mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
CORONAVIRUS
Jeff Merkley (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2020-3-18

I walked outside across the Capitol grounds, and it is such a beautiful day. The cherry blossom trees are blooming. There were mothers with young children, 3- and 4-year-old children, playing on the grass, and it seemed like just so idyllic, so perfect. It seemed like nothing could be wrong in America. prgtoken But, in fact, so much is wrong in America. Our everyday rhythm of life has been shattered. We are facing a medical pandemic and an economic collapse: K-12 schools, closed; universities, shut down; grocery stores, empty; restaurants, locked; gyms, movie theaters, music venues, closed for business. prgtoken The reverberations of so many core businesses and core retail being shut are affecting virtually every family and every small business across this country. So many forms of commerce are grinding to a halt. The economy is imploding, and it is touching the workers and it is touching those small businesses. Workers are experiencing the reality of reduced hours, lost shifts, layoffs; and they don't know when they are going to be able to pick up that work again. prgtoken Then, they are not sure how they are going to pay their utilities. How are they going to pay their rent? How are they going to pay their mortgage? And when will America and the economy start to heal, and when will they be able to go back to work? prgtoken So the American people are anxious and worried, rightly, about the threat of the disease and worried, rightly, about the collapse of the economy. prgtoken Coronavirus is marching on America. As of yesterday--or, actually, as of this morning--we have almost 6,000 cases here in our United States of America--5,881 cases as of this moment. Compare that to a week ago. We are talking about 1,200 cases a week ago. That is a five-fold increase in a week. prgtoken We now have more than 50 States affected--all the States, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Then, we can ponder the fact that the number of deaths has gone up--51 deaths compared to in the thirties a week ago. prgtoken So the coronavirus is marching on America and marching on the economy. It is a double hammer affecting families and small business, and it is particularly appropriate at this moment to share with all of you the stories of small businesses in my home State that are being impacted. prgtoken More than 40 businesses sent in their stories, and I am going to share 6 or 7 of those stories. But as we think about how we proceed, we need to recognize that this recovery needs to be one where we invest in the foundation of our economy, we invest in the families, we invest with sick leave, we invest with unemployment insurance, we invest by covering the health costs of getting tests and the cost of getting treatment, and we invest in our small businesses. prgtoken Not so long ago we had a bailout that favored big business, and big business went on to make billions of dollars and then get a massive tax break in
CORONAVIRUS
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2020-3-19

much has been said on the Senate floor these past few days regarding our Nation's response to the coronavirus. But this morning, after our prayer to the Lord and after the pledge to our Nation's flag, I want to take this opportunity to send Iowans' and our Nation's parents my commendation because schools are closing, and as these schools close, the work of a parent or grandparent is more important than ever. I know many children are scared or don't understand why they can't play with their friends, and this puts an extra burden on their parents on top of all of the other challenges that these families have. prgtoken Those of you who are parents are raising America's future, and I want to recognize the importance of what you do every day. prgtoken .
REMOTE VOTING
Rob Portman (Republican, OH) \u2014 2020-3-19

I appreciate my colleague from South Dakota giving me a minute to respond to the comments of the Senator from Illinois about remote voting. I appreciate his joining me today on a bipartisan resolution to say that, during times of emergency and crisis, the U.S. Senate would be able to vote remotely in a secure manner. I think it is time for us to turn to this. prgtoken I actually supported such legislation back in the House when I was there almost two decades ago. At the time, we didn't have, frankly, the electronic communications we have today to be able to safely vote remotely; now we do. We have the ability to do it in a secure way, in an encrypted way--a way that would protect the fundamental right to vote. I think it is important that we move forward with this. prgtoken It is something that would be up to the majority leader and the minority leader to jointly agree upon. Once they agreed upon that, there would be 30 days. After 30 days, Congress would have the vote-- the Senate would have the vote to continue it. prgtoken I think--not just because of COVID-19, where we have an obvious problem right now but the threat of terrorism, bioterrorism--these sorts of issues, unfortunately, are part of our 21st century life. We have to be aware of the fact that this is possible. prgtoken It is important to me and I think all my colleagues that article I be heard; that the legislative branch be heard; that we have the ability to convene for the continuity of government and not allow what we would normally do, which is perhaps to shift over to article II--to the executive branch--or not to be addressed at all. prgtoken from South Dakota. I thank Senator Durbin from Illinois for working with me on this project. My hope is we can see a change in our Senate rules coming out of this process so that we can have the ability to do our constitutional duties regardless of what is happening with regard to the National Capital or the crisis we are currently facing with COVID-19. prgtoken .
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
Markwayne Mullin (Republican, OK) \u2014 2020-3-19

. Madam , I was not present the week of March 9-13, 2020 on account of supporting my son's continuing recovery. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 91; YEA on Roll Call No. 92; YEA on Roll Call No. 93; NAY on Roll Call No. 94; NAY on Roll Call No. 95; NAY on Roll Call No. 96; YEA on Roll Call No. 97; YEA on Roll Call No. 98; NAY on Roll Call No. 99; YEA on Roll Call No. 100; and NAY on Roll Call No. 101
COMMEMORATING THE 1790 ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST CARMELITE SISTERS IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND
Steny H. Hoyer (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2020-3-19

. Madam , the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of the Carmel of Port Tobacco, Maryland, will mark the 230th anniversary this year of their establishment as the first women's religious order in our state. Established in 1790, the same year that Maryland and the other thirteen states were in the process of ratifying the First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of worship, the Carmelite nuns were Americans who had left for Europe years earlier in search of the Catholic religious life. With their return, they began a tradition of religious orders for women and men of many faiths to build and grow in Maryland and in America. prgtoken Founded originally as a haven for those facing religious persecution in Europe, the colony of Maryland welcomed many Catholics to its shores from its origins in 1634. In the years before the American Revolution, Catholics in Maryland and elsewhere faced persecution for practicing their faith. An absence of any local Catholic religious orders for women led a number of American women to travel to Europe to join orders there. Among them were Mother Bernardina Matthews and her nieces Sister Mary Aloysia Matthews and Sister Mary Eleanora Matthews, who had left Maryland in their youth. Together with Mother Clare Joseph Dickenson of England, they set off from their convent in Hoogstraten, Belgium, on April 19, 1790, and reached New York on July 2 after an arduous sea journey. On the evening of July 10, they arrived in Port Tobacco, which was then the seat of Charles County, Maryland. prgtoken From 1790 to 1831, the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of the Carmel of Port Tobacco grew from these original four to twenty sisters. Guided by their spiritual director, Father Charles Neale, they followed the rule established by Saint Teresa of Avila in the sixteenth century, living a life of poverty and prayer, focusing on contemplation, meditation, and charitable works. After Father Neale's death in 1823, the convent fell on hard times, and the sisters resettled in Baltimore in 1831, where they served the population of the growing city. prgtoken Although the Discalced Carmelites eventually spawned chapters across the northeastern United States, only one chapter remains active today, serving Maryland. In 1933, a group of supporters founded `The Restorers of Mount Carmel' to purchase the site of the original convent, which was preserved as a historic site. In 1976, a group of American Catholic missionary women from Great Mills, Maryland, were granted permission to move to the site and re-establish a religious community there. They left in 1982 but were quickly followed by the return of Carmelite nuns from elsewhere in the country determined to carry on the order established in 1790. Since that re-establishment, there have been as many as fifteen Carmelite nuns living at the convent, carrying on the traditions of their forebears and adding to the religious diversity of our state and our nation. prgtoken I am proud to re
CORONAVIRUS
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2020-3-19

I come to the floor today to thank Pelosi, Leader Schumer, and all of my colleagues who help support the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. That measure was signed yesterday by President . As I understand from Leader McConnell, work is underway on a third coronavirus package in the form of an economic stimulus to provide more support to families, businesses, and to the healthcare community, including our hospitals. prgtoken This morning, I spoke to the Governor of Illinois--we have been speaking on almost a daily basis, sometimes almost several times a day--and asked him about the State of the situation in our home State of Illinois. Unfortunately, we are still desperate for testing kits. Illinois has about 5,000 more kits that were provided yesterday by a private company at the urging of our Governor, but we have never seen the number of test kits that we believe are necessary to measure the current state of this coronavirus in our home State of Illinois. The official count--and I might add that word ``official''--is that we have had 288 Illinoisans infected and 1 fatality. I believe that the number of infections in the official report grossly understates the exposure in my home State of Illinois. Once more tests are administered and we receive the results, I am afraid we are going to see a dramatic increase in that number of reported infections in the State. prgtoken One hundred and twenty-eight new cases were announced yesterday in our State. It is the largest single 1-day increase since we have been reporting. We have 2 additional counties that have now been touched out of the 102. We are now up to 17 counties with the infections. An additional 20 people at the DuPage County long-term care facility tested positive, bringing it to a total of 42--30 residents and 12 members of that staff--in that one facility. prgtoken Forty-one thousand unemployment insurance claims were filed in Illinois in the past 2 days. To put that in perspective, during the same 2 days last year, 4,445 were filed. That is roughly 10 times the number of unemployment claims that have been filed this year. As I mentioned, that is 10 times the level of the same 2-day period a year ago. prgtoken The Department of Labor reported this morning that 281,000 people filed unemployment insurance claims nationwide last week, and that number is likely to grow. Oak Park--just to the west of Chicago--is the first town in Illinois to issue a shelter-in-place order for residents, which will last until April 3. Mayor Lightfoot for the city of Chicago announced the city would temporarily suspend debt collection practices and nonsafety-related citations, as well as penalties for late payment. prgtoken I might add that we learned last night that two Members of the House of Representatives have tested positive for the virus: Representatives Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida and Ben McAdams of Utah. Both developed symptoms last Sat
AUTHORIZING SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO TREAT CERTAIN PROGRAMS OF EDUCATION CONVERTED TO DISTANCE LEARNING BY REASON OF EMERGENCIES AND HEALTH-RELATED SITUATIONS IN SAME MANNER AS PROGRAMS OF...
Jamie Raskin (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2020-3-19

I ask unanimous consent to take from the 's table the bill (S. 3503) to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to treat certain programs of education converted to distance learning by reason of emergencies and health-related situations in the same manner as programs of education pursued at educational institutions, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
SENATE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
Michael B. Enzi (Republican, WY) \u2014 2020-3-20

I want to associate myself with the remarks of the leader. I want to thank him for all of his efforts to pull these task forces together who are now working across the aisle to come up with this package that we should be able to start working on today or tomorrow. prgtoken I appreciate his comments that we are going to work through the weekend. This is unusual for the Senate and for the House, but the Senate is here, the Senate is working, and we are trying to come up with solutions that will keep America moving. prgtoken I particularly want to talk about one piece of the package because I have been getting calls from small businesses--small businesses that are saying: We have been shut down; we have been told that we can't do anything with our business right now. prgtoken Now, it is not all businesses. I do know that grocery stores are doing very well, probably having their best year ever. That will tail off a little later in the year, when people are oversupplied, but right now grocery stores are probably doing well. prgtoken Every other part of the economy is doing poorly, whether it is restaurants or shoe stores. I think I saw where they even got permission now to deliver liquor. Before, you had to buy it in the store. You couldn't get it delivered to your house. But, it is a concession, because of the difficulty that we are having, to keep from shutting down every business. That concession has been made in some places now. prgtoken But my point is that small business employs most of the people in this country, and small business is the one that is having difficulty right now. Big businesses always have a little bit of leeway, a little bit more of a forward plan, and because of their size, they have more flexibility. A small business does not have that. prgtoken What has been brought to my attention this last week are people who have payroll coming up. They have said: Now, we have been kind of shut down--shut down by the government, they like to say, but it is shut down by the virus, actually. The virus is what is creating this panic, and in order to keep people well, we have suggested all these different things that people ought to be doing, and I hope they are following that. prgtoken But, for small business, this is disastrous. If they are not selling anything, they have no cash to pay their employees. If they are not selling anything, they don't need the employees. If they don't need the employees and they fire the employees, then, they go onto unemployment. And the unemployment lines are long. prgtoken That is not where we want people. We want people--particularly the ones who are trained for a particular job--to be available for that job the minute that job is available again. prgtoken One of these packages takes care of that situation. One package will provide for loans to small businesses, provided they keep their people on. prgtoken Now, remember, these people aren't producing anything.
SECURING AMERICA'S MEDICINE CABINET
Marsha Blackburn (Republican, TN) \u2014 2020-3-20

I have spoken several times about the vulnerabilities in our pharmaceutical supply chain and again encourage my colleagues to support the bipartisan Securing America's Medicine Cabinet Act--or SAM-C Act--which I am sponsoring alongside my colleague from New Jersey, Senator Menendez. prgtoken Without intervention, the FDA expects the pharmaceutical industry will continue to rely on Chinese companies to make the active pharmaceutical ingredients--or the APIs--that are necessary for so many of our prescription and over-the-counter drugs. The threat it poses to our supply chain is real. prgtoken On February 27, 2020, the FDA announced the shortage of one drug that is used to treat patients with coronavirus. They attributed the shortage to difficulties obtaining the API from a site in China. That site has been affected by--guess what--coronavirus. prgtoken We do not need to remain vulnerable. We need to realize that we are dealing with someone who has not been transparent. They have hidden information from us. They are causing shortages of drugs and vaccines and antibiotics. It is time for us to learn from these lessons. If we ignore them, we do so at our own peril. prgtoken .
CORONAVIRUS
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2020-3-20

on September 11, America was attacked by evil. Thousands of our countrymen were murdered by terrorists. In an instant, the Nation was gripped with fear and anxiety. And as our buildings burned, we mourned the loss of our fellow Americans, but as we mourned, we also became very united as a country. We came together and stood as one against a common enemy. That unity laid a foundation for our victory, and it helped our military men and women deliver justice to those who sought to destroy us. prgtoken Now, we confront a similar challenge. Unlike the 9/11 attacks, our enemy today is faceless. We can't see or hear that enemy. We can't send our Armed Forces to hunt it down and protect us, but much like our response to the terrorist attacks nearly 20 years ago, we must unite as a country. The threat we face is perhaps the greatest since World War II. So much like our response to the terrorist attacks 20 years ago, we will be united. prgtoken Never before have we shuttered so much of our country: businesses closing, restaurants particularly, all kinds of--just stay at home, in other words. Never before has our society changed so much, seemingly overnight. prgtoken The coronavirus issue could prove as deadly as any war in recent history, and that is why it is everyone's responsibility to do their part. prgtoken In Congress, we have already passed legislation to provide emergency relief, and our job isn't done yet. Further, unprecedented economic and public health support is on the way, but what we do in Washington and State capitols across our country is only one part of that solution. It is the civic duty of every community, every family, and every individual to enlist in this fight. prgtoken Make no mistake, our Nation is at war--a war on our own soil. This war and this enemy aren't like anything that we fought before. Our strategy and tactics will be different, but the stakes are just as high. prgtoken This war will not be waged on foreign lands with tanks or guns or troops. It will be waged right here in hospitals and public places and in homes and with personal responsibility, personal prgtoken sacrifice, and patience on the part of our people. prgtoken It is on every American to exercise these values: Do not gather in large groups. Don't hoard crucial goods. Keep your distance from those you must be near. Protect yourself and others by washing your hands, covering your cough and sneeze, and cleaning commonly used surfaces. Work from home if you can. Check on your neighbors. Call your relatives. Offer to help each other, especially the most vulnerable. We are all in this together. prgtoken Much as we did before, we must shed party labels and put aside partisan politics. We must band together and hold on to our national identity, our families, and, most importantly, our faith. prgtoken Throughout history, Americans have risen to the occasion when confronted with crises. I am confident this time will be no
ORDERS FOR SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2020
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2020-3-20

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 12 noon, Saturday, March 21; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; finally, that following leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 748.
CORONAVIRUS
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2020-3-20

the coronavirus continues to challenge our Nation in extraordinary ways that were unimaginable a few weeks ago. Our public health systems are coming under enormous strain. Our hospitals and other medical facilities lack the necessary supplies and resources. As measures to isolate the public broaden, workers are filing for unemployment at unprecedented rates. Small businesses are on the brink of collapse. American families are desperately in need of support until they can resume their normal lives. prgtoken I have heard from these people and the people who are isolated. I have heard from people who have sick loved ones in nursing homes and can't enter to see them. I have heard from small business people who struggled their whole lives to build a small business, and it finally looks like it is beginning to succeed, and they may be wiped out. prgtoken The urgency of doing something now is so important. Both parties in Congress must work together as swiftly as possible to get something done that is as big and bold as possible. This is one of the worst crises America has faced. The American people need help fast. prgtoken Senator McConnell has proposed what is now the third phase of legislation to confront the coronavirus. We are all eager to work in a bipartisan way to quickly get another bill to the President's desk. But at the moment, the McConnell bill is inadequate. Leader McConnell's proposal does not do nearly enough to address the public health crisis in terms of hospitals, medical supplies, beds, doctors, nurses, and measures to ensure that Americans can access and afford coronavirus treatment. prgtoken The bottom line is very simple: If we don't deal with the health crisis, nothing we do will make the economy any better. So that is No. 1. prgtoken If we don't have help for our hospitals, many small ones are going to close. Rural ones will close. Big ones will have real trouble. We must do something. Yet there is nothing in Leader McConnell's bill to help hospitals. Now we are told we may do it later in a supplemental. Later is no good. We need a Marshall Plan for hospitals right now. prgtoken Local governments that are also on the frontlines need to get dollars in their pockets. Many of them will go broke. prgtoken Leader McConnell's proposal is also skewed in favor of corporations rather than the workers and families who urgently and much more acutely feel the pain of reduced hours and unemployment. Leader McConnell's proposal includes a few ideas that shouldn't be included at all, such as tax cuts for multinational corporations and restrictions on paid sick leave that Congress just expanded. prgtoken This morning, ic ranking members of six committees met with the chairs of corresponding committees to hear the rationale behind the McConnell bill and to begin a bipartisan dialogue. will soon respond with policies we believe must be included in the legislation and