mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (Executive Session)
Patrick J. Leahy (Democrat, VT) \u2014 2021-11-3

the Senate today has the opportunity to live up to its best traditions. We can put our democracy over any political party. prgtoken Later today, we will take the first step that could put us on the path to having an open debate about the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. I have championed and sponsored this bill to restore the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. I have done this for years. prgtoken Today, Senators of both parties have the chance to show they are willing to do the job we were elected to do--to debate and vote on legislation. And no legislation could be more foundational to our democracy than that which protects the right to vote. prgtoken We 100 Senators all have the right to vote. Let us exercise that right and not avoid voting on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. This is such a fundamental part of our democracy. Let's set the example here, where all 100 Senators know we have the right to vote. Let's make sure we vote and not avoid voting. I hope that we as a Senate will honor the rich bipartisan history around the Voting Rights Act in the name of our hero John Lewis, in the name of our democracy, and in the name of a foundational value that is the bedrock of our country. prgtoken Just yesterday, we announced a bipartisan compromise in the hopes of building support for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. I am grateful to Senators Murkowski and Durbin and Manchin for their dedication to reaching this compromise. That bill, which we would seek to advance after proceeding to S. 4, will fully restore the Voting Rights Act, which is needed after two devastating decisions by the Supreme Court. prgtoken I have been clear that should the Senate eventually proceed to this bill, then I would welcome amendments to further strengthen and solidify this restoration of the Voting Rights Act, which, after all, has been bipartisan since the first enactment, usually passing the Senate unanimously, being signed into law by Presidents Reagan and and others. But we should at least have that debate. Certainly, Senators should not avoid debating, and certainly Senators should not hide behind some procedural role so they don't have to vote one way or the other on the basic rights of Americans to vote. prgtoken So that is why we are here--to debate, vote on bills. There is simply no reason for any Senator to look at their constituents and say that this topic, that of protecting the right to vote, is just too political or too controversial--not the Voting Rights Act; not a voting rights bill that has a 56-year history of bipartisanship. No Senator should act as though they are afraid to vote one way or the other on this. Is that the message we want to convey to American voters eager to know what the Senate is doing to protect and strengthen our democracy? Ours is the prgtoken longest surviving democracy in history. The American people are watching and the world is watching what we d
MOTION TO DISCHARGE
Jeff Merkley (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2021-11-3

not too long ago, we had a vote on whether or not to start a debate on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. And the majority said, yes, start the debate. prgtoken Then why aren't we here in that debate? prgtoken Well, the simple answer is we have a process whereby you have to have 60--a supermajority of the Senate decide to start a debate. In other words, there is ability to exercise a veto over whether or not a bill is worthy for consideration on this floor, even if it is supported by the majority of legislators. prgtoken That effort is really about destroying the ability of this Senate to address the big issues facing America. prgtoken What bigger issue is there in a Republic than stopping billionaires from buying elections; to stop gerrymandering from destroying equal representation; to stop State laws that create prejudicial barriers designed to target specific groups to keep them from voting; barriers at the ballot box to steal the right to vote? What bigger, more fundamental issues are there than that? prgtoken Yet we can't even start a debate. In fact, we spend a lot of time debating whether to debate, and that is wasted time on the floor. prgtoken So, truly, that vote we took was symbolic of two things. The first is that we are failing to address one of the biggest issues we face in this Nation: the integrity of our election system, the corruption of our election system. prgtoken And, second, that this Senate has become dysfunctional. prgtoken When Ben Franklin was walking out of the Constitutional Convention, he was asked by a woman what kind of government they had created--a Monarchy or a Republic? And he is reported to have responded: A Republic, if you can keep it. prgtoken We have strived through 234 years to keep that Republic through war, through depression, through social unrest, through global pandemic. We fought for 234 years to ensure that, as expressed by Lincoln at Gettysburg, ``government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.'' But, as the American philosopher John Dewey once said, ``Democracy has to be born anew every generation.'' prgtoken It is up to each generation to take up the cause and fight to protect the foundations of our Republic. We are facing a moment of crisis once again when this institution has veered far afield from that time when it was declared to be the world's greatest deliberative body. Now it is perhaps the world's most dysfunctional legislative body--unwilling and unable to even debate, let alone vote, on the biggest issue of our time: the defense of our Republic from the corrupting forces of power, of billionaires buying elections, of gerrymandering, and certainly of barriers at the ballot box. prgtoken So we have a responsibility to take up this cause, to understand its source, and to address it, to restore the Senate as a deliberative body. prgtoken One of the ways to evaluate our dysfunction is to look at the trend
MOTION TO DISCHARGE
Mazie K. Hirono (Democrat, HI) \u2014 2021-11-3

before turning to the bipartisan bill that brings a number of us to the floor this afternoon, we have been listening to a number of my colleagues throw stones at Build Back Better, and I would like to simply state for the record that are committed to lowering costs for families, such as making childcare more affordable, and home care for seniors. are committed to lowering taxes for people, such as the child tax credit that, by the way, provides much needed financial support for families, including for the families of over 200,000 children in Hawaii alone-- all by making the richest people in our country, who got the benefit of $1.5 trillion in totally unnecessary tax cuts that the s pushed through--by making the richest people in our country pay for these much needed programs and actually support American families. prgtoken Meanwhile, what are the s doing? Nothing. Zero. Nothing for American families. So I would like to set the record straight as to who actually is working hard to help American families, and, believe me, it is not the s. American Innovation and Choice Online Act prgtoken , turning to the bill that we are talking about today, today's big tech behemoths like to tout their claimed consumer-focused approaches--Amazon, with its ability to deliver seemingly any product to your doorstep within 2 days; Google, with its goal of organizing the world's information and making it accessible to all; Apple, with its mission of bringing the best personal computing products and support to the end user; and Facebook, looking to give users the power to build communities and bring the world closer together. Each claims that their success has been the direct result of their consumer focus, that consumers choose their products and services because they are the best in class. prgtoken That may have been true at some point, but it is certainly not true today. Today, consumers have no real choice. Amazon, Google, Apple, and Facebook have become gatekeepers that too often limit, if not outright squash, competition online. The result is unprecedented market domination that allows these small handful of giant companies to influence the choices and actions of literally billions of people every day. prgtoken Think about how many times each of us goes on Google. Multiply that by the billions every day. That is the kind of influence these large companies have. prgtoken Take Amazon. Just yesterday, the Judiciary Committee heard from a small business owner who sells his Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty on Amazon's dominant online marketplace. He watched as Amazon leveraged its dominance by using the data it collects from these sales to introduce a knockoff of his product. This is consistent with reporting from Reuters and others that Amazon recruits small businesses to its marketplace and then systematically uses the selle
FISCAL STATE OF THE NATION RESOLUTION
Kathleen M. Rice (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2021-11-3

. Madam , I rise today in support of my legislation, H. Con. Res. 44, the Fiscal State of the Nation resolution. prgtoken This resolution would require the Comptroller General of the United States to present an annual report on the fiscal health of the federal government to a joint hearing of the House and Senate Budget Committees, open to ALL members of Congress. prgtoken This nonpartisan presentation will offer an objective analysis of the nation's finances and allow Congress to demonstrate to the public that we are serious about improving our fiscal decision-making. prgtoken As we finalize historic investments to rebuild our infrastructure and help families and small businesses recover from this pandemic, it is more important than ever that we act as responsible stewards of the American people's tax dollars. prgtoken Every lawmaker, citizen, and media outlet should be able to reference a single, unbiased source when discussing the current and future fiscal health of our country. And the Fiscal State of the Nation would provide that valuable information with transparency and accuracy. prgtoken I'm incredibly proud this bipartisan resolution has garnered over 100 cosponsors, almost evenly split between ic and members. prgtoken I'd like to thank my friend, Representative Andy Barr from Kentucky, for co-leading this legislation with me, and I urge its swift passage on the Floor today.
EXPRESSING SOLIDARITY WITH CUBAN CITIZENS FOR FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS
Barbara Lee (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2021-11-3

I rise in opposition to H. Res. 760, but let prgtoken me just say I, too, support the basic rights of the Cuban people, the basic human rights of the Cuban people. As an African American who has engaged in many protests for justice, I know the impact of keeping government and police forces from interfering in our actions for our basic rights. prgtoken We should not excuse the Cuban Government for limiting their own people's freedom and opportunity. But let me just say: Here in Congress, we need to also take a hard look at the failed U.S. policy that has not helped the Cuban people and too often inflicted harm on them. They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. Well, for 60 years we have been squeezing the Cuban people thinking that if we starve them just enough it will somehow lead to democracy. prgtoken So it is long overdue to support policies that truly help the Cuban people. The administration showed us that we can take a new approach. That is through engagement, diplomacy, trade, travel, and, yes, support for human rights for the Cuban people. prgtoken , I ask my colleagues to oppose this resolution on the suspension calendar today and we should have an honest debate about a new Cuban policy that talks about and supports what real human rights for the Cuban people mean.
Election Security (Executive Calendar)
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2021-11-3

today is the 1-year anniversary of an election that was judged the most secure in the history of America. Let me say that again. The election that ended November 3, 2020, 1 year ago, was judged the most secure in American history. That is not my opinion; that is the official conclusion, under the administration, of his Department of Homeland Security, which coordinates with the Nation's top cyber security and voting infrastructure experts to protect our elections. They released that assessment 10 days after last year's election, and they did it in the face of a dangerous and unprecedented avalanche of attacks and tweets from the enraged President , who claimed falsely that the election had been stolen from him. prgtoken Those election security experts were not alone. President and his loyalists filed more than 50 lawsuits in State and Federal courts, repeating their false claims of voter fraud and stolen votes--50. Every crackpot theory that Rudy Giuliani could glean or spawn on the internet was tested in court. How did they do? Fifty lawsuits. No evidence to back their claims in the courts; only bizarre conspiracy theories and far-right internet gossip, which they accepted as gospel. Well, the lawsuits were all dismissed, some even by judges President had nominated. It was not a great day for the theory of a stolen election in the courts of America. prgtoken What happened next? What happened was documented by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which I chair. We brought witnesses before us to really explore stage 2 of President 's effort to overturn the last election. prgtoken When he couldn't win in the courts, he decided to go to the Department of Justice. William Barr, his honored, loyal Attorney General, resigned after announcing he could find nothing wrong with the election, and then President took it in his own hands. With a few of his allies, one of them Jeffrey Clark in the Department of Justice, they tried to pressure the Acting Attorney General, Jeffrey Rosen, to send a letter out to the attorneys general and other State authorities across the Nation to tell them to suspend reporting the electoral college vote count. prgtoken Well, Jeffrey Rosen and others stood up to the President even when he threatened to dismiss him and replace him. In fact, when that happened, a number of people in the Department of Justice, many of whom were appointees by President , said that they would resign en mass if that happened. prgtoken So the approach to take this to the Department of Justice and to railroad his way through there failed, but the Big Lie continued. We all know about the death and destruction of the Big Lie in this Capitol Building, in this Senate Chamber, on January 6. In this Capitol Building, 5 people lost their lives, and over 100 law enforcement were attacked by the mob that descended on this building. The entire world looked on in
PROTECT OLDER JOB APPLICANTS ACT OF 2021
Sylvia R. Garcia (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2021-11-3

I rise in support of the Pappas and Newman amendment. This amendment from my colleagues just enhances this bill. prgtoken As a former administrative law judge for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the Houston region, I can tell you personally that the type of information that would be gathered by the EEOC on the number of job applicants impacted by age discrimination on the job and all the issues that they have related to their applications would be very helpful. prgtoken It would not only be helpful to the administrative law judges at the EEOC; it would be helpful for judges that would finally hear the cases in court if they go to court. It would be helpful for research. It would be helpful for advocacy groups. This information would be vital, again, to help us in Congress to seek better ways to improve and work best on prevention and combating and addressing age discrimination in the hiring process. prgtoken , there is some discussion on the other side of the aisle that this is a remedy for a problem that doesn't exist. Let me tell you, if you talk to advocacy groups, discrimination is alive and well. prgtoken We need this legislation. We need this amendment. I urge adoption.
Build Back Better Agenda (Executive Session)
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2021-11-3

yesterday, continued making great progress toward finalizing President 's Build Back Better plan. prgtoken The challenges American families and workers are facing today are enormous, and President 's agenda is the remedy to much of their hardships. It is just what the American people want and what they need, and it is exactly why we need to focus on getting the job done to finalize and pass this legislation and deliver help for the American people. prgtoken Last night, I held another round of talks going past midnight with a number of my colleagues as we approach final agreement--talks with the White House, the , my Senate colleagues and chairs, and Members of the House. We continue to make very good progress each day. Passing such transformative legislation is not easy, but the long hours we are putting into it will be well worth it for the American people. prgtoken Over the last 24 hours, the hard work has yielded important new development. Yesterday, I announced the had reached an agreement to include provisions in Build Back Better that will lower prescription drug prices for seniors and for American families. This is a big deal. prgtoken For years, skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs have plagued millions of seniors and American families to the point that Americans spend far more on prescription drugs per capita than other wealthy nations. It is one of the largest out-of-pocket medical expenses that families have and it has gotten worse over the last few years. prgtoken For too many Americans, all it takes is a sudden serious illness and you can find yourself spending hundreds, if not thousands, and several thousands of dollars per year just to afford things like insulin or vitally needed cancer treatments. It is profoundly unfair and wholly un-American. prgtoken Imagine the strain you can face if someone--you or a loved one--is ill and you can't afford the medicine. You see them, their condition getting worse and worse. I can't think of things that are worse than that, though I guess there may be a few. prgtoken Yesterday, we took a large step forward in helping alleviate that problem. For the first time ever, Medicare will be empowered to directly negotiate prices in Part B and Part D. This will directly reduce out-of-pocket drug spending for millions of patients every time they visit a pharmacy or a doctor. prgtoken Our agreement does other things as well. It will cap out-of-pocket spending at $2,000 per year, ending the dilemma I just spoke about, where a life-changing diagnosis could mean thousands upon thousands of dollars in new expenses that an individual can't afford. prgtoken This agreement will lower insulin prices so that Americans with diabetes don't pay more than $35 per month for their insulin. Let me repeat that because it is amazing how the cost of insulin used to be so reasonable, then skyrocketed over the last few years with very little re
TOXIC MILITARY BURN PITS
Debbie Dingell (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2021-11-3

. Madam , this month, we will pause on November 11th to honor the men and women who have selflessly served America in uniform. Veterans of the United States Armed Forces have dedicated their lives to protecting our nation, and it is critical we express our sincere gratitude for the sacrifices they have made. prgtoken I appreciate the opportunity to draw awareness to a critical issue affecting both veterans and current servicemembers--toxic exposure. prgtoken Toxic exposure has affected U.S. servicemembers for generations. While each war and conflict has posed unique hazards and health risks for servicemembers, our nation's youngest veterans are increasingly facing health consequences due to exposure to toxic chemicals during their military service in the Middle East. prgtoken Over the past two decades in the Middle East, open burn pits were commonly used as disposal sites for materials such as trash, weapons, batteries, and other waste. Servicemembers are concerned about the illnesses that are linked to exposure to the toxic fumes and smoke emitted by these burn pits, especially as some have begun developing rare cancers and illnesses at higher rates than their counterparts that were deployed to other parts of the world. prgtoken Michigan-native Kevin Hensley is one such veteran who has been deeply impacted by burn pits. Kevin is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force who was deployed to the Middle East eight times and stationed near open air burn pits during four of his deployments. After retiring and moving back to Wayne County in 2015, Kevin's health began rapidly deteriorating. By 2017, Kevin had been diagnosed with Constrictive Bronchiolitis, and later brain scans revealed serious damage from inhaling toxic smoke. prgtoken Kevin struggles with daily tasks, saying he finds it difficult to go grocery shopping without gasping for air. Equally upsetting, Kevin has faced challenges receiving care through the VA. Only in 2020 did the VA formally expand benefits for veterans suffering with illnesses related to exposure to burn pits. Still, veterans must shoulder a burden of proof, which requires them to precisely pinpoint where and when they may have been exposed to burn pits. As a result, the VA continues to deny an overwhelming number of burn-pit related disability claims. prgtoken Unfortunately, Kevin's story is one of far too many. Our nation's veterans deserve better, and we must recommit ourselves to this effort to ensure veterans receive the benefits and care they're entitled to. prgtoken That's why I'm a proud cosponsor of H.R. 3967, the Honoring Our Promises to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2021. This bipartisan bill will provide vital support to veterans who have been exposed to burn pits and other toxins and ensure they can access crucial healthcare services through the VA. prgtoken I thank Rep. Ruiz for his steadfast leadership on toxic exposure and burn pits. I urge all my colleagues to support this impor
IN RECOGNITION OF THE CARR CENTER
Rashida Tlaib (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2021-11-3

. Madam , today I rise to recognize the Carr Center in Detroit, Michigan, as they celebrate 30 years of preserving, presenting, promoting, and developing African and African-American cultural arts traditions in southeastern Michigan. prgtoken Founded in 1991 as the Arts League of Michigan, the Carr Center has worked to fulfill its mission of bringing artistic excellence by offering a wide array of programming. prgtoken Building upon its initial creative placemaking, the Carr Center has become a destination and hub for the performing arts in the city of Detroit. prgtoken The Carr Center has implemented three pillars of programming: Carr Center Presents, Carr Center Contemporary focus on performing and visual arts, while the Carr Center Arts Academy offers in-school and intensive summer arts education opportunities. prgtoken Madam , I ask my colleagues to please join me in recognizing the Carr Center's many contributions to southeastern Michigan over the past three decades as we wish them well in the years to come. They are a true gem of Michigan's 13th District.