mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
HONORING THE LATE JACOB CRUZ BARNES
James C. Moylan (Republican, GU) \u2014 2023-2-28

. Madam , I rise to honor the late Jacob Cruz Barnes who sadly left this world earlier this month. prgtoken Jacob, also known as Jake, was a proud son of Guam and a proud veteran of the United States Air Force who served our great country for over 29 years in uniform. Jake also spent a good number of years ensuring that the many needs of our community were addressed in public service. prgtoken Unfortunately, the last couple of years were very challenging for Jake and his family as he was unable to get needed care that he required as he fought several medical challenges, including the fight for survival. The simple and decent services were unavailable in Guam for not only Jake, but for many other of our veterans. prgtoken These are individuals who have put so much on the line to preserve freedom and democracy to our great Nation and our beautiful island of Guam, that this country, this government needs to invest more to ensure when it is their time to obtain reliable care that it is made available for them at home where they can be with their family and loved ones. prgtoken Sadly, Jake had to relocate to the mainland to obtain additional care. We need to do more. prgtoken This government needs to take note that Guam has among the highest per capita enlistments in the Nation. We have proud patriots who call Guam their home. We have American citizens who are treated as second- class citizens when it comes to care, whether it be for our veterans or even when it comes to SSI for our disabled residents. prgtoken We can't say we are a land of opportunity when American citizens on U.S. territory are not provided equity. prgtoken Jake leaves behind a legacy of leadership, courage, and commitment to his family, our island, and our Nation. prgtoken I had the honor of serving with his wife, longtime senator and former in the Guam legislature, Tina Muna Barnes, over the past 4 years. She, too, has always been a staunch advocate for equity when it comes to benefits for our community. I witnessed firsthand the challenges she and her family had to endure to ensure that care was made available for Jake. It wasn't easy. prgtoken From the Halls of this historic building which represent democracy and freedom, I honor a veteran, a son of Guam, the late Jacob Cruz Barnes. prgtoken On behalf of the 118th Congress, I express my deepest condolences to his wife, Tina, his four children, his grandchildren and great- grandchildren, and his many other family members. prgtoken Jake, thank you for your service and may you rest in peace.
Judicial Nominations (Executive Calendar)
Marsha Blackburn (Republican, TN) \u2014 2023-2-28

in keeping with their promise to fundamentally transform the country, and the have done everything in their power to fundamentally transform the Federal judiciary. As a member of the Judiciary Committee, I have been able to interact with many of these nominees, and I have to say that I fully believe the American people deserve better. prgtoken There was Charnelle Bjelkengren, 's nominee to the Eastern District of Washington. Now, she couldn't tell the committee what article II of the Constitution says, but I expect my ic colleagues will send her nomination to the floor this Thursday. prgtoken Dale Ho, who received the unanimous support of committee to serve in the Southern District of New York, referred to himself as a ``wild-eyed sort of leftist'' and disparaged members of the committee on Twitter. prgtoken Before she was nominated to serve on the Fourth Circuit, DeAndrea Benjamin released multiple people on bond who went on to commit more violent crimes. She, too, received the unanimous support of committee . prgtoken Todd Edelman, who is well on his way to becoming a district judge here in the District of Columbia, also displayed soft-on-crime tendencies. He released a known criminal who then went on to participate in the murder of a child. He received yet another vote of unanimous support from committee . prgtoken Marian Gaston, nominee to the Southern District of California, wrote a policy paper arguing that we should do away with residence restrictions for convicted child sex offenders. prgtoken Orelia Merchant, nominee to the Eastern District of New York, couldn't define ``originalism.'' prgtoken This is an embarrassment, and it gets even worse, and it gets even worse when you look at the lack of qualification of the nominees the are sending for lifetime appointments to the Federal bench. prgtoken Few nominations have been as disturbing as President 's elevation of Michael Delaney to the First Circuit. To date, Mr. Delaney's most noteworthy contribution to his profession is the vicious intimidation of an underage sexual assault survivor who dared to speak out against one of his clients. prgtoken My colleagues on the Judiciary Committee already know the story of what Mr. Delaney did to Chessy Prout and her family, but I am going to repeat it here for my colleagues who are unfamiliar with this nominee's background. You should vote against this nominee, and here is why. prgtoken When she was a freshman at the elite St. Paul's Boarding School, Chessy Prout was sexually assaulted by an older student participating in ``senior salute.'' This was a campus-wide competition that encouraged senior men to commit statutory rape. prgtoken The perpetrator was ultimately found guilty of misdemeanor statutory rape, but the Prouts wanted their day in court with a civil suit. They had evidence that the powers that be at St. Paul's knew
INFLATION
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2023-2-28

Washington ' reckless spending has embedded painful inflation deep in our economy. Runaway prices are making families' monthly budgets harder to balance. And as interest rates rise, the financial markets where millions of Americans invest their life savings are becoming literally more volatile. prgtoken Short-term bond yields are trading at their highest levels since the precipice of the Great Recession in 2007. Indications of expected stock market volatility appear to be actually on the upswing. prgtoken But with Americans' retirement accounts already in jeopardy, have gone looking for still more ways to put workers' savings at even greater risk. The administration is trying to enact a radical new regulation that would help liberals use Americans' very own retirement savings as financial muscle for political causes they may not even support. prgtoken The Labor Department's proposed new rule would water down financial managers' fiduciary obligation to get the best return for their clients. This administration wants to let the fund managers prioritize extraneous factors--from companies' carbon footprints to various HR policies--when deciding where to invest hard-working Americans' savings. prgtoken The administration wants to let Wall Street use its workers' hard-earned savings to pursue leftwing political initiatives instead of trying to maximize the returns for their clients' retirements. want to let money managers making these unrelated ideological goals a higher priority than getting their clients, ordinary American workers, the best returns for their own retirements. prgtoken Not surprisingly, studies suggest that investment funds where the managers put a political thumb on the scale in this particular fashion tend, not surprisingly, to underperform normal investments. When you put ideology ahead of seeking the highest returns, well, the returns, of course, suffer. And if the have their way, the losers will be ordinary American workers who have spent their whole careers putting money away for their retirement. In effect, we are talking about letting financial companies garnish the retirement savings of workers, without their permission, in order to pursue unrelated liberal political goals. prgtoken The administration wants to put American workers in a position where portions of their potential returns on their retirement savings could be effectively donated away to leftwing political causes without their consent. prgtoken What a disastrous way to pile onto the pain they have already caused millions of American families. prgtoken I am grateful to my colleague from Indiana, Senator Braun, and to my friend and fellow Kentuckian Congressman Andy Barr for leading a bipartisan resolution in both Houses to make sure that Americans' retirement accounts are about one thing: maximizing returns on investments. I will be proud to support this co
REDUCE EXACERBATED INFLATION NEGATIVELY IMPACTING THE NATION ACT
Nicholas A. Langworthy (Republican, NY) \u2014 2023-2-28

. Madam Chair, my colleague's amendment states an obvious fact: It is the responsibility of both the President and the House of Representatives to combat inflation. I have no quarrel with that. prgtoken In fact, in advancing this bill, the House is taking one step toward fulfilling its responsibility to combat inflation. prgtoken It is doing so by using this legislative authority to help ensure that the President focuses on combating inflation, not issuing executive orders that make inflation worse. prgtoken Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this amendment, and .
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR RELATING TO ``PRUDENCE AND LOYALTY IN SELECTING PLAN INVESTMENTS AND EXERCISING SHAREHOLDER RIGHTS''
Virginia Foxx (Republican, NC) \u2014 2023-2-28

I urge my colleagues to support H.J. Res. 30, to stop the administration from decimating the retirement savings of millions of Americans. prgtoken ESG funds will not give retirees the secure future they need. According to a former BlackRock senior executive, ESG funds underperformed the broader market compared to non-ESG funds over the last 5 years. prgtoken Retirees are already worried about the rising costs of goods and services, not whether a company is using plastic straws in its cafeteria. prgtoken Americans deserve to have a secure retirement. This means retirement plans need to focus solely on workers' financial interests. That is why I urge my colleagues to support this resolution. prgtoken , .
REDUCE EXACERBATED INFLATION NEGATIVELY IMPACTING THE NATION ACT
Lauren Boebert (Republican, CO) \u2014 2023-2-28

. Madam Chair, I do want to take a few seconds to respond. That was great. We are addressed as MAGA extremists, extreme MAGA s. I will just make a clarification point. It is ultra MAGA. That is what we prefer. prgtoken But I will say to the ranking member, I am very happy that they have moved on from pronouns to adjectives. When they start acting democratic, I will be sure to call them the ic Party. prgtoken Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Comer).
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 347, REDUCE EXACERBATED INFLATION NEGATIVELY IMPACTING THE NATION ACT, AND PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.J. RES. 30, PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL...
Michael C. Burgess (Republican, TX) \u2014 2023-2-28

the balance of my time. prgtoken You know, driving to the airport early Monday morning on the way back up here for another week in Washington, the price of gas was $3 a gallon in Texas in February. prgtoken Now, that is bad news because by the time you get to Memorial Day, the peak of the summer driving season, gasoline is always a dollar more than it is in February. prgtoken So, look. The President was able to bring the price of gas down artificially by depleting our emergency reserve, and who does that? Who does that? prgtoken Who spends all of their emergency funds and says, ``Good on me. I brought the prices down,'' when you didn't do anything to increase the supply? prgtoken Now, here is the good news. One of the reasons we aren't surrounded by a lot of our colleagues right now on the floor of the House debating this rule is because Members, both and s, are in committees, in the committees of jurisdiction, doing the actual work. prgtoken I left a markup from the Energy and Commerce Committee, the Subcommittee on Energy, looking at ways to increase our supply of energy to do what? To bring down the cost of energy for consumers. prgtoken That seems like a logical thing to do. We see what the administration's response was. It was to sign an executive order to say, we are going to cut off a pipeline so you can't bring any more product into the United States. prgtoken You can't ship that product from Canada down to Port Arthur, Texas, and refine it with Texas jobs. No. They cut that off. As a consequence, it has to be made up somewhere else. prgtoken The good news is we didn't run out, and there is additional supply. There is additional energy to be pumped, harvested certainly in the Permian Basin and the Delaware Basin of Texas. prgtoken The good news is that producers, a lot of small and independent producers, are doing just that. prgtoken So rather than having to go hat in hand to OPEC or OPEC+--I guess, now because they added Russia to OPEC--rather than having to go to a dictator in Venezuela, you can buy your oil and gas from the United States of America. prgtoken Who is doing that? Well, Germany is doing that. They hastened the development of several LNG offshoring plants so that they could bring in that Texas product to heat the homes of Germans who have been cut off by Vladimir Putin in an attempt to starve Europe for energy during the Ukraine war. prgtoken You know, one of these bills that we are debating, the rule that we are debating will allow a bill to come to the floor for debate on looking into the cost of executive orders. prgtoken I already referenced one of those executive orders; one done on the very first day of the administration, which was to negate the Keystone pipeline, but there were others. prgtoken The Committee for Responsible Budget actually has calculated a total of $1.1 trillion in executive orders in the last 2 years and 2 months since this Preside
REDUCE EXACERBATED INFLATION NEGATIVELY IMPACTING THE NATION ACT
James Comer (Republican, KY) \u2014 2023-2-28

. Madam Chair, I rise in support of my colleague's amendment, which makes an important improvement to the bill. prgtoken The sky-high inflation America is experiencing under the administration hits hard military families, rural areas, and farm households. Too often, these vital groups of our constituents get short shrift in Washington's policy considerations. prgtoken My friend's amendment makes sure that will not happen when it comes to the inflation impact assessments this bill requires. prgtoken Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this amendment.
HONORING BRANDON COX
Susie Lee (Democrat, NV) \u2014 2023-3-1

. Madam , I think all of us Members of Congress can agree on one thing; that one of the greatest joys of being a Member is knowing the great men and women who work for us day in and day out. These men and women also dedicate their lives to serving others and serving our country. prgtoken Today, I honor one such man, my former chief of staff, Brandon Cox, who as of Friday will be moving on to bigger and better challenges. prgtoken I first met Brandon 8 years ago as a staffer for my campaign, and I saw a confident young man who knew politics better than anyone, worked harder than anyone, had a memory for details prgtoken that is unmatched, and who demanded excellence from himself and others. prgtoken Brandon has been an accomplished manager, first of my campaign and for the last 4 years, of my entire congressional staff. prgtoken When you are elected as a freshman, you are often advised to not hire your campaign manager as your chief, but I did not listen, thankfully. prgtoken I knew I needed someone who knew Nevada's Third Congressional District, who always had my back, who knew me, and knew how to get things done. My office was better for it, but most importantly, my constituents were better for it. prgtoken Brandon, it has been a good run. Wishing you all the best.
Department of Labor Rule Repeal (Executive Session)
Joe Manchin, III (Democrat, WV) \u2014 2023-3-1

I rise today to warn against our administration's unrelenting campaign to weaken our energy security, our national security, and our economic security to advance, truly, their environmental and social agenda. prgtoken The ESG rule that we are going to vote on later today is just another example of how our administration prioritizes a liberal policy agenda over protecting and growing--protecting and growing the retirement accounts of 150 million Americans that will be in jeopardy. prgtoken Our country is already facing economic uncertainty, record inflation, and increasing energy costs that keep Americans up at night and put a squeeze on their pocketbooks. And we all see it, no matter where you are. Whether it is Georgia or West Virginia, we are feeling the same pain. prgtoken The Inflation Reduction Act was written with the primary goal in mind--which has not been at all promoted from our administration. The Inflation Reduction Act was intended to be--and it still is--energy security for our Nation. prgtoken If we as a nation are not energy secure, if we have to depend on foreign supply chains, if we are not able to help our allies in need, we will not remain the superpower of the world, and that is what I was concerned about as we worked on the Inflation Reduction Act. prgtoken We were going to use all the fossil fuels that we have in America to maintain for the next 10 years energy independence, energy security, and be able to have the supply chain to help our allies, which the EU-- if you want to see the devastating effect of what a war on energy can be, look no further than Ukraine, look no further than the EU, where this happened over there. prgtoken So we have talked about this, and we wrote a piece of legislation where we could walk and chew gum at the same time. We could basically invest and produce more oil, produce more natural gas, basically build pipelines that carry the products much safer than rails and roads, which we are seeing so much of the devastation happening by rails right now, which should be alarming to all of us--but basically to do it and do it in a much safer way. prgtoken But when people deny--and any denier of any kind, denying the reality of what is needed today, is dangerous. That is what is happening right now. prgtoken We have a significant investment in States like mine already that allows us to produce more energy here at home, and that means onshoring our energy supply chains, creating good-paying jobs, helping our economy, and hopefully start working ourselves out of the debt that we have accumulated. prgtoken The administration should be our partners in this effort. I have always said this. Government should be your partner, not your provider but your partner. It shouldn't make all your decisions, but it should have guardrails on to make good, sound decisions. prgtoken But when they try to basically infiltrate, such as with the ESG, the environmental-social guida
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
Margaret Wood Hassan (Democrat, NH) \u2014 2023-3-1

I am honored to recognize Dan Rath of Spofford as February's Granite Stater of the Month. For the past 22 years, Dan has led a team--the Frozen Sections--in Special Olympics New Hampshire's Penguin Plunge at Hampton Beach. prgtoken Special Olympics New Hampshire works to foster inclusion for people of all ages with intellectual disabilities by enabling them to participate in sports. The yearly Penguin Plunge, where participants raise money and plunge in frigid Hampton Beach waters in early February, serves as a way to fundraise for Special Olympics New Hampshire's various programs. When Dan's wife showed him an ad to participate in the Penguin Plunge in 2001, he knew he had to sign up. Not only had Dan been a special education teacher for 4 years earlier in his career, but he also loved being in any type of body of water. prgtoken After fundraising and plunging the first winter on his own, Dan began recruiting friends and people who he met through his job at Cheshire Medical Center. The recovery room nurses came up with a saying--``If you ain't plunging, you're pledging''--since if Dan couldn't convince someone to sign up for the Penguin Plunge with him, he usually could persuade them to at least donate instead. prgtoken At 70 years old, Dan continues to lead an impressive group each year in taking the Penguin Plunge. This year, the 17 members of the Frozen Sections raised over $31,000 for Special Olympics NH. The highest fundraiser of the group was Becky May, who has been a Special Olympics athlete herself since the age of 5 and who raised more than $13,000 by driving across the State and knocking on doors to raise money. prgtoken The other members of this year's Frozen Sections were: Cindy Bunszel, Patrick Moynihan, Aaron St. Peter, Trevor Hunt, Trent Hunt, Stacy Taylor, Kelly Erunski, Downey Page, Sean Craig, Taylor Woodward, Steve Hart, Cherie Rowe, Michelle Leavitt, Priscilla Jones, and Larry Welkowitz. prgtoken I commend Dan, the Frozen Sections, and all Penguin Plunge participants in our State for submerging themselves in the frigid winter waters of Hampton Beach year after year in order to raise money for Special Olympics New Hampshire. Their hard work helps Granite State children and adults with intellectual disabilities to experience the joy and empowerment that comes with participating in a sport. Their commitment to making an impact in their communities is inspiring and a hallmark of the Granite State spirit, and I thank them for making New Hampshire a more inclusive place.
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
Tim Kaine (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2023-3-1

today I am introducing the Military Spouse Hiring Act with my colleagues Senators Boozman, Hassan, Rounds, and 17 of our colleagues. Enacting this bill would improve financial stability for Blue Star families across the country. prgtoken The families of America's servicemembers make sacrifices that often go unrecognized. Among them is packing up and moving frequently, with military spouses regularly having to leave stable employment to move to a new area and start over. This is compounded by the complex system of State licensing and certification requirements, which can prevent these spouses from taking jobs that utilize their expertise and experience. Because of this, military spouses have unemployment rates substantially higher than the national average, and they are often underemployed when they do have jobs. Adding to the financial struggles caused by frequent periods of unemployment and underemployment, the rising cost of childcare puts a substantial burden on many military families. prgtoken The Military Spouse Hiring Act would help these families by making military spouses an eligible population for the work opportunity tax credit. This tax credit has proven effective in improving employment prospects for other groups. Extending it to military spouses would help them find employment more easily after moving to new areas. prgtoken I hope my colleagues will support this bill to help families who have made the greatest sacrifice for our Nation.
EXPLORING BLACK RESISTANCE
Al Green (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2023-3-1

. Allow me to speak on another topic today. This is a topic that I have spoken on previously on this floor, and it is one, I believe, that merits consideration every opportunity I can present it to people of good will. prgtoken This topic has to do with the Russell Senate Office Building, a building that I choose not to go into because I think the name should be removed from the building. I won't go into the history of it now, but I will say this: There will be a vote at some point in the Senate to remove Richard Russell's name from the Russell Senate Office Building. prgtoken There will be a vote. At some point, I will come back to this floor and will correctly state that the name of ``Richard Russell'' has been removed from the Russell Senate Office Building. prgtoken Madam , .