mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Robert Menendez (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2023-12-13

11 years ago tomorrow, our Nation and the Newtown, CT, community experienced one of the deadliest school shootings in American history. Horror ripped through our hearts as we heard the news. prgtoken Twenty first grade students and six teachers and staff members gunned down in cold blood inside of Sandy Hook Elementary School. Twenty first graders who right now should be high school seniors, relishing special moments and milestones with their friends. They should be finishing their college applications, taking their driver's tests, and getting measured for their caps and gowns. Their families should be watching them flourish as they become young adults embarking on all the world has to offer. Instead, their lives cruelly cut short, and their family members will never be whole again. Adults who tried desperately to protect their students, albeit in vain, from the Goliath force of an AR-15 style gun. prgtoken Eleven years ago, we grieved with the families, we cried, and we prayed. Eleven years ago, we said never, never again would we let this happen. Instead, it has happened again and again, over and over-- Parkland, Santa Fe, Michigan State, UNLV, Uvalde. prgtoken The scenes from Robb Elementary School, where 19 students, mostly third and fourth graders, and their two beloved teachers were gunned down with an assault weapon last year, could not have been more reminiscent of Sandy Hook. The innocent lives wiped out in a spree of mindless violence. All of this happening again, right before our very eyes, 10 years--10 years--after Sandy Hook. prgtoken This weekend in my home State, we just commemorated the fourth anniversary of an anti-Semitic shooting in Jersey City, where two hateful gunmen took the life of a Jersey City detective before they rampaged through the Jersey City Kosher Supermarket, taking three more innocent lives. Among the five weapons the shooters were armed with was an AR-15-style assault weapon. prgtoken According to the Washington Post's database, 2023 has seen more mass shootings--39--than any year since 2006 when they first began tracking shootings with 4 or more deaths. Monterey, CA. Nashville, TN. El Paso, TX. Lewiston, ME. We are the only civilized Nation on Earth where innocent human beings are routinely murdered in mass shootings. Is this what it really means to be an American? It cannot be. prgtoken I met last week with members of the Newtown Action Alliance-- survivors of gun violence who shared their heartbreaking stories of grief and trauma. Their message was simple: When will enough be enough? prgtoken Eleven years since Sandy Hook and yet barely any progress has been made. Even Ethan's Law, a commonsense bill which I cosponsored and which simply requires safe and reasonable and responsible gun storage, is opposed by most congressional s. This should be a no- brainer. prgtoken Tiffany Starr, a gun violence survivor and proud New Jerseyan, told me about how her f
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2023-12-13

I ask unanimous consent that at 5 p.m Senator Paul or his designee be recognized to make a rule XXVIII scope point of order; that, if raised, Senator Reed be recognized to make a motion to waive; and that if the waiver is successful, all postcloture time be considered expired and the Senate vote on the adoption of the conference report; finally, that there be 2 minutes equally divided before each vote.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Christopher Murphy (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2023-12-13

this is the third time that Senator Paul has made this unanimous consent request. It is the third time that I will come down to the floor to object. prgtoken We can continue to use the Senate's time to have this debate and argument or we can use our time more wisely and focus on topics that matter a little bit more to the American public than the vaccination policy for Senate pages. prgtoken I wish Senator Paul would stop dragging these hard-working Senate pages into his relentless campaign against vaccine science. I think it is pretty unsavory. These young men and women do a really good, important job for us, and to be dragged into the middle of Senator Paul's focus on trying to unwind and undermine vaccine science I don't think is good for the Senate, and I don't think it is good for the Nation's public health. prgtoken CNN reported earlier this year that COVID-19 is a leading cause of death for children in the United States. It is a fairly low mortality rate--Senator Paul is right--but there are children all over the country who have died from COVID-19. That is a fact. It is one of the leading causes of death for children over the course of the last 4 to 5 years. prgtoken So I do take seriously the idea that, as adults, we have a responsibility to protect the health and the safety of young people who come work for us, especially minors who are here under our care and protection. We owe a special duty of care to young people, students, who come and work in the U.S. Senate. prgtoken So, no, I do not think that the Senate should micromanage Senate employee health policy or the policy related to the healthcare and healthcare security of our pages. I think that we should allow that decision to be made by professionals. We are not vaccine scientists. We are not spending the entirety of our day thinking about the healthcare security of the workforce here in the Senate. prgtoken But I have two other reasons why I continue to object to this and I will continue to come down and object to this resolution. prgtoken First, Senator Paul says that the existing vaccine is not effective against transmission, and I won't dispute the fact that this vaccine is not primarily being used to prevent transmission. But this is a permanent resolution. This resolution doesn't apply only to this moment in time. It doesn't apply to this vaccine or to this strain of COVID- 19. prgtoken If next year there was a strain of COVID-19 and a vaccine that was more effective against transmission, then prgtoken there is no method by which we could require Senate pages to be vaccinated as a means of protecting the rest of us. prgtoken So the facts that Senator Paul references are relative to this strain and this vaccine, but this is a permanent resolution. It controls the Senate and Senate health policy permanently. But more importantly, all of the facts that Senator Paul references in terms of the low risk to children are all conditione
CONDEMNING ANTISEMITISM ON UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES AND THE TESTIMONY OF UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS IN THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE
Jerrold Nadler (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2023-12-13

I once again rise in strong support of any and all serious and meaningful efforts to combat antisemitism. Unfortunately, it's clear that the resolution on the floor today was drafted with the sole intention of scoring political points, not protecting Jewish students from antisemitism. prgtoken Last month, the House passed a resolution condemning antisemitism on college campuses and calling for campus administrators to ensure Jewish students and faculty are protected. Since then, I have urged the Majority to move past mere lip service and instead make meaningful contributions to the fight against antisemitism on college campuses. prgtoken If the Majority truly cared about protecting Jewish students and faculty, they would have spent the last month implementing the Administration's National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism and providing robust funding for the federal office working to protect Jewish students--the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights. Instead, they put a spending bill on the floor that cuts the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights' budget by 25 percent. prgtoken If the Majority truly cared about protecting Jewish students and faculty, they would pass a bill increasing funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which provides critical funding to safeguard our nation's synagogues and Jewish centers. prgtoken If the Majority truly cared about protecting Jewish students and faculty, they would stop echoing racist `great replacement theories' and ignoring antisemitism emanating from the right--including antisemitic comments coming directly from the leader of their party. It's telling that the sponsor of this resolution has chosen to remain silent about former President --whom she has endorsed--dining with a man who is calling for the genocide of ``perfidious Jews'' and other non-Christians. prgtoken Finally, if the majority truly cared about protecting Jewish students and faculty, they would work with on this issue in a good-faith, bipartisan fashion instead of blatantly plagiarizing the work of a Jewish . prgtoken , the rise of antisemitism in the United States and across the world--particularly on college campuses--is a real and growing problem. I hope that someday, the Majority will use its power to actually do something about it instead of playing partisan political games. I continue to stand ready to work with the Majority if they are ever ready to address this issue in a serious, bipartisan fashion. However, I can not support this attempt to score political points masquerading as a resolution to protect Jewish students and faculty. prgtoken I urge my colleagues to oppose the resolution.
DIRECTING CERTAIN COMMITTEES TO CONTINUE ONGOING INVESTIGATIONS INTO WHETHER SUFFICIENT GROUNDS EXIST FOR THE IMPEACHMENT OF JOSEPH BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2023-12-13

I rise to oppose this perverse, illegitimate effort to do 's political dirty work. prgtoken This resolution is nothing more than an extreme political stunt built on absolutely zero evidence of wrongdoing. The one thing it does prove is that s are focused on the wrong priorities. This resolution clearly has nothing to do with protecting the Constitution from high crimes and misdemeanors. prgtoken How do we know? Because a year of investigation, piles of documents, and a herd of the s' own witnesses confirm there is zero evidence of wrongdoing. Instead, the s' wasteful witch hunt just confirms that President is a good and honorable man. prgtoken What this resolution really does is cover up a full year of do- nothing policies that ignored our families' needs and neglected an array of global threats to democracy. prgtoken Worse, this resolution tries to obscure the corrupt and criminal acts of the former President and want-to-be dictator . prgtoken This extreme political stunt is built upon the sick, twisted extremism of House s and totally unmasks their complete absence of an agenda that helps the American people. prgtoken , I urge a ``no'' vote on this resolution.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Thomas R. Carper (Democrat, DE) \u2014 2023-12-13

as some of our colleagues know, I am a retired Navy captain and the last Vietnam veteran serving in the U.S. Senate. Today, I want to take a couple of minutes, if I could, to share what military service has meant to my family and to me and to discuss one of the critical lessons that we should have learned with the failure to welcome home many of my generation from our service while in the Vietnam war. prgtoken I come from a family who for several generations--for several generations--has sacrificed for our country and has been privileged to serve our country. My dad and Uncle Jim were chief petty officers in the Navy in World War II. My dad went on to serve a bit in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam war. My Uncle Ed was a marine who served in combat, heavy combat, in Korea. My Uncle Bob was killed in a kamikaze attack on his aircraft carrier in the Pacific at the age of 19. His body was never recovered. My grandmother was a Gold Star mother. In my family, we bleed Navy blue. prgtoken My father's generation returned home to a hero's welcome at the end of World War II, but that was not the case for those of us who returned home from the Vietnam war many years later. With little fanfare, no welcome-home ceremonies, no parades, we returned to our hometowns to begin our lives anew, and we did, in some cases, with extraordinarily good fortune, and I am one of those. prgtoken In the years since then, I have witnessed a growing willingness from people across our country to atone for the kind of welcome home my generation received and to make clear that our service is now appreciated--fully appreciated. It is a wonderful feeling. prgtoken But for a good part of this year, we have once again failed to treat hundreds of our best and brightest military leaders with the respect and gratitude they deserve and have earned by their service. prgtoken The situation manufactured by our colleague from Alabama to block the promotions of hundreds of well-deserving military officers is unprecedented, it is unwarranted, and I believe it is shameful. prgtoken For nearly a year, he has jeopardized our national security and thrust the lives of some 450 military servicemembers and their families--put their lives in limbo. These families have been stuck both physically and professionally. They have been unable to move to new assignments at home and abroad, where they will assume their new responsibilities. Military spouses have been unable to find new jobs, and their children have been unable to continue their education in new schools. prgtoken While I was relieved that the majority of these remarkable men and women were finally able to accept their promotions recently, there are still 11 four-star officers and their families who are suffering because of the actions of one of our colleagues. prgtoken By using the lives of our military servicemembers and their families as a bargaining chip, we are failing to learn from histor
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Jacky Rosen (Democrat, NV) \u2014 2023-12-13

since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which protected a woman's right to make decisions over her own body, we have heard countless, heart-wrenching stories coming out of anti-choice States. We have heard about the 10-year-old girl from Ohio who was raped and had to travel to Indiana to receive an abortion. We have heard about the case of a 13-year-old girl from Mississippi who was also raped, but because of her State's strict abortion ban, she had to give birth before even starting the seventh grade. Now we have learned of yet another instance where anti-choice politicians have decided that they know better than a woman and her doctors. prgtoken Kate Cox--well, she is a working mom from Texas. She and her husband are the young parents of two beautiful kids, ages 1 and 3. They love their children, and they have always wanted a large family. They have always wanted that. That is why they were overjoyed when they learned that Kate was pregnant with her third child. But sadly, tragically, during her pregnancy, the doctors told Kate that the baby girl she was carrying--that baby--had a fatal condition, which meant she would not survive. This was heartbreaking for Kate, for her husband, for her family, but for Kate, as a woman, this was heartbreaking. prgtoken What should have been a moment of privacy for Kate and her family has turned into a public tragedy. Because of Texas's restrictive abortion ban, she was barred--barred--from terminating her nonviable pregnancy even though doctors said that continuing it would put her life in danger and--and--risk her ability to have future children, that large family she and her husband always dreamed of. Instead, Kate was forced to go to court to fight for her own medical procedure--the procedure she needs to save her own life. Right before the Texas Supreme Court ruled against her, Kate Cox--well, she was forced to leave her home State of Texas in order to get the lifesaving care she needs. prgtoken For the first time in 50 years, anti-choice judges have ruled as to whether or not a woman can have an abortion. Can this really be happening--judges, a panel of judges, deciding your healthcare? prgtoken What makes this all the more heartbreaking is that when Roe v. Wade was overturned, we all knew--we knew--cases like this would happen. Now this is the terrifying reality women face in a post-Roe world, where lawyers and judges make the healthcare decisions, not your doctors or your healthcare providers, and it has been made possible by decades of anti-choice extremists who have fought to put politicians-- politicians--between women and their private medical conditions. prgtoken The abortion bans passed by anti-choice States are not only cruel but also dangerous and life-threatening to women like Kate--women who are already living through the worst nightmare of being told their babies have no chance to live, and then--then--they are prevented from getti
AMERICA MUST STAY THE COURSE
Steny H. Hoyer (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2023-12-13

we have less than 10 hours left until we go home for the holidays, less than 10 hours when we leave the field, and less than 10 hours before we act responsibly. prgtoken The men and women of Ukraine will not go home for the holidays. They will not leave the lines in eastern Ukraine. They will not have a Christmas dinner without the fear that they will be bombed in Kyiv or assaulted in eastern Ukraine. prgtoken Why is that? prgtoken I ask that to both Chambers: Why are we going home and leaving our Ukrainian allies unarmed? prgtoken Why do we shrink from our responsibility to confront those who would undermine democracy, freedom, and international law? prgtoken Why, , do we retreat from the field while our Ukrainian allies are at risk? prgtoken , we have 1 day left. We can accomplish the goal of passing Ukrainian dollars. prgtoken We can achieve the goal of giving aid to our ally, Israel. prgtoken We can achieve the goal of making Taiwan a little bit stronger. prgtoken Or we can send a message to Mr. Putin, to Mr. Xi, to Iran, and to Hamas that America is unable to stay the course. prgtoken I am told that the reason we can't do that is because it is absolutely essential to have border security addressed. It is. I am for doing that. prgtoken Nevertheless, I want to call to the 's attention, so that he can remember that in the 115th Congress, as a Member of Congress, he cosponsored a bill, H.R. 395. Some others cosponsored that bill who may be at least hearing me, , or maybe even on the floor. That bill said that it was incumbent that we ``end the practice of including more than one subject in a single bill by requiring that each bill enacted by Congress be limited to only one subject.'' prgtoken Was that situational ethics, situational principles, or just temporary principles to be thrown away when they are not convenient, perhaps? prgtoken That bill was sponsored by Johnson; by Mr. Meadows who became Chief of Staff of ; by Mr. Emmer, the majority whip; and by Mr. DeSantis, candidate for President. It was a temporary, perhaps just political, piece of rhetoric. prgtoken , America is better than that. America needs to be a more reliable ally than that. America needs to create confidence, not undermine confidence. America needs to be reliable. America needs to confront the criminality, the venality, and the murderous acts of Vladimir Putin. prgtoken Yet we are scheduled to go home in just a few hours. prgtoken John Kennedy wrote a book, ``Why England Slept.'' It was about why they thought that Hitler was going to stop. It just involved, after all, the mainland, not England, and they paid a terrible price for that negligence, and the free world paid a terrible price for that negligence. prgtoken , let us not go home, let us do our duty, and let us be the kind of America that we say we are.
IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY
Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2023-12-13

. Madam , I rise in opposition and join with the opposition to H. Res. 918 directing certain committees to proceed with an impeachment inquiry of President . prgtoken As we all know how serious this is, Madam , let me remind you that Article II of the Constitution says that a President shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors. Article II says it also requires that the President take care that the laws are faithfully executed. prgtoken There is no charge or challenge of facts that the President has not executed his job carefully, that he has committed high crimes, misdemeanors and treason. In fact, out of 35,000 pages of financial records, 2,000 pages of Treasury records, 36 hours of testimony, and a number of witnesses, tens of thousands of VP area emails, there is nothing. prgtoken This is extreme, a political stunt, and there is no evidence worthy of putting forward this impeachment. prgtoken In the words of an outstanding scholar, Professor Michael Gerhardt, in other words, an impeachment proceeding, including the initiation of an impeachment inquiry must rise above petty partisanship. prgtoken We cannot do this under the circumstances of petty partisanship. Mr. should not be impeached.
SHUT DOWN LINE 5 PIPELINE
Rashida Tlaib (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2023-12-13

I take a moment to celebrate the incredible accomplishments that my team and I have been able to do on behalf of our constituents. prgtoken At the beginning of the year, we opened three new Neighborhood Service Centers in Detroit, Inkster, and Southfield. prgtoken Through the Neighborhood Service Centers, we have returned over $5.5 million in constituent services dollars that goes directly into the hands of 8,000 residents, returning over $306,000 this year alone. prgtoken We served and responded to over 164,000 letters from our neighbors ranging from advocating for clean water, clean air, utilities for all, housing for all, and so much more. We have hosted and participated in over 120 events, including coffee hours and townhalls and resource fairs and more, really trying to help our families get through everyday challenges and issues. prgtoken Our legislative advocacy has spanned from affordable housing to medical debt cancellation and ending auto insurance discrimination once and for all. prgtoken , we have introduced 160 bills and amendments, and 39 of them have actually passed. prgtoken This year, we celebrated the 1-year anniversary of the Congressional Mamas' Caucus where we are committed to advocating for working mothers and their families on issues of affordable childcare, pay leave, Black maternal health, and economic justice. prgtoken These accomplishments would not have been possible without our residents. Thank you for believing in me and sending me here to Congress to do the people's work. It has been truly an honor to serve you and to be your Congresswoman. prgtoken This is just the beginning of what we all can continue to accomplish.