mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
Freedom to Negotiate (Executive Calendar)
James M. Inhofe (Republican, OK) \u2014 2017-11-1

I am not the first guy to stand up here and make this observation, but I have serious concerns with how the nominee confirmation process has been going in this Congress. prgtoken There is a blatant lack of respect for the Senate nomination process and an unprecedented level of obstructionism. I have been here for a number of years, so I know what to compare it with. I have never seen so many people being delayed in their confirmations, knowing that they are, ultimately, going to be confirmed and that they are well-qualified civil servants. prgtoken The are forcing cloture votes on nominees who have well over 60 votes in support. Last week, we held a cloture vote on Scott Palk. Scott Palk is from Oklahoma. He is a guy who everybody likes. He doesn't have prgtoken any enemies out there. In fact, he was actually nominated by President . He was not even nominated by this President. He ended up getting 79 votes. Still, the stall was there, and we had to wait and wait and wait. Meanwhile, things are not getting done that should be getting done. Furthermore, the agency positions that we have hardly ever held rollcall votes on are being forced to occupy floor time. There is no reason for these votes except to delay the work of the courts and our agencies. prgtoken I am very supportive of the leader's commitment to our courts and how he has prioritized judicial nominees. These nominations are extremely important and will ensure that the rule of law is upheld for, possibly, decades to come, benefiting all Americans.
HELIUM EXTRACTION ACT OF 2017
Norma J. Torres (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-11-1

such time as I may consume. prgtoken H.R. 3279 would correct a problem in our Federal oil and gas leasing laws that makes it more difficult for companies to commercially produce helium from Federal lands. Helium is a critical element for high-tech research and modern medicine, and because of its unique properties, there are simply no substitutes. prgtoken On the Natural Resources Committee, we have spent many years overseeing the Federal Helium Program, culminating in the bipartisan Helium Stewardship Act signed into law 4 years ago. prgtoken While the Helium Stewardship Act improved the management and sale of Federal helium, it didn't do much to promote the development of new sources of helium, which are in high demand. By allowing companies to hold onto Federal oil and gas leases if they are producing commercial quantities of helium and only helium, then the problem that kept potentially valuable helium resources under lock and key is resolved. This is only one small step, but it is a very useful one. prgtoken , I thank the sponsor of this legislation for introducing it. prgtoken I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3279, and .
RECOGNIZING THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF FAIRFAX WATER
Gerald E. Connolly (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2017-11-1

I rise to recognize Fairfax Water on the occasion of its 60th anniversary. There are few human needs more precious and more critical than access to fresh and safe drinking water. Indeed, we have seen what can happen when those needs are neglected, as the tragedy in Flint, Michigan reminds us. Prior to the creation of the Fairfax County Water Authority (now known as Fairfax Water), water was supplied to Fairfax County through many small, mostly private water systems, and a limited number of public systems. There was no standardization between systems and each system maintained its own rate schedule and level of service. In order to improve service reliability, establish equitable rates, and provide effective fire protection throughout Fairfax County, the Board of Supervisors created Fairfax Water in September 1957 for the purpose of ``acquiring, constructing, operating and maintaining an integrated water system for supplying and distributing water.'' The acquisition of water systems began in 1959 with the purchase of the Annandale Water Company. Over the next eight years, Fairfax Water acquired an additional 17 systems and began to build a comprehensive water-supply system. By the end of 1967, Fairfax Water had 832 miles of mains, 3,354 fire hydrants, and 54,000 metered accounts serving more than 425,000 people. By 1982, that number had grown to more than 1,800 miles of mains, more than 10,300 fire hydrants and nearly 126,000 metered accounts serving more than 650,000 people. By 1994, it would reach more than 2,700 miles of water mains, more than 17,300 fire hydrants and more than 197,300 meters. Those numbers show a county undergoing tremendous growth in both population and urbanization. The challenges associated with that are numerous and the temptation of providing service while overlooking the quality of that service is real. However, Fairfax Water has never allowed itself to fall into that trap. Instead, it has approached every new challenge with its mission in mind: providing safe, clean drinking water to Fairfax County residents and ensuring that the County's water supply is maintained. There have certainly been no shortage of challenges--from supply issues stemming from the use of a single source (the Occoquan River) to natural disasters to the threat of terrorism, Fairfax Water has risen to meet those challenges. Its work stands as testament to the strength and character of the ethos of public service in our community I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Phillip Allin, Charles Murray, the members of the Board of Directors and the entire staff of Fairfax Water. I thank them for their service to our community and for maintaining the proud legacy of this organization while adapting it to meet the challenges of the future.
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2936, RESILIENT FEDERAL FORESTS ACT OF 2017
Michelle Lujan Grisham (Democrat, NM) \u2014 2017-11-1

it has been 57 days since the President abruptly and irresponsibly terminated the DACA program. prgtoken For 57 days, students have been panicked about how much longer they can go to school. Brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters, are terrified that they might lose their loved ones any minute. Parents are afraid to take their children to the hospital or to school, and breadwinners don't know whether they will be able to continue to earn a paycheck to support themselves and their families. prgtoken For 57 days, the -controlled Congress has been silent, doing nothing to provide certainty for 800,000 American DREAMers who are caught up in Congressional dysfunction. Without a permanent legislative fix, these young Americans, like Maritza from Texas, will be at risk of detention and deportation. prgtoken Maritza works part time to help her pay for college so she can pursue her dream career in journalism after graduation. Over months, she and her family saved up $1,000 to pay for an attorney and the DACA program application fee. All she needed was her school to provide her records so she could finish her application. prgtoken But then Hurricane Harvey hit and flooded her family's home in east Houston and shut down school for 2 weeks. While Maritza and her mother were recovering from Harvey's devastation, they were the victims of another disaster, but this one was created by their own government. prgtoken They watched Attorney General Jeff Sessions announce on live TV that the administration was ending DACA and cutting off new applications for young immigrants just like her. The devastating news crushed Maritza and her family. Now they and countless others have waited 57 days for us to fix it. prgtoken Today we have the opportunity to uphold our values and to pass the Dream Act so that these young Americans aren't waiting in fear any longer. prgtoken , there is a quote directly above your chair from Daniel Webster imploring us to do ``something worthy to be remembered.'' prgtoken So how will we be remembered? Will the -controlled Congress continue to sit here and passively accept the administration's cowardly decision to eliminate protections for countless DREAMers across the country? Or do we want to do something about it? prgtoken We have an opportunity to protect our neighbors, coworkers, classmates, friends, constituents, and members of our military who have done everything to try to contribute to this great country. One vote would change the lives of nearly 800,000 Americans forever. One vote would allow them to pursue the American Dream, to go to school, to continue to work, to buy a house, or to start a business. prgtoken , isn't that why we were sent here? Wouldn't that be something worthy to be remembered? prgtoken I ask my colleagues to vote against the previous question so that we can immediately bring the Dream Act to the floor and provide certainty for Americans like Maritz
Freedom to Negotiate (Executive Calendar)
Jeff Merkley (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2017-11-1

our Nation was founded on a powerful principle encapsulated by the first three words of our Constitution: ``We the People.'' We are meant to be a nation, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, ``of the people, by the people, and for the people,'' not a nation by and for the most powerful, not a nation by and for the most privileged. Yet time and time again, we are seeing a complete and total corruption of the vision of our Constitution. prgtoken We saw this earlier this year with one Care bill after another designed to rip healthcare away from 20 to 30 million Americans to deliver tax giveaways to the richest in America. We have seen it just recently in the consideration of a budget that reversed that and said that in order to give $4.5 trillion of tax giveaways almost entirely to the richest Americans, we will take $1 trillion out of Medicaid and half a trillion out of Medicare. We have seen this powerful conversion of standing our Constitution on its head, and now we have the Supreme Court fully participating in this effort in a case called Janus v. AFSCME. It is the very epitome of the principle of a nation so corrupted that it honors the opposite of what our Constitution stands for. prgtoken The sole purpose of this case, Janus v. AFSCME, is to undercut the ability of workers to organize. This is an assault on the freedom of working Americans to associate with their coworkers. It is an assault on the freedom of working Americans to negotiate a fair wage. It is an assault on the freedom of Americans to fight for fairer benefits and a safe workplace. Bottom line: It is an assault on the freedom of workers to participate in the wealth they work so hard to create. prgtoken In short, this is the right to exploit that our Supreme Court-- majority of five--is so determined to elevate. I have read the Constitution, and I have never seen embedded in it a right to exploit, a right to cheat, a right to take advantage of. Yet here is the majority of the Court prepared to fight for exploitation on behalf of the 1 percent of Americans at the very top. prgtoken The key strategy in this case is to attack the finances of workers when they organize. Former President Jimmy Carter once said: ``Every advance in this half-century--Social Security, civil rights, Medicare, aid to education, one after another--came with the support and leadership of American labor.'' It has been workers banding together to say: We can create a better foundation for families to thrive. And that hasn't just created a better foundation for those who belong to unions; it has created a better foundation for all workers. We saw them successfully band together and fight for a 40-hour workweek, fight for minimum wage, fight for sick leave, and fight for healthy and safe working conditions--again, benefits that every worker enjoys because workers were able to organize and fight to receive and win these provisions. prgtoken What is really go
Freedom to Negotiate (Executive Calendar)
Sherrod Brown (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2017-11-1

I wish to thank my colleagues for joining me on the floor today to stand with American workers. We organized a group of close to a dozen Senators who have heartfelt and strong views about the dignity of work, who understand so well that workers are working harder and smarter but earn less and less money, in spite of their hard work, in spite of their commitment. prgtoken I have been joined on the floor already by Senator Schumer from New York, Senator Murray from Washington State, Senator Duckworth from Illinois, Senator Warren of Massachusetts, Senator Casey from Pennsylvania, and Senator Peters from Michigan, and speaking after I speak will be Senator Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Senator Merkley of Oregon and Senator Durbin of Illinois. I thank them for standing up for American workers. prgtoken People in Ohio and around the country, as I said, work harder, and they work longer than ever, but they have less and less to show for it. Over the last 40 years, GDP has gone up, corporate profits have gone up, executives' salaries have gone up all because of the productivity of American workers. Again, GDP goes up, corporate profits go up, executive salaries explode upward. Workers are more productive, but workers have not shared in the economic growth they have created. Hard work just doesn't pay off like it did a generation ago. prgtoken It is no coincidence that over that same timeframe, we have seen attack after attack after attack on the labor movement. Corporate special interests have spent decades stripping workers of their freedom to organize for fair wages and for benefits. The case the Supreme Court just agreed to take up, Janus v. AFSCME, is yet another attempt to chip away at workers' power in the workplace. prgtoken These are public service workers. These are public schoolteachers, librarians, police officers, school nurses, firefighters, and postal workers. They are not looking to get rich in these jobs. They are just looking to be paid what they earn, the same as any other worker in this country. prgtoken Make no mistake, an attack on public sector unions is an attack on all unions. An attack on unions is an attack on all workers, whether they belong to a union or not, and I mean all workers, whether you punch a timeclock or whether you fill out a timesheet or swipe a badge, whether you make a salary or earn tips, whether you are on payroll, a contract worker, prgtoken a temp, working behind a desk, cutting hair, working on a factory floor, or working behind a restaurant counter. I mean all workers. prgtoken The fact is, all workers across this country--as profits go up, as GDP goes up, as executive compensation goes up, as workers get more productive, all workers across this country are feeling squeezed. Work doesn't pay off the way it used to. prgtoken We have seen what happens when workers have no power in the workplace. Increasingly, corporations view American workers as a cost to
CLIMATE SOLUTIONS CAUCUS
Daniel Lipinski (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-11-1

I thank Mr. Fitzpatrick for his leadership and jumping in, in his firm term here in the House leadership, on coming to solutions on climate change. prgtoken , from California (Mr. McNerney), my colleague who I have been working with for a number of years here in the House, a very dedicated Member, especially when it comes to issues of science and climate change.
New York City Terror Attack (Executive Session)
Margaret Wood Hassan (Democrat, NH) \u2014 2017-11-1

I would like to start my remarks this morning by offering my thoughts to the victims of yesterday's horrendous act of terror in New York City, my thanks to the first responders, and I would note the resiliency of the people of New York. Once again, they are going forward with their lives today, showing the world and anyone who would do us harm that Americans stand together and that we move forward regardless of what our foes may try to do.
Freedom to Negotiate (Executive Calendar)
Tammy Duckworth (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2017-11-1

I am here to speak out in favor of working families and how we can empower American workers to obtain good jobs, to secure a safe retirement after a lifetime of hard work, and to give them the freedom to join together to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions. prgtoken Unions in the United States are important for our families and for our Nation's economy. Organized labor is one of the greatest forces driving the middle class, which is especially important for our veterans and members of the military. Union jobs help provide our servicemembers and veterans with the economic opportunities that they have earned. Union jobs help working moms and dads put food on the table, and union jobs help power the engine of our economy--our middle class. That is why I am working every day to protect the rights of working people and why I stand shoulder to shoulder with organized labor. prgtoken We must work together to combat the assault on the protections that workers have fought so hard to secure. It is more important than ever that we here in Washington work to expand economic opportunity for hard-working Americans, many of whom come from a union home. That means passing labor law reform to make it easier, not harder to join a union. That also means expanding the use of project labor agreements for major construction projects and opposing efforts to repeal prevailing wage laws. It also means defending the Davis-Bacon Act. The Federal Government can and should be a model employer that encourages companies to pay fair wages. prgtoken It is important to note the great progress that collective bargaining is making for all people. More families today have two working parents than ever before, and women's growing role in our unions have increased to nearly half of the labor workforce. In Illinois alone, 44 percent of union workers are women. The labor movement, which had a pivotal role in creating national minimum wage, the 40-hour workweek, overtime pay, and standards for workplace health and safety, is now also impacting women workers and their families in a significant way. prgtoken The collective voice that working Americans have is responsible for improving sick leave and paid family leave policies at the State and local levels. These efforts can also lead to reducing our Nation's long-lasting wage gaps between gender and race. Labor unions tend to raise wages and improve benefits for all represented workers, especially for women, and women of all major racial and ethnic groups experience a wage advantage when they are in a union. There is still a long way to go in the wage gap fight, but unions are leading the way to make those gaps smaller. prgtoken Unfortunately, organized labor is under attack. In Illinois, the anti-union surge is on the rise. Nationwide, so-called right-to-work efforts are growing. We need to be clear on one thing: These laws do absolutely nothing to strengthen workers
RECOGNIZING WHITE LICK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Joe Donnelly (Democrat, IN) \u2014 2017-11-1

today I wish to recognize White Lick Elementary School of Brownsburg, IN, for being named a 2017 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. prgtoken Established in 1982, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes schools that have demonstrated a vision of educational excellence for all students, regardless of their social or economic background. Since its inception, this program has allowed schools in every State to gain recognition for educational accomplishments, particularly in closing the achievement gaps among students. prgtoken White Lick Elementary School currently serves over 600 students and offers a variety of education and extracurricular opportunities for its students. prgtoken White Lick Elementary School has been effective in tailoring its curriculum to the educational needs of each individual student. As part of its commitment to students, the school provides programs like Learning Lab, which offers students struggling academically extra support in reading and math in a small-group setting every day for 30 minutes. prgtoken The school also prides itself on the professional development of its staff. Teachers are given the chance to learn and grow through weekly meetings with their professional learning communities. In these meetings, teachers come together to analyze test scores and other data as they discuss how to better meet the needs of their students. prgtoken The school's investment in students is reflected in the diverse opportunities it offers. Whether it is through the ``Step-a-thon,'' where students participate in a physical challenge to help raise funds for various school programs or the numerous afterschool clubs, White Lick has excelled in offering resources and programs beyond the classroom. prgtoken I am proud to recognize White Lick Elementary School principal Susan Wise, the entire staff, the student body, the parents, and the entire Brownsburg community. The effort, dedication, and value you put into education has led not only to this prestigious recognition but will benefit your students and Indiana well into the future. prgtoken On behalf of the citizens of Indiana, I congratulate White Lick Elementary School, and I wish the students and staff continued success in the future.
VOTE EXPLANATION
Robert Menendez (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2017-11-1

I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 257, on the nomination of Joan Larsen, of Michigan, to be U.S. circuit judge for the Sixth Circuit. Had I been present, I would have voted nay. prgtoken , I was unavailable for rollcall vote No. 258, on the motion to invoke cloture on Allison Eid, of Colorado, to be U.S. circuit judge for the Tenth Circuit. Had I been present, I would have voted nay.
40TH ANNIVERSARY OF AMRO FABRICATING CORPORATION
Dianne Feinstein (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-11-1

today I would like to recognize AMRO Fabricating Corporation for 40 years of business in our State. AMRO, a small family-owned business based in El Monte and Riverside, CA, employs more than 250 people. The company has made important contributions to NASA rocket programs, including building the large aluminum panels for the space launch system rocket and the Orion crew capsule. AMRO has used State and Federal grants to train high school and college students on how to develop critical job skills, such as aerospace welding and engineering, preparing them for good-paying jobs in the future. Founded in 1977, AMRO marks its 40th anniversary this year. I extend my warmest congratulations to AMRO for achieving this milestone.