mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
ORDER FOR ADJOURNMENT
Rob Portman (Republican, OH) \u2014 2018-10-4

I rise to talk about my vote on the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to serve on the Supreme Court. prgtoken Sadly, over the past couple of weeks, the confirmation process has become a bitter partisan fight that has deeply divided this body and has divided our country in the midst of all the passion, the anger, and the emotion from both sides. Now I want to talk about something else. I want to talk about the facts. I want to talk about the facts as I know them. prgtoken First, I know Brett Kavanaugh. I have known Brett and his wife Ashley for more than 15 years since we worked together in the White House. I have seen them in tough situations. I have seen them tested. I have seen their character. I have known Brett not so much as a legal scholar or a judge or a professor but as a colleague and a friend and a father and a husband. I have known him as someone who is smart, thoughtful, and compassionate. prgtoken Among White House colleagues, I know that he is universally viewed that way. He was at the time, and he still is today as we have seen from the testimony of so many men and women who have worked with him. I also know that Brett Kavanaugh has been a widely respected public servant for nearly three decades, including the last 12 years as a judge on the DC Circuit Court--what most view as the second highest court in the land. prgtoken I know he has received praise from his fellow judges and his many law clerks, the majority of whom have been women, and from the students in his classes of Harvard, Yale, and Georgetown Law Schools--students from across the political spectrum--also from litigants who have been before him, including Lisa Blatt, who is a self-described liberal who has argued more cases before the Supreme Court than any other woman. When Lisa Blatt joined Condoleezza Rice and me in introducing Brett Kavanaugh before the committee, she said, ``He is unquestionably qualified by his extraordinary intellect, experience, and temperament.'' All of this seems to have been lost in the past couple of weeks. prgtoken I also know that Brett Kavanaugh is highly qualified to serve on the Supreme Court. In fact, frankly, I have prgtoken heard that from a number of my ic colleagues who were quick to say they don't support him for other reasons, but they don't question his legal experience and his qualifications. You really can't. prgtoken The American Bar Association, not known for being very friendly to Conservatives, has given Brett Kavanaugh its highest rating unanimously. I know that in more than 20 hours of testimony before the Judiciary Committee--in fact, I think it was 32 hours of testimony--he showed an encyclopedic knowledge of the Constitution, of Supreme Court cases, an appreciation for Supreme Court precedent, and, overall, has an impressive grasp of the law. prgtoken Only a couple of weeks ago, he had successfully navigated the arduous process of meetings, i
Recognition of the Minority Leader (Executive Session)
Orrin G. Hatch (Republican, UT) \u2014 2018-10-4

nearly 3 months ago, I came to the Senate floor for the first time to support President 's nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. Here is what I had to say at that time: Judge Kavanaugh is among the most distinguished and most influential judges in the entire country. The Supreme Court has adopted the positions in his opinions no less than 11 times. He has authored multiple dissents that ultimately prevailed in the Supreme Court. He has taught courses at Harvard, Yale, and Georgetown. It bears mention, liberal and conservative justices alike have hired his former clerks, which shows the respect he has across the ideological spectrum. Truly, there is no one more qualified and more prepared to serve on the Supreme Court than Brett Kavanaugh. prgtoken A lot has transpired in the last 3 months. We have received and reviewed more documents for Judge Kavanaugh than for any other Supreme Court nominee in our Nation's history. We have had 5 days of public hearings. Judge Kavanaugh has answered more than 1,300 written questions--more questions than all previous Supreme Court nominees combined. prgtoken We have had protesters in halls and hearing rooms and elevators. We have even seen the miraculous return of Spartacus, and we have had the lowest, most vile, most dishonest attempt at character assassination I have ever seen in my whole 42 years of service in the Senate. prgtoken We may never know who leaked reports of Dr. Ford's allegations to the press. We do know it was someone in the ic orbit. This was followed by the most appalling smear campaign imaginable. No accusation was too heinous, no claim too far-fetched. prgtoken My ic colleagues like to pretend that Judge Kavanaugh's understandable indignation at last week's hearing was a reaction only to Dr. Ford's allegations but, of course, that is not the case. In the days immediately preceding that hearing, Judge Kavanaugh was accused of drugging women, of sexual assault, and even of gang rape. prgtoken Judge Kavanaugh told the committee investigators it was like the twilight zone. I sure wish my ic colleagues would stop trying to rewrite history to excise the slew of garbage they unleashed on Judge Kavanaugh and the American people, and I hope they will start talking to their friends on the outside and start acting like Americans again and quit this kind of divisive activity. prgtoken I would like to say a word here about Dr. Ford. It is clear now that we will never know what happened 36 years ago. Dr. Ford offered a moving account of what she says happened between her and Judge Kavanaugh back when they were teenagers. Judge Kavanaugh, in turn, offered a forceful, impassioned rebuttal of her claims. Some have criticized Judge Kavanaugh for being too forceful in his response. My gosh, if that were me, I would be even more forceful than he was,
TRIBUTE TO CHARLOTTE WEBER
Marco Rubio (Republican, FL) \u2014 2018-10-4

today I recognize Charlotte Weber for being named the National Breeder of the Year by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. prgtoken The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association presented Charlotte with this award during the 33rd annual national awards dinner at the Woodford Reserve Club in Lexington, KY. She is the owner and sole operator of Live Oak Stud in Ocala, and for the first time, a broodmare based outside of Kentucky received this recognition. prgtoken Live Oak Stud is a 4,500-acre thoroughbred farm and commercial cattle operation that Charlotte has guided since 1995. Her breeding and racing operation's distinctive black, red, and white silks have become a nationally recognized racing symbol. Over the years, Live Oak Stud has seen its record of success grow. Charlotte's horse, Win Approval, dam of World Approval, was also named Broodmare of the Year by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. This horse has become a central part of Live Oak Stud's success. prgtoken I extend my best wishes to Charlotte and look forward to hearing of Live Oak Stud's continued success as she brings prestige to Florida horse breeding.
Nomination of Brett Kavanaugh (Executive Session)
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2018-10-4

the Senate is considering the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. prgtoken When the noise fades, when the uncorroborated mud washes away, what is left is the distinguished nominee who stands before us--an acclaimed judge whom peers and colleagues praise in the very strongest terms, a jurist whom the American Bar Association awarded its very highest rating unanimously--``well qualified.'' prgtoken Here is what the ABA says it takes to earn that distinction: To merit a rating of ``Well Qualified,'' the nominee must be at the top of the legal profession in his or her legal community; have outstanding legal ability, breadth of experience and the highest reputation for integrity; and demonstrate the capacity for sound judicial temperament. prgtoken This is the nonpartisan test that my friend the ic leader, among others, used to call the gold standard. Judge Kavanaugh passed that with flying colors. prgtoken To be clear, this seal of approval comes from the ABA's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary--an independent entity within the organization. Even after the ABA's President prgtoken tried to play politics with the nomination last week, the Standing Committee reaffirmed its rating yet again. Unanimously well qualified-- that is Brett Kavanaugh. prgtoken So how did we end up where we are today? How did we get here? How did we get from a chorus of expert praise and professional respect to wild tales of violent gangs, sexual assault rings, fist fights on boats in Rhode Island harbors, and the possibility--get this--of an argument at a college bar? prgtoken Several weeks ago, a confidential allegation of misconduct from nearly 40 years ago was leaked to the press. Since then, other allegations have poured forth. Many were just patently ridiculous--a feeding frenzy of ridiculous accusations. While some cheered on the feeding frenzy for political purposes, Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and his staff rolled up their sleeves and went to work. They promptly investigated the varied allegations that materialized at the last minute. prgtoken Chairman Grassley reopened the public hearing so that Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh could speak directly to those claims under oath. By the way, that was after he offered Dr. Ford the option to tell her story at any place of her choosing--either here or in California, either in public or in private, either with staff or with Members. It was an offer that, according to Dr. Ford's testimony, was seemingly never actually communicated to her by her lawyers despite a professional requirement to do so. prgtoken Now, of course, the FBI has completed a supplemental background investigation and delivered its results to us here in the Senate. This is now the seventh time the FBI has thoroughly reviewed Judge Kavanaugh's background--seven FBI investigations. So what h
Calling for the Release of Pastor Andrew Brunson (Executive Session)
James Lankford (Republican, OK) \u2014 2018-10-4

the American people have walked through Supreme Court nominations many times. There is a normal process of walking through Supreme Court nominations. prgtoken They are nominated by the President. There are background checks that are done. It is extensive. They then meet with every single Senator or whoever wants to meet with them privately. They turn in documents so that everyone can read through their backgrounds and their writings. They get details, and they get interviews. Anything they have ever written, whether it was writing for their law school journals or writing articles for a sports magazine, is turned in. Everyone goes back through that. prgtoken Once they go through all 100 Senators or whoever wants to meet with them, the Judiciary Committee meets with them. They do a week of hearings. They do extensive work and talk through everything. Outside witnesses will come in and will talk about their lives. prgtoken There is a confidential meeting that happens with all the Senators in which they sit down and say there were some private accusations that might have been made or some issues about your finances or things that we saw in your background report that we want to ask you about confidentially. prgtoken After all of that is done, there is time for questions for the record, and anyone who still has questions can submit them to the nominee. Then it is time for a vote. prgtoken That is how it is typically done. Quite frankly, that doesn't look like how it was being done this time with Judge Brett Kavanaugh. prgtoken He was nominated by the President. He turned over documents. Boy, did he turn over documents. There was an enormous number of documents turned over by him that were requested and continue to be requested. Brett Kavanaugh ended up having 480,000 pages of documents turned over to the committee. It was more than the past five Supreme Court nominees combined turned over. prgtoken There were 57 days from the time he was nominated until the time the first hearing actually began with the Judiciary Committee. That is a longer period of time than it was for Justice Gorsuch, Justice Kagan, or Justice Sotomayor. It was a long period of time between when he was nominated and when he actually came, and there were more documents that were turned over than for any other person. He went through the hearings for 5 days. He went through all of the confidential meetings and those private meetings. He went through every private meeting with every Senator who wanted to meet privately. prgtoken Then it was time for questions for the record. There were 1,300 questions for the record that were given to him as followup for the hearing. Those are more questions for the record than for all of the Supreme Court Justices combined in the history of the country. prgtoken After all of that was done, a bombshell was dropped. You see, a month and a half before the end of the hearing, a lady named Dr. Ford had sent
Calling for the Release of Pastor Andrew Brunson (Executive Session)
John Thune (Republican, SD) \u2014 2018-10-4

a long and arduous process is finally drawing to a close. In the next couple of days, we will vote on Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. I will be voting yes. prgtoken Last week, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about an allegation she made about Judge Kavanaugh. Dr. Ford deserved to be heard, and she was. Her claims deserved to be investigated, and they were, thoroughly, by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Then they were investigated again by the FBI. prgtoken Here is what we have learned after seven FBI background investigations, more than 2 weeks of committee investigations, and a day-long hearing in which both sides were heard: There is not one scrap of corroborating evidence prgtoken to back up her claims against Judge Kavanaugh. prgtoken Person after person after person has given testimony of Judge Kavanaugh's good character, both in high school and in his adult life. Sixty-five women who knew Judge Kavanaugh in high school sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee noting that he always treated women with ``decency and respect.'' prgtoken It has become clear that for many of my ic colleagues, zero evidence was never going to be enough. Innocent until proven guilty doesn't seem to be a concept that my ic colleagues understand. Instead, my ic colleagues seem to be putting forth a new standard: Guilty no matter what, even with evidence to the contrary, which is scary because innocent until proven guilty is a pretty foundational principle of our system of government, and it is a powerful safeguard against destroying the lives of innocent people with false accusations. prgtoken The truth is, to many of our ic colleagues, Judge Kavanaugh has been guilty since the moment he was nominated. He is guilty of being a . He is guilty of being nominated by a President. He is guilty of pledging his allegiance to the law instead of to ' preferred judicial outcomes. So any means of defeating him became fair game, no matter how unjust, no matter how outlandish. prgtoken Dr. Ford certainly deserved to have her claims heard and investigated, but didn't stop there. They gave credence to almost every accusation that was thrown out, no matter how ridiculous or uncorroborated. It didn't matter if no less a paper than the New York Times had declined to publish an accusation for lack of any corroboration. If it would slow down Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation, they grabbed onto it. prgtoken At least one ic Senator suggested that we needed an FBI investigation because Judge Kavanaugh had thrown ice at someone in college. Apparently, throwing ice in college is now grounds for an FBI investigation. What is next--an FBI investigation because Judge Kavanaugh stole another kid's toy in preschool or because he didn't share his swing on the playground during recess? prgtoken The con
Recognition of the Minority Leader (Executive Session)
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2018-10-4

it seems like light years ago, but it was July 9 when President nominated Brett Kavanaugh to be the next Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. I want to recap to refresh everybody's memory of what has happened since July 9 and explain briefly why I will be voting for Judge Kavanaugh to be the next Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. prgtoken Most importantly, I want to make one point emphatically clear. The Senate should not be intimidated under the circus-like atmosphere that has unfortunately surrounded this entire confirmation process. We should not be intimidated, and we should not be complicit in the orchestrated attempt to assassinate one man's character and destroy his career and to further delay this confirmation vote. prgtoken When Judge Kavanaugh was nominated, it quickly became clear that we were dealing with somebody who was well qualified and well respected. He served for 12 years on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. He was well known for his expertise and his talent and his experience. Former colleagues and judges said that. Lawyers who argued before him at the DC Circuit Court said that. His former law clerks said that. Legal scholars, including those who did not share his views on the law, said that as well. prgtoken What happened? I think opponents of this nomination knew they couldn't beat his nomination the old-fashioned way--on the merits--so they decided to throw in the kitchen sink. First came the trash talking. There are claims that supporters of Judge Kavanaugh's nomination would somehow be complicit with evil. That was a U.S. Senator who said that. Another said his confirmation could spell the destruction of the Constitution itself. prgtoken These are apocalyptic words and rhetoric. Most Americans can spot wild untruths and petty shaming when they see it. So that didn't work very well. Opponents had to move on to round 2. prgtoken They then argued that Judge Kavanaugh could not be fair and impartial on the bench because of his views on executive power or because of his experience in working on the terrorist detention policy following the attacks that devastated this country on September 11, 2001, when he worked at the White House. Thankfully, the fact checkers did their due diligence and spotted errors with each of these arguments. So opponents of the nomination moved on. prgtoken Next came the great paper chase--the insistence that more and more documents needed to be produced, including those that had traditionally been held back because of executive privilege, because these were not documents that Brett Kavanaugh owned. These were documents held by either the National Archives or the Library. Yet it is important to note that more documents about Judge Kavanaugh were produced for him than for all of the other past Supreme Court Justices combined--more paper on Judge Kavanaugh than all of the other Supreme Court Justices combined.
HONORING THE LIFE OF LINDA BROWN COCHRAN
Bonnie Watson Coleman (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2018-10-5

I rise today to honor the life of Linda Brown Cochran, who passed away on September 29, 2018, following a lengthy battle with cancer. prgtoken Linda was the daughter of Ernest and Betty Brown and grew up in Massillon, Ohio. She graduated Washington High School in 1978, and later attended Franklin University. prgtoken She was the President of Cochran & Assoc. Sales and Marketing Company. She worked hard to develop new businesses and provided support to her team. Additionally, she was a true advocate who championed many causes close to her heart. Among those include the Jack and Jill of America Inc Junior League, Cuyahoga ic Women's Caucus and Court Appointed Special Advocates of Lorain County. prgtoken Linda fostered a loving family with her husband of 35 years, Harold L. Cochran, in Avon Lake, Ohio. She raised two wonderful daughters, Courtney and Taylor. Along with them, she leaves behind her three sisters, Saundra, Marsha, and Vicki, and a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins. prgtoken It has been a joy to work with Courtney, who currently serves as my Communications Director & Senior Advisor in my Washington Office. Linda's love, intelligence, and grace shines through her daughter every day. While this is certainly a sad occasion, it is clear that Linda's spirit carries on through the excellence of her children, and the positive impact on her loved ones and community. prgtoken , I send my condolences to the family and friends of Linda. I ask that my colleagues join me in commemorating her wonderful life and legacy. prgtoken Rest in peace, Linda.
Cloture Motion (Executive Session)
Margaret Wood Hassan (Democrat, NH) \u2014 2018-10-5

I rise to join Senator Duckworth and Senator King and so many of my colleagues in opposing Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. prgtoken One of the most solemn responsibilities of a U.S. Senator is providing advice and consent upon the President's nominating an individual to the Supreme Court. This is a duty and a decision that I do not take lightly. This is a lifetime appointment to the highest Court in our land, which will impact the lives of every single person in this country. prgtoken Supreme Court Justice is not a position that any person is entitled to. Any individual nominated to the Court must be subject to security on the totality of their record, their temperament, and their past actions. prgtoken Yet, throughout the process of this nomination, my colleagues in the majority have made clear that they will stop at nothing to get Judge Kavanaugh on the Court, no matter his record, no matter his temperament, no matter his character. prgtoken When Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's serious and credible allegations came to light, we saw a truly disturbing scene from both Judge Kavanaugh and my colleagues on the other side of this aisle. Judge Kavanaugh himself lashed out, claiming a political conspiracy against him, refusing to answer questions, and seemingly threatening those who raised serious, good-faith questions about his fitness. He said these words: ``What goes around, comes around.'' His behavior and his words reflected a partisan who sees those with whom he differs as enemies, not opponents. prgtoken While many of my colleagues in the majority praise Dr. Ford's bravery in sharing her story, and even agreed that her testimony was credible, they blocked any serious professional attempt to get to the facts. prgtoken I want to take a minute here to address one of the most disingenuous claims I have heard from the majority when it talks about Dr. Blasey Ford. prgtoken Over the last week, Members on the other side of the aisle have expressed concern and regret that Dr. Blasey Ford's letter outlining her allegations was leaked, forcing her story into public view. But the fact that Dr. Blasey Ford didn't choose if and when to reveal her allegation to the public does not relieve the U.S. Senate of its duty to pursue the truth or to treat Dr. Blasey Ford with the respect and compassion the majority says it feels for her, something it could simply demonstrate by acceding to her request for what normally happens after a report of sexual assault: a full investigation before the hearing. prgtoken I, too, will note that I watched and listened to Dr. Blasey Ford's testimony. I considered the additional evidence that would have particular weight in a court of law of her corroborating statements well prior to any suggestion that Brett Kavanaugh would ever be nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States. I compared her testimony to that of Judge Kavanaugh, and I believe Dr. Blasey