mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
BRINGING JUSTICE TO DREAMERS
Al Green (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2018-2-7

once again I am honored to stand in the well of the House of Representatives. prgtoken I have been blessed and fortunate enough to stand here and to have the opportunity to vote on some of the great issues of our time. I am proud to say that I was here to vote on the Affordable Care Act, and I am proud to say that I still stand behind the Affordable Care Act. prgtoken I was here to vote on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay legislation. I still stand behind what we did on that great occasion. prgtoken I was here to vote on a good many pieces of legislation, but I must tell you, , I am very proud to have been here today to see the Honorable Nancy Pelosi as she took a stand for those who cannot be here to stand for themselves. She took a stand for the DREAMers, and not only did she speak for them and stand up for them, she also literally took a stand on her feet for more than 8 hours in heels. prgtoken , that is a part of history that I will forever remember, and I am proud to have been here, not in the room for the entirety of the time, I must tell you. A good many of us were afforded the opportunity to go in and out, but she stood there for the entirety of the 8 hours and spoke eloquently about the needs of the DREAMers, spoke eloquently about the things that they have done to make our country a better place, spoke eloquently about how America the Beautiful is a more beautiful America because they are here. prgtoken I would like to associate myself with her comments. I believe that she is a part of that avant garde that will ultimately bring justice to those young people who came here, not of their own volition, but who came here with someone, some parent, some significant other, some person who had care, custody, and control, and who have done all of the right things, save having been born here, and deserve an opportunity to remain in this country. prgtoken So, Ms. Pelosi, wherever you are, I want you to know that I have great admiration for you and I adore you for what you have done tonight. prgtoken , I am here to also speak on behalf of a constituent, Mr. Jose Escobar he is my constituent. He lived in my congressional district. I do regret that he has been deported to El Salvador, but notwithstanding the distance between us, he is still my constituent, just as I had a constituent who was detained in China. prgtoken Notwithstanding the distance, this was still my constituent, and we fought with her husband and her friends and other Members of Congress to get her back to the United States of America, and she has been returned. The entirety of that time while she was away, she still remained my constituent, just as I have a constituent who is currently in Syria being detained. prgtoken We are going to fight to bring that constituent back. That constituent will be my constituent as long as I am in the Congress of the United States of America and that constituent is detained in Syria. My hope is that we will g
HONORING THE LIFE OF RABBI ISAIAH ZELDIN
Brad Sherman (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2018-2-7

I rise today along with my colleagues Congressman Ted prgtoken Lieu, Congressman Adam Schiff, and Congressman Lee Zeldin to pay tribute to the visionary Rabbi Isaiah Zeldin, who passed away at the age of 97. prgtoken Rabbi Zeldin was the founder and spiritual leader of Stephen Wise Temple. prgtoken Stephen Wise Temple is located on an 18-acre mountain between the San Fernando Valley and the Westside of Los Angeles. The Temple started in 1964 with just 35 families and grew into one of the largest Reform Jewish synagogues and schools in the world. prgtoken Rabbi Zeldin transformed Jewish education in Los Angeles as an advocate for building Jewish day schools in the Reform movement. Thousands of students have now been educated at the Temple's educational venues which came to include a pre-school, elementary school, high school, and religious school. prgtoken Rabbi Zeldin was known for speaking from his heart on the pulpit, usually without any notes. He was a champion for issues ranging from access to education, affordable housing, and support for the state of Israel. Rabbi Zeldin inspired in future generations a desire to care for others and set an example of inclusiveness by welcoming Jews of all denominations, as well as non-Jews to the synagogue. prgtoken The Los Angeles community mourns the loss of its Rabbi, leader, teacher, mentor, and friend. We give thanks for the incredible legacy he leaves behind and for his many contributions to our community and the Jewish People. prgtoken We send our sincerest condolences to Rabbi Zeldin's children, Joel and Karen, and Michael and Terry; his brother, Bernard; his grandchildren, Sivan and Igor, Sasha and Dustin, Oren and Noga, Gabe, and Noam; and his great-grandchildren, Eytan, Ilan, Alina, Liam, Stav, Evan and Ido.
INTRODUCTION OF THE PROTECTING INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS FROM DISCRIMINATION ACT
Eleanor Holmes Norton (Democrat, DC) \u2014 2018-2-7

today, I introduce the Protecting Independent Contractors from Discrimination Act to extend to independent contractors the same federal antidiscrimination protections enjoyed by employees. My bill would extend the antidiscrimination protections of the following statutes, which apply to employees, to independent contractors: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008. prgtoken In a Bureau of Labor Statistics 2005 analysis of the American workforce, approximately seven percent were considered independent contractors. That number has surely only grown in the 13 years since that analysis with the growth of the so-called ``gig economy.'' These workers, who often do the same work as employees, have almost none of the protections guaranteed to employees, including health insurance, collective bargaining, retirement security and even antidiscrimination. My bill focuses only on the employment discrimination, such as discrimination based on race, age and gender, from which every worker is entitled to be free. prgtoken I strongly urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
TRIBUTE TO DEPUTY U.S. MARSHAL RICHARD ``KIRK'' BOWDEN
Steve Cohen (Democrat, TN) \u2014 2018-2-7

I rise today to pay tribute to the late Memphis native Richard K. ``Kirk'' Bowden, a deputy U.S. marshal who protected some of the most important Civil Rights pioneers of the 1960s. Mr. Bowden was one of a small group who protected James Meredith when he travelled off campus after integrating the University of Mississippi in 1962. Bowden later guarded Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the 1963 March on Washington at which he delivered his ``I Have A Dream'' speech. prgtoken Mr. Bowden died January 20 at his home in Silver Spring, Maryland. He was 82. prgtoken Mr. Bowden was a graduate of Douglass High School in Memphis and attended what is now LeMoyne-Owen College before joining the U.S. Air Force criminal investigations division from 1954 to 1958. He served as an officer with the Washington, D.C Police Department before joining the Marshals Service, from which he retired in 1987. He later returned on contract until 2017. prgtoken I met Mr. Bowden several times through the years at Douglass alumni events and appreciated his professionalism and commitment to the Douglass Red Devils. prgtoken I wish to pay my respects to Mr. Bowden and thank his family for his long and dedicated service to his community, his country and Douglass High.
CHILD PROTECTION IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF 2017
Amy Klobuchar (Democrat, MN) \u2014 2018-2-7

I appreciate the remarks of my colleagues Senator Ernst, Ranking Member Stabenow, and, of course, Senator Grassley. Senators Grassley and Ernst have been such leaders on ag issues in their State. prgtoken I come to join Senator Grassley, not only from the other side of the aisle but also, as far as Iowa and Minnesota are concerned, across the border. Our States have rivalries in football and many other things, but one thing we always agree on is having strong people to be the voice of agriculture at the USDA. prgtoken I supported Secretary Perdue when President nominated him, and I believe he needs a team to be able to do the complicated work of agriculture. At a time when we have seen difficulty in everything from the dairy industry to cotton, to issues with prices for so many of our commodities, to just only a few years ago the avian flu that was such a threat to the poultry industry in Minnesota and Iowa, the thought that we wouldn't have an Under Secretary in place for farm production and conservation--such an important part of the work of the USDA right now--is just unbelievable to me. prgtoken As the nominee for Under Secretary in this area, Mr. Northey would be tasked with guiding some of the USDA's most important agencies that interact with farmers and ranchers on a daily basis, including the Farm Service Agency--which is so important to my farmers when they have questions about how they are supposed to sign up for things and complex programs; they prgtoken are small farmers trying to do their job, and they need that Farm Service Agency--the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Risk Management Agency. prgtoken As we prepare to write and pass a bipartisan farm bill, Mr. Northey's technical and legal assistance from the USDA is going to be critical. The absence of an Under Secretary for this critical mission area also has a domino effect that is leaving important USDA agencies without leadership and without guidance. This is not good governance. prgtoken Secretary Perdue picked him because he was someone who had served as a State agriculture commissioner. As Senator Ernst has pointed out, he is not someone who has lived inside the beltway his whole life. This is someone who knows a State that has a lot of ag. prgtoken When he came before the Senate Agriculture Committee last October, I had the opportunity to question him about his priorities for the USDA. He has spent his entire life in agriculture. He knows farmers, he knows rural economy, and he knows what is needed. prgtoken I appreciated the fact that he honestly answered questions about the renewable fuel standard. He sees it, as I do in Minnesota, as a homegrown economic generator. prgtoken We are a State that is right next door to North Dakota. We appreciate their ethanol and their oil industries. These are part and parcel of Minnesota and our country's energy. That being said, we see biofuel as an economic generator. W
CHILD PROTECTION IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF 2017
Debbie Stabenow (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2018-2-7

. Thank you very much for those kind words from the senior Senator from Iowa. We have partnered on many things together related to agriculture. prgtoken I rise today to support Senator Grassley and Senator Ernst in this motion. We need to fill this position with an eminently qualified person, Bill Northey, right away. It is long overdue. prgtoken As the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I am in strong support of the nomination of Bill Northey to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services. prgtoken Despite historic delays in receiving nominations from the administration, our committee has worked swiftly on a bipartisan basis to put qualified leaders into place at the USDA. When we get qualified nominees, we move them, and Under Secretary nominee Bill Northey is no exception. In fact, I believe that he is a bright star in terms of the nominees and those that will be serving in the USDA. prgtoken He was nominated in September of last year. Our committee quickly held a hearing and reported his nomination with unanimous bipartisan support to the floor on October 19. prgtoken Mr. Northey is a highly qualified nominee. He is currently serving his third term as secretary of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. A farmer himself, he understands what American agriculture needs, and has pledged to be a strong leader for our producers. I have confidence in him. prgtoken Unfortunately, instead of serving our farmers and ranchers at USDA, his nomination has languished in partisan limbo because of an unrelated issue raised by a Senate colleague not on the Agriculture Committee. prgtoken I appreciate Members have various kinds of concerns, but it is important to note that Mr. Northey's leadership is needed now on a number of issues, including the fact that he would be in charge of disaster recovery for our farmers in Texas, Florida, and Louisiana, and all across the country, who prgtoken are serving in the aftermath of hurricanes, wildfires, and drought. prgtoken It is also important for him to be at the USDA to support our farmers struggling with low prices. For the better part of a year, I have been working with the leaders of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Cochran and Senator Leahy, to fix a few pieces of the 2014 farm bill that didn't quite work as we intended them--the dairy and cotton safety net provisions. prgtoken I do want to indicate, while I am on the floor, that the Senate budget agreement contains significant improvements for both commodities, including more than $1 billion in support for our struggling dairy farmers. These much needed improvements set us up to continue our bipartisan work to write the next farm bill that needs to be done this year. I look forward to working with our chairman, Senator Roberts, as well as our two distinguished Members from Iowa, on creating the kind of farm bill that we need for our farmers and ranch
MORTGAGE CHOICE ACT OF 2017
Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2018-2-7

. Okay. I didn't know if a decision had been made about that yet. prgtoken Then I will continue to read. prgtoken Amy Kele. This is from Representative Jayapal, a leader on the immigration issues, as you probably all know, an immigrant herself to our country, and now a Member of Congress. I am so proud of her. Amy Kele and her family moved from Fiji to settle in Everett, Washington, staying on their father's student visa. Things change when Amy's parents left the U.S. to attend a wedding in Fiji. ``They were only planning to stay for 2 weeks, but then my mom's visa got denied,'' said Amy, the oldest of four children. Amy is now 19, but the last time she saw her parents was when she was just 11 years old. prgtoken How sad. When Amy's parents left for Fiji, Amy's grandmother came from California to babysit. When they weren't able to reenter the country, she picked up her life and moved to Everett to care for her grandchildren. ``She's the heart of this whole family. She's kept us together this whole time. I don't know where we'd be right now, maybe back in Fiji or in a foster home. I'm really thankful for her in our lives,'' said Kele. Though Amy's grandmother has been living in the U.S. for almost 20 years, she is also undocumented. ``Because she's also undocumented, she can't get benefits like Social Security and things like that. It kind of breaks my heart whenever I think about it.'' With the exception of Amy's younger sister, who was born in the United States, the Kele children have all enrolled in
CHILD PROTECTION IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF 2017
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2018-2-7

. from Delaware, Senator Tom Carper. He and I came to the House of Representatives together many years ago. He went off on another assignment as Governor of his State, and then came back and ran for the U.S. Senate. We are lucky to have him. He is a great Senator, a great friend, and a great colleague. He takes on important issues every day on behalf of his State and the Nation, and I thank him for his support for this conversation about DACA and Dreamers. prgtoken I would like to take a little different approach to this than I usually do on the floor, and I have come to the floor many times to talk about it. prgtoken I would like for everyone here who is listening to this debate to pause and think for a minute: What is the worst job you have ever had-- the worst job? Maybe it was the worst job because it was boring, and boring jobs are terrible. But there are some pretty bad jobs out there. prgtoken I could tell you my worst job. I was working my way through college in what we euphemistically call a packinghouse. In the old days, they called them slaughterhouses. What happened was that hogs came off the truck in one door, and two days later pork chops and bacon went out the back door. In between, there were some pretty awful jobs--hot, dirty, smelly, and dangerous jobs. prgtoken I took it as a college student because it paid $3.65 an hour in the 1960s--pretty darned good, in fact, better than anything else I could find. I raised enough money working there four different summers to go to college. There was never any doubt at the end of the summer that I was going to stay with my job and not go to college. I couldn't wait to go to college in the hopes that I would never have to work in a packinghouse or slaughterhouse again in my life. prgtoken Take a look today at the packinghouses, slaughterhouses, and poultry processing places across the United States of America, and I will tell you, almost without exception, what you will find. Take a look at the workers who come out of those places at the end of the workday. They are tired, they are sweaty, and they are dirty, and they are, by and large, immigrants--people who come to this country from other places. prgtoken In Beardstown, IL, there is a processing place, near the central part of my State, and the workers there are largely Hispanic and African. They are immigrants who have come to this country and, like generations of immigrants before them, were prepared to take the worst, dirtiest, hardest jobs available just to make it in America. prgtoken Go to the restaurants in Chicago, if you want a contrast from what I just described. We are lucky. I am lucky to represent that city, but we are lucky to have some of the greatest restaurants, I think, in our country. I would put them up against any city. I sat down with a person who owned some of those restaurants and talked to him about the immigration issue. prgtoken He said: Senator, i
EL GUERO CANELO WINS JAMES BEARD AWARD
Raúl M. Grijalva (Democrat, AZ) \u2014 2018-2-7

I rise today to honor and congratulate Daniel Contreras, the owner of the famed El Guero Canelo restaurant for receiving a James Beard Award for his world-famous Sonoran hot dog. El Guero Canelo won this prestigious award in a special category called ``American Classics,'' which honors restaurants that are ``cherished for quality food that reflects the character of the community.'' I cannot think of a better choice that reflects the cuisine and culture of Tucson. prgtoken Contreras' restaurant, El Guero Canelo, is emblematic of the merging of Mexican and American culture that makes Tucson so special. The restaurant has a storied history in the region and is representative of how one immigrant from Mexico with hard work, dedication, and drive can achieve the American Dream. prgtoken Born in Magdalena, Sonora, Mexico, Contreras experienced the trials of economic hardship, spending his days playing baseball while dreaming of a professional career. Like so many before him, Contreras left his native Mexico for Tucson, Arizona in search of a better life and lured by the promise of the American Dream. He worked long hours as a dishwasher in local restaurants until he decided to take a risk and open up a hot dog stand in 1993, which became the birthplace of the legendary El Guero Canelo. From that tiny hot dog stand, his business has grown to include three restaurants in Tucson and one in Phoenix. prgtoken In addition to his immeasurable contributions to the gastronomy of Tucson, Contreras is an upstanding member of the community, dedicated to serving others. He is an active member of his church and frequently visits state prisons to speak with incarcerated individuals on how to prevent alcoholism. prgtoken Contreras' story demonstrates the power of the American Dream and the persistent, entrepreneurial spirit of our immigrant community. Thank you Daniel Contreras for your contributions to Tucson, and I look forward to enjoying a James Beard award-winning Sonoran hotdog.
CHILD PROTECTION IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF 2017
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-2-7

first let me thank the leader for his comments and his work these past several months. We have worked well together for the good of the American people. We had serious disagreements, but instead of just going to our own separate corners, we came together with an agreement that is very good for the American people and recognizes needs that both sides of the aisle proffered. prgtoken I am pleased to announce that we have reached a 2-year budget deal to lift the spending caps for defense and urgent domestic priorities far above current spending levels. There are one or two final details to work out, but all the principles of the agreement are in place. The budget deal doesn't have everything want, and it doesn't have everything s want, but it has a great deal of what the American people want. prgtoken After months of legislative logjams, this budget deal is a genuine breakthrough. After months of fiscal brinksmanship, this budget deal is the first real sprout of bipartisanship, and it should break the long cycle of spending crises that have snarled this Congress and hampered our middle class. prgtoken This budget deal will benefit our country in so many ways. Our men and women in uniform represent the very best of America. This budget gives our fighting forces the resources they need to keep our country safe, and I want to join the leader in saluting Senator McCain. We wish he were here because he has fought so valiantly and so long for a good agreement for the Armed Forces. prgtoken The budget will also benefit many Americans here at home: folks caught in the grip of opioid addiction, veterans waiting in line to get healthcare, students shouldering crippling college debt, middle-class families drowning under the cost of childcare, rural Americans lacking access to high-speed internet, hard-working pensioners watching their retirements slip away. have been fighting for the past year for these Americans and their priorities. We have always said that we need to increase defense spending for our Armed Forces, but we also need to increase the kinds of programs the middle class so needs and depends on. It is our job as Americans, as Senators, to make sure that middle-class people can live a life of decency and dignity so that they can keep in their hearts the American belief that their kids will live a better life than they do. In this budget, we have moved, for the first time in a long time, a good deal forward on those issues. prgtoken Alongside the increase in defense spending, the budget deal will lift funding for domestic programs by $131 billion. It will fully repeal the domestic sequester caps while securing $57 billion in additional funding, including $6 billion to fight against the opioid and mental health crises; $5.8 billion for the bipartisan child care and development block grant; $4 billion to rebuild and improve veterans hospitals a