mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
SECRET SERVICE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION ACT OF 2017
Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2017-12-5

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , let me, first of all, thank my good friend, Mr. Katko, who is the original sponsor; and I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this legislation. We serve on the Homeland Security Committee and have oversight over the Secret Service, as does the aspects of this legislation, as relates to Judiciary has oversight as well. So ensuring that our men and women, who put their lives on the line daily, are protected is an important initiative. As I said earlier, I am proud to be an original cosponsor, along with my colleague from New York (Mr. Katko). prgtoken The Secret Service Recruitment and Retention Act of 2017 is intended to provide overtime pay for employees of the United States Secret Service. Currently, the premium pay for protective services, under the Overtime Pay for Protective Services Act of 2016, has severe earning limitations, or otherwise caps, which many of these men and women have reached. prgtoken Due to earnings limitations put in place through 5 U.S.C. 5547, many Secret Service employees are not receiving timely or full payment for the hours they work. The requirements of protective operations directly contrast with the intent of an annual pay cap, as the protective mission requires continued, uninterrupted coverage for our protectees, beyond the control of the Secret Service. I think that is an important point. prgtoken And I want my colleagues to know that I wholly support that our protectees are protected wherever they go. But I would be remiss if I did not express my concern on the number of trips that the Secret Service today has had to make on outings for entertainment, Mar-a-Lago, which I think is over 100 times, and the enormous amount of money and burden that is being placed on the Federal Government. prgtoken This does not mean that I do not want these individuals to be compensated. And might I stop for a moment to thank the Secret Service, who I have known and have seen working over the years that I have served in the United States Congress in many different ways. Let me personally thank them for their service and for their professional service, dedicated service, and longstanding service and commitment to sacrificing their life for their protectee. prgtoken I would say that this problem often requires individuals to work over the amount of premium pay, for which they are able to be legally paid, due to the annual cap. We have seen the extent to which Secret Service members are stretched in this administration alone. Providing protection for the President, his family members, and other high officials requires depth within the agency to ensure protectees are covered as well as their respective posts when pulled away. As I made the point, these various family members and President go in many ways off of the path of their government service related to the people of the United States. prgtoken It is my hope that we are able to eve
RECOGNIZING LEGACY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Heidi Heitkamp (Democrat, ND) \u2014 2017-12-5

I want to congratulate the students, faculty, and parents of Legacy Elementary School, located in West Fargo, ND, on being awarded the 2017 National Blue Ribbon School Award. prgtoken Founded in 1982, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and private elementary, middle, and high schools where students perform at very high levels or where significant improvements are being made in students' academic achievement. A National Blue Ribbon Schools flag overhead has become a mark of excellence in education recognized by everyone from parents to policymakers in thousands of communities. Since the program's founding, the U.S. Department of Education has bestowed this coveted award to more than 8,500 of America's best schools. prgtoken Legacy Elementary School serves nearly 540 students and was one of three schools in North Dakota to be designated as an Exemplary High Performing School under this award. Receiving recognition as a National Blue Ribbon School signifies the hard work and dedication of the educators, students, and parents involved, and I have no doubt the students at Legacy are on a path to success. The school has received the Let's Move Active Schools prgtoken National Award and the Star Award from their local Dakota Medical Foundation. These awards show Legacy's dedication towards promoting health and wellness among students and staff. Such health strategies include building wide flexible seating and personalized learning spaces, movement built into their curriculum, along with multiple health snack and food options and initiatives, which work to build both short- and long-term healthy habits for students. prgtoken As school leadership states, ``At Legacy, our school Mission is: Educate. Our school Vision is: Everyone Learns.'' It is through this dedication that Legacy helps students excel academically, physically, emotionally, socially, and culturally. The school does so by often writing their own curricula to ensure they teach what fits students' needs and implementing programs that grow skills such as critical thinking, perseverance, problem solving, and sportsmanship. The innovation shown by the faculty at Legacy serves as a model that all schools can look towards when finding new ways to promote student growth and development. prgtoken The West Fargo Public Schools' mission statement reads, ``Educating today's learners for tomorrow's world.'' This mission embodies all that Legacy Elementary is working to accomplish by looking at the needs of each individual student, as well as providing a healthy and respectful learning environment that breeds success. I wish the very best to the community of West Fargo and congratulations to all engaged at Legacy Elementary for achieving this high honor. Thank you for your commitment to our children and leaders of tomorrow.
DACA
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-12-5

from Delaware. He and I came to the House of Representatives together a few years back, and we have had the pleasure and honor of serving together in the Senate. When he is on my team, I feel much stronger because I know Tom Carper is a person of values, principles, and hard work, and he really takes this job seriously. His State is lucky to have him, and I am lucky to count him as a friend. I thank him for joining me on this important issue. prgtoken Sixteen years ago, I introduced a bill addressing young people brought to America by their parents who, frankly, were young, didn't really know much about the immigration experience, grew up in the United States thinking they were just like all the other kids in the classroom, and then realized one day they weren't. prgtoken You see, they are not legal. Their parents didn't do it properly, didn't file the right papers. I am not holding it against their parents. Let me add that quickly. Their parents were doing the very best for the family they could. They were taking risks that many of us would take any day for a son or daughter to have a chance to live a good life. prgtoken Here were these young people in the United States undocumented. What were they to do? They didn't know that old country where their parents came from. They may not even be able to speak the language of that country, and here they were in the United States. They thought things would work out, some way or another. Time passed, and it didn't. prgtoken We have a broken immigration system. We have a lot of gaps in the system, and they were caught up in one of prgtoken them. Sixteen years ago, I introduced a bill, and here is what it said. If you came to the United States as a child, if you grew up in this country, you didn't have any serious problems with the law, and you graduated from school, we were going to give you a chance, a chance to earn your way into legal status. You could do it by furthering your education, volunteering for the military. There were a lot of ways to do it. We said to these young people: This will be your chance. prgtoken That bill was introduced a long time ago, and it has never become the law. At one point when President was in the Office of the Presidency, I wrote him a letter with 20 of my colleagues in the Senate and asked him to find a way, if he could, to protect these young people from being deported out of America, and he did. They called it DACA. The DACA Program said, if you are one of the people who, by definition under the DREAM Act, would be eligible, you can stay in the United States if you step up and pay about $500 in a filing fee, go through a serious criminal background check, and then we will give you a temporary 2-year protection from deportation--2 years that you can work legally in the United States and come back and see us if you want to renew it. prgtoken At the end of the day, about 800,000 young people i
DACA
Jeff Merkley (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2017-12-5

I am rising to engage in the conversation about getting the Dream Act passed. I thank my good friend and colleague from Illinois, Senator Durbin, for his passion and for his unrelenting commitment to protecting our American Dreamers. He has been on this floor day after day, month after month, advocating that we have to address this situation in which individuals came to the United States as small children; they have grown up here, they speak English, and they have been totally immersed in making our community stronger, our States stronger, our Nation stronger. We need to make sure prgtoken that we treat them fairly, with respect, and that we ensure that we are able to benefit from their presence here, just as they benefit from being here in the United States. There are 800,000 Dreamers across our country. I know they all very much appreciate his leadership. prgtoken The young men and women who came out of the shadows to be part of the DACA Program--Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals--were made a promise that they would be all right if they did so; that their information would not be used then to deport them. So they took a gamble that the United States would stand by the commitment it was making to them, and now they are wondering what happened because their futures are dangling by a thread. The program has been abandoned by the President, and if it is not replaced by legislation done right here in this room, they basically will be subject to being deported to places where they don't speak the language, they don't understand the culture--they are unfamiliar with it--and they don't have any network. They are really kind of stateless individuals who are in a very tough condition. prgtoken One person like this from Salem, OR, is Diana Banda Palacios. In 1993, Diana, who is shown here in this picture I have in the Chamber, came to this country from Mexico as a 3-year-old toddler. She has lived her entire life since then, here in America. prgtoken Growing up in America, Diana dreamed of becoming a first responder, so much so that during her high school years, she volunteered for Red Cross and for her community emergency response team, but that dream was thrown into doubt during her senior year when she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. She has fought that cancer, and she has beat that cancer. She graduated from high school more determined than ever to pursue her vision of how she could contribute to the community, and she has contributed. She enrolled and put herself through the firefighting and paramedic program at her local community college, and now she has made a career for herself as an emergency medical technician, an EMT. Every day, she is working literally to save lives, and we are threatening to kick her out of the country--the only country she has ever known. prgtoken Diana said a few years back when the DACA Program was first being discussed: America is my home. This is the
DACA
Elizabeth Warren (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2017-12-5

. Thank you, . prgtoken I have been sitting on the floor for a while, listening to other Senators tell amazing stories about young people who came to this country as children and how they have thrived, how they have become woven into a part of the American fabric. These are stories of courage, stories of hope, and it is inspiring to listen to these stories. prgtoken Tonight I want to add another piece to this story, and that is about why law matters--why it matters that we have a Dream Act. This photo portrays Reina Guevara. She is a Massachusetts resident. She is a student now at UMass Boston. When Reina was 11 years old, she fled from El Salvador and settled with her mother in Everett, MA. prgtoken Reina is a model student. After completing high school and graduating with high honors from Bunker Hill Community College, she won a scholarship and transferred to UMass Boston, where she currently has a double major in philosophy and in public policy. prgtoken Until DACA came along, Reina had to live in the shadows, and living in the shadows wasn't easy. She worked long hours in a restaurant where she was subjected to sexual harassment. Knowing that she didn't have legal status, Reina's boss frequently propositioned her to have a sexual relationship with him and threatened to report her to immigration authorities if she didn't go along with what he wanted. So instead of giving in to her boss's advances, Reina quit her job, even though her boss refused to pay her for the work that she had already completed. prgtoken DACA changed the world for Reina. It meant protection. It meant that she could go to work without the fear of being sent back to a country that she barely knew. It meant that she had access to more jobs, where she wouldn't have to face exploitation, humiliation, and sexual harassment. It meant that Reina could pay instate tuition and become the first person in her family to complete college, opening up even more doors of opportunity. prgtoken Right now we are in the middle of a long overdue discussion about sexual harassment and sexual assault. Women are bravely coming forward to tell their stories about powerful men who have abused their power to hurt others. Sexual assault isn't just happening in Silicon Valley or in Hollywood or in legislative chambers. It happens all across America at hotels, fast food restaurants, and convenience stores. If you are a woman without official status, you have yet another barrier to speaking out. prgtoken When the DACA Program started, we made a promise to young people like Reina. We promised them that if they came out of the shadows, they would have an opportunity to live and to work and to go to school without the fear of deportation. We promised to protect them. broke that promise when he ended DACA. prgtoken But there is something that Congress can do to help Reina and people like her, young kids who have spent their lives reaching for their
CONGRATULATING THE MARIST HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS VOLLEYBALL TEAM ON THEIR STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
Daniel Lipinski (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-12-5

I rise today to congratulate the Marist High School RedHawks girls volleyball team for winning the 2017 Illinois girls high school volleyball championship. Marist is an exceptional Catholic prep school on the South Side of Chicago. Marist's state championship win at Redbird Arena in Normal, Illinois is the crowning achievement after an incredible 41-1 season. The Marist girls volleyball team proved their ability to perform at the highest level in the Class 4A division, beating out Minooka High School to win the state championship. This win marks the first time that Marist has won the girls state volleyball championship since the team was established in 2002. The championship match was a thriller. Marist was tied with Minooka at one set apiece going into the third and final set. Marist quickly went down 8-4 but mounted a strong comeback. An 18-4 rally gave Marist a 25-15 victory in the final set to close out the match. I commend the work of head coach Jordan Vidovic who led his team on a long winning streak after their only loss in September. Since that loss the team members have worked hard to perform as a cohesive unit and push each other to greatness. The leadership of the team's nine seniors played no small role in bringing the season to a fantastic end. The members of this team are well positioned for further success in their athletic careers and some will surely have outstanding playing careers in college. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating the girls volleyball team at Marist High School and I extend my wishes for their continued success.
DACA
Kamala D. Harris (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-12-5

I would like to thank the senior Senator from Illinois. Senator Durbin has been a longstanding leader in this Chamber and in our country on this issue, and I can't thank him enough for all he does so tirelessly. I see his work behind closed doors, and I know his passion and personal commitment to this issue. from Illinois. prgtoken , on February 16 of this year, which was 292 days ago, I offered my maiden speech as a new Member of the U.S. Senate. The subject of the speech was immigration--in particular, an emphasis on DACA and the Dreamers. Here we are 292 days later, and we have failed to move forward in any substantial or substantive way in bringing relief to these Dreamers who have qualified for DACA status. So we stand here, these 292 days later, talking about an issue that we must ultimately, and before the end of this year, resolve. prgtoken Let's also be clear that 3 months ago today, on September 5 of this year, the administration arbitrarily, recklessly, and cruelly ended DACA--the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program. DACA allowed young immigrants who were brought here by their parents to live and work in this country without fear that they would be deported. Later this week, on Friday, December 8, funding for the government runs out. I have been clear, along with my friend from Illinois and several other colleagues, that any bill that funds the government must also include a fix for DACA. prgtoken I want to talk with you about why I believe it is important that we resolve this issue. I do believe there is a lot of misinformation out there. I think it is important that we as policymakers, as leaders in our country, craft and create public policy based on facts, not on misinformation and certainly not fear. prgtoken Let's begin by being very clear. The decision to rescind DACA is part of a much broader and troubling attempt to remake the demographics of the country by cracking down on immigrants. We have an administration that has ignited anti-immigrant sentiment, characterizing immigrants as rapists and murderers and people who are going to steal your jobs. We have an administration that has implemented an aggressive anti- immigrant agenda. This administration has called for a border wall that could cost up to $70 billion. They have implemented Muslim bans which severely restrict immigration from six Muslim-majority countries. They have requested 10,000 new ICE agents and 5,000 new Border Patrol agents when they have not given the resources to be able to fill all the vacant positions they now have. They have ended the protected immigration status, known as TPS, for Haitians and Nicaraguans who fled disasters and may crack down on the protective status on Salvadorans as well. They are seeking to lower the refugee cap from 110,000 to 45,000 at a time when we have seen an increase in the worldwide number of refugees who are in crisis. This is
PROCLAMATION FOR PASTOR INELLA R. MATTOX
Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (Democrat, GA) \u2014 2017-12-5

I include in the Record the following proclamation for Pastor Inella R. Mattox: prgtoken Whereas, our lives have been touched by the life of this one woman who has given of herself to her family, church, community, and nation; and prgtoken Whereas, Pastor Inella R. Mattox good works are present throughout the state of Georgia as an exemplary mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, great grandmother, aunt, neighbor, community worker, minister and friend; and prgtoken Whereas, this giant of a woman, who was reared up in Senoia, Georgia, moved to Atlanta, Georgia, when she was 17, was born on June 7, 1937, to the late Robert Lewis Rush and Bethenia Rush; and prgtoken Whereas, Pastor Inella Mattox was a virtuous woman, a woman of great integrity who remained true to the uplifting of her community and family which in turn uplifted others; and prgtoken Whereas, she was an exemplary matriarch, serving as compass and wise counselor and bringing great joy to her church New Creation, our district, her family and friends; and prgtoken Whereas, Pastor Mattox loved her family; encouraging all of those around her to make a difference, be it her children, her friends, her neighbors and her church members at the New Creation Church in Decatur, Georgia where she served as founder and pastor; and prgtoken Whereas, this remarkable woman gave of herself, never asking for fame or fortune as she became a quiet storm, a spark that starts a flame; and prgtoken Whereas, the U.S. Representative of the Fourth District of Georgia bas set aside this day to bestow a Congressional Recognition on Pastor Inella R. Mattox for her leadership, friendship and service to all of the citizens of Georgia and the nation; now therefore, I, Henry C. ``Hank'' Johnson, Jr do hereby attest to the 115th Congress that Pastor Inella R. Mattox of Decatur, DeKalb County, Georgia is deemed worthy and deserving of this ``Congressional Recognition'' Pastor Inella R. Mattox, U.S. Citizen of Distinction. prgtoken Proclaimed, this 1st day of June, 2017.
DACA (Executive Session)
Jeff Flake (Republican, AZ) \u2014 2017-12-5

I rise today with increasing concern about the uncertain future facing DACA recipients. There are nearly 800,000 DACA recipients. They are children who were brought across the border, through no fault of their own, years and years ago. There are nearly 800,000 across the country and nearly 50,000 just in Arizona alone. They have protections now from deportation, but those protections will run out around the first of March. prgtoken Despite the sense of urgency to solve the problem by the end of the year, there is very little legislative progress to show for it. The time has come for us to work together to deliver a real solution. We don't need partisan bills that send a message; we need bipartisan solutions that can pass the Senate. prgtoken We have spent so much time operating under reconciliation that it is worth reminding people that this measure will need 60 votes in order to succeed. So much of the legislation we have been considering has been under reconciliation, with just a 51-vote margin being sufficient. That will not be the case with a fix for DACA. We need to get 60 votes. That means if we hope to protect DACA recipients, both sides will need to compromise. prgtoken These individuals whom we seek to help are students, employees, colleagues, and friends. They don't know any other home but the United States. They have embraced the values of hard work and perseverance, and, in turn, their communities have embraced them as their own. Some of the most compelling pleas on behalf of these young people have come from those who know them best. These kids are not just Americans in their own eyes; they are Americans in the eyes of their friends, their classmates, their teachers, and their coworkers. prgtoken We all recognize that these kids were brought here, as I mentioned, through no fault of their own. No one wants to see them deported. As leaders of a nation of immigrants, we need to work together and deliver a chance for them to have a bright future. We need workable legislation that can realistically be passed and signed into law. We don't need to make a statement; we need to make a law. prgtoken There are many challenges facing us with regard to immigration, but protecting these young people should not be one of those challenges. This should be the easy lift. prgtoken I hope we can all work together in a bipartisan way to find a solution for these kids who deserve a solution. prgtoken With that, .