mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
COMBATING THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC
Neal P. Dunn (Republican, FL) \u2014 2018-6-12

I rise today to thank my colleagues in the House for standing up and recognizing that we must get serious about the opioid epidemic that is plaguing America. prgtoken In 2016, more than 42,000 Americans died from opioid overdose, almost 5,000 in Florida alone. We can no longer be satisfied with lip service about this problem. prgtoken Over the next 2 weeks, we will be voting to crack down on the flow of dangerous synthetic drugs through our postal system and strengthen support systems for those who are battling addiction. prgtoken We will give our law enforcement the tools they need to get these drugs out of our communities and increase medical research on alternatives to opioid pain medication. Police and community leaders in my district have made it clear: They need our help. prgtoken It is time to tackle the opioid epidemic head-on, and I believe we are finally committed to doing exactly that. prgtoken I urge all my colleagues to support these bipartisan bills.
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019--Continued
Mike Lee (Republican, UT) \u2014 2018-6-12

I appreciate my colleague's opinions, the Senator from South Carolina. I would like to respond for a moment and speak for a few minutes about a bipartisan compromise that I have introduced, along with the senior Senator from California, Mrs. Feinstein. prgtoken The legislation I am referring to is called the Due Process Guarantee Act, which Senator Feinstein and I have introduced. It has also been offered up as an amendment to the legislation now before this body, to the National Defense Authorization Act. prgtoken Alexander Hamilton, in his writing of Federalist No. 84, called arbitrary imprisonment one of the ``favorite and most formidable instruments'' of tyrants and with good reason. The Constitution includes safeguards against this form of tyranny, including the writ of habeas corpus and the guarantee that American citizens will not be ``deprived of life, liberty, or property'' by the government ``without due process of law.'' If you are going to take away people's life or liberty or property, you have to give them due process. You can't do it without that. That is by mandate of the Constitution. It is made applicable to the Federal Government through the Fifth Amendment, and it is made applicable to the States through the 14th Amendment. prgtoken Our commitment to these rights has, of course, been tested in times of crisis. This is what happens to our rights when crises erupt. Sadly, tragically, I would add, we as Americans have not always passed these tests. We have not always emerged unscathed from the temptation to dip into the well of deprivation of due process in times of crisis. prgtoken During the Second World War, for example, President Franklin Roosevelt unilaterally authorized the internment of over 100,000 Japanese Americans for fear that they would spy against the United States--100,000 Americans just based on the fear that they might spy against the United States. To be sure, the government did not--neither President Roosevelt nor anyone in his administration--present any kind of evidence that these Americans--the 100,000 Americans who were imprisoned at that time--posed any kind of threat to our country. There was not one piece of evidence--not one shred, not one scintilla-- presented to that effect. In fact, most of these Americans were themselves native-born citizens. They were eligible, in that respect, to run for President of the United States. Many had never visited Japan in their entire lives. Many didn't speak the language spoken in Japan. prgtoken That episode in our Nation's history was tragic, and it remains a blight on our record to this very day. It is also an example that is, sadly, personal to the State I represent. You see, the U.S. Government unjustly detained thousands of Japanese Americans in Utah at the Topaz War Relocation Center. Japanese-American internment is, perhaps, the most dramatic and shameful instance of this kind of detention in our Nation's hi
SOUTHERN COLORADO SOAP BOX DERBY TRIBUTE
Scott R. Tipton (Republican, CO) \u2014 2018-6-12

I rise today to recognize the Southern Colorado Soap Box Derby and the individuals--participants, parents and organizers--who have made it an enriching community event to look forward to. On July 8, 1937, boys ages 9-12 entered cars they designed out of soap boxes, wood and metal for the very first Southern Colorado Soap Box Derby, which took place on West Street in Pueblo, Colorado. At the end of this event, the first place winner was sent to compete in the national championship in Akron, Ohio. prgtoken One year later in 1938, the races stopped due to World War II. They began again almost 20 years later in 1962, this time taking place on Constitution Hill with 62 racers ages 9-15. With the help of 28 orphans from Sacred Heart Home and Youth Center and several convicts of the Colorado State Penitentiary, all of the derby cars were successfully built by race time. The revived competition led to some new additions, one being the implementation of a Derby Queen who was chosen from the list of names submitted by the racers. The very first Derby Queen was Sharon Galbraith of Pueblo. prgtoken As the race evolved, by 1966 standard wheels and steering assemblies were required to give equal opportunity to all racers. Joplin Hill on Pueblo's east side was determined to be the best hill for gravity and the competition moved once again. Boys from communities including Pueblo, Denver, Boulder, Greeley and Loveland traveled to participate in the derby competition. Attendance steadily increased, ranging from a few hundred to 5,000 spectators. prgtoken Unfortunately, three years later, the derby was once more on the brink of shutting down due to a lack of funding. Only one more race was scheduled to be held. This lack of funding threatened derby winner Steve Espinosa's chances of going to the national competition in Ohio. However, thanks to the generosity of the Pueblo Star Journal and radio station KKAM's manager Dwight Shaw, enough funds were donated to send Steve to Ohio. prgtoken In 2006 after a long 37 years, the Southern Colorado Soap Box Derby started up again and has been held every year since. In that time, many positive changes have been instituted to be more inclusive, fair and safe: it's now open to both girls and boys ages 7-21; all derby cars have been built from a kit with strict adherence to all nuts and bolts; and contestants must qualify for one of three divisions to race. Since 2006, the highlight of each race has been Officer Randy Belisle of the Colorado State Patrol using his radar gun to clock the speed of each racer as he or she comes down the hill. With speeds ranging from 28 to 31 mph, Officer Belisle then issues each racer a ``ticket'' for speeding. prgtoken , the Southern Colorado Soap Box Derby is a fun and important part of the culture and history of Pueblo, Colorado. Throughout the years, this great event has enhanced community engagement and served as a way to teach youth the skills of w
RECOGNIZING THE SERVICE OF DR. SAM SHULTZ
J. French Hill (Republican, AR) \u2014 2018-6-12

I rise today and recognize the accomplishments of Stacy McAdoo, a speech communications teacher at Little Rock Central High School. prgtoken Stacy was recently named the Little Rock School District 2018 Teacher of the Year. In addition to teaching communications, Ms. McAdoo coordinates the important college readiness program, designed to help all students develop the skills they need to be successful in college. prgtoken As a result of her hard work, Stacy was also awarded the Marian G. Lacey Educator of the Year Award, a top award within the Little Rock School District. prgtoken Stacy McAdoo's commitment to education is one all Americans and Arkansans can admire. I am proud to represent her and all of the teachers of central Arkansas who are making a difference in the lives of our young people.
ALTERNATIVES TO OPIOIDS IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT ACT
Bill Pascrell, Jr. (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2018-6-12

I rise today in support of H.R. 5197, the Alternatives to Opioids, ALTO, in the Emergency Department Act. prgtoken I would like to thank Chairman Walden and Ranking Member Pallone for their work, not only today, but leading up to today. This is moving quickly on us. They have reviewed the legislation very carefully and have offered very, very good advice on all of these pieces of legislation. The leadership here is outstanding. prgtoken , I want to give a special thank you to my colleague, David McKinley, who sponsored this legislation with me and has been an essential partner. prgtoken I am glad to see this body come together in a bipartisan manner to address a problem that is ravaging every corner of our districts. prgtoken I believe the bills being considered today should be seen as only a small part of an ongoing discussion and, more importantly, resources needed to reverse the unyielding trend of this epidemic. prgtoken Opioids are contributing to 115 people dying a day. If you go back to the HIV epidemic at the end of the 1980s and early 1990s, you will see similar numbers. Until we educated ourselves and people, we still were in the 19th century with that disease. In the 1990s, we had no idea how to solve that epidemic, and we finally did. prgtoken Today, we do know how to prevent, how to halt, and how to reverse the horrific trend of substance use disorder, which continues to be on the rise. prgtoken We need to make sure the front lines have the resources to address it. I believe a major piece of the equation is prevention. That is why I introduced this Alternatives to Opioids legislation, which enjoys strong bipartisan support. prgtoken The ALTO program was pioneered at St. Joseph's Medical Center in the city I have lived in all my life, Paterson, New Jersey. They started in the emergency room, , and now they are moving to other departments to use alternatives that are legitimate. prgtoken The president of that hospital, Kevin Slavin, and the head of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Mark Rosenberg, implemented innovative protocols to use prgtoken nonopioid treatments to address some of the most common painful conditions, like acute backache and headaches. prgtoken In its first 2 years, St. Joe's ALTO model has already led to an 82 percent reduction in opioid prescriptions. I think that is a big deal. prgtoken St. Joseph's has been replicating this model, as I said, beyond the emergency department to other departments. They are also teaching ALTO to other States and other hospitals that are now seeing similar success. prgtoken While ending the opioid epidemic will require a multifaceted approach, the initial success of this program and others like it are worthy of broader study and implementation. I recommend that, Mr. . prgtoken This bill establishes a demonstration program to test alternative pain management. Those protocols should be limited to the use of opioids in emergency departments. The Secretary of Health
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019--Continued
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2018-6-12

a crash takes place in a system when conditions in that system reach a tipping point and the system rapidly destabilizes. prgtoken Climate change promises a lot of tipping points in the Earth's natural systems--ocean acidification, for instance, reaching a tipping point where foundational species, such as the pteropod, have trouble forming their shells, and populations of those foundation species crash, taking down the trophic levels above them; polar warming, for instance, releasing trapped frozen methane from Arctic tundra and hyperaccelerating the greenhouse effect. At the more local level, seasonally linked species, reacting to changing seasons, can get out of phase with one another, so the feeder and its food source no longer overlap in time, and then they have a crash. prgtoken In what Pope Francis has called ``the mysterious network of relations between things,'' climate change promises natural disruptions, large and small. prgtoken Of course, the same kind of disruption can occur in economics. Because we are ignoring climate change, we are hurtling toward natural disruptions like the kinds I mentioned. On top of that, recent warnings indicate that we are also hurtling toward economic disruptions-- crashes, if you will--which we could avoid or moderate if we prepared. But since the fossil fuel overlords of the present Congress won't let that preparation happen, we need to prgtoken expect these economic crashes. What are these economic crashes? The first one I will discuss is the effect of sea level rise on coastal real estate values. prgtoken Sea level rise can hit you economically long before the ocean actually laps against your doorstep. When the prospect of coastal flooding begins to creep into the 30-year mortgage horizon or when the prospect of coastal flooding begins to darken property insurance horizons, there will be an effect. prgtoken Long before your house is actually flooded, its value can crash if the house becomes uninsurable or if it becomes unmortgageable to the next buyer. Freddie Mac has described the effect of this property value crash on America's coastal regions as follows: ``The economic losses and social disruption may happen gradually, but they are likely to be greater in total than those experienced in the housing crisis and Great Recession.'' Those of us who lived through the great recession of 2008 and forward know how serious that warning is. prgtoken It is not just Freddie Mac; the insurance industry shares this exact concern. Here is what the editor of the trade publication Risk & Insurance had to say: ``Continually rising seas will damage coastal residential and commercial property values to the point that property owners will flee those markets in droves, thus precipitating a mortgage value collapse that could equal or exceed the mortgage crisis that rocked the global economy in 2008.'' So from government-backed housing corporations to private insurance indu
PREVENTING OVERDOSES WHILE IN EMERGENCY ROOMS ACT OF 2018
Frank Pallone, Jr. (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2018-6-12

such time as I may consume. prgtoken I rise in support of H.R. 5176, Preventing Overdoses While in Emergency Rooms Act. This legislation would provide grant funding for emergency departments to develop protocols for treating and discharging patients who have presented with an opioid overdose or are at increased risk for overdose. prgtoken These protocols will help increase the uptake of evidence-based treatment services by promoting the initiation of medication-assisted treatment in emergency departments, as well as referral to community- based providers for treatment and recovery support services. prgtoken This is particularly important since an individual's willingness to seek substance use disorder treatment often increases immediately following a nonfatal overdose. prgtoken The protocols also will help reduce the risk of future fatal overdoses by such individuals by requiring the provision of naloxone at discharge. This helps ensure that these individuals at high risk of overdose have this lifesaving drug available if it is needed to reverse a potentially fatal overdose. prgtoken So I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and .
2-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF PULSE NIGHTCLUB SHOOTING
Darren Soto (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2018-6-12

I thank the Congresswoman for yielding. Of course, at the end of this, I am going to give the gentlewoman the last word, if that is okay with her. prgtoken So it has been a busy last couple of days as we pay tribute to the second annual remembrance of the Pulse nightclub shooting. This weekend, I got to go to PrideFest Kissimmee, and there is much to be proud about in Kissimmee. We actually have a human rights ordinance in Kissimmee County and Osceola County. prgtoken People in Orange and Osceola can't be fired if they are gay or lesbian, bisexual or transgender. But in a third county I represent, Polk County, they still can be. In fact, there is a community called Poinciana that is in both counties. If you live on the east side of Poinciana, you have rights. If you live on the west side, you still do not. prgtoken We also have now the Zebra Coalition that works with LGBT youth who are subject to bullying and can be intimidated. We are about to get the center prgtoken in Kissimmee as well to be a beacon of services and of hope, a safe place in a county that welcomes inclusiveness. prgtoken I also got to go to the 49 Fund scholarship ceremony where we saw LGBT youth be awarded scholarships. These are the future leaders who talk about how they are going to lead in LGBT rights, lead in gun safety reform. But I believe education is the seed of hope to stop this hate from happening in the future, and the future is bright. prgtoken We also had Congressman Mark Takano come down to visit with us, the co-chair of the LGBT caucus, for an LGBTQ roundtable. We heard about how HIV funds are being cut in Florida because Federal funds are being cut, even though our State trades off with being the number one State for new HIV contraction. So this is an issue that is affecting us. prgtoken We heard there about how these transgender school guidelines were one of the first things that the administration took out, which is now leading schools to uncertainty in how they have to protect these vulnerable kids. prgtoken Also, we heard even about some of the things that we take for granted, like that we are going to be having, through Zebra Coalition, an LGBTQ prom, because a lot of these kids, they get outcast in high school, and we want it to be an inclusive community. We are an inclusive community. prgtoken We also visited the Pulse nightclub memorial with Barbara Poma, and we watched the photos of grief. We looked at the names. We signed in and took our pilgrimage. prgtoken We went to the GLBT Center and heard about them coordinating services on that day and afterward, about the outpouring of love and supplies, and folks coming in to ask what they could do to help. prgtoken Then last night, we had the rally against gun violence. It rained the whole time, but people's spirits were up. This was the neatest point: It ended with an actual rainbow. Because the sun came out, a rainbow came down. It was right after our prayer, so I be
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019
Jack Reed (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2018-6-12

let me thank the Senator from Oklahoma for being very thoughtful and informing us all of the current procedural status. We both hope to be able to work through another package of managers' amendments that could be submitted. prgtoken Looking at the amendments we have seen so far, regardless of what position you take on their disposition, they all seem to be serious, substantive and, in our view, worthy of a vote. We just have to work out the procedure to get to those votes. There may be something in the future that is offered that seems to be very difficult, and I will not say we have not, in the past, on our side stood up and said we object. That is one of the prerogatives. prgtoken At this juncture, Senator Inhofe and I seem to be in harmony trying to find ways to vote for the proposals we have seen presented to us and ask and request votes on the proposals by our colleagues. prgtoken With that, I know Senator Inhofe and I will continue to work to see if we can move this process forward. prgtoken .
POISON CENTER NETWORK ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2018
Eliot L. Engel (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-6-12

I thank my friend from New Jersey for yielding, and I rise in strong support of H.R. 5329, the Poison Center Network Enhancement Act. prgtoken I remember when I was a little boy, my mother used to have a poison control number that she taped to the medicine chest so that, if there was ever a tragedy or a problem, we could call the number quickly. This is obviously along those same lines. That is why it is so important for the American people to have this. prgtoken I want to thank Congresswoman Susan Brooks. I coauthored the bill with her. I want to thank her for her hard work. It reauthorizes, for an additional 5 years, as the gentlewoman just said, the nationwide network of poison control centers, which are playing a critical role in the fight to end the opioid crisis. prgtoken Our country's 55 poison centers are staffed by trained toxicologists, pharmacists, physicians, and nurses who are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, to provide real-time, lifesaving assistance via a national toll-free number, which is 1-800-222-1222. prgtoken In 2016, someone in this country called the poison center roughly every 12 seconds. So it shows you that it is being utilized and it saves lives. More than 90 percent of those calls were due to a poison exposure in someone's home. More than half of all cases involved children under the age of 12. prgtoken That is why speedy access to poison centers is such an invaluable resource and so important, especially for parents. prgtoken Poison centers are also saving hundreds of millions in Federal dollars by helping to avoid the unnecessary use of medical services and shortening the amount of time a person spends in the hospital, if hospitalization due to poisoning becomes necessary. prgtoken It is clear that these centers are a smart public health investment, but they are also an integral part of our response to the opioid epidemic. prgtoken Since 2011, poison centers have handled nearly 200 cases per day in this country involving opioid misuse. Data from poison centers has helped detect trends in the epidemic, and experts have helped educate Americans about the crisis and ways they could potentially save the lives of their loved ones. prgtoken The Upstate New York Poison Center, for instance, used the New York State Fair to educate New Yorkers about proper use of naloxone, the overdose reversal drug. This bill would make sure that activities like this can continue. prgtoken , I had the privilege of coauthoring the last poison center reauthorization signed into law in 2014, and I am pleased to have worked on this important bill. prgtoken Again, I want to thank Congresswoman Brooks for partnering with me on this legislation, as well as Congresswoman DeGette and Congressman Barton for being original cosponsors. Let me also thank Chairman Burgess, Ranking Member Green, Chairman Walden, and Ranking Member Pallone for their assistance in bringing this bill to the floor tod
MIGRANT FAMILY SEPARATION
James R. Langevin (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2018-6-12

I rise today with an aching heart for the innocent children being ripped from their parents' arms at our Nation's borders. prgtoken Families fleeing violence with legitimate claims of asylum are having their children taken from them thanks to an inhumane policy put in place by this administration. Weeping 2- and 3-year-olds have been forced onto immigration buses specifically equipped with car seats to be held in overcrowded cages, a crisis of this President's own making. prgtoken What kind of a country tears hundreds, if not thousands of families apart, inflicting trauma on the young and vulnerable? What happened to ``give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses''? What happened to America being a beacon of hope? prgtoken This zero tolerance policy betrays our core values, and it must stop immediately. I have joined my friend and colleague, Congresswoman DeLauro, as a cosponsor of her resolution condemning this policy, and I call on the administration to halt this horrendous practice and exercise some compassion for those who need it most.