mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF LEO VIRGINIUS WILLIAMS, JR.
Elaine G. Luria (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2022-12-14

. Madam , I rise today to honor the life of Leo Virginius Williams, Jr. prgtoken Born on April 14, 1926, to the late Bessie and Leo V. Williams, Sr Leo Williams was a Norfolk native and a 1943 graduate of Booker T. Washington High School. He was also a 1951 graduate of Norfolk Division of Virginia State College, a 1953 graduate of Virginia State University, and a 1963 graduate of the University of Virginia. prgtoken Mr. Williams served his country in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946 as a Pharmacist Mate Third Class before beginning college. He was among the first African Americans in the U.S. Navy to serve in the Medical Corps and among the first African Americans to receive a graduate degree from the University of Virginia. prgtoken Following his graduation from Virginia State University, Mr. Williams began his career as an educator teaching math and business at Ruffner Middle School. He also served as the principal at Titustown, Robert E. Lee, and Oceanair Elementary Schools. Robert E. Lee was one of the first integrated schools for staff members in 1963, and Oceanair Elementary School was one of the first to have an African American principal. Leo's calm spirit and commitment to educating our students demonstrated a level of excellence quickly noted by the community and his superiors. prgtoken From 1967 to 1969, Mr. Williams served as the Assistant Director of the Norfolk Model Cities Program as a representative from the Norfolk School Board. He was promoted to Assistant Director of Pupil Personnel in Norfolk Public Schools (NPS). With this promotion, he became the first African American to serve on the Urban Assistance Incentive Fund Advisory Committee appointed by Former Governor Mills E. Godwin, Jr. In 1971, Mr. Williams became the Director of Pupil Personnel for the Norfolk School Board. He was also the first African American to serve in this role and was appointed to serve on the Urban Assistance Incentive Fund Advisory Committee by Former Governor Linwood Holton. prgtoken Mr. Williams retired in 1995 with more than 40 years of service to NPS. In 1998, he became an adjunct professor at Norfolk State University, where he taught school law and school community relations at the graduate level. In 2010, he returned to Norfolk Public Schools, where he remained until 2016. He retired again in 2016 at the tender age of 90 after years of service to our community. prgtoken Mr. Williams' commitment to our children and improving our education system is inspiring. I am proud to honor and recognize his leadership and legacy. Coastal Virginia is a better place because of him.
Tribute to Richard Burr (Executive Calendar)
Mark R. Warner (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2022-12-14

it is with a mixture of sorrow and pride that I rise today to pay tribute to my good friend the senior Senator from North Carolina. prgtoken I was thinking about the fact that Senator Blunt, who is sitting in front of you, we were here for his farewell speech the other day, and our good friend Rob Portman, who is behind you, we will be here for his--we are losing a lot of great Members this Congress, and the folks who are going to follow them will not replace them. They have got big shoes to fill. prgtoken I mean, we are celebrating Richard's 18 years in the Senate and 10 years in the House--28 years of doing this stuff. Senator Burr and I first got to know each other actually through a mutual friend early on in my Senate career in kind of a strange set of circumstances. I had become really good friends with Saxby Chambliss, and Saxby and Richard were running buddies. I would run along with them sometimes. prgtoken And John Thune, as you know, Richard is a pretty open-minded guy. But I got to acknowledge, and I shouldn't probably do this in front of everyone, but I am not sure he initially took to me that well. Now, my staff has occasionally called me slightly intense, and Richard has more than a few times asked whether I was getting my daily meds to stay on that equilibrium. So much for that. prgtoken But in contrast, Richard Burr is a low-key kind of guy. As Senator Thune has already mentioned, and every Senator has made mention or noticed or made fun of his lack of socks. We have seen the migration of his Thing from outside the Russell Building to maybe its permanent resting place now in the garage at Hart. I park next to it almost every day, and I hope that you will leave it there in perpetuity. prgtoken But despite where we started off, with us being a little bit of an odd couple, we have formed an enormously strong partnership, and for me it was, more importantly, a strong friendship. prgtoken For 5 years, Richard preceded me as chairman of the Intelligence Committee. He had been on the Intelligence Committee since he came to Congress. I have learned so, so much from him, not only on the substance, which is terribly important, but there are a whole series of issues and extraordinarily important work where I never really got up to speed because I trusted his judgment. prgtoken But really what he did is he set the tone for how the committee ought to operate--a committee that frankly doesn't get as much attention as most because so much of what we do is behind closed doors. The reason why the Senate Intelligence Committee has stayed bipartisan, the reason why it is so productive, the reason why we get year after year an intelligence authorization bill out virtually unanimously--never more than one or two votes against--has a lot to do with Richard Burr. prgtoken My friend whom he served with in the House, the dean of the Virginia delegation, Congressman Bobby Scott, has often referred to, arou
THE GREAT PRIVILEGE OF SERVING THE PEOPLE OF RHODE ISLAND'S SECOND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
James R. Langevin (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2022-12-14

I rise today with mixed emotions, as this will likely be the final time that I speak in front of this Chamber as a Member of Congress. prgtoken For the last 22 years, I have had the great privilege of serving the people of Rhode Island's Second Congressional District. It has been the honor of my lifetime to represent the voice and vote of my constituents, and I am so humbled by the faith and the trust that they have placed in me all these years. prgtoken After my accident, it was my community that was there for me when I needed them the most, and it was their constant love and support, along with my family, which ultimately inspired me to run for office as a way of giving back. prgtoken My journey to recovery was not always an easy one, but thanks to my family, my faith, and my community, I was able to move forward and become the first quadriplegic ever elected to the United States Congress. prgtoken For the last 36 years, I have woken up every day with one goal in mind: giving good public service to the people of Rhode Island. That focus has held true since my early days in public service, beginning when I was elected as a delegate to Rhode Island's Constitutional Convention, continued through my time in the General Assembly and as the Nation's youngest secretary of state, and it has remained strong throughout my final days as a United States Congressman. prgtoken I will forever be grateful for the enduring friendships and lifetime memories that I have forged here in this body. But most of all, I am so proud of all that we have been able to accomplish for the people of Rhode Island and the United States. prgtoken I have fought to protect and advance the rights of Americans with disabilities, moving our society closer to becoming fully inclusive and accessible for all. prgtoken On the Committee on Armed Services, I have led the efforts to strengthen our national security, and cybersecurity, in particular, and I have been proud to support the hardworking men and women of my district who build the world's finest nuclear submarines at Electric Boat. prgtoken As the chairman of the Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems, I prgtoken have sought to procure the finest, cutting-edge technologies for our soldiers, sailors, airmen, guardians, and marines, so that our women and men in uniform never enter a fair fight. prgtoken Moreover, I have spoken up for our Nation's foster youth, who are too often forgotten and left behind, and I have worked across the aisle to invest in job training, apprenticeships, and career and technical education. prgtoken Looking back, I will always be proud of my vote for President 's Affordable Care Act, which lowered healthcare costs and secured coverage for millions of uninsured Americans. prgtoken I will never forget the moment that I became the first Congressman in a wheelchair to preside over the U.S. House of Representatives as pro tempore as we mar
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
Cory A. Booker (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2022-12-14

. Thank you very much for the recognition, -- the Presiding Officer. prgtoken I really heard the point about workplace safety. This bill does not prohibit employers from addressing safety concerns. Instead, it accounts for employers' legal obligations to ensure workplace safety. Written in the bill, section 6(b) of the bill expressly prohibits that the employment nondiscrimination provision ``shall be enforced in the same manner and by the same means, including with the same jurisdiction, as if such subsection was incorporated into Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.'' In other words, employers will be no more burdened by this bill than they are under the current employment discrimination law. prgtoken Under the longstanding, burden-shifting scheme applied by the courts in title VII cases, the employer may defeat a discrimination claim by asserting the workplace safety as a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for taking adverse employment action against an employee, with the burden then shifting to the employee to prove that the asserted reason was a pretext for discrimination. prgtoken So this is addressed, and I appreciate that. But as it was passed in a boldly bipartisan way, it was shown to have incorporated that concern in the bill itself. prgtoken Again, this is something that has been passed in States like Tennessee and Louisiana. This has been shown to have wide bipartisan support. It is shown to be needed in the Federal context. And I am hoping that we, through continued deliberations, can actually get that passed. prgtoken , if I may have leave to say one more thing, I would like to just wish you a Merry Christmas, to the Presiding Officer. I appreciate the cheer and good will that is in this Chamber, and I look forward to happy holidays for everyone.
VAWA TECHNICAL AMENDMENT ACT OF 2022
Jerrold Nadler (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2022-12-14

for nearly three decades, the Violence Against Women Act has provided critical funding to organizations that support victims and survivors of gender-based violence. However, Native Hawaiian women, who experience disproportionately high levels of sexual violence, have been excluded from accessing these much-needed resources. prgtoken S. 7 would allow Native Hawaiian victims and survivors to receive the support they need and would allow Native Hawaiian organizations to increase their efforts to combat sexual violence. prgtoken , I urge all of my colleagues to support the bill, and .
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION--Continued
Benjamin L. Cardin (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2022-12-14

in 2022, as America approaches its semiquincentennial of the independence of our Nation, the United States of America stands at a crossroads. prgtoken Disturbingly, since the January 6 insurrection of our Capitol which sought to block the peaceful transfer of power after a free and fair election, a growing number of Americans believes that violence against government can be justified, according to recently polling. We have witnessed a disturbing rise of threats against law enforcement officials from various domestic violent extremist groups as well as threats and intimidation against public officials, such as school board officials and election workers, who are simply doing their jobs. We must condemn acts of violence from all corners and prosecute prgtoken those who seek to harm public officials to the fullest extent of the law. prgtoken We also witnessed the rise of election deniers in the 2022 midterm elections who repeated the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen and who pledged their loyalty to a particular candidate or ideology instead of the rule of law. prgtoken We have seen a rise of violent actions--a rise of anti-Semitism, a rise of hate crimes--and it is very much connected to the assault on our democratic institutions. All of us must be defenders of the democratic institutions, which are the bedrock of America. prgtoken As we saw in the 2020 elections, different interpretations of the Electoral Count Act of 1887 can lead down a dangerous path, such as when former President and his enablers attempted to overthrow a free and fair election won by President , leading to the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol. We were there. We were in harm's way. We know exactly how violent that group of insurrectionists was. prgtoken President 's latest outrage is to talk about suspending the Constitution because he lost the election. Free and fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power are fundamental to who we are as a nation. prgtoken For this reason, several months ago, I joined a bipartisan working group of, roughly, 20 Senators to make urgent changes to our Presidential election processes. I am pleased that, in July of 2022, our group reached a bipartisan agreement to modernize the Electoral Count Act, ECA, of 1887 and to make other needed changes to improve the Presidential transition process. prgtoken Our bipartisan working group's legislative proposal, the Electoral Count Reform Act, clarifies the appropriate State and Federal roles in selecting the President and Vice President of the United States. It makes it easier for Congress to identify a single, conclusive slate of electors from each State, in part, by requiring States to follow the rules they set before the election when designating their electors. prgtoken We reiterate that the Vice President has a purely ceremonial function in the mandatory joint session of Congress to count the electoral votes.
National Defense Authorization Act (Executive Calendar)
Tim Kaine (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2022-12-14

we are currently in consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act, and the leadership is working out a timing agreement for a vote possibly on one or more amendments and then a vote on the NDAA. prgtoken The Defense bill is the most important thing I work on every year as a member of the Armed Services Committee, and I think the Defense bill that our Armed Services Committee did with strong bipartisan support is a very strong one. The timing isn't to my liking, that it took so long to reach an agreement with the House. But it is what it is. The Defense bill is strong. prgtoken We are likely to have a vote on an amendment tomorrow offered by my friend and colleague Joe Manchin dealing with permitting reform, and I wanted to stand on the floor to express my objection not to the topic and even not to much of the substance but to one particular provision that I think is horrible policy and I think will cause me to oppose the amendment. prgtoken Do we need to do permitting reform to accelerate infrastructure in this country? We do. We do. Many of the permitting reform rules--FERC, for example--are decades old, and they haven't kept up with new technologies or new needs of our population. I am strongly of the belief that we should do permitting reform, and I have introduced my own bills going back years to make at least that permitting process work better. prgtoken The amendment that we are going to be voting on tomorrow, at least as I have been told--I haven't seen the language, but I have been told it is very similar to an amendment that was offered in September. It is an 88-page permitting reform bill. Eighty-five pages are permitting reform; the last three pages are the opposite of permitting reform. prgtoken What do I mean by that? Eighty-five pages of the bill go deeply into permitting for infrastructure, especially energy infrastructure, and propose a whole series of reforms, many of which I strongly support. prgtoken Although I had no hand in the drafting of that bill and I think I could improve it if I was involved, I would give that bill a good solid B or B-plus, and I would have no trouble voting for it as an amendment to the Defense bill or a stand-alone bill. prgtoken However, the last three pages of the bill take a particular single project--100 miles of which is in Virginia--called the Mountain Valley Pipeline and exempts it from permitting reform. It, essentially, says this 85-page reform that sets up how a project should be considered and approved by administrative agencies and then reviewed by the judiciary if there are complaints about it--that is what the 85 pages does, but then the last three pages says the Mountain Valley Pipeline should be exempt from all of that, should get an administrative green light. And, in a provision that I find to be both unprecedented and really troubling, it suggests that if individuals want to seek judicial review of Mountain Valley Pipel
REPLACEMENT OF BUST OF ROGER BROOKE TANEY WITH BUST OF THURGOOD MARSHALL
Zoe Lofgren (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2022-12-14

I would simply ask that all Members support this bill. prgtoken There have been a lot of really bad Supreme Court cases over the years, but I don't think it can be said better than Senator Charles Sumner said all the way back in 1865: The Dred Scott decision was more thoroughly abominable than anything of its kind in history. prgtoken Chief Justice Taney, the author of this dreadful decision, is really a scar on America and should not be in a place of honor in our Capitol. prgtoken Support this bill, and we will remove that stain. prgtoken , .
PARENTS MAY MOVE FORWARD BUT NEVER FULLY HEAL
Lucy McBath (Democrat, GA) \u2014 2022-12-14

on Black Friday, 10 years ago, my son, Jordan, was murdered at a gas station in Jacksonville, Florida, because the man simply didn't like the loud music he and his friends were playing in their car. He called them gangbangers and thugs. prgtoken Within 3\1/2\ minutes, he pulled out a gun from the glove compartment of his car, took a shooter's stance, and fired 10 rounds at the car, hitting my son, Jordan, three times, killing my only son. prgtoken A month later, a man who should never have had access to an assault prgtoken weapon murdered 20 children and 6 staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School. prgtoken The love that a parent has for our children is different. It is unique in that our love for everyone else has a beginning, but for our children, our love has no end. prgtoken When your child is born, it is hard to understand how you are capable of feeling so much love. It is a love so precious and pure that it flows through your soul. As they grow, your love grows with them. Each day, you can't imagine loving them more, and yet every day you are proven wrong. prgtoken Oftentimes we can feel vulnerable with this love and all the fear that comes with it. Being a parent is like that. If everything goes right, if we do everything we can for our children, the very worst can still happen. prgtoken Principal Dawn Hochsprung and psychologist Mary Sherlach yelled to their colleagues: ``Shooter. Stay put'' when they investigated the first shots. They were the first killed as they alerted the others. prgtoken Janitor Rick Thorne ran through the hallways alerting classrooms of the danger. He used his master key to lock many of the doors for them. The key was so worn from use that it snapped in one of the doors. prgtoken The first graders in Lauren Rousseau's classroom were not allowed to grow. Lauren had worked at Sandy Hook for a week. She had tried to hide them in the bathroom. She had fought to keep them safe. Fifteen of her students were killed. Fifteen first graders were murdered in a bathroom by a man with an assault rifle. prgtoken One 6-year-old girl played dead among the bodies of her classmates. She was the only one to survive in that room. Covered in blood, the first thing she said was: ``Mommy, I'm okay, but all my friends are dead.'' prgtoken The next room the killer entered was that of Victoria Soto, who did her best to conceal her students in a closet. Some were hiding under desks. As the gunman fired at them with his master, he stopped to reload. Six-year-old Jesse Lewis shouted at his classmates to run for safety, and several did. Jesse was looking directly at the shooter when he was murdered. prgtoken Anne Marie Murphy, a special education teacher, was found shielding 6-year-old Dylan Hockley. The bullets took them both. prgtoken Victoria's sister, Jillian, was captured by photographers in what some call the defining photo of that horrific day. She is forever immortalized on the phone, sobbing, receiving that
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION--Continued
Christopher Murphy (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2022-12-14

Jimmy Greene and his wife Nelba lost a daughter in Sandy Hook. Jimmy said this, leading up to the 10-year mark of the shooting in Newtown that we are commemorating today: There is a saying in our culture that ``time heals all wounds,'' but I wouldn't say that is true in my case. prgtoken Senator Blumenthal and I have been down here on December 14 for 9 years in a row. Senator Blumenthal and I have given hundreds of speeches on this floor in the intervening days and months, in between those anniversaries, talking about what happened in Sandy Hook and trying to compel our colleagues to action. But there is nothing that we can say that explains through words the feeling of cataclysmic loss when you lose a child--a 6-year-old or a 7-year-old or an 18-year-old or a 19-year-old. prgtoken Senator Blumenthal and I were there at the firehouse in Sandy Hook that day. There are a lot of days when I wish I hadn't heard and seen the things that I saw and heard that day. But we were voyeurs. We were interlopers. There is no way that we can understand what those families are going through today, as the pain still feels, for many, as acute as it did 10 years ago. prgtoken So Senator Blumenthal and I think it is important to come down here and honor the memory of those children and those six educators every year on December 14. But I also know that there is nothing that I can do with words to explain to you how different the community of Sandy Hook is and how those lives will never, ever be the same. prgtoken I guess I come to this day every year with two emotions. One is of just deep sorrow, just to think about who those kids were going to become. Senator Blumenthal and I have gotten to learn so much about these kids. I know more about those 20 6-year-old kids than I probably know about any other set of 6-year-old kids other than my own when they were that age over the course of my lifetime, and I love those kids. I see the genius in them. They were already doing such miraculous things, showing such kindness and such talent. And to think that those kids today would be preparing for college, deciding where they wanted to open up their next chapter, to think of what has been stolen from this world. prgtoken My sorrow is also due to the fact that, well, this Nation is different today than it was before Sandy Hook. The country now compels us to action. There are groups all over the country dedicated to trying to change the laws of this country to make a Sandy Hook less likely. prgtoken This was all happening before Sandy Hook. Sandy Hook was the first shooting of little kids in a school of this size. But a few weeks after Sandy Hook happened, Senator Blumenthal and I went to do a community meeting in the north end of Hartford, and there we met parents of children who had been killed on the streets of Hartford who were furious, and even more furious after Sandy Hook. They told us: Nobody can relate to