mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF REILLY ALBERT RIDGELL
Michael F. Q. San Nicolas (Democrat, GU) \u2014 2022-7-22

. Madam , I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Reilly Albert Ridgell. Reilly was an esteemed author, devoted educator, and inspiring leader whose scholarship and stories have and continue to impact our island, region, and nation. Our community will fondly remember him as a passionate advocate and ally whose contributions meaningfully cultivated new spaces for Pacific peoples to rise. prgtoken After graduating from Pacific Palisades High School, Reilly earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles. By 1970, he obtained a master's degree in the field from the University of California, Santa Barbara and soon after, answered the call of the Peace Corps in the Western Islands of Chuuk, Micronesia. Working to advance the organization's mission to realize greater inclusion and global equity, Reilly served as a teacher in the island state for a total of four years. He further expanded his contributions and involvement across the region to include opportunities in Guam as a private school teacher, progressive rock disc jockey, and as an assistant professor and Dean of Trades and Professional Services at the Guam Community College (GCC). prgtoken Upon identifying an evident void in teaching materials about the Pacific Islands, Reilly took it upon himself to begin the important work of closing a persisting gap in knowledge. Following extensive research, countless hours of writing, and meaningful collaborations, he published two textbooks, an anthology of Peace Corps stories, and two novels entitled Pacific Nations and Territories, Pacific Neighbors, Bending to the Trade Winds, Green Pearl Odyssey, and Isla Vista Crucible, respectively. Since 1983, thousands of copies of his works, their subsequent editions, and numerous derivatives have been sold and continue to be used extensively across the Pacific. Moreover, his works have gained several regional and national accolades including Regional Lit Category honorable mention and Compilations/Anthology Category 1st place at the 2015 Pacific Rim Book Festival, top honors at the 2014 Southern California Book Festival, and honorable mention at the Eric Hoffer Book Awards. prgtoken Reilly Albert Ridgell was an innovative writer and changemaker who continues to inspire many throughout our island and region. His dedication to amplifying the voices, stories, and histories of our Pacific people has materially elevated our presence in classrooms far beyond our borders, actively shaped our community consciousness, and empowered our people with greater sociopolitical agency. My family and I wish to extend our hearts and prayers for Reilly, his wife, Blora; their children, Clynton and Joel; and the rest of their family and friends, and I join the people of Guam in remembering and celebrating his life and legacy of directing one's personal gifts and passions toward uplifting others. He will be dearly missed, and his love and m
ADVANCING HUMAN RIGHTS-CENTERED INTERNATIONAL CONSERVATION ACT OF 2022
Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2022-7-22

I rise in strong support of H.R. 7025, the ``Advancing Human Rights-Centered International Conservation Act of 2022.'' prgtoken H.R. 7025 is a bipartisan effort instructing the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service from funding entities that commit, fund, or support gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, and for other purposes. prgtoken This legislation provides procedures on how to identify human rights violators including: prgtoken A concrete framework of requirements for an international entity to apply for and receive a conservation grant. prgtoken Creating a Social Safeguards Plan that will implement appropriate human rights standards and prevent gross violations of internationally recognized human rights in connections with activities funded under the award. prgtoken Reporting requirement for grant recipients who stand accused of violating international human rights. prgtoken Generating a formal review process that would include an investigation and may require the grant recipient to address the alleged violation. prgtoken I applaud the efforts of my colleague, Congressman Grijalva and his office for uplifting this issue. prgtoken Through this effort, we are reminding the American people that the fight against environmental degradation must go hand in hand with Congress' commitment to uphold human rights across the globe. prgtoken I know firsthand the importance of environmental conservation efforts both at home and abroad. prgtoken In my home state of Texas, about 1,300 species of plants and animals are currently on the endangered list, diminishing our biodiversity. prgtoken Several economic sectors including agriculture depend on natural resources so we need to make sure that we are facing the effects of the climate crisis head-on. prgtoken These grants from the Fish and Wildlife Service will equip us with the tools to ensure clean air, land and water will be accessible to our children. prgtoken When enacted, H.R. 7025 will lay out a formal procedure to curtail those seeking financial assistance from the U.S. but clearly do not have a respect for human rights. prgtoken This legislation sends a clear message that recipients of conservation grants funded by the American taypayer must respect American values. prgtoken , I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 7025 to confront those who continue to violate human rights around the world and uplift the democratic values we work to protect.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2022-7-25

for the past year and a half, Washington have continually found new ways to be wrong about the U.S. economy. Last springtime, insisted their plan to dump $1.9 trillion onto the economy would not cause inflation. prgtoken Here was the ic leader in March of 2021: I do not think the dangers of inflation, at least in the near term, are very real. prgtoken And here was President : The biggest risk is not going too big . . . it's if we go too small.'' prgtoken Well, obviously, they were entirely wrong. Their reckless spending fueled the worst inflation in 40 years. As Ms. Alvarado, a teacher and mother of three, explained to a reporter--here is what she said: When I say, ``OK, we cannot buy anything this week or else we'll go into overdraft,'' [my husband] says, ``No, what are you talking about? We're both working. That shouldn't happen.'' prgtoken Well, it shouldn't have happened, but it is exactly what ' policies have inflicted on working families in this country. Every time I fill up our van, I'm flabbergasted-- prgtoken Ms. Alvarado explains-- I'm always worrying. . . . I can postpone the mortgage by two weeks, but then it becomes two more weeks, and then all of a sudden they're calling you. prgtoken After ' policies that did cause inflation, they moved on to their next wrong prediction. President admitted inflation did, in fact, exist but said it was ``expected to be temporary.'' That one didn't work out either. That was over a year ago. prgtoken Then, 7 months ago, in early December, President promised inflation had peaked--wrong again. It didn't peak in December. It just kept getting worse. Inflation set a fresh new 40-year high just last month. prgtoken These same folks are preparing for yet another battle against reality. In advance of the GDP numbers coming out later this week, the administration has begun their latest project: a frantic effort to redefine the word ``recession.'' The White House published a whole explanation insisting that even if the new data suggested our country is in recession, we actually won't be. prgtoken It is almost beyond satire. The White House isn't focusing their energies on prgtoken correcting their mistakes and making the economy better for working families who are hurting. Instead, their priority is telling everybody things aren't as bad as they look or feel. They want working Americans like Ms. Alvarado to believe ' spin instead of their own lying eyes. prgtoken I guess the whopping 42 percent of Americans who say they are struggling to stay where they are financially are supposed to read the White House press release and cheer up. The same people who said inflation wouldn't happen and then said it would be transitory and then said it had peaked last year are now insisting we aren't heading into a recession. W
PACT ACT OF 2022--Continued
Mike Lee (Republican, UT) \u2014 2022-7-25

just last night, U.S. Navy LT Ridge Alkonis was forced to leave his wife and three children and report to a Japanese prison. An American serviceman had to explain to his children that although he had done absolutely nothing wrong, he had to leave them, and he had to leave them to be incarcerated in a prison on foreign soil for 3 whole years--a prison inside a land that he had been asked to serve in by his country, to protect that country. And now he is in prison in prgtoken that country, having been ordered to prison by that country even though he had done nothing wrong. prgtoken While serving his country in Japan, Lieutenant Alkonis, a man who loves the country of Japan, who has spent years there, who had spent years there many years before the U.S. Navy had assigned him to serve in Japan--he served there for 2 years as a missionary. He learned the language. Both as a missionary and as a member of the U.S. Navy, he has continued his acts of community service in every community where he has lived and served. He is a model, an upstanding citizen in every respect. He is a decent, kind, intelligent, hard-working officer, and a loving husband and father. prgtoken It is while serving in Japan that he was involved in a car accident. It was a car accident that resulted from a tragic, unforeseeable, unforeseen medical emergency. prgtoken Now, that accident left two people dead. I speak sincerely when I say that my deepest sympathies go out to the victims of that accident, along with their families and their friends and their loved ones. I can't begin to imagine their sense of loss and confusion and hurt and even anger associated with the horrific accident. prgtoken It is important to note, however, that this was, in fact, an accident. In no way, shape, or form do the facts of the case suggest otherwise--quite to the contrary. All of the facts in evidence indicate that this is what happened, and yet the Japanese court continues to insist that Lieutenant Alkonis somehow had some culpability, that he did something wrong. They continue to float the false narrative that he fell asleep while driving as a result of his own carelessness or negligence. That simply is not true. prgtoken The accident occurred at 1 p.m. a little over a year ago--at 1 p.m. in broad daylight. Lieutenant Alkonis was well rested and had no reason to be tired or drowsy. In fact, he was having a conversation with his daughter when he passed out midsentence. He remained unconscious despite his daughter's repeated attempts to yell and scream and kick the seat. Alkonis did not wake in response to his daughter's cries, nor did he wake even upon impact when the accident occurred. No matter how deep a sleeper, anyone would be awakened by either of these events, but he didn't. He remained unconscious even after the collision. prgtoken It is important to note that eyewitnesses reported that Lieutenant Alkonis's color had drained from his face,
PACT ACT OF 2022--Continued
Rob Portman (Republican, OH) \u2014 2022-7-25

I come to the Senate floor once again this evening to talk about the brutal and illegal, unjustified invasion of Ukraine by Russia and what we can do--what more we can do here in this Chamber and this Congress to be able to help the people of Ukraine. prgtoken This is the updated map that tells the story of what is going on on the battlefield. You can see this light-blue color here indicates that the Ukraine forces are on the move and making progress. But in the meantime, Russia, back in 2014, took Crimea, part of the Donbas. Now they have taken more of that territory. prgtoken So the fighting we will talk about tonight that is most fierce is taking place here in the east and now increasingly here in the south. This is where the battlefield is, but that is not the only place where things are happening. prgtoken Remember, this is a country--Ukraine--that just wants to live in peace with its neighbors. It has no interest in war. And this is Russia's assault on that country, starting in 2014 and now in this larger assault. But it is not just here on this battlefield. Russia is actually sending missiles into the heart of Ukraine. prgtoken You see this town here, Vinnytsia. This is where, recently, a missile exploded, killing civilians, children. Last week, I talked about Liza, the young girl who was killed in that bombing. Everyplace in Ukraine is subject to this kind of bombing. We have heard from Kharkiv. We have seen it in Kyiv and other towns all throughout Ukraine. prgtoken Another part of this brutal assault on Ukraine has to do with blocking the ports. Here is Odesa. This is the largest port. But there are several ports along here that have been blocked by the Russians. The Russian Navy is not allowing exports from Ukraine to be sent to the rest of the world. This, of course, is hurting Ukraine's economy, which is the whole idea. But it is also preventing the export of millions of tons of grain, which is creating a global food crisis, threatening the lives of millions of people around the world, particularly in Africa where they rely heavily on Ukrainian grains coming out of these ports. prgtoken After weeks of discussions--really, the last couple of months-- finally, on Friday, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, and the United Nations agreed to facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain. According to the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who has been working on this for months, this provides a ``glimmer of hope'' in alleviating the global food security crisis. prgtoken One part of the agreement that was reached in Turkey was that Russia would not attack facilities in these Ukrainian cities. Specifically, the agreement prohibited ``any attacks against merchant vehicles and other civilian vessels and port facilities engaged in'' the export of Ukrainian agricultural products. So there is an agreement to allow the grain to go but also a specific agreement not to attack merchant vessels, civilian vess
PACT ACT OF 2022--Continued
Tommy Tuberville (Republican, AL) \u2014 2022-7-25

Americans across the country are canceling their vacations, watching their 401(k)s shrink, and they are worrying about their week's grocery bill. Families are making very tight budgets, and they are having to stick to them because the prices have risen to historic highs. The price of ground beef is 36 percent higher than it was this time last year, as much as a steak dinner this time last year if you are buying hamburger meat. Businesses are raising prices on consumers in order to make ends meet. And if the costs of goods and basic services weren't high enough, skyrocketing gas prices have driven everything even higher. prgtoken This is our economic reality of now and for the future for the next few years. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle and all of us need to start discussing ways to help our country and ease the economic strain, but we are not doing that this week or next week before we go on recess. For some reason, we are hatching plans to spend more taxpayer money to pay for progressive policies and programs that might be needed, but the American taxpayers need help, and they need it now. Americans are suffering, and the Federal Government is not doing its part to help in the economic plan. prgtoken Let's take a step back and talk about how our economy got to this point with record inflation. We all remember 2020. The economy was humming along, and then a global pandemic hit all around prgtoken our country and the world. It halted everything. It halted production. The economy was shut down. It came to a screeching halt--something none of us has ever seen. prgtoken But by the end of the year, the economy was showing signs of life. We were starting to open back up, and we were starting to move around, get people back to work, and get things hopefully back to normal in the very near future. As we rounded the corner, our ic colleagues, who took control of the House and the Senate and the White House, inherited an economy that wasn't great but was getting better. But instead of allowing free-market forces to return us to prosperity coming out of this pandemic, President , in his rookie year of office, was like a kid in a candy store. I can remember it like it was yesterday. prgtoken He decided to go on a spending spree. He unveiled a plan to pump trillions of dollars into our Nation's economy in an unprecedented amount of government spending. Mere months after Congress passed the first COVID relief bill in December of 2020, our colleagues on the left began crafting a new bill for more Federal spending in early 2021-- again, just a few months after the first COVID relief bill was passed in December. prgtoken The left disguised a litany of progressive policies and programs as pandemic relief--I will never forget it--pandemic relief. But in reality, as of now--$2 trillion--less than 9 percent of the bill was targeted to COVID-related spending--9 percent. prgtoken Larry Sum
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
Mike Crapo (Republican, ID) \u2014 2022-7-25

I honor Jared Don Ricker, of Caldwell, ID, who passed away unexpectedly on June 12, 2022, at the far too young age of 42. He is deeply missed by his family and many friends and remembered as a wonderful man, great father, kind listener, and fun companion. prgtoken I came to know of Jared through two of his three brothers, Bryan and Cameron, who have both served as members of my staff. Bryan represented me as a regional director for southwest Idaho. Cameron is chief clerk of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, a position he served in when I was chairman of the committee. I extend my deep condolences to Jared's many loved ones, who include his wife Brianna Lynn and four children: Jackson Don, Brice Laney, Campbell Zoe, and Collins Bree. My prayers for God's comfort are also with Jared's parents, Don and Peggy, as they mourn the loss of their son, Jared's other brother, Chase, and Jared's many other family members and friends. prgtoken Jared, who was born on February 8, 1980, and graduated from Nampa High School, was a fellow Eagle Scout. He shared this proud achievement with his son, Jackson. Jared also served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Columbus, OH. After returning from his mission, he met and married the love of his life Bri, and they made a beautiful family together. He earned his associate degree in multimedia and worked with his employer of 15 years, Iliad Media Group, as the IT director and supporting engineer. prgtoken Jared shared his love and laughs generously with his family, friends, coworkers, and all those who were blessed to be a part of his life. He was a fun-loving and deeply caring father, husband, son, brother, uncle, son-in-law, brother-in-law, and friend. He loved his children dearly, their passions and talents, and he loved serving others, sharing the gospel and making connections. His obituary movingly notes, ``He showed his love by filling your soul and your belly . . . Jared almost always had a smile on his face. Everyone was a friend to him. He left anyone he met a better person.'' Those who knew him recall his kindness, generosity, and humor. Jared is remembered as a great listener with a heart of gold. prgtoken We are so fortunate to have had Jared's light glow so brightly in our world. My heart goes out to all those who loved him, as we honor his life, mourn his loss, and cherish his loving memory.
REMEMBERING DANIEL J. WHITFIELD
Rand Paul (Republican, KY) \u2014 2022-7-25

I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Daniel J. Whitfield, a ``happy warrior'' in the conservative movement whose dynamic personality and disarming humor brought countless conservative activists together in friendship for the cause of liberty. prgtoken In addition to Dan's engaging presence at conferences, networking events, and small gatherings, he was also a gifted writer and communicator who channeled his mastery of the English language into high-impact direct mail fundraising appeals and--later--gripping fiction. prgtoken Dan was born in Birmingham, England, on September 14, 1982, to Michael and Jennifer. He was a lifelong lover of liberty, joining the UK Conservative Party at the age of 14. He proudly displayed a photo of the Right Honourable Baroness, Margaret Thatcher, on his bedroom wall. prgtoken After graduating from Nottingham University, Daniel earned a M.A. in history from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Dan moved to the Washington, DC, area shortly thereafter for an internship at the Leadership Institute. Dan soon joined the LI staff full-time, where he built up his resume by empowering conservative activists to become leaders while developing lifelong connections across the conservative movement in the United States. prgtoken After more than 2 years at LI, Dan became a copywriter for the Eberle Communications Group, a job he cherished from the start as it allowed him to stay in the U.S where he would be able to pursue a career as well as his future wife, Nena Bartlett. Dan remained a longtime volunteer faculty member for LI, giving generously of his time to train hundreds of conservatives to become better writers. prgtoken Daniel dreamed of having a big family and, after a truly unique courtship, began building one with his wife, Nena, in 2014. prgtoken Dan and Nena brought three beautiful girls into the world: Dagny Joy, Magnolia Jennifer, and Zora Katherine. Dan's incredible spirit shines through in each of his daughters. prgtoken In addition to starting a family, Dan's other life ambition was to become a published author. He achieved his goal with his first book, ``Eagle Ascending,'' published by TouchPoint Press. His second book, ``The Spider's prgtoken Revenge,'' will be published posthumously next year. prgtoken Dan touched the lives of countless thousands of conservative activists in the United States and across the pond. His roots may have been in Nottingham, but Dan Whitfield was American through and through. Anyone lucky enough to have met Dan even for just a moment is better for it. Dan's personal warmth and professional accomplishments have left an indelible mark on countless people around the world. He will be greatly missed.
ARMS SALES NOTIFICATION
Robert Menendez (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2022-7-25

section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. prgtoken In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications which have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.