mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
Nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning (Executive Calendar)
Dan Sullivan (Republican, AK) \u2014 2021-7-27

I want to thank my colleague, Senator Barrasso, for leading the effort to do what is the obvious thing to do on the U.S. Senate floor. Here, in a couple minutes, we are going to vote on one of the most extreme nominees I have ever seen to be nominated for anything requiring the confirmation of the U.S. Senate. prgtoken To be honest, I can't believe we are even really having this debate. I can't believe that the Senate is going to put forward and vote on an ecoterrorist. I can't believe the President of the United States, after maybe not recognizing who he put forward, didn't withdraw the nomination. And yet here we are. prgtoken We know this administration supports far-left groups and certainly has nominated some far-left nominees for Senate confirmation to important positions in the Federal Government. But what hasn't happened yet is--they have knowingly put forward a far-left nominee who has clearly lied to the Senate, as Senator Barrasso just showed clearly, who is not just a far-left extremist, she is a violent extremist. prgtoken So, normally, you would think in America that would disqualify you from a position that requires Senate confirmation--a position, by the way, that is one of the most important positions to my State, the great State of Alaska. prgtoken And yet here we are. Here we are. We are going to vote for her. And it looks like all my Senate colleagues are going to vote aye. Shocking. I hope America is watching because this is a bigger vote than just for the BLM Director. This is a symbol of how crazy and far left this administration has gone and, to be honest, how fearful some of my colleagues are of that. prgtoken So I was here on the Senate floor a little over 1 month ago, and I called on the President to withdraw his nomination to lead the Bureau of Land Management, Tracy Stone-Manning. It was the first time in my Senate career I have called on a nominee to be withdrawn before they had gone through their vote on the Senate floor and vote out of committee. I have never done that before. prgtoken Usually, the President certainly gets to put forward who he or she wants for positions to fill out his Cabinet and his Federal Government. That is normal. prgtoken I have never done this before, but I have a reason, just like Senator Barrasso has been coming down on the Senate floor to talk about this, to actually call for this withdrawal, because we have not confronted someone with Tracy Stone-Manning's past, which involves being a member of part of an extreme, radical, violent group that performed violent acts in the name of getting attention, a violent group engaging in overt ecoterrorism. prgtoken Her past association with ecoterrorism is so heinous that even the Director of BLM from the - administration said that her actions should preclude her from consideration, and her nomination should be withdrawn by the President. prgtoken You would think that would have b
REMEMBERING MIKE ENZI
James M. Inhofe (Republican, OK) \u2014 2021-7-27

let me thank my friend for recognizing me for something that I consider to be and that he considers to be and the rest of the Senate considers to be very significant. prgtoken Our hearts are very heavy today because, like so many of my colleagues, I am mourning the death of my dearest friend, Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming. I say ``dearest friend'' because he is. prgtoken Mike Enzi was the quiet leader in the Senate. There aren't too many quiet leaders in the Senate. And when he talked, everyone listened, and that is a rare quality in a Senator. He was humble. prgtoken Now, other than his humility, we had a lot in common. We were both businessmen before getting into politics, and we had that in common. We were both mayors of major cities. We had that in common. We were elected to the Senate within just about the same time. Just a very short time after the first, the second came along. So we had a lot in common. prgtoken Something people might not know about Mike is that he had a heart for the downtrodden. He helped people that no one else helped. I mean, that is unusual. And the thing is, nobody knew that, just a handful of people who were with him. prgtoken One of the places where I spent a lot of time with him, as a couple of other Members, John Boozman from Arkansas and Mike Rounds from South Dakota, and others--we were with him in some of these places where no one else really knew what he was doing. Some people might not know about Mike that he had a heart for the downtrodden, to help people that no one else would help. prgtoken And I spent this morning reminiscing with friends of mine from all over the world who were calling up. Most of them are in different time zones, and they found out about Mike's death later on. And that put us in a position where we were talking to old friends that Mike and we had in common, and that happened most of the night. And the stories came from all over the world. prgtoken I think, over the coming days and weeks, America is going to learn a lot more about Mike Enzi. The only reason they never knew it before was because he was humble, but you will see that he had a hidden impact on people. He had an impact on people that resonated for long periods of time, for years. He deserved enormous credit for his lifetime of service but accepted none. prgtoken We both have a heart for Africa and traveled there often, whether to promote our work that we were doing officially or the great partnerships, or for Mike to see the implementation of PEPFAR. prgtoken And I say this because, if you were to single out one bill that helped more people than any other bill, likely, arguably, in the U.S. Senate, it would be PEPFAR. You know, Mike was the leading architect of PEPFAR when AIDS was running rage across the globe. prgtoken We all remember that. Everywhere we looked, the people were contracted with AIDS, especially in underserved places like Africa, and it was time for the United Sta
IN HONOR OF ANDREW SHORT
John Joyce (Republican, PA) \u2014 2021-7-27

. Madam , I rise today to honor Colonel Andrew ``Coby'' Short for his dedicated service to our country upon his retirement from the U.S. Army. prgtoken As Commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Pittsburgh District since July of 2018, Colonel Short has served for three years to improve the region's critical infrastructure. In addition to his service to the Pittsburgh District, Colonel Short was also appointed as the Border District Commander and tasked with directing a project that would focus on the construction of the U.S. Government's southwestern border. prgtoken Since he began his military career with a commission as a Second Lieutenant upon graduation from the U.S. Military Academy in 1997, Colonel Short has received numerous awards for his service, including the Bronze Star, the Combat Action Badge, and the Bronze Order of the De Fleury Medal, an award of the of the U.S. Army Engineer Association. prgtoken Colonel Short served the citizens of Pennsylvania's 13th Congressional District as a member of our Military Service Academy Interview Board, where he vetted potential nominees to our nation's service academies. I am grateful for his work in this capacity to ensure the continued readiness of our nation's Armed Forces for years to come. prgtoken On behalf of Pennsylvania's 13th Congressional District, I thank Colonel Short for his service, and I wish him continued success as he enters retirement.
LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, EDUCATION, AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT, FINANCIAL SERVICES AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT, INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, MILITARY CONSTRUCTION...
Jack Bergman (Republican, MI) \u2014 2021-7-27

as a veteran and one who served the country for 40-plus years in uniform, the bond we have as veterans goes deeper than anyone could imagine. The worst thing that can happen, as has happened in my family, is to have a loved one and a veteran take their own life. I have decades, unfortunately, of family experience in this. Because of that, my passion for stating opposition to this amendment goes unabated. prgtoken , .
Nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning (Executive Calendar)
Cindy Hyde-Smith (Republican, MS) \u2014 2021-7-27

I rise to join my colleagues in expressing my grave concern over the nomination of Ms. Tracy Stone- Manning to be the Director of the Bureau of Land Management. prgtoken The Office of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management is tasked with an enormous responsibility. As it manages an eighth of our Nation's land, its leadership should be held to the highest standards. prgtoken Every nominee referred to the Energy and Natural Resources Committee must complete and submit the statement for completion by Presidential nominees, which is the standard committee questionnaire. In the sworn statement, Ms. Stone-Manning told the committee that she has never been arrested or charged and, to her knowledge, has never been the target of an investigation. prgtoken Unfortunately, as many of us are now aware, Ms. Stone-Manning's responses were not forthcoming nor fully accurate. prgtoken I am particularly disturbed by Ms. Stone-Manning's involvement with the ecoterrorist organization Earth First!, which organized the tree- spiking plot in Idaho. As you all may know, tree spiking involves hammering a metal or ceramic rod into a tree trunk in order to prevent loggers from harvesting the timber. If the saw makes contact with a spike, it can result in severe injury or even the logger's death. prgtoken Make no mistake, the people who put these spikes into the trees are well aware of the potential consequences of their actions. These schemes are carried out with intent to harm or even, at the very least, the intent to frighten the loggers who are carrying out their daily jobs. prgtoken I want to be clear, no one is claiming that Ms. Stone-Manning put any spikes in any trees herself. However, it is undisputed that Ms. Stone- Manning assisted the people who did. prgtoken Ms. Stone-Manning wrote a letter laced with vulgarities to the U.S. Forest Service, threatening loggers who were simply carrying out their jobs, doing what they do for a living. prgtoken In the aftermath of this tree-spiking conspiracy, Ms. Stone-Manning was investigated and subpoenaed by a Federal grand jury. Ms. Stone- Manning was silent about her involvement in the plot, but when new evidence came to light 4 years later, she struck a deal for immunity in 1993. prgtoken Tracy Stone-Manning's involvement in ecoterrorism as well as her dishonesty to the Senate is more than alarming. There are questions that need to be revisited and answered. The statements from the former lead investigator of the Idaho tree-spiking scheme as well as the actions of the Federal grand jury tell a different tale than what Ms. Stone-Manning led the committee to believe. These discrepancies must not be cast aside. prgtoken I am concerned about the precedent that will be set for future nominees if my colleagues simply agree to accept or disregard these inconsistencies. prgtoken I am very disappointed that my ic colleagues on the Energy Committee moved forward with Ms. Stone
LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, EDUCATION, AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT, FINANCIAL SERVICES AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT, INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, MILITARY CONSTRUCTION...
Ben Cline (Republican, VA) \u2014 2021-7-27

. Madam , I thank the ranking member for yielding the time and the chair for her leadership as well. I am honored to be a new member of the Appropriations Committee, but I must oppose this appropriations bill. prgtoken I was disappointed by the party-line votes many of my colleagues took during committee markup against amendments that should have garnered bipartisan support. prgtoken I am most disheartened that the majority failed to keep decades-long, bipartisan provisions in this bill. Chief among those were the Hyde and the Weldon amendments. prgtoken Since Hyde was first included in 1976, it has saved nearly 2.5 million lives. Nearly 60 percent of Americans agree that taxpayer dollars should not be used to pay for abortions. prgtoken The Weldon amendment ensures that healthcare providers cannot be forced to provide abortion services, a protection that has been in place since 2005. prgtoken We should never force our healthcare workers to participate in abortion when they have taken an oath to heal and to do no harm. prgtoken While there was much in this bill I would like to support, the inclusion of these provisions is non-negotiable. prgtoken I will always stand to preserve the sanctity of life and to protect our healthcare providers from being forced to perform actions they find unconscionable. prgtoken The government has a duty to protect the inalienable right to life. Therefore, I cannot support this bill.
Remembering Mike Enzi (Executive Session)
John Barrasso (Republican, WY) \u2014 2021-7-27

I come to the floor today to pay tribute to our friend and former colleague, Senator Mike Enzi. prgtoken Senator Lummis and I are here, and we are very grateful for the kind comments of the minority leader, Senator McConnell; majority leader, Senator Schumer; and the President pro tempore of the Senate, Senator Leahy. prgtoken Mike Enzi was my colleague. He was my mentor. He was my friend. Today, my wife Bobbi and I, along with all of the people in the State of Wyoming and all of his friends and admirers here in the U.S. Senate--we are joined on the floor by many of his former staffers, many of whom still work here--all of us mourn his passing. prgtoken For nearly a quarter of a century, Mike Enzi represented the people of Wyoming in this very body in the U.S. Senate. In so many ways, as we served as a team when Cynthia Lummis was in the House and Mike and I were in the Senate, he was our trusted trail boss for our entire congressional delegation. prgtoken He served with intelligence, with dignity, and with grace. He never wavered. His commitment was to God, to his family, to country, to Wyoming. prgtoken It was an incredible honor and a great privilege for my wife Bobbi and for me to serve the people of Wyoming alongside Mike Enzi and his wife Diana. prgtoken Mike was born in the middle of World War II. He was in Washington State at the time because that is where his father was stationed. After the war, the family moved back to Thermopolis, WY--my wife's hometown-- and to Sheridan, WY. prgtoken As all of us know, Mike was an Eagle Scout, so were his son Brad and his grandson Trey. They followed in his footsteps. Later in life, he was awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout. prgtoken He went on and studied accounting. He earned a business degree, and he focused on marketing. He was pretty good at it. He served in the Wyoming Air National Guard, and he was 6 years a tech sergeant. prgtoken In 1969, Mike and Diana were married. One week later, they moved to Gillette and opened a small business known as NZ Shoes--Enzi, like his name, but the letter ``N'' and letter ``Z'' Shoes. The little business wasn't that little for long. He opened a second store in Sheridan, then Miles City, MT. prgtoken Mike ran for mayor of Gillette, served two 4-year terms. He often called being mayor the toughest job in politics, and Mike performed flawlessly. With the help of his business skills, Gillette went into an economic boom. He served 10 years in the Wyoming Legislature as both a State representative and a State senator. prgtoken When he came here to the Senate, Mike became a leading voice--a leading voice on budgets, on taxes, and on healthcare issues. In 2015, he became the first accountant to ever chair the Budget Committee. He brought to Washington the valuable lessons that he had learned in the Wyoming Legislature, and he put them to use right here prgtoken He would say: Like American families, Wyoming has to balance its
Nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning (Executive Calendar)
James Lankford (Republican, OK) \u2014 2021-7-27

a few weeks ago, President nominated Tracy Stone-Manning to be the leader of the Bureau of Land Management. Many people in my State don't know much about the Bureau of Land Management. We don't have a lot of areas actually managed in our State by BLM. It has more than 10,000 employees. It manages roughly an eighth of the Nation's land, including 65 million acres of our forests. The land holds 30 percent of our minerals. Whoever leads this entity leads the issue of how we are managing our forests, how we are handling our minerals, how we are handling our energy development, livestock grazing, recreation, and, yes, timber harvesting. prgtoken The individual President nominated we now know was an Earth First! ecoterrorist. She actually typed out, as she has admitted in the past, a threatening letter that was sent out to leaders who were doing forestry in Idaho, saying in her letter that she typed out--and she has admitted that she typed out the threatening letter--that ``we,'' as she put it, drove 500 pounds of spikes into the trees in the Idaho forest and then threatened them, to say: If you harvest those trees, it will not be good for you. prgtoken The challenge that we have here is that we have an individual who has admitted that she actually was a part of a group to do tree spiking. Now, what we don't know is if she actually drove a spike. We have no idea. But we do know that she turned evidence on the other people who did and admitted as a part of her plea bargain that she is the one who actually did the letter from a rented typewriter to be able to make sure she couldn't be traced and even in the letter said: If you find me, it would be ``your worst nightmare.'' prgtoken So what do we do about this? Typically, when you are going to deal with the person who handles forestry for the United States and the Bureau of Land Management and you find out this person has been involved in tree spiking, which actually is designed to injure or kill people who are logging or people who are actually harvesting the lumber in the sawmills and actually processing that lumber, it would cause a pause. prgtoken I cannot imagine what it is going to be if she is actually confirmed in this position, and the individuals who come to her to get a permit to be able to do any kind of forestry work, because they would have to actually come to her office, what they would think when they actually walked through the door, because the Bureau of Land Management notices timber sales and signs off on timber sales for the country. The Bureau of Land Management is the one that makes forest product sale plans. The Bureau of Land Management is the one that develops, maintains, and revises the plans for all public management, including identifying areas for timber sales. In fact, the Bureau of Land Management is also the group who sends in the firefighters to the wildfires to be able to put out the fires, which could
CALLING FOR FREEDOM AND LIBERTY IN CUBA
Alexander X. Mooney (Republican, WV) \u2014 2021-7-27

I rise to address the topic of the recent protests in Cuba, where individuals there are simply asking for freedom and liberty. prgtoken My mother is one of 14 children. Her maiden name is Suarez, Eulalia Maria Suarez. She came from Cuba at 20 years old in 1961. My mother and my father raised me to defend freedom, freedom of speech. My father fought in Vietnam against the communist advance there. prgtoken What we in America sometimes don't realize is, many other countries, especially communist countries that are tyrannical like Cuba, do not enjoy the basic human rights that we enjoy in this country and many other people in the world enjoy. prgtoken Those rights, such as free speech and uncensored internet access, they don't have that in Cuba. Freedom of the press, freedom to protest, freedom to criticize your government, the right to vote in an actual election with more than one candidate who doesn't get 100 percent of the vote, they don't have those rights in Cuba. prgtoken What they have is a tyrannical, evil regime that oppresses their people every day. They arrest demonstrators. We saw brave men and women in Cuba for the first time since 1994, almost 30 years, thousands of brave men and women, people in Cuba, protesting against their government, asking for freedoms, asking for basic rights like the ones I just mentioned that they don't have. prgtoken What did they do? They all got arrested. They put them in jail. They say it is for a year. When that year goes by, when the regime in Cuba hopes nobody else is looking, they are going to make it 5 years. And they abuse them in jail. That is what happens to protesters in these types of countries. prgtoken Now, look, I want to say that I actually agree with on this, on what he said. said, on July 12, this year, and I am going to quote him: ``We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba's authoritarian regime. The Cuban people are bravely asserting fundamental and universal rights.'' prgtoken President continues: ``Those rights, including the right of peaceful protest and the right to freely determine their own future, must be respected. The United States calls on the Cuban regime to hear their people and serve their needs at this vital moment rather than enriching themselves.'' prgtoken Look, President and, unfortunately not all, but many, and s agree on this issue, but we need aggressive solutions to the issue. prgtoken If the United States of America does not lead, no one else will. They are looking to us for leadership. They are looking to President for leadership. They are looking to Congress for leadership. We need every freedom-loving country to condemn this evil, tyrannical regime and their constant abuses of their people. prgtoken
LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, EDUCATION, AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT, FINANCIAL SERVICES AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT, INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, MILITARY CONSTRUCTION...
Debbie Lesko (Republican, AZ) \u2014 2021-7-27

such time as I may consume. prgtoken My amendment strikes section 316. prgtoken Under current law, universities are already allowed to conduct research on marijuana as long as the university gets approval from the Drug Enforcement Agency and buys the marijuana from the University of Mississippi, the DEA's approved provider. prgtoken Additionally, universities are currently required to comply with the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act which prohibits universities from unlawfully manufacturing, distributing and dispensing, or possessing a controlled substance. A violation of this law would result in a loss of Federal funding. prgtoken want to change all of this. Section 316 allows universities to skirt these requirements. prgtoken If universities are allowed to engage in cannabis growing and research without any safeguards, who is to say that this provision would not permit universities to offer a class called Pot Smoking 101, dedicated to smoking pot under the false pretense of research. prgtoken Pushing for marijuana research in universities also fails to account for the fact that because marijuana is a schedule I drug, Federal law requires certain safeguards, including a limited-access room and a specific storage safe for the drug. prgtoken My amendment allows for the withholding of Federal funds if universities fail to implement these necessary safeguards. An appropriations package is, quite simply, not the place for debate on a legalization of or looser restrictions for marijuana. prgtoken My colleagues across the aisle are using this partisan package as a roundabout way of legalizing marijuana without having any meaningful debate about its classification as a schedule I drug or the effects that the drug has on Americans' health. prgtoken This appropriations package should not be an opportunity to push an agenda without meaningful debate about the consequences of legalizing a schedule I drug. prgtoken , I urge my colleagues to support my amendment.