mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
RECOGNIZING THE COORDINATED STRUGGLE OF WORKERS ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1968 MEMPHIS SANITATION WORKERS STRIKE TO REACH A COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT ON WORKPLACE RIGHTS
Benjamin L. Cardin (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2018-2-28

I rise today to celebrate Black History Month, when we declare that Black History is American history, and that our Nation is a better, fairer, and more perfect union thanks to the Black Americans who helped forge it. prgtoken Fifty years ago, in 1968, a crowd of 25,000 people gathered outside Bishop Charles Mason Temple in Memphis, TN. They congregated there in support of the city's 1,300 Black sanitation workers--men who were being underpaid and subjected to abusive and unsafe working conditions--all of whom had been protesting those conditions, day after day, for months. The sanitation workers had organized, unionized, and exercised their right to peaceful protest; yet the mayor of Memphis refused to heed their calls for justice and change. prgtoken So they gathered there, alongside thousands of supporters, outside a church in Memphis, waiting for someone to tell them--to show them-- their path forward. prgtoken One man spoke to the crowd, saying, ``You are reminding not only Memphis, but the nation, that it is a crime for people to live in this rich nation and receive starvation wages.'' He went on, ``You are here tonight to demand that Memphis do something about the conditions our brothers face, as they work day in and day out for the well-being of the total community. You are here to demand that Memphis will see the poor.'' The speaker encouraged the sanitation workers to continue their fight and vowed to stand by them. He showed them their path forward. prgtoken The speaker who addressed the crowd that day was the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His voice boomed from behind the podium to the crowd-- and to all Americans--about the intersection of racial and economic equality. Dr. King argued that fair pay and basic dignity and safety in the workplace should be extended to all people, regardless of their race or profession. prgtoken Dr. King addressed the crowd on March 18, 1968. On April 3, 1968, Dr. King addressed another crowd at Mason Temple, declaring, ``I've been to the mountain top'' and continuing, ``Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land!'' prgtoken Dr. King was assassinated the next day. Four days later, 42,000 people marched to honor Dr. King and support the strike, which was resolved 2 weeks after Dr. King's death when the Memphis City Council voted to recognize the sanitation workers' union. Finally, after months of turmoil and violence, the sanitation workers were promised the higher wages and more equitable treatment they deserved. On April 29, prgtoken 2011, the Memphis sanitation workers were inducted into the Department of Labor's Labor Hall of Honor. prgtoken Sena
Gun Violence (Executive Calendar)
Cory A. Booker (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2018-2-28

I appreciate the remarks of my senior Senator from New Jersey. His passion and his commitment to this issue, not just after this mass shooting, has been consistent in fighting for commonsense gun safety for years, and I am grateful for his leadership as my senior Senator. prgtoken It has now been 2 weeks since a gunman took the lives of 17 children, teachers, and school administrators in Parkland, FL. In the days and weeks since, we have seen young people from that community lead a movement for change that is growing in our country, standing up to special interests, standing up to the small minority of folks who seem to want to let the status quo continue, standing up to the NRA and the gun industry and making clear the fierce urgency of now, of this moment, of this day. These young people are showing what true courage is. They are showing it at a time of great grief, of great pain in their lives. prgtoken I know what they are fighting for. It is not a fringe issue. I know what they are fighting for. It is not representative of some small minority; they are fighting for the majority of Americans who agree with them, the majority of Americans who want commonsense gun safety in America. Those folks who own guns and those who don't want background checks for all gun buyers, including those between private dealers and gun shows. prgtoken The majority of Americans don't want people who are suspected terrorists to be able to go to a gun show and go to a private seller and drive off with a trunkful of weapons. The majority of Americans know that we should be keeping people with a history of domestic violence from getting their hands on a gun. The majority of Americans want to choke the pipeline of illegal guns that are flooding American communities from sea to shining sea, from the Great Lakes to the gulf coast. prgtoken The overwhelming majority of Americans know that we can do more to prevent gun violence. Sure, we can't stop everyone, but we can do things that will reduce the violence, reduce the prgtoken number of deaths, and save lives. These are commonsense things that the majority of Americans--gun owners, non-gun owners, s and --a majority of Americans support these policies that are proven. prgtoken For example, we know it is true that in States like Connecticut, when they instituted commonsense background checks, they saw firearm homicides drop by 40 percent. And we know that States that implement laws blocking perpetrators of domestic violence from getting guns see a significant reduction--upward of 10 percent--in homicides by people's intimate partners. prgtoken We know that between 2009 and 2013, States that have required background checks on handguns saw 35 percent fewer gun deaths per capita than States that didn't. prgtoken This is fact. We know that commonsense gun safety, supported by over 80 percent of gun owners and over 90 percent of Americans, will save lives. <
GUN SAFETY
Christopher Murphy (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2018-2-28

I hope we rise to the moment before us and get something done, over the course of the next week or two, to try to make this country safer. I am glad to be joining the President in a few hours to hear more about his thoughts on how we can put the safety of our kids ahead of any political considerations and try to figure out how to make sure that Parkland is the last. prgtoken As I have told some of the kids from Parkland who have come into my office, the ripples of grief will never, ever end. Newtown, CT, is a place that has been fundamentally changed. When you lose that many young lives in a short period of time, there is no true recovery. Unfortunately, Parkland will find that as Charleston did, as Orlando did, and as so many did before them. prgtoken We need to remember that while the country tends to pay attention to the epidemic of gun violence when there is a mass shooting, this is an epidemic that doesn't take a day off. Yesterday, it is likely that 80 to 90 people died from gunshot wounds. The majority of those were suicides. That is an epidemic in and of itself. A chunk of those were accidental shootings, another chunk of those were gun homicides; but the rate of gun deaths in this country just has no parallel anywhere else in the world. There is not another First World nation that has the rate of gun violence we do. In fact, it is not even close. The rate of gun violence in our country is 20 times higher than the average in the OECD. prgtoken We have to remember that when we try to craft a public policy response, it just cannot be about school shootings. One is much more likely to die from an accidental gunshot than in a school shooting. We have to be comprehensive in our approach, which is why the Fix NICS Act just isn't good enough. prgtoken I am proud Senator Cornyn and I and many others in this body came together to put forward a piece of legislation that will improve the background check system. It will make sure people who shouldn't buy guns aren't able to buy guns, but it is a modest change. In fact, it is really just about making sure people who are in law enforcement and inside the NICS system comply with existing law. It doesn't actually add any new background checks, it doesn't solve the gun show loophole, and it doesn't solve the internet loophole. So my hope is, we can bring this bill before the Senate, but then we can have a debate on other measures that might enjoy bipartisan support that will do 10 times more than fix NICS to keep this country safe. prgtoken Let's talk about expanding background checks to make sure everybody who is buying a gun in a commercial sale has to prove they are not a criminal and prove they are not seriously mentally ill. Let's talk about the experience that Connecticut and Indiana has had in allowing courts to use protective orders to take away guns from people who are showing evidence of doing harm to the people around them. Let's have a co
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
Heidi Heitkamp (Democrat, ND) \u2014 2018-2-28

on February 2, 2018, Tillie Fay Walker, 88, passed away in Bismarck, ND. Tillie was an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, born on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation on July 11, 1928, and was a member of the Alkali Lodge Clan. prgtoken Tillie was a fierce champion for the rights of her tribe and a passionate advocate for the dignity of all American Indians, particularly women. Her energy and intellect were used to progress positive change, mentor future Native leaders, and push government institutions to acknowledge and address the serious problems facing Indian Country. During a period when many thought a Native woman attending college was a foolish idea, she was that much more driven to receive her degree. At times when Tribes and Federal officials were at odds, Tillie brought elders and officials together to improve Federal policy positions on tribal sovereignty and land rights. prgtoken Her work on the national level caught the attention of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr as he began to organize for the Poor People's Campaign. Tillie served as one of the key Native organizers for the campaign and recruited Tribal members and leaders from across the country to participate in the marches, sit-ins, and testimonies. She also gave fiery and memorable testimony to the Interior Secretary and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs during the campaign. Through these decades of work on the national scene, Tillie influenced the very direction of activism and Federal Indian policy. She considered the implementation of Indian preference hiring for the Indian Health Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to be her biggest professional accomplishment. prgtoken Above all, Tillie was a lifelong keeper of cherished Mandan and Hidatsa history, practices, and language, and many tribal traditions now live on in younger generations due to Tillie's careful stewardship. Her legacy of Native pride and community activism survives on Fort Berthold and in those who work to improve the lives of Native Americans across the country. My deepest sympathies are with her family and many friends.
Department of Labor Tip Proposal (Executive Session)
Sherrod Brown (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2018-2-28

earlier today I talked to a server who worked in a restaurant in Northeast Ohio, in Trumbull County, north of Youngstown, and she is concerned, as I am, about a proposal from the U.S. Department of Labor that pretty much legalizes wage theft. prgtoken We know, in this country right now, servers, or tipped workers, can be the person who pushes the wheelchair in the airport. I spoke to somebody the other day who drove one of those airport carts in the Cleveland airport. She makes $5 an hour because she is supposed to rely on tips to get up to the minimum wage, but she doesn't always get tips, or a server who works in a restaurant, in a diner in Garfield Heights or in Chillicothe, OH, and makes sometimes only $2.10 an hour and relies on tips. That is enough of a problem--that companies that employ tipped workers can pay such low wages--but that is compounded by this rule that comes out of the White House and the Department of Labor that really is tantamount to wage theft. The rule simply says the tips you put on the table at a Denny's or at a Bob Evans, the management--the employer--can take those tips and distribute them however he or she wants to other workers in the restaurant. prgtoken Now, plenty of waitresses and plenty of waiters and servers give out some of their tips, distribute them to the bartender or others, and that is their choice, but for the employer to be able to take the tips from a worker, from a server, and decide whom to give it to in the back office or in the kitchen--someone they are not paying enough to anyway; to make up for that--or for the employer to just take the money and put it in their pockets, under this rule coming out of the Department of Labor--this is the Secretary of Labor and a government that is supposed to represent workers, supposed to advocate for labor. This administration has turned that upside down, where the Secretary of Labor is advocating for employers and basically legalizing wage theft-- taking that money from tipped workers who work so hard. prgtoken We know how hard everybody at a diner works. They are not making a lot of money. They rely on those tips. We are going to say--the U.S. Government, the Department of Labor, the President of the United States--is going to say: Oh, it is all right to take some of these tip dollars and put them in my pocket as the employer. Give it to the workers in the kitchen whom the company underpays because they are going to supplement their underpaid wages with tips. It is mean- spirited, it is legitimatizing wage theft, and we have no business doing it. There are 24 of us who have sent a letter to Secretary of Labor Acosta condemning his decision. prgtoken First of all, they did a study and found that this would take literally billions of dollars from the pockets of workers. They buried that study. We are saying, at least let that study out. Let people comment. Almost $6 billion in tips every single year will be
REPUBLICAN TAX BILL
Jeff Merkley (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2018-2-28

we heard a whole lot about the tax bill the s passed, and it basically works like this: We borrow $1.5 trillion from our children and we give that money to the richest Americans. And then when there is a little bit of help for middle-class workers--and I mean a little--we say: Well, that is really cool. prgtoken I like that we are doing a little for the middle class, but I don't like the fact that for every dime to help a middle-class worker, we gave away a dollar to the richest Americans. In other words, America has been robbed in the biggest bank heist ever, and then it was justified by distributing a modest amount to our workers. Even then, they included a provision that will drive up the premiums for healthcare by more than 10 percent next year, on top of whatever rises are driven by the drug companies. So whatever modest gain there is for the middle class is wiped out by more expensive healthcare in America. prgtoken So we hear these big, sophisticated arguments: Oh, well, a worker here or there got a bonus. A worker here or there got their wages increased. But they don't tell you that they gave $1 trillion to the richest Americans. Why not? Why not be honest about the whole entire scope of this tax rip-off, borrowing from our children to enrich the richest Americans? prgtoken As one House Member said, here is what this is all about: This is about the fact that my rich donors won't vote for me and won't support me in the next election unless I vote to give them all this money. prgtoken That is what happened here, and it is not OK because we see the consequences. We have a budget that attacks the foundations for families to thrive. It takes a trillion dollars out of healthcare. Well, that trillion dollars went to the richest Americans. Then the President gets to the budget and takes a trillion dollars out of healthcare, takes money out of affordable housing. Housing is a very important foundation for families to thrive. So it attacks healthcare and housing, and then it attacks public education. prgtoken Quite frankly, because all those resources were taken off the table that could have been invested in infrastructure and jobs in America, it also undermines the concept of a living-wage job, which is the principle that nobody who works full time in America should live in poverty in America. prgtoken The majority has conducted the biggest bank heist in history, and they come to the floor and defend this time and time again without sharing the honest facts with the American people, as I have just shared them with you.
GUN SAFETY
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-2-28

yesterday, I met with a group of survivors from the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, FL. Two weeks after losing classmates, friends, and teachers, these kids have not given themselves over to grief or cynicism. They organized and resolved to change their country. They went to Tallahassee. They traveled to Washington. They are committed, and they are inspiring. prgtoken We just went to the observance of Billy Graham's death in the Capitol Rotunda, and a man of the cloth probably would have said that instead of cursing the darkness, these kids are lighting a candle, which is a beautiful thing to do. prgtoken As I was sitting with them, I remembered meeting with the young people who survived the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. I remember sitting with parents of the kindergartners and first graders killed at Sandy Hook Elementary. I still ache for them and their parents, parents who had presents stashed under the Christmas tree that were never opened. Photos of those beautiful children still sit on my desk. prgtoken All of them--the students of Stoneman Douglas, parents from Newtown, parents of the victims in Orlando, Las Vegas, Columbine, Charleston, and everyday gun violence in cities and towns all across our country-- all of them are calling on us to act. The slow-motion massacre of American children must end. The time has come to make meaningful changes to our laws to keep Americans safe from the epidemic of gun violence. prgtoken Let me tell you, the students of Stoneman Douglas will not stop until we achieve meaningful change. They know small measures will not get the job done. That is why they told me, every one of them: The Fix NICS bill is not close to enough of what we need to do. Fix NICS has wide support in this Chamber. I am a cosponsor. But it is just the first tiny step that addresses one specific issue. We have a whole host of other issues to address, not one. prgtoken It is true that the records of NICS need to be fixed, but it is also true that we need to close the gun show loophole. It is also true that we need to make sure online sales go through background checks so that felons or those adjudicated as mentally ill or spousal abusers can't get guns. Over 90 percent of America agrees with that. But our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are so afraid of the NRA that they can't even embrace universal background checks, which 90 percent of America addresses. Special interest lobbying--the kind of thing President campaigned against, the NRA is doing it. The NRA is doing it. prgtoken We need to stop writing bills that address only the last shooting and start prgtoken making laws that prevent the next one. When you have a sick patient, you don't just treat one symptom; you cure the disease. That is what universal background checks will do. Fix NICS would be a good thing to do, but it is a tiny step when we need a giant leap. It can't be the
Gun Violence (Executive Calendar)
Bill Nelson (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2018-2-28

as the Senator from Pennsylvania is leaving, those are the people whose names he just read. That is why I am here to tell you that teachers, students, and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School returned to school for the first time since that shooting 2 weeks ago. Some were ready. Some who returned were scared. Some didn't go back; they are going to a different school. prgtoken What happened at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School 2 weeks ago should never happen anywhere in this country, ever, ever, never again. prgtoken Look at those faces so full of promise. Here is the coach. He saved some of the kids' lives. He jumped in front of them. This is another adult who tried to save lives. Here is another adult who tried to save lives. It shouldn't happen in a school. It shouldn't happen at a nightclub, like Pulse. It shouldn't happen in an airport or a church or an outdoor concert. It shouldn't happen. prgtoken So why does it happen? Why does this keep happening over and over again? Well, I am going to tell you why. It is because of us. It is because all 100 Members of this Senate and all 435 Members down the hallway in the House of Representatives--it is our refusal to act. It is our failure to convince one another that there are some things that should be done regardless of party politics or polls or what the special interests want. They ought to be done simply because they are the right things to do. prgtoken What about a commonsense approach, like a background check every time somebody buys a gun? What about a comprehensive or universal background check that would expand if there is a restraining order? How about if there is a mental problem other than just an adjudicated mental order? How about the terrorist watch list? If you are on that list, you can't get on an airplane because you are suspected to be a terrorist. Why should they be able to buy a gun? How about if you had been on the terrorist watch list and are no longer? That would have caught the shooter in Orlando because Omar Mateen had been on the terrorist watch list and was no longer when he walked in and bought that Sig Sauer MCX and mowed down 49 people. prgtoken It is our refusal to act. It is our failure to convince one another that there are some things that should be done. If you take the commonsense approach of requiring a background check, that is the right thing to do. Banning the military-style assault rifles, that is the right thing to do. prgtoken People get confused. There is a difference between a semiautomatic rifle and an assault rifle. Ever since I was a little boy, I had a .22 semiautomatic rifle with a clip. That is not an assault weapon. Even a bullet coming from a handgun--as one of the trauma surgeons who tended to some of the victims in Broward County points out--that handgun bullet will go in and come out through a victim the same size as it went in. If it goes through an organ such as the liver, they