mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein (Executive Session)
Ron Wyden (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2018-4-24

I come to the floor this morning to oppose the nomination of Stuart Kyle Duncan to serve on the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. prgtoken I accept that there are differences of opinion with respect to nominees, and I accept that I will not agree on every issue with every nominee. I do expect that individuals who are up for lifetime judicial appointments have to demonstrate that, above all else, above everything else, they will be guardians of the constitutional rights of the American people. If you want to be a judge in America, my view is, you ought to have to show an independence of thought and a respect for the rule of law. prgtoken I regret to say this morning, I believe this nominee has not met those important expectations. As I review Mr. Duncan's record, it seems to me he has made a career out of fighting to restrict the rights and legal protections of the vulnerable and those who are powerless. It ought to be an immediate red flag to see how often he has aligned himself with the wrong end of some of the most high-profile cases in the last few years. prgtoken My view is that his record on civil rights alone ought to be disqualifying. Twice he has represented States--North Carolina and Texas--in their defense of voter suppression laws that were written and passed based on false claims of voter fraud. Both of those laws, in my view, were a sort of Frankenstein monster of past proposals that would have made it harder for African Americans and Latino citizens to vote. You don't have to take my word for it; both of those cases were thrown out by the courts. Fortunately, neither time was Mr. Duncan successful on appeal. prgtoken In another case, he argued before the Supreme Court that a wrongful conviction verdict ought to be thrown out. An African-American man named John Thompson spent 14 years on death row after prosecutors in New Orleans concealed evidence that would have proven his innocence. After his exoneration, this individual won a $14 million wrongful conviction suit. Mr. Duncan, on the other hand, led the effort to have it overturned. An innocent man's life was ruined, and Mr. Duncan saw to it that he had no recompense. prgtoken He has clearly been a staunch opponent of women's reproductive rights and healthcare. He was counsel of record representing Hobby Lobby in its case against the Department of Health and Human Services in 2014. In that case, Hobby Lobby sought to throw out the legal requirement that women have no-cost access to contraception through their health insurance coverage. Mr. Duncan argued that the government has no compelling interest in guaranteeing access to contraception. To hold that view, you have to basically throw in the trash can the science showing that contraception results in lower rates of cancer and healthier pregnancies when women choose to conceive. You also have to be willing to turn a blind eye to the matter of economic fairness--t
REMEMBERING THE LIFE OF EDWIN ``DAVID'' COLWELL
Tim Ryan (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2018-4-24

today I rise to remember the life of Edwin ``David'' Colwell, 87, who passed away on Sunday, April 15, 2018. prgtoken David was born on March 14, 1931 in Vinton, Ohio to the late Everett and Grace Colwell, nee Kincaid. He was a proud OSU grad, and the first college grad in his family. He was in ROTC/Air Force and after graduation served as a pilot flying over the Sea of Japan to bring food to our armed forces in Korea after the end of the Korean War. prgtoken After his honorable discharge as a Captain, David returned to Ohio and married his first wife Janice Fike in Ashland, Ohio. They had 2 dear daughters, Cappi and Camilla. After 22 years of marriage, Janice passed in 1983. Professionally, David began his career with The Kroger Company, first in the bakery, then through the ranks until he headed up the ``Cookies, Crackers and Snacks Division'', which was very popular with the kids in the neighborhood. It was during this time, during the early '70s that David began developing his real estate business, focusing on housing for Ohio State students. E. David's Properties continues to house students annually. It has housed thousands over almost 40 years. David was a very popular landlord, receiving Valentine's Day cards and invitations to his renters' graduation parties. He loved the students and was so proud of their accomplishments! prgtoken David enjoyed travelling the world with his wife Jolene, knowing no stranger, relishing different cultures and traditions, and always ready to plan the next trip. They loved Europe, particularly Poland and the Czech Republic, and their 30 years of beach vacations in Mexico where they had so many loving friends. There was no more passionate an OSU sports fan than David. He held season tickets for football and basketball. He and his best bud, Harvey, were always sure that their coaching expertise could help the Bucks win! prgtoken For 30 years, David has been married to Jolene Moritz Molitoris who is a friend of mine and long-time public servant and transportation leader. Jolene was an official at the Ohio Department of Transportation when President Clinton appointed her as the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration and later she served as Director of the Ohio Department of Transportation. prgtoken There was no more passionate a family man than David. He was so proud of all the family accomplishments. He so loved his family. He will be missed beyond imagining by his wife Jolene; and his children, Cappi, Camilla, spouse, Harold, Jill, Jay, spouse, Catherine; grandchildren, Calina, Devin and Ellis; and his sister, Catherine; and his beloved dogs, Choo Choo and Teddy. prgtoken I extend my sincerest condolences to his family and friends.
AMERICANS DESERVE A BETTER DEAL
Donald M. Payne, Jr. (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2018-4-24

New Jersey's 10th Congressional District is the home of the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the largest port on the East Coast; Newark Liberty International Airport; Amtrak's Boston-to-D.C. line, the center of that line; I-95; and Route 78 going west in this great Nation. Transportation infrastructure drives my district's economic growth and the economy of States throughout the Northeast. prgtoken The White House and congressional s have spent the past year promising to rebuild America's infrastructure, but all the American people have gotten is a raw deal that would sell off America's infrastructure to Wall Street and leave Main Street to fill in all the potholes. prgtoken The people who live in my district deserve a better deal than they are getting under this majority and this administration. prgtoken My ic colleagues and I have a real plan to rebuild America. It is five times as big as the puny proposal by the White House. want to create 16 million new good-paying jobs, build bridges, clear roads, broadband, schools, water infrastructure, energy grids, and transit. That is what my constituents and the American people deserve.
Nomination of Mike Pompeo (Executive Calendar)
Dianne Feinstein (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2018-4-24

I rise today in opposition to the nomination of Kyle Duncan to a Louisiana seat on the Fifth Circuit. prgtoken Mr. Duncan, a Washington, DC, based lawyer, has made a career advocating for ideological causes. He has a long record of arguing to undermine the rights of women, voters, LGBT Americans, and immigrants. prgtoken Before I speak more in depth about Mr. Duncan's record, it is important to step back and look at the big picture on President 's judicial nominees. prgtoken Mr. Duncan's nomination is part of the administration's larger effort to remake Federal circuit courts with young, ideological nominees who are often far outside of the mainstream or, in some cases, who are unqualified. prgtoken In just the last 15 months, we have seen a nominee confirmed to the D.C. Circuit who worked in the White House counsel's office on issues likely to go to the court he was appointed to, including on the White House's responses to the Russia investigation. prgtoken As one Senator said, this now-judge's ``conflict of interest'' was something ``a first-year law student would see.'' prgtoken We have seen a nominee confirmed to the Sixth Circuit who blogged under a pseudonym and expressed extreme views and relied on rightwing sources known for discredited conspiracy theories. For example, he wrote in a blog post that the ``two greatest tragedies in our country are ``slavery and abortion.'' prgtoken We have seen a nominee to the Eighth Circuit who was the first judicial nominee to receive a unanimous ``not qualified'' from the American Bar Association because of concerns about the nominee's judicial temperament and ability to be impartial and still get confirmed on a party-line vote. prgtoken Unfortunately, Mr. Duncan is just the latest nominee with a controversial, partisan record that calls into question his ability to be an independent, neutral arbiter appointed to a lifetime position. prgtoken We must not allow our courts to be undermined by politics instead of rooted in independence. The courts are a constitutionally created coequal, independent branch designed to be an independent check on Congress and the Executive. prgtoken Unfortunately, that independence is under attack. prgtoken The President has personally attacked judges who have ruled against him. prgtoken He has also repeatedly declared that he has litmus tests for judicial nominees, pledging that he would only nominate individuals who pass ideological litmus tests. prgtoken Our system depends on Federal judges who are independent arbiters and follow the facts and the law wherever they lead. prgtoken Given this, I have been deeply troubled by efforts to stack our Federal courts by jamming controversial nominees through as quickly as possible. Federal judges serve for life, and it is critically important that parties who come before them are confident that their case is given a fair shot, that it is being evaluated on the merits. <|p|
RECOGNITION OF BARBARA JOHNS DAY
Thomas A. Garrett, Jr. (Republican, VA) \u2014 2018-4-25

it is an honor, the likes of which I can't think of a comparison, to stand here, in this week of April 2018, and commemorate a battle undertaken by a student that I would argue was a continuation of the American Revolution. prgtoken The American Revolution began when a group of White male landowners cast off the tyrannical throne which lorded over them from across an ocean, but it moved forward 80 years later when a million Americans, through disease and starvation and battlefield death, gave their lives to rid this Nation of the horrific institution of slavery. Then 55 years later, I would argue that it continued when the franchise was extended through women's suffrage to women. prgtoken Then 30-plus years after that, by a 16-year-old high school student at the R.R. Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia, who had heard about the foundational ideas espoused by a slave owner named Jefferson who wrote that all people are created equal, but couldn't reconcile that with her life experience, because in the county where she lived, a brand-new high school had been built, but only some kids could attend it. prgtoken So in extending this American Revolution that continues to this day, this 16-year-old young woman, Barbara Rose Johns, led a school walkout that was the only student-initiated case amalgamated into the decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which rid America of the ridiculous lie that was ``separate but equal.'' prgtoken So her walkout was not to take rights from others, but to extend rights to all, and the idea of an American Nation founded on the idea that all people had fundamental rights, and that it was the role of government to protect those. prgtoken , from Virginia (Mr. Scott), my colleague.
OPIOID ABUSE ACROSS THE NATION
Glenn Thompson (Republican, PA) \u2014 2018-4-25

I thank the gentlewoman and my chairman from the House Education and the Workforce Committee for hosting this Special Order tonight on an issue that is impacting every ZIP Code in America. prgtoken The gentlewoman's poster says it all. This is close to home: Life beyond opioids, and stability, health, and healing. prgtoken The opioid epidemic is considered by many to be the worst public health crisis of our generation and, according to the National Institutes of Health, more than 115 people in the United States die every day from an opioid overdose. prgtoken This epidemic is not an urban problem and it is not a rural problem. It is a national problem. No ZIP Code, as I said, in the country is immune from this crisis. This is an epidemic that transcends all socioeconomic classes, and all of America's people, all of America's diversity of families is at risk. prgtoken Heroin and pain pill addiction doesn't discriminate on age, race, gender, or socioeconomic status. Your neighbor could be using heroin and so could their high honors high school student. prgtoken Unfortunately, the people of Pennsylvania have seen some of the worst. Last year, the crisis surged when Pennsylvania experienced a 44 percent increase in opioid overdoses. It is just tragic what this does to families and how it steals lives and futures. prgtoken Addressing this unprecedented rate of opioid-related death means that we must focus on nearly 2.2 million Americans who currently struggle with opioid addiction. No one person can beat addiction alone, and overcoming this epidemic will not only take a communitywide effort, but a nationwide effort. prgtoken The breadth of this epidemic requires us to respond with a multifaceted approach. Congress has engaged many agencies, including the Department of Justice, the Drug Enforcement Administration, National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, and Customs and Border Protection, just to name a few, to help combat opioid abuse. prgtoken This crisis has torn apart families. It has weakened our workforce and overextended our healthcare system. As a nation, we must act with a unified urgency to help those who have fallen victim to addiction in every corner of the country, and we must not forget their families who have seen firsthand the crippling effects of this disease day prgtoken in and day out. I know we are not only prepared to do so, but we are prepared to win this fight. prgtoken I have had the opportunity to convene opioid crisis community roundtables throughout my congressional districts to hear firsthand from families, from healthcare providers, from law enforcement, from emergency medical services, from those who are involved in the treatment community, and the impact is just so significant. prgtoken After coming away from these, I have also come to the conclusion, what is important to focus on really is the substance abuse behaviors. In one community in Clarion County, the issue a
Opioid Epidemic (Executive Session)
Tom Cotton (Republican, AR) \u2014 2018-4-25

an opioid epidemic is sweeping the country. More than 60,000 Americans are dying from opioid overdoses every year--more than the number of Americans who died in all 20 years of the Vietnam war. What a staggering fact that is, but behind each number is a tragedy for a family who loses their loved one. prgtoken Today, I want to tell the story of the Hacala family from Rogers, AR. It is a story of love, persistence, courage, and, I hope, a story that will save other families from the tragedy they felt. prgtoken Betty and Steve Hacala are joining us in the Gallery today. I met Betty and Steve 3 weeks ago at a roundtable on the opioid epidemic in Little Rock with Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, State and local law enforcement, and the families of opioid victims. The news is full of tragic deaths from heroin, fentanyl, and prescription drugs. I met families that day whose children died from those well-known drugs, but I learned from the Hacalas about another killer: unwashed poppy seeds. prgtoken Their son, Stephen Junior, died in his sleep from an overdose 2 years ago. Stephen was only 24 years old and was a recent graduate of the University of Arkansas. He loved to play guitar, and he was very accomplished at it. He was the joy of his parents' life, and he was the joy of his sisters Christina and Lauren's lives. His sudden death came as a shock to them, but they got another shock when an autopsy determined that Stephen died of morphine intoxication. There were no drugs in his apartment--no pill bottles, no needles, nothing. What had been found was a 5-pound bag of unwashed poppy seeds. Stephen had ordered the seeds on Amazon. The Arkansas crime lab soon determined that the poppy seeds were the source of the morphine that killed Stephen. prgtoken Stephen's death resulted in part because of a dangerous gap in our Nation's drug laws. It has been well known for ages that poppies are dangerous, both addictive and toxic. That is why it is illegal to grow or own almost any part of the poppy--the straw, the pod, the latex. There is an exception, of course, for poppy seeds, which many people enjoy on bagels, muffins, cakes, and other pastries. The seed itself isn't addictive, but unwashed seeds tend to still have bits of the plant on them, which can be washed off and used to create a powerful narcotic. prgtoken To give a sense of just how deadly poppy seed tea can be, a lethal dose of morphine is about 200 milligrams, but researchers at Sam Houston State University, commissioned by the Hacalas, concluded that there were about 6,000 milligrams of morphine in that 5-pound bag of seeds that Stephen bought. That is over 30 times the lethal dose. Stephen had no way of knowing just how toxic these seeds were. prgtoken While there are plenty of legitimate uses for washed poppy seeds, there are no legitimate uses for unwashed seeds. Yet drug dealers and unscrupulous merchants are abusing the legal status of washed
SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK CENTRAL PARKING FACILITY AUTHORIZATION ACT
Gregg Harper (Republican, MS) \u2014 2018-4-25

I rise today in support of H.R. 4009, which authorizes the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to plan, design, and construct a central parking facility on National Zoological Park property in the District of Columbia using non-appropriated funds. prgtoken Established by Congress in 1889, the National Zoo was incorporated as a unit of the Smithsonian Institution in 1890. Today, the National Zoo consists of two components: the 3,200-acre Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia and the public National Zoological Park (Zoo) located at the 163-acre Rock Creek campus in Washington, D.C. Admission is free of charge and with more than two million people visiting the Rock Creek facility in 2017, the Zoo remains a favorite tourist and local destination in the nation's Capital. prgtoken While public transit is an option for some visitors, many others rely on private vehicles to reach the Zoo. Currently, parking at the Zoo includes several paved surface lots spread across the campus, which often fill up early in the day during peak season. To better serve these visitors, the proposed new parking facility consolidates public parking into a multi-level parking garage located at the midpoint of the Zoo. prgtoken Included in the Zoo's 2008 Comprehensive Facilities Master Plan, the parking facility will provide a number of benefits that both further the Zoo's mission and improve the visitor experience. These benefits include expanding animal habitat space through repurposing existing surface lots; improving visitor access with a centralized and accessible arrival point; increasing security through consolidation of access points; improved pedestrian safety; and expanding the number of on-site visitor parking spaces which reduces the number of days the Zoo must turn away visitors due to lack of parking. The additional parking spaces will help accommodate a projected increase in the number of visitors to the Zoo. prgtoken No appropriated funds will be expended for the project. The Smithsonian intends to enter into a public-private-partnership for the construction and operation of the parking facility. The developer would be responsible for design, construction, maintenance, and operations for a fixed term of 35 years after which ownership is retained by the Zoo. Financing is the sole responsibility of the developer, with construction cost estimated at $70-75 million and annual operating costs at $1.5 million. As part of the agreement, the Zoo receives an initial annual payment of $7 million and a recurring annual payment based on revenues with a guaranteed minimum of $1 million. Design, construction, operations and maintenance will be conducted in accordance with the contract and plans approved by the Smithsonian. prgtoken The Committee on House Administration held a markup on this bill on December 13, 2017 and ordered the bill reported favorably to the House, by voice vote, with no amendments. I
CORRECTIONS Act (Executive Session)
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2018-4-25

this afternoon, the House Judiciary Committee will begin to consider their version of a bill I have introduced here in the Senate with the junior Senator from Rhode Island, Mr. Whitehouse, called the CORRECTIONS Act. This legislation addresses prison reform--an issue at the forefront of how justice is administered in this country--by focusing on reducing rates of recidivism, or repeat offenders, and ensuring that those reentering society can become productive members of our communities without threatening the crime rate. prgtoken Our efforts here are important, as reoffense rates in our country remain at high levels. In other words, our criminal justice system has become a revolving door, with reoffense rates of more than 75 percent for State prisoners and nearly 50 percent for Federal prisoners. So there is a 75-percent chance that somebody who goes to State prison will end up going back and a 50-percent chance that a Federal prisoner will end up going back unless we do something about it. prgtoken In law school, students are taught that the bedrock principles of our criminal justice system are deterrence, retribution, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. The reality is that somewhere along the way, we forgot about rehabilitation, and our prisons have literally become a warehouse for people who have been convicted of criminal offenses. That reality is part of the reason that my State of Texas and several other States have led the way not just to be tough on crime but to be smart on crime too. prgtoken Texas focused on the important role rehabilitation can play by implementing statewide prison reforms to help offenders learn to overcome the reasons they went to prison in the first place--whether it is a drug or alcohol habit or an addiction, whether it is simply being unprepared to enter the workforce because they dropped out of school or, perhaps, they have some sort of learning disability. prgtoken By using recidivism reduction programs like job training or alcohol and drug rehabilitation and letting prisoners go to school while they are in prison to earn a GED or to learn a marketable skill, Texas has reduced its incarceration rate and crime rate by double digits at the same time. Let me say that again. We have reduced our incarceration rate and our crime rate by double digits at the same time. prgtoken The end all and be all, in my view, of our criminal justice system must be to reduce the crime rate. In other words, whatever else we do, if the crime rate doesn't go down, we are not getting it right. As a result of the State-based reforms that I am talking about, we have actually been able to reduce incarceration rates and crime rates too. prgtoken I must say that when we talk about rehabilitation of prisoners, we are not talking about something we do to them. They have to want it. They have to want to turn their lives around, and they have to take advantage of the opportunities we provide th