mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
FAREWELL TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Joseph Crowley (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-12-19

this evening I say goodbye to the House of Representatives after 20 years of service. Thank you to the people of Queens and the Bronx. It has been the honor of a lifetime to be the voice of many people from New York City. prgtoken , as a son and grandson of immigrants from Ireland, more specifically, as a son of a New York City cop, as a husband and a father, I can only hope I have made my family proud. My family is everything to me. They taught me to pursue fairness and justice, to use my power--and my size and my voice--for good, and to give back. I hope I have done that. I hope my colleagues will keep working together to do the same. prgtoken We all have different backgrounds, but we are all united by our shared dreams for this great land. I believe in the best of America, its people, and its public servants. prgtoken Again, thank you to my family for the love and support you have always shown to me: to my mom, who was not able to be here tonight; to my brother, Sean; my sisters, Eileen and Maura; my brother's wife, Maureen, and their boys; my sister's children and their families; my children, Cullen, Kenzie, and Liam. I won't tell you their ages, because they can't be on the floor. prgtoken And, of course, my wife, Kasey, is with us as well. Thank you, Kasey. prgtoken To my staff, the greatest staff a person could ever have, all of you have made this such a great journey. From the darkest days of my life of 9/11 to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, a very special moment for me, it has been great to be a part of this amazing ride. prgtoken I thank you all very much, and God bless you all. prgtoken , I rise today to say goodbye to the House of Representatives. prgtoken To say goodbye after 20 years of service to the people of New York and to the country. To say goodbye to what's been the honor of a lifetime. prgtoken I have been grateful every day for this opportunity--to come to work in this chamber, to walk beneath the Capitol dome, to stand in the footsteps of the giants who came before us. prgtoken And I will forever be thankful for having had the chance to represent my hometown community. prgtoken All four of my grandparents, and my mother, were immigrants from Ireland. prgtoken They left behind everything they knew, in search of a better life for not just themselves, but for their future generations. prgtoken I doubt they ever pictured that someday their grandson would serve in the United States Congress, but I hope I have done them proud. prgtoken My dad was the oldest of seven, who first became a New York City cop, then went to college and law school on the GI bill. prgtoken My mom didn't go to college, but she worked as a legal secretary, raised four children, and gave us every opportunity she could. prgtoken My family instilled in me the values that I hold dear to this day-- the importance of hard work, building strong communities, and ensuring opportunity for all. prgtoken They taught me to stand up fo
TRIBUTE TO JEFF FLAKE
Robert P. Casey, Jr. (Democrat, PA) \u2014 2018-12-19

today I wish to pay tribute to my colleague, Senator Jeff Flake. First in the House of Representatives and later in the U.S. Senate, Jeff Flake has served the people of Arizona and the Nation for over 15 years. prgtoken Senator Flake has a strong record of supporting democracy at home and abroad, finding areas of compromise on difficult issues like immigration reform and making sure our Nation keeps its promise to veterans. Senator Flake has been a leader on immigration reform efforts, and he has worked tirelessly to find a path forward to address the needs of our immigration system. In 2013, Senator Flake was one of the lead authors of bipartisan immigration reform legislation that would have modernized our immigration system, secured our borders, and provided a tough but fair path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants in our country. Through his position in the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senator Flake has advocated for policies prgtoken that promote democracy, economic growth, and quality of life improvements for people around the world. Here at home, Senator Flake has helped veterans in Arizona receive assistance and recognition from the Federal Government. prgtoken In recent years, Jeff Flake has been a leading voice in speaking up for the institution of the Senate and its role as part of a coequal branch of government with the executive' branch. He has sought to hold Presidents of both parties accountable as a Member of the Senate. prgtoken We will miss Senator Flake in the Senate next year, but I have no doubt that he will continue to find ways to serve his State and our Nation in the years ahead. We wish him well in that endeavor.
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--H.R. 299
Tammy Baldwin (Democrat, WI) \u2014 2018-12-19

I rise today to ask the Senate to come together and do the right thing for our veterans by passing the blue water Navy legislation. from Connecticut for his leadership, and I join him in appreciating the remarks of the Senator from Georgia in support of advancing this legislation in the final days of this session. prgtoken As a result of the VA changing its policy, Vietnam blue water Navy veterans have to meet higher burdens of proof to receive healthcare and disability benefits that they earned due to their exposure to Agent Orange. prgtoken I have heard from many veterans and their families from across Wisconsin asking that the Senate pass this bill because they don't have any more time to wait. prgtoken A veteran's family from Reedsburg, WI, wrote to me. They wrote: Senator Baldwin, my brother-in-law did three tours off the coast of Vietnam on an ammunition ship. He has contracted brain cancer, lung cancer, diabetes and hearing loss. We have submitted a request for compensation for these ailments. All requests have been denied and we are still appealing. This House bill passed unanimously and now languishes in the Senate. My brother-in-law is in hospice with limited time remaining. Please pass this legislation. prgtoken I heard from a veteran from Stetsonville, WI. He said: I served in the U.S. Navy and spent 1966 aboard the USS Intrepid as a gun fire controlman. I have been diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and large hairy cell leukemia. The lymphoma is currently in remission, but the leukemia is untreatable. On August 10, 2018, I had open-heart quintuple-bypass surgery as well. My children and grandchildren are suffering from my exposure to the dioxins found in Agent Orange which polluted the waters of the Tonkin Gulf. Please get the VA to do its job of caring for, treating, and recognizing the service-connected disability of the many Navy vets now suffering. The money for this care was originally provided for, prior to 1991, when the VA arbitrarily disallowed the gulf sailors. It is time to correct this breach of promise to care for our veterans, and I am asking for your help in getting the Blue Water Navy bill passed in the Senate, as it was unanimously passed in the House. prgtoken I am disappointed that Senator Blumenthal's request to pass this bill was just objected to by my colleague from Utah. Some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have argued that we can't afford the cost of this legislation, but I heard no such objections when those same colleagues voted for a very partisan tax bill that gave huge tax breaks to the largest corporations and added $1.9 trillion to our Nation's debt. Now, when it comes to doing right by our Vietnam veterans who served this country and are now dying from their
SYRIA
Christopher Murphy (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2018-12-19

I come to the floor today to speak briefly about the President's announcement today that he is going to be withdrawing 2,000 American troops from Syria. prgtoken Let me be clear. I thought this was a bad idea from the start, primarily because our troop presence in Syria is not authorized by Congress. We have had that debate in many forums here, but I believe this Congress has never authorized the U.S. military to engage in hostilities against ISIS. I think it is an extrapolation of the 2001 AUMF. It simply belies common sense. So we should never endorse military activity overseas, no matter what we think about the merits, if it is not authorized by this body. prgtoken But we have also seen over and over again that our relatively meager military presence in the Middle East has never been enough to change the political realities on the ground. The training mission was a disaster. The weapons we gave to the rebels ended up in the hands of the people we were fighting. Ultimately, we never had enough firepower there to be able to meaningfully change the balance of power. prgtoken But I will concede that the way the President went about making this decision makes our country an even bigger laughing stock than it already is in the region, and, frankly, that is pretty hard, because everybody is asking questions right now about why we pretended we were going to protect our Kurdish partners in the region if, on the eve of the Turkish offensive against the Kurds, we decide to pull out. prgtoken It makes absolutely no sense to pretend for literally months and months that we are going to be the bulwark to protect the Kurds against the Turks and then right on the precipice of the Turkish offensive, we leave. Why would anybody believe us in the future if we give them our word? prgtoken Again, I am speaking as someone who didn't support the intervention in the first place, but once you have made that commitment, why not follow through? prgtoken Second, why pull the rug out from under our diplomats in the region? It is very clear that neither Jim Jeffrey nor Brett McGurk knew anything about this. In fact, they were just making plans and suggestions weeks ago to increase our military involvement in the region, and now they are having to explain why 2,000 troops are leaving. prgtoken If you are going to make a decision like this, make sure the people who are working for you know about it. prgtoken Third, why announce this pullout without answering any questions about it or without announcing an alternative strategy? Total darkness from the President and his national security team. An announcement--a statement made on Twitter and no rollout of a plan for how the United States is going to continue to try to keep the peace. prgtoken So I agree with many of the criticisms that my friends who have come down to the floor have complained about. This was done in a ham-handed manner that makes us weaker in the world
HONORING THE LIFE OF JUSTICE WILLIAM NEWSOM
Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2018-12-19

I wish to talk about a very special person in our community who recently left us I rise to pray tribute to a gentleman of exceptional generosity, deep principles, and extraordinary wit: Justice William Newsom, or, as many called him, ``Bill.'' prgtoken A dedicated public servant with a commitment to the arts and conservation, he leaves a lasting legacy for America. Any one of us who knew him considered him a cherished friend. prgtoken Bill was a proud fourth-generation San Franciscan, who was born to a large Irish brood. As a commissioner of the San Francisco Superior Court, judge on the Placer County Superior Court, and then California Court of Appeals judge, he worked relentlessly to uphold liberty and justice for all. prgtoken Again, Bill's charitable and civic contributions to our city and our State are legendary. He was endowed with great decency and humanity and took the golden rule literally. He considered an injustice and indignity to one an injustice and indignity to all. prgtoken A passionate student of natural history and a lifelong enthusiast of the prgtoken outdoors, Bill worked relentlessly to preserve the beauty of God's creation. His leadership on a vast range of conservation and environmental organizations was vital in protecting clean air, clean water, and public lands for our children and grandchildren. prgtoken Bill also understood the power of the arts to bring us together and dedicated decades to fostering beauty, culture, and the arts in the bay area and around the world. prgtoken Again, all who were fortunate enough to call Bill a friend knew him as a brilliant man of letters, a tireless champion of civic causes, and a trusted confidante of unsurpassed empathy and generosity. But it is Bill's profound love of family that we will miss the most. prgtoken Bill's favorite role was that of patriarch, or paterfamilias, of a big Irish brood. Family trips to Squaw Valley and Dutch Flat were his great joy, and he relished every opportunity to share books, stories, and special moments with his family, especially Irish literature. prgtoken , I will include in the Record an obituary written about Bill Newsom that I think everyone should read. It is about a person so special that you merely have to read the story to find it believable that somebody could accomplish such things with dignity and grace. prgtoken , his obituary says that Justice William Newsom was paterfamilias of a pioneering San Francisco family and a revered figure to his family, including his wonderful daughter, Hilary, whom we all love, and his son, Governor-elect Gavin Newsom, whom, unfortunately, he will not see sworn in, but he did see him elected Governor in November. prgtoken Again, he is a fourth-generation San Franciscan, born to a large Irish Catholic brood in Depression-era San Francisco. His story is really the story of America. prgtoken Again, throughout his life he served the community with great, great dignity. His civ
SYRIA
Jeanne Shaheen (Democrat, NH) \u2014 2018-12-19

I am in distress to be on the floor of the Senate today with my colleague, Senator Graham, to express our deep and profound disappointment in President 's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northeast Syria. prgtoken We had the opportunity to visit Syria this summer, and we saw what a difference our troops had made there in the fight against ISIS in stabilizing Syria along the northern Turkish border. We saw the response from the Syrians we talked to, both the Kurds and Arabs, as we drove along the road. We saw children and people in the area flashing a victory sign at our troops, and you can see from this map the land that is controlled by the Syrian ic Forces, our partners in Syria, so this is the United States and Syrian ic Forces. prgtoken We have a significant piece of Syria that is now peaceful and stabilized and ISIS has been thrown out of that part of Syria, but the President's decision--which was announced by a tweet--is dangerous, premature, and wholly inconsistent with the facts on the ground in Syria and our own military's advice. prgtoken I was listening to Senator Rubio earlier today talking about what is the plan? What is the plan if we withdraw? Well, I will tell you what the plan is. There is no plan. There is no follow-on to what we are going to do if we withdraw from Syria. What we know is, the work of our combined joint task force, Operation Inherent Resolve, and its partner forces, the Syrian ic Forces, is truly remarkable. Again, we can see it. We can see it in this brown section of the country where we have control and there is peace and stability. prgtoken Senator Graham and I, when we visited this summer, we went to Manbij, which was controlled by ISIS for 3 years. We walked through the market in Manbij without any body armor, with no guards. We talked to people in that community about what life was like under ISIS. prgtoken I talked to one woman who told me she did not go out of her house the entire time ISIS controlled Manbij, for 3 years. She went out of her house once to visit the doctor. prgtoken We saw women strolling through the market. We saw children playing. We saw people who were happy to be back in their own communities. They said to us: Please stay. We are worried about what will happen if the Americans leave Manbij. prgtoken We also flew over Kobane, right here on the Turkish border. I remember all of the TV coverage of the fight for Kobane and what it looked like. prgtoken We could see it was being rebuilt, not with money from the United States but with money from the region. We could see all the building going on. We flew over a center where they were holding some of the most dangerous foreign fighters who had been captured in the fight against ISIS, being held right here in Kobane. Then we went down to Ayn Issa, where we saw, directly, the difference certain forces had made in helping to guard our outposts where our troops w
TRIBUTE TO DEPARTING SENATORS
Jack Reed (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2018-12-19

I want to take a moment to salute my colleagues who are departing the Senate at the conclusion of the 115th Congress: Bob Corker of Tennessee, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Orrin Hatch of Utah, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Dean Heller of Nevada, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Bill Nelson of Florida, and Jon Kyl of Arizona. All of these Members have dedicated themselves to serving their constituents, their States, and our country. The institution of the Senate and the Nation as a whole are stronger because of their service and commitment. prgtoken I have been privileged to serve with each and every one of them and want to spend a few moments thanking each of them for the wisdom and experience they brought to their work and for their friendship. prgtoken Bob Corker and I worked on many foreign policy matters together, given my role as ranking member on the Armed Services Committee and his as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. I have appreciated Bob's willingness to reach across the aisle in an attempt to remove barriers to gaining bipartisan cooperation on bills and other policy matters. I also appreciate how much Bob was willing to speak his mind and stand up to administrations of his party and of my party over the last several years, particularly with respect to his very astute analysis of the situation with Russia and other major issues confronting the United States today. prgtoken He has long focused on international development and human rights, causes I have been glad to support alongside him, including a joint resolution, Supporting a Diplomatic Solution in Yemen and Condemning the Murder of Jamal Khashoggi; for promoting economic growth in developing countries through U.S. business investment in the recently enacted BUILD Act; and consistently fighting to end modern slavery. prgtoken We also served together on the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. Here, too, he spent his time reaching across the aisle, trying to find constructive solutions, and informing our work on issues ranging from financial system reforms to housing finance. prgtoken We will miss his bipartisan spirit, and I wish Bob only the best as he leaves the Senate. prgtoken I have also had the privilege and pleasure to join with Jeff Flake in many moments; last week, we were at an event together honoring the late Senator John McCain. He reminisced about the times he worked with John on key policies that aimed to put our country over party politics. prgtoken He worked hard to resolve tough issues like immigration reform and protecting the special counsel investigation, and his preferred route to addressing these challenges was not to increase the heated rhetoric but to turn down the volume of the debate, so all sides could be heard and so the Senate could try to move forward in a rational and bipartisan way. prgtoken Just as with Bob Corker, Jeff's approach will be missed in this body. I h
STRENGTHENING AND ENHANCING CYBER-CAPABILITIES BY UTILIZING RISK EXPOSURE TECHNOLOGY ACT
Eleanor Holmes Norton (Democrat, DC) \u2014 2018-12-19

such time as I may consume prgtoken , I thank my good friend, Representative Hurd, for his leadership in introducing this commonsense legislation. The bill before us today includes a number of different measures. prgtoken The bill includes a measure originally introduced by Senator McCaskill to deal with information technology threats to the Federal acquisition supply chain. The bill would address the serious cybersecurity risks that recently came to light after the discovery of Kaspersky products had been installed on many government computers. prgtoken The bill would establish the Federal Acquisition Security Council to facilitate information sharing among Federal agencies regarding supply chain risks when purchasing information technology products and create procedures for evaluating such risks. prgtoken The bill would give agencies the authority to mitigate supply chain IT risks and authorizes the Council to recommend excluding suppliers, if warranted. prgtoken The bill also would establish a judicial review process and reporting requirements to ensure fairness and accountability if companies are excluded in the future. prgtoken In addition, the bill includes several provisions to improve cybersecurity at the Department of Homeland Security, one which was originally authored by Senator Hassan of New Hampshire. It would create a pilot program through which the Department would be authorized to provide a financial reward to those who legitimately come forward to report vulnerabilities on DHS websites and software to prevent exploitation by cyber terrorists, State actors, and criminal organizations. prgtoken So-called white hat hackers are an enormous pool of talent that the Federal Government has largely failed to leverage. The bill would also require DHS to put in place policies to ensure that civic-minded hackers can identify and report bugs found on the Department's information systems without breaking the law. prgtoken I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting the SECURE Technology Act, and .
PUBLIC LANDS BILL
Jon Tester (Democrat, MT) \u2014 2018-12-19

I appreciate that and thank the Senator. prgtoken Look, we are at the end of the year. Oftentimes in this body, things happen at the end of the year that we are not too proud of, but we have an opportunity to do something we could be very, very proud of, and that is, pass the public lands bill. prgtoken This public lands bill would permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund. This is the most effective conservation tool we have in this country right now. Whether it is establishing a park in one of your cities or towns or setting land aside so we can get better access to our public lands, this is a critically important fund that I hope we can get done as part of this lands package that is moving forward and hopefully will move forward before this Congress ends. prgtoken LWCF--the Land and Water Conservation Fund--has invested over half a billion dollars in Montana alone. prgtoken There is another component of this bill that I am particularly fond of. It is a bill that will protect Yellowstone Park and the headwaters of the Yellowstone River. It is called the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act. It is a simple bill. It is a bipartisan bill. It is a bill that will help support the hundreds of small businesses in Paradise Valley. And it is called Paradise Valley for a good reason-- because it is paradise, and we need to keep it a paradise by preventing large-scale mining in that region. prgtoken I am just asking Congress to act. I am asking my fellow Members, my fellow Senators to add some commonsense to the negotiations that are moving on here and pass this lands bill because it is critically important for our kids and our grandkids. prgtoken , .