mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
BROADBAND
Chris Van Hollen (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2020-8-5

from New Hampshire, Senator Hassan, for the important points she made about what is happening in New Hampshire. In listening to her, I think each of us could say that that holds true for our State. Certainly, what she says holds true in my State of Maryland. prgtoken In Maryland, we are just weeks away from the opening day of school. In other parts of the country, schools have already reopened. prgtoken I think all of us can remember back to when we were going back to school during our K-12 years. We had a mix of excitement and anxiety. And those of us who are parents with children shared the excitement and anxiety of our children as they went off to school. prgtoken This year, we are facing a sense of emotions and realities that none of us has ever experienced before. I think all of us agree that we would like all students to be able to return to actual classrooms as soon as safely possible. I hope we would all also agree that we want to make sure that in returning, we don't put at risk those children, students, teachers, or others in the school community. prgtoken We all agree that in-classroom instruction provides the best learning environment for students, but we should also agree that students should not be returning to classrooms if it will put them at greater risk to their lives or their health or the health or lives of their teachers or others in the school community. prgtoken We know that in order to reopen schools safely, we have to do two things: We have to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in those communities where it still exists and is still spreading, and we need much more rapid testing capacity so that we can quickly detect and isolate somebody who has COVID-19. We need to be able to quickly detect an outbreak of COVID in a school, whether that be a student or a teacher, so we can make sure that others do not get infected prgtoken In so many places, such as the majority of major school systems in my State of Maryland, the reason they have not been able to plan to reopen the classrooms on opening day is that the spread continues in so many areas, and we don't have rapid, comprehensive testing. That is the result of a failed and botched policy at the highest levels--the fact that this administration, this President, has not put in place a comprehensive national strategy to slow and then stop the spread. prgtoken Even today, you have to wait days and days and days to get the results of a test. That dramatically reduces the usefulness of that test when it comes to identifying an outbreak, doing all of the following up to figure out who else has been in contact with that person, and preventing the spread. prgtoken That is why so many schools, including so many in the State of Maryland, will not be able to return to their classroom's opening day. It is not because they don't want to--of course, they want to--but because they don't want to put students, teachers, and the
BROADBAND
Catherine Cortez Masto (Democrat, NV) \u2014 2020-8-5

in a couple of weeks, students in Nevada and around the country are going to begin their studies again. I want what every parent in America wants--a safe school year that allows schoolchildren to thrive in mind and body. To make that happen, students and parents need the flexibility to make decisions that are best for their families. They need school systems that can afford the technology, the equipment, and the resources to keep students and staff safe. They need access to the internet and the devices that will support education as well as allow parents to work from home and supervise their kids. prgtoken I have been working to bridge the digital divide for Nevadans as part of my Innovation State Initiative, which helps Nevada develop groundbreaking solutions to 21st-century problems. That is why last month I held a statewide conversation about broadband. I heard local officials in rural communities talk about the challenges they faced getting high-quality internet access to their communities. prgtoken A 9-year-old student told me how she struggled to do schoolwork because she only had her mother's cell phone for internet access. I also heard stories about how libraries in my State are stepping into the digital breach through the FCC's E-rate Program, which subsidizes internet access for schools and libraries. prgtoken Most of all, we talked about how widespread the issue is in my State. The FCC's own figures show that half of rural Nevadans and 6 percent of people statewide can't even get high-speed wired internet. That is not counting people who can't afford services or devices or those who can't get reliable wireless services. We are talking hundreds of thousands of people in the Silver State without the ability to stay connected to one another during a time of social distancing. prgtoken Students in Nevada need internet access not just to attend class remotely but to submit homework online. Between 12 million and 16 million students across the country can't complete their homework because they lack access. It is not just families with school-age kids who need better broadband access; businesses need it, too, to reach new customers and offer new services, particularly during a time when we are dealing with a healthcare crisis and asking people to shelter in place. prgtoken That is why we must build on the $2 billion the CARES Act included for various broadband technology investments and allocate funds in this next coronavirus package to make access to broadband more affordable in every ZIP Code. prgtoken With my colleagues, I introduced the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act to invest over $100 billion in things like E-rate support, including Wi-Fi on schoolbuses, and digital literacy training. That investment can fund vouchers to offset broadband costs for those who might not otherwise be able to afford it. It can go toward establishing a one-stop clearinghouse of Federal broadb
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
Jacky Rosen (Democrat, NV) \u2014 2020-8-5

it is my honor today to recognize the career and service of Robert J. Halstead, a pillar of the Nevada environmental community, who retired earlier this month after serving the great State of Nevada for over three decades. prgtoken Bob has been instrumental as a leader in the fight against the failed and fiscally irresponsible proposal to dump our Nation's nuclear waste at the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada. Since prgtoken 2001, Bob has served as the executive director for the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, where his watchful eye and his inexhaustible passion for protecting our State has been an invaluable resource. prgtoken On numerous occasions, Bob has stood before the State and the U.S. Congress to share his expertise on the subjects of nuclear waste, radioactive materials, and nuclear waste transportation. prgtoken We owe Bob Halstead a debt of gratitude for the crucial work he has done to protect Nevadans and the State itself from becoming the Nation's nuclear dumping ground. prgtoken Bob also has defended the state beyond the Yucca Mountain fight. Two years ago, when it came to light that the Department of Energy had secretly shipped a half ton of weapons-grade plutonium to the Nevada National Security Site, Bob led the charge to right this incredible wrong committed against our State. prgtoken I am deeply grateful for Bob's tireless work to protect the health and safety of our community and our environment. He has been a source of great support for me and my staff, offering his unmatched knowledge of the complex history of Yucca Mountain and our State's fight against the ill-advised proposal, to which Nevadans have never consented. prgtoken Even though Bob is taking a step back from his work and is beginning a well-deserved retirement, I know that he will remain a continued source of inspiration, knowledge, and passion as we continue in our fight to defend Nevada. I thank Bob Halstead for a lifetime of service, and I wish him and his family all the best in this new chapter of life.
CORONAVIRUS
Richard Blumenthal (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2020-8-5

I would be happy to listen for much longer to that kind of eloquence and enormously powerful and significant comment on the blanket shield that some of our colleagues seek to provide to wrongdoers, whether they are corporate wrongdoers or others who have severely harmed innocent people. prgtoken And it is not just about the rule of law that provides accountability for victims and survivors of wrongdoing, it is also an important part of the deterrent function of our legal system. prgtoken Accountability and penalties for wrongdoing are essential to protecting vulnerable people in the future, and so our side will stand for keeping the courthouse doors open. Those rights that some of our colleagues would destroy are essential not only to the Anglo-Saxon concept of rule of law, they are also important to vindicating right. prgtoken And some of the folks who lived in nursing homes and who passed away as a result of this virus are veterans of wars. They fought for these rights. They risked their lives and sacrificed, and many were wounded, and they have now reached an age where they are in nursing homes. prgtoken But one of the reasons they fought was to preserve these very rights that some of our colleagues would sacrifice so needlessly and so readily. prgtoken Today, we are here not to look back and to lay blame. There will be time enough to establish a commission, as I hope there will be, a 9/11- type commission, to learn from the mistakes that were made. Obviously, we need to hold accountable other countries, including China, who may have failed to reveal the extent and magnitude of the health threat posed by this pandemic. We need to hold accountable officials in this country who may have failed to warn and who denied the severity of this pandemic. prgtoken We need to look forward, and right now, in this relief package, save America from the raging pandemic that continues, a health crisis, and from the collapse of our economy, happening before our eyes, an economic crisis. prgtoken And part of our package must be to provide funds for those nursing homes where those veterans live, where grandparents live, community leaders, people who have served our Nation in all kinds of capacity, raised our children, served in our religious places of worship, and been there for us. prgtoken They have served and sacrificed, and we owe them places that are safe and clean and, yes, healthy--at least conforming to standards that we know are necessary to preserve them from disease. prgtoken And here is the blunt truth: A disproportionate number of the deaths have occurred in these nursing homes. prgtoken In Connecticut, as is the case in many other States, the pandemic has hit nursing homes especially hard. prgtoken Of over 4,400 COVID-19 deaths in Connecticut so far, about 65 percent of all of them--that is 2,900--have been amongst individuals living in nursing homes. That is a searing indictment of o
BROADBAND
Amy Klobuchar (Democrat, MN) \u2014 2020-8-5

I rise today to talk about a focus subject, which is access to broadband. prgtoken I will say that I know the negotiations between the House and the Senate and the White House are continuing. I think it is very important for the American people that we do this in good faith. prgtoken I disagree with my colleague from Texas on a few of the descriptions of the bill that came over from the House, which I think the fact that the bill that was first introduced here in the Senate had only 20 percent of the funding for testing that the House bill had is very concerning, when you look at people waiting to get test results, the fact that there was no money to keep our elections safe. You can just go through line by line on the issues and the differences in the bill. prgtoken But my interest today is not actually emphasizing those differences; it is how can we come together, what are the things we can agree on, and the fact that we cannot just pass a bandaid for the American people when we have learned that the GDP annualized is going to be down 30 percent, when we learned that so many people are losing their homes or being evicted, and so many are filing for unemployment. This is the time for action. prgtoken Broadband, I would say, has been an issue, especially in rural America, for a long time, and having once traveled to Iceland and having seen how the Icelanders have high-speed internet at every corner of their country, despite the fact that they are a country of lava and volcanoes and volcanic ash, we can certainly do better. prgtoken The problems I was hearing about for years that we tried to get at slowly but surely with access to internet have become very clear to parents who are simply trying to make sure their children are able to participate remotely in school. While other kids of other parents who happen to have high-speed internet are able to fully participate, others aren't. Sometimes it is because of equipment, but oftentimes, in my State, it is because of a lack of access to high-speed internet. prgtoken Stories of one girl in Southern Minnesota who had to take her biology test in a liquor store parking lot because that is where she could get the high-speed internet; the doctor--this is prepandemic--who could, yes, access x rays in the hospital, but if, late at night, he had to help a patient in a remote area, he had to go to the McDonald's parking lot, drive in from his home, because he did not have access there. prgtoken I thank Senator Van Hollen for bringing us together this afternoon and for his work in organizing this time to focus attention on the pressing education priorities in the relief bill. prgtoken Access to broadband, as I just noted, has become more critical now than ever, as schools and workplaces are closed in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus, where teachers, many with preexisting conditions, simply cannot put themselves at risk, and where we know, going fo
CORONAVIRUS
Robert P. Casey, Jr. (Democrat, PA) \u2014 2020-8-5

I rise tonight to talk about a couple of issues I know that will be considered--at least I hope will be considered--in the negotiations that are under way. prgtoken Later in this hour, we will be joined by three of my colleagues: Senator Whitehouse, Senator Blumenthal, and Senator Duckworth. Each of us will be talking about these issues from different perspectives, but all focused on those in our society who are most at risk in the midst of this worldwide pandemic and in the midst of this economic and jobs crisis that we are confronting right now. We know that this is the most difficult public health crisis in a century, and one of largest, if not in the top two, job crises we have ever faced. prgtoken When we talk about Americans who are most at risk, among them are, of course, older Americans. Tonight, I will spend some time talking about older Americans in nursing homes who are at risk if we don't take action, and people with disabilities who need the benefit of--as do many older Americans need the benefit of--home and community-based services; and, third, Americans who are in communities of color who need the benefit of Medicaid, among other programs that we should be focused on. prgtoken Let me start with nursing homes. We know that in the context of nursing homes, the skilled care that is provided there is the highest level of care for an older American or sometimes a person with a disability. We also know that is care that is provided to men and women who have done so much for the country--Americans who have fought our wars, worked in our factories, built the middle class, built America in so many ways and gave us life and love. All that they ask and all their families ask is when they are in a long-term care facility, especially a nursing home, that they are receiving skilled care that is quality care, and in the midst of this crisis, that we are taking every step possible to protect them from the virus and to keep them safe. prgtoken Unfortunately, that hasn't happened in America today. prgtoken As we speak tonight, more than just a couple of days ago, the number was lower than this, but now it is more than 62,000 Americans who have died in long-term care settings. Most of those are in nursing homes. When you add up the number of residents who contracted the virus and died with the workers who have died, the number is more than 62,000 Americans. That is prgtoken about 40 percent of all the deaths in America. We have to take steps to get those numbers down--both the death number as well as the case number. Of course, the two are directly related. prgtoken A number of months ago, Senator Whitehouse, who joins us on the floor tonight, and I introduced S. 3768, which was the Nursing Home Protection and Prevention Act. It was a proposed $20 billion investment in best practices. The tragedy here is that we know what works to get the death number down in nursing homes. We know exactly what works
CORONAVIRUS
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2020-8-5

negotiations on the next round of COVID relief continued yesterday and will continue again today. Pelosi and I are making progress with the White House, but we remain far apart on a large number of issues. prgtoken As I mentioned yesterday, the fundamental disagreement between our two parties is the scope and severity of the problem. This is the greatest economic crisis America has faced in 75 years and the greatest health crisis in 100. There must be a relief package commensurate with the size of this historic challenge. A skinny package--a package that doesn't solve so many of the problems that America faces--would hurt the American people, and we cannot have it. prgtoken But our friends are wedded ideologically to the idea that government shouldn't take forceful action; that we should leave the welfare of the American people to the whims of the private sector. It just doesn't work like that, especially in a time of national emergency. The private sector cannot do it. prgtoken While we have started to generate some forward momentum, we need our partners in the White House to go much further on a number of issues, let alone the Senate, where 20 or so s, by the majority leader's admission, don't want to do anything. prgtoken For example, the administration has finally come around to the view that we should extend the moratorium on evictions, but they continue to refuse to provide actual assistance to the renters themselves. What good does that do? We can prevent Americans from being kicked out of their apartments for another few months, but if they can't pay the rent, they will be right back at square one when the moratorium expires, with even more unpaid bills piled up. Extending the moratorium on evictions solves only one-half of the problem. prgtoken s continue to stonewall support for State, local, and Tribal governments, which have already shed more than a million public service jobs this year and will continue to lay off teachers, firefighters, and more if Congress does nothing. prgtoken In the early days of the crisis, State and local governments fought this disease basically on their own. The administration couldn't be bothered to coordinate a national response or supply them with the necessary resources. Now Leader McConnell and others on the side say our States should just go bankrupt. They put zero into their proposal for State and local and would like Senators to go home and tell their Governors, tell their mayors, and tell their county executives: We want zero for you. That is what our leader is for. Well, it is not acceptable. prgtoken On unemployment insurance, a few Senate s have belatedly accepted the view we should extend the enhanced benefit of $600 for an extended period of time, as have proposed and voted for in the House. Of course, many Senate s--most Senate s--
BROADBAND
Margaret Wood Hassan (Democrat, NH) \u2014 2020-8-5

I want to thank Senator Klobuchar for her leadership in this area, and her capacity to understand not only the policy that we need to address and change but also the practical impacts it will have on not only her constituents but people all over the United States of America. prgtoken I want to thank Senator Van Hollen as well for gathering us all this afternoon to focus, as we need to, on the needs of our young people, our students, their educators and their families in these coming months. (Mrs. BLACKBURN assumed the Chair.)
BROADBAND
Jack Reed (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2020-8-5

. Thank you very much, Senator, for those very thoughtful remarks. prgtoken Twenty-one days--that is how long one Florida public school teacher was on a ventilator after contracting COVID this spring. Plasma transfusions and anti-viral medication ultimately saved her life. And now she is being asked to return to the classroom--a job she loves, teaching kids she loves. She wants to go back but is afraid to go back while the virus is surging, while more people in her community are being sent to the very same hospital. prgtoken In Arizona, a small school district lost a teacher to COVID despite following all the protocols. The superintendent called a safe reopening a fantasy, saying: ``Kids will get sick or worse. Family members will die. Teachers will die.'' prgtoken Yet children will be denied needed education funding unless classes are in person, according to the President. prgtoken Should the majority, which has failed to take action on the House- passed Heroes bill for months--should the administration itself have done a better job making it safe for kids and teachers to return to school? Absolutely. And the continued failure to act, to lead, to do a better job of containing COVID will cost people their lives and children their education. What is the plan to avert this catastrophe? ``OPEN THE SCHOOLS!!!'' the President tweets in all capital letters. The plan is to open the schools for in- person learning--or else. Open the schools even when the transmission of the virus is not contained. Open the schools even if testing and contact tracing are inadequate to manage the spread of the virus. Open the schools even if your facilities do not have adequate ventilation. Open the schools or we will privatize the public school system. Open or else. prgtoken We know what happens when things reopen when community transmission remains high, when proper public health safety measures are not in place, when we do not have the rapid-result testing and contact tracing necessary to contain the virus. We get outbreaks. People get sick. Hospitalizations and deaths increase. What is the President's response? He said: ``It is what it is.'' prgtoken What has Senate leadership prioritized? Shielding businesses from liability and being sued for negligence. In other words, if reopening too quickly results in more sickness, ``it is what it is.'' This approach is appalling and unacceptable and must be rejected. prgtoken School is a lifeline for children in the communities hit hardest by the pandemic and the ensuing economic fallout. The Federal Government must step in with a comprehensive plan and the resources to make sure that school is there for these children, the teachers, the custodians, the parents, the family. prgtoken We know this school year will be like no other. School districts will need to redesign the school day and be prepared to switch to distance learning, as necessary. There will be n