mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
MANCHESTER ATTACK
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-5-23

let me say at the outset that I offer my condolences to the families and friends of those who were killed or injured in last night's despicable attack at a concert in Manchester, England. Details are still coming in, but this looks like an act of terror in the heart of one of our key European allies. America is joining with the people of Great Britain in expressing our sorrow and sadness over the loss of these lives and the injuries that were sustained.
RECOGNIZING GUAM DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION NURSES IN HONOR OF NATIONAL SCHOOL NURSES DAY
Madeleine Z. Bordallo (Democrat, GU) \u2014 2017-5-23

I rise today to commend and congratulate nurses and school nurse support staff of the Guam Department of Education (GDOE) in honor of National Nurses Week and National School Nurses Day. There are currently 44 Registered Nurses and 3 Licensed Practical Nurses serving the students of the Guam Department of Education. These nurses take on the daunting task of caring for the Guam Department of Education's more than 30,000 students and nearly 4,000 employees of the Guam Department of Education. These school nurses work day in and day out to ensure the health of our island's children so they can continue their education in the classroom. prgtoken Guam Department of Education nurses join the National Association of School Nurses in celebrating the theme of this year's School Nurses Day: Healthy Nurse. Healthy Students. They also join the American Nurses Association in celebrating the 2017 Nurses Week: The Balance of Mind, Body, and Spirit! GDOE nurses have chosen to celebrate National School Nurses Day by teaching students how to conduct hands only CPR or heart health activities. prgtoken Every year the GDOE nurses serve a critical role in providing a safe and healthy learning environment for students throughout Guam's public elementary, middle, and high schools. GDOE nurses provide frontline, critical care for the most fragile children in our community and are members of health teams that support both educational and response initiatives dedicated to improving public health. Additionally, school nurses are liaisons to the school administrators, parents and healthcare providers when it comes to attending to the physical health of our island's students. prgtoken Every school year is different and challenging for the GDOE nurses. In April 2016, the school nurses received a call from the Department of Public Health and Social Services asking them to administer 5,000 doses of TB skin test solution to GDOE students and staff who need updates. The school nurses embraced the challenge and were able to host TB clinics in almost every GDOE school for students and staff. Despite these challenges, our island's school nurses have responded to these needs with professionalism and passion for the school communities they serve. prgtoken I commend and congratulate nurses and school nurse support staff of the Guam Department of Education (GDOE) as they celebrate the 2017 National School Nurses Day and On a successful school year. I join the people of Guam in expressing our appreciation for their contributions to Guam's school communities.
NATIONAL MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH
Joyce Beatty (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2017-5-23

I rise today to call attention to May being National Mental Health Awareness month, a nationwide initiative that aims to raise awareness and fight the stigmas associated with mental health illnesses. prgtoken Nearly 44 million American adults, and millions of children experience mental health conditions each year, including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and post-traumatic stress. prgtoken Although we have made great progress expanding access to mental health treatment with the passage of the Affordable Health Care Act, too many people still do not get the help they need. prgtoken Despite the availability of treatment, the stigma associated with mental illness continues to keep millions of Americans from getting the treatment they need. prgtoken , we cannot continue to turn a blind eye to our citizen's mental health needs, because according to a study by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, mental illnesses cost America over $193.2 billion in lost earnings every year. prgtoken Congress must work together to ensure people living with mental illness know that they are not alone, that hope exists, and that the possibility of healing and thriving is achievable. prgtoken We should be sure that our budget, which we will be debating in the coming weeks, includes adequate funding to help.
Healthcare Legislation (Executive Calendar)
Tom Udall (Democrat, NM) \u2014 2017-5-23

today many of my colleagues will come to the floor to speak about the devastating impact that Care will have on rural communities. I rise to join them in speaking on this topic and on the many other serious flaws in the s' bill to replace Care. prgtoken When he was elected, President promised he would provide healthcare for everyone, but President and our friends have turned their backs on that promise. The healthcare proposal would put insurance companies back in the driver's seat, and that means less quality and more costs for all of us. Rural communities, working families, and people with medical conditions would be hit the hardest. prgtoken Today, we got a taste of how devastating Care would be. The President's budget proposal slashes billions of dollars for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. President takes direct aim at bipartisan programs that have made historic progress for kids, for the disabled, and for the elderly. prgtoken Former Senator Hubert Humphrey once said: ``The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.'' prgtoken When Senator Humphrey spoke those words, he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He died a few months later. His words are just as meaningful today. prgtoken Care fails Senator Humphrey's moral test. It doesn't cover more people or more services or improve healthcare. It raises costs and reduces quality. Compared to the ACA--or Care--Care would be a disaster for families in my home State. prgtoken In New Mexico, tens of thousands of people have healthcare, thanks to Care and the Medicaid expansion. Before the Affordable Care Act, New Mexico had one of the highest rates of uninsured in the country. It was almost 20 percent, at 19.6 percent. That rate has been cut in half to 8.9 percent. prgtoken Approximately 300,000 more New Mexicans now have healthcare. And each one of these 300,000 people has a story about how having healthcare has made a difference--even saved lives. prgtoken Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans now have essential health benefits, including doctor visits, hospital care, prescription drugs, pregnancy and childbirth, and mental health services, and a range of preventive services, like mammograms and other cancer screenings, are available at no cost. prgtoken I am not saying that the ACA is perfect. Premiums are still too high, deductibles are increasing too much, and we still must bring down the cost of prescription drugs. We absolutely need to work to bring down costs. But, on balance, the Affordable Care Act passes all tests--many with flying colors. Care does not come close. Care gets an F. prgtoken Test No. 1: Does Care i
PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS AGAINST TECHNOLOGICAL EXPLOITATION ACT
Niki Tsongas (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2017-5-23

earlier this year, many of us heard of the Marines United Facebook page for the first time. On this page, women marines found that their intimate photos were posted without their knowledge and without their consent. Some had no idea these photos had ever been taken. prgtoken Beneath the photos, marine members of the Facebook group wrote obscene and abusive comments about their comrades. This betrayal of marines by marines disgracefully disrespects fellow members, sows the seeds of distrust, and undermines the unit cohesion so essential to military readiness, putting our national security at risk. prgtoken Today we bring a bill to the floor to make sure military members who have broadcasted or distributed certain private images are held accountable. H.R. 2052 creates a separate article under the Uniform Code of Military Justice that specifically criminalizes the wrongful sharing of intimate photos without explicit consent to do so. prgtoken H.R. 2052 sends a clear message to all servicemembers and to our military leadership that this kind of abusive behavior will not and must not be tolerated. Members from both sides of the aisle have come together, and I thank Representatives McSally and Speier for their leadership in support of this commonsense legislation, and I encourage all of my colleagues to vote for it.
Healthcare Legislation (Executive Calendar)
Al Franken (Democrat, MN) \u2014 2017-5-23

I rise to talk about the healthcare bill the House of Representatives passed and is currently being considered behind closed doors by my colleagues. prgtoken I travel around greater Minnesota all the time, and when the s' healthcare plan first came out, I traveled to rural Minnesota to meet with rural hospitals, nursing home providers, and constituents to hear how this bill would impact their lives and communities. They are upset and they are frankly scared. prgtoken In Perham, MN, I heard from a woman who was in tears, not knowing where her mother would go if the plan passed and she lost her nursing home coverage. This woman and her husband work full time, but together they cannot afford the around-the-clock care her mother needs. prgtoken Later, at a nursing home in Moorhead--that is in Minnesota across the river from Fargo--I also heard from a resident, Chrysann, who said this new plan wasn't about taking care of people but about ``survival of the fittest.'' The hospitals and nursing home administrators I met with said the financial blow they would receive would cause them to cut services and in some cases even close their doors. prgtoken What I heard, and the real panic that I saw, is a far cry from what President promised this past January when he said: ``We're going to have insurance for everybody.'' He went on to say it would be ``much less expensive and much better.'' prgtoken Versions of these promises keep coming from President , his Cabinet, and from his allies in Congress--coverage for more people, at lower costs, with better quality. Those things all sound great, things that might help people like Chrysann, but the fact is, the bill does the exact opposite. It takes coverage away from people, it drives up costs, and it makes coverage worse. In other words, the GOP is selling this healthcare bill on false pretenses. prgtoken Today I would like to explain how the bill betrays each one of these three fundamental promises, and let's take them one by one. We can start by the number of people who will be covered. President promised that everyone would have insurance, but an analysis of an earlier version of the healthcare bill--the first iteration of this, which is actually not as bad as this one--an earlier version analysis conducted by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that under current law the House plan would leave 24 million fewer people with health insurance by 2026. That means by 2026, nearly 1 in 5 Americans under the age of 65 would be uninsured, compared to just over 1 in 10 today. prgtoken One particular way the bill cuts coverage is by gutting Medicaid, a program that covers more than 60 percent of all nursing home residents nationwide, covers kids with disabilities, and benefits nearly 70 million Americans. The plan ends Medicaid expansion. It fundamentally
JUVENILE JUSTICE REFORM ACT OF 2017
Tony Cárdenas (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-5-23

I also want to take the opportunity to thank my colleague for all of his diligence and incredible effort to make sure that we are here today with the successful passage of this important legislation. prgtoken The bill we are considering today, the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2017, is a bill that puts Congress back in the driver's seat of evidence-based reform of our Nation's juvenile justice system. For far too long, Congress has failed to reauthorize the landmark Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act passed in 1974. The most important Federal juvenile justice statute has been expired for almost a decade. prgtoken I came to Congress to effect change at a national level and to serve the people of my district and all of the people across this great country. Congress has fallen behind the leadership and the progress of ic and States alike and cities, as well, across the Nation who have had to take the lead without us. Passing this bill is a step in the right direction and will demonstrate to States and cities across this great country that Congress is listening and acting. prgtoken This bill addresses many of the issues that I have been working on in my career as a State legislator, as a city councilman, and now as a Federal elected public servant. For instance, it helps cities and local organizations fund community-based gang prevention and intervention programs. prgtoken When I was on the Los Angeles City Council, I made sure that organizations receiving taxpayer dollars from our city were actually achieving the results that they had promised. I am pleased that this bill includes a strong emphasis on research and science and making sure that evidence-based programs are prioritized. It ensures that we are supporting programs and organizations that work, which will save the taxpayers billions of dollars in the short run, hundreds of billions of dollars in the long run, and also make our communities much, much safer. prgtoken This bill supports programs that ensure youth have access to appropriate legal representation and programs to expand access. This bill supports programs designed to educate kids and their families about how they can go about sealing and expunging their juvenile records and to help them do that along the way. prgtoken This bill supports programs focused on girls in the juvenile justice system. Equally important, this bill makes sure that all ethnicity is recorded so we can get a better understanding of who is in our juvenile justice system and address any disparities if we find them. prgtoken This bill will put us on a path to ensuring kids are not detained for an offense that would not be a crime if committed as an adult, such as skipping school or running away from home. It is high time we reauthorize the JJDPA, and I hope my colleagues in the House and Senate can come together to advance this critical update to our juvenile justice laws. prgtoken It is our
Manchester Attack (Executive Calendar)
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2017-5-23

first, the Senate's thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in Manchester, England. Such violence is particularly heartbreaking when it happens, as it did in Manchester, at a concert with so many young people there to enjoy. prgtoken We mourn the families of the victims of last night's terrorist attack. We hope the perpetrators are quickly found and brought to justice. I saw on TV a mother waiting, trying to email and text her daughter. She got no answer. She was wondering where her daughter was. It brought back the horrible memories for me after 9/11, the day after, when I went up there and saw hundreds of people holding up signs: ``Have you seen my wife Evelyn?'' ``Have you seen my son John,'' not knowing if they were alive or dead. Most of them ended up being dead. prgtoken We hope and pray that mother, and all the other mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters who are waiting for news that maybe their child, their relative, is alive, will find them alive. Our prayers go out to them.
Climate Change (Executive Calendar)
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2017-5-23

I am here to discuss what you might call the Scott Pruitt philosophy of environmental regulation. In a recent interview, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency expressed his view that the EPA should ``simply pass regulations that provide fairness and equity and allow utilities to make decisions based upon stability, cost, and security to the consumers that they serve.'' Did we notice anything missing in that assertion of what EPA's role should be? How about no mention of the environment, no mention of climate change, no mention of public health? So my 168th ``Time to Wake Up'' speech will look at how paid-for Administrator Pruitt is by the very industries he is supposed to be regulating. Often, the word for this is ``corruption.'' prgtoken Scott Pruitt is a functionary of fossil fuel money. He has a long record of dark money fundraising and long, cozy relationships with big fossil fuel political donors. prgtoken As you can see, energy interests contributed over $136,000 to Pruitt's 2014 campaign even though he ran unopposed. During the 2010 and 2014 election cycles, oil and gas giants Devon Energy and Koch Industries--yes, of those infamous Koch brothers--maxed out to Pruitt's campaigns. prgtoken Thanks to Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting by the New York Times, we know that backing Pruitt was a good fossil fuel investment, particularly for Devon Energy. In 2011, Attorney General Scott Pruitt took a letter written by Devon Energy, he put it onto his Oklahoma attorney general letterhead, he signed it for them, and he sent it off to EPA, pleading Devon Energy's anti-regulatory case as if it were his own. prgtoken As attorney general of Oklahoma, Pruitt directly solicited political donations from companies now regulated by EPA, then regulated by EPA as well. prgtoken He spoke at dozens of industry events but never at a public health or environmental event. prgtoken He led the boards of political organizations, like the Attorneys General Association and its dark money political fundraising arm, the so-called Rule of Law Defense Fund, this thing. Pruitt was a member of the RAGA executive committee--RAGA being Attorneys General Association. He was a member of their executive committee between 2014 and 2016, when RAGA raised $530,000 from Koch Industries-- yes, those same infamous Koch brothers--and $125,000 from Devon Energy--yes, of the letter he put onto his own letterhead. prgtoken Coal giant Murray Energy donated $50,000 to Liberty 2.0, Pruitt's own super PAC, and it donated $350,000 to RAGA between 2014 and 2016. prgtoken The Rule of Law Defense Fund doesn't have to disclose its donors. They hide in a loophole in the law. But other public reporting has shown that it received at least $175,000 from something called Freedom Partners. With a name like that, you know it is up to no good. Sure enough, it is another dark prgtoken money group run by several Koch Indust
VETERANS APPEALS IMPROVEMENT AND MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2017
Mark Takano (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-5-23

I thank my ranking member, Mr. Walz, for yielding time. prgtoken , I rise today in support of H.R. 2288 the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017. prgtoken Over the past 5 years, the number of pending appeals at the VA has skyrocketed by 40 percent and now sits at nearly half a million cases. The average processing time for an appeal is 3 years. s and agree, the VA agrees, veterans service organizations agree, and, most importantly, veterans agree that we need to fix this broken process. prgtoken I am pleased that my colleagues on the committee have come together to develop a bipartisan solution that reduces the overly complicated appeals process, shortens the time a veteran will wait for a decision, and preserves a veteran's full length of benefits if their appeal is decided favorably. prgtoken This legislation has taken a lot of time and effort. I applaud my colleagues Ms. Titus and Mr. Miller for laying the groundwork in the last Congress, and Ms. Esty and Mr. Bost for carrying this legislation into the 115th Congress. prgtoken I am very, very proud of all the work done by the committee staff to bring this together, and I am grateful to the dedicated VSOs and the VA for their input. This is a great example of how we can put aside our partisan differences and make our veterans' lives better. prgtoken , I support this bill and urge all of my colleagues to vote for it.
JUVENILE JUSTICE REFORM ACT OF 2017
Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2017-5-23

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , I would like to thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Lewis) for working with this side of the aisle on bipartisan comprehensive reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. prgtoken Juvenile courts were established by States in the first half of the 20th century based on the emerging legal theory that children should not be held as fully responsible for their actions as adults, a theory borne out over time by scientific research on impulse control and brain development. prgtoken The opportunity to rehabilitate children became the focus of the system rather than punishment of offenders. Congress first articulated national standards for juvenile justice in the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, or JJDPA. Long overdue for reauthorization, the bill creates important core protections for our children in the juvenile justice system in each State. prgtoken In the 15 years since Congress last reauthorized the program, there have been advancements in research and expansion of evidence when it comes to the prevention of youth incarceration and delinquency. prgtoken The bill we will consider today includes necessary improvements to Federal policy grounded in facts proving that the public investments in a continuum of trauma-informed care and alternatives to incarceration and secure detention produce positive results for at-risk youth. These results, in turn, will reduce crime and create long-term savings. prgtoken H.R. 1809 requires, for the first time, that State juvenile justice plans have to take into account the latest scientific research on adolescent development and behavior, recognizing the importance of prevention and early intervention in juvenile crime policy. prgtoken We shouldn't have to legislate this, but we have seen too often that slogans and sound bites have dictated our national approach to crime policy, particularly juvenile crime. These slogans and soundbites often do nothing to decrease crime. In fact, some have been actually shown to increase the crime rate. prgtoken H.R. 1809 encourages States to consider promising practices such as programming to ensure that youth have access to public defenders with juvenile court experience, the use of problem-solving courts as an alternative to probation and confinement, efforts to inform and aid juveniles in the process of sealing and expunging their juvenile records, and programming to address the needs of girls in or at risk of entering the system when developing State plans. prgtoken Finally, the bill retools the current title V Local Delinquency Prevention Grant programs retitled as the Youth Promise Incentive Grants for Local Delinquency Prevention Program to support communities in the planning and implementation of evidence-based prevention and intervention programs specifically designed to reduce ju