mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
125TH ANNIVERSARY OF READING TERMINAL MARKET
Robert P. Casey, Jr. (Democrat, PA) \u2014 2018-2-26

I wish to recognize and honor Reading Terminal Market as it celebrates the 125th anniversary of its founding in Pennsylvania. prgtoken Reading Terminal Market officially opened on February 22, 1893, under the Reading Railroad Company and is one of the Nation's oldest farmers' markets. The market was a result of the city's consolidation of public markets in the early 19th century due to the mass number of merchants and health hazards that became associated with merchant stalls. prgtoken Reading Terminal Market opened with approximately 78,000 square feet, including 800 spaces for merchants to sell their goods. The market was prosperous during the Great Depression and World War II due to local farmers coming to the city because of high demand and fair prices. Individuals living in the suburbs could have their groceries delivered for free through the use of the train station. Employees at the Reading Terminal would load carts of groceries onto trains and deliver them to each station as the customer requested. Much of Reading Terminal Market's customer base and services relied on the Reading Railroad Company. prgtoken When the railroad company failed, the market suffered and experienced financial hardship from the 1960s to the early 1990s. A $30 million investment in infrastructure resuscitated the market, and it has thrived as an economic hub ever since. prgtoken Today, Reading Terminal Market, housed in a National Historic Landmark building, is home to 80 merchants of all different cultural backgrounds with products ranging from fresh, locally sourced produce, meats, handmade wares, and clothing, to a broad range of ethnic food and global goods. With an estimated 100,000 people experiencing the market on a weekly basis, Reading Terminal Market is one of the most prosperous, public markets in both the Commonwealth and in the Nation. prgtoken I commend Reading Terminal Market, its employees, and its merchants on the 125th anniversary of its founding. As the market has reached global recognition, I am honored it calls Pennsylvania home. Rich in both diversity and tradition, let it serve as a symbol of culture, history, opportunity, and inspiration for us all.
RECOGNIZING CHARMAINE KELLY
Theodore E. Deutch (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2018-2-26

today I rise in recognition of the accomplishments and the public service record of Palm Beach County's Chief Deputy Supervisor of Elections, Charmaine Kelly. prgtoken Ms. Kelly began her career with the Supervisor of Elections office as an election day worker, her earnings donated to a local charity in which she was active. prgtoken Noticing the talent and excitement of this young volunteer, the Supervisor of Elections office recruited her to work part-time, and then full-time, as an elections specialist. That was 35 years ago. prgtoken Ms. Kelly oversaw voting and voter registration in Palm Beach County, the third largest county in Florida and the 28th most populous prgtoken in the nation. As the Chief Deputy Supervisor of Elections, she is the highest ranking non-elected public servant in the office. She has served under four elected Supervisors through nine Presidential elections, 17 congressional and state elections and countless municipal and local district elections. prgtoken Ms. Kelly has mentored a generation of young people in the importance of protecting the process of voter registration and voter participation. If any Supervisor or Supervisor of Elections employee has a question from around the state, Ms. Kelly is on their speed dial and will always help find the answer or solution. prgtoken Today I ask this body to recognize Ms. Kelly as she begins her well- deserved retirement. prgtoken Ms. Kelly represents the best of public servants and I, along with the citizens of Palm Beach County and the State of Florida, thank her for her service protecting our right to vote and assuring that our vote counts.
GUN VIOLENCE
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-2-26

in the wake of the horrific shootings at Stoneman Douglas High School, the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook, there has been a broad national conversation about the epidemic of gun violence in this country. It is being led prgtoken by a group of brave high school students, the friends and classmates of the fallen, whom I will be sitting down with tomorrow. Their passion and eloquence have been a moral course for change. prgtoken Thank God for these students. They are urging us now to have a debate in Congress about something very straightforward: What can we do to stop very dangerous guns from getting into the hands of very dangerous people? How can we keep Americans safe at our movie theaters, at night clubs, at concerts and churches, and above all, at our schools? prgtoken We need to get something real and significant accomplished. The problem of gun violence in this country is too immediate for another delay, too severe for half measures. prgtoken President has been talking about comprehensive background checks. We are glad to hear that. We are glad that folks are finally starting to talk about the real issues of gun safety again. believe that, at the very least, in the wake of Parkland, we should strive for comprehensive background checks--closing the loopholes that allow anyone, regardless of a violent history or a history of mental illness, to walk into a gun show or go on the internet and purchase a gun. More than 90 percent of Americans and the vast majority of gun owners support comprehensive background checks. What are we waiting for? prgtoken There seems to be a discussion about a more limited proposal, the Fix NICS bill, sponsored by Senators Cornyn and Murphy, which improves the existing background check system in a few ways. I support the bill and I am a cosponsor, but the Fix NICS bill is not what President has been talking about this afternoon and at other times when he says ``comprehensive background checks.'' Fix NICS was written to address one specific issue that was brought to light after the horrific shooting in a church in Sutherland Springs, TX. It is a proposal to address that specific problem, but it leaves unaddressed a host of crucial gun safety issues, including, and especially, the loopholes in our background check system. If we only pass Fix NICS, we will be right back here after the next shooting in nearly the same place. If all Congress does in response to the Parkland shooting is to pass Fix NICS, we will not be doing our job. We must do much more than that. prgtoken This week, the ic caucus will discuss what policies we believe will most effectively curb the uniquely American epidemic of gun violence. We will propose them and work with our colleagues to perfect and, hopefully, enact them. I sincerely believe we can make progress even on an issue as fraught as this one, but it will require our friends t
INTRODUCTION OF THE UNIVERSAL PREKINDERGARTEN AND EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ACT OF 2018
Eleanor Holmes Norton (Democrat, DC) \u2014 2018-2-26

today, I introduce a bill similar to one I have introduced in five previous Congresses, the Universal Prekindergarten and Early Childhood Education Act of 2018. This bill is particularly important today because recent reports indicate that Americans are limiting the number of children they have due to the cost of child care. My bill begins the process of providing universal prekindergarten education in public and public charter schools in states that have or plan to phase in or are phasing in prekindergarten education for three-and four-year-old children. The District of Columbia has made considerable strides since I first introduced this bill, but today's bill is still needed to fill a hole in the ``Every Student Succeeds Act,'' which addresses elementary and secondary education, but ignores the prekindergarten years, the most critical years for children's brain development. My bill also seeks a breakthrough in public education by providing the initial funding for states to encourage local school districts to add prekindergarten for children at three or four years of age, whereas kindergarten programs for five year olds are now routinely available in public schools. This bill would eliminate some of the major shortcomings of unevenly available ``day care'' and, importantly, would take advantage of the safe facilities required in public schools. Unless early education becomes a necessary part of a child's education, it almost surely will continue to be unavailable to the majority of families with children. prgtoken My bill provides federal funds to states, which must be matched by at least 20 percent with the state's own funds, to establish or expand universal, voluntary prekindergarten in public and public charter schools for three-and four-year-olds, regardless of income. The classes, which would be full-day and run throughout the entire school year, must be taught by teachers who possess equivalent or similar qualifications to those teaching other grades in the school. The funds would supplement, not supplant, other federal funds for early childhood education. The unique money-saving aspect of my bill is that it uses the existing public school infrastructure and trained teachers to make early childhood education available to all, saving billions of dollars in its implementation. prgtoken The success of Head Start and other prekindergarten programs, combined with new scientific evidence concerning the importance of brain development in early childhood, virtually mandate the expansion of early childhood education to all children today. Early learning programs have been available only to the affluent, who can afford them, and to low-income families in programs such as Head Start, which would be unaffected by my bill. My bill provides a practical way to universal, public preschool education for the majority of families. The goal of the bill is to afford the benefits of early childhood education to th
Net Neutrality (Executive Calendar)
Edward J. Markey (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2018-2-27

I would like to speak on behalf of my constituents and the tens of millions of Americans who rely on a free and open internet. prgtoken Make no mistake, we are locked in a historic battle to preserve the core principles of competition, innovation, and consumer choice that have made the internet the world's greatest platform for commerce and communications; a historic battle to restore the hallmark of American innovation and democratization; a historic battle to protect America's innovation incubator and job generator--a battle for net neutrality. prgtoken In December, the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, eliminated net neutrality. These rules prevented your internet service provider--Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and Charter--from indiscriminately charging more for internet fast lanes or slowing down or even blocking certain websites entirely, the very rules that allow inventors, entrepreneurs, and small businesses, the lifeblood of the American economy, to connect to the internet. prgtoken The reason why is simple. The administration sides with the rich and the powerful first and consistently puts everyday American lives last. We have seen them wage an all-out assault on healthcare, on climate change, and now on net neutrality, but today the internet is fighting back, and we have a powerful tool at our disposal that will allow the average consumer to have their voices heard right here on the floor of the U.S. Senate. prgtoken Today I am officially introducing a CRA--Congressional Review Act-- resolution that will fully restore net neutrality. The entire Senate ic caucus is now standing with the millions of Americans who want to reverse the FCC's partisan actions and restore net neutrality. prgtoken Net neutrality is not and should not be a partisan issue. I thank Senator Susan Collins for supporting my CRA, and I encourage other colleagues to stand with all of us who support net neutrality. We are just one vote away in the Senate from restoring net neutrality. There will be a vote right here on the floor of the Senate sometime this spring. The clock is ticking. We just need a simple majority for passage, and that is just one more vote. prgtoken When we take that vote, every one of my colleagues will have to answer the simple question: Whose side are you on? Do you stand with hard-working American families for whom the internet is essential or do you stand with the Big Money corporate interests and their army of lobbyists? We should all be on the right side of history. prgtoken Millennials are motivated. Momentum is building. Citizens are joining together demonstrating, writing letters, calling their Members of Congress, and taking this message to social media. They are joined by groups that include Fight for the Future, Demand Progress, Free Press, the Center for Digital Technology, the Center for Media Justice, Color of Change, Common Cause, Consumers Union, En
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
Joe Courtney (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2018-2-27

I was absent from the House Chamber on Thursday, February 15, 2018, due to official business in my district. Had I been present, I would have voted NO on roll call no. 80, on the passage of H.R. 620--legislation that I strongly oppose. This bill would prevent Americans with disabilities from getting their day in court when their right to access is violated. In the twenty-eight years since the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, people with disabilities have made important gains in access and inclusion to public buildings, schools, workplaces, and businesses. The ADA is a fundamental part of American civil rights law; like many of our other civil rights statutes, it depends on voluntary compliance and private rights of action for its enforcement. Shifting the responsibility for compliance to persons with disabilities undermines the spirit of the law and the structure of civil rights statutes more broadly. prgtoken H.R. 620 requires a victim of discrimination to provide specific notice of the ADA violation to a business, and then allow 120 days for the business to make ``substantial progress'' toward remedying the violation. The bill does not define substantial progress, further weakening the business's incentive to comply, and loosening enforceability of the ADA, in turn allowing discrimination against persons with disabilities to continue. While some egregious portions of this bill were removed during floor consideration, including the requirement that a claimant name the specific section of the ADA violated before even notifying the business, its underlying purpose remains clear: making it harder for persons with disabilities to fight for their day in court. prgtoken As members of Congress, it is our duty to promote the welfare and dignity of all of our constituents, particularly those who have spent so long on the outside looking in. We ought to defend and strengthen the ADA, reforming it where needed and building on its successes, rather than dismantling its efficacy and closing our legal system off from those who need it. I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill.
TRIBUTE TO CORPORAL MUJAHID RAMZZIDDIN
Steny H. Hoyer (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2018-2-27

on Friday I attended the funeral of a hero. Prince George's County lost a dedicated Corporal last Wednesday, who was shot and killed while off duty but still doing his duty. Corporal Mujahid Ramzziddin, a fourteen-year veteran of the force, stepped in to protect a neighbor from an abusive spouse. As Chief Hank Stawinski said: `He saved her life by giving his own.' He is the thirtieth Prince George's County police officer to die in the line of duty. Corporal Ramzziddin's courage is an example of the kind of devotion to duty that our law enforcement officers in Prince George's County and across Maryland and the United States demonstrate each day they serve. prgtoken At the funeral in Lanham, I joined state and county officials in comforting Corporal Ramzziddin's wife Tammi and his four children as they paid their final tributes to him and laid him to rest according to traditional Muslim rites. I was honored to present Tammi with a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol in memory of her husband, and I was deeply moved by the outpouring of support and love from the community to the Ramzziddin family. They are in my thoughts at this difficult time, as is Corporal Ramzziddin' s heroic example. prgtoken Corporal Ramzziddin was not only a dedicated law enforcement officer; he was also a volunteer in the community. He served in several ways with the Nation's Mosque, including as a leader for its Boy Scout Troop 1517, on its safety and security committee, and with the men's group that engaged in neighborhood litter removal projects. Corporal Ramzziddin was a man of faith and service, a patriot and a hero to his community. It surprised no one who knew him that he gave his life while trying to protect someone else. prgtoken I hope all of my colleagues in this House will join me in paying tribute to Corporal Mujahid Ramzziddin for his life of service and his ultimate sacrifice protecting the people of Prince George's County, Maryland.
Indian Health Service (Executive Calendar)
Elizabeth Warren (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2018-2-27

I rise today to call on President to nominate a Director for the Indian Health Service. prgtoken There are many critical issues facing Indian Country--economic development, infrastructure, protection of Native lands, respect for Tribal governments--and after years and years of broken promises, discrimination, and neglect, Washington owes Tribes a fighting chance to build stronger communities and a brighter future. prgtoken The Federal Indian trust responsibility means that Washington has a basic legal obligation to the Tribes. Washington also has a fundamental moral obligation, and that starts with basic healthcare. prgtoken American Indians have treaty rights to healthcare from the Federal Government, but the U.S. Government cannot fulfill our treaty obligations if key posts, such as the Director of IHS, lay vacant for years. prgtoken The IHS is a big deal. It is the primary Federal healthcare provider for American Indians and Alaska Natives. It serves 2.2 million people spread across 36 States. It has a budget of nearly $5 billion annually. The IHS provides care through more than 660 clinics, hospitals, and health stations on or near reservations, many of them in remote and rural locations located hours away from other health facilities. It serves more than 13 million outpatient visitors a year. prgtoken The doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers at IHS hospitals and clinics do everything from delivering babies, to providing dental services, to fighting the opioid crisis. prgtoken Right now, more than a year into President 's term, there is still no permanent leader at the Indian Health Service. Two weeks ago, the nomination for IHS Director was withdrawn, and there hasn't been a Senate-confirmed Director for years. This leadership vacuum creates a serious problem. The IHS cannot engage in long-term planning without a permanent Director at the helm. It cannot officially fix problems at hospitals that failed inspections and where Medicare and Medicaid funding is in jeopardy. It cannot move as decisively to ensure that IHS facilities stay open. It cannot implement agency-wide standards for quality of care, as the Government Accountability Office has recommended. The IHS cannot prioritize competing issues, solve serious and longstanding problems, or work through how to meet multiple goals more effectively. prgtoken Its relationship with other Federal agencies is weakened without a stable leader--critical relationships with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Office of Management and Budget, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the rest of the Department of Health and Human Services. It cannot ensure that programs like the Special Diabetes Program for Indians, which has created real, positive outcomes, is implemented as well as possible. The IHS cannot work out a direction for the Service and hold a single stable leader accountable f
RECOGNITION OF MS. FRANCESCA ALFANO
Alcee L. Hastings (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2018-2-27

it is my great privilege to rise today to honor Ms. Francesca Alfano, for her outstanding community service work in her hometown of West Palm Beach, Florida. prgtoken Ms. Alfano was one of five students selected by Florida's Hometown U.S.A. Program, Inc. this year. She is a high school junior at Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, a public high school located in West Palm Beach, Florida. She is the daughter of Monique McCall and Gianpaolo Alfano. prgtoken Throughout this year, Ms . Alfano will proudly represent West Palm Beach as she travels to visit nursing homes, children's hospitals, Veteran's hospitals, charity events, and other activities throughout the State of Florida. prgtoken She certainly reflects the values of Florida's Hometown U.S.A. Program, Inc which encourages and supports students who have a desire to volunteer. There is truly no limit to the difference students like Ms. Alfano can make in the lives of their neighbors with the support of organizations like Florida's Hometown U.S.A Inc. prgtoken Florida's Hometown U.S.A. Program, Inc. is a non-profit educational youth organization, which has received Disney's Helping Kids Shine Award, Disney's VoluntEAR of the Year, the Governor's Points of Light Award from former Governor Jeb , and the national President's Daily Points of Light Award from former President . prgtoken , I am proud that Ms. Francesca Alfano represents my district. She is a student and community member whom we can all admire and respect. I commend her for her deep commitment to volunteer work, and wish her the best as she pursues her high school diploma and beyond.