mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
RAISING AWARENESS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE UPCOMING CENSUS
Mary Gay Scanlon (Democrat, PA) \u2014 2020-2-25

I rise today to a share story of the Ridley School District, which is leading the charge in our community to raise awareness of the importance of the upcoming Census. prgtoken Under the leadership of Kelli Mullany, the director of pupil services, the Ridley School District has launched a districtwide effort to ensure a complete and fair count in the 2020 Census. prgtoken Ten years ago, Pennsylvania undercounted over 25,000 children, resulting in a loss of nearly $44 million in funding for critical programs like healthcare, SNAP, school lunches, affordable housing, teacher training, and classroom technology. These programs were all impacted by the undercount. prgtoken Since children are among those most likely to be undercounted, it is particularly important for schools like Ridley to promote a complete Census count. Community leaders like Kelli are working hard alongside local churches, preschools, shelters, housing authorities, public libraries and using social media to spread the word that we all count. prgtoken The Census is the basis for how the Federal Government distributes billions of tax dollars, so we need a complete count. Our children and our communities can't afford another undercount this year. We all need to spread the word that the Census is easy, safe, and important.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Edward J. Markey (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2020-2-25

I rise in opposition to S. 3275, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, and S. 311, the Born-Alive Abortion Protection Act. These two dangerous bills infringe on the doctor-patient relationship and hinder women's constitutionally protected right to choose. Make no mistake, these bills are nothing more than a reminder that discrimination toward women knows no boundaries. President , his administration, and Senate s think reproductive freedom is still up for discussion. It is not. prgtoken I am here to set the record straight for Leader Mitch McConnell and my colleagues. Women's reproductive health decisions should be left to women and their healthcare providers. That is it. prgtoken This time last year, the Born-Alive Abortion Protection Act failed to advance on the Senate floor. I was proud to vote against this bill then, and I hope more of my colleagues will join me in voting no on this bill now. Doing so will safeguard the right for an individual to make their own health choices, without interference from the Federal Government. prgtoken The Senate floor is not the only battleground for reproductive rights. Anti-Choice State legislators are continuing to assault reproductive freedom through the enactment of State laws restricting choice. Cases challenging these laws are working their way through the judicial system, including to the U.S. Supreme Court. There, the laws' supporters hope that the conservative justices will not only uphold these damaging laws but will go further and overturn Roe v. Wade, effectively ending this bedrock decision that ensures equality, privacy, and reproductive freedom. prgtoken Women across the Nation are facing imminent threats to their constitutional rights, to their personal liberty, and to economic freedom. Now more than ever, we must do everything in our power to raise our voices against this extreme, rightwing agenda of discrimination. This is more than a debate about access to safe abortion services. This is about fighting for gender equality. This is about continuing to ensure access to the opportunity that comes from quality, affordable healthcare. And this is about making sure that access to reproductive healthcare is never restricted. prgtoken Women's rights are not negotiable. s may intend to continue advancing their radical anti-choice agenda, but I will never back away from the fight against it.
Coronavirus (Executive Session)
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2020-2-25

the coronavirus has already spread to 30 countries, including South Korea, Italy, Iran, and 53 confirmed cases here in the United States. Officials at the World Health Organization are now warning world governments to begin preparing for a pandemic--a pandemic. prgtoken Here in the United States, the administration has been caught flatfooted. The administration has no plan to deal with the coronavirus--no plan--and seemingly no urgency to develop one. Even now, after the virus has already become a worldwide health crisis, with rapidly growing economic risks, the administration is scrambling to respond. We have a crisis, and the administration is trying to build an airplane while already in midflight. The harsh fact of the matter is, the administration has shown towering and dangerous incompetence when it comes to the coronavirus. prgtoken Coronavirus testing kits have not been widely distributed to our hospitals and public health labs. Those without these kits must send samples all the way to Atlanta rather than testing them on site, wasting precious time as the virus spreads. prgtoken The administration has eliminated--eliminated--the global health security teams. That is global health security, just what we need now. They have eliminated the teams from both the National Security Council and the Department of Homeland Security. And thanks to years of cuts to the global health division at the Centers for Disease Control by the administration, the CDC has been forced to reduce the number of countries it operates in from 49 to 10. prgtoken These are our frontlines. If we can deal with these diseases before they get to the United States, we are a lot safer, and the administration has mercilessly and thoughtlessly cut, cut, cut these teams. And then, only a month ago, even as we began to hear about the coronavirus in China, the administration sent us a budget that proposed cutting the CDC budget by 16 percent. The CDC is the agency on the frontlines that keeps us safe, keeps us healthy, and prevents American lives from being lost. prgtoken Four words describe the administration's response to the coronavirus: towering and dangerous incompetence. When officials at the CDC recommended that infected passengers from a cruise ship not be flown to the United States alongside the noninfected passengers, the State Department overruled them. Shockingly, they put infected and noninfected on the same plane. Was this because of politics? Did somebody call President or someone else? There are rumors to that effect. We don't know if they are true. They should be checked out. prgtoken Typical of the administration, though, or certainly typical in so many different instances, decisions were made based on politics and optics rather than on the informed opinion of our scientists and doctors. It is like the Soviet apparatchiks overruling the nuclear scientists at Chernobyl to avoi
REMEMBERING ANTHONY J. MAY
Robert P. Casey, Jr. (Democrat, PA) \u2014 2020-2-25

today I wish to honor the distinguished life and career of Anthony J. May, who passed away on January 20, 2020. prgtoken Tony worked for more than 30 years as a political strategist and journalist, leaving his mark on Pennsylvania politics. He used his deep knowledge of Pennsylvania history to assist many in trying to find the best way forward, including during his time as executive director of the Pennsylvania ic Party. He served as the communications director and press secretary for my father, Governor Robert P. Casey, as well as press secretary for Governor Milton J, Shapp and as communications director under House s K. Leroy Irvis and James J. Manderino. Most recently, he worked at Triad Strategies, a communications and public relations firm in burg, as Partner Emeritus. prgtoken Tony also served the public as a journalist and political analyst for various newspapers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New Jersey, and as an editor for the Associated Press. In these roles, in addition to being past chair of the Pennsylvania Public Television Network, he worked tirelessly to keep the public informed and to support journalists and journalism wherever and whenever he could. prgtoken Tony was a legend in Pennsylvania for decades, and his legacy will be felt for years to come. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Betsy; his children, Crispin, Amy, and Cybele; his five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; and all of Tony's family and friends as they mourn his loss.
PROTECTING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES FOR VETERANS ACT OF 2019
Mark Takano (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2020-2-25

. Madam , such time as I may consume. prgtoken Madam , H.R. 561, as amended, the Protecting Business Opportunities for Veterans Act of 2019, is sponsored by General Bergman and Congresswoman Kuster. It establishes important oversight for VA small business contracting. prgtoken Under current law, a small business contractor cannot give a subcontractor more than 50 percent of its contract work. The legislation requires veteran- and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses to certify that they are performing at least half of the work. It also requires VA to refer contractors violating or suspected of violating the law to the VA Inspector General for investigation. prgtoken Madam , in addition, the legislation establishes an oversight process and penalties for fraudulently claiming to comply with the law. prgtoken Congress strongly supports creating business opportunities for veteran-owned small businesses and enforcing government contracting set-asides so that veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses can compete with larger government contractors. prgtoken It is unfair to veteran small business owners who play by the rules to lose out on business opportunities to bad actors who do not follow the rules and pass on most of the work to subcontractors, especially when those subcontractors are not veteran owned. prgtoken Madam , this bill is supported by the American Legion. Last Congress, the House passed identical legislation sponsored by my colleagues, General Bergman and Congresswoman Kuster. prgtoken Madam , I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 561, as amended, and .
RECOGNIZING NAOMI REEM
Eleanor Holmes Norton (Democrat, DC) \u2014 2020-2-25

. Madam , I rise today to ask the House of Representatives to join me in recognizing Naomi Reem, an extraordinary woman and a leader in the Washington, D.C. Jewish community, who has, for 15 years, served as Head of School for the only Jewish day school in the District, the Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation's Capital. prgtoken The Jewish community of Washington, D.C. is one of the fastest growing and largest in the nation. Indeed, according to a February 2018 article in The Washington Post, the D.C.-metro area is now home to the third largest population of Jewish people in the country after New York and Los Angeles. As we all know, a critical part of building strong community is access to good education, and Ms. Reem has made it her personal mission over the past decade and a half to ensure that a vibrant Jewish education is available to families in and around the city. prgtoken Founded in 1988, Milton, formerly known as JPDS-NC, has had just two heads of school in its 31-year history. Under Ms. Reem's leadership, the school received its first independent school accreditation; grew from under 200 to over 450 students; opened a second, early childhood education campus in the District; and launched the first Jewish middle school program in D.C. in over 40 years. prgtoken Ms. Reem is an expert educator with a teaching degree from the Agnon Institute in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a bachelor's degree from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and a master's degree in Jewish Education from Hebrew College in Newton, Massachusetts. She has led Milton to adopt numerous curricular initiatives in General Studies and Hebrew and Judaic Studies, which have earned the school a solid reputation, locally and nationally, as a forward-looking institution, excellent in all academic areas. Milton's reputation has attracted major philanthropic support, totaling well over $55 million since Ms. Reem joined the school. prgtoken Prior to coming to Milton, Ms. Reem was Head of School at Sinai Academy of the Berkshires, a day school in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, for seven years. Previously, she worked at the Gordon Day School in Miami, Florida and in several educational settings in Argentina, Israel and the United States. prgtoken Ms. Reem has served on the Board of the Association of Independent Maryland and D.C. Schools, where she previously chaired two accreditation teams for other independent schools. She has also served as a mentor at the Day School Leadership Training Institute, a program sponsored by the AVICHAI Foundation and the Jewish Theological Seminary to train new and aspiring heads of schools. Additionally, Ms. Reem is a member of the Executives Council for the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and served as its co-chair for three years. prgtoken Ms. Reem is a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and left her hometown in Argentina when she was 22 years old. She became a citizen of the United States on February
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Benjamin L. Cardin (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2020-2-25

in 1619, Africans were first brought to Virginia, against their will, to be enslaved. From that moment on, White Americans systematically and violently denied the rights of citizenship to Black Americans. The adoption of the 15th Amendment, ratified in February 1870, was a historic effort to correct course. It recognized the right of all male citizens, including Black men, to vote. This amendment was the first time that we promised to protect the right of African Americans to full and equal participation in our democracy. prgtoken In the 150 years since then, we have tried to expand on that promise many times, like when women of all races and ethnicities finally won the right to vote in 1920. Yet our promise remains elusively unfulfilled. Today, in honor of Black History Month, I would like to take a moment to discuss the trajectory of that broken promise, as well as its impact on our character as a nation. prgtoken We began to break our promise shortly after we made it. During the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras, White men and women across the country developed a number of techniques--some obvious and brutal, some subtle and pernicious--to keep African Americans away from the polls and out of government. prgtoken The broader goal of these tactics was to hamper the Black population's ability to recover from slavery by blocking their access to education and the economic means of building wealth. prgtoken I believe that it is important to acknowledge that Maryland partook in these pernicious behaviors right alongside other States. Maryland residents and government officials engaged in ballot tampering, imposed literacy and property restrictions, stoked racist fears to galvanize the White vote, and intimidated Black voters using outright violence. prgtoken My intention here is not to condemn my home State. To the contrary, I am exceedingly proud of the struggles for justice that have bloomed in Maryland through abolitionists like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglas and civil rights leaders like Thurgood Marshall. I draw inspiration from the lineage of African-American public servants in Maryland who overcame enormous obstacles in order to amplify the voices of their brothers and sisters. prgtoken These public servants include Verda Welcome, the first Black woman ever elected to any State's senate, as well as Adrienne Jones, the current speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates, who is the first African American and first woman to serve in that position. prgtoken They also include my friend and hero, Congressman Elijah Cummings, the son of sharecroppers who devoted his life to fighting for equality and fairness and lifting up our beloved community of Baltimore. prgtoken I am likewise grateful for all of the Marylanders whose names we might not know, but who nevertheless work every day to expand educational equity, reform our justice system, shrink the wealth gap, deliver healthcare, and otherwis
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Catherine Cortez Masto (Democrat, NV) \u2014 2020-2-25

I rise today to oppose my colleagues' legislation that would limit women's healthcare choices. These bills that are being introduced are part of a wave of efforts to turn back the clock on women's healthcare. prgtoken In my home State of Nevada, with the only majority-women legislature in the Nation, we are moving in the opposite direction. We have been fighting to protect a woman's right to choose for decades. I am inspired by women like Sue Wagner, the first woman elected as Nevada's Lieutenant Governor, whose grit and leadership sparked a movement in the 1990s to enshrine women's reproductive freedom in the State's constitution. prgtoken Just this year, with women at the helm of the Nevada legislature, the Trust Nevada Women Act was signed into law to remove undue burdens on reproductive rights. Nevadans understand that reproductive rights are part and parcel not just of women's health but of their economic security. When women can't control whether and when they have children, they are more likely to struggle financially. Eighty-three percent of Nevadans are pro-choice, and I stand with them. prgtoken I am going to continue to fight for what the American people want: comprehensive healthcare and reproductive justice. Bills to protect women's health are what we should be voting on, like the bipartisan legislation to cover preexisting conditions, to reduce prescription drug prices, to prevent violence against women, and many more that are languishing, unfortunately, on Leader McConnell's desk. That includes pushing for meaningful legislation to protect mothers and babies at a critical time in their lives, like the Healthy MOM Act to expand healthcare coverage for pregnant and postpartum women. prgtoken Leader McConnell is more focused on passing an extreme political agenda than on protecting women's health in Nevada and across this country. You know, we really have to stop the assault on women's right to choose and their reproductive healthcare. The rights of American women to make their own health decisions should not be up for debate. These are our fundamental rights, and they are worth fighting for and protecting. prgtoken . prgtoken .
IN HONOR OF DR. MANUEL ``MANNY'' LOPEZ
Julia Brownley (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2020-2-25

. Madam , I rise to honor the remarkable life of Dr. Manuel ``Manny'' Lopez and his over 50 years of public service to the City of Oxnard. During his time as a dedicated public servant and throughout his career, Manny exhibited outstanding leadership, innovative community interaction, and distinguished professionalism, and he paved the way for future leaders to continue his unparalleled legacy of service to the community. Manny was born in Oxnard, California on June 1, 1927 to immigrant parents who fled the Mexican Revolution. A son of farmworkers, Manny would graduate from Oxnard High School and Ventura College before finishing his undergrad at San Diego State University. It was shortly after that he attended the University of California Berkley School of Optometry. In 1962, Manny opened the first bilingual optometry practice in the community and served patients for over 50 years until his retirement in 2016. prgtoken In 1978, Manny became the first Latino to be elected to the Oxnard City Council. He served as a member of the Oxnard City Council until 1992, when he became the first elected Latino Mayor of Oxnard. He served as Mayor until 2004. After serving as the Mayor of Oxnard for over a decade, Manny took a four-year break from public service. Manny returned to local government in 2008 when he was elected as the Commissioner to the Port of Hueneme five-member Board of Harbor Commissioners. He served as a Harbor Commissioner until his passing in 2020. prgtoken Manny devoted his time to giving back to the community and served on many local boards including the Oxnard Chamber of Commerce Board, Oxnard Community Relations Commission, City of Oxnard Redevelopment Agency, Oxnard College Foundation, Oxnard Planning Commission, Tri- County Optometric Association, and the Boys and Girls Club of Oxnard. He dedicated his life to helping those around him and was a founding member of several service-oriented and philanthropic groups including the CSUCI Foundation, Sister City Oxnard-Ocotlan, Ventura County Community Foundation's Destino Fund, and the Ventura County Community Foundation Women's Legacy Fund. Throughout his life, Manny embodied the spirit of giving back, and his more than five decades in public service is evidence of his passion for making Oxnard a thriving community for everyone. I personally knew Manny to be a kind soul, who was a loving father, wonderful husband, and respected leader throughout our community. I will especially remember Manny for his big heart and thoughtfulness. He often provided me with words of advice and wisdom that continue to guide my work in public service. For these reasons, it is with great honor that I offer Dr. Manuel ``Manny'' Lopez my heartfelt appreciation for his years of outstanding service to the City of Oxnard and unwavering dedication to our community during his exemplary career. On behalf of the people of Oxnard and a very grateful community, whom