mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING CLIMATE CHANGE IN SCHOOLS
Barbara Lee (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2019-9-18

. Madam , I rise today to recognize the importance of teaching climate change in schools. prgtoken This Friday, on September 20, students from around the world will be protesting the need to combat climate change. Led by Greta Thunberg, a climate activist from Sweden who boldly skipped school to protest the need for more climate action, her act of defiance has evolved into a movement and set precedent for a generation of climate activism. More than 25 percent of America's students are taking action to urge us to address climate change. prgtoken In order to meaningfully act upon our climate change and eliminate climate change, young people need education on its causes, consequences, and possible solutions. That is why I am introducing a resolution to support climate change education in American schools. prgtoken It is a fact that American students do not learn enough about climate change. We need to teach every young person the human impacts of climate change and how to address our warming planet before it is too late. I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution and to hear the voices of the students protesting in Friday's climate strikes.
HONORING ALISON CUNNINGHAM, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF COLUMBUS HOUSE
Rosa L. DeLauro (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2019-9-18

. Madam , it is an honor for me to rise today to join friends, family, colleagues, and community leaders who have gathered today to celebrate Alison Cunningham as she bids farewell to Columbus House, the organization she has fearlessly and adeptly led for more than two decades. prgtoken There is no one reason why an individual becomes homeless and so there is no one solution that will end it. More than three decades ago a group of folks concerned with the plight of the homeless came together and began what has become one of the strongest, most respected advocacy organizations for the homeless in our state. For most of its existence, the mission of Columbus House has been guided by Alison Cunningham, whose unparalleled passion to make a difference is reflected in every success they enjoy. Alison's commitment is nothing short of inspiring and it has encouraged hundreds of supporters to volunteer their time and energy to support this extraordinary organization. prgtoken Under Alison's direction, Columbus House has continued to grow and expand to meet the ever-changing needs of our homeless population. Today, the small staff of ninety come from all walks of life--many are former clients themselves which provides them a unique perspective not only from which to provide services, but also to direct the organization's efforts. Columbus House also partners with a variety of local service agencies with the goal of ensuring that all of their clients receive access to every possible opportunity to transition from homelessness. With facilities in New Haven and Middletown and a presence in Waterbury, New Britain and elsewhere, programs and services that range from shelter and meal service to employment, recovery, and case management, Columbus House has touched the lives of hundreds of our most vulnerable citizens. Columbus House is a community effort in every sense of the word, and it is because of the strong leadership and vision that Alison has provided. I have been proud to work with her during my tenure in Congress and consider myself fortunate to call her my friend. prgtoken Over the course of her career, Alison has grown into a respected leader in her field with her expertise often be sought out by neighboring communities as well as elected leaders. In fact, over the last several years, she has been a member of the task force that directed a state-wide change to a successful approach to ending chronic homelessness, which combines providing permanent housing with the necessary social services on site for clients. To say her everyday presence at Columbus House will be missed is an understatement, however, I have no doubt that, though she is pursuing a new opportunity, Alison will remain a staunch and active supporter of Columbus House and the people they serve. prgtoken Though I will miss her leadership at Columbus House, I was excited to learn that Alison will be taking on a new and unique role at the Yale Divini
E-Cigarettes (Executive Session)
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2019-9-18

it started sounding too familiar to me. For a long time on Capitol Hill, I have been involved in public policy debates about Big Tobacco, about nicotine and cigarettes, and about the public health consequences of smoking. It is a personal issue, of course, for me and for so many of us. prgtoken Our families have been touched by tobacco-related disease and death. I lost my father to lung cancer. He was 53 years old. He smoked two packs of Camels a day. I stood by his bedside when I was just a high school student and saw what tobacco could do. prgtoken When I was elected to Congress, I decided to try to take on Big Tobacco. It was not an easy task. Those in Big Tobacco had very many friends in high places, and they made it clear in both political parties in the House of Representatives that tobacco was untouchable. prgtoken I offered an amendment, quite a few years ago now, to ban smoking on airplanes. It was really because of my irritation and strong feelings that the people who were on the plane who were nonsmokers shouldn't have to breathe in secondhand smoke. To my surprise, we passed it in the House by a handful of votes even though the leadership of both political parties opposed it. Then it came over here, and Senator Frank Lautenberg, of New Jersey, passed it as well. It became the law of the land. prgtoken Neither Frank nor I could have predicted what would happen next, but as the American people noticed that secondhand smoke was taken off of airplanes, they started asking a lot of these questions about why you wouldn't take it off of trains and buses and out of offices, hospitals, restaurants, and on and on. The net result was that of a change across America when it came to standards for smoking and tobacco cigarettes. prgtoken Then I enlisted a group that was showing extraordinary leadership in Washington. It was called the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Matt Myers, the director, still works for that organization. We went to the heart of the issue, and that was the fact that Big Tobacco was doing its best to make teenagers its customers. It had to. It was losing too many of its best customers because they were dying from Big Tobacco's product. prgtoken It tried to addict children, and it was successful with ad campaigns. The Joe Camel ads, the Marlboro cowboy, and all sorts of cartoon figures were really appealing to children. It worked. It was able to replenish its smokers with kids who started smoking at earlier and earlier ages. prgtoken We went after them. Eventually, there was a national lawsuit against the tobacco companies. We changed the standards for selling tobacco in America. We made it much more difficult for kids to get their hands on cigarettes, and, over time, we reduced the percentage of kids who were using these tobacco products. prgtoken The tobacco companies faced a dilemma. They were losing their best customers--the kids. What were they going to do to maintain their p
HONORING BUFFALO FIRE DEPARTMENT
Brian Higgins (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2019-9-18

. Madam , this week, I was pleased to announce the city of Buffalo Fire Department has been awarded a Federal grant of more than $8.9 million by the Department of Homeland Security's Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response program. With this critical support, the Buffalo Fire Department will be able to hire 50 additional firefighters. prgtoken The purpose of this grant is to make certain that local fire departments are able to respond quickly to emergencies and at all hours. prgtoken Buffalo is home to an incredible team of firefighters who work to protect our community from fires and other emergencies. Just 1 month ago, the department received a separate grant of $322,000 for equipment and training. This Federal grant funding will go a long way in strengthening the city's fire department and adding more dedicated personnel who work tirelessly to keep our community safe.
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2020
Robert P. Casey, Jr. (Democrat, PA) \u2014 2019-9-18

I rise this evening to talk about healthcare. I will not have long remarks, but I do want to highlight a report that was just issued last week. The report I am holding is from the Census Bureau. The report is entitled ``Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2018,'' by the U.S. Census Bureau, dated September of 2019. prgtoken On page 2, this fairly lengthy report, which goes on for about 29 or 30 pages, has the general comparison in healthcare coverage of uninsured numbers--those without insurance in 2017 versus 2018. This is what it says on page 2 of the report under ``Highlights'': In 2018, 8.5 percent of people, or 27.5 million, did not have health insurance at any point during the year. The uninsured rate and number of uninsured increased from 2017 (7.9 percent or 25.6 million). prgtoken And then it refers to a figure and a table. prgtoken Basically, what is outlined is a drop in the number of Americans covered. Looking at it another way, there was an increase in the number of uninsured from 25.6 million Americans to 27.5 million Americans--a difference of 1.9 million. Just for general reference, I will round that off to say that roughly 2 million people who had insurance in 2017 were uninsured in 2018. That is deeply troubling because the number of uninsured is up, not just generally from 2017 to 2018 but more broadly. It is a change in the trend lines where we have been for most of the last decade. prgtoken I think it is pretty clear that the administration's sabotage of health insurance is, indeed, working. It is reversing coverage gains that were made under the Affordable Care Act in the years after enactment and implementation of the Affordable Care Act. We are told, as well, that the number of uninsured children is up, so more children were without insurance from 2017 to 2018. prgtoken Here is what one observer, whose name is Phil Galewitz, from the Kaiser Health News said: ``For the first time in a decade, the number of Americans without health insurance has risen--by about 2 million people in 2018--according to the annual U.S. Census Bureau report released Tuesday.'' prgtoken That was Tuesday of last week. He goes on to cite the numbers that I just cited. prgtoken Here is another comment from Katie Keith from Health Affairs: Coverage losses are expected to continue in 2019. This is due to a number of factors, including repeal of the individual mandate penalty, the expanded availability of non- ACA plans, and the final ``public charge'' rule. prgtoken She goes on from there. prgtoken These are people who spend their lives on the issue of healthcare. prgtoken A third commentator, Joan Alker, from Georgetown University Center for Children and Families said: ``As a result, 4.3 million kids were uninsured in 2018--a statistically significant increase of 425,000.'' prgtoken Another commentator who follows healthcare, Matt Broaddus, from
Appropriations (Executive Session)
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2019-9-18

the appropriations process demands that s and work together. If one party decides to go it alone, it can wreck the spirit of bipartisanship necessary to responsibly fund the government. Unfortunately, s elected to depart from a bipartisan path early in the appropriations process this year. prgtoken We had a bipartisan deal on the budget caps--the 302(a), the defense- nondefense side. We were working on allocations to the 12 subcommittees when the s decided, without consulting any , to divert funds from medical research, opioid treatment, and our military and their families so they could appease the President's wish to spend up to $12 billion extra for a border wall--a wall, by the way, that the President promised Mexico would pay for. prgtoken Leader McConnell and Chairman Shelby knew it would not fly with , and this ruse--this stunt, as the leader is fond of calling things that can't pass--puts the entire appropriations process in jeopardy. prgtoken Somehow, in the wake of all of this, the leader has been accusing of threatening to block military funding. That is an absurd statement, if there ever was one. We are simply trying to stop s from stealing the money from our military and putting it into the wall, which he said Mexico would pay for. prgtoken The outcome of the upcoming vote to proceed to defense approps is not in doubt. Leader McConnell knows that , as well as several s, oppose moving funds to the President's border wall that have been duly allocated by Congress for other important purposes, all military. The fact that Leader McConnell has scheduled this vote, knowing it would fail, makes it nothing more than a partisan stunt. My friend the leader reminds us all the time that the Senate is the place to make laws, not engage in political theater. With the vote, Leader McConnell will shatter his own rule. prgtoken At the same time, s are considering having a vote tomorrow to instruct the NDAA conferees to backfill some of the money they want to divert for the President's wall. The House already voted this down. --myself, Pelosi, Chairman Lowey, and Ranking Member Leahy--have been crystal clear. We are not going to bless the President's stealing money from the military by backfilling it later. This would render Congress toothless and the appropriations process meaningless. If the President is allowed to take money from where Congress allocates it and puts it wherever he wants and we just give it back to him, what is the point? won't vote for that ridiculous precedent. prgtoken Let's remember what this is all about. The President pledged to build a border wall that he promised Mexico would pay for. He then broke that promise and demanded Congress appropriate taxpayer dollars for the wall instead. When Congress declined to do that, the Preside
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Patrick J. Leahy (Democrat, VT) \u2014 2019-9-18

later today, we are going to vote on whether to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 2740, the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Defense, State, Foreign Operations, and Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act. I must say I have to strongly urge Senators to vote no. prgtoken I am not urging a ``no'' vote because the House bills are not good bills. The underlying House bills are good bills. If we were going to vote just to consider these bills, that would be easy. I and practically everybody in this Chamber would vote yes, but that is not what we are doing. prgtoken Senator McConnell has made it very clear that he will bring up H.R. 2740 not to vote on the bills that have been passed by the House of Representatives but for the consideration of the Senate's Defense appropriations bill, which was a partisan bill that was reported along party lines out of the Appropriations Committee. He is going to offer that as a substitute once we proceed to the underlying bills. prgtoken On top of taking a totally partisan bill as a substitute for legislation that could have easily passed, as part of the substitute, Leader McConnell is going to offer the Energy and Water Appropriations bill as well as the State, Foreign Operations, and Labor-HHS and Education bills. Now, those last two bills have never been considered by the committee. They have not been voted on by the subcommittees, and they have not been voted on by the full committee. They were pulled from the committee markup last week because the s were afraid to vote on amendments that would have received the support of both s and . prgtoken Is that how we operate? Just because things get complicated and difficult, do we just skip parts of the legislative process? Do we say, ``Oh, my goodness gracious, I am afraid to have to vote on something either yes or no''? That is no way to proceed. prgtoken Not one on the Appropriations Committee voted for the Defense bill--not one--including me, and I have voted for more money for the Department of Defense than any Senator who is serving in this body today. prgtoken The way the Defense bill was written, it does nothing to prevent the President from stealing billions of dollars more from our troops to pay for his cynical campaign promise of building a gigantic wall across our southern border. He will steal this money from our troops and their families even though he promised us that Mexico would pay for it. prgtoken In fiscal year 2019 alone, the President has already raided $6.1 billion from the Department of Defense's accounts for his border wall. He did that without having congressional approval. He first diverted $2.5 billion from the fiscal year 2019 Defense Appropriations Act for the wall by using standard transfer authority. We provide this authority to the Department of Defense to ensure that the DOD has the flexibility it requires to m
HONORING RONNIE LUPE
Tom O’Halleran (Democrat, AZ) \u2014 2019-9-18

I rise today to pay my respects to Ronnie Lupe, former chairman of the White Mountain Apache Tribe, who passed away last month at the age of 89. prgtoken During his time as a public servant, Mr. Lupe fought for Tribal sovereignty and worked extensively on water rights issues. Mr. Lupe's efforts aided the passage of the White Mountain Apache Water Rights Quantification Act of 2009 and established a reservation-wide clean drinking water system. prgtoken For his service to his Tribe, he was recognized by former Arizona Governor Jack Williams on the Arizona Commission of Indian Affairs in 1968. prgtoken A veteran, Mr. Lupe was a member of the United States Marine Corps during the Korean war. prgtoken Arizona lost an awesome voice for Native American advancement. I feel truly humbled to have known him. Pat and I are keeping our thoughts with Ronnie's family and the entire White Mountain Apache Tribe in our prayers as they mourn his passing.
HONORING PURPLE HEART RECIPIENTS
Sean Patrick Maloney (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2019-9-18

. Madam , I rise today in support of my bill, the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor Commemorative Coin Act, which is scheduled for a vote on the House floor tomorrow. prgtoken George Washington himself created the Purple Heart in the closing days of the Revolutionary War. Since it was prgtoken revived to honor veterans of World War I, it has been awarded to nearly 2 million brave service men and women, yet there is no comprehensive list of Purple Heart recipients. prgtoken The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor located in my district in New Windsor, New York, was created to collect and preserve the names and stories of the men and women wounded or killed in service of our Nation. The proceeds of this coin, which will be produced nearby at the West Point Mint, will support the hall in its critical mission, along with other programs that help veterans and their families. prgtoken Today, I am thinking of two men who inspired our work on this bill. One was my dad, who was a Navy vet who was hurt on the USS Manchester and who taught me the reverence we must have for our service men and women. The other was Senator Bill Larkin, a New York State Senator, a dear friend who passed away just days ago. He and I worked closely to advance the mission of the hall. prgtoken I also thank the Military Order of the Purple Heart and volunteers like Stephanie Keegan, who helped round up 300 of our colleagues in support of this important legislation and who will make tomorrow's vote a reality.
IN RECOGNITION OF HELAL FARHAT'S APPOINTMENT TO THE WAYNE COUNTY THIRD CIRCUIT COURT
Debbie Dingell (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2019-9-18

. Madam , I rise today to recognize Helal Farhat on his appointment to the Wayne County Third Circuit Bench. prgtoken Since receiving his Juris Doctor from Wayne State University Law School in 2002, Farhat has been an active member of the legal community. For the past 16 years, Farhat served as the principal attorney at Farhat & Associates, a firm he established that specializes in commercial and business litigation, criminal law, family law, and immigration, and formerly served as partner at Salamey & Farhat. In addition to his work as an attorney, Farhat served as a magistrate judge on the 19th District Court in Dearborn. He held this position from 2009 to 2012, and then again from 2016 until his appointment to the Wayne County Circuit Court by Governor Whitmer on March 28, 2019. prgtoken Helal Farhat has established himself as a pillar of the Dearborn community, earning his impeccable reputation amongst his peers, the legal community at large, and the judiciary through his accomplished legal background. Aside from serving southeast Michigan in a professional capacity, Farhat also dedicates a significant amount of time to charity work and involvement with advocacy organizations. Notably, Farhat is the President of the Leaders Advancing and Helping Communities, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering Michigan families by supporting their social, health, educational, and economic well-being. Throughout all his work, Farhat displays an overwhelming commitment to protecting the fundamental rights of all Americans, and his efforts have received widespread acclaim, evidenced through his designation as a Super Lawyer and President of the Dearborn Bar Association. prgtoken Madam , I ask my colleagues to join me today in honoring Helal Farhat for his appointment to the Wayne County Circuit Court. His legal expertise, character, and public service experience will make him an excellent judge who will dutifully serve the people of Michigan.
STEPHANIE TIMOTEO'S 100TH BIRTHDAY
Jefferson Van Drew (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2019-9-18

. Madam , Stephanie Timoteo, a resident of Bridgeton in South Jersey, turned 100 years old on August 25. prgtoken Stephanie has always been an incredibly active person in her community. She values faith, family, and heritage as the most important aspects of her life. prgtoken She was born into a family of Polish immigrants, and in her midtwenties, she became a seamstress and she made uniforms for soldiers during World War II. prgtoken After the war, Stephanie spent most of her time with her children, but she continued to work at home as a seamstress and a dressmaker. prgtoken Over the years, Stephanie has given her time as a den mother, a Girl Scout leader, a Christ Child volunteer, a coordinator for the Polish American Club, and many, many, many other roles. They are actually countless. prgtoken Now she loves to crochet, read, and spend time with her seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. prgtoken Happy birthday to Stephanie. We are incredibly lucky to have her. May God bless her. South Jersey is proud of her; New Jersey is proud of her; and America is proud of her.
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
James E. Clyburn (Democrat, SC) \u2014 2019-9-18

. Madam , I was unable to cast my votes on the following dates, September 9 through 12, due to a family emergency. Had I been present, I would have voted: ``yea'' roll call no. 515; ``yea'' roll call no. 516; ``yea'' roll call no. 517; ``yea'' roll call no. 518; ``yea'' roll call no. 519; ``nay'' roll call no. 520; ``yea'' roll call no. 521; ``nay'' roll call no. 522; ``nay'' roll call no. 523; ``nay'' roll call no. 524; ``yea'' roll call no. 525; ``nay'' roll call no. 526; ``nay'' roll call no. 527; ``nay'' roll call no. 528; ``nay'' roll call no. 529; and ``yea'' roll call no. 530.