mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
REMEMBERING U.S. ARMY SERGEANT CADE WOLFE
Brad Finstad (Republican, MN) \u2014 2023-11-15

I rise today to remember U.S. Army Sergeant Cade Wolfe of Mankato, Minnesota, who was tragically lost in a helicopter crash in the eastern Mediterranean Sea during a routine air refueling mission last Friday. prgtoken Cade knew early on that he wanted to serve his country. He was raised in a proud, patriotic family with a mom and dad who served in the Army and a brother who would also go on to serve. For Cade, serving in uniform wasn't just a calling. It was a family tradition. prgtoken After he graduated from Mankato East High School, Cade enlisted in the Army as a helicopter repairman before going on to serve in Army Special Operations Forces, providing helicopter support. prgtoken Cade died doing what he loved, serving the country that he loved with fellow soldiers that he loved. He was truly one of southern Minnesota's bravest heroes. prgtoken Last Friday's accident is a sobering reminder to all of us that our servicemen and -women put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe. prgtoken While Cade's remains have yet to be recovered, I am continuing to pray for his wife, Danielle, his parents, his brother, and all those across Minnesota's First District who knew and loved Sergeant Wolfe. prgtoken , his sacrifice will never be forgotten.
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUESTS--EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
Lindsey Graham (Republican, SC) \u2014 2023-11-15

. Thank you very much, and thank you for your service and to everybody that served. prgtoken Next week is Thanksgiving. We are all going to go home here in a little bit and enjoy our families. God willing, we make it home safe. I mean that for everybody--Coach, everybody. There are a lot of people who won't be with their families next week because they are in some place doing things that are very difficult, risking their lives. This is where I am here tonight. prgtoken How do you right wrongs? You don't create another wrong. I want to right the wrong of having abortion paid for by public taxpayer dollars from the defense coffers that I think not only violates the Hyde amendments, it is just bad policy. prgtoken Count me in, Coach. I am with you on that, Mike. I am with you on that. You say it is illegal. I tend to agree with you. Go to court. prgtoken One way you right a wrong in America if you think the law is broken, you actually bring a lawsuit. I think we found a way--talking to Jay Sekulow--to bring a lawsuit challenging the Defense policy of President using taxpayer dollars to pay for transportation costs from DOD funds to perform abortions. I think that is in violation of the Hyde amendment. The good news is I believe the of the House has standing to bring the lawsuit. prgtoken Generally speaking, in America, when you get in a legal dispute, you go to court. The DOD general counsel has a memo that it doesn't violate the Hyde amendment. I think they are wrong, but we are not a court of law here. There is a court of law available to resolve this dispute, and I would encourage us to seek that remedy. prgtoken Another remedy is to try to find a compromise between the House version and the Senate version of the NDAA. The House strips the policy; the Senate--because they are controlled by --we have the policy, and we will try to work out some way to reconcile that through the legislative process. That is one way to fix this problem. prgtoken What we have chosen to do--and every Senator has a lot of power. That is what makes the Senate different than the House. I have served in both bodies. With power comes responsibility. The wrong we are creating here is to put our military at risk at a time of great need. prgtoken If you do not believe these holds are having an effect on the military, I don't question your sincerity; I question your judgment. If you ask anybody out in the field right now--there is one flag officer for the whole continent of Africa. This is like a car wreck on I-95. It keeps backing up. Last time we were talking, there were 300. We are up to 450. This is affecting the ability of the Nation to defend itself. prgtoken I will not tolerate being told something I know is wrong. The policy is wrong, but holding these officers who had nothing to do with this is wrong. They deserve better. They have done nothing to get us here in this spot. We have got a political difference between the Dep
CONGRATULATING WEST POINT IMPLEMENT ON CELEBRATING 50 YEARS
Mike Flood (Republican, NE) \u2014 2023-11-15

I rise today to congratulate West Point implement on a half-century of doing business. prgtoken Fifty years ago, Buddy Ternus, Francis Sand, and Erv Eisenmenger started this business that has grown significantly and evolved to meet the needs of the community through the years. prgtoken Today, Erv and his sons Scott and Chad run West Point Implement as a family business. prgtoken Over the past five decades, the business has expanded to include West Point Design and EIS, Mfg. prgtoken One of the keys to their success has been their commitment ``to stay alert to change, and to lead the way for our employees and our customers toward being the best in the business of production agriculture.'' prgtoken Cuming County, which is home to West Point Implement, has over 360,000 acres of farmland and is one of the top counties for cattle in Nebraska. prgtoken Consequently, West Point Implement has played a pivotal part in helping the ag economy grow in Cuming County in its years of business. prgtoken Congratulations to West Point Implement and the Eisenmenger family on reaching this milestone--here's to the next fifty years.
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUESTS--EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
Joni Ernst (Republican, IA) \u2014 2023-11-15

I am privileged to be on the floor this evening in what in the military we would call a joint operation. So this evening, I am joining my marine colleagues, Senator Sullivan of Alaska and Senator Young of Indiana, and my Air Force colleague from the great State of South Carolina. I, of course, served 23 years between the U.S. Army Reserve and the Iowa Army National Guard, deploying once for Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2003 to 2004, where I was the company commander of 150 soldiers that ran convoys from Kuwait up into Iraq, supporting our warriors to the north. prgtoken We are also joined in the chair this evening by another veteran, the Senator from Michigan in the chair, , Naval reservist. So we truly are a joint operation under the color of purple. So thank you so much. prgtoken I am going to throw down just a little bit of how we got into this situation and a little bit more about who I am because I am pro- military, obviously, but I am also pro-life as well. I served in the Iowa State Senate. And during the time that I served in the State senate, I was a pro-life leader. I was the go-to gal for our pro-life issues in the Iowa State Senate, participating and leading in legislation to advance life, as well as participating in marches for life, in the great State of Iowa. prgtoken Coming into the U.S. Senate, then I became a member of the pro-life caucus. I have led on a number of efforts when it comes to life. Predominantly, though, one that our pro-life community has really appreciated is the effort to defund Planned Parenthood and redirect those dollars to eligible providers of women's healthcare, such as community health centers. prgtoken In February of 2023, we saw President unveil his abortion travel agency plan. OK? What does this mean? It means that President decided that he would send young women--whether they were family members, whether they were servicemembers--he would allow them to travel. He would send them to other States to receive abortions, that being supported by taxpayer dollars. prgtoken We feel this is wrong. It goes against the Hyde amendment. That is where President put us. prgtoken Secretary Lloyd Austin implemented that plan in February, again, of 2023. And in March of 2023, then I led--I led--on the effort to overturn this policy. I introduced and led the legislation to reverse the DOD's travel abortion policy. prgtoken It was twice voted on in the Armed Services Committee during the National Defense Authorization Act process--twice voted on; twice defeated in the committee. Now, that is in the U.S. Senate. prgtoken So, again, I am pro-military, and I am pro-life. I also do not relish the fact prgtoken that I am standing on the floor this evening as we try and bring these nominations forward, but I understand the national security risks that are out there and the detriment to readiness as we continue to hold over 450 of the finest men and
HONORING TEXAS-24 HOMETOWN HERO AND TREASURED TEAM MEMBER RYAN McDERMOTT
Beth Van Duyne (Republican, TX) \u2014 2023-11-15

I rise today to recognize our Texas-24 Hometown Hero, Ryan McDermott. Ryan was an advocate for all North Texans. He had a talent for reaching out to new people and organizations while truly valuing each person he met. One of his new projects was to establish constituent services expos at senior centers across DFW so he could meet people where they were and offer them help with Social Security, Medicare, or other services. prgtoken Always offering support and assistance to everyone he met, his enthusiasm showed what a truly noble soul he possessed. As an incredible advocate for our North Texas Job Fair, Ryan recruited the most new businesses of anyone on staff. His work to make the North Texas Job Fair a tremendous success connected people who needed new job opportunities with employers who were thrilled to have new workers. Ryan's efforts changed people's lives for the better. prgtoken As a member of Team Van Duyne, Ryan was always there to help others with all projects and shoulder responsibilities that made each of our days a little easier. Ryan tragically passed away on October 24, 2023, and will be sorely missed by so many. prgtoken I am forever grateful to Ryan for his incredible service to North Texas and all those whose lives he touched. We ask for prayers for his family and to remember him as the incredible man he was.
SPECIAL RECOGNITION OF MAYOR GREGORY ZILKA UPON HIS RETIREMENT
Robert E. Latta (Republican, OH) \u2014 2023-11-15

I rise today to recognize and celebrate a dedicated educator and public servant, Mayor Gregory J. Zilka, who will be retiring after twelve years as Mayor of the City of Avon Lake. Over the course of his career, Mayor Zilka's commitment and leadership to Avon Lake has shaped it into the city it is today. prgtoken Prior to serving as Mayor of Avon Lake, Mayor Zilka worked as a social studies teacher at Avon Lake High School for thirty-five years. In 1985, he was appointed to the Avon Lake City Council where he served for twenty-six years, fourteen of which he served as President. prgtoken Mayor Zilka was first elected mayor in 2012. Since then, he has performed over 200 weddings, applied for and received $4,000,000 in grants on behalf of the city, oversaw the construction of 600 new single-family dwellings, and saw the population of Avon Lake grow by over 3,000 people. Mayor Zilka also saw Avon Lake through many complicated issues, including the potential closing of the Ford Ohio Assembly Plant. In the end, the company remained open and announced a $1.5 billion expansion. To help Avon Lake gain more access to Lake Erie, the Mayor oversaw the closing of Avon Lake Power Plant which had dominated the shoreline and skyline for 100 years. Mayor Zilka has also helped organize and participated in Avon Lake's year-long Bicentennial celebrations which brought about the first beer festival as well as other events for Avon Lake's citizens. prgtoken Mayor Zilka has also been an active volunteer throughout his entire life. In his early 20's, he served in the Peace Corps, where he met his wife of forty-five years. For the past fourteen years, he has been active within the Lorain County Office on Aging's Home Delivered Meals program. Additionally, he volunteers weekly for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Lorain County and has served on the board of trustees for organizations including the Lorain County Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services (ADAS), Cleveland State Leadership Academy, and the Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital Advisory Council, among many others. prgtoken , I ask my colleagues to join me in paying special tribute to Mayor Gregory J. Zilka of Avon Lake, Ohio. On behalf of the people of the Fifth Congressional District of Ohio, I recognize the dedication and leadership that Mayor Zilka has shown through his service to his community. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUESTS--EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
Dan Sullivan (Republican, AK) \u2014 2023-11-15

. I am going to finish this final one, and then I will. prgtoken This is Col. Trevor Hall, 33 years in the Marine Corps. He served as both enlisted and--a military enlisted and officer. His command experience includes rifle and weapons platoon commander, 3rd Battalion 6th Marines; multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He served with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. He served in support of Operation Desert Thunder, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Unified Protector--that is Libya. Combat marine moving from Colonel to Brigadier General. prgtoken That is one more that we would want to promote tonight. We have several others, . It is 3:30. I am hoping that, my colleagues, we can continue to make progress. I am committed to continue to work with Senator Tuberville and others on moving forward, but at the same time, we have got to keep faith with these military members. We have got to keep faith with them. Many of them are deployed right now. A number of them are in combat. prgtoken And we committed to come back down here and try to move these, and we are going to keep doing it. Hopefully, we can move forward with my colleagues here to, as I mentioned, focus on the big issues of national security and readiness, which I believe, with regard to the administration, are legion. I have been fighting those in the Armed Services Committee. prgtoken The budget shrinks the Army, shrinks the Navy, shrinks the Marine Corps right now. That is music to Xi Jinping and Putin's ears. Next year's budget will be below 3 percent of GDP. We have only been below 3 percent of GDP maybe four or five times in the last 70 years. So that is not a good number. We need a much more robust military. I want to work with my partners, including those on the floor here, to focus on those issues. But we need to get through this, and it is important. We need to fix the policy, the abortion policy, that we all disagree with here. There are a number of ways we can do it. Again, I have worked with Senator Tuberville on ways to do that. prgtoken And I do agree with my colleagues here that this was started and provoked by the administration. But punishing these 450 members and their families is not the best way--is not the way to go about doing that. prgtoken So, --do you want to say anything else?
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Deb Fischer (Republican, NE) \u2014 2023-11-15

. As Americans in 2023, there is plenty that we disagree on, but, last week, USA Today released a new study on something we can all agree to hate--potholes. The study ranked all 50 States based on how many potholes covered their roads. It also included that the average car repair after a tussle with a pothole costs over $400. prgtoken That is a lot of money for Americans to pay unexpectedly after a road incident, and, unfortunately, our pothole problem is about to get much worse. prgtoken For the past 67 years, the Highway Trust Fund has largely funded road maintenance across our Nation. The fund repairs wear and tear from vehicles that travel our highways. That is critical for our roads, for our infrastructure, and for our transportation. prgtoken But the Highway Trust Fund is running on empty. It is projected to run out of money in the next few years. The insolvency of the fund would necessitate a total restructuring of our highway repair system, and it would throw our national infrastructure under the bus. prgtoken So how do we prevent this from happening? The main source of revenue for the fund is the Federal gas tax, which is a user fee. The money that drivers pay in taxes when they fill up with gas automatically goes toward road construction. But as a smaller percentage of vehicles fill up with gas, a smaller amount of money goes into the Highway Trust Fund. prgtoken The use of electric vehicles, or EVs, has shot up over the last several years, and, of course, EVs don't use gas. Since they don't fill up with gas, they don't pay the gas tax, and they don't pay into the Highway Trust Fund. prgtoken As more EVs have been adopted, the fund has become more unstable. It is not receiving the same revenue as it used to. According to Deloitte, U.S. adoption of EVs will increase to 30 percent of new car sales by 2030. So that is 30 percent of new car drivers not paying into the Highway Trust Fund. prgtoken But if anyone should be paying into Federal road repair, it should be EV users. EVs can be up to three times heavier than gas-powered cars, due to their large batteries. This significant weight puts extra stress onto our roads. It pulverizes the road bed, causing more maintenance, more upgrades, and more costs. prgtoken The Highway Trust Fund exists to fix exactly the type of damage that these heavy EVs can cause. So it is only fair that all highway users, both gas-powered and electric vehicles, pay into that fund. prgtoken My recent bill, the Stop EV Freeloading Act would fix this discrepancy. This new legislation would require EVs to contribute to the Highway Trust Fund through a two-tier fee structure. The first tier corresponds to the Federal gas tax. Under my bill, buyers would pay a one-time $1,000 fee on EVs at the point of sale. That money would contribute to the highway trust fund. This $1,000 fee equals the average amount consumers currently contribute to the fund from gas taxes over 10 years. Ten years is t
PROTECTING THE RIGHT TO ANONYMOUS SPEECH
Glenn Grothman (Republican, WI) \u2014 2023-11-15

in the last few days, a new threat to American freedom has arisen. prgtoken We all know today that most people, or many people, get out their views on social media. There are positives and negatives to that, but there is no question it is true. prgtoken Particularly with today's intolerance, in which people can be fired for their views, I think it is very important that people be able to voice their views anonymously. prgtoken Unfortunately, , it has become apparent that some people want to bar you from expressing your views anonymously, which I think in many jobs and many occupations today could mean you are going to get fired. There is no other way to express your views other than anonymously. prgtoken As I understand it, our forefathers sometimes had to put out their words or their ideas of a future government anonymously to escape detection from the British. Voicing things anonymously is a long-held American tradition. prgtoken , I hope the American people are aware that, like so many other of our liberties, it is an attack by some politicians who want to make sure that your employers and your college professors have the ability to prgtoken know the way you think so they can take revenge on you. prgtoken The American people must keep the right to post their views anonymously.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE ARLINGTON BABE RUTH 13U ALL-STAR TEAM
Donald S. Beyer, Jr. (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2023-11-15

. Madam , I rise today to congratulate the Arlington Babe Ruth 13U All-Star Team, who won the Virginia Babe Ruth Baseball 13U State championship and represented Virginia in the 2023 Babe Ruth World Series. prgtoken The team was undefeated in the State tournament, outscoring their opponents 41-7. The team went on to proudly represent Virginia in the 2023 Babe Ruth World Series where they faced regional champions from all over the country. prgtoken While they came up short in their goal of winning the world series, they should nevertheless be tremendously proud of a wonderful season. It would also not have been possible without a dedicated group of friends, families, and supporters who cheered them on and spent countless hours and hundreds of miles supporting the team. prgtoken It made Arlington and the rest of the Eighth District proud. I am sure they will go on to even greater things. prgtoken Madam , please join me in congratulating head coach Chris Chiuchiolo, assistant coach Thor Koomey, and their championship team: Sammy Braccia, George Cocker, Ryan DiVincenzo, Nolan Foerster, Luca Feden, Clive Gay, Aden Heinzer, Michael Huff, Booker Lawson, Michael Mastrangelo, Jack Riordan, Charlie Rotz, and Jones Tallent. prgtoken Go Arlington.
REMEMBERING LIVES LOST AND CALLING FOR A CEASE-FIRE
Rashida Tlaib (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2023-11-15

. Madam , as Americans like me continue to fight to save lives, no matter faith or ethnicity, I hope we remember all lives lost. prgtoken I still remember the celebrations across Palestinian villages of Al Shaima, who earned the highest high school exam score, making Gaza proud. Al Shaima was a symbol of hope because even though she grew up in a refugee camp, she still succeeded with the highest score. prgtoken She was killed with members of her family when missiles hit the al- Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza. prgtoken Yousef Maher Dawas was a young poet and writer. He died alongside members of his family. His last words, Madam , were: ``We are not numbers.'' prgtoken Viola and Yara, sisters, were killed at Saint Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church, where a missile hit while hundreds of people were crowded into the compound seeking shelter. They were members of former Congressman Justin Amash's family. They were among at least 16 people killed at the church. prgtoken Madam , please know that silencing me silences Palestinian voices who are asking to live, so we must ask and demand a cease-fire now. prgtoken Madam , more information can be found at: https:// www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/23/doctors-poets-families-babies- victims-of-israels-war-on-gaza.
HONORING THE MEMORY OF STATE REPRESENTATIVE EDITH WARREN
Donald G. Davis (Democrat, NC) \u2014 2023-11-15

I rise to honor the memory of my former colleague and State representative Edith Warren, who passed away this past weekend at the age of 86. prgtoken Miss Edith's journey from a tobacco farm in Edgecombe County led to a remarkable life of achievements and service. She shattered glass ceilings. Miss Edith became the first woman to serve as a full-time principal in the Pitt County school system, the first woman elected as a Pitt County Commissioner, and the first woman to represent North Carolina House District 8. prgtoken I had the privilege of working alongside Miss Edith and enjoyed every bit of it, including her delicious cakes. prgtoken It was her 14-year tenure in the North Carolina House of Representatives that further solidified her legacy. She was a champion for eastern North Carolina education, and our beloved East Carolina University. prgtoken Miss Edith's legacy will live on through her extraordinary contributions. prgtoken , I extend my deepest condolences to her family.