinarily potent climate pollutants, with hundreds to thousands of times the heat-trapping power of CO2; Reauthorize the Energy Efficiency Conservation and Block Grant (EECBG) program, which provides $17.5 billion in funding for schools, homes, government buildings, and manufacturing facilities to improve efficiency and deploy energy-efficient technologies; Invest over $36 billion for transportation electrification, including grants and rebates to deploy electric vehicles and related charging infrastructure; Direct DOE to establish new model building codes for states to improve energy efficiency; Preserve a policy that will eliminate all fossil fuel- generated energy from federal buildings by the year 2030. In addition to supporting the overarching bill, U.S. PIRG and Environment America urge the following votes on amendments: Yes on Amendment 32. This amendment, sponsored by Reps. Haaland, Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez increases authorizations for renewable energy R&D accounts by 50% and adds an authorization for total funding for research, development, demonstration and commercialization activities for energy efficiency and renewable energy R&D. Yes on En Bloc 1, Yes on En Bloc 2, No on En Bloc 3, YES on En Bloc 4. Sincerely, Katie Murtha, Vice President of Government Affairs, U.S. PIRG and Environment America.
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTION
Dianne Feinstein (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2020-9-24

I rise today to introduce legislation to stop the fraudulent sales of guns online. While some technology companies have banned selling of firearms and ammunition on their websites, the problem persists. prgtoken For example, Facebook banned selling firearms. Nonetheless, between last April and June, it reportedly still had to remove 1.3 million pieces of content from its website that violated Facebook's terms of service related to gun sales. prgtoken In order to circumvent the terms of service, sellers are using new tactics, like misrepresenting guns as ``stickers,'' to get around these restrictions. prgtoken An August 24, Wall Street Journal article explored how gun sellers are specifically using this new tactic on Facebook's Marketplace. prgtoken According to the article, sellers are using ``a new tactic [that] involves posts purporting to sell stickers, alongside images of gun makers' logos.'' prgtoken However, when contacted, these sellers admitted that they're actually selling guns. prgtoken Even more troubling, the article said the recent ``boom'' in Americans buying guns ``has been attributed to the new coronavirus pandemic, civil unrest related to the killing of George Floyd and efforts in some cities to defund the police.'' prgtoken As a result, there has been a recent spike in failed background checks. prgtoken Politico reported in July that: ``The number of people trying to buy guns who can't legally own them has skyrocketed.'' prgtoken For example, in February, the background check system blocked 9,700 sales. prgtoken In March, the system blocked 23,692 gun sales--more than double the previous month and the previous March. prgtoken The bill I'm introducing today addresses this problem by making it illegal for gun sellers to circumvent websites' terms of service as yet another way to avoid a background check. prgtoken It would make it a Federal crime to sell guns on websites like Facebook ``by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations of promises.'' Doing so would be a felony with a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. prgtoken I also want to thank Senator Menendez for joining with me to introduce this legislation. prgtoken His efforts to keep technology companies accountable for the proliferation of firearms on their platforms has been vital in addressing the problem. prgtoken Our bill today is part of a larger effort that needs to be taken to stop the plague of gun violence hurting this country. prgtoken But I hope others will join us in this commonsense effort. prgtoken Thank you, . .
EXPANDING ACCESS TO SUSTAINABLE ENERGY ACT OF 2019
Diana DeGette (Democrat, CO) \u2014 2020-9-24

I would just say that the debate has been brief, but the substance of this en bloc amendment is large--many amendments designed in totality to deal with climate change to help our environment and to help make sure that we support disadvantaged communities in this country and communities affected by environmental justice issues. prgtoken So I would just urge a ``yes'' vote on this en bloc amendment, and .
Election Security (Executive Session)
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2020-9-24

. Our adversaries sow disinformation in our society and seek to influence our elections. Vladimir Putin will stop at nothing to diminish Western democracies. A resurgent China wants to take America's place on the world stage. But the gravest threat to our democracy right now does not come from any foreign capital; it comes from our own. The gravest threat to democracy in America is President . prgtoken Yesterday, at a news conference, President refused to commit to the peaceful transfer of power should he lose the election in 41 days. Let me repeat that. Yesterday, at a news conference, President refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the election in 41 days. ``Well, we're going to have to see what happens,'' he said. ``I've been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.'' prgtoken Pressed further, the President said: ``Get rid of the ballots . . . there won't be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation.'' ``Get rid of the ballots . . . there won't be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation.'' prgtoken Those are all his words: Get rid of voting; get rid of the ballots. Just let him stay in power whatever illicit way he chooses to do so. That is what he is saying. prgtoken Now, everyone from school children to the most senior among us knows that the peaceful transfer of power is one of democracy's core attributes. There is no democracy without it. Like the rule of law, the separation of powers, checks and balances, everything we have learned that is great and noble about our system in government, President has sullied, diminished, and now he threatens to actually dismantle. The greatest threat to American democracy right now is . prgtoken The President issued similar threats in the runup to the 2016 election, and he is doing it again now. If I win, the election is legitimate, argues the President, but if I lose, it is rigged. That is what he is saying now--again: If I win, the election is legitimate, but if I lose, it is rigged. By the way, I may just stay in office and not count the ballots. prgtoken Unbelievable. prgtoken The gravest threat to American democracy right now is President . Save for a few, the majority here in the Senate practically brushes by it: They don't know the full context. Oh, the President says crazy things. Maybe he was joking. prgtoken They are willing to continue ramming through a Supreme Court Justice whom the President said is needed ``before the election . . . because [the election] will be before the United States Supreme Court.'' prgtoken Where are our colleagues? This is not a partisan issue. Democracy is at stake. Every constituent from every corner of the land, regardless of party or ideology, should be asking the Senators to speak out and demand that not be allowed to do what he says he is going to do and say
EXPANDING ACCESS TO SUSTAINABLE ENERGY ACT OF 2019
Ben Ray Luján (Democrat, NM) \u2014 2020-9-24

I would also be happy to share this with my colleague and my friend from Louisiana. The CBO score on this is zero. So I will make sure I hand this over to him, as well, to take a look. prgtoken , at home in New Mexico, we are very proud of our national labs, three national labs, two at the Department of Energy. New Mexico has seen the value that the United States Department of Energy brings to the fight against COVID-19. prgtoken Through our national labs, the Department has provided support to the National Institutes of Health and other government agencies, leveraged its scientific resources, but did a lot of work to improve the epidemiological models and much more. prgtoken The Department of Energy has another important role to play by helping to restart America's innovation economy, creating jobs, and moving us toward economic recovery. prgtoken My amendment with Representatives Wilson, Torres Small, and Casten, and based on the IMPACT for Energy Act, would help the Department achieve these goals by establishing the Department of Energy-affiliated nonprofit foundation to raise private-sector funds and leverage expertise that supports the research, development, and commercial application of technologies that address our Nation's energy challenges and combat climate change. prgtoken This model works. The National Institutes of Health, CDC, and USDA foundations have already demonstrated that they can raise billions of private-sector dollars to support research and innovation. And innovation, in turn, drives economic growth. prgtoken To enhance these efforts as part of the clean energy economy, we have the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act. prgtoken We will also be advancing my legislation to improve innovators' access to national lab facilities and to develop the next generation of tech leaders through partnership between national labs and institutions of higher education. prgtoken , I urge my colleagues to support this en bloc amendment and the underlying bill.
HONORING THE LIFE OF PATRICK BEAUREGARD
Jamie Raskin (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2020-9-24

. Madam , I rise today to honor the extraordinary life of Patrick Beauregard, who passed away on September 6, 2020 at the age of 29 after battling stage IV young-onset colorectal cancer. Patrick will be remembered as a compassionate, loyal and thoughtful man, and I had the good fortune of spending time with him during his grueling battle against the disease. prgtoken Patrick was raised in Massachusetts and went to college in Rhode Island. Following his college graduation, he fulfilled his lifelong dream of serving in the military. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in April 2013 and served as an Intelligence Analyst until he was honorably discharged in July 2019. Throughout his service, Patrick received commendations for his exceptional leadership, initiative, loyalty and dedication to duty. prgtoken During his grueling 40 rounds of treatment--something his Marine training helped him endure--I had the honor of meeting with Patrick to discuss how Congress can contribute to the fight against colorectal cancer. He was passionate about advocating for greater research funds and generating national awareness about young-onset colorectal cancer. Although Patrick eventually lost his years long struggle with the disease, his advocacy work will continue to benefit and give hope to countless colorectal cancer patients and their families for years to come. prgtoken Throughout his 3-year battle, Patrick remained remarkably positive. Prior to his passing, Patrick was able to accomplish his final goal of meeting his son, Noah Patrick, born on July 10, 2020. Patrick is survived by his wife, Amanda, and by Noah. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the precious and irreplaceable life of Patrick Beauregard. He will be missed dearly.
EXTENDING THE UNDERTAKING SPAM, SPYWARE, AND FRAUD ENFORCEMENT WITH ENFORCERS BEYOND BORDERS ACT OF 2006
Patrick J. Leahy (Democrat, VT) \u2014 2020-9-24

in a few moments we are going to vote on the motion to proceed to H.R. 8337, the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2021 and Other Extensions Act of 2020. prgtoken I will speak a little bit about what is in there, but I will urge all Members to vote aye. prgtoken The bill provides funding for the government through December 11 at fiscal year 2020 funding levels. It will be under the same terms and conditions contained in the fiscal year 2020 appropriations laws. These were the laws that Chairman Shelby and I brought to the floor and have been voted on. prgtoken It includes several authorization matters to extend programs that otherwise would expire, including some important health and veteran programs. prgtoken So as vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee, I support the bill, but I am disappointed that it is needed at all. prgtoken As I have said many times, we had ample--ample time in the Senate to complete our work on the 12 appropriations bills, but we didn't mark up a single one. In June, July, we could have passed all 12 of them, but the majority leader wouldn't even bring up a single one of them. prgtoken Apparently, he is more interested in confirming extreme rightwing judges than moving legislation to address the needs of the American people, including appropriations bills or critical legislation to combat the COVID virus and its impact on families and the economy. prgtoken I chuckle, too, in a way ruefully because, of course, my friends on the other side--especially if there is a ic administration--say they must follow the Thurman rule, named after their revered former President pro tempore from the side, that you cannot have any confirmations after the first of July. But, of course, they have forgotten their own rule when they have a President. We all know the facts on that, but I think what the American people have to understand is that because of the time we spent on that, because of the refusal to even allow 1--even 1--of the 12 appropriations bills to come up for a vote and allow everybody to either vote for it or against it--and with s having a majority, if they didn't like anything in it, they could vote it down. But saying that, no, we want to talk about it, but we are kind of afraid to actually have to vote on it--I don't know why we are afraid to vote. That is what we get elected to do. prgtoken I have cast over 16,000 votes in this body. Actually, I was told today that is more than all but 1 of the nearly 2,000 Senators who have served here. prgtoken But what we have done is we have conceded we can't do our most basic job of completing appropriations bills on time, and in doing that, we have failed to address an unprecedented health and economic crisis for months. prgtoken Last week more than 870,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits for the first time. It is not 870,000 Americans who have filed in the past; this is 8