mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2020-6-16

yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does, in fact, prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. It was a landmark decision that represents a step forward--a big step forward--on the long march to full equality for LGBTQ Americans. We salute that decision. That is what the Supreme Court should be doing-- moving us in a direction of equality and fairness. All too often, it doesn't these days. So this was a refreshing breath of fresh air from that Court. prgtoken The march, of course, is not over. Yesterday's decision, welcomed as it is, reminds us that, even today, even in 2020, we have so much work left to do to advance the cause of justice and equality for all Americans. Only a few days ago, our laws didn't clearly establish that you couldn't be fired by your employer simply because of who you are and whom you love. Yesterday's decision is not the end of the fight. It was one step forward. If it is wrong to discriminate against people because of whom they love and because of who they are and if it is wrong to discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender, isn't it wrong on the job? If it is wrong to discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender on employment, isn't it wrong on housing? Isn't it wrong on so many other issues? prgtoken That is why we need the Equality Act to pass. The decision is certainly not the end of the fight. Disparities and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity still exist in so many aspects of our lives--education, housing, credit, public spaces, services, and in many other ways. If it is wrong to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation and gender on jobs and employment, it is equally wrong in these other areas like housing and education. We need to pass the Equality Act, which expands the prohibition of discrimination to many other needed areas. prgtoken Today, Senate will send a letter from our caucus to Leader McConnell urging him to schedule the Equality Act for a vote on the floor. The House passed it a year ago. It has been languishing in McConnell's legislative graveyard. I would say to my colleagues: If some of the most conservative people around, like Justice Gorsuch and Justice Roberts, can come to the conclusion that we should stop discriminating, where are you? The Senate s only seem 30 years behind the times on this issue for sure. prgtoken I urge the leader to put the Equality Act on the floor now, and let's extend what the Supreme Court did in terms prgtoken of employment to so many needed other areas. Wake up, my friends. The times, they are changing, and discrimination against LGBTQ Americans should be over once and for all and should be the law of the land in every aspect of our lives Justice in Po
TAXPAYER FIRST ACT OF 2019--Continued
Doug Jones (Democrat, AL) \u2014 2020-6-16

continuing reading the letter from Birmingham jail: You may well ask: ``Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?'' You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word ``tension.'' I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Such as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in a monologue rather than dialogue. One of the basic points in your statement is that the action that I and my associates have taken in Birmingham is untimely. Some have asked: ``Why didn't you give the new city administration time to act?'' The only answer that I can give to this query is that the new Birmingham administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one, before it will act. We are sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Albert Boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to Birmingham. While Mr. Boutwell is a much more gentle person than Mr. Connor, they are both segregationists, dedicated to the maintenance of the status quo. I have hoped that Mr. Boutwell will be reasonable enough to see the futility of massive resistance to desegregation. But he will not see this without pressure from devotees of civil rights. My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but as Rei
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Chris Van Hollen (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2020-6-16

I want to begin where my colleague, the Senator from Illinois, left off, which is thanking Senator Booker, the Senator from New Jersey, Senator , CBC, and the people protesting around this country for bringing us to this floor at this moment to demand urgent change. prgtoken I am pleased to be joined by my colleague from the State of Maryland, Senator Cardin, from across the Potomac River, Senator Kaine, and, of course, Senator Durbin from Illinois. We are here because, like those millions of Americans taking to the streets around the country, we understand that this is a moment when we must turn the pain into progress. We must transform the pain of George Floyd's death and the unjust deaths of so many other Black Americans into deep and lasting change. We must bring the passionate pleas of the protesters across the Nation to the floor of the Senate to take action to root out systemic racism in all its ugly forms prgtoken This is a deeply ingrained problem, and it is clear that tinkering around the edges is not enough. Systems embedded with racism need to be overhauled. The State in the form of the police cannot be allowed to continue unjustly taking the lives and liberty of Black men and women. We must change the nature of policing. We need to change the culture. prgtoken Here in the Senate, we must change laws to compel changes in culture. Let us remember that the police as an institution are a reflection of the greater society, and we have an obligation to change all those institutions where we find ingrained racist practices, everywhere we find it, since the Nation stood horrified by the video of George Floyd gasping for breath, crying out ``I can't breathe'' as his life was snuffed out of him with a knee to his neck. prgtoken Other Black men have senselessly died at the hands of police. prgtoken By now, we probably have all seen the video of Rayshard Brooks. He fell asleep in his car after drinking. He was then interviewed by police for over 20 minutes. If you haven't watched that encounter, I urge you to do so because after that 20-minute conversation, he ended up dead with two bullets in his back. That encounter should never have ended that way. prgtoken Not far from here, in Woodstock, VA, we had another recent encounter that did not end in violence but exposed some of the racist assumptions that are too often wired into police responses and into societal responses. A Black pastor and Air Force veteran saw a man and woman disposing of an old refrigerator on his property. He told them to stop. The two were upset that the pastor would not let them dump this refrigerator on his property, and they grew irate. They went away, and they came back with three others. Then these five White people surrounded the pastor, began jostling him, taunting him, calling him names, and saying they didn't give a darn about his life and the Black Lives Matter stuff. prgtoken In defense, he drew a gun,
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Jeff Merkley (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2020-6-16

I am honored today to join Senator Booker, Senator , and so many of my colleagues to work to take this moment of national outcry and turn it into an opportunity, a moment of national action. prgtoken For weeks now, in protests across our land, millions of fellow Americans have been rising up and speaking out to demand justice, accountability, opportunity, and, above all, the equality promised by our Founders 244 years ago. prgtoken This latest movement may have been sparked by the senseless killing of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of public safety officers. One officer, sworn to protect and defend him, knelt on his neck for 9 minutes, extinguishing his life. But this movement is about so much more. The pain and anger and the anguish that have burst forth from the hearts of Black Americans everywhere run far deeper than a single tragedy. It is a pain born of an endless string of tragedies, the senseless killings of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and more--so many more Black men and women who should be alive today--of Rayshard Brooks, shot in the back by a police officer, who died this past Friday night. It is a pain borne even before we were yet a country, when more than 400 years ago, traders kidnapped Africans from their own lands, brought them here to these shores--American shores-- sold them, locked them into generations of brutal slavery, treated not as people but as property, chained, sold, whipped, raped, treated as something less than human. prgtoken Our Nation has never come to terms with this legacy. There is no memorial on the National Mall. There is no Truth and Reconciliation Commission. So, still today, America's gaping wound of racism bleeds pain and injustice, and inequality continues to plague every system in our country. prgtoken Too many Black men and women have lost their livelihoods, their lives, and their dignity to a justice system rigged against them: racial profiling, mandatory minimums, stop and frisk, prgtoken acts of racial profiling, and racially driven predatory actions. prgtoken We entrust to our public safety officers vast power to serve their communities, but have we ensured that their vast power is exercised equally on behalf of all citizens? We have not. prgtoken Too often, forces--public safety forces, police forces--treat White citizens as clients and Black citizens as a threat. That is systemic racism, and it must change. It is why I am so proud to stand here in support of Senator Booker's and Senator 's sweeping Justice in Policing Act reform bill. We need to hold officers accountable for their actions. We need to change the culture of policing in America, and this legislation is the right law at the right moment to begin to do that. prgtoken No one should ever be profiled based on the color of their skin. Choke holds, like the one that killed Eric Garner
TAXPAYER FIRST ACT OF 2019--Continued
Sherrod Brown (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2020-6-16

a letter from Birmingham jail by Dr. Martin Luther, Jr.: In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. But is this a logical assertion? Isn't this like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn't this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock? Isn't this like condemning Jesus because his unique God consciousness and never ceasing devotion to God's will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion? We must come to see that, as the federal courts have consistently affirmed, it is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest may precipitate violence. Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber. I had also hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom. I have just received a letter from a white brother in Texas. He writes: ``All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry. It has taken Christianity almost two thousand years to accomplish what it has. The teachings of Christ take time to come to earth.'' Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity. You speak of our activity in Birmingham as extreme. At first I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist. I began
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Amy Klobuchar (Democrat, MN) \u2014 2020-6-16

I come to the floor today because it is time to end systemic racism with systemic change. So I am calling on my colleagues to work with us to immediately bring the Justice in Policing Act to the floor. prgtoken I thank Senator Booker, who is here with us today, and Senator for their work on this bill, as well as the House Members who are leading in the other Chamber. We must pass this bill, and we should do it immediately with bipartisan support. prgtoken George Floyd should be alive today, but he isn't. He was murdered in my State. He was murdered in my city. He was murdered on videotape so the whole world could see it. The whole world saw as his life evaporated before our eyes. prgtoken Our Nation has been left in pain, grieving, marching, and demanding justice. His murder has galvanized a nationwide movement for justice, both for George Floyd and for the Black community and communities of color across America that have experienced injustice for far too long-- not just injustice at the hands of the police, but also economic injustice, educational injustice. And, if anything, these last few months of this pandemic have shed a big magnifying glass and put it on top of what has been happening for way too long. prgtoken As we grieve this loss, we have work to do in our own States, and that is justice in this particular case, including accountability for the officers involved. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whom I have known for many, many years--I am very sure that he will have full faith and has forever in his conviction for justice, and he is pursuing this case against the officers. prgtoken But as lawmakers, we must also make systemic change. We cannot answer our Nation's calls for justice with silence. That would make us complicit. We cannot answer with what the President called domination. That would make us monsters. We must answer with action. That is what makes us lawmakers. prgtoken Since I have come to the Senate 13 years ago, I have watched as change has come inch by inch. I see Senator Durbin with us today, who led the effort on changing the disparity on crack cocaine. I was a new member of the Judiciary Committee when he led that work. I see Senator Booker here. Both of them, as well as a number of us, worked on the FIRST STEP Act. That was really important to reduce sentencing for nonviolent offenders. But, again, it is inch by inch. We must move by miles. prgtoken There is systemic racism at every level of our justice system, and it has prgtoken taken far too long to right these wrongs. And it is on us in Congress, especially on those of us who have worked in this system--mayors, prosecutors, attorneys general. Those of us who have seen what is happening have a special obligation to make this change. prgtoken We took an oath as Senators. We didn't wave a Bible in the air for a photo op. We placed our hand on that Bible and swore to support and defend the Constitution
TROOP WITHDRAWAL
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2020-6-17

while there are reports of plans to remove troops stationed in Germany, I am reluctant to comment on a proposal that I have not seen. prgtoken What I can say, however, is that Congress will have a say. What I can also say is that the U.S. commitment to NATO and our European allies is rock solid. That said, it is not in the American character to project power for power's sake. prgtoken Since World War II, we have reluctantly accepted the lesson that our geography and good will alone cannot protect us in the United States from being dragged into other things around the globe, particularly conflicts. prgtoken The U.S. military presence in Europe since World War II has preserved the freedom of half of Europe and contributed to the eventual freedom of the other half of Europe. Yet, despite enjoying economic and security benefits, polls show our presence is unpopular with a large segment of the German population. Combine the American public's reluctance to station troops abroad with the sense that they are not wanted or appreciated by their hosts, you can expect some second thoughts. prgtoken This isn't the whole story. I know many German political leaders who treasure the friendship between our two countries, and their voices are needed now more than ever before. Moreover, our bases in Germany are not there just for the Germans. They provide critical support to troops in harm's way in the Middle East and are vital for NATO deterrence. prgtoken The people of Poland and the Baltic countries are among the most pro- American that you can find anywhere in the world, and the governments representing them put their money where their mouth is when it comes to NATO. Our mere presence in Europe reduces prgtoken the likelihood of Russian aggression against these friends and a repeat of their past oppression. prgtoken America will not abandon our allies. Our credibility and national honor demand it. prgtoken .
China (Executive Session)
Rob Portman (Republican, OH) \u2014 2020-6-17

I am here on the floor this evening to talk about China and to talk about how we can have a better relationship with China, one that is fair and equitable. prgtoken I am going to talk specifically about some of the investigations and reports that we have worked on here in the U.S. Congress over the past couple of years. I am going to be talking about four specific reports that came out of what is called the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. I chair that subcommittee. It is under the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and it is a committee that takes these investigations seriously. We do a fair, objective, thorough job. All of our investigations are bipartisan. I am going to talk a little about why these investigations that we have done have led me to the conclusion that we need to do much more here in this country to be able to respond to China and to be able to have the kind of fair and equitable relationship that we should all desire. prgtoken A lot of China's critics talk about the fact that China needs to do things differently, and I don't disagree with most of that, but the reality is there is much we can do right here in this country to create a situation in which we do not have the issues that I will talk about tonight--some of the unfair activities that have occurred here in this country. Frankly, I think we have been naive and not properly prepared. I will also talk about some legislation that we are proposing tomorrow morning, which will focus on how to make America more effective at pushing back against a specific threat to our research and our intellectual property. prgtoken Our goal is not to have China as an enemy. Our goal is to actually have China as a strategic partner, wherein there is a fair and equitable and sustainable relationship, but it is going to require some changes. Again, I am going to focus tonight on some changes we need to make right here, changes that are within our control. prgtoken Our investigations have been thorough--in fact, driven--and our reports have been objective, bipartisan, and eye-opening, and I encourage you to go on the PSI website--psi.gov--and check it out. prgtoken Our first report was in February of 2019. It detailed a lack of transparency and reciprocity, among other concerns, with the Confucius Institutes that China operates here in this country. These Confucius Institutes are at our colleges and universities. Some people are aware of that, but some may not be aware that they are also at our elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. Our reports show how these Confucius Institutes have been a tool to stifle academic freedom where they are located, toeing the Chinese Communist Party line on sensitive issues like Tibet or Taiwan or the Uighurs or Tiananmen Square. prgtoken By the way, when I talk about China tonight, I hope people realize I am not talking about the Chinese people. I am talking about the