mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2020-3-24

first let me say a word to my colleague from Tennessee. prgtoken It is good to see you, and it is a good social distance. I thank you for your presentation. We may not agree on everything, but we do agree on some things, and we are working together on the issues that affect Tennessee, Illinois, and many other places, to increase the number of medical professionals available in small towns and rural America. prgtoken As we go through this public health crisis, it reminds us that we need to keep focused on that, and she and I will continue to work on that. I thank her for her bipartisan cooperation. That is a timely issue with or without the current crisis we face, and I look forward to her successful completion on that bipartisan issue. prgtoken , my daughter called me yesterday from New York and talked about her first day in the classroom. You see, our grandkids go to public schools in Brooklyn, and they are, of course, closed, and the kids are back home. Well, yesterday was the first day there was to be remote learning using laptop computers. So my son-in-law took my grandson and my daughter took my granddaughter into separate rooms and spent 3 or 4 hours in that made-up classroom. My daughter said: This is harder than I ever imagined. prgtoken So it is a reminder, No. 1, of how much we owe it to teachers every single day, and not with 1 child, usually with more than 1-15 to 30 in a classroom. Let us also remember that the learning process is critically important as we go through this health crisis. I hope all parents will try--I know my daughter and her husband are trying--to help the kids keep up with their learning process. In some places, it is hard. Kids don't have access to computers or may not have remote- learning possibilities. But it is something that is essential, and I thank the teachers and school districts that are trying to put it together. prgtoken Janice Jackson, who is the head of the Chicago Public Schools, called me just a few days ago, and we talked about how they were implementing this in the city of Chicago and how they are trying to distribute school lunches. It is an awesome responsibility. prgtoken Let's give special thanks to those who are working overtime to try to make sure our kids can keep up with the learning process and some of the basics in life, like feeding them to make sure they have something for lunch and breakfast, if not more. prgtoken I can go through the long list of people to thank, which I have done before, starting with those in healthcare--nurses, doctors, lab technicians, and others working in senior citizen facilities, our first responders, and many like them. Let us not forget that every single day while we isolate, they are forced to break isolation and to come to help those in need, and we can never thank them enough. prgtoken So what is going on in the U.S. Senate? If you hear the other side of the aisle, there is a suggestion th
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Thomas R. Carper (Democrat, DE) \u2014 2020-3-24

I would say to my colleague, my West Virginia colleague and friend: Don't lose that sense of optimism. It is going to carry us through this and, hopefully, well beyond. prgtoken I live in Delaware. My wife and I live in Delaware. We live in the same house we have lived in for--gosh--33 years, and we raised our sons there and sent them off into the world. prgtoken Every morning that I get up and I come here, I go to the train station. It used to take maybe 15 minutes from my house to get to the train station. Today there were just a few cars on the road--no buses. I got to the train station, and most of the doors were closed. Up on the platform, I think two people were on the platform to catch the train that ultimately brought me down here. prgtoken A lot of people whom I passed by on the way to the train station, some people had slept out overnight--destitute, asking for money. Then, off the train station here, an hour and a half later, in Union Station, walking through the train station, it was almost empty. The train I had been on was almost empty. prgtoken A number of the people whom I did run into walking through the station and out of the station, came out Delaware Avenue to the Capitol, where people were, again, destitute and begging for money. prgtoken There are a lot of people who showed up last week and the week before in this country to ask for and sign up for unemployment benefits. They never imagined in their life that they would be in this situation. prgtoken A lot of people who signed up in the last 2 weeks for food, what used to be food stamps--SNAP--food benefits for their family, they never imagined they would face this situation. prgtoken My colleagues call me a recovering Governor. I was privileged to be Governor of Delaware for 8 years. I chaired the National Governors Association. The Governors who met on the 50-State conference call several days ago, I was fortunate enough to talk to some of them afterward and ask them what their priorities were. prgtoken They said, among other things: We want to make sure, when people file for unemployment insurance, if they are eligible for it, that it will actually be there; and these State funds that were created, contributed to by employers in 50 States across America, when they are depleted, there needs to be a backup. They were pleading with us to make sure that that backup is there. prgtoken I am encouraged that the package that is before us today will provide that liquidity, if you will, for unemployment insurance so people will actually be able to get not necessarily their full payroll or full salary--full paycheck--back but at least maybe enough to get by. prgtoken The Governors asked that we--they use the term ``plus-up'' the SNAP program. We used to have food stamps. We now have something called SNAP cards, and they can be plussed-up or down remotely, electronically, and the Governors were asking that we do something about that to make
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2020-3-25

I know we have a very important piece of legislation before us to turn this economy around and help in our battle against the virus. While we are waiting to vote on that, I have come to the floor for a couple of points that I would like to make. prgtoken The first one is to honor a famous Iowan. This month is Iowa History Month, so I have come to the floor to speak about one of Iowa's favorite sons, Dr. Norman Borlaug, whose birthday is today. prgtoken He is considered the father of the Green Revolution. Raised on a farm near Cresco, IA, Borlaug is credited with saving more lives than anyone in history with his breakthroughs in agronomy. It took him several years to accomplish what a lot of scientists do now in a laboratory in regard to fighting diseases in plants. He did this in Mexico and India. prgtoken His work helped to overcome malnutrition and famine across the world, saving over 1 billion lives in the process. prgtoken His achievements won him the Nobel Peace Prize--not only that famous prize but also the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. I think there are only five or six people who fall into the category of winning all three of those prizes. prgtoken His achievements also prompted the State of Iowa to honor him with one of Iowa's two statues in Statuary Hall here in the U.S. Capitol. Coronavirus prgtoken , on another subject, some pundits, and even Members of this body, have suggested that it is inappropriate to criticize the Chinese Communist Party for its mishandling of the coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China, because it distracts from bashing the President. We went from mainstream media outlets routinely referring to the virus by its origin to this being totally politically incorrect. prgtoken There is an excellent timetable published by Axios that lays out the Chinese coverup that prevented early action to contain the virus. The Chinese pro-democracy activist, Wei Jingsheng, warned that General Secretary Xi is ordering people back to work prematurely, risking another massive outbreak of what he called Wuhan pneumonia. prgtoken Telling the truth about the Communist Party's misdeeds does not preclude talking about how we can improve our own response. We can learn from free countries like South Korea, which has been able to contain a widespread outbreak, and Taiwan and Japan, which appear to have been able to prevent widespread outbreaks. prgtoken So this is not the time for political correctness or political point- scoring to get in the way of telling the truth or working together in a clear-eyed way to address the challenges at hand. prgtoken . prgtoken .
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Marsha Blackburn (Republican, TN) \u2014 2020-3-25

you know, I have to say that last night was an unusually late night here in Washington, and we were all impatient and our staffs were impatient. The press was impatient. prgtoken As we talked to people across the State, what we realized was they long have been running out of patience, and I talked about that some on this floor. But for every factory worker and hourly worker and small business owner and songwriter and gig worker--they have all been telling me that they are running out of time, and they have really just been very anxious about what was going to come out of this Chamber. prgtoken I know that in the days and weeks ahead, as we work through getting relief to communities and individuals and small business owners and large companies, there is going to be a lot of blame that is going to be thrown around. There is going to be some who are going to blame politicians. There are others who are going to blame the way the economy is structured. There are others still who are going to blame the healthcare system. But I will tell you, I think there is a necessity to have a discussion about why we do have this current crisis, and it is because of the leadership of the Chinese Government, the People's Republic of China, that leadership in Beijing. prgtoken We have gone around and around with activists and media on the point, and I shouldn't have to point out that when I say China is to blame for the spread of the novel coronavirus that we call COVID-19, we do not mean the Chinese people as a whole. Yet we have some who do not want to say that is where it came from. I think we should stop that, and we should move forward with decisions based on fact and with decisions that are based on data. prgtoken We need to begin to collect those facts and data as they pertain to this disease. That is how we get to the antivirals. That is how we get to having a vaccine. That is how we look at lessons learned so that we don't go through this again, so we plan to tackle some of the unexpected occurrences that will come our way. prgtoken As we talk about facts, we do know that COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, China. From there, it spread rapidly, and it has had devastating consequences. The economy is crumbling. We are working desperately to shore it up. Innocent people have been in the hospital or sick. prgtoken I talked to one Tennessean this morning who said: I am happy to report my husband is coming back around. He has been suffering for the last many days with COVID-19. prgtoken We have the world's healthcare professionals, and what are they doing? They are working to the point of exhaustion. prgtoken What we have is Beijing's reckless Communist dogma, and they are trying to blame everybody else. prgtoken Today we are going to move forward with the rescue package. This is the phase 3 package. It is the fourth tranche of money. I am including in that the President's emergency declaration, which put about $50 billion
TRIBUTE TO INEZ MITTLEIDER
Kevin Cramer (Republican, ND) \u2014 2020-3-25

I want to honor a very special North Dakota woman who is turning 100 years old on Friday. Inez Mittleider of Bismarck was born on March 27, 1920, in South Dakota and at a young age moved with her family to southwestern North Dakota. Living thorough the Dirty Thirties and the Great Depression, she had to leave home and live with family friends while she completed high school. She was one of very few women of her generation to earn a college degree. Inez lived in the communities of Heil and Mott and taught in one-room schoolhouses for nearly 10 years. prgtoken Inez and her husband raised four children and instilled in them the necessity of hard work and self reliance. Today, Inez is the grandmother of seven, great-grandmother of nine, and continues to live on her own in Bismarck. Her many family members plan to gather to celebrate this centennial milestone with Inez later in the year. prgtoken , North Dakota is home to more than 200 centenarians, and we consider them among our most treasured residents. They have witnessed great moments in North Dakota's history and their pioneer spirit, dignity, and hard work have brought them through many challenges and personal achievements. prgtoken On behalf of all North Dakotans, I want to wish Inez a happy 100th birthday, and hope this is the start of a year filled with happiness and joy.
MIDDLE CLASS HEALTH BENEFITS TAX REPEAL ACT OF 2019
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2020-3-25

so here we are, colleagues. For the information of all of our Senators, we will first vote on the adoption of the Sasse amendment at a 60-vote threshold, and then our second and final vote will be on passage of the CARES Act, also at a 60-vote threshold. We are going to pass this bipartisan relief package and send it over to the House so they can put it on the President's desk. prgtoken When the Senate adjourns this evening, our next scheduled vote will be the afternoon of Monday, April 20. Of course, during this unprecedented time for our country, the Senate is going to stay nimble. As always, we will convene regular pro forma sessions, and if circumstances require the Senate to return for a vote sooner than April 20, we will provide at least 24 hours' notice. prgtoken Our Nation obviously is going through a kind of crisis that is totally unprecedented in living memory. Let's stay connected and continue to collaborate on the best ways to keep helping our States and our country through this pandemic. Let's continue to pray for one another, for all of our families, and for our country.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
James Lankford (Republican, OK) \u2014 2020-3-25

we are in the process of passing a very large economic package to help stabilize our economy through the middle of all that is happening with COVID-19 globally and in the United States. The heart of the package we are passing today is almost identical to what we brought Sunday night, which was a bipartisan proposal, which ranking members and chairmen of all the major committees had worked together to get done. The key elements of it are still there. It has unemployment insurance for Americans, including a $600 plus-up to go through the process. There is support for small businesses that will pay the payroll. We don't want individuals to end up on unemployment insurance. It is better if they stay connected to their same company. It has a unique new proposal that is built in to say a small business can go to any bank rapidly to get a loan there, which will convert into a grant if they maintain their current employee numbers. That keeps people connected to their business and keeps people assured of a job at the end of all this when it finishes out. prgtoken It has a grant program for larger businesses that is designed to say: If you are a very large company, you are not going to get a grant; you are going to get a loan in this process. At the moment you get a loan and, if you don't have capital and you don't have access to it right now because of all that is going on, you could get that. prgtoken This also has a feature built in where individuals will receive a check for $1,200. Every adult does. That is built in to get immediate economic support to all those folks across the country. prgtoken All of those features were already in the bill through Sunday night. There have been some tweaks that some folks have brought up that some of our ic colleagues wanted to engage in. Many of those changes have been heard and been added, and to some we have said: Absolutely not, it is not connected to COVID-19 at all. There are things that some of our ic colleagues wanted to make sure got in. Through all the negotiations, some of these things were changed. For instance, they wanted to make sure that energy companies couldn't get any support. So they fought hard to make sure there is no additional money for the President buying additional oil to put in the strategic petroleum reserve at this lowest price now. So it will actually cost us more money in the future. But it was their intention to say that we don't want oil companies to get any support in this downturn. prgtoken They also wanted to make sure there was great transparency because they didn't trust the administration. So they built in an inspector general and additional people to watch the Treasury through the process. They put in a neat little feature they demanded, which was that no son or daughter or family member or any individual that works with the Presidency, Vice Presidency, or the Congress could get any of--not the grant
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Ben Sasse (Republican, NE) \u2014 2020-3-25

. OK. That is a helpful clarification. prgtoken The Senator was saying a lot of different things, and I thought he was arguing for a UPI of 14 grand. I just wanted to clarify that point. prgtoken The Senator believes a lot of things very differently than I do, but I appreciate the fact that he argues forcefully for his positions. I think this body would benefit from having more people who spoke as bluntly and directly as the Senator from Vermont. I hope his positions will be voted down again and again and again and again, but I appreciate the way in which he argues for his positions. prgtoken I thank the Presiding Officer.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Lindsey Graham (Republican, SC) \u2014 2020-3-25

I want to compliment my colleagues Senators Rick Scott, Tim Scott, and Senator Sasse. prgtoken Today, when we were getting briefed about the bill, something hit me like a ton of bricks. And there are a lot of good things in here. There is money for healthcare providers, nurses, doctors, and hospitals. There are so many good things. prgtoken The country is under siege. I was one of the first s to join my ic colleagues. I think I talked to Senator Durbin. prgtoken We need to do something more on unemployment insurance because the Collins-Rubio construct, I think, will help, but some people are going to fall through the cracks. prgtoken Never in my wildest dreams, Senator Durbin, did I believe that what we have done is to pay people more not to work than to work. Under this bill, the $600 payment on top of State benefits actually allows people to have their income almost doubled in certain circumstances. I want to help people. I want to make sure that if you lose your job, we cover your wages. But under this bill, you get $23.15 an hour based on a 40- hour workweek not to work. prgtoken If you are trying to hire somebody in South Carolina the next 4 months, you have got to compete with that wage. If you are working in a restaurant--probably not now--but if you are working anywhere for $15 an hour, somebody is making $23 an hour, and you are working. It is just not fair. It is going to hurt the Rubio-Collins construct. prgtoken For restaurants that are out of business, we want them to be able to borrow money to pay the payroll to keep people connected to their employer. Now, what do you do when you make $23 an hour being on unemployment? How do you keep that waitress or bartender at $15 or $17? You made it a nightmare for small businesses. They are being pitted against their own employees. prgtoken So to Senator Durbin and everybody else, the reason we are doing this is because they tell me it takes 6 to 8 prgtoken months for unemployment commissions at the State level to figure this out. prgtoken What are we asking you to do? To get unemployment, you have to tell us where you work and how much you make. And what we want to do is fill in the difference between the State unemployment benefit and your actual wages and stop there. We don't do that under this bill. There are people getting paid more not to work than they were in the workforce. It is going to be hard to not incentivize people to leave their jobs. You can be unemployed at $23 an hour in South Carolina. That is a lot more than people make. prgtoken So I am urging my colleagues, we need to fix this now. No matter how well-intentioned, you are going to make the next 4 months impossible for small businesses to hire. I can promise you this: If you pay somebody $23 an hour not to work, they are probably going to find a way to get there rather than staying in the workforce, where I am sure they would rather be. We have created a perve
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Ted Cruz (Republican, TX) \u2014 2020-3-25

. The incentives matter. We don't want to delay a recovery from this crisis by 4 months. Hopefully, we stop this global pandemic, and we stop it soon. You don't know how soon that will be. I don't know. prgtoken One of the benefits of this bill is that we are flooding more resources--and we should be--into testing, into preventive gear, and into ventilators. There is a lot we need to do to stop this pandemic, but when it ends--and it will end, and we will get through this--we want people to go back to work--not 4 months from now. We want them to go back to work as soon as they are able to go back to work, and that is what our economy needs to be strong. prgtoken I would note, again, that I posed a question to the Senator from Illinois: Would he take a modification that acknowledges the administrative problems but said that this is the principle we should follow--that you shouldn't be paid more not to work than you are paid to work. And the Senator from Illinois didn't answer that.