mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
Introductory Statement on S. 3804
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2024-2-26

I want to show you photographs of two individuals. Two years ago, I had the privilege of meeting this man, Vladimir Kara-Murza. He is a patriot and a Russian opposition leader-- what a risky business to be in. prgtoken Putin twice tried to poison him but failed. After his recovery here in the United States, he made a conscious decision that I couldn't believe. He said: I am going back to Russia. Someone has to be willing to fight and die for freedom and democracy in that country. prgtoken I said to him, as he was leaving: You are going to face certain arrest and imprisonment. prgtoken He said: I know it, but I have got to do it. prgtoken He had to continue the fight. I will never forget that moment of bravery and conviction in my office. Not long after his return to Russia, he was arrested for criticizing Putin's war in Ukraine. prgtoken He showed the same kind of patriotic courage as his compatriot Alexey Navalny, who died just a few days ago at the hands of Vladimir Putin's henchmen. prgtoken Putin tried to kill Navalny by poison too. He barred Navalny from running for office, from sharing stories of massive Kremlin corruption, and from speaking of the horrors of the Ukraine war. prgtoken Through it all, like Kara-Murza, Navalny was undeterred, and we know what happened--his tragic fate in that Arctic prison where he had been exiled. He was murdered by Vladimir Putin for fighting for freedom. prgtoken Navalny, Kara-Murza, and the Ukrainians on the frontlines are the brave patriots in this world, heroes Congress should look to for inspiration and courage, instead of a resort in Florida known as Mar-a- Lago. prgtoken In this small but lasting tribute to Navalny's courage today, Senator Cassidy, a from Louisiana, and I are introducing legislation to rename the street next to the residence of the Russian Ambassador to the United States. The new name will be ``Navalny Way.'' prgtoken This will not change what Putin has done or the unspeakable harm he has caused the Navalny family or millions of Ukrainians, including those children who have been kidnapped. But unlike the hooded Putin thugs trying to erase Navalny's memory by arresting mourners and quickly removing fliers left at makeshift memorials, this will force Russian diplomats in Washington to be reminded every day, as they drive by, of their crimes. prgtoken I hope Congress will quickly pass this symbolically important measure and, in a larger tribute to Navalny, our Ukrainian allies, and the thousands of kidnapped Ukrainian children, pass the supplemental without further delay.
ORDERS FOR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2024
Tina Smith (Democrat, MN) \u2014 2024-2-26

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, February 27; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed; further, that following the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Becerra nomination postcloture; that all postcloture time be considered expired at 11 a.m. and that following the cloture vote on the Leibowitz nomination, the Senate recess until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings; that at 2:15 p.m if cloture has been invoked on the Leibowitz nomination, the Senate vote on confirmation of the nomination; and that if cloture is invoked on the Dellinger nomination, all time be considered expired at 5:45 p.m.; further, that if any nominations are confirmed during Tuesday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's actions.
Government Funding (Executive Session)
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2024-2-27

later this morning, I will join with Leader McConnell, Johnson, and Leader Jeffries for a meeting with President at the White House. I expect today's meeting to be an important, timely, and fruitful discussion about how congressional leaders, in conjunction with the White House, can meet the immense responsibilities facing Congress at this moment. prgtoken This Friday, unless both sides act quickly, the Federal Government will enter a partial government shutdown, with yet another funding deadline looming a week after that. Agriculture, prgtoken transportation, veterans programs, and more will be thrown into chaos this Friday if we fail to extend funding. prgtoken As I have said throughout the 118th Congress, there is no justification--none--for provoking a government shutdown. strongly oppose shutdowns, and I know many of my Senate colleagues, including the leader, want to avoid one as well. And we want to work with them to ensure that a government shutdown does not happen. prgtoken And look, we realize the of the House is in a difficult position. But he must reject the MAGA hard right, which wants a shutdown, wants to hurt America, and which does not represent a majority of s in the House, a majority of s in the Senate, and a majority of s in America--let alone, all Americans. prgtoken So if both sides work together, if we reject poison pills that can never become law, and if we tune out the extreme radical voices of the hard right, then the task before us becomes much, much easier. prgtoken Again, these hard-right chaos agents in the House do not represent a majority of s in the country. They do not represent a majority of s in the Senate. They do not even represent a majority of s in the House, and yet they are trying to bully everyone else into submission to get what they want. And what they want--make no mistake about it; they say it openly--is a government shutdown, with the harm it will do to millions of people. prgtoken The chaos we have seen over and over again in the House just goes to show you that the hard right is not serious about governing. The only tactic in the hard-right playbook is to try to bully the rest of Congress to bend to their views. prgtoken By now, I expect many House s are beyond exhausted by their colleagues' bullying tactics. It is one of the biggest reasons why the majority in the House can't get anything done. prgtoken But for all their bullying, all their bluster, all their attempts at intimidation, the hard right's efforts have consistently-- consistently--ended in failure. I hope this time will be no different. I hope that, in the coming days, serious-minded House s can work with to find a path out of the shutdown threat. There is every reason in the world for both sides to work together this week and in the weeks
Nomination of Hampton Y. Dellinger (Executive Calendar)
Gary C. Peters (Democrat, MI) \u2014 2024-2-27

I rise in support of Hampton Dellinger's nomination to lead the Office of Special Counsel. prgtoken Federal employees must be able to report waste, fraud, and abuse across government without fear of retaliation. Whistleblowers have exposed serious safety shortfalls, wasteful spending, and corruption. They help keep government accountable, and they are indispensable in the oversight work of Congress and the inspectors general. prgtoken The Office of Special Counsel protects whistleblowers' rights. The Agency investigates their disclosures and prosecutes instances of retaliation against vulnerable employees. prgtoken In addition to those responsibilities, OSC helps ensure that the Federal Government is free from improper partisan activity and protects our servicemembers and veterans from employment discrimination. prgtoken Mr. Dellinger is well qualified to lead the Office of Special Counsel. He has nearly three decades of legal experience, including as a senior official in the North Carolina Attorney General's Office and the U.S. Department of Justice. He has worked with whistleblowers in both the public and private sector and has advanced policies that protect whistleblower rights. prgtoken Most importantly, Mr. Dellinger has demonstrated the utmost integrity throughout his career. He is willing to take on powerful interests for the public good and will lead OSC in an independent, nonpartisan way. prgtoken I urge my colleagues to join me in confirming Mr. Dellinger to this important role today.
Nomination of Jacqueline Becerra (Executive Session)
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2024-2-27

today, the Senate will vote to confirm Judge Jacqueline Becerra to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. prgtoken A Miami native, Judge Jacqueline Becerra's experience in both criminal and civil matters has prepared her to serve with distinction on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. prgtoken After receiving her B.A. from the University of Miami in 1991 and her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1994, Judge Becerra began her legal career through the U.S. Department of Justice's Honors Program, where she served as a trial attorney in the Civil Division, Federal Programs Branch. prgtoken Following her work at DOJ, she became an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and served in the office's misdemeanor, grand jury, and general felony units. In 1999, Judge Becerra joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida. There, she served in the narcotics section and as special counsel to the U.S. Attorney. prgtoken In 2004, Judge Becerra joined Greenberg Traurig, P.A as a shareholder, where much of her work centered on commercial disputes, arbitrations, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations and compliance work. She also served as cochair of the firm's Global White- Collar Defense and Investigations Practice and cochair of the Women's Initiative. prgtoken In 2019, Judge Becerra was appointed by the district judges of the Southern District of Florida to serve as a U.S. magistrate judge. In this role, she has presided over four civil trials and issued more than 1,100 orders and reports and recommendations. prgtoken She was also unanimously rated ``well qualified'' by the ABA, and Senators Rubio and Scott both returned positive blue slips. prgtoken With strong ties to the State of Florida, Judge Becerra's experience in public service, private practice, and as a magistrate judge have prepared her to join the Southern District of Florida as a district judge. prgtoken I am proud to support her nomination and urge my colleagues to do the same.
TRIBUTE TO DR. BOB ANDELMAN
Margaret Wood Hassan (Democrat, NH) \u2014 2024-2-27

I am honored to recognize Dr. Bob Andelman of Portsmouth, NH, as February's Granite Stater of the Month. After a 34-year-long career as an anesthesiologist, Dr. Andelman retired and retrained in addiction medicine. He then spent the next 7 years volunteering with Greater Seacoast Community Health, helping patients get the addiction treatment that they need and demonstrating an extraordinary commitment to his community and State. prgtoken Dr. Andelman began his career as an anesthesiologist at Wentworth- Douglass Hospital in 1979, where he worked for 6 years before moving to Portsmouth Regional Hospital in 1985, where he worked for 28 years. He also volunteered for the New Hampshire Board of Medicine for 10 years. In the later years of his practice, addiction grew from a problem into a crisis and spread throughout our State, touching nearly every community in New Hampshire. As Dr. Andelman began to contemplate retirement and the time came to decide whether to renew his medical license or let it lapse, Dr. Andelman decided that he could not stop practicing medicine; instead, he chose to change course and work to address the opioid epidemic. Given the dire need for more doctors to prescribe medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder, which cuts the craving for addiction and is the gold standard for treatment, Dr. Andelman connected with Greater Seacoast Community Health and underwent new medical training in order to prescribe medication- assisted treatment to Granite Staters. prgtoken This transition required learning entirely new medical content and a new electronic medical record system as well. But for Dr. Andelman, the biggest difference was in the one-on-one relationships he developed with his patients. As an anesthesiologist, Dr. Andelman was used to gathering information about the patient, consulting with doctors, and helping patients understand the process of being anesthetized before, during, and after medical procedures. In his role at Families First Health Center, part of Greater Seacoast Community Health, he started to build long-term relationships with patients, often learning about their lives starting from childhood on; and this rapport was essential for building trust with his patients to help them stay in recovery. For 7 years, Dr. Andelman volunteered at Families First, helping countless patients and their families change their lives. prgtoken Dr. Andelman was inspired by his time at Families First Health Center, particularly by patients who courageously sought treatment and faced their conditions head on. He understands that addiction is a chronic illness where people can relapse, but some patients continue to push through the illness and work to get better. Many patients who come in for addiction treatment have not had any positive reinforcement, and Dr. Andelman saw the impact that such reinforcement provided when he complimented their efforts to seek help and comm
Government Funding (Executive Calendar)
Patty Murray (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2024-2-27

``We have the means and just enough time this week to avoid a shutdown and to make serious headway on our annual appropriations. But as always, the task at hand will require that everyone rows in the same direction: toward clean appropriations and away from poison pills.'' Those are not my words. The leader said that yesterday, and he is absolutely right. And I just heard that the said he doesn't want a shutdown, after meeting with the President. That is good. prgtoken But let's be clear. A shutdown that hits air traffic controllers and food inspectors and so much more would be incredibly damaging, and it would make getting all of our funding bills done that much more chaotic and challenging. prgtoken There is no reason for a shutdown--not if both sides and both Chambers cooperate in a bipartisan way. So I am working around the clock to wrap up several spending bills by Friday. If we need to pass a very short-term CR along with whatever bills we can finish this week, are ready to make it happen so we can prevent a completely unnecessary shutdown and continue making progress on our bills. prgtoken I have been here before too many times, and I can tell you that a shutdown is costly, and it is harmful to our economy. It hurts real people--Federal employees, not to mention families, seniors, anyone who depends on basic services working smoothly--and it makes absolutely no sense. It doesn't save us money; it costs us more. prgtoken It is no secret that the biggest obstacle right now has been poison pills that were never truly on the table. They were always going to be nonstarters. But we have made really good progress on the first few bills, and we can get them done if extreme demands are pushed aside. We cannot let a few far-right extremists derail the basic functioning of government. There is no reason to listen to them, and there is no way we are going to let them impose extreme policies that go against the basic values of the American people. prgtoken I hope bipartisanship will prevail. Let's show the public that Congress still understands a few very simple things: Shutdowns are bad. Working together is good. Let's move past the poison pills and on to the hard work of legislating. prgtoken .
Children and Teen's Online Privacy Protection Act (Executive Calendar)
Edward J. Markey (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2024-2-27

I rise today in support of the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act or, as it is known, COPPA 2.0 the Child Online Privacy Protection Act. prgtoken We stand at a truly consequential moment for protecting children online in our country. Our kids are suffering from an acute mental health crisis. The statistics are staggering: One in three high school girls in the United States seriously considered suicide in 2021--one in three teenage girls considered suicide. At least 1 in 10 high school girls attempted suicide in the United States in 2021--1 in 10 teenage girls in America attempted suicide in 2021. Amongst LGBTQ youth, the number is more like one in five LGBTQ youths attempted suicide in 2021. prgtoken We know that Big Tech's tracking, targeting, and traumatizing of our young people is contributing in a significant way to that crisis. As the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing just a few weeks ago demonstrated, Big Tech CEOs still don't understand the damage they have caused and remain unwilling to make the necessary changes to fix their platforms and protect children, to protect teenagers, because, without a doubt, self-regulation by the CEOs of the tech companies has failed and failed miserably. Otherwise, we would not be in this mental health crisis. prgtoken In the face of this defiance by the industry, policymakers at the Federal, State, and local levels have been introducing and passing new legislation to address the crisis. More notably, last week, the Florida Legislature felt compelled to pass a law to ban all kids under 16 from social media all together in the face of Big Tech inaction. Do you hear what I am saying? Florida is passing a law banning kids under 16 from being on at all. prgtoken I am glad that bipartisan lawmakers and regulators have mobilized across the country to address this problem, but we also must be careful because social media is not inherently bad. Many young people have found their voices online and organize there on issues such as the climate crisis and gun violence. Online platforms allow young people to connect with loved ones, share their own experiences, and learn from others in ways that are just unavailable to them offline. They need, in many instances, the online communities. If we shut down those spaces in our efforts to keep children and teenagers safe online, we may just trade one youth mental health crisis for another one. prgtoken For most of my career, I have worked to get this balance right--to protect kids from the dangers of new technologies without undermining the social, the political, and the economic benefits of those very same technologies. There is a Dickensian quality to these qualities. There are the best of technologies and the worst of technologies simultaneously. They can enable, they can ennoble, or they can degrade and debase. prgtoken We want the benefits but also have to protect our society--especially young people--
ARMS SALES NOTIFICATION
Benjamin L. Cardin (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2024-2-27

section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act requires that Congress receive prior notification of certain proposed arms sales as defined by that statute. Upon such notification, the Congress has 30 calendar days during which the sale may be reviewed. The provision stipulates that, in the Senate, the notification of proposed sales shall be sent to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. prgtoken In keeping with the committee's intention to see that relevant information is available to the full Senate, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the notifications that have been received. If the cover letter references a classified annex, then such an annex is available to all Senators in the office of the Foreign Relations Committee, room SD-423.
Oversight Investigations (Executive Calendar)
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2024-2-27

today I want to take the time of my colleagues to set the record straight, yet again, about an FBI investigative report that has been generated that goes by the number 1023, and I do this because the breathless media misreporting requires that I come to the floor to give a historical reorientation of the facts and the evidence. prgtoken As I have said all along on the Senate floor, I and Chairman Comer of the House, made the 1023 document public for this single purpose; that purpose is to force the FBI to do what the taxpayers pay the FBI to do, and that is investigate, in this case, the information contained in that document that goes by the number of 1023. prgtoken It is all pretty simple. I didn't promote or vouch for the allegations in 1023 as the truth, like some confused and the partisan media have falsely said. I pushed the FBI to do their job because that is my responsibility to the taxpayers and the people of Iowa. prgtoken Now some confused and partisan media have returned to their favorite line, falsely saying that our effort to get the FBI to do their job is somehow peddling Russian disinformation. It is kind of like a nervous tic to all of them. prgtoken For years, they falsely said the same thing about my and Senator Johnson's family investigation, even though our investigation was based on and administration records and, really, on authentic bank records. prgtoken Some and the partisan media apparently don't care about observing and reading the facts. Well, this Senator does care about that. So let's discuss the facts of the matter that they either missed or, more likely, are choosing to ignore because it doesn't fit their narrative. prgtoken The whistleblowers within the Justice Department who came to me said the FBI had this document, the 1023, in their possession, now 3 years ago, June of 2020--3.5 years ago, in fact, because that document is dated June 30, 2020. Those whistleblowers that came to me were right. prgtoken Whistleblowers said that the FBI considered its confidential human source to be credible. That confidential human source--which I will simply describe today as the FBI's source--formed the basis of the 1023. prgtoken If you are following television, we now know the name of that FBI source. But until he was arrested, I did not know his name. prgtoken The FBI said the same to Congress and used the credibility of that source, the credibility assessment of that individual, to withhold the 1023 from Congress when we first asked for it. Even Ranking Member Raskin of the House Committee confirmed that the FBI told Congress that the FBI source was credible. prgtoken The FBI found their source so credible that the FBI gave their source the authority even to engage in illegal activity for the FBI's criminal investigation. And, yes, I want to make clear: The FBI said that he could do illegal things in his work for the FBI. The F