mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
Vicente Gonzalez (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2018-11-23

by no means do I condone the atrocities that continue to be committed in Yemen. The United States Congress cannot stand by as famine and armed conflict claim the lives of millions. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution assigns to Congress the sole authority over the offensive use of force, and now is the time not only to reassess our military's involvement in Yemen, but in every other conflict zone. I voted YEA on Roll Call No. 418 because I believe that Congress must take back the constitutional reins and thoroughly examine U.S. military participation across the globe for the good of our country, our servicemembers, and our allies.
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
Orrin G. Hatch (Republican, UT) \u2014 2018-11-26

I rise today to introduce the Traumatic prgtoken Brain Injury Program Reauthorization Act of 2018. I want to thank my colleague, Senator Casey, for working with me once again on important legislation to reauthorize the Federal Traumatic Brain Injury program, which is dedicated to improving the delivery and quality of care for persons with traumatic brain injury -- or, TBI. prgtoken Each year, millions of Americans suffer TBIs as a result of automobile collisions, falls, recreational accidents, assaults, and other tragic incidents. TBI has also been called a signature wound of recent wars. In 2016, the Department of Defense reported more than 18,000 service members diagnosed with traumatic brain injury. A survivor of a severe brain injury typically faces years of intensive health and rehabilitation services, with estimated lifetime costs in the millions. prgtoken In 1996, I worked with my good friend Senator Ted Kennedy on the original TBI Act to help limit the suffering, death, and long-term disability that results from TBI. Our legislation marked the beginning of a multifaceted Federal endeavor to address the needs of persons with TBI and their families. The 1996 TBI law authorized research, not only for the treatment of traumatic brain injury, but also for prevention and awareness programs to help decrease the occurrence of TBI and improve patient outcomes. It was the first Federal legislation to focus on improving education, protection, and state services coordination for TBI. prgtoken Today's TBI program maintains that original framework of prevention, education, access, and protection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducts projects to reduce the incidence of traumatic brain injury. Through the Administration for Community Living (ACL), the TBI State Partnership Grant Program helps States and territories to build service infrastructure and improve access to services and supports. prgtoken Through the ACL, the TBI program also supports protection and advocacy to provide TBI survivors with information and referral services, and to help resolve legal and administrative problems for individuals or groups of individuals with developmental disabilities. Our bill reauthorizes TBI activities at the CDC and ACL. prgtoken The CDC has reported that about 2.5 million children and adults sustain TBIs each year. But we do not truly know the incidence and prevalence of TBI or the lifelong disability it can cause. Surveillance is especially important to our efforts to reduce the public health burden of TBI. Improved data collection can help both primary prevention of TBI, and acute care and rehabilitation. Prevention programs should be targeted to address at-risk populations and specific causes of TBI. And accurate data are needed to improve TBI survivors' access to necessary services. prgtoken At present, CDC is piloting a National Concussion Surveillance System as a means to fill t
Farewell to the Senate (Executive Session)
Johnny Isakson (Republican, GA) \u2014 2018-11-26

I wish to address the Senator before he leaves. prgtoken I represent the great State of Georgia, which is north of the great State of Florida. I have had the pleasure of serving with this Senator for a long time in a lot of capacities. He has made a huge contribution to his State and to his country. We worked together on a lot of other interests, like the Prayer Breakfast in the Senate and many other things like that. prgtoken I want to commend the Senator for his speech, commend him for his remarks, and commend him for his lovely wife, amazing Grace, whom I love very much. very much for his service to the people of the State of Florida and the United States of America. May God bless him.
Nomination of Stephen Alexander Vaden (Executive Session)
Lamar Alexander (Republican, TN) \u2014 2018-11-26

within a few minutes, the Senate will vote on ending debate on the nomination of Stephen Vaden to be the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. I am glad to see that. I am here to strongly support Mr. Vaden and urge my colleagues to support him. prgtoken Stephen Vaden grew up on a family farm in Union City, TN, way out in the west end of our State, and he has some academic credentials for this job which are also very strong. He attended Vanderbilt University and Yale Law School. He has had two strong mentors--Judge Julia Gibbons of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, who was once my counsel when I was Governor of Tennessee, and Judge Hardy Mays of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. He practiced with two distinguished law firms in Washington, DC. He has hands-on academic credentials. He has hands-on farming credentials. He has a strong background in legal training. prgtoken Mr. Vaden has the strong support of his Congressman, Mr. David Kustoff from West Tennessee. This is Davy Crockett's old congressional district in Tennessee. prgtoken Tennessee Farm Bureau President Jeff Aiken said that Mr. Vaden ``has a passion for agriculture that can't be taught but is necessary'' for the job of General Counsel. prgtoken Secretary Perdue, Agriculture Secretary, said that Mr. Vaden ``has a firm grasp of the legal issues facing American agriculture, and very importantly, understands the breadth and complexity of the regulatory burdens prgtoken placed on our producers.'' The Secretary finished by saying: ``Our farmers, ranchers, foresters, and producers will be well served by his counsel.'' prgtoken I know the distinguished Presiding Officer has a strong interest and a hands-on background in agriculture, and so do many other Members of this body on both sides of the aisle. I am happy to strongly recommend Stephen Vaden to my colleagues. I urge a ``yes'' vote on ending the debate. Once that has ended, I urge a ``yes'' vote on confirmation of his nomination by President . prgtoken , . prgtoken .
Nomination of Thomas Farr (Executive Session)
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-11-26

first let me welcome everybody back from Thanksgiving, which I hope was a joyous one for everyone here today. prgtoken On a subject not so joyous, the majority leader has indicated that the Senate will move to the pending nomination of Thomas Farr to the Eastern District of North Carolina. I have been in the Senate long enough to see a whole bunch of questionable nominees, frankly, from both parties, but Thomas Farr is unquestionably one of the worst. It is hard to believe President nominated him. It is even harder to believe Senate s are considering him again. prgtoken This is a man who stands for disenfranchisement of voters, particularly minority voters. That is what he stands for. You can try to parse it any way you want, but that is what he has done. That is not America. prgtoken In addition, he has spent his long legal career working against the rights of unions, but he has demonstrated to be a dyed-in-the-wool partisan with particular hostility to voting rights. We all know North Carolina has done more to hurt voting rights than just about any other State. That is an ignominious title for a State that is trying to be more progressive and forward-looking. We all know that. prgtoken We also know Justice Roberts will go down in history as one of those who worked to take away voting rights when he authored the Shelby decision and more or less stated that he didn't believe discrimination existed any longer so we wouldn't need section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. That allowed people like Mr. Farr and those in North Carolina to do a wholesale taking away of voting rights, particularly those of minorities. prgtoken After challenging multiple congressional maps drawn by North Carolina's , Farr vigorously defended the congressional maps drawn by North Carolina's s. Even this conservative Supreme Court, often so insensitive to the voting fairness and rights of minorities--the Supreme Court actually overturned this map for discrimination--not partisanship, discrimination. prgtoken Farr defended North Carolina's restrictive voting laws. The law, passed by a very conservative legislature, requested data on the use by race of a number of voting practices. After receiving the data, North Carolina s made five changes to voting and registration, every one of which disproportionately hurt the voting ability of African Americans. Under the law, even citizens who showed government employee IDs, student IDs, or IDs used to receive public assistance were not allowed to vote. prgtoken Here is what the Fourth Circuit said--again, not a liberal court circuit. It said: The law had ``discriminatory intent'' and ``targeted African Americans with almost surgical precision.'' Farr, as he defended this law, said it was a minor inconvenience for voters. This is despicable. That law is particularly designed to prevent African Americans from voting, and we are nominatin
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
Benjamin L. Cardin (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2018-11-26

this Wednesday, November 28, 2018, the Sisters of Mercy will be celebrating 50 years of service to Mercy Health Services provided by one of my longest and dearest friends, Richard O. Berndt. That is right: half a century of service. prgtoken Rick is a senior partner at Gallagher, Evelius & Jones, LLP, a firm he joined after he assisted the firm's founder, Francis X. Gallagher, at the Maryland Constitutional Convention in 1967. That was the year Rick earned his law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law. That was where we met, and he has remained one of my closest and most trusted advisers ever since. He earned his bachelor's degree from Villanova University in 1964 and went on to earn a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1970. His continued devotion to all three institutions--but, perhaps, especially his beloved ``Nova''--knows no bounds. prgtoken Rick, the son of German immigrant bakers, is actively and productively engaged in Maryland's business community, and he currently serves on the boards of Mercy Health Services, Inc and Johns Hopkins Medicine. Over the last five decades, Rick has served on the boards of Associated Catholic Charities, Inc Baltimore Community Foundation, Baltimore Development Corporation, Baltimore Equitable Society Insurance Company, Center Stage, Inc Maryland Academy of Sciences (Maryland Science Center), Goucher College, Good Samaritan Hospital, and the Board of Regents of the University of Maryland Higher Education System, and for-profit companies such as Mercantile Bankshares Corp. prgtoken Rick has never sought the spotlight. Perhaps that is one of the reasons he has been so influential over the course of his career. As the Baltimore Sun reported in 2001, ``Without making headlines, Berndt played an important role in moving the Baltimore Archdiocese into the foreground on civil rights, rebuilding the Inner Harbor in the 1970s, shaping the campaigns and policies of leading , pushing a major statewide gun control measure and negotiating the huge Inner Harbor East waterfront development.'' Then-Delegate Howard P. ``Pete'' Rawlings referred to Rick as ``the political pope of Baltimore.'' That was nearly 20 years ago; I can assure you Rick hasn't slowed down since. prgtoken Winston Churchill said, ``We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.'' Rick has been successful as an attorney and in life because his ethical compass has always been pointed to true north. He may be modest about his service, but it hasn't gone unnoticed. Rick is the recipient of numerous public service awards including not one, but two, papal medals from Pope John Paul II; the Pro Bono Service Award from the University of Maryland School of Law Alumni Association; the Frances Morton Froelicher Civic Statesmanship Award from the Citizens Planning and Housing Association; and the Greater Baltimore Committee Award for Outstanding Servic
Farewell to the Senate (Executive Session)
Bill Nelson (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2018-11-26

I intend to be giving a number of speeches over the course of the next couple of weeks to comment on various matters on which I have had the privilege of working. prgtoken I want to say, with regard to the election, that things turned out a little differently than Grace and I had expected, but let me say that I have been very, very blessed. That is because I have had the privilege of serving the people of Florida and our country for most of my life, and I don't think anyone could have been more honored by having a lifetime of public service. I was not victorious in this race, but I still wish to strongly reaffirm the cause for which we fought: A public office is a public trust. prgtoken First, I want to say thanks to all who have rallied to our cause, both here in the Senate and in Florida. You knocked on the doors, you walked the precincts, you made the phone calls, and you contributed your time and your resources. With an optimistic heart, I wish to say something else: We may have been heavily outspent, but we were never outworked. prgtoken To all Floridians, I say to you this, whether you voted for me or for my opponent or you didn't vote at all: I ask that you never give up this fight. A public office is a public trust, and there are a lot of other things that fall under that category of public trust. prgtoken You must fight to protect the fundamental right to healthcare and against any attempt to roll back our progress on things like preexisting conditions. Most everybody has a preexisting condition. If it is not required that an insurance company cover you, then either your rate is prohibitively high or else you don't get coverage at all. Out of the 20 million people in the State of Florida, 8 million people have a preexisting condition. prgtoken You must continue the fight to preserve the natural wonders of our State, from the Everglades to the pine forests and to the beaches and the offshore waters. Say no to drilling off our coast--not one rig off of our coastline--not only for the sake of our environment but for the sake of our tourism economy and for the sake of the largest military testing and training area for the U.S. military in the world right off of our coast. prgtoken As a country, we need to continue to launch rockets and to explore the heavens. I have seen the blue brilliance of the Earth from the edge of the heavens, and I will fight on to save this planet, our homes, and our cities from the spreading plague of greenhouse gases that infect our atmosphere, play havoc with our weather, and risk the planet our children and grandchildren will inherit. prgtoken Every single one of us needs to keep fighting to strengthen Social Security and Medicare for the generations that are yet to come. It is your Medicare. It is your Social Security. You pay into these programs. They belong to you and not to the politicians who are plotting to rob you of your retirement. prgtoken I will conti
Nomination of Thomas Farr (Executive Calendar)
Elizabeth Warren (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2018-11-27

for decades powerful interests have been working to take over our courts and tilt the scales of justice in favor of billionaires and giant corporations. President has been all in, nominating extreme and partisan judges to the Federal judiciary at lightning speed. prgtoken 's judges can easily fill a ``Who's Who'' of radical, rightwing, pro-corporate lawyers, but today I prgtoken want to focus on the nomination of one of the worst of the worst: Thomas Farr, 's nominee to serve on the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. prgtoken Thomas Farr has made his name as the go-to lawyer for the rich and powerful. When the rental car company Avis and its franchisee were sued for discriminating against African-American customers, Farr defended the franchisee. When Pfizer was sued for sex discrimination and creating a hostile work environment, Farr was there once again representing the company. prgtoken Today, just a few weeks after millions of Americans went to the polls to exercise the basic right at the core of our democracy, I want to focus on one of the most pressing reasons my colleagues should vote against the Farr nomination. His nomination will only deepen a plague of voter suppression aimed at stripping Americans--particularly people of color and marginalized groups--from exercising their lawful right to vote. prgtoken Voter suppression is front and center on Farr's resume, including his work for Jesse Helms, the former U.S. Senator and shameless bigot. Farr worked as Helms' campaign lawyer while Helms led some of the most blatantly racist political campaigns in modern history. For example, to decrease Black turnout, Helms' Senate campaign mailed postcards to 125,000 voters in predominantly Black precincts, falsely claiming they could be found ineligible to vote based on specific criteria involving their location and length of residence and warning that they could face criminal penalties if they voted. prgtoken That is just the beginning. In recent years, Farr represented the North Carolina Legislature in a case challenging a discriminatory voting bill that, according to one Federal appeals court, targeted African Americans with ``almost surgical precision.'' The legislature conducted research into voting practices that helped increase turnout among African-American voters and then wrote a bill that essentially eliminated each of those practices. Farr was there to defend the legislature when faith groups, civil rights groups, and the administration's Justice Department challenged the discriminatory law. The law was ultimately found unconstitutional by the Federal appeals court and was not reinstated by the Supreme Court. Later, when North Carolina redrew its district lines in ways that discriminated against African Americans, Farr was there once again to defend the legislature. prgtoken Thomas Farr's nomination is particularly troubling given the
CONFIRMATION OF STEPHEN ALEXANDER VADEN
Chris Van Hollen (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2018-11-27

President nominated Stephen Vaden to be General Counsel for the Department of Agriculture. In that role, Mr. Vaden will oversee all of the legal services for all operations and programs of the Department and 250 attorneys nationwide. prgtoken Most of Mr. Vaden's experience is not in agriculture or natural resources issues. Much of his work at the law firm Jones Day focused on election law, and during the 2016 election cycle, he coauthored amicus briefs in States where State legislatures had enacted discriminatory voting laws designed to suppress minority votes following the Supreme Court ruling in Shelby County v. Holder which gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965. State legislatures in North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia took full advantage of the Shelby County ruling that removed previous preclearance requirements. prgtoken In North Carolina, the legislature passed a law changing various State voting procedures. The legislature utilized racial data on voting practices in drafting the law, and where they saw voting practices that were predominately utilized by African American voters, they changed those voting practices. prgtoken Mr. Vaden was one of three attorneys who submitted an amicus brief in support of the State of North Carolina, for Senators Tillis, Graham, Cruz, Lee, and the Judicial Education Project. The Jones Day amicus brief argued that ``North Carolina's race-neutral regulations of the time, place, and manner of its elections do not violate Section 2 [Of the Voting Rights Act].'' They further wrote, ``Quite to the contrary, North Carolina allows all citizens to vote. Although members of minority races may disproportionately choose, for socio-economic or other reasons, not to take advantage of this equal opportunity, North Carolina's practices are not the proximate cause of this phenomenon.'' prgtoken In its published opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals strongly disagreed with that argument and found that the North Carolina State election law ``targeted African Americans with almost surgical precision.'' The court further stated, ``We cannot ignore the evidence that, because of race, the legislature enacted one of the largest restrictions of the franchise in modern North Carolina history,'' and ``Faced with this record, we can only conclude that the North Carolina General Assembly enacted the challenged provisions with discriminatory intent.'' prgtoken At the November 9, 2017, Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry hearing to consider Mr. Vaden's nomination, I questioned him about his role in the amicus brief in the North Carolina voting rights case. I am a firm believer in the right to vote and deeply troubled by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals findings that the North Carolina case involved voter discrimination. prgtoken I did not find Mr. Vaden's answers to my questions to be sufficient. When I asked him if the Judicial Education Project paid Jones Day in full f
CLIMATE CHANGE
Terri A. Sewell (Democrat, AL) \u2014 2018-11-27

I rise today in recognition of Rex Buffington, for his life's work as executive director of the John C. Stennis Center for Public Service Leadership since it was established 30 years ago. prgtoken I again thank the gentleman from California for yielding me this time. I am joined here tonight by my fellow board members of the Stennis Center as we speak about the retirement of the executive director, Rex Buffington. prgtoken For more than 30 years, the Stennis Center has taught, inspired, and prgtoken trained our Nation's young people through programs such as debate, women's leadership initiatives, and Truman Scholars. Thanks to the leadership of Rex from the very beginning, their work has had a powerful impact on our Nation's leadership, mobilizing a generation of dedicated public servants and community leaders. prgtoken I am happy to share with Rex not only our southern roots--he is from Mississippi and I am from Alabama--but our mutual love for debate and our dear friend, my former high school debate coach, Coach Billy Tate. Coach Billy Tate, my high school debate coach at Selma High School, was instrumental in the creation of the John C. Stennis Novice Speech and Debate Tournament. prgtoken I know that my life's journey would not have been possible if it had not been for my high school debate experience. I know that the Stennis Center's debate program is just one of the many ways young leaders across this country are being equipped with the invaluable tools necessary for leadership. prgtoken Rex knows that it is the people behind our democracy that makes democracy work. He has been quoted as saying: ``No government, regardless of its history or structure, can be better than the people who make it work.'' prgtoken I agree with Rex. When we have programs aimed at attracting thoughtful, committed, and honest leaders to public service, we get good policy in the end. prgtoken While I am disappointed to see Rex's time as executive director come to an end, I know that his leadership has set the groundwork for another 30 years of success in attracting young people of character to public service. prgtoken The impact that Rex has had has been enormous, and I thank him.