mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
PROTECTING GAY AND TRANS RIGHTS
Katie Porter (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2023-5-17

Americans' confidence in the Supreme Court is at a record low. That is no surprise when Justices hide that billionaires take them on luxurious yachts and private jet trips, buy land from them, and pay their dependents' private boarding school tuition. prgtoken Our Justices are failing to live up to the ethical standards we expect from the highest court in our land. The problem is not that the Supreme Court is just conservative. The problem is that it is corrupt. prgtoken We have 870 Federal judges across this country, and a basic code of ethical conduct is enforced against all of them, except nine, our Supreme Court Justices. prgtoken To restore confidence in the Court, we must root out conflicts of interest, strengthen judicial transparency, and, finally, establish a code of ethics. prgtoken , I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle: If we cherish our institutions, we must reform and strengthen them.
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
Amy Klobuchar (Democrat, MN) \u2014 2023-5-17

I rise to celebrate the incredible life and storied career of Minnesota's dear coach Bud Grant. A legendary Vikings, head coach, NFL Hall of Famer, Gopher player, and Minneapolis Laker, Bud gave us so many Minnesota memories. I will always remember when, at age 88, Bud took to the field in a short- sleeved polo shirt in subzero temperatures for the coin toss in the 2016 Vikings/Seahawks playoff game. prgtoken My dad and Bud were friends to the end of my dad's life. I grew up knowing everything about the Vikings, and no name loomed larger in my house than ``Bud Grant.'' I remember answering the phone as a young kid to silence on the other line, save for maybe the grunted word ``Jim.'' That meant it was Bud calling my dad back for the postgame story, regardless of the outcome. The first few times it happened, I would earnestly explain that my name wasn't ``Jim,'' but after a while, I got the drill, and I would just run to get my dad. prgtoken Bud gave so much to his players, but he gave even more to the fans. Those Bud Grant years were an exhilarating time in Minnesota--158 victories and four Super Bowl appearances--but through it all, Bud remained steady and stoic, win or lose. prgtoken Bud was a beloved coach and a dedicated outdoorsman. But above all, Bud was devoted to his family. Today, my heart is with all those who knew and loved Bud.
CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU
Andrew Ogles (Republican, TN) \u2014 2023-5-18

the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the CFPB, was designed by liberals to harass American businesses and has been compromising American consumers' access to financial services. prgtoken The CFPB is unconstitutional, duplicative, and full of bad ideas. For example, it is currently pursuing a rule that would effectively ban banks from offering overdraft protection, a benefit utilized by millions of Americans. prgtoken The CFPB is part of a Federal bureaucracy that s have promised and pledged to do away with. prgtoken Today, I am introducing the Mandating the Abolition of a Threat to Consumer Happiness, the MATCH Act, which will impose a permanent hiring freeze at the CFPB, prohibit it from establishing any new positions and transferring employees, and halt any new appointments. prgtoken The CFPB is nothing more than 's DEI enforcement bureau. It is an agency that needs to be burned to the ground, and I am providing the match.
DEBT CEILING CRISIS WAS AVOIDABLE
J. French Hill (Republican, AR) \u2014 2023-5-18

I thank the gentlewoman from Virginia for her support of police and for her service representing the people of her State. prgtoken , the United States is close to defaulting on its debt. That would be the first time in our Nation's history. prgtoken The situation we face today was fully avoidable. The administration's reckless spending and economic illiteracy over the past 2 years have propelled our debt crisis and driven inflation to a 40-year high. prgtoken The American people have directly felt the impact of this administration's negligence toward an effective and practical economic policy. prgtoken It is well past time for our government to rein in reckless spending and work together toward returning to a balanced budget, a concept that both parties used to agree to strongly for decades. prgtoken Through the years, policy negotiations were a key part of many debt ceiling agreements. Throughout our Nation's history, we have negotiated spending deals and reforms many times by using the debt ceiling vote as a constructive catalyst to action. prgtoken Yet, for over 100 days, despite promises to the contrary, President has refused to take this opportunity and willingly and effectively negotiate with House Kevin McCarthy. prgtoken Over the past 3 months, while the President has been unresponsive, McCarthy has been hard at work, alongside House s and with support from our colleagues in the Senate, to ensure that we address this debt crisis in a timely, responsible manner. prgtoken We have done our part here in the House by passing the Limit, Save, Grow Act, which responsibly raises the debt ceiling while addressing the other key issues our Nation faces today. prgtoken Finally, in recent hours, with less than 2 weeks to go, President has surfaced and engaged in a conversation with McCarthy. This is good news. prgtoken President , join House s in a sensible and responsible agreement this week and avoid driving our Nation even further into economic chaos. President Al-Assad Readmitted to Arab League
HONORING THE LIFE OF NOAH JACOB SHAHNAVAZ
Victoria Spartz (Republican, IN) \u2014 2023-5-18

I rise today to honor the life and service of Noah Jacob Shahnavaz, an Indiana police officer who was killed in the line of duty last year. Noah would have turned 25 today. prgtoken Noah was born in Indianapolis to Matt and Laurie Shahnavaz. After graduating from Fishers High School, he enlisted in the Army where he served as a sergeant and was awarded the distinguished Air Assault Badge. He was deployed to the Middle East and two border missions. prgtoken Following his honorable discharge, Noah answered the call to service once again and joined the Elwood Police Department in August of 2021. prgtoken On behalf of Indiana's Fifth Congressional District and our Nation, I share my deepest appreciation and gratitude for Noah's service to our Republic. prgtoken , I ask for a moment of silence to remember Noah and the heroes who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. You will not be forgotten.
National Police Week (Executive Session)
Thom Tillis (Republican, NC) \u2014 2023-5-18

I rise today to honor the brave men and women in North Carolina and across the Nation who serve in law enforcement. prgtoken This is a particularly emotional week for law enforcement. The law enforcement community has thousands of officers, and their families are in the Nation's Capital for National Police Week. They are paying a tribute to the brave officers who were killed in the line of duty while protecting our communities. I want to welcome all North Carolinians who are in Washington right now. prgtoken Unfortunately, our State is all too familiar with law enforcement officers having to make the ultimate sacrifice, losing their lives in the line of duty. Over the past year, North Carolina has lost three law enforcement officers who were killed by others in the line of duty, in addition to a number of other officers who died from other causes. I would like to take a moment to honor the service of those North Carolina law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty. prgtoken In late August, we lost Sergeant Matthew Ryan Fishman--he was 38 years old--of Wayne County Sheriff's Office. He was one of three deputies shot after attempting to serve a warrant. They were met with gunfire, and the incident caused a 10-hour standoff. Sergeant Fishman died a day later. prgtoken He had been a deputy since 2010. Before that, he was an officer in the Mount Olive Police Department. Officer Fishman is survived by his wife Sarah, two children, his parents, and two brothers. prgtoken That same August, we also saw the death of Deputy Sheriff Ned Byrd of Wake County. Deputy Byrd was with his K-9 when he heard six gunshots and drove past a vehicle on the side of the road. Deputy Byrd stopped and backed up his vehicle. He was shot several times by two criminals. prgtoken Unfortunately, the killing of Deputy Byrd revealed numerous failures. The criminals who killed him were not in the United States legally. One of them had been previously deported but was able to illegally reenter the country. prgtoken When we talk about ``got-aways,'' this is a very important point because it happened just a couple of weeks ago in Texas. Someone who was illegally present in this country--was deported four times--got back into this country a fifth time and murdered a family in Texas, including an 8-year-old child. That is another face of a ``got-away.'' And it was a ``got-away'' who killed this officer. prgtoken Following their arrest for the murder of Deputy Byrd, one of these criminals managed to escape prison for several days, and we had to apprehend him again in Mexico. prgtoken Part of seeking justice must be looking at these failures and making sure they don't happen again. prgtoken Deputy Byrd was an Air Force veteran and served Wake County Sheriff's Department for 13 years. He is survived by his sister, brother-in-law, four nephews, as well as his beloved K-9 Sasha. prgtoken Last December, less than 2 weeks before Chris
Debt Ceiling (Executive Session)
James Lankford (Republican, OK) \u2014 2023-5-18

debt is front and center in the national conversation again. That is entirely reasonable. We have a debt ceiling conversation right now about America taking care of our debts and our responsibilities, which we are a responsible nation, and we are going to do. But we should also have a grownup conversation about our spending to say: Are we spending on our priorities? Because when you have $31 trillion--actually, scratch that--$31.4 trillion because $400 billion is not a rounding error--$31.4 trillion in total national debt, we should pay attention to this, especially when we are currently adding $1 trillion in new debt every single year, and it continues to accelerate. prgtoken Recently, someone asked me: When does it get hard? When do we pass the point? prgtoken And I actually had to painfully say to them: 10 years ago because in the last 10 years, our debt has continued to accelerate like a rock rolling downhill, and it is going to be harder and harder to be able to manage this. At some point, we have got to be able to stop and say: Inflation is going up; challenges that are in our economy are increasing; we are spending almost as much on interest as we are on defense. At what point do we stop and say: We have got to be able to fix this? prgtoken Well, I have a perspective. The first step on actually talking about debt and deficit is actually taking it seriously and saying: What are we spending on that is a priority, and what are we spending on that is not a priority? Again, it is not unreasonable to be able to say that would be nice to do, but we don't have the money to do that. Let's set that aside. prgtoken And for whatever reason, in this town, anytime you talk about reducing spending of whatever percentage or whatever amount, everyone freaks out immediately, like, oh, you can't; there is no way we can reduce spending in government. prgtoken So we started, 7 years ago, a habit of our staff that we produce a book called ``Federal Fumbles.'' Every year we put out the ``Federal Fumbles'' guide, and that is just a set of ideas to say these are areas we believe the Federal Government has dropped the ball. prgtoken The Federal Government, and our Agencies, we had a responsibility to handle American taxpayer dollars prudently and wisely, but that didn't happen. So we asked the question: Is this really what we need to spend for? In a nation that is keeping up with our infrastructure, of our national defense, of education, of so many different expenses, and things that are truly governmental, we asked a simple question: With $31.4 trillion in total debt, is that what we need to spend our dollars on? prgtoken Now, just to set context because, again, this is difficult to be able to do, when you talk about millions and billions and trillions, it gets easy to go, those all sound alike. So they are similar. So people throw out millions of dollars or billions of dollars or trillions of dollars, and you j
Nomination of Nancy G. Abudu (Executive Calendar)
Mike Lee (Republican, UT) \u2014 2023-5-18

today I rise to speak in opposition to the nomination of Nancy Abudu to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Ms. Abudu may well be the most radical judicial nominee nominated to date by President . prgtoken I have had concerns with Ms. Abudu's radical views and her apparent lack of respect for the rules of the court ever since her nomination. During her confirmation hearing, I asked her about allegations of potential judge shopping raised by Judge Burke of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama in a series of cases brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a result of troubling attorney conduct. prgtoken In this series of cases, the three Federal district courts in Alabama took the extraordinary and joint measure of convening to hear concerns raised by Judge Burke that Ms. Abudu's litigation team and their cocouncil brazenly abused the judicial process. prgtoken Ms. Abudu is, to be clear, the Director of Strategic Litigation for the Southern Poverty Law Center. And strategic litigation is what they do. That is what they are about. She is the director of this division. prgtoken When I asked her about her strategic litigation decisions in this series of cases, she stated: As Director of Strategic Litigation, my responsibility is to oversee and provide general management for our cases, but it is the subject matter experts in the litigation team that handle the day-to-day, including the filing of complaints, the briefing, and any oral arguments. prgtoken In response to my questioning, she refused to be forthright. She didn't deny her oversight of these cases. She simply refused to admit that she was responsible for the strategic decisions the three Alabama Federal district courts found so troubling. prgtoken Her lack of candor and her apparent disregard for the protections built into our legal system disqualify her for a position on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. prgtoken As I asked her about these--about these cases--pointing out only that the day-to-day litigation management was handled by other attorneys-- which was obvious--she was openly, directly avoiding a direct line of inquiry, a line of inquiry that was very relevant to her nomination, to her confirmation process. prgtoken But, unfortunately, my concerns with Ms. Abudu's nomination do not end--and they didn't begin--with this troubling series of cases that I just described. You see, the attorneys general in every single State of the Eleventh Circuit--who are joined, by the way, by the attorneys general in a number of other States--but every single attorney general serving within the Eleventh Circuit is part of this letter articulating concerns and confirming that there are grave dangers in confirming Ms. Abudu to the Eleventh Circuit. prgtoken These attorneys general, along with attorneys general from 15 additional States, including my home S
Nomination of Nancy G. Abudu (Executive Calendar)
Pete Ricketts (Republican, NE) \u2014 2023-5-18

I rise today in opposition to the nomination of Nancy Abudu to the U.S. Court of Appeals. prgtoken I served as Governor for 8 years, and, in that time, I had the great privilege of appointing dozens of judicial appointments to Nebraska courts. I appointed four of the current Nebraska Supreme Court justices and many more to lower courts. prgtoken When I considered a prospective nominee, I was often reminded of our State's motto: ``Equality Before the law.'' That motto reflects a commonsense American principle that all people should receive equal treatment and equal opportunity, regardless of one's race or background. The women and men who serve in our courts should reflect this motto. prgtoken When I considered nominees, I looked at a few things. I looked at whether they were leaders with high integrity and character. I looked at their experience, and I looked at how they understood their role as a judge. Did they think the job of a judge was to make the law or to interpret the law? prgtoken I looked at if they had a respect for the law and whether they had the temperament to bring a thoughtful and fairminded approach to each case they would have at hand. I looked at whether they were respected by their peers. And I am proud of the appointments that I made. prgtoken Nancy Abudu is not someone I would have considered for a judgeship. Ms. Abudu is the kind of soft-on-crime, anti-police, activist we actually must keep off of the bench. And I want to take a moment to go over her record. prgtoken Ms. Abudu has argued publicly and repeatedly that American voting laws and the criminal justice system are racist and discriminatory. She has specifically maligned the three States that comprise the Eleventh Circuit that she is being considered for. In Alabama, she said that Jim Crow continues to cast a long shadow on the State's elections. prgtoken She said that Florida is engaged in a ``war to strip poor and low- income people of all political power.'' And she accused Georgia State legislators of ``punishing voters and undermining democracy'' and said that the State is a ``bad actor'' and ``simply cannot be trusted to protect the rights of voters.'' prgtoken At a time when Americans require certainty and security of our elections, Ms. Abudu has consistently argued dangerous and misleading positions, trying to undermine the public's trust of our elections and our voting rights. She has argued that prohibiting felons from voting is ``practically the same system as during slavery.'' She argued that requiring voters to present identification is voter suppression. prgtoken My colleague, Ranking Member Grassley, described Abudu as one of the ``most activist judicial nominees we've ever seen.'' During her confirmation hearing, the Judiciary Committee heard Abudu double down in defense of her work in 2018 to challenge a Miami ordinance that banned sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet of a school. prgtoken Senator G
HONORING THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF SUBA'S RESTAURANT
Diana Harshbarger (Republican, TN) \u2014 2023-5-18

I rise today to recognize and celebrate the 25th anniversary of Suba's Restaurant, located in Mountain City, Tennessee. For a quarter of a century, this exemplary establishment has been a cornerstone of the local culinary scene, delighting patrons with its delicious food, exceptional service, and warm atmosphere. prgtoken Suba's Restaurant, owned and operated by LuAnne and Richard Suba, along with their partner Debby Reece, first opened its doors in 1998, quickly becoming a beloved gathering place for friends, families, and visitors alike. Over the past 25 years, Suba's has been particularly renowned for its amazing desserts, which have become a highlight of the dining experience. The creative and mouthwatering desserts crafted by their talented team have left patrons returning time and time again. prgtoken Their commitment to the local economy extends beyond their menu. Suba's Restaurant has created numerous job opportunities for the residents of Mountain City and the surrounding areas. Their dedicated staff are a testament to the restaurant's inclusive and nurturing work environment. prgtoken In recognition of their outstanding contributions to the community, Suba's Restaurant was nominated as Johnson County's Best in the 2023 Readers' Choice Awards. This accolade is a testament to the unwavering dedication of the owners, staff, and everyone involved in making Suba's a cherished part of our community. prgtoken In these 25 years, Suba's Restaurant has truly become an indispensable part of Mountain City, Tennessee. It is with great pride that we recognize and celebrate this milestone, and extend our heartfelt congratulations to LuAnne and Richard Suba, Debby Reece, and the entire team at Suba's. prgtoken As we honor their unwavering dedication to our community, we also wish them continued success and growth over the next 25 years.
National Police Week (Executive Calendar)
Deb Fischer (Republican, NE) \u2014 2023-5-18

this week is National Police Week. It is an opportunity to show our gratitude to the men and women in blue who risk their lives every day for our safety, as well as honor those who have lost their lives in the line of duty. prgtoken This Police Week I want to tell a story of a police chief in my home State of Nebraska. prgtoken Local broadcast outlet KETV recently interviewed the new police chief of Ashland, a city of about 3,000 on the eastern side of the State. According to KETV, Chief Ryan Brady worked 19 days in a row at one point last year. He logged over 170 hours in a 2-week period. Chief Brady clocked more than 800 overtime hours last year. But he is on salary. So he is not paid for any of it. prgtoken I am amazed at Chief Brady's dedication to the job. He works day shifts, night shifts, and picks up his partners' shifts when they get sick. prgtoken But why does he have to do all that work? Why does he have to do so much? Well, because his department has encountered a staffing crisis. Between retirements and trouble recruiting, the Ashland Police Department has dwindled down to only a handful of officers. prgtoken Chief Brady told KETV: Somebody's got to work. So the buck stops here. So, you know, if no one else can work, I work. prgtoken I have spoken with police officers and sheriffs all over my State, and I can tell you this is not a problem that is unique to Ashland. No, it is not even a problem unique to Nebraska. Severe police staffing shortages are affecting departments all across our country. prgtoken The Police Executive Research Forum found that agencies are losing officers faster than they can hire new ones. There were 47 percent more resignations in 2022 than in 2019, in addition to 19 percent more retirements over the same time period. That means that large groups of officers are leaving the force while few are trickling in. Understaffed staffs are doing their best to keep up with these changes, but there are also roadblocks we can help them remove when it comes to hiring. prgtoken Over the past year, I have worked with police departments across Nebraska, as well as national law enforcement groups representing departments across this country. From these conversations, I introduced the Recruit and Retain Act, which would help police departments tackle these staffing roadblocks. prgtoken This bipartisan bill would boost officer recruitment opportunities through the Justice Department's Community Oriented Policing Services hiring grants. These grants can keep departments afloat. But recruitment expenses like background checks, psychological evaluations, and other tests are not currently included in the eligible expenses. So this bill would allow COPS grants to cover these specific costs and make it easier to onboard new officers. Reducing the cost of hiring would go a long way in helping law enforcement raise staffing levels. prgtoken My bill would also establish the Pip