mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
RELEASE OF CUBAN PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2023-11-7

two years ago, thousands of Cubans peacefully demonstrated for their basic rights, and their corrupt rulers responded with a brutal, indiscriminate crackdown. prgtoken Maykel Castillo Perez and Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara both helped forge the historic and resurgent prodemocracy movement on July 11. They have been imprisoned ever since. Maykel, a Latin Grammy-winning rapper, coauthored the song ``Patria Y Vida,'' an anthem for the mass demonstrations. Luis Manuel, an Afro-Cuban visual artist, has fought passionately for free expression and against censorship. prgtoken Maykel disappeared from public view after being detained without a warrant on May 18, 2021, and a kangaroo court sentenced him to 9 years in prison. The U.N. reports Maykel remains in prison ``solely for his prodemocracy activism,'' enduring inmate threats, solitary confinement, and denied family visits and medical attention. Yet he still rebels however he can. On the anniversary of the July 11 protests, he sewed his mouth shut and tattooed ``Patria Y Vida'' on his arm. Maykel told friends: ``I have enough strength to keep bleeding . . . I prefer with great pride to descend in a coffin than to bow.'' prgtoken Luis Manuel's despicable treatment is compounded by the jarring legacy of anti-Black racism in Cuba. On July 11, he too was arrested after posting a video on his plans to join Cuba's mass democracy demonstration. prgtoken Like Maykel, he was tried behind closed doors and thrown in a maximum security prison. Due to abuse, bad medical care, and denial of food and water, Luis Manuel is suffering from extreme weight loss and severe medical issues. prgtoken I am grateful the administration granted humanitarian parole to both Luis Manuel and Maykel, but for the Cuban regime, exiling these patriots isn't enough. Their very existence is a threat. prgtoken While these cases are egregious, thousands of peaceful prodemocracy protesters have been jailed, tortured, or killed. If we truly intend to live up to our Nation's values, we must work tirelessly to liberate those who continually sacrifice their freedom for others. prgtoken As co-chair of the Cuba Democracy Caucus, I proudly join forces with Freedom House and Amnesty International to demand justice for Maykel and Luis Manuel through the Defending Freedoms Project. prgtoken I intend to use my platform to ensure their unconditional release is a top priority in any discussion of Cuba policy. prgtoken I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me. (Spanish translation of the statement made in English is as follows:) prgtoken Hoy me levanto para exigir la liberacion inmediata de dos presos de conciencia cubanos. Maykel Castillo Perez y Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara ayudaron a empezar el movimiento pro-democracia el once de julio. prgtoken Ellos estan encarcelados desde ese dia. Maykel, rapero y ganador del Grammy Latino, es coautor de la cancion ``Patria y Vida'' que fue himno de las prot
Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 6126 (Executive Session)
Jeff Merkley (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2023-11-7

reserving the right to object, our colleague has come to the floor and asked for unanimous consent for a bill of some major significance. This bill deliberately throws the Republic of Ukraine under the bus by ripping Ukraine out of the emergency supplemental. This bill would have a very powerful, consequential impact. It will allow Ukraine to be torn apart by Putin's savage invasion. prgtoken In the process, it will shatter the Atlantic alliance; it will fracture NATO; it will destroy American leadership in defending democracies; and it will empower dictators around the world, dictators who conclude that they can outlast the coalition of democratic republics when a dictator seeks to conquer a democratic neighbor. prgtoken The last time our world saw such complicity placating a vicious conqueror was when Chamberlain went to Munich. In Munich, Chamberlain told Hitler he could take a big slice of Czechoslovakia, and England would look the other way. prgtoken Chamberlain declared peace in our time, but his appeasement did not produce peace in our time. Instead, it stoked Hitler's appetite for conquering adjacent land and set the stage for the Second World War, with a massive loss of life and treasure of Americans and life and treasure of many nations around the world. prgtoken I tell you this: Appeasing Putin today is as wrong and mistaken as appeasing Hitler was 85 years ago. We must stand with the freedom- loving, fierce-fighting, democracy-defending people of the Republic of Ukraine. prgtoken If you love Putin, then by all means, support this bill. If you love China and want to stoke China's appetite to invade Taiwan, then by all means, support this bill. prgtoken But if you love freedom, if you love democracy, if you respect the courage and the fortitude of the freedom-loving people of Ukraine, if you oppose democracy-crushing authoritarians wherever they are found, then oppose this bill. prgtoken There must be no Putin appeasement on the floor of the Senate. There must be no complicity in creating a Munich moment. And so I join my colleagues in preparing to object to this bill. prgtoken I yield to my colleague from Maryland.
Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 6126 (Executive Session)
Christopher A. Coons (Democrat, DE) \u2014 2023-11-7

reserving the right to object, I join my colleagues in standing to speak against a proposal brought to the floor by my prgtoken colleague from Kansas--a proposal that would move aid to Israel swiftly but ignore the urgency and the importance of humanitarian aid to countries around the world, of investments to secure our own border, of critical aid to Ukraine. prgtoken As my colleague has just spoken eloquently, we have all been inspired by the tens of thousands of Ukrainians who, hearing the urgency of the call to fight for their nation, to fight for their freedom, have laid down their lives, have worked to restructure their society and to aim towards freedom. prgtoken I have a hard time countenancing the idea that we today, on this floor, in this Senate, would walk away from this moment of challenge. As many colleagues have said and as I will briefly point out, the proposal that has come over from the House is not serious. It uses the tragedy, the horror of Hamas and its attack on innocent civilians in Israel, killing dozens of Americans, 1,400 in all--the brutality of that and the urgency of this moment--to advance a pay-for under the cloak of fiscal responsibility that would add $27 billion to our national deficit. prgtoken Many of us have already dismissed this proposal as not serious, but this is a serious moment. As my colleague from Ohio has said, we need a serious debate about our path forward, about where we are going and why. prgtoken I want to speak briefly to two components of this bill and then close. prgtoken Our President's supplemental proposal includes $13.6 billion to secure our border. The last serious, bipartisan proposal on border security, which was the King-Rounds bill we took up in 2018, invested $25 billion over 10 years, $2.5 billion a year. This supplemental would put $13 billion in 1 year into hiring thousands of new border agents-- CBP and Border Patrol; thousands of new staff--attorneys, folks who can move the asylum process quickly; money for detention and deportation; and nearly a billion-dollar investment in scanning everything coming across our border to end human trafficking and the importation of fentanyl. This is a serious proposal that deserves serious support. prgtoken Last, the humanitarian piece of this overall supplement would not just help ease the suffering in Ukraine, in Gaza, but in dozens of countries around the world facing a collapse due to a global calamity of hunger. prgtoken Let me conclude. It is right now--right now--twilight, dusk in Kyiv. It is right now as we debate on this floor twilight, dusk in Jerusalem. I am confident there are members of the Ukrainian Government, there are members of the leadership of Ukrainian forces, there are individuals on the frontline in Ukraine listening to this debate, urgently wondering: Will we stand? Will this Senate that invited President Zelenskyy to address us in the Old Senate Chamber just 6 weeks ago ke
U.S. Supreme Court (Executive Session)
Christopher Murphy (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2023-11-7

I wish this were not true--and it is true in the United States and nowhere else--but, on average, 70 women across this country are killed each month by an intimate partner, a husband or a boyfriend mostly, and most all of those murders are at the hands of a perpetrator with a firearm. prgtoken In the United States, women are 21 times more likely to be killed by a gun than women living in any other high-income nation. I get it that the numbers that we throw around when talking about the gun violence epidemic sometimes can get a little numbing and overwhelming, but that is a really damming, unconscionable statistic. prgtoken If you live in America as a woman--the most affluent, most powerful country in the world--you are not twice as likely to die as women in other countries at the hands of a firearm, you are not 5 times more likely, you are not 10 times more likely, you are 21 times more likely, living in the United States of America, to die from a gunshot wound as a woman than women living in any other high-income country. prgtoken I am not talking about comparing the United States to some war- ravaged, developing nation in the middle of civil conflict. I am talking about comparing the United States to other peer nations. That is unacceptable. prgtoken We made progress last year. We made progress last year because s and came together and said you shouldn't be able to have a gun anywhere in this country if you have a judicial history, if you have a conviction related to domestic violence. So we changed the law. We limited something called the boyfriend loophole so that whether you are a spouse or an intimate partner or a dating partner, you now can't get your hands on a weapon--you can't buy one, can't have a weapon--if you have been convicted of a domestic violence charge. That was good news. prgtoken The reason that we did that, despite the fact that the gun lobby opposed it, is because the American public has just made up their mind on this question. prgtoken In general, on most questions about keeping dangerous weapons away from dangerous people, 89 percent of Americans have already decided that they just would rather we err on the side of caution. prgtoken Specifically, on this question of prohibiting abusers--domestic abusers--from owning guns, 83 percent of Americans support that. It is really hard to get 83 percent of Americans to support anything in this country. This is maybe the most popular public policy intervention in America today, stopping domestic abusers from getting firearms. prgtoken The gun lobby and the gun industry, which want to sell weapons to everybody, regardless of their criminal status, cannot win that fight here in the U.S. Senate. They lost that fight last year because the American public has made up its mind. You are likely not getting reelected to Congress from a swing State or a swing district if you are voting against measures to take guns away f
Nomination of Julia E. Kobick (Executive Calendar)
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2023-11-7

today, the Senate will vote to confirm Julia Kobick to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. prgtoken Ms. Kobick is an accomplished litigator whose credentials and breadth of experience make her well-suited to serve on this court. After receiving her A.B. from Harvard College, her M.S. from Pace University, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School, Ms. Kobick began her legal career with prestigious clerkships for judges appointed by Presidents of both political parties: Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV on the District of Massachusetts, Judge Michael A. Chagares on the Third Circuit, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. prgtoken After her clerkships, Ms. Kobick joined the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General, serving first as an assistant attorney general and currently as the deputy State solicitor. During her tenure in that office, Ms. Kobick has practiced in Federal and State courts-- handling cases defending State laws, regulations, and Agency actions, as well as affirmative cases brought by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Over the course of her career, she has argued more than 20 dispositive motions in trial courts and delivered oral arguments in 19 appeals. prgtoken Ms. Kobick has the strong support of her home state Senators, Ms. Warren and Mr. Markey. In addition, she received a rating of ``well qualified'' from the American Bar Association. Ms. Kobick's credentials, breadth of experience, and deep ties to the Massachusetts legal community will serve the district court well. I urge my colleagues to support her nomination.
Nomination of Monica M. Bertagnolli (Executive Session)
Benjamin L. Cardin (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2023-11-7

I rise today to express my support for Dr. Monica M. Bertagnolli, whom President nominated to serve as the next Director of the National Institutes of Health--NIH. As current director of the National Cancer Institute--NCI--and a distinguished professor and surgeon, Dr. Bertagnolli certainly possesses the experience that will make her an effective leader for our Nation's preeminent research center. prgtoken The NIH serves as the pinnacle of biomedical and behavioral research in the United States and provides valuable insights that are used around the world for saving lives and improving people's health. Whether we know it or not, the NIH and the research done there has touched all of our lives by giving our healthcare professionals the resources they need for success. We in Maryland are proud to have the NIH headquartered in Bethesda, with so many in our State contributing to its important mission. prgtoken Thanks to Dr. Bertagnolli's decades of experience as a physician- scientist, she has obtained a well-rounded view of medical research that I am confident will properly inform her decisions as NIH Director. Her work to better understand the development and treatment of various types of cancer highlights the diligence and effectiveness that qualify Dr. Bertagnolli for this position. prgtoken As NCI Director, Dr. Bertagnolli has demonstrated her leadership capabilities alongside her efficacy as a researcher, working with the Administration to reignite the Cancer Moonshot, which aims to reduce cancer mortality by 50 percent over the next 25 years. This ambitious goal reflects the determination of our cancer research professionals and President 's continued commitment to investing in programs, consortia, and research projects that aim to end cancer as we know it. The NCI, along with spearheading the Cancer Moonshot initiative, has also partnered with the Administration to address disparities in cancer outcomes for Americans living in low-income areas, working to implement community-based programs in locations facing persistent poverty. prgtoken Just a few weeks into her tenure as director of NCI, Dr. Bertagnolli's work became much more personal as she was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer following a routine mammogram. She was forced to balance her new role as our Nation's leading cancer researcher with her own personal battle with the disease. I cannot commend Dr. Bertagnolli enough for the strength she has shown to continue her service to Americans in the face of such a daunting challenge. prgtoken If the Senate confirms Dr. Bertagnolli today, I would encourage her to take aim at some of the most pressing healthcare issues facing our country. As things stand, significant health disparities exist in the United States, with many Americans not receiving equitable access to care. Dr. Bertagnolli's confirmation provides her with the chance to utilize the NIH's National
RAISING A QUESTION OF THE PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE
André Carson (Democrat, IN) \u2014 2023-11-7

this censure measure is a sham. prgtoken When someone who is an American, a Muslim, a woman, and a Palestinian dares to speak out for her people, she is told to be quiet. She is told to stop talking about Palestinian brothers and sisters in the same breath as Jewish brothers and sisters. prgtoken My sister Rashida is a child of the Midwest, representing the best of Midwestern sensibilities. She also exemplifies a rich tradition of the Islamic faith in the Midwest. She is a bold leader. She is a fair leader. She is a compassionate leader. Most importantly, she is an American. prgtoken Standing up for one oppressed people does not negate the oppression of another. prgtoken We should be working together to end this terrible suffering, eliminate these sham censures, and get back to the work of the people. That is why they elected us.
AUTHORITY FOR COMMITTEES TO MEET
Edward J. Markey (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2023-11-7

I have six requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders. prgtoken Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate: committee on banking, housing, and urban affairs prgtoken The Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, to conduct a hearing on nominations. commttee on commerce, science, and transportation prgtoken The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, at 10 a.m to conduct a subcommittee hearing. committee on commerce, science, and transportation prgtoken The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, at 2:30 p.m to conduct a hearing on nominations. committee on the judiciary prgtoken The Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, at 10 a.m to conduct a hearing. select committee on intelligence prgtoken The Select Committee on Intelligence is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, at 2:30 p.m to conduct a closed briefing. subcommittee on transportation and infrastructure
U.S. Supreme Court (Executive Calendar)
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2023-11-7

first, let me thank my three colleagues for joining me on the floor today. A word that came up repeatedly was ``reverence,'' and I want to start with that word because I think we all do share a reverence for the institution of prgtoken the Supreme Court. And that is what makes it so bitter, to see how badly the Supreme Court is failing us now and to see the paths that billionaire influence has led it down. prgtoken It has to correct, and if it is not going to correct itself, then Congress is going to have to correct it. prgtoken As Senator Blumenthal said, the problem here is that there is no ethics process for the Supreme Court. There is a perfectly good code of ethics for all of the Justices and for all of the Federal judges, but there is no way to enforce it for the Supreme Court. prgtoken If you have a complaint about a Supreme Court Justice, there is nowhere to file it. There is not even an inbox, and if there were an inbox and complaints came through, there is nobody on the other side of the inbox to screen out the nutty ones from the legitimate ones. And once you have a pile of legitimate ones, there is no staff attorney to do the basic research into what are the facts here. At the end of the day, when you have the facts determined and the judge or Justices have their say, then you have the factual predicate to compare with the ethics standard and a neutral decider to decide whether or not it comports. That is the basic structure of U.S. due process, and the Supreme Court will not allow that for itself. That is the problem that we have. prgtoken So none of the questions that deserve to be answered about all of these secret gifts and about all of this billionaire influence--none of them--have even been asked over at the Supreme Court, let alone answered. So we have an absolute obligation to go forward with answers. prgtoken And we have tried. We have asked very nicely. We have sent lists of questions. We have gone forward with the people who would know about all of this. prgtoken And we have received two answers. One was that this is unconstitutional, and so we are not going to participate with you at all. You get nothing. You don't get a single answer. prgtoken That, as Senator Blumenthal said, we believe to be a complete sham and a complete charade because the disclosure rules--right? We are talking about disclosure of gifts to Justices. They went undisclosed. prgtoken So the question is, Should they have been disclosed? And there is a rule about disclosure that just happens to be a law passed by Congress. And there is a related law passed by Congress that relates to recusal, and recusal relates to gifts because, if you take big enough gifts from someone, you then have to recuse yourself as a judge from their cases. And the recusal rule is also passed by Congress. prgtoken So you have a disclosure law passed by Congress, and you have a recusal law passed by Congress, and you have what Senator