mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
AMERICA CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR MANUFACTURING, PRE-EMINENCE IN TECHNOLOGY, AND ECONOMIC STRENGTH ACT OF 2022
Mike Crapo (Republican, ID) \u2014 2022-3-23

reserving the right to object. prgtoken I rise to address Ukraine's perilous situation. There is broad agreement in this Chamber and in the House of Representatives that America's response in all areas to Russia and Belarus's aggression against Ukraine must be comprehensive and strong. prgtoken Leveraging the benefits of the U.S. trade relationship with Russia is just such a response that will add to the pressures on Putin to rethink his actions in Ukraine and punish him for what he has already done. prgtoken On March 8, the ic and leadership in the Senate Finance Committee and the House Committee on Ways and Means reached an agreement on precisely that type of response. The bicameral, bipartisan agreement is called the Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act, and its provisions include banning Russian energy imports, including various forms of petroleum, natural gas, and coal; moving Russia and Belarus to the same pariah trade status as North Korea and Cuba; providing the President additional authority to raise tariffs on Russia and Belarus even further; calling on WTO members to take similar actions to deprive Russia of its trade benefits; and sending a crystal-clear message to Russia's dictator, Vladimir Putin, that he will never see these trade benefits restored until he reverses his aggression, stops threatening our NATO allies, and recognizes the right of the Ukrainian people to live freely. prgtoken None of this is controversial, and all of it is necessary. prgtoken Yet only a day after the deal was made and with neither warning nor explanation, the House split the energy ban from the trade status provision and bifurcated the two measures further by imposing separate standards on Putin's actions in Ukraine before any President can think to restore these trade benefits to Russia without congressional approval. prgtoken Each bill passed by over 400 votes, but the House decided to only transmit the bill on Russia's trade status, its permanent normal trade relations, or PNTR piece, even though it had passed more than a week after the energy ban. prgtoken The important point is that our House colleagues on both sides of the aisle agree both restrictions need to happen. Some may wonder why the urgent need for the congressional energy import ban after President provided one in his Executive order. prgtoken Pelosi was asked just that question when she put the new House version of the import ban up for a vote, and she stated, correctly, to her House colleagues: ``You're here to legislate.'' prgtoken Absolutely, that is why we are here. And our legislative response-- more especially its certification requirements--must deliver an unmistakable message to Putin: no relief until you stop your aggression and recognize Ukraine's inalienable right to live free and choose its leaders. The energy ban and its trade status revocation are complementary, and they m
AMERICA CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR MANUFACTURING, PRE-EMINENCE IN TECHNOLOGY, AND ECONOMIC STRENGTH ACT OF 2022
Shelley Moore Capito (Republican, WV) \u2014 2022-3-23

I would like to thank my fellow Senator, Senator Ernst from Iowa, for leading the delegation trip that we took this past weekend, the bipartisan delegation. It was most informative, impactful, and she did a wonderful job leading that. I was proud of the efforts. prgtoken I am here to join my colleagues today to discuss the invasion--the unjust and immoral invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin--in light of the trip that we just took to Germany and to Poland. In a way, I am kind of hesitant to do so, not because there isn't a lot to say or a lot to share but because of the powerful words that some of the Ukrainians whom we met implored us, which was: Enough talking. It is time to act. prgtoken I could not agree more. But out of deep respect for them, I would like to take a moment to make sure we all understand why we have to act and why we must act now. prgtoken As Americans, you realize this when you talk to--we did, certainly, when we were talking with Germans and other Europeans. We don't have the same perspective sometimes that Europeans have who faced World War II. One of the most powerful comments conveyed when we were meeting with German officials was that their new generation who has heard for decades about the atrocities from their parents and their grandparents--they were told this would never happen again. And yet what we see is that it is happening again. prgtoken This is an unjust war, and there seems to be no level of atrocity that Vladimir Putin is unwilling to commit. Putin overestimated his ability, his army, his ability to conquer. ``This must be over in 3 days,'' according to him. He overestimated his own abilities, and he grossly underestimated the will of the Ukrainian people and the will to not just live but to live freely. prgtoken On top of this, Putin has also failed to understand the commitment of the free world--of NATO--to stand up for freedom. We certainly saw that over the last several days. prgtoken We, in our Nation and in our history, know that freedom is worth fighting for, and it is also worth defending. Generations have done this in our past and will do this in the future. We believe this to our core. prgtoken We also believe that the deliberate and evil bombing of hospitals, targeting supply routes, and killing civilians are the actions of war criminals. prgtoken But in the face of all of this evil, we see hope. We see hope from the Ukrainian people; we see hope from the Ukrainian leadership; we see hope from the Ukrainian military; and we see hope in our own military forces as a part of NATO, including all nations of NATO as well as the generosity of people around the world, the nongovernmental organizations we saw helping at the refugee center, and, most especially, the Polish people. We saw them stepping in militarily. And on the humanitarian side, we saw an incredible outpouring. We saw this firsthand at the refugee center. prgtoken Poland has now taken
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
James Lankford (Republican, OK) \u2014 2022-3-23

there is a lot going on in the world right now: Ukraine; what is happening in China; what is happening with the Iran nuclear conversation right now with Russia and the United States and China; record inflation here in the United States. There is so much going on that I am concerned that we are not also focused on an area at our southwest border. prgtoken It is interesting; I have had folks who have caught me and have said: Things must be going better at our southwest border because I don't hear about it as much. prgtoken Actually, there is just so much other news that it is drowning it out. prgtoken So what is actually happening at our southwest border right now, and where are we? Let me give you a little bit of context and then to be able to talk through some of the issues that are happening. prgtoken Today, on our southwest border, about 6,300 people have already illegally crossed. Now, a day that they can manage is about 3,500 people. So we are still hearing record numbers of people illegally crossing the border. prgtoken To set this in context, during the 4 years of the Presidency, there were 2.4 million people who were encountered illegally crossing the border during the 4 years of the Presidency. During the first 14 months of the Presidency, we have already exceeded that number. We have had more illegal encounters in the first 14 months than there were in the previous 4 years. prgtoken In this process of all these individuals crossing the border, it has been interesting. There was something that was put in place in January of 2020 called title 42 authority. Now, let me explain this briefly. Because of the pandemic that was happening, in March of 2020, the administration put in place that, for single adult individuals who were crossing the border, they would be turned around at the border based on the pandemic that was happening. The administration agreed with that policy, and when they came in, they kept title 42 in place. In fact, last year, 1.1 million people were turned around at the border under title 42 authority. prgtoken Title 42 authority was always intended to be temporary. It is not a permanent immigration policy; it is during the pandemic, although it is ironic that the administration is looking to lift title 42 authority on the border at the same time--this month--members of the National Guard are being forced to resign if they don't have their vaccine. So if you don't take your vaccine and you are in the National Guard, you are being forced out, or if you are in the military and you haven't taken it, you are being forced to resign the military, but people illegally crossing our border can come into the United States. prgtoken At the same month that there is conversation about dropping the title 42 authority, we are still wearing a mask on our planes, in buses, and in trains based on a requirement of the administration on a threat to COVID. At the
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Deb Fischer (Republican, NE) \u2014 2022-3-23

I would like to tell you a story about North Platte, NE. prgtoken During World War II, this small, West Central Nebraska town was one of the most famous cities in America, and it was the epitome of homefront patriotism. From Christmas Day 1941 to April 1946, North Platte was the site of one of the many community-based canteens that offered hospitality to soldiers on their way to join the fight or on their way back home. prgtoken There were nearly 120 of these canteens across the United States, mostly along railways, like the Union Pacific line that still runs through Nebraska. Of these 120 canteens, North Platte was by far the biggest. It served more than 6 million servicemembers over the 4\1/2\ years it was open. The country's second busiest canteen in Ohio served well under half that many soldiers over its lifetime. prgtoken As many as 24 different troop trains, carrying up to 8,000 uniformed personnel overall, rolled through North Platte on any given day. prgtoken Here is a quote from a local newspaper about what the residents of just two Nebraska towns, Merna and Anselmo, donated to the North Platte Canteen on a single day in 1944: 53 birthdays cakes, 127 fried chickens, 58 dozen homemade cookies, 32 dozen cupcakes, 73 pounds of coffee, 163 dozen eggs, 68 dozen doughnuts, 41 quarts of pickles, 3 crates of oranges, 9 pounds of ham, 160 loaves of bread, 40 popcorn balls, and 50 pounds of sandwich meat. prgtoken It took 22 cars and 3 pickup trucks to drive all those donations 70 miles west to the train station in North Platte. prgtoken Members of the community organized regular benefit dances, scrap metal drives, and other events to support the canteen's operations. In all, volunteers raised more than $137,000--worth more than $2 million today--to support the canteen, and they did it all on their own. prgtoken As you might imagine, the soldiers who were fortunate enough to stop at the North Platte Canteen didn't soon forget the hospitality that they received. prgtoken Russ Fay, a Wisconsinite who was barely old enough to be drafted when he was shipped off to basic training in California, was one of those lucky soldiers. More than 60 years after his 10-minute stop in North Platte, he told journalist Bob Greene, who wrote a book about the North Platte Canteen called ``Once Upon a Tow'': I can still taste it. I would say that a majority of the men on the battlefield know exactly what North Platte was. . . . They would talk about it like it was a dream. Out of nowhere, [other soldiers would say]: How'd you like to have some of that food from the North Platte Canteen right about now? prgtoken The thought of the North Platte Canteen kept our soldiers going during one of the darkest periods in world history. And more than 55,000 people, nearly all of them women from 125 different communities, chipped in to help run it at one point or another. Most were Nebraskans, but m
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Christopher A. Coons (Democrat, DE) \u2014 2022-3-23

I rise to offer some brief remarks about a dear friend, someone upon whom I have relied as a mentor, someone who has served our Nation across many decades, and someone whose passing earlier today is a moment of great significance for our Nation and our place in the world. prgtoken I happen to have been a Truman scholar; some of my best friends are Truman scholars; and the person whose passing we mourn today I first met because she was the chair of the Truman Scholarship Foundation Board. prgtoken I am speaking of the former Ambassador to the United Nations, the former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, whom I first got to know decades ago, but whom, in my dozen years here in the Senate, I got to know as a mentor and a friend, someone whose lilting humor, whose brilliant insights, whose force of personality, and whose charisma were unmatched. prgtoken One of the greatest memories I will have in my life was a dinner I got to enjoy last year with former Secretary and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Colin Powell, and former Secretary of State and Ambassador to the United Nations, Madeleine Albright, and the Ambassador to the United Kingdom. prgtoken We sat in her garden and talked for hours about the world, about conflict, about Russia and China, about Putin, about the Balkans, about a whole range of things, and I learned so much. prgtoken Madeleine never lost her love for this institution, for the Senate. It was here that she, as a relatively young staffer, cut her teeth on politics and on being engaged in policymaking. prgtoken And one of the things that always amused her was that this desk--the desk of Senator and Senator Kennedy--was also the desk of Senator Ed Muskie, a Senator from Maine for whom she worked for a number of years. She was his chief LA from 1976 until 1978 and then went to work for Zbigniew Brzezinski on the National Security Council. prgtoken I will simply say this. Today, we have lost one of our best and one of our brightest, one of the most passionate in her dedication to democracy. prgtoken As someone who was born overseas in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and who, along with her family, fled communism to come to the United States, she never stopped offering her insights, her advice, her passionate dedication to democracy. In the books that she read, in the pins that she wore, in the speeches that she gave, in the students that she mentored, Madeleine Albright touched so many lives. prgtoken Yet she on occasion was gracious enough to give me just a few minutes of her time. Through her, her daughter Alice and her grandson David became great and dear friends. David's service in my office was an enormous blessing to me and my team. prgtoken I just wanted to ask for prayers for them, for their family, and for all prgtoken whose lives were touched by Madeleine Albright. Tribute to Tom Mancinelli prgtoken , I rise today to make some comments about a
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Brian Schatz (Democrat, HI) \u2014 2022-3-23

today we lost a towering figure in American and world history. Madeleine Albright was one of the smartest, strongest diplomats that we have ever had. She came to America as a refugee and helped move the country closer to the promise that it was founded upon. She made the world a better place. prgtoken Madeleine Albright was born in the former Czechoslovakia in 1937. When the Nazis took power, her family was forced into exile, ending up in London, where they survived the Blitz. After World War II, they returned to Czechoslovakia but were again forced to seek refuge, this time from communism. prgtoken As an 11-year-old, she arrived with her family at Ellis Island. She became a U.S. citizen, graduated college on a full scholarship, and went on to earn a Ph.D. while raising her three daughters, Alice, Katie, and Anne. prgtoken She worked here in the U.S. Senate on the Foreign Relations Committee under Edmund Muskie, then at the White House National Security Council, before becoming a renowned professor at Georgetown University. In 1993, President Clinton nominated her as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. She was the second woman to hold that position. prgtoken In 1997, she became the first woman in our Nation's history to serve as a prgtoken Secretary of State. As Secretary, she was a strong supporter of NATO, encouraging the alliance to add new members and to protect vulnerable populations. She urged military intervention to save lives in Kosovo. She worked to prevent rogue States from getting nuclear material and supported the Kyoto Protocol. And she strengthened American alliances across the planet. prgtoken But Madeleine Albright is not the sum of her accomplishments. Madeleine Albright is something more. She embodied the ideals of our country. She was a constant light in the struggle between freedom and oppression, relentlessly advocating for people to have rights that she knew didn't exist under authoritarian regimes. She broke the highest glass ceiling in her field and then spent the rest of her career fighting for opportunities for other women. We will remember her as a diplomat and a trailblazer. prgtoken But I will also remember her as something else: family. My oldest brother Jake is married to her daughter, Katie. When I first became a U.S. Senator, she was thrilled to have a politician in the family and wanted to be helpful without casting a long shadow, so she discreetly called Barbara Mikulski and told her to look out for me. prgtoken We were fast friends--not acquaintances, not friends in the political sense, but actual friends. prgtoken She was a tireless and sharp political strategist. She was the kind of person who would watch C-SPAN for fun and was endlessly fascinated with politics at all levels, from municipal elections, State elections, Hawaiian politics, the United Nations--she loved this stuff. prgtoken She was also a trusted confidante. We had long talks about everything bu
AMERICA CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR MANUFACTURING, PRE-EMINENCE IN TECHNOLOGY, AND ECONOMIC STRENGTH ACT OF 2022
Robert Menendez (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2022-3-23

I wanted to join in the comments made by the distinguished chairman of the Finance Committee, which I currently sit on, and my distinguished colleague on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who is the author of the Magnitsky Act. prgtoken I just hope--I came loaded for bear to the floor because I thought we were going to have a different result, but I am optimistically going to expect that we are going to have a resolution because, look, there are burnt bodies in the streets of Ukraine. There are mass graves to bury the dead. There are Ukrainians who are melting snow in order to drink water to survive. So it is truly mind boggling that we cannot get this legislation passed that eliminates Russia's preferred trade status and reauthorizes the Magnitsky Act. prgtoken We see that Putin's actions are not only creating a horrific set of circumstances in Ukraine; they are creating a severe shortage of wheat across the Middle East and North Africa, bombing maternity hospitals and theaters housing children, causing the worst refugee crisis in Europe in decades. prgtoken While we have long called out Putin's thugishness, his unprovoked and devastating attack on Ukraine has united the world in its resolve to levy severe repercussions for Putin and his cronies. So we must revoke this preferential trade status immediately. I think we should do the same for Belarus, which continues to provide a launching pad for Putin's war. prgtoken But, certainly, not including Magnitsky makes no sense. Now, it makes no sense when last week I came to the floor and asked for unanimous confirmation of a key number of nominees at the State Department and USAID that are at the heart of helping the United States help Ukraine on coordinating sanctions, on our USAID Director for that part of the world, on the Assistant Secretary for refugees--millions of Ukrainian refugees. We should have these people in place to do the job. prgtoken But we also have to have the law that is going to expire in place that Putin hates. He hates it. It is named after someone he was trying to eliminate. We have to continue to expand our options for keeping the pressure on Putin's regime and those who enable him. Reauthorizing Magnitsky is a critical part of doing just that. prgtoken With Magnitsky sanctions, we can hold human rights abusers to account. We can call out their unacceptable and appalling acts, and we can hand the President a powerful tool to sanction those who profit off the Russian people and exploit state assets. prgtoken But if we don't act, Magnitsky provisions will sunset later this year. Putin shouldn't be able to think: I can wait it out. He should know that the law is going to continue and the sanctions that have been levied under Magnitsky will continue to be levied and enhanced. prgtoken He wants to see this law go away. His oligarchs and top officials would breathe a sigh of relief. Allowing Magnitsky sanctions to expire wou
AMERICA CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR MANUFACTURING, PRE-EMINENCE IN TECHNOLOGY, AND ECONOMIC STRENGTH ACT OF 2022
Elizabeth Warren (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2022-3-23

I rise today in support of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President 's nominee to be an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. prgtoken Judge Jackson brings an exceptional level of experience to the bench. After serving for nearly 8 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Jackson has more trial court experience than any sitting Supreme Court Justice and more than almost any Justice in a century. She will also be only the second sitting Justice to have served on all three levels of the Federal judiciary. prgtoken Judge Jackson's nomination is historic. If confirmed, she will be the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court, bringing a long overdue representation to the Bench. After serving as an assistant Federal public defender in Washington, DC, Judge Jackson will also be the first former Federal public defender to serve on our Nation's highest Court. prgtoken It matters that someone nominated to sit on our Nation's highest Court has represented people other than corporate clients. It matters that someone nominated has had real experience with people who can't afford lawyers. It matters that someone nominated has had real experience in fighting for the public interest. prgtoken The Sixth Amendment of our Constitution grants criminal defendants the right to have the assistance of counsel in their defenses, but it wasn't until 1963, in Gideon v. Wainwright, that the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Constitution required State courts to appoint lawyers for defendants who could not otherwise afford one. prgtoken Now, some s have complained about the very idea of having a public defender on the Supreme Court, but their objections run squarely afoul of the meaning of the Constitution. This fundamental constitutional right to counsel is safeguarded by the work public defenders do every single day. Public defenders are literally on the frontlines of helping America live up to our constitutional ideals. Every American who supports and defends the Constitution should welcome a Supreme Court Justice who has worked so hard to turn our constitutional ideals into reality. prgtoken When asked about her work as a public defender, Judge Jackson said: Every person who is accused of criminal conduct by the government, regardless of wealth and despite the nature of the accusations, is entitled to the assistance of counsel. prgtoken Judge Jackson restates a foundational constitutional point, one that she has lived--up close and personal. prgtoken Public defenders understand better than anyone that none of us should be defined by the worst thing we have ever done. Everyone, regardless of who they are or what they have been accused of, deserves a lawyer. Our legal system, as imperfect as it may be, strives to deliver equal justice under law. It is only because of the commitment of public defenders, civil rights attorneys, and legal aid lawyers that w