mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
RECOGNIZING LUIS QUINTANA
Albio Sires (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2022-9-15

. Madam , I rise today to recognize my good friend Luis Quintana, the Councilman at Large in the City of Newark, New Jersey. Councilman Quintana is being honored as the Grand Marshall of this year's Puerto Rican Day Parade on September 18, 2022. Luis is a dedicated public servant and inspiring role model for the Puerto Rican community and the people of Newark who has served on the City Council for 28 years. Born in Anasco, Puerto Rico, Luis moved to Newark, NJ when he was seven years old. He faced challenges as he found himself in a new city where his classmates spoke a different language, but he overcame them and went on to graduate from Barringer High School before attending Seton Hall University. Luis became an advocate for Newark's youth, believing that all students deserved access to the same quality education regardless of background. At the same time, he was actively involved in the community, becoming a member of the ic County Committee in 1981 before serving as Deputy Mayor from 1986 to 1994. In 2013, Luis broke boundaries when he became the first Hispanic Mayor of Newark, NJ. I could continue to list his many accomplishments, but I think the most important one is a goal he set himself during his time as Mayor. Luis said in an interview that his ``only mission is to make Newark a better place'' and he has undoubtedly done just that. His work has benefitted the many New Jerseyans who call Newark home, and he is a role model for the Puerto Rican community. I am proud to call Councilman Luis Quintana a colleague and friend.
E-Cigarettes (Executive Session)
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2022-9-15

September 9, 2021, over a year ago, was supposed to be a historic day in America's efforts to stop the purveyors of candy- and fruit-flavored e-cigarettes from preying on America's kids. September 9, 2021, was the deadline, and it was set by a Federal judge for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to finally-- finally--clear its enormous backlog of applications from e-cigarette companies seeking to sell their products in America. prgtoken Companies that can prove that their vaping products are, in fact, ``appropriate for the protection of public health,'' they can go ahead and sell their products legally, but e-cigarette products can't meet that standard. They can't demonstrate a benefit to public health. Vaping, as we know, is dangerous and addictive, and these companies, like the tobacco companies of years gone by, are preying on our children. prgtoken FDA had a legal mandate to ban these products from U.S. markets on September 9, 2021, but the Food and Drug Administration failed to meet the deadline--not by 1 day, not by 1 week, not even by 1 month. Last Friday marked the 1-year anniversary of the FDA's failure to meet this Federal court order. prgtoken As of today, the FDA has completed reviews of about half of these e- cigarette products that represent a large share of the market. As a result of FDA's inaction, dangerous, kid-friendly e-cigarettes remain available on store shelves without FDA review or authorization. The cops are not on the beat. prgtoken There are consequences to this action. The Truth Initiative is a nonprofit consortium of health groups that aims to protect young people from using tobacco. It estimates that, in the year since the FDA missed the court-ordered deadline to approve or reject e-cigarette applications, nearly 2\1/2\ million kids in America started using vaping products. Many of these young people will go on to develop nicotine addictions, with serious harm to their health. That is the human cost of this FDA failure. prgtoken Now the FDA says: Well, we might be able to finish this by 2023, 2 years after the Federal court-ordered date. And that is not the only deadline the FDA has blown when it comes to protecting kids from nicotine. After parents and public health groups demanded the FDA take action against candy-flavored, nicotine-spiked e-cigarettes, the vaping industry came out with a brandnew miracle product designed to evade FDA jurisdiction: synthetic nicotine. Products like Puff Bar are incredibly popular with middle and high school students. These new synthetic nicotine products include all the health dangers of traditional e- cigarettes, none of the regulation. When Congress learned about this loophole, we changed the law to say that the FDA had jurisdiction over synthetic nicotine products. prgtoken To make matters worse, even when the FDA does review a product and issues a denial, many e-cigarette companies just ignore them. It has reached a point th
RETURN OF PAPERS REQUEST--S. 1198
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2022-9-15

. I ask unanimous consent that the Secretary of the Senate be authorized to request the House of Representatives to return the papers on S. 1198; further, upon receipt of the bill from the House, the Senate's actions on September 8, 2022, with respect to S. 1198, be vitiated; that the Senate then proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 1198; that the committee-reported substitute be withdrawn, the Tester substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to; the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all without intervening action or debate.
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
Tim Kaine (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2022-9-15

today I am introducing a bill to make the process of siting natural gas pipelines fairer, more transparent, and more responsive to landowner concerns. prgtoken For some time now, I have been listening to Virginians with passionate views on the process involved in permitting the Mountain Valley Pipeline, as well as the previous proposal for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. For various reasons, many oppose one or both of these projects, while others support these projects. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, is tasked with analyzing all the issues-- purpose and need for a project, impacts on people living on the route, potential risks to the environment or property--and deciding what course best serves the public interest. prgtoken From listening to all sides, I have concluded that while reasonable people may reach different conclusions, FERC's public input process is flawed and could be better. Accordingly, this legislation proposes several steps to address several shortcomings, all of which were originally brought to my attention by Virginia constituents. For instance, this bill requires programmatic analysis of pipelines proposed around the same time and in the same geographic vicinity so that the full impacts of multiple projects can be analyzed. It requires a greater number of public comment meetings so that citizens are not required to commute long distances to meetings at which they must speed through just a few minutes of remarks on these complex topics. It ensures that affected landowners are given proper notice and compensation. It guarantees that landowner complaints will be heard before construction commences, and it clarifies the circumstances under which eminent domain should and should not be used. prgtoken I am pleased to be joined by my colleague Senator Mark Warner on this bill, which is an update to a version we introduced in the 116th Congress. The public deserves reasonable opportunity prgtoken to weigh in on energy infrastructure projects, and we are heeding calls by our constituents to make this process fairer and more transparent without mandating a particular outcome. prgtoken I encourage the Senate to consider this legislation, not to pave the way for pipelines nor to throw up insurmountable roadblocks to them but to give the public greater certainty that the Federal Government's infrastructure decisions are fair and transparent.
PREVENTING A PATRONAGE SYSTEM ACT OF 2021
Gerald E. Connolly (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2022-9-15

I thank my good friend, the chairwoman of the full committee, for yielding. prgtoken I have to say, when he cites that our Founders never envisioned a large government, that is true--there were 13 colonies that became 13 States. prgtoken I will remind my friend from Kentucky, neither did they ever envision the State of Kentucky. As a matter of fact, what is now Kentucky was claimed and owned by my home State, Virginia. So there are a lot of things that weren't envisioned back in the 1780s that we have to deal with in the 21st century. That is what we are doing here today. prgtoken , I thank you for the opportunity to discuss and advocate for the Preventing Patronage System Act, H.R. 302. prgtoken Our Federal workforce--the crown jewel of our Federal Government, especially during a pandemic--is comprised of roughly 2 million Federal employees hired on the basis of their acumen, their skill, and their dedication. They work each day for the American people--serving in myriad capacities to improve the Nation and America's posture abroad. prgtoken These impartial civil servants deliver mail; provide medical care to veterans; help families in the wake of hurricanes and deadly fires; design websites that facilitate access to lifesaving payments like Social Security, unemployment insurance, and tax returns; and they build telescopes that make us rethink what is possible and what kind of universe there is to be explored. prgtoken This bill, H.R. 302, would ensure that Congress controls when and how to change the very nature of our invaluable civil service. It simply returns power to the legislative branch. prgtoken The Preventing Patronage System Act would protect merit-system principles in our civil service by limiting Federal employee reclassifications to the five excepted service schedules in use prior to fiscal year 2021. It doesn't preclude a President from requesting authorization from Congress to create a new one, but it requires it. It restores the balance. prgtoken Since the creation of the civil service in 1883, administrations have established an excepted service schedule only five times. These excepted service categories are created for positions that require unique hiring or operating rules, such as positions of a short-term political nature or positions in remote areas, or in instances in which there is a critical hiring need. prgtoken On October 21, 2020, then-President signed Executive Order No. 13957 unilaterally attempting to create a new one, schedule F, in the excepted service. This executive order, according to a coalition of good government groups--I have got 34 of them endorsing this bill-- could expose Federal employees to politically partisan motivated hiring and firing. prgtoken As drafted by that former President, schedule F would require agency heads to reclassify policy-determining, policymaking, or policy- advocating positions to a newly created schedule F. This action removes the due
PREVENTING A PATRONAGE SYSTEM ACT OF 2021
Donald S. Beyer, Jr. (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2022-9-15

I rise today in support of H.R. 302, sponsored by my friend and colleague from Virginia. prgtoken Three out of four of my grandparents were career Federal servants. I represent more Federal employees than any Member of Congress. I have a deep appreciation for the vital work our civil service does to keep our Federal Government functioning. prgtoken Our Federal employees have endured attack after attack from our former President and his allies. The most significant threat to our Federal workers came when the former President tried to use executive action to strip Federal workers of their most basic protections and replace our career civil servants with political loyalists. prgtoken This rule would have made a huge number of Federal employees fireable by any future President, overturning a century-old system put in place by Congress to prevent this politicization. prgtoken Congress passed the Pendleton Act 139 years ago, through and Presidents all those years, to require civil servants to be politically independent. We insist our public servants be loyal to our country, not to our political leaders. We demand integrity, competence, and experience, not partisanship and ideology. prgtoken Should schedule F ever be enacted, any future President could unilaterally transform a whole government overnight in wildly destructive ways. prgtoken The bill we are about to vote on will prevent something like schedule F from ever becoming law. It would block any reclassifications of Federal employees to schedule F and prevent any position in the competitive service from being reclassified to an excepted service position. prgtoken This bill is essential to keep Federal employees from being used as political bargaining chips and protects the careers of thousands of civil servants and their families, along with the legitimacy of the institutions under which they serve.
LOWERING HEALTHCARE COSTS FOR AMERICANS
Julia Brownley (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2022-9-15

I know the American people are feeling the effects of higher prices. That is why Congressional continue our work to provide relief to America's working families who are struggling to make ends meet by putting people over politics and passing the Inflation Reduction Act. This historic life-changing legislation significantly lowers healthcare costs for America's seniors by enabling Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and by capping Medicare out-of-pocket expenses to $2,000 every year. prgtoken The Inflation Reduction Act tackles rising costs and inflation by ensuring big corporations pay their fair share of taxes which will, in turn, reduce the national debt. The legislation also makes the largest investment ever in fighting the climate crisis by investing in clean and secure energy production and manufacturing, while creating good- paying American jobs for the future. prgtoken Congressional s are too busy trying to score political points rather than working with us to solve today's challenges. prgtoken , I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to join us in working for the people.
DEVASTATION IN PAKISTAN
Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2022-9-15

let me draw upon these final efforts and words so that you can know that now, after we have come back, the clarion call of crisis is out. ``U.N. chief calls for massive help as Pakistan puts flood losses at $30 billion.'' prgtoken The U.N. Secretary General called for massive help as he visited the country last Friday. Record monsoon rains and glacier melt created this catastrophe. He is now calling on the international community, and we do need it. The country is enormously dependent on our help. It has been, in many instances, helpful during the Afghan evacuation of recent time, and most people are unaware of the military lives lost of the Pakistani military in fighting terrorism. prgtoken The very fact that this dam has been seen by NASA, this lake, shows that this damage is going to be far reaching. Pakistan must reach out to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, to be able to address this tragedy. prgtoken My friends, this is not normal. If I can leave you with anything here, it is that we are, in fact, our brothers' and sisters' keeper and that as we see the clear evidence of a climate catastrophe, a mountain of horror, unspeakable devastation, it brings your mind back to the floods of the Biblical times. prgtoken As we stand here today, children are not rescued, and 33 million people are in the eye of the disaster. Again, we are waiting, tragically, for the potential of massive disease that will shut Pakistan down. prgtoken I cannot conclude without acknowledging my great appreciation to the Pakistani-American community diaspora, some of whom traveled to Pakistan. The doctors, businesspersons, and people preparing now to take huge amounts of goods or dollars to be able to help. prgtoken But as I speak about that, let me tell you what UNICEF has said. With 1.1 million houses washed away and vital infrastructure destroyed, such as schools, UNICEF's representative in Pakistan, Mr. Fadil, explained that 18,000 schools have been destroyed and thousands of schools are now fully shuttered. That means children who have lost education for 2 years are also losing learning opportunities. prgtoken These are the things that cannot be fixed immediately, nor can they be fixed with only emergency help. prgtoken That is why I ask for the following: One, a major focus and research on dissecting the climate catastrophe that occurred that would generate the kinds of monsoons that caused 33 million people to be displaced. The State of Texas is about 29 million. That would mean the wiping out of an entire State, 33 million displaced. There are towns that are not as large as 650,000. Equal that to the women that are pregnant without medical care. prgtoken We can all imagine and know what 1,300 dead are and more possibly being found. And we can also understand when the Army Chief of Staff reminds us in his story of the mother who came holding the infant that was hungry and said: ``Here, I cannot feed my baby.'' <|p
Nomination of David P. Pekoske (Executive Calendar)
Maria Cantwell (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2022-9-15

I come to the floor today to ask my colleagues to vote on the nomination of Admiral David Pekoske to serve a second term as Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration. prgtoken We recently commemorated the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and the 3,000 lives lost here in the United States when tragically the Pentagon was struck, downtown Manhattan, and Shanksville, PA. In response to that, Congress created the TSA--Transportation Security Administration--to strengthen the Nation's security and our transportation system. prgtoken And every day that TSA works the frontlines to protect the traveling public, it is working to also prevent future attacks. It is safeguarding our Nation's infrastructure and certainly working every day to make sure that the flying public continues to move through a successful process. prgtoken TSA's mission lies in the commitment of professionals and highly skilled individuals. Admiral Pekoske's confirmation and continued leadership of this team will enable the TSA to further its ongoing and important mission. prgtoken Over the past two decades, the TSA has had to deal with many challenges: facing the continued threats of concealing weapons in shoes and underwear and even in soft drinks. And in 2010, the TSA began detecting explosives in electronics and countering attacks on the public side of airports. prgtoken Today, the landscape is even more sophisticated with state and nonstate actors and cyber attacks. Unique challenges posed to us during the COVID pandemic have made these challenges to the aviation security landscape even greater. prgtoken We know that we need to have continued experienced leadership. And Admirable Pekoske is well qualified for this position. He will continue to make transportation security and its modernization the Nation's No. 1 priority as it relates to the sector. prgtoken Each day, at over 430 airports across the country, TSA screens over 2 million passengers and 1.4 million checked bags for explosives and other dangerous items. This helps ensure the security for over 24,000 domestic flights and nearly 3,300 outbound international flights per day. prgtoken Security demands for the Agency are returning and every day are continuing to grow. Over the Labor Day weekend, TSA screened nearly 11 million people, or 3 percent more, over the corresponding period in 2019. In fact, TSA screened more people on 4 of the 5 days, from September 1 to 5, marking the first sustained period of checkpoint throughput during a holiday weekend above prepandemic levels. prgtoken So the traveling public is back, and, obviously, we need dedicated TSA officers and individuals to continue to work. We are not saying that there aren't improvements to that process--there certainly are-- but TSA has been charged with a critical, obviously, responsibility to make sure that we continue to work to ensure the safety of our air transportation system. prgtoken Last yea
Introductory Statement on S. 4870
Alex Padilla (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2022-9-15

I rise to introduce the Tule River Tribe Reserved Water Rights Settlement Act of 2022. This legislation would finalize this multidecade effort by the Tule River Tribe to provide clean drinking water to their people and uphold the Federal Government's trust and treaty responsibilities. prgtoken The Tule River people are descendants of the Yokuts Indians, a large group of Native Americans who occupied what is now known as the San Joaquin Valley in California for thousands of years prior to contact with settlers. prgtoken In 1856, the Federal Government established their reservation in Tulare County, with the specific goal of providing the Tribe with arable farmland and the water resources necessary to establish self- sufficiency. However, their land was fraudulently stolen from them, and in 1873, President Grant issued an Executive order to create a new reservation for the tribe. This land, which is the Tribe's current reservation, is comprised of mostly mountainous lands that do not provide sufficient irrigation opportunities or water storage facilities. Today, the Tule River Tribe struggles to provide clean drinking water to their people, and Tule Tribal citizens suffer from a low standard of living as a result. prgtoken Since 1971, the Tribe has worked to establish its federally reserved water rights to create the viable homeland they were promised and to ensure that their citizens have enough water to meet their current and future water needs. For decades, the Tribe has worked with the Departments of the Interior and Justice as well as downstream water users to advance a settlement agreement, thereby avoiding costly litigation for both the Tribe and the U.S. Government. prgtoken I am proud to introduce this legislation to quantify the Tribe's water right of 5,828 acre-feet per year of surface water and fund $568 million towards the construction of a water storage project. Our legislation would also codify what is known as the 2007 Agreement with downstream water users, who support this legislation. Finally, the legislation would transfer approximately 9,000 acres of Federal land currently in the Sequoia National Monument to allow the Tribe to protect the watershed headwaters and 800 acres of grazing land to the north and south of the reservation boundary. prgtoken It is long past time for the Federal Government to live up to its trust and treaty responsibilities to the Tule River Tribe. We must codify this water settlement and settle the Tule River Tribe's claims against the United States. Access to clean drinking water now and in the future is essential to the continued strength of Tribal nations and to ensuring the sustainability and viability of future generations. prgtoken Water is a sacred and necessary resource for Tribal nations and for all people. As California and the West continue to experience a historic megadrought, enactment of our legislation would provide water security to Tule