mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
ENCOURAGING GREATER PUBLIC-PRIVATE SECTOR COLLABORATION TO PROMOTE FINANCIAL LITERACY FOR STUDENTS AND YOUNG ADULTS.
Bill Foster (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2019-4-30

. Madam , such time as I may consume. prgtoken Madam , I rise in support of H. Res. 327, a bipartisan resolution we introduced in April in honor of Financial Literacy Month. prgtoken I would like to start by thanking my friend Congressman French Hill from Arkansas, who should truly be considered as an original cosponsor of this resolution for working on this legislation with me. prgtoken The aim of this resolution is simple but important. It encourages collaboration between the public and private sector to promote financial literacy for students. It emphasizes the importance of financial literacy for consumers of all ages, and it supports efforts of Federal agencies to expand financial education resources. prgtoken This year alone, approximately 15.1 million students will be in grades 9 through 12 and almost 20 million students will be enrolled in colleges and universities. prgtoken That is a lot of young people who will soon be entering a complex financial marketplace where they will have to quickly make important financial decisions. These include decisions about paying for college, credit cards, financing a car or a home purchase, preparing for unexpected emergencies, and saving for retirement. prgtoken However, without an understanding of basic financial concepts, these young people will not be well equipped to make these decisions. prgtoken At a time when student loan balances stand at $1.5 trillion and a majority of private workers have access to defined contribution plans and not traditional pension benefits, it is even more important for young people and workers to be financially literate. prgtoken Part of the problem is that too few schools incorporate financial education into their curriculum. According to the Council for Economic Education, only a third of States require high school students to take a course in personal finance. In those States, most schools teach the subject as one portion of another course of study--such as math, economics, or social studies--while only five States require a semester-long, standalone personal finance course. prgtoken Studies show that financial illiteracy carries significant cost. Consumers who fail to understand the concept of prgtoken compound interest spend more on transaction fees, run up bigger debts, and incur higher interest rates on loans. prgtoken We also need to work on making financial literacy tools available for everyone. Unfortunately, levels of financial literacy are lower among the less educated minorities and women. prgtoken Just 19 percent of high school graduates possess basic financial knowledge and skills. Perhaps even more troubling, according to a survey by the Consumer Federation of America and the Financial Planning Association, 21 percent of respondents, including 38 percent of those with income below $25,000, reported that winning the lottery was ``the most practical strategy for accumulating several hundred thousand dollars for thei
VENEZUELA
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2019-4-30

last year, I made a visit to Caracas, Venezuela. It was a surprise that they even offered me a visa to journey to that country. In the course of several days, I saw firsthand what life in Venezuela was like. It was terrible from every aspect-- malnutrition, children fainting in schools, hospitals without the basic medicines, the return of diseases which had been eradicated decades before, people on the street emaciated and working day in and day out in a runaway inflation country. At 11:30 at night, there were queues by ATM machines where people stood patiently in line for hours to make the maximum withdrawal from their savings account, which was the money they needed the next day to take the bus to work. It is a terrible situation. prgtoken In the course of that visit, I met with President Maduro and talked to him directly about his plans to schedule an election. It was clear to me this election was rigged. He had intimidated and even jailed his opponents to make certain that there would be no serious opposition, and I told him there would be no credibility in that election. It wouldn't be accepted by countries around the world that he was the legitimate leader of that country. Yet he persisted and went through with the election. prgtoken During the time that I was there, I had a chance to meet with some of his political opponents. His tactics against these opponents were harsh. Leopoldo Lopez, a popular opponent, was put under house arrest for years. I spoke to him on the telephone and met personally with his wife, who described the bleak existence he had day to day in the same house under house arrest by Maduro. prgtoken One evening, we had dinner with opposition members of the National Assembly, and it was held at a secret location, upstairs in a darkened room, because of their fear of retribution by Maduro and his regime. prgtoken These are some pretty brave young men and women who are part of the opposition to Maduro. I can recall one of them saying to me: If you come back next year, out of the five of us, two will have been deported, two will be missing, and one of us will be dead. That is what happens when you oppose the Maduro regime. prgtoken One of those people who were at that dinner meeting with me was named Juan Guaido. His name became prominent just a few months ago when he stepped up in an extraordinary show of political courage and declared himself, under the original Constitution, as the leader of Venezuela-- directly confronting Maduro and his regime. Since then, he has received a lot of publicity. He went to the border with Colombia and tried to encourage the Maduro regime to allow transports of food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs into the country. Maduro refused. prgtoken He also made it clear that he was willing to risk his life. I met here in Washington with his young wife, who had a little baby girl. His wife had come to the United States to plead his case in th
SUPPORTING EFFORTS OF NOAA CORPS
Ed Case (Democrat, HI) \u2014 2019-4-30

today, with my colleagues Mr. Young of Alaska and Mr. Huffman of California, I am proud to introduce the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Amendments Act of 2019. prgtoken The women and men of the NOAA Corps proudly and professionally operate NOAA's highly specialized fleet of research and survey ships and aircraft, including the famed Hurricane Hunter aviators. Several of those ships are based in my State of Hawaii and conduct surveys used to manage our fisheries and protected species and study and map the ocean floor. prgtoken Like the other uniformed services, the NOAA Corps officers spend most of their careers away from home at sea, in the air, and in remote locations such as Antarctica conducting this important work but are often overlooked in the legislative and administrative process, resulting in a patchwork of statutory authorities, benefits, and obligations of service. prgtoken Our bill will help the NOAA Corps improve recruitment, retention, and diversity to attract the best and the brightest commissioned officers and better align this great Corps with the other uniformed services as they continue their great service to NOAA and to our Nation. prgtoken I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this bill and support the efforts of the NOAA Corps.
NATIONAL SENIOR INVESTOR INITIATIVE ACT OF 2019
Josh Gottheimer (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2019-4-30

. Madam , I thank the gentleman for allowing me to speak on behalf of this bipartisan legislation. I also want to thank my good friend, Congressman Trey Hollingsworth, for being a great partner on this important legislation. prgtoken Since I took office, I have been committed to helping seniors save their hard-earned money for retirement, to helping them cut their taxes and afford their prescription drugs, and to protecting Social Security and Medicare so that, at the end of the day, they can afford to stay in New Jersey and enjoy their lives with their kids and their grandkids. prgtoken Unfortunately, there are millions of seniors across the country who have been the victims of financial scams and abuses that have cheated them out of their rightful retirement and are now putting that all at risk. Here are a few disturbing facts. prgtoken According to a report from the Senate Special Committee on Aging, older Americans lose approximately $3 billion each year to financial scams and abuse. prgtoken Scammers claim to be a child or a grandchild on the phone. Thousands pose as IRS agents, others as tech support people and representatives; and then, in the end, they are just going after personal data and bank information. prgtoken A separate survey from the Investor Protection Trust found that approximately 7 million Americans have reported being victims of exploitation. They scare and intimidate seniors, and many seniors don't even report it. Only 1 in every 24 cases of elder exploitation actually gets reported. prgtoken My mom was even a victim of one of these scammers. prgtoken It is appalling. It is offensive. It is unacceptable. Thankfully, we are here today to do something about it. prgtoken Today, the House of Representatives is considering our bipartisan legislation, the Senior Security Act, to help prgtoken protect vulnerable seniors from predatory scams and financial abuse. prgtoken The bipartisan Senior Security Act will help stop financial predators from scamming seniors out of their savings by finding ways to strengthen protections and safeguards for seniors and by creating a senior investor task force at the Securities and Exchange Commission to focus on how seniors are being targeted by fraudsters and to help stop those who seek to take financial advantage of our seniors. prgtoken New Jersey's seniors have given us so much. We should always have their backs and help protect them from those who would seek to do them harm and take advantage of them. prgtoken Madam , again, I would like to thank my colleague, Mr. Hollingsworth, for his commitment to protecting seniors, and I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense, bipartisan legislation.
Nomination of Gordon Hartogensis (Executive Calendar)
Patty Murray (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2019-4-30

I come to the floor to oppose the nomination of Mr. Gordon Hartogensis to serve as Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and, really, to express my continued frustration with the s' efforts to weaponize the nomination process for partisan gain, including their unprecedented refusal to move ic nominees for important Agencies, like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the National Labor Relations Board, in order to tilt them in favor of corporations, and including their continued attacks on women's healthcare and reproductive rights by stacking our courts with far-right judges. prgtoken The Director of the PBGC is responsible for protecting the retirement security of almost 40 million people. We owe it to workers and retirees to make absolutely sure a nominee for this position has the relevant pension-related experience and knowledge to handle that challenge. One needs to have the determination to fight for workers and retirees and to have the willingness to work with Members on both sides of the aisle. prgtoken When it comes to Mr. Hartogensis, I am simply not convinced that this is the case. It is unclear to me why he was nominated to replace Director Reeder, who is doing a commendable job, well before Director Reeder's term was completed. What makes this even worse is that the Senate HELP Committee didn't have a hearing at which members could question Mr. Hartogensis. prgtoken I have asked the administration why it decided to replace Mr. Reeder. No response. My ic colleagues on the committee asked the chairman for a hearing with Mr. Hartogensis. No hearing. We should be giving Mr. Hartogensis' nomination serious scrutiny, including having a hearing with the Senate HELP Committee, especially considering the complex challenges that the PBGC Director must help the Agency navigate amid our country's multiemployer pension crisis. Millions of workers and retirees across the country are at risk of seeing the pensions they were promised--that they earned and planned their financial futures around--thrown into jeopardy through absolutely no fault of their own. prgtoken I am hopeful we can focus on this issue more going forward, and I look forward to taking bipartisan steps to address this crisis, but I am disappointed that our committee, which prgtoken should be most focused on this critical issue, was not even able to have a hearing with Mr. Hartogensis in order to dive into this crisis more deeply. So, given my doubts about his credentials for this position and my frustration with this nomination process, I will be voting against this nomination. prgtoken Unfortunately, Mr. Hartogensis is just one example of a broader effort by the s to play political games with the nomination process in ways that, ultimately, harm workers and families nationwide.
VENEZUELA
Robert P. Casey, Jr. (Democrat, PA) \u2014 2019-4-30

I come to the floor tonight to discuss the troubling state of judicial nominations before the Senate. This week, we are voting on, among others, two district court nominees-- Campbell Barker and Andrew Brasher--who have, in my judgment, very concerning records. prgtoken Just several weeks ago, Senate s changed the Senate rules so that they can continue to put on the Federal bench highly ideological and sometimes unqualified jurists who have the corporate stamp of approval but I don't think the mainstream stamp of approval. Under new Senate rules, these nominees will receive only 2 hours of postcloture consideration time on the Senate floor, but if confirmed, they would sit on the Federal bench for life. So 2 hours postcloture for a lifetime appointment. prgtoken I will start with Mr. Campbell Barker, who has been nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. He has a troubling record from his time as deputy solicitor general of the State of Texas. In 2016, he defended Texas's voter ID law, which the Fifth Circuit said violated the Voting Rights Act because it prevented minority voters from exercising their right to vote. prgtoken Second, Mr. Barker submitted amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court attacking the Affordable Care Act. In those briefs, he argued that the individual mandate is unconstitutional--a position rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. He also opposed the contraceptive coverage mandate, which was a critical part of the ACA's efforts to make sure that women have access to the medical care they need. He also signed amicus briefs arguing that businesses should be allowed to discriminate against LGBT customers and supporting the President's travel ban, which, in my judgment, was a bigoted policy that discriminated against the Muslim community. prgtoken The second nominee I will make some comments about tonight is Mr. Andrew Brasher, a nominee to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. Like Mr. Barker, Mr. Brasher has a troubling record from his time in the state solicitor general's office. In 2014, he defended the Alabama State redistricting scheme, which a Federal court determined violated the Constitution because it packed African- American voters into a few districts, diluting the power of their vote on the basis of their race. prgtoken Similar to Mr. Barker, Mr. Brasher challenged the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act and argued that the reasonable accommodations made for religious nonprofits were still too burdensome--an argument that the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected. prgtoken In 2015, he submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing against the right of same-sex couples to marry--a position the Supreme Court has rejected. prgtoken Lastly, Mr. Brasher submitted amicus briefs to the Supreme Court arguing against commonsense gun laws, such as age requirements for gun purchases and
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
Jack Reed (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2019-4-30

the PCAOB Enforcement Transparency Act, which I reintroduce today with Senator Grassley, will permit the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to make public the disciplinary proceedings it has brought against auditors and audit firms earlier in the process. prgtoken More than fifteen years ago, our markets were victimized by a series of massive financial reporting frauds, including those involving Enron and WorldCom. In response to this crisis, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs conducted multiple hearings, which produced consensus on a number of underlying causes, including weak corporate governance, a lack of accountability, and inadequate oversight of accountants charged with auditing public companies' financial statements. prgtoken In a 99 to 0 vote, the Senate passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to address the structural weaknesses and faults revealed by the hearings. Among its many provisions, this law called for the creation of a strong and independent board, the PCAOB, responsible for overseeing auditors of public companies in order to protect investors who rely on independent audit reports on the financial statements of public companies. prgtoken To conduct its duties, the PCAOB, under the oversight of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), oversees more than 1,800 registered accounting firms, as well as the audit partners and staff who contribute to a firm's work on each audit. The Board's ability to begin proceedings that can determine whether there have been violations of its auditing standards or rules of professional practice is an important component of its oversight. prgtoken However, unlike the SEC, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and other oversight bodies, the Board's disciplinary proceedings cannot be made public without consent from the parties involved. prgtoken Of course, parties subject to disciplinary proceedings have no incentive to consent to publicizing their alleged wrongdoing and thus these proceedings typically remain cloaked behind a veil of secrecy. In addition, the Board cannot publicize the results of its disciplinary proceedings until after the appeals process has been completely exhausted, which can often take several years. prgtoken Concealing PCAOB disciplinary proceedings from the public creates a lack of transparency that invites abuse and undermines the Congressional intent behind the PCAOB, which was to shine a bright light on auditing firms and practices, and to bolster the accountability of auditors of public companies to the investing public. prgtoken Over the years, some bad actors have used this loophole to shield themselves from public scrutiny and accountability. Former PCAOB Chairman James Doty repeatedly stated in testimony provided to both the Senate and House o
BRING ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT AGAINST THE PRESIDENT
Al Green (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2019-4-30

I rise because I love my country. prgtoken , I have in my hand a document styled ``Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election,'' Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III. prgtoken , I rise because this Congress has a date with destiny the tintinnabulation of history are sounding. The bells of history are reminding us that we have a responsibility to our country that we must take up. prgtoken I rise, , to announce that I will bring Articles of Impeachment prgtoken against the President of the United States of America for obstructing a lawful investigation. I do so, , because I will not put party above people; I will not put politics above principle; and I will not put this President above the law. prgtoken , I don't do this because I want to. I do so because I have to. We cannot allow the paralysis of analysis to thwart the obstruction of justice cause that must be brought before the Congress. This is a day that we all must start now to decide what our votes will be because history demands that we all take a stand. prgtoken I have not lobbied one person and will not do so. I say to people: Vote your conscience. But if you have read this document, there are a good many people who will conclude that the President has obstructed a lawful investigation. prgtoken , there are people who cannot say that I was right when I said some 600-plus days ago that the President was engaging in obstruction, and they will not say that I was wrong. But to those people who can't say that I am wrong and will not say that I am right, you know that I kept my word every step of the way, and I am going to keep my word today. prgtoken If this House does not bring these Articles of Impeachment before this august body, each Member has the authority and the opportunity to do so. I will not allow history to show that this Congress did not take a vote on the impeachment of a reckless, ruthless, lawless President. prgtoken I absolutely believe that we must honor our date with history.
IN RECOGNITION OF THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF EXERCISE TIGER
William R. Keating (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2019-4-30

. Madam , I rise today to recognize the 75th anniversary of Exercise Tiger and the 30th anniversary of its monument being erected in New Bedford, Massachusetts. prgtoken Dedicated in 1989, this monument honors the lives lost during the attack on Exercise Tiger, a military training operation that was ambushed by a German flotilla on April 28, 1944. This brutal surprise attack, mounted during a D-Day dry run off the coast of Devon, England, claimed the lives of 749 United States service members in the second deadliest episode of World War II behind Pearl Harbor. This proud memorial will serve as a reminder for generations to come of the service of the men and women who fought in World War II and the sacrifices that were made to protect the United States and banner of peace and democracy across the world. prgtoken As we observe the 75th anniversary of this tragic loss of life, we are reminded of the high price paid by those who have laid down their lives in defense of our country. I would like to extend a special thanks to the City of New Bedford and the dedicated members of its veteran community, who continue to inspire through their dedication to preserving history and honoring the legacy of our proud service members. prgtoken Madam , it brings me great pleasure to recognize the 30th anniversary of this important monument and to call attention yet again to the memory of all those who tragically lost their lives during Exercise Tiger.