mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
NOTICE OF INTENT TO OBJECT TO PROCEEDING
Ron Wyden (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2020-6-3

I rise today to give notice of my intent to object to any unanimous consent agreement regarding S. 482, the Defending American Security from Kremlin Aggression Act. prgtoken I want to first start by making myself clear: I support the vast majority of the provisions in this bill. It has now been over three years since Russia meddled in our last presidential election, and Congress has yet to hold Vladimir Putin accountable for it. I commend the bill's sponsors for coming together, on a bipartisan basis, with legislation that would take real steps to address Moscow's aggression. prgtoken Unfortunately, the bill is burdened by one extremely problematic, unrelated section, Title IV, or what was previously known as the International Cybercrime Prevention Act. This is now the fourth time my colleagues have attempted to jam that bill through this very chamber. In fact, the same exact language was first floated in 2015, only to be defeated. It was brought up again in 2016, and was, again, defeated. Once more, in 2018, this bill was introduced as a standalone bill and, again, defeated. prgtoken The authors of this problematic legislation are giving it one more try, this time by attempting to bury it within a largely unrelated 100- page, bipartisan legislative vehicle. And, by adding this language onto an extraneous foreign relations bill, my colleagues have been able to bypass the jurisdictional scrutiny of the Senate Judiciary Committee altogether. prgtoken Title IV of the bill is, at best, an extremely misguided piece of legislation. While its proponents claim the language is meant to fight botnets and other malicious cybercrime in a limited context, its effects would be far more broad-reaching. What this bill would do, in reality, is significantly expand the badly outdated Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, or the CFAA--a law that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has time and time again abused against cybersecurity researchers and activists, including the late Aaron Swartz. prgtoken , advocates and legal experts have long warned that the CFAA chills legitimate speech and research. DOJ has adopted an interpretation of the CFAA so extreme that it has argued in federal court that it is illegal merely for someone to violate a website's terms of service, such as by lying about their height, weight, or age in an online dating profile. While I take a back seat to no one when it comes to protecting Americans from hackers and improving our nation's cybersecurity, DOJ has stretched this Reagan-era hacking law to absurdity. prgtoken The last time the International Cybercrime Prevention Act was proposed in this chamber, I voted against it because I believed then, as I do now, that the draconian CFAA must be modernized. I have sought to reform the prgtoken CFAA, and rather than addressing its many serious flaws, Title IV of DASKA expands it, creating broad new prohibitions and harsh penalties. prgtoken Mr. Pres
REMEMBERING MILELE CHIKASA ANANA
Tammy Baldwin (Democrat, WI) \u2014 2020-6-4

today I wish to honor the life and legacy of Milele Chikasa Anana, who passed away on May 6, 2020, at the age of 86. An activist, businesswoman, public servant, publisher, mentor, and change-maker, she was a dynamic force in Madison for over 50 years, helping to shape the community for the better and light the torch of many young leaders working to improve the lives of the city's African- American community. prgtoken Milele was born and raised in Oklahoma, went to college in Alabama and Indiana, and lived in Boston before making Madison, WI, her home in 1968 with her husband Jim. By that time, she had started a career in computer technology and worked for the NAACP, organizing in Boston for the educational rights of Black students. prgtoken Milele continued to develop her civic engagement and leadership in her early years in Madison when she was elected to the Madison School Board in 1974. She was the first African American to serve on a school board anywhere in the State. prgtoken In another first--also in 1974--Milele became the first African- American affirmative action officer for the city of Madison, a post she would hold for 5 years. Under her determined and steadfast advocacy, the city made significant changes to its hiring practices to better recruit and hire candidates of color, particularly in the police department. She also addressed the lack of diversity on the city's boards and commissions, bringing new perspective to bodies that were at the time dominated by White men. Milele established the Women's Issues Committee and the Minority Affairs Committee, giving employees of color and female employees a greater voice. She was known to call out city leaders when she saw injustice or inadequate progress and kept them focused on the mission of her agency. Her impact as affirmative action office is far-reaching to this very day. prgtoken Later in her career, Milele worked as interim director of the Madison Equal Opportunities Commission and was a founder of the Madison Black Chamber of Commerce, building its directory of Black-owned business and establishing Black Restaurant Week. She has been an active member and mentor to many organizations including the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Alumni Chapter, the Greater Madison Urban League, NAACP of Dane County, and Mt. Zion Baptist Church. prgtoken Milele Chikasa Anana is perhaps best known for her leadership of UMOJA Magazine, Wisconsin's oldest black magazine. From 1990 to 2018, Milele served as editor and publisher, growing it from a 2-page newsletter to a 52-page monthly publication. Milele used UMOJA to celebrate the accomplishments and showcase the good deeds of Black leaders, community members, business owners, and youth. prgtoken Yet, despite these significant accomplishments, ``Ms. Milele'' or ``Mother Milele,'' as many called her, will be remembered most dearly as a dedicated mentor. Many influential African Americans have credited her wi
HONORING FOLUSO FAKOREDE, MD
Bennie G. Thompson (Democrat, MS) \u2014 2020-6-4

. Madam , I rise today to honor Dr. Foluso Fakorede. prgtoken Dr. Fakorede grew up in Nigeria and immigrated to America as a young man. He received his medical degree from UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Camden, New Jersey where he also completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Hospital. He returned to New Jersey to complete his fellowship in cardiology, interventional cardiology, and endovascular intervention at Cooper University Hospital--Camden, New Jersey. prgtoken Dr. Fakorede was honored with the distinction of Chief Cardiology Fellow. He specializes in preventative cardiovascular management, woman's heart health and catheter-based procedural focus in coronary atherosclerosis disease (CAD) and peripheral atherosclerosis disease (PAD). He has advanced technical skills in limb salvage (preventing amputations) and utilizes advanced minimally invasive techniques in treating patients with peripheral arterial disease. He is also a key opinion leader in the treatment algorithm of peripheral arterial disease using various access techniques, atherectomy, balloons and stents. prgtoken In 2015, Dr. Fakorede started Cardiovascular Solutions of Central Mississippi with a mission to educate and provide access quality health care for Mississippians living in rural areas. He has become a national voice in the fight on the impact of health disparity in underserved communities. prgtoken Dr. Fakorede has offered tremendous service to those suffering from diabetes and has worked diligently towards preventing the need for amputation. prgtoken In Bolivar County, MS, Dr. Fakorede has seen more than 10,000 cardiovascular patients from around the Delta. Since 2015, he has performed nearly 500 angiograms annually. Between 2014 and 2017, Bolivar Medical Center recorded that major amputations had fallen by 75 percent. prgtoken Madam , I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Dr. Foluso Fakorede for his dedication in being a remarkable doctor and servicing the Mississippi Delta.
JONES ACT 100TH ANNIVERSARY
John Garamendi (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2020-6-4

. Madam , tomorrow June 5 marks the 100th anniversary of the Jones Act, our nation's federal law guaranteeing a fleet of US-built, flagged, crewed, and owned vessels ready to serve the American people. prgtoken The current coronavirus global pandemic has reminded us all the critical importance of this foundational federal law and having a vibrant US-flagged maritime industry. The global maritime trade ground to a halt due to quarantine, and countries like China ordered their government-sponsored enterprises to stop all exports of critical medicine and medical supplies, including personal protective equipment for healthcare workers and first responders. prgtoken The Jones Act ensures that our nation can remain self-reliant during peace time and times of conflict. In California alone, the US-flagged maritime industry supports more than $12.2 billion annually in economic impact related to the American domestic shipping industry and over 51,000 good-paying jobs. Nationally, the domestic maritime industry supports 648,220 American jobs with approximately 40,000 vessels in the American domestic fleet. prgtoken Madam , most major developed countries including the European Union have cabotage laws like the Jones Act. Congress must continue to support our nation's maritime workforce by upholding the Jones Act and opposing deeply misguided efforts to undermine it. As a member of both the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Armed Services, I plan to continue to do just that. prgtoken I hope all members of Congress will join me in that important work. In closing, I wish to mark this important milestone for the Jones Act by thanking the thousands of Americans working in our nation's maritime industry. I thank them for their invaluable work, day in, day out.
Nomination of Michael Pack (Executive Session)
Robert Menendez (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2020-6-4

I rise to oppose the nomination of Michael Pack to be the Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Agency for Global Media. Yet, before I get into the specifics of the Pack nomination, I need to say a few words about the moment we are in and how we got here. prgtoken We are facing two devastating crises. Over 100,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 in just a matter of months, and that number continues to grow. The scale and the speed of the tragedy is almost impossible to comprehend. We certainly stand with all of our families who have lost loved ones, and we cherish their memories. Unlike COVID- 19, the second crisis is one of our own making. prgtoken Over centuries of injustice, African Americans and other people of color have not been treated like human beings; they have not been treated like every American deserves to be treated, like every person in the world has the right to be treated. No. All too often, they have been treated like George Floyd, with a knee on the neck as they gasp and choke ``I can't breathe.'' As a result, our country has erupted with protests. In this moment, these grievances have been met with the petty antics and deplorable, violent tactics of notorious dictators around the world. prgtoken I am shaking in having to say this. I am shaken to the core that President , with the assistance of his Attorney General, used violence against peaceful protesters--people exercising their First Amendment rights--all for a photo op with a Bible. That is not right. It is not acceptable, and that is not America. prgtoken This body has to act. We have to act quickly and effectively to address these twin crises. The moment calls for leadership at every level. We all know this, but we are not doing it. Why not? The answer is that President and the majority of this body are focused elsewhere while our country is suffering--perhaps like never before. They are focused on domestic political errands. Yet, while trivial, these errands are corrosive to this body, to our country, and to the Constitution. prgtoken I need to say a few words about what is and what is not happening in the Committee on Foreign Relations, because it bears directly on how and why Michael Pack is getting a vote on the Senate floor today. prgtoken The Committee on Foreign Relations has helped to shape our collective response to some of the country's greatest challenges--from Vietnam to September 11, to Afghanistan. We ought to be rising to the challenges of our time and shaping the international response to COVID-19. Yet, tragically, we have not held one public hearing on COVID, and the committee has not debated or voted on a single COVID-related bill or amendment despite our being months into the crisis. I know the ic members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations came together and offered a bill as part of an effort to be bipartisan so as to begin to address the crisis, because we unde
TRIBUTE TO THE WORK OF DAVID WAKSBERG
Anna G. Eshoo (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2020-6-4

. Madam , David Waksberg became CEO of the Bureau of Jewish Education in 2007, and retires on prgtoken June 30, 2020, from his leadership of what is now Jewish LearningWorks. During his well-earned retirement he will spend more time with his wife and three adult children, and he plans to write and participate in political and environmental activism. prgtoken David Waksberg's leadership of Jewish LearningWorks can only be called extraordinary. He is hailed by many as a great negotiator, intentional listener and a collaborator who respects and honors the opinions of others. During his tenure he helped renew synagogue schools and brought in new ideas for teaching. He expanded family learning programs, created greater opportunities for children with special needs, and initiated policy changes at synagogues and day schools which were all designed to make everyone welcome. prgtoken David formerly served as the Executive Director of the Bay Area Council for Soviet Jews where he created programs that connected Bay Area Jews with those in the Soviet Union. He developed excellent relationships with the Bay Area Congressional Delegation and was a strong advocate for refuseniks and for the Soviet Jews who came to the Bay Area after the collapse of the USSR. Between his two positions with Jewish agencies, David worked at a high-tech company, but his heart was always with service to the Jewish community. prgtoken David credits his commitment to Judaism and Jewish education to a photograph in his Polish grandparents' home in the Bronx, of their families in Poland. All except those who had gone to America or Israel, including David's father, were killed by the Nazis. Also in that home was an inscription that asked ``What have you done today on behalf of your people and your land?'' prgtoken David Waksberg said ``For me, Jewish thought, tradition and wisdom from the last few thousand years really helped me be a better husband, father, son, brother, friend, neighbor and citizen. All this wisdom contributed to what some would call happiness. It helped me lead a good life. And that's the point of it all.'' prgtoken Madam , we ask the entire House of Representatives to join us in honoring the extraordinary leadership and legacies of David Waksberg. His mission of promoting and furthering Jewish education has bettered our communities and made our nation stronger because of all he has chosen to do.
HONORING DAVID SNAPP
Andy Levin (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2020-6-4

. Madam , I rise to honor my dear friend and former colleague, Dave Snapp on the occasion of his retirement. I met Dave Snapp in the late summer of 1983 when I had just turned 23 years old and we were trying to learn how to help nursing home workers organize for a better life with the Service Employees International Union. Thirty-seven years later, Dave is still at it, helping workers organize for dignity, voice and power in an America that suddenly deems them essential even while asking them to toil in poverty, in unsafe conditions, even under threat of deportation. prgtoken After I left SEIU in 1988, Dave kept right on organizing. And he never stopped working for the labor movement. He played many roles for the union over the years. He has often been in the middle of the activities that have made SEIU so innovative. Dave has often served as a facilitator and organizer for the executive leadership of the union. He has been a scriptor and choreographer of conventions. He has organized strategic planning. He has conceived and undertaken special projects. He has helped drive long-term thinking to an extent and scope remarkable in the labor movement and, indeed, in other parts of the American political economy. prgtoken Through it all, Dave has displayed a remarkable mix of traits that are rarely found rolled up in one person. Flat-out smarts. Intellectual curiosity. Practicality--a groundedness in how things might actually work in the real world. Maybe that's the health and safety guy in him. Humility. A willingness to speak truth to power and not to tell leaders what they want to hear, somehow without alienating them and indeed engendering their loyalty. A wry sense of humor, sometimes bleeding into bad jokes. Compassion and caring for his fellow travelers along the road to justice, person to person. prgtoken How lucky I have been to have acquired Dave as an adopted-without- permission big brother so many years ago and, I might add, to have acquired a big sister in his life partner, Carol Regan. That's the best two-for-one deal I ever got, all by signing up to help nursing home workers find a little power over their own work lives. prgtoken Now Dave says he is laying down his tools. If we're honest, we often have mixed feelings about friends retiring as a reflection of our own mortality. But I have to admit, I can't think of anyone who has earned a bit of rest from relentless labor more richly than Dave Snapp. He always looked at work organically, as how best to organize something that needed to be accomplished, and thus seemed to own what he was doing so completely. Thank goodness he chose to labor on behalf of America's workers. prgtoken Madam , happily, there is no retiring from adopted big brotherhood. I will continue to seek Dave's advice and counsel on life's journey. And to take inspiration from his example of doing things well for all the right reasons.
Moment of Silence (Executive Session)
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2020-6-4

a short time ago, in conjunction with the memorial service being held today in Minnesota for George Floyd, I joined the rest of the ic caucus in Emancipation Hall to recognize a moment of silence in honor of his memory as well as the memory of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Aubery, and the unimaginable number of Black Americans who have had their lives ended in police custody. prgtoken Standing before the statue of Frederick Douglass, a Black American who fought his whole life for a measure of racial equality, the moment of silence lasted 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the length of time that the White police officer in Minneapolis pressed his knee on George Floyd's neck. Standing there in silence, you feel the horrifying length of George Floyd's final 9 minutes. You cannot help but imagine his horror and fear, knowing that his trauma and the trauma of his family and his friends has been felt by so many Black families and Black communities across the country and across the centuries. prgtoken Of course, a moment of silence, a moment of solidarity, is no substitute for real action. That is why Senate are working with our House colleagues on policing reform legislation. prgtoken That is why we are demanding that the majority leader commit to addressing this issue on the floor of the Senate. prgtoken Leader McConnell, why don't you admit that we have to do something here and not just say: Well, maybe we will take a look at it, as you did on gun control after the violent shootings and then did nothing? Make a commitment here and now to the American people that we will put on the floor--that you will put on the floor police reform and racial justice legislation this month. prgtoken Will our colleagues ever join us in this effort? I know these issues aren't easy, but we can't begin to make progress if the leader and the majority will not even let us try or address these issues in a legislative manner. prgtoken The leader has said: The coin of the realm in the Senate is floor time. What are you going to devote time to? prgtoken Well, it has been 5 weeks since Leader McConnell called the Senate back into session during the height of a pandemic. The majority has yet to put a single bill on the floor of the Senate related to COVID-19. prgtoken We passed a much needed extension of PPP reform last night, a very popular and bipartisan program, only after forced action here on the floor. I don't believe our majority would have done anything. prgtoken We announced we would UC the bill, and we did, and it was blocked. Then, of course, faced with the public pressure of moving, Leader McConnell came on the floor late last evening and moved the bill. prgtoken Make no mistake about it, without the pressure that we placed on the majority to make these changes, it would certainly have been further