mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
HONORING SHERIFF BRIAN MARTIN
Mike Thompson (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2022-12-13

. Madam , I rise today to honor Sheriff Brian Martin in recognition of his retirement and decades of service to the people of Lake County, California. prgtoken Mr. Martin was born in Granada Hills, California to Deputy District Attorney Joyce Campbell and Judge Richard Martin. After moving to Lake County, Mr. Martin attended Clear Lake High School and later received his bachelor's degree in Public Administration from Union Institute and University. His lifetime of service began with a tour of duty in the United States Army's Military Police Corps. prgtoken Mr. Martin then served with the Pismo Beach Police Department as Patrol Officer and Motors Officer before joining the Lake County Sheriff's Office as a Deputy in 2005. He has also worked as a Special Agent with the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement and as the Assistant Chief Probation Officer in the Lake County Probation Office. Continuing his service with the Lake County Sheriff's Office. Mr. Martin rose to the rank of Lieutenant before successfully running for two terms as the Lake County Sheriff. prgtoken As Sheriff. Mr. Martin has provided exemplary leadership in the face of unprecedented challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, major flood events and devastating wildfires like the LNU-Lightning Complex Fire, North Bay Complex Fires and the Sulphur Fire. He has testified in front of the California State Senate following the Valley Fire and made major technological advancements to the County's notification system. Additionally, Mr. Martin reclassified Correctional Officers to Peace Officers and promoted the first two female Deputy Sheriff Sergeants in the department's history. Some of his other achievements include safety improvements to Sheriff's Office buildings and vehicles, the addition of body-worn camera technology and the formation of the Sheriff's Foundation. In recognition of his outstanding work, I was proud to recognize Sheriff Martin as a Public Safety Hero of the Year for Lake County in 2016. prgtoken Mr. Martin is a devoted husband of 28 years to Crystal Martin and father of three. His children, Brian, Hayley and Matthew have all continued their family's proud tradition of military service. prgtoken Madam , I thank Sheriff Martin for his many years of selfless service and commitment to the people of Lake County. His efforts have undoubtedly made his community a safer place to live. Therefore, it is fitting and proper that we honor him here today.
Tribute to Rob Portman (Executive Calendar)
Sherrod Brown (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2022-12-13

I wanted to just say a few words--not a formal speech--about my junior partner, the junior Senator from Ohio. He is only the junior Senator not in intellect or actions but only in seniority, prgtoken which is the way it works here. I know I am talking when the Presiding Officer has such a record of bipartisanship and working with others in the Senate--the junior Senator from New Hampshire and the work she has done. And I just wanted to talk for a moment about RobPortman. prgtoken I was at the last speech he gave, his retirement speech, last week. I wanted to just say a few words about his work. He and I, on the big issues, no surprise--Senator Portman, from Cincinnati; I live in northern Ohio--have looked at the world differently on big trade issues, on tax issues. I mean, he was for the tax cut that gave big tax breaks to corporations and, I think, squeezed middle-class and low-income taxpayers. But on the big issues, we, in a sense, canceled each other's vote out, and we talk about that sometimes. But on a lot of Ohio-specific things, we are able to work together on really, really important problem-solving kinds of issues. And a few of them come to mind, like ``level the playing field''--the first issue--and then ``level the playing field'' 2.0,'' which will help the United States enforce its trade laws. prgtoken While Rob was for NAFTA and I was against it--or for PNTR with China, and I was against it--we did come together in making sure our trade laws are enforced, which helped Ohio businesses and Ohio manufacturing. That is one example. prgtoken Another example is what we were able to do in the infrastructure bill. He was a leader on writing the infrastructure bill, always thinking about how important it was--the Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati and the Western Hills Viaduct on the western side of Cincinnati, but also what we did on the 71-70 interchange in Columbus, what we were able to do on small township roads around small counties in rural Ohio, what we were able to do in Appalachia, what we were able to do in major transportation projects. prgtoken Another example, Rob Portman cared a lot about the environment. He loves canoeing. We worked on issues that matter on the Ohio River and especially issues that matter on Lake Erie. One of my favorite statistics is that Lake Erie, the smallest of the Great Lakes in area, the most shallow, only 30-feet deep, and around Toledo, 90-feet deep, around my wife's home county of Ashtabula. Lake Erie is 2 percent of all the water in the Great Lakes but has 50 percent of the fish, and Lake Superior, the largest lake, has 50 percent of the water and 2 percent of the fish. We know how important Lake Erie is to fishing. We know how important Lake Erie is to our water supply. And we know how important Lake Erie is just as one of the beautiful parts of the Great Lakes that matter to all of us. prgtoken So when I think about Rob, I regret he is le
Charter Schools (Executive Calendar)
James Lankford (Republican, OK) \u2014 2022-12-13

I want to tell a bit of a story. There are some great schools and great teachers in Oklahoma. They do an incredible job, and they serve our families every day, doing remarkable work, working alongside so many kids who struggle in their educational environment, who struggle to be able to learn but who excel. I am grateful to those teachers across our State. Those teachers who are in our public schools--both our public traditional schools and our public charter schools--deserve to be applauded and encouraged for the work they do every day, and I am proud to know many of them as friends and as neighbors. prgtoken But what is interesting to me right now is there is a push that is happening from the administration to divide teachers, teachers who are in public school education, that there are some who are like the good public school teachers, and apparently there are some that-- you are the bad public school teachers. And it is not based on the ratings for their students or the quality of their teaching; it is based on which public school they choose to be able to serve in. prgtoken You see, the administration has put out a new policy to try to crush public charter schools. How are they doing it? They are saying that if there are open desks in other public schools, then the public charter school can't prove a need for them to exist at all, and they want to just be able to wipe them out. prgtoken Stop. Let me just set this in context for you. In Oklahoma, there is a school called Harding Charter Preparatory High School. Maybe you wouldn't know it, but U.S. News & World Report--they know it. U.S. News & World Report--with 18,000 schools in America, they rank the 18,000 schools in America. U.S. News & World Report ranked Harding Charter Preparatory School in Oklahoma City 115th out of 18,000 schools. In fact, in Oklahoma, Harding Charter Preparatory High School was ranked No. 1. The No. 1 school in the State is this public charter school. prgtoken Now, it happens to be in an area where there are open desks in other schools around it, so it won't meet the need requirement that the administration is putting out to say: You can't prove a need for your existence. So the No. 1 school in our State could be wiped out because those public school teachers are teaching at the wrong public school. prgtoken What else can I tell you about Harding? At Harding, 100 percent of the students go to AP classes--100 percent of them. What else can I tell you about Harding? Seventy-two percent of the students at Harding Preparatory School are minorities--72 percent--and it is the No. 1 school in our State. prgtoken What is different about a public charter school and a traditional public school? Well, the rules for the kids are exactly the same--the same testing requirements, the same State requirements, the same Federal requirements for the kids. The rules are exactly the same for the kids, but they are diffe
IRREVERSIBLE PROCEDURES ON VULNERABLE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE DANGEROUS
Doug LaMalfa (Republican, CA) \u2014 2022-12-13

from the beginning, our Nation's founding was based upon the idea of defending our borders and defending our people within it. prgtoken Yet, in a complete 180 from the original purpose, our top government officials want our tax dollars to fund irreversible gender reassignment surgery for children. prgtoken Chemical castrations, mastectomies, and hysterectomies for sex reassignment on minors are life-altering decisions that are permanent and should not be taken lightly. Moreover, the government has no business paying for them with our tax dollars. It is not only irresponsible but also flat-out dangerous and encourages irreversible and sterilizing procedures on young people. prgtoken , 80 percent of young people who experience gender dysphoria move on from that when they become adults. prgtoken Some doctors and teachers--sometimes even parents--pressure vulnerable children into these invasive surgeries to keep in line with their woke agenda. Adults have no business forcing these decisions upon young people or making them themselves. Indeed, we have run legislation here saying that this should not be a discussion for minors, they must be at least 18 years old if they want to go through these procedures. prgtoken It is unacceptable the way adults, media, and government are putting children entrusted in their care in these situations directly in harm's way with irreversible, life-changing, and even suicide-inducing decisions.
Charter Schools (Executive Calendar)
Tim Scott (Republican, SC) \u2014 2022-12-13

tomorrow, we will have an opportunity to vote for students. Tomorrow, we will have an opportunity to vote for parents. Tomorrow, we will have the opportunity to vote for common sense in the U.S. Senate. Tomorrow, we will have an opportunity to vote for my resolution to stop the Department of Education from destroying educational opportunities for millions of students and their parents. prgtoken During the pandemic, we saw the devastating impact of prolonged school closures on America's kids, especially kids living in low-income communities. prgtoken Big labor unions orchestrated these shutdowns, and blue city politicians fell in lockstep. They sided with union bosses over parents, over kids, and over plain old common sense. prgtoken Now we see the tragic consequences. The 2022 NAEP scorecard shows the largest drop in reading scores for 9-year-olds in more than 30 years and the first-ever--the first-ever--drop in math scores, a 7-percent decrease. prgtoken We warned them that this would happen. We said stop, stop letting labor bosses make decisions. Parents--parents--are the ones who know what is best for their kids. They need flexibility. They deserve choice. prgtoken One of those options should always be high-quality public charter schools. These charter schools continue to outkick their coverage. This year, charter schools only represent 12 percent--12 percent--of all public high schools, but they make up 22 percent of the top 100 public high schools in our amazing country. That is nearly one out of four amazing public schools is a charter school, even though only 12 percent of all schools, all high schools, are charter schools. prgtoken Think about this. In Colorado, 85 percent of charter school students met performance standards compared to only 66 percent of students in district-managed schools. prgtoken Despite their proven track record of success for students, for parents, and, of course, for common sense, the administration continues to attack charter schools. He campaigned against them. And then as soon as he got in office, he directed the bureaucrats at the DOE--the Department of Education--to put new restrictions on charter schools desperately, desperately looking for funding. These restrictions are a slap in the face to parents who are turning to charter schools as a better alternative for their children. prgtoken Since the pandemic, charter schools have gained 7 percent--7 percent; that is, 240,000 more students have chosen charter schools because their parents are able to access common sense for their kids' education path. That means hundreds of thousand of students are better off today than they were before they had this option. prgtoken These are kids growing up in some of America's most devastated communities, some of America's poorest communities, some of America's most disadvantaged communities. prgtoken This is a game changer, not just for the students while they are
Charter Schools (Executive Calendar)
Mike Braun (Republican, IN) \u2014 2022-12-13

I come to the floor here to give an even simpler argument as it applies in many different areas in addition to education. prgtoken Senator Scott came to the floor to ask for choice, opportunity, and competition all mixed in together. When you have got that, you have got the description of a perfect marketplace, whether it is for healthcare, whether it is for education. And, ironically, the two places in our country where expenses keep going up and up would be in healthcare. Most families would put that up there right along with education. prgtoken K-12, having that ability to choose where you would want your own kids to go to school is something that you should never be afraid of. If you are not interested in it, you are probably trying to hide something. That would be, in many cases, where you are not mustering what it takes to minimally educate your own child properly. prgtoken I was on a school board for 10 years--2004 through 2014--in Indiana, a public school system in one of the most Catholic places in the State of Indiana. I will never forget, a high school tried to start that was Catholic. Our public school system was so good it couldn't get to first base, but at least the attempt was made. Not all areas are blessed with a public school system, as we traditionally know it, offering that top- notch education. prgtoken Whenever you do fear competition, transparency--which doesn't necessarily apply here, but choice, it does--you are probably trying to cover up something that is not performing. prgtoken And, sadly, here is where you need the choice more than any other place, where folks can't afford to have the choice. And if you are trapped in one system, what does that say for your kids' future? prgtoken I ran a business for 37 years. So many businesses tried to do the same thing, get involved in markets. It gets concentrated. That is what is happening in our healthcare industry. It is like an unregulated utility, and it disguises itself as free enterprise. That is restricting competition, restricting transparency, restricting choice. prgtoken Costs have been going up for decades with no end in sight; postsecondary education, very similar. Here, all we need to do is take a system that still has a pretty good value to it, it just is not producing the results. prgtoken Indiana has been one of the leaders in charter schools and choice. We have over 100 charter schools. I reflect back--I think it was when I was a State legislator--on a neighboring county, there were three grade schools. The smallest of the three had to be shut down because of cost cuts--well, best performing of the three. Those kids would have had to travel 10, 15 miles to get to one of the other two public schools, elementary. This place worked as hard as it could over 2 years, scraped together the resources, and kept their Otwell Miller Academy open. It was the choice of the parents. They were part of a system that wasn't working
Nomination of Eric M. Garcetti (Executive Calendar)
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2022-12-13

I would like to express my strong opposition to the nomination of Eric Garcetti to be Ambassador to India. I am compelled to vote against Mayor Garcetti due to the serious allegations that he enabled sexual harassment and racism to run rampant in the Los Angeles mayor's office. prgtoken During my career, I have prioritized protecting victims of sexual harassment and sexual abuse. In 2005, I cosponsored the Violence Against Women Act. That bill provides vital aid to the Justice Department's Office on Violence Against Women and to law enforcement to protect victims of sexual harassment and abuse. prgtoken Over several Congresses, I have co-led bills introduced by Senator Gillibrand to defend victims of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. I cosponsored resolutions introduced by Senator Feinstein to raise awareness of sexual assault. These include the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, the Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act of 2021, the Speak Out Act, the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, and a resolution supporting the goals and ideals of National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. prgtoken I have also pressed the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security for more transparency and accountability on their handling of sexual misconduct in the workplace. Moving into the next Congress, Senator Durbin and I have agreed to jointly pursue these inquiries. prgtoken With respect to Mayor Garcetti, several credible whistleblowers approached my office about concerning allegations that he was aware of and enabled his deputy chief of staff Rick Jacobs to sexually harass several employees within the mayor's office. prgtoken These men and women allege that Rick Jacobs engaged in inappropriate physical conduct without their consent. They alleged that Rick Jacobs made crude sexual remarks and gestures towards staff and others. They alleged that he made blatantly racist remarks toward Asians and other minorities. prgtoken These allegations have also been publicly reported in the Los Angeles Times. Text messages made public by the Los Angeles Times indicate that these instances were common knowledge among the Garcetti staff. One picture that has been made public shows Jacobs inappropriately touching an individual next to him. In the picture Mayor Garcetti is standing on the other side of Mr. Jacobs. For Mayor Garcetti to claim that he didn't know what was going on defies reason. prgtoken There is also a pending lawsuit by a Los Angeles police officer against the city of Los Angeles as a result of this type of disgraceful behavior. The kinds of behavior mentioned in the lawsuit include Jacobs subjecting the police officer to unwanted hugs, shoulder massages, and crude sexual language. prgtoken In total, my office identified over 19 individuals who have either witnessed Jacobs' behavior or were the victims of it. So who are these b
PAUL D. WELLSTONE BUILDING ACT OF 2022
Eric A. "Rick" Crawford (Republican, AR) \u2014 2022-12-13

. Madam , such time as I may consume. prgtoken Madam , I rise in support of S. 5060, which designates the Federal building located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as the Paul D. Wellstone Federal Building. prgtoken Paul Wellstone served two full terms in the Senate before his life, as well as the lives of his wife, daughter, several campaign staff, and pilots were taken in a tragic plane crash in Minnesota. prgtoken Madam , I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and .
CONCLUSION OF MORNING BUSINESS
John Kennedy (Republican, LA) \u2014 2022-12-13

I am going to talk for a minute about another subject: flood insurance. It doesn't do any good to offer flood insurance when people can't afford it. And that is what FEMA is doing right now. prgtoken We all know--or most people know--that you can't buy flood insurance really in the private market. I mean, you can, but for the most part, you can't. And if your house floods and you have homeowners insurance, don't make the mistake of thinking your homeowners insurance covers it because it doesn't. You have got to go buy special flood insurance. prgtoken And we have had this problem for a while, and the Federal Government addressed it by creating the National Flood Insurance Program. We call it, as you know, NFIP. About 5 million people who wouldn't be insured for flood otherwise are members of the National Flood Insurance Program. They don't get it for free. They pay for the flood insurance, and they pay dearly. prgtoken My State, Louisiana, has 5,000 people out of 5 million who depend on the National Flood Insurance Program. We in Louisiana have the highest participation rate in the country, bar none. And despite what some people may think, my people who are buying flood insurance, they are not multimillionaires; they are working people. They are people who get up every day and go to work, and they obey the law and pay their taxes. They try to do the right thing by their children. They live paycheck to paycheck. These aren't multimillionaires paying for this flood insurance. And they are not paying for the flood insurance on mansions on the beach. We don't have those in Louisiana. These are working people. prgtoken Now, for my people and for most Americans who carry flood insurance, their home is their biggest investment. It is the biggest investment they will ever make. It is the most money they will ever spend at one time. And so they want to protect their investment. And they need flood insurance to do that. And we in the Federal Government solved the problem when we created the National Flood Insurance Program. prgtoken Now, last year, FEMA, which is under the executive branch, of course--we all know what FEMA is--FEMA rolled out the most significant change in history in the way the National Flood Insurance Program calculates the cost of flood insurance--the most important change in history--and they didn't ask Congress for our input. They just did it. prgtoken They went out and hired a consultant who created a new algorithm. And this algorithm, supposedly, says FEMA, can see the future. It can look out 35 years and tell whether your home is going to flood and when it is going to flood. And they cannot only look at a particular area, they say this algorithm is so good that it can look at your specific property and tell whether it is going to flood and assess the risk. Man, I want a dozen of those. prgtoken FEMA calls this Risk Rating 2.0. There is just one problem: FEMA won't tell any of us i