mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
RAISING AWARENESS OF MARINES UNITED OFFENSIVE FACEBOOK PAGE
Lois Frankel (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2017-5-2

I thank the gentlewoman for her son's service and for her service, too. I know what it is like to be the mother of a military person. prgtoken , we are waiting for--Representative McSally is going to be with us in a few moments, and I thought, as we wait for her to join us--as I said, she is at a hearing now. Unfortunately, the hearing is on the topic of sexual harassment in the military academies. prgtoken I wanted to just state for the Record the folks who participated at our ic Working Women's Group hearing that we had a couple of weeks ago, we talked about Lance Corporal Marisa Woytek. We talked about Erika Butner, who is a Marine Corps veteran, and both, unfortunately, were victims of this Marines United scandal. prgtoken We also heard from James LaPorta, who is a journalist for The Daily Beast and a former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant who has covered Marines United extensively. His work has appeared in The Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune, among other national publications. During his 8 years on Active Duty, Mr. LaPorta served within the infantry and intelligence communities, deploying multiple times to the war in Afghanistan. prgtoken We also heard from Miranda Peterson. She is the executive director of Protect Our Defenders, which she joined in 2013. Protect Our Defenders' mission is to uplift and support survivors of military sexual assault, and to improve and reform the U.S. military's process for addressing rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment. prgtoken Prior to joining Protect Our Defenders, Mrs. Peterson worked on the historic lawsuits against the Department of Defense filed on behalf of military sexual assault survivors who experienced abuse and retaliation after reporting, and which were the subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary film, ``The Invisible War.'' prgtoken We also heard from Elizabeth Hillman, and she is the president of Mills College. She was invited by Representative Barbara Lee. Elizabeth Hillman has conducted extensive research on the history of sexual violence in the military organization's culture. She is a director and past president of the National Institute of Military Justice, a nonprofit that promotes fairness in and public understanding of military justice worldwide. prgtoken She previously served on the Response Systems to the Adult Sexual Assault Crimes Panel, an independent panel chartered by Congress to study and make recommendations about sexual assault in the U.S. military. prgtoken And of course we heard from Gloria Allred, who is a nationally renowned women's and victims' rights attorney. She was the lawyer representing Marine Corps veteran Butner and Active-Duty Marine Lance Corporal Woytek. prgtoken What treasures these activists are. They are patriots in their own way because they are defending and standing up for our patriots; and how sad that they have to spend so much of their time to do that. prgtoken Now, since this scandal broke up,
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR--Continued
Sherrod Brown (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2017-5-2

I rise in opposition to the nomination of Jay Clayton to serve as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Americans deserve a Chair who will run the SEC on their behalf, not for the benefit of Wall Street banks and big corporations. Far too many folks in this town have collective amnesia about the costs of the last financial crisis: $19 trillion lost in household wealth, 8 million jobs lost, more than 15 million foreclosures, hundreds and hundreds of them in the Presiding Officer's and my State. prgtoken Those numbers don't seem to get better as time goes by. All over the country, in Ohio and elsewhere, families want strong rules that prevent banks from doing as they please, enriching themselves at the expense of others and then handing the bill to American taxpayers. The most basic duty of the Chair of the SEC is leading his fellow Commissioners through tough issues and policing Wall Street. prgtoken Mr. Clayton will fall woefully short. His law firm, his former clients will create a steady stream of conflicts of interest, forcing him to recuse himself in cases involving former clients for 2 of the 4 years he would serve as Chair. prgtoken He will be sitting on the sidelines on potential enforcement actions because of his representation in the work he did prior to being at the SEC. That is not draining the swamp. Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, UBS--he will have to recuse himself on all of those cases. That does not sound like someone who will be in there fighting for the American people or working to protect America's financial markets. prgtoken It is not a theoretical concern. Former Chair White faced conflicts and recusals in more than four dozen enforcement investigations in her first 2 years. In those cases, big banks, like Bank of America, used those recusals to their advantage when the Commission was deadlocked. That undermines the Commission's authority. That is why I opposed Ms. White for her position--one of the same reasons I am opposing Mr. Clayton. Instead of confirming the same kind of nominees we have had in the past, with dozens of conflicts of interest and recusals, we should be considering someone who actually will work to protect investors. prgtoken At his hearing, Mr. Clayton failed to provide clear answers to questions about how he would approach enforcement matters. He gave empty answers about punishing bad actors and individual accountability. prgtoken Accounting fraud, selling toxic derivatives, and corporate foreign corruption usually involve senior management and happen because the tone from the top allows it to happen. Mr. Clayton does not see it that way. He spent his career representing--excuse me--protecting Wall Street banks. That history guides his view on how SEC enforcement should work. prgtoken According to Mr. Clayton, the SEC should proceed with caution, even before opening an investigation. That is not his job. His job is to o
Montana Ag Summit (Executive Calendar)
Robert Menendez (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2017-5-2

I rise today to speak in opposition to the confirmation of Jay Clayton as Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. prgtoken Just 100 days into the administration, the truth is becoming crystal clear to the American people: There is no ``America first'' policy, and there certainly is no ``middle class first'' policy. There is just one policy, and that is a ``Wall Street first'' policy. It is a policy designed to steer even more wealth and more power to those who are plenty wealthy and plenty powerful, a policy built on the misguided view that our economy does better when banks do as they please, when CEOs receive runaway pay, and when bigger profits never translate into bigger paychecks for workers. That is why we have seen no Executive orders designed to hold big banks accountable, no Executive orders designed to protect borrowers from abusive student loan companies, no Executive orders helping more workers save for retirement. Instead, we see the administration rolling back protections for consumers and students and seniors, actively exploring how to put taxpayers back on the hook for Wall Street's recklessness, and ordering oversight agencies to, quite simply, conduct less oversight. prgtoken There is no greater example of the administration's ``Wall Street first'' policy than its decision to nominate Jay Clayton as the Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. prgtoken The SEC is our Federal Government's cop on the Wall Street beat. And let's remember why we have a Securities and Exchange Commission and why it needs to be the cop on the beat. In 1929, the stock market crashed, and our Nation was sent into a deep and devastating depression. That is why President Franklin Roosevelt signed financial reforms into law aimed at curbing rampant speculation and risky behavior on Wall Street, and the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission was one of those reforms. prgtoken The SEC was designed to enact safeguards and promote fairness in our markets, to protect investors and prosecute fraud, and to ensure that our businesses have access to capital so they can grow and create jobs. When we have a watchdog ensuring that everyone plays by the rules, risk is more distributed, markets are more stable, and capital is more available. prgtoken The American people know all too well what happens when we take our eyes off of Wall Street. Not even a decade has passed since the worst financial collapse in 80 years put taxpayers on the line for billions of dollars--billions of dollars--in bailouts. prgtoken In the years leading up to the crash, our regulators, including the SEC, turned a blind eye to excessive risk-taking and corporate misconduct. We needed a cop on the beat, but instead we had a regulator asleep at the switch. As a result, we suffered a crisis that cost 8.5 million Americans their jobs and 10 million Americans their homes--8.5 million Americans their job
75TH ANNIVERSARY OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066
Ron Wyden (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2017-5-2

May 6, 2017, marks a 75-year-old moral stain on Oregon's history. On this day in 1942, the city of Portland was declared free of all Japanese Americans. prgtoken As part of the Nation's response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 in February 1942. In doing so, the President authorized the removal of anybody deemed ``threatening.'' The President's action was based in fear and prejudice rather than any actual threat, and many Japanese Americans paid the price as innocent people were separated from their families and traumatized. prgtoken The United States would ultimately incarcerate more than 120,000 U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents of Japanese ancestry. The Federal Government deemed Japanese Americans who lived on the west coast a ``threat,'' putting my State of Oregon on the frontlines of this injustice. prgtoken Forced out of their homes and businesses, many of Oregon's Japanese American families moved into the animal stalls of what was then the Pacific International Livestock and Exposition Center in north Portland. Eventually, a total of 3,700 men, women, and children from Oregon and parts of Washington were held at the center. These families were later sent off with thousands of other Japanese Americans to quickly erected camps across the United States. prgtoken Despite the anti-Japanese fever burning across the United States, thousands of Japanese Americans were serving valiantly on the battlefields of Europe. We throw around the word ``patriot'' a lot these days, but I can't think of a more patriotic story than those Japanese Americans who signed up to defend the same country that had locked up their families. prgtoken Units like the famed 442nd and men like my friend and former colleague Senator Dan Inouye displayed an exceptional degree of courage and valor abroad. Back home, Japanese American civil rights leaders like Minoru Yasui and Fred Korematsu were challenging the prejudices that led to Executive Order 9066, the internment, and other injustices faced by Japanese Americans and permanent residents. prgtoken As the son of Jewish parents who fled Nazi Germany, I feel especially compelled today to remind my colleagues and my countrymen of this dark chapter in our Nation's history. It is especially important to recall this history today because it seems some Americans have slipped back into an era of fear-mongering, bigotry, and hate. prgtoken I have seen countless expressions of kindness and decency in my years representing Oregon, which is why I have faith that people across our State and the country will continue to stand up and say ``no more.'' That is why I also want to honor the truly courageous Japanese Americans and others who fought the pain and fear caused by Executive Order 9066. They were on the right side of the argument then and now. prgtoken Finally, I would like to recognize the Oregon Nikkei Endowment for
HONORING KATHY KRUSE
Joseph P. Kennedy III (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2017-5-2

I rise today to recognize Kathleen Kruse, a long-time member of Senator Ted Kennedy's staff and a tireless advocate for arts and cultural policy. Kathy is stepping down from her role as Vice President of Institutional Affairs and Assistant Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where she has served with distinction for the past seven years. prgtoken Kathy had a long and accomplished career in the Senate as the Cultural Policy Advisor and Senior Counselor for Senator Kennedy for 30 years. In this capacity and throughout her tenure, she was the staff liaison for Senator Kennedy to the Kennedy Center's Board of Trustees. During her time in the Senate, she was a fierce advocate for arts organizations nationally, authored key Kennedy Center legislation and served as a trusted liaison to and friend of the Kennedy family. prgtoken I would also like to acknowledge the generosity of Kathy's daughter, Sasha, who has supported her mother's work in public service, and shared her with us during her many late nights in the Senate and at the Kennedy Center. prgtoken Kathy is a fixture in the arts and cultural landscape in Washington, DC and across the country, and she will be dearly missed. We are certain that she will find tremendous success in her next professional ventures and that she will enjoy spending more time with her family. On behalf of the Kennedy Center's Board of Trustees, I offer my sincere gratitude to Kathy for her many contributions to the United States Congress, the Kennedy Center and our nation.
COMBATING OPIOID CRISIS
Niki Tsongas (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2017-5-2

Police Chief William Taylor of my hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts, said: ``Each day two to three people overdose from opioids in Lowell. . . . The introduction of illicit fentanyl has been the game changer. . . . `' prgtoken In 2015, Massachusetts ranked second nationally per capita in deaths from synthetic opioids like fentanyl, which can be up to 50 times stronger than heroin. But Massachusetts is far from alone. Between 2014 and 2015, nationwide deaths involving synthetic opioids tragically rose 72 percent. prgtoken That is why I partnered with Representative Brian Fitzpatrick to introduce the INTERDICT Act, which would provide U.S. Customs and Border Protection with enhanced chemical screening devices and scientific support to detect and intercept synthetic opioids like fentanyl. prgtoken I thank Representative Fitzpatrick and our Senate counterparts for their partnership, and I urge all our colleagues to support the INTERDICT Act. prgtoken To effectively combat the nationwide opioid crisis requires a comprehensive, cooperative, fully funded effort. The INTERDICT Act would be a powerful tool in eliminating synthetic opioids from the equation.
WORKING FAMILIES FLEXIBILITY ACT OF 2017
Steny H. Hoyer (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2017-5-2

. Where it is is not articulated in the bill, but you don't say if there are two employees in the example I have given, Madam Chair, whether or not the employer can say: Employee A, you are going to take some comp time, so would you work an hour and a half or 2 hours overtime? But Employee B, I know you can't afford to do that, you have got to be home with your child, and if you are going to work, you need the overtime to pay, perhaps, for the extra childcare. prgtoken There is nothing in your bill that precludes the employer from doing that; is there? prgtoken from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).
SPACE WEATHER RESEARCH AND FORECASTING ACT
Gary C. Peters (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2017-5-2

I rise today to ask for Senate approval of legislation that I sponsored, along with my friend and colleague from across the aisle, Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado. prgtoken Earlier this year, we introduced the Space Weather Research and Forecasting Act with Senators Booker, Wicker, and Klobuchar, and it went on to pass unanimously by the full Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in January. prgtoken Space weather, which includes solar flares and coronal mass ejections caused by the constantly changing conditions in the Sun's magnetic fields, regularly hurls ionized gas toward the Earth. This can potentially devastate our infrastructure and significantly disrupt our economy. The chances of Earth being hit by a severe space weather event are roughly the same as a magnitude 8 earthquake striking the United States, but the impact to our way of life would be absolutely catastrophic. prgtoken According to NASA, Earth was narrowly missed by a large space weather event in 2012, which could have resulted in a worst-case scenario impact to Earth. A report by Lloyd's of London estimates that a worst- case scenario space weather event could cost up to $2.6 trillion and impact as many as 40 million people by causing outages at electric utilities, disrupting GPS communication networks, and forcing airlines to reroute air traffic. prgtoken The potential disruption to these critical sectors of our economy makes space weather a threat we must understand better. Scientists across the globe, including in my home State of Michigan, are working to improve our understanding of space weather and how outputs from the Sun interact with the Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere. For years, NASA, NOAA, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Defense have funded this critical research. prgtoken The work of scientists and engineers at these agencies and universities across the country will help us better predict solar events and improve our ability to protect the infrastructure of the United States. But as we increasingly realize the magnitude of this threat, we need national leadership to focus our resources, coordinate planning, and prepare for space weather events. prgtoken This bipartisan legislation sets national priorities to increase and improve space weather observations, science, and forecasting abilities. This research will improve our efforts to predict and to mitigate the effects of space weather events on Earth and in space. prgtoken Space weather is not science fiction. If we don't prepare ourselves, the impact could be catastrophic. But by learning to make better predictions, issue more effective warnings, and take precautions for when that inevitable day comes to pass, we can prevent space weather from wreaking costly havoc or disrupting our daily lives. prgtoken It is imperative that we invest in science and technologies to better understand space weather. It is imperative t
WORKING FAMILIES FLEXIBILITY ACT OF 2017
Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2017-5-2

this is the final amendment to the bill, which will not kill the bill nor send it back to committee. If adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final passage, as amended. prgtoken , the underlying bill would undermine workers' access to overtime pay and provide them with no real benefit in return, and that is why all of the groups representing workers oppose it. So, instead of undermining employment protections that boost wages for working Americans such as overtime pay, we should work towards ensuring that American workers can remain healthy while on the job. prgtoken Critical to that goal is guaranteeing true workplace flexibility by ensuring that workers do not have to choose between their health and their paycheck. So, if the majority is truly concerned about American workers, then the majority should work with us to provide workers the paid time off they need to care for themselves and their families. They could easily do that by supporting the Healthy Families Act, which would give workers the right to earn up to 7 paid sick days. prgtoken This motion to recommit would protect workers by ensuring that only employees who are subjected to this comp time arrangement would be those who have at least 7 paid sick days. Providing paid sick days is not only good for working families, it is also good for business, public health, and our overall economy. Providing paid sick days decreases employee turnover and prevents illness from being spread throughout the workplace. prgtoken If we are truly concerned about workers, we should not ask them to spend more time away from their families and forfeit their overtime pay in order to take the time off when they are sick or when they need to care for a sick child. prgtoken , while we are considering this bill, we are also considering healthcare legislation that s are trying to pass which would rob American families of protection under the Affordable Care Act that requires coverage for preexisting conditions. prgtoken We know that President has promised to repeal the ACA on day one, and s have spent 7 years complaining about the law and voting time after time to repeal all or parts of the law, but they have never developed a comprehensive proposal to actually deliver on their promises of better care at lower costs. prgtoken If we are going to make changes to the Affordable Care Act, we should improve health care for working families, not make it worse. Incredibly, every proposal the s have come up with actually makes things worse. prgtoken Under the recent plan, 24 million fewer people would be covered, and everybody else will pay more and get less. While their plan inflicts pain on those most in need, the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans get massive tax cuts. prgtoken Under that plan, the typical working family would suffer an increase in healthcare coverage costs of about $2,000 a year, for the average family with a
TRIBUTE TO YOUNG STAFF MEMBERS FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE OF THE 18TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF TEXAS AND THE UNITED STATES
Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2017-5-2

as Members of Congress we know well, perhaps better than most, how blessed our nation is to have in reserve such exceptional young men and women who will go on to become leaders in their local communities, states, and the nation in the areas of business, education, government, philanthropy, the arts and culture, and the military. prgtoken We know this because we see them and benefit from their contributions every day. Many of them work for us in our offices as junior staff members, congressional fellows, or interns and they do amazing work for and on behalf of the constituents we are privileged to represent. prgtoken , I believe there is no higher calling than the call to serve a cause larger than ourselves. That is why I ran for public office. I was inspired to serve by President Kennedy who said, ``Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,'' and by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who said: ``Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. . . . You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.'' prgtoken By this measure, there are several other great young men and women who served as volunteers this year in my offices. They may toil in obscurity but their contributions to the constituents we serve are deeply appreciated. That is why today I rise to pay tribute to four extraordinary young persons for their service to my constituents in the 18th Congressional District of Texas and to the American people. They are: Marieme Foote from Ithaca College; Naomi Mulugeta from Texas Tech University; Mitch Kuhlman, from American University; and Alexandria Johnson from the Madeira School. prgtoken , the energy, intelligence, and idealism these wonderful young people brought to my office and those interning in the offices of my colleagues help keep our democracy vibrant. The insights, skills, and knowledge of the governmental process they gain from their experiences will last a lifetime and prove invaluable to them as they go about making their mark in this world. prgtoken Because of persons like them the future of our country is bright and its best days lie ahead. I wish them all well. prgtoken , I am grateful that such thoughtful committed young men and women can be found working in my office, those of my colleagues, and in every community in America. Their good works will keep America great, good, and forever young.