mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2021-5-24

if you have been involved in Illinois politics and government in the last 40 years or if you have called my office in Springfield anytime in the last 24 years, there is a good chance you know the fellow I am about to speak about this afternoon. For those who haven't been lucky enough to meet him yet, let me tell you about my friend, one of the best people I have ever known. His name is Bill Houlihan. prgtoken Bill came to work on my first Senate campaign in 1996, and when we won, I asked him to be my staff director for downstate Illinois--all 96 counties. He has been with me ever since, and now he is State director of the entire State. Whenever I can't attend an event in Illinois, Bill is the person I turn to. I don't have to write any speech for him, and I don't have to check on what he said. People know Bill speaks for me, and I have complete confidence in his judgment and integrity. prgtoken Everybody seems to know him. Just try going to a grocery store with Bill Houlihan in Springfield, IL. Be prepared for delays as everyone needs to talk to him or to thank him for something that he might have done: Thanks for helping my mom get her Social Security. Thanks for helping my dad with the Veterans Health Administration. Thanks for helping to get that passport so my daughter could go away to school. Thanks for helping the local union get the project that creates the jobs here in our community. prgtoken Over the years, Bill has helped thousands of people find jobs and provide for their families. He knows about the dignity of work. He does whatever he can to help whomever he can, having no expectation of any recognition. prgtoken Bill started his professional life in 1981, fresh out of Eastern Illinois University. He was the class president. His first job was with the Illinois Education Association. They sent him into a David-and- Goliath battle scene in Peoria, IL, where they were trying to convince the local teachers to sign up with the IEA. They hired Bill 6 weeks before the crucial election and sent him into Peoria--his first campaign for a union. You see, Bill had worked on political campaigns for his dad, and I will talk about those in a minute. prgtoken When he got down to Peoria--a place where he had never lived-- everybody knew him, and whenever he went up and introduced himself as Bill Houlihan, they would say: Well, are you the son of Bill Houlihan? prgtoken He would say: No, I am the son of John Houlihan. prgtoken Bill didn't understand for a while why he kept getting that question. It turns out that he had exactly the same name as Peoria's longtime and venerable TV weathercaster Bill Houlihan. prgtoken When, as a young union organizer, Bill showed up, puzzled teachers always said: Are you sure you are not related to Bill Houlihan? prgtoken Our Bill Houlihan was no TV personality, but Peoria teachers quickly learned that he cared about them and prgtoken that he knew his stuff. Just as important
Nomination of Kristen M. Clarke (Executive Calendar)
Richard Blumenthal (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2021-5-24

in just hours, we will be voting on the nomination of Kristen Clarke to be Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division in the United States Department of Justice. prgtoken I am proud tonight to advocate for her, not that she needs my voice in her support. She is a brilliant leader and advocate. She has dedicated her entire career to protecting the civil rights of all Americans, and she has an extraordinary record to show for it. prgtoken She reminds me of the legal warriors in the Department of Justice during the 1950s and 1960s and 1970s who battled for the rule of law in supporting children who were trying to gain entry to desegregated schools, in voters who sought to uphold the franchise, and in men and women who challenged the denial of their rights in the South and throughout the country. The Department of Justice became a beacon of law enforcement in its upholding of the civil rights of America, and she is in that great tradition--fierce and fearless, strong and unyielding and tenacious in defending and advocating for the rights and liberties of Americans when they are denied those rights and liberties guaranteed under the Constitution and our statutes. prgtoken She served as the civil rights chief for the New York Attorney General in the civil rights bureau. She served as assistant counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. She served as a Federal prosecutor during the administration in the Civil Rights Division's Criminal Section and Voting Section, the very divisions that she has been nominated now to lead. prgtoken She knows these issues. She knows civil rights and civil liberty issues and law because she has worked on them for more than two decades. She cares about these issues because her life has prgtoken been dedicated to them, and she understands these issues on a deeply personal level. She knows them inside and out because she served to fight for them inside and out of the DOJ, inside and out of the New York Attorney General's Office, inside and out of the organization whose mission is to protect them, and she is the daughter of immigrants who grew up in the Nation's largest public housing complex. She is also the mother of a 16-year-old son, who is growing up in this moment of reckoning for racial justice, equality, and equity in America. prgtoken If memory serves me, she also once took a field trip to the Hartford area, in Connecticut, and watched a then comparatively young State attorney general who was arguing in court in a desegregation case. Now, I have no illusions that this experience played any part in her desire to use her extraordinary skills and talents and gifts and education as a public servant and lawyer for the public good, but that has been her career, and that is exactly what we need now at the helm of the Civil Rights Division. prgtoken There is no excuse for waiting another moment to confirm her to this most important post. She i
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
Jack Reed (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2021-5-24

. Well, thank you very much, . I would like to first engage in a colloquy with Senator Inhofe, the ranking member of the committee, on the process we will use to consider all the ideas and amendments I expect will be offered by committee members to address the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault and related crimes under the UCMJ in the annual Defense bill. prgtoken I believe that the committee must start from a base that reflected the broadest consensus possible among our members on how best to move forward on this matter and on the recommendations of Secretary Austin's 90-day Independent Review Commission, or IRC. I understand some members would prefer there be nothing in our bill on this topic, while others will feel that the IRC recommendations do not go far enough. This is the nature of compromise and why I intend to include the IRC recommendations on accountability in the base markup of the fiscal year 2022 Defense bill, subject to amendment. I believe we will have a robust debate, and I commit to ensuring that every idea and amendment brought by our committee members is given due consideration and receives a vote if that is what the member wants.
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
Kirsten E. Gillibrand (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2021-5-24

as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the leader, the Senate Armed Services Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 1520 and the Senate proceed to its consideration; that there be 2 hours for debate, equally divided in the usual form; and that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate vote on the bill with no intervening action or debate.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Ron Wyden (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2021-5-24

the Senate is now debating the nomination of Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. prgtoken This is clearly one of the most important healthcare jobs in America. Ms. Brooks-LaSure brings decades of health policy experience to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and I think it would be fair to say that she has worked on healthcare from just about every angle short of scrubbing into the operating room herself. I am going to talk, in a minute, about her qualifications, but I also want, as we start this discussion, to recognize that this is a job that requires urgent, hands-on professionalism--exactly the kind Ms. Brooks-LaSure brings to this. prgtoken We are, obviously, still working through enormous challenges on the COVID-19 pandemic. There are efforts by colleagues on both sides of the aisle on healthcare, and we, in particular, on this side want to expand healthcare coverage, bring down the cost of prescription medicine, and bring the Medicare guarantee into the 21st century. The American people need a chief of Medicare and Medicaid as soon as possible, and blocking this nomination slows down important work that needs to be done. Senators on the other side have objected to moving forward with the nomination. So I am going to talk for just a few minutes about these concerns--but, first, a little bit more about Ms. Brooks-LaSure. prgtoken Starting out, she worked at the Office of Management and Budget on Medicaid policy and the CHIP program, the Children's Health Insurance Program. So she was, long ago, focused on trying to improve healthcare for the millions of Americans who every single day walk an economic tightrope in balancing the food bill against the fuel bill and the fuel bill against healthcare costs. She was there for them. prgtoken She then moved to the House Ways and Means Committee as a senior staff member. She helped to write portions of the Affordable Care Act dealing with expanding coverage and updating the Medicare guarantee. prgtoken When the Affordable Care Act became law, she went to Health and Human Services, and there she played an important role in implementing the law. She was the leader in the effort to create marketplaces for health insurance with strong, built-in consumer protections. She has been a leader when it comes to defending and expanding women's healthcare under the Affordable Care Act and other essential programs. After leaving HHS, she went to the private sector and continued to work on policies that expanded coverage and made healthcare more affordable. prgtoken Ms. Brooks-LaSure has the qualifications, the experience, and the know-how to run Medicare and Medicaid, and there are absolutely no questions about it. prgtoken Now, our colleague from Texas, Senator Cornyn, has raised objections to moving the nomination forward. His objections relate to a decision by the administration to rescind a Medicaid
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2021-5-24

each year, the month of May is recognized as National Foster Care Month. s for once again unanimously passing a resolution recognizing and bringing awareness to the experiences of youth and families in the foster care system. prgtoken This month, organizations in Iowa and around the entire country have been working to support youth in foster care and the foster parents who open their homes to the kids in need. And they deserve this recognition. In 2019, the most recent year for which data is available, there were over 426,000 kids in foster care in the United States. In Iowa alone, there were almost 6,000. prgtoken As stated in our resolution, Congress must continue to work toward real solutions for these young people because they face trauma, abuse, and neglect. Obviously, there are a lot of them who get loving care as well. prgtoken In recent years, lots of changes have been made to the way that child welfare works. Congress passed the Family First Prevention Services Act in 2018. The goal of that act was to provide more services to families before removing children from the home, before that action had to be taken. And that is where you ought to start--preserve the family as much as you can, as long as the children are not being mistreated. prgtoken This bill also seeks to help kids who age out of foster care have access to more support and successfully transition to adulthood and to independence. prgtoken I was glad to support this legislation, and I hope that, as it is implemented, we see positive outcomes for these young people and their families. All children, no matter what their circumstances, deserve a permanent, loving home and consistent, caring adults in their life. prgtoken When you visit with these young people, some of them tell us about being in two or three school systems in a year so obviously probably in two or three different homes in a year. And what you hear from them is ``I would like to have a mom and dad. I would like to have a home. I would like to go to the same school for the whole year.'' They want some consistency and some permanency. I guess that is what it all adds up to. prgtoken Research has shown that the presence of just one caring adult who is available for advice, for support, and for guidance can make a meaningful difference for children in foster care. For some young people, this may be a foster parent who maintains a relationship with a child even after temporary placement is over. For other kids, this may mean an aunt or an uncle, a family member who is willing to shoulder the responsibilities of providing a loving home. Others may benefit from a court-appointed special advocate, what we know as CASA, or a guardian ad litem. These are volunteers assigned to be a child's advocate. prgtoken For a system designed to protect children, often the child welfare system does not give much opportunity for a child's voice to be heard, and it i
NOMINATION OF KRISTEN M. CLARKE
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2021-5-24

. On a completely different matter, when President 's nominees have been qualified and mainstream, they received bipartisan cooperation. But the President's choice to head a key Division at the Department of Justice as an Assistant Attorney General failed to even advance out of the committee. prgtoken The ic leader had to reach into the Judiciary Committee and rescue the nomination of Kristen Clarke. Our colleagues on the committee did not give her a favorable recommendation. That is because of a long history of statements that placed the nominee on, frankly, the far-left fringe of the political spectrum. prgtoken If our ic colleagues have their way, a couple of days from now, the American people will have an Assistant Attorney General who argued publicly just last year that ``we must invest less in police.'' She used that exact phrase three times in one essay. prgtoken Violent crimes shot up dramatically in 2020. One survey of 30-plus major American cities found that the murder rate jumped 30 percent last year alone. Other estimates have found even larger increases. Experts say 2020 saw the largest 1-year rise in homicides that America has ever seen as far back as we have recorded these kinds of statistics. prgtoken Early data from this year suggests that 2021 may even be worse, but, apparently, the President's response to this violent crimewave is to have a proponent of defunding the police help run the Department of Justice. prgtoken Adequate policing is not an enemy of civil rights. Among other things, a recent study by multiple university professors confirmed that more cops lead to fewer murders: Larger police forces save lives, and the lives saved are disproportionately Black lives. prgtoken Police funding isn't the only important issue where the nominee's judgment has missed the mark. prgtoken Three years ago, when the then-Attorney General was standing up a task force on religious liberty, Ms. Clarke said this was designed ``to make it easier for people to use religion to mask their discriminatory goals''--an incredibly out-of-touch, far-left statement. prgtoken Finally, we are currently watching an alarming spike in anti-Semitic attacks and violence across our country. I introduced new legislation on Friday, with Senator Cotton, to confront anti-Semitism head-on, but as a Harvard undergraduate, Ms. Clarke invited, welcomed, introduced, and then defended a famously anti-Semitic guest speaker who had authored a book literally entitled--now listen to this--``The Jewish Onslaught.'' prgtoken The nominee has stated recently that she regrets that decision. Goodness, I would certainly hope so. prgtoken Yet she also claims that her op-ed from just last year, which asserted three times--three times--that we must invest less in police, was not actually suggesting that we invest less in police. prgtoken This is not the right nominee for a crucial post at a crucial time so I would urge
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
Joni Ernst (Republican, IA) \u2014 2021-5-24

I want to take just a very brief moment and thank the chairman and the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee because this is a very significant move that is being proposed by Senators Gillibrand and Grassley and those of us who are cosponsors of this legislation. prgtoken It is time to act. It is time to act. If we can go back into previous years, I have been one of those nay-sayers. I have said to others that I was very torn about removing this decision from a commander's purview. I was torn. But we have not seen improvement when it comes to the areas of sexual assault and other serious crimes within our Nation's armed services. So it is time to take very bold action. It is time to take bold action. prgtoken I do share those concerns as so eloquently stated by Senator Gillibrand that we are making a bold proposal that we believe now fit for those who want prevention, like myself, those who want to reform and improve and professionalize those prosecutors within the military system. We can bring that together and move it forward, but that is not going to happen if we see it watered down through the process of the NDAA. prgtoken I would love to see this bill in its entirety passed. If that can happen through the NDAA, so be it. But as Senator Gillibrand just stated, we have worked on legislation before to see it come to fruition in the Senate through NDAA, but not have it passed and signed into law. So I do share those concerns, and I have not had assurances that we could pass the bill in its entirety. prgtoken I would also ask that we take this up for consideration on the floor. I think it is that important to move forward. There are a lot of survivors out there who would like to see this move forward. I believe that now we also have a swell of military members who would like to see this bill in its entirety move forward. prgtoken This body as a Senate--not just as Senate Armed Services Committee members, but this body as a Senate--this body as a Congress, we do have civilian oversight of the military and our civilian oversight takes into consideration those members, our constituents, who are asking for this change. Believe me, I am hearing from my constituents on this change. prgtoken .
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
James M. Inhofe (Republican, OK) \u2014 2021-5-24

I thank the chairman, Chairman Reed, that this important issue deserves a robust debate as we consider this year's National Defense Authorization Act. I would also like to thank Senator Gillibrand for her leadership and her tenacity on this issue. prgtoken As Senator Reed referenced, I am one of those who do not support removing the commanders from the decision-making process. Nevertheless, I appreciate Chairman Reed's commitment to ensuring this issue is debated and voted on during the full committee markup of the NDAA. prgtoken The NDAA markup process is unique in the Senate. We debate and resolve contentious issues every year. But the regular-order process is important and has served us well for many, many years--actually 60 years. prgtoken When it comes to important issues like this, we should not rush anything without making sure it is going to do the right thing by our servicemembers, and so I thank Chairman Reed for his action
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Marsha Blackburn (Republican, TN) \u2014 2021-5-24

this month is Military Appreciation Month. It is a month when we let our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines know just how grateful we are for their service we are grateful for the service that you gave our Nation in uniform. We thank you for that. prgtoken Tennessee is home to three major military installations and numerous other Guard installations. For us, Military Appreciation Month actually lasts all year long. prgtoken I would like to start off by welcoming the 101st Airborne Division's 2nd Squadron, 17th Calvary Regiment back stateside following a 9-month rotational deployment to Korea. We are so happy to have them back home. prgtoken In more exciting news out of Fort Campbell, this Thursday, SGM Veronica Knapp will become the first woman to serve as a command sergeant major of a U.S. Army division. She will assume responsibility as the senior enlisted adviser of the 101st Airborne Division. prgtoken On behalf of the entire Tennessee delegation, I offer my congratulations and wish her success in all that is yet to come. prgtoken The servicemembers stationed at Fort Campbell have really had a very busy past year. Starting last March, we began deploying soldiers to help with COVID-19 response operations across the Northeast, including members from the 501st Medical Company, the 531st Hospital Center, and the 101st Division Sustainment Brigade. prgtoken Boston and New York City were among the most severely affected areas in the country. And if you ask the healthcare workers and city officials in those areas if Tennessee servicemembers made a difference, they will tell you, yes, without a doubt. prgtoken Last year, many of our Tennessee National Guard members also joined the fight against COVID-19. The 164th Airlift Wing transported desperately needed PPE all the way from Italy to healthcare workers across the entire country. The 118th ISR Group, along with five other Air National Guard targeting units, produced over 70 percent of the U.S. Air Force's targeting materials, all while providing continuity to Activity-Duty units. prgtoken I want to keep bragging on our Guard members because they really have made an impact, especially when it comes to getting testing and vaccine centers up and running. They set up more static vaccine sites than any other State. As of March of this year, they have set up double the number of sites that were running in the next most successful State. Job well done. prgtoken They directly helped more than 1 million Tennesseans stay healthy through the pandemic. It was a great effort, and we thank them for that. prgtoken I am sorry to say that the pandemic wasn't the only natural disaster Tennesseans had to deal with over the past year. But when tornados destroyed multiple counties across West and Middle Tennessee, the National Guard was right there to help. And when blizzards shut down half the State, the Guard kept water flowing in Memphis, repaired co