mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2021--Continued
Mike Lee (Republican, UT) \u2014 2020-7-1

I have deep affection and adoration for my friend and colleague, the Senator from New Jersey. I do respectfully but strongly disagree with his position on this. prgtoken He made the point several times that if he were acting as an investor, he would very much like to know the composition of a corporate board or an executive team within a corporation, which is great. A lot of people feel the same way. That isn't the question. No one is stopping a corporation from disclosing that information. In fact, a whole lot of corporations do. prgtoken Some may not want to do that. Some might want to disclose some of this information but not all of it. Some might not want to be in a position of asking probing questions regarding the gender and ethnicity and race of their employees, understanding that it will then be disclosed to the public under the crushing force of Federal law. prgtoken There are legitimate reasons why a company might not want to do that, some of which have to do with that company's own ability to treat its employees and its board members and its executive team with dignity and respect. In some circumstances, not everything is the government's business. prgtoken Transparency, yes. It is absolutely something that I believe in. Transparency usually refers to what we need when it comes to government action. Transparency is what we demand when we require open public hearings when government does business. Transparency is what we require when we allow government documents to be made public and allow the public to see what the regulatory process is doing. prgtoken Transparency doesn't mean that everything that everyone does in America that has a tie to economic activity is the public's business. The fact that it is publicly traded doesn't mean it is owned by the government. prgtoken So the statement made by my colleague to the effect that when information is hidden from you, then the free market doesn't work very well--I don't understand what that means. If what he is suggesting is that it is hidden in violation of law, that is not the case. If what he is suggesting is that the free market can't punish those who refuse to disclose information about the boards and reward those who do, that is exactly what the free market does. The free market has every opportunity to work here. It is not as though nobody is providing this information, but it is not their business. prgtoken As to the suggestion that because the Chamber of Commerce supports this, therefore it is pro-business, and because it is pro-business, we should all support it, I respectfully but strongly disagree. I know that as a , I am supposed to automatically agree with what the Chamber of Commerce says. Sometimes I do, but, you know, a whole lot of the time, I don't. prgtoken This goes back a long time. It goes back to the time when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposed a massive tax reform bill that was proposed by President Calv
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2021--Continued
Pat Roberts (Republican, KS) \u2014 2020-7-1

. I rise to respond to this unanimous consent request to call up and pass a bill to make modifications to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP. prgtoken Over the past few months, through the enactment of both the Families First Act and the CARES Act, Congress has provided both funding and flexibilities for nutrition assistance during this pandemic emergency. The funding from the Families First and CARES Acts has included the following: $15 billion for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; $8.8 billion for the School and Child Nutrition Programs; $1 billion in food distribution programs, like The Emergency Food Assistance Program, TEFAP, and the Food Distribution Program for Indian Reservations; $500 million for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or the WIC Program. prgtoken In addition, Congress provided emergency SNAP benefits, allotments, and pandemic EBT benefits for children while schools are closed. prgtoken The Department of Agriculture has been steadily distributing both food and benefits, and the Department has granted and extended many flexibilities to State and sponsoring organizations to get food to those in need. prgtoken The distinguished Senator from Michigan, for whom I have a great deal of respect and friendship--we have a history of working together on the Agriculture Committee to help those in need. prgtoken In fact, just last week, we wrote the Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, about some of the WIC flexibilities, and the Department of Agriculture has already acted to extend those flexibilities. This is just a recent example of the good work we can accomplish together, but I respectfully object to this unanimous consent.
INVESTING IN A NEW VISION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND SURFACE TRANSPORTATION IN AMERICA ACT
Virginia Foxx (Republican, NC) \u2014 2020-7-1

. Madam , you know, the gentleman, I think, maligns the State of North Carolina. I didn't think I would have to really stand here and defend what a wonderful State North Carolina is, but I think it is the fourth largest growing State in the country. People are coming there in droves. It is considered one of the best States in the country for workers. The minimum wage may be $7.25, but I think we know only about 2 percent of the people in this country are making the minimum wage, and they are entry level people. I think we are talking more about an average wage of about $20 an hour for people in North Carolina. So that is a straw dog that he is bringing up. prgtoken We have a wonderful State, and people are flocking there. The quality of life is great. And I will put up our quality of life in North Carolina against the quality of life in Oregon or anywhere else in the country as a great place to live. prgtoken Madam , .
HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF JOSEPH J. MANCINO, SR.
John H. Rutherford (Republican, FL) \u2014 2020-7-1

I rise today in memory of Tyler Lehman, who, tragically, passed away from a rare form of leukemia during 2017. prgtoken During his battle with cancer, Tyler became an inspiration to many in our Jacksonville, Florida, community. Despite numerous cycles of remission, relapse, and chemotherapy, which took a really hard toll on his body, he never lost that positive spirit. prgtoken Each year, no matter how difficult it was for him, Tyler would lead his team of walkers for the annual Light the Night Walk for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. His team continues to walk each year in his memory. prgtoken He has also befriended people from all over the world, supporting them as they struggled with their own individual ailments and conditions. prgtoken He loved the outdoors, whether it was biking nearly 20 miles each day for charity or barbecuing at Cedar Point Park. It has now been over 3 years since his passing, and he is still missed dearly by his family and friends. Tyler was important to so many in northeast Florida, and I know that his memory will live on forever in those whom he touched. prgtoken Recognizing Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department and U.S. Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville
IN SUPPORT OF THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS
Greg Pence (Republican, IN) \u2014 2020-7-1

as the fair season begins, I want to wish the best of luck to all 4-H'rs across Indiana's Sixth District. prgtoken Though this year's fairs are virtual and may look very different, the hard work they have put in throughout this past year I want to recognize. prgtoken 4-H is a tremendous organization that helps our Nation's youth develop the life skills needed to empower themselves and their communities. prgtoken Best of luck to those participating in their 4-H county fair. You are making your families and communities very proud.
Introductory Statement on S. 4143
Michael F. Bennet (Democrat, CO) \u2014 2020-7-1

. I would like to thank Leader Schumer and the ranking member of the Finance Committee, Senator Wyden, for bringing this commonsense proposal to the floor. prgtoken I have long advocated for the idea that we should tie benefits to the conditions of the economy rather than simply politically convenient dates or inconvenient dates that don't matter, don't make any sense to working people in our country, and create idiotic fights here that don't help the people we all have been sent here, in theory at least, to serve. prgtoken Right now, we are facing an unprecedented set of conditions in our country. We are being racked by an economic downturn. It is different from any that we have ever seen before and at the same time, we are facing this incredible health crisis. One in six workers in this country is unemployed. One in six workers is unemployed today. prgtoken But for once, thankfully, we were able to come together in a bipartisan way in March and pass the CARES Act, which is benefitting these workers in two ways. prgtoken First, we expanded unemployment benefits to cover almost 10 million self-employed workers, gig workers, and others who are usually left behind in circumstances like this. That is something we should have changed a long time ago, but we finally got it done, and we did it in a bipartisan way. prgtoken Second, as Leader Schumer and Senator Wyden said, we added $600 per week to normal unemployment benefits for all 30 million workers claiming benefits. That $600 weekly benefit has prevented a level of severe hardship that is almost impossible to describe. It has paid rent and prevented evictions. It has kept food on the table so families don't go hungry. It has kept the lights on and paid for the internet so our kids can learn. The bottom line is that the $600 weekly payment has been an essential lifeline to families in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. prgtoken In Colorado alone, over 450,000 workers are receiving the expanded benefit, and it has put a total of nearly $2.5 billion into our economy. Nationwide, the numbers are staggering. One analysis showed that these additional payments help keep 12 million Americans out of poverty and keep poverty rates from rising. Without these payments, wages across the entire economy would have declined by 10 percent from February to May. We completely offset that decline. prgtoken You know what that means is that working people actually were able to continue to buy things in this economy. The leader might be interested to know that I was talking to an economist recently, Raj Chetty, from Harvard, who has done a study, including other places, of New York. That study shows that the biggest loss in terms of consumer spending has come from the wealthiest areas in New York. That resulted in the biggest unemployment. prgtoken In other words, if you have a small business in a wealthy area in New York, your small business is cratering
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
Dianne Feinstein (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2020-7-1

I rise to speak in support of the Coronavirus Commission Act. Representative Adam Schiff has introduced companion legislation in the House. prgtoken This bill would establish a commission on the coronavirus pandemic to better understand the vulnerabilities it has revealed in our national security and healthcare system and improve our preparedness for future crises. prgtoken It is crucial to improve our understanding of pandemic threats and health issues that the United States could face in the coming decades to better protect our population and mitigate the risk of a similar human and economic catastrophe. prgtoken Nearly 130,000 Americans have died from COVID-19. Hospitals have struggled to secure enough personal protective equipment to keep health workers safe, testing levels remain inadequate, and a breakthrough therapeutic, let alone a vaccine, has yet to be developed. prgtoken More than 41 million Americans have been laid off, and the unemployment rate is likely well over 20 percent. Large numbers of businesses have permanently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. prgtoken The commission that would be created by our bill would conduct a comprehensive review of the government's coronavirus response and make recommendations on how we can be better prepared in the future. The commission would complement other oversight efforts in Congress and elsewhere. prgtoken The coronavirus commission would examine U.S. Government preparedness in advance of this pandemic, the Federal Government's response to it, and provide recommendations to improve our ability to respond to and recover from future outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics. prgtoken This legislation is modeled after and closely mirrors legislation enacted in 2002 that created the 9/11 Commission. prgtoken The Coronavirus Commission would be composed of 10 members, with the same partisan balance as the 9/11 commissioners and prohibited from being current Federal officials, with a variety of backgrounds in relevant fields, including public health, epidemiology, emergency preparedness, armed services, and intelligence; provide a full accounting to the President, Congress, and the American people of the facts and circumstances related to the outbreak in the United States, including our preparedness, the intelligence and information we had available before the virus reached the United States, and how Federal, State, and local governments, as well as the private sector, responded to the crisis; hold hearings and public events to obtain information and to educate the public; possess subpoena power to compel cooperation by relevant witnesses and materials from the Federal Government, as well as State and local governments; make specific recommendations to Congress and the executive branch to improve our preparedness for pandemic disease; have adequate staffing and resources to be able to complete expeditiously the monumental task at hand so we can be
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2021--Continued
Sherrod Brown (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2020-7-1

I thank the ic leader. prgtoken I have a prepared speech I want to make, but I heard Senator Schumer talk about this. These are human beings. We in this body are Senators. We go back and forth to our States. We have the privilege of working pretty safe. We are paid. We aren't exposed to the virus all that much, mostly because we are pretty careful because we can be, and we have jobs where we can be. prgtoken Think about this. You work in a grocery store, and you are exposed to the coronavirus. A grocery store worker told me one day: They tell me I am essential, but I feel expendable because I am not very safe in this job, and they don't pay me much. prgtoken What if she gets laid off--that wouldn't happen so much in a grocery store because they are hiring--but in another job, they get laid off. They have to worry about potential eviction. Their unemployment will run out at the end of July. We have done nothing to help them prgtoken What happens with all these people who get evicted? They end up on the streets or they go to homeless shelters that are too crowded. They go to live on their cousin's couch in the basement. What are the chances of them getting coronavirus? These are human beings in New York and Ohio and Idaho and Tennessee and all over. I can't believe we are not about to do something about this. prgtoken I thank the leader for his involvement on this issue that is so important. We are in the middle of a crisis, unlike anything any of us have ever lived through. That goes without saying. Every single day we hear about hundreds and hundreds more Americans dying. prgtoken Back in March, South Korea had 90 cases. We had 90 cases. The capital of South Korea is 800 miles from Wuhan where this virus started. They have had fewer than 300 people die. We have had 120,000. They don't have better doctors. They don't have better public health. They don't have better medical scientists. They have better leaders than we do, obviously. Their unemployment rate is under 4 percent and fewer than 300 people have died. The people who have died are our sisters, our brothers, our parents, our friends, and neighbors. prgtoken The President of the United States and the leader down the hall--who occasionally goes in and out of his office--have stopped pretending to care. They rarely talk about the coronavirus. The President rarely extends any sympathy to our brothers and our sisters and our parents and our friends and our neighbors who have been sick and who have died. It is not the President's rich friends who are dying; it is our grandparents. They are the people in nursing homes. They are disproportionately the Black and Brown workers who caught the virus on the job. prgtoken The administration and Senator McConnell, essentially, have just given up. We can't. We have to do our jobs. We need to show leadership where the President has failed and where the majority leader--the most pow
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2021--Continued
Robert P. Casey, Jr. (Democrat, PA) \u2014 2020-7-1

before we close tonight, I want to talk about a story that is troubling a lot of Americans--one that we have just learned about in the last couple of days--and that is the recent events regarding the U.S. presence in Afghanistan and some of the reporting. prgtoken Like many of my colleagues--and I am sure this is a feeling shared by tens and tens of millions of Americans--I am alarmed, as I know they are, by reports of the intelligence community's discovery that the Russian Government offered to pay Taliban and Haqqani Network militants to target American troops in Afghanistan. prgtoken The New York Times broke the story on June 26. Since then, several questions have emerged regarding how the intelligence has been handled, how long decisionmakers within the U.S. Government have known about this, and thirdly, what measures the administration is taking to hold Russia accountable. prgtoken Obviously, there are a number of stories by other news outlets in addition to that by the New York Times. I will just refer to one excerpt from the New York Times' June 26 report. prgtoken It reads: ``An operation to incentivize the killing of American and other NATO troops would be a significant and provocative escalation of what American and Afghan officials have prgtoken said is Russian support for the Taliban.'' prgtoken The story later goes on to read: ``Any involvement with the Taliban that resulted in the deaths of American troops would also be a huge escalation of Russia's so-called hybrid war against the United States, a strategy of destabilizing adversaries through a combination of such tactics as cyberattacks . . . and covert and deniable military operations.'' prgtoken We have learned in recent days that these reports have been circulating through the U.S. intelligence community since early 2019, but there was little to no action taken. The timeline regarding these events is of particular concern to me and, I know, to many Americans but especially to those who represent a State in which there is a direct connection. prgtoken In April of 2019, three U.S. marines were killed in a car bomb near Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. There was speculation that this may have been a bounty attack that had been carried out by the Taliban for the Russians. prgtoken There has been further reporting on this--tracking the dollars--by the New York Times and maybe by a few other outlets, but I know the New York Times did. prgtoken One of the marines killed in that April 2019 attack was a Pennsylvanian. If there had been credible intelligence regarding the Russian plot and if that intelligence had been acted upon, one question I have is--and it is only a question; I don't know the answer to this question, but I ask it--could the death of this young Pennsylvania marine and his brothers in arms have been averted? prgtoken That is a question. I don't know the answer to it. I hope, in the coming days and weeks--and I hope not longe
AND STILL I RISE
Al Green (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2020-7-1

. Madam , and still I rise. And I rise tonight to express my support for H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act. prgtoken I have supported this legislation because it is not only good for my congressional district, it is also good for the country. prgtoken This legislation will allow us to do something that I think is quite important. I sit on the Financial Services Committee, and it allows us to address housing as a part of our Nation's infrastructure. The Honorable Maxine Waters has worked tirelessly to get housing included in this legislation. I believe it will benefit many people, especially those people who may find themselves with rent due and an inability to pay their bills. prgtoken I also am proud to say that it will help our ports. We have the Port of Houston, and that is a port that is very significant as it relates not only to Houston but to the country. prgtoken It will help with our schools, and it will help with broadband. It is a very good piece of legislation. prgtoken But there is one additional thing in this legislation that I think would be of benefit, not only to the young people in this country but also to our police officers. This is H. Res. 169 which is a piece of legislation that emanated in my office. This would have a driver and an officer safety education component. prgtoken We talk about the conversations that African American parents have with their children. This is a conversation that takes place because of a history that we too well understand. This legislation addresses that conversation, but it addresses it not only as it relates to the young person, the person who is going to be driving the car, it also addresses it as it relates to the officer. prgtoken It would grant States moneys for grants such that they would be able to train officers about the interactions with civilians and train civilians, give them the education that they need so that they will understand how to properly interact with officers. prgtoken Understanding can change the course of history. It can make a difference in the lives of people. My hope is that with this legislation in H.R. 2 it will cause somebody to benefit from just knowing how to interact with a person who happens to be a police officer or a police officer getting a better understanding of how to interact with someone from a given community. prgtoken As important as this piece of legislation is, I do understand that if we are to have the kind of change that we seek, we will probably have to have another piece of legislation that I am proud to offer. This is a piece of legislation calling for a department of reconciliation. A lot of what is happening in our country is systemic. It is institutionalized. If we want to deal with systemic and institutionalized problems, especially as they relate to race, then we need to have a department so that we can approach these systemic issues not only in the short term but over the years and over the decades. prgtoken Thi