mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
REMEMBERING KATE KENNEDY
Dianne Feinstein (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2018-6-4

today I wish to honor Kate Kennedy, a pioneering and inspiring San Franciscan. prgtoken Kate Kennedy was born in County Meath, Ireland, in 1827, the second of seven children. After her father's death in 1841, she cared for her five younger sisters, even overseeing their education at home. During Ireland's Great Famine, Kate immigrated to the United States. She worked as a seamstress in New York Before moving with the rest of her family to California in 1856. prgtoken Shortly after arriving in California, she began teaching in San Francisco's public schools. She rose to become the principal of the North Cosmopolitan Grammar School, but was only paid the salary of a primary school principal because she was a woman. In response to this injustice, she began a campaign for equal pay all school teachers. Her efforts were rewarded in 1874, when the California Legislature passed a law requiring female public school teachers paid the same as male counterparts. prgtoken Following her landmark victory, Kate continued to teach while advocating for other social issues like labor and tax reforms. She eventually ran for state superintendent of public instruction, becoming the first woman to run for Statewide office in California. prgtoken Although she didn't win, she continued to leave a mark on her adopted State. After being transferred for political reasons to a smaller school with a lower salary, Kate fought the demotion and was ultimately fired in retaliation by the schoolboard. She sued the board, taking her case all the way to the California Supreme Court. The court sided with Kate, delivering an opinion that still serves today as the foundation of teacher tenure in California. prgtoken Shortly after the court's ruling, Kate Kennedy passed away in Oakland, CA, and was buried in San Francisco's Laurel Hill Cemetery in 1890. prgtoken Kate Kennedy's commitment to justice and willingness to fight for her rights is truly inspirational. As the first woman to represent California in the U.S. Senate, I am proud to honor her legacy and the historic role she played in the ongoing struggle for equality.
Immigration (Executive Session)
Jeff Merkley (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2018-6-4

I am coming to the floor tonight to talk about the issue of immigration here in the United States of America. prgtoken I think all of us are very familiar with the Statue of Liberty--a symbol we know about from the time we begin to talk, a symbol that represents much of the history of our country, where so many of us coming from every corner of the globe have family histories that involve parents or grandparents or great-grandparents or, generations ago, people fleeing persecution from around the world. prgtoken That welcoming sign--``Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free''--those words inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty represent the fact that when it comes to people fleeing persecution, America is a place ready to receive them. prgtoken This isn't just something that is woven into the history of our country. It is not just something woven into the DNA of our souls as Americans. It is also woven into our laws--our national laws and our international treaties--for how to treat refugees fleeing persecution. It works like this: A family who has been in horrific circumstances can come to the U.S. border and announce that they are fleeing persecution and wish to seek asylum in the United States of America. They are then given a court date to appear to present their case. Their case has to be substantial, it has to be documented, and the court will decide whether it meets the test of whether they are legitimately in fear for their lives or for their children's lives should they return to their homeland overseas. That is the process. prgtoken But we have a new policy that was announced just in April and amplified in a speech by the Attorney General in May, last month. This new process says that when those families come to the United States fleeing persecution, we are going to proceed to take the children away from the parents while they are awaiting adjudication--the day to come before a judge to present their case on their affliction abroad. prgtoken Let me explain this in more significant terms. Families who have experienced trauma abroad are then subjected to trauma when they arrive at our border. This is the new policy that Jeff Sessions announced in April and gave a speech about in May. He called it ``zero tolerance'' because he wanted to put a positive spin because somehow those words carry positive weight. But let me state this: There is nothing positive about subjecting children to trauma who are fleeing trauma abroad. It is un-American. It is inhumane. It is absolutely in every moral sense wrong, and the administration knows it. prgtoken They first started debating this policy when the President came into office early last year, in January and February. They held these conversations and decided that it was way inappropriate for America to treat children in this fashion, subject these children fleeing persecution to trauma upon arrival in the Un
Volcker Rule (Executive Session)
Sherrod Brown (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2018-6-4

last winter, this body passed a $1.5 trillion deficit-financed tax cut for millionaires, for billionaires especially, and for corporations that ship jobs overseas. More than 80 percent of the benefits will go to the top 1 percent of the wealthiest people by the end of this decade. prgtoken Two weeks ago, Congress passed another big giveaway to Wall Street, loosening taxpayer protections on big banks that had received a combined $239 billion in taxpayer bailouts. We know Wall Street can never get enough handouts. Too many people in this body, too many people down the hall in the House of Representatives, too many people in the Oval Office, too many people in Washington never get tired of giving these handouts away. From the day President , almost a decade ago, signed Wall Street reform into law, a top Wall Street lobbyist said that it was halftime, meaning the game was not over, and they were going to keep fighting back. prgtoken Before the ink was dry on his signature, those lobbyists went to work trying to undo the rules we put in place to protect taxpayers and consumers. We are seeing the result of that lobbying in Congress, and we are seeing it at the agencies that are supposed to be policing our financial industry. prgtoken Last week, the Federal Reserve announced proposed changes to what is known as the Volcker rule. We put this rule in place after the crisis to stop big banks from taking big risks with Americans' money. Those complicated, risky bets were a big reason for the financial crisis that devastated our economy, cost millions of Americans their jobs, cost millions of Americans much of their savings, and left taxpayers on the hook to clean up Wall Street's mess. prgtoken Lehman Brothers invested heavily in toxic mortgage-backed securities, eventually leading to $32 billion in trade losses and the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history. They took bank deposits, putting the U.S. taxpayer on the hook for those losses. prgtoken Hedge funds sponsored by Bear Stearns, which also took Americans' individual deposits, suffered massive losses on complex bets based on exotic subprime mortgages. During the crisis, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup also lost big on bets backed by subprime mortgages, and Goldman Sachs had to bail out a hedge fund. prgtoken Congress instructed the Federal Reserve to write strict rules to prevent that from ever happening again--to make sure that banks use the taxpayer safety nets to serve their customers, not bet against them. prgtoken Banks should be in the business of making investments in the real economy, not casino-style trades using families' checking and savings accounts. It took agencies more than 3 years to finalize the Volcker rule, which was completed in 2013 after the consideration of thousands upon thousands of public comments. Now they want to undo it all? prgtoken The rollbacks announced last week would gut core components of the Volcker rul
Healthcare (Executive Session)
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2018-6-4

the night spanning June 9 and 10 marks the anniversary of a key chapter in American history--one whose first shots spurred our Nation on toward independence from Britain, yet one that remains unfamiliar to most Americans today, which is why I come here each year to tell the tale of the Gaspee Raiders. prgtoken I encourage my colleagues and all students of history to explore this chapter in more depth, in histories such as ``An Empire on the Edge'' by Nick Bunker or ``The Burning of Her Majesty's Schooner Gaspee: An Attack on Crown Rule Before the American Revolution'' by Steven Park. prgtoken Here is the tale in brief form. prgtoken It is 1772. Tensions between England and the Colonies have grown increasingly strained. Rhode Island is a seafaring, trading colony, without much regard for His Majesty's taxes. King George III stations the revenue cutter HMS Gaspee under the command of Lieutenant William Dudingston, in Rhode Island waters. The Gaspee's mission: to interdict smuggled goods and enforce the payment of the Crown's taxes. prgtoken Lieutenant Dudingston was an arrogant sort, who quickly became infamous for destroying fishing vessels, seizing cargo, and flagging down ships only to harass, humiliate, and interrogate the colonial sailors. According to Gabriel Weis in his 1916 ``Guide to Newport, Rhode Island,'' ``This unprincipled ruffian had ruthlessly ravaged the Rhode Island coast for several months, destroying unoffending fishing vessels and confiscating everything he could lay hands on.'' prgtoken Rhode Island seamen and traders chafed at the harsh tactics of Dudingston. A number of them delivered a petition seeking relief against the Gaspee to Rhode Island Chief Justice Stephen Hopkins, later a signer of the Declaration of Independence. On this occasion, Hopkins provided a legal opinion saying that British officers were obliged to present their orders and commission to Rhode Island's Governor before entering local waters, asserting a measure of colonial sovereignty. prgtoken Dudingston, of course, refused such an impudent notion and threatened to hang any man who tried to oppose the Gaspee. His first mistake, in the winter of 1772, was to seize a sloop named ``Fortune,'' along with its cargo of rum and sugar, from Nathanael Greene, the wealthy son of a Quaker minister. As Daniel Harrington wrote in the Providence Journal last year, ``the patriotic fervor . . . sweeping the colonies [had] seemed to elude [Nathanael Greene] until Dudingston snagged his Fortune and ignited the righteous spirit of resentment that now consumed him.'' prgtoken After first suing Dudingston for the return of his ship--and winning--Nathanael Greene would join the Revolutionary cause, ultimately commanding Rhode Island's army and then rising in General Washington's ranks to become the commander of the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War. During the war, General Cornwallis wrote to his wife: ``That damned G
ECONOMIC GROWTH
Mitch McConnell (Republican, KY) \u2014 2018-6-4

last week brought another set of encouraging headlines about our growing economy. In the month of May, the U.S. economy generated 223,000 new jobs. Unemployment has fallen to 3.8 percent, its lowest level since April of 2000. The proportion of American adults who are employed is as high as it has been at any point since the financial crisis. prgtoken We know these economic indicators can sometimes be noisy, but consider them alongside all of the other signs we have seen over the past year. Since President was elected alongside a Congress, the number of Americans who say they are optimistic about finding a good job has jumped 25 percentage points, and small business owners report in record numbers that they are optimistic about the prospects of hiring new employees. prgtoken The bottom line is clear: Under the policies of this unified government, American workers, families, prgtoken and business owners are achieving economic growth that is unmatched in recent memory. It is driven by a 21st century tax code that lets Americans keep more of their own money and encourages job creators to invest in our Nation's workers. prgtoken It is made possible by historic regulatory reform, which has leveled the playing field for American consumers and small businesses. From farmers and ranchers to community bankers, the burdens of an out-of- control regulatory state are being lifted. prgtoken So after a decade of stagnation, policies have gotten Washington out of the way and freed American workers and job creators to do what they do best--build a dynamic economy that is literally the envy of the world. prgtoken But as impressive as some of these statistics may be, I think it is important to keep in mind that these stories are, at the end of the day, human stories. More than 1 million new jobs have been created just since we passed tax reform last December. That is not an abstract number. That is 1 million opportunities for young workers who are just starting out and need to begin climbing the first rungs of the economic ladder; for young fathers and mothers who can now leave a position where their pay has stayed flat for a new opening in their industry; or for midcareer professionals who were sidelined by a tough economy and can now suit up and check back in to the game. prgtoken These aren't just economic statistics; they are American men and women who have new chances to support their families and build their lives that they simply did not have under the policies of the previous administration. prgtoken I am glad that we fought and won--and will continue to win--major accomplishments for the middle-class families we represent.
National Defense Authorization Act (Executive Session)
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2018-6-4

this week, we will be taking up the National Defense Authorization Act, which Congress has passed for 57 consecutive years to support and guide our country's military. Earlier this month, the Armed Services Committee voted overwhelmingly--25 to 2--to advance this important legislation to the Senate floor, so when I hear people say that there is no bipartisan consensus for anything in Washington these days, I think that is belied by the facts and certainly in this case by our bipartisan commitment to provide that support and guidance for our Nation's military. prgtoken According to the Department of Defense, there are 1.8 million Americans around the world on Active Duty in the U.S. military. The United States has 737 installations overseas, and the DOD--the Department of Defense--is the world's largest employer. Supporting all these people and the facilities they occupy is a Herculean task, and the Defense authorization bill is one very significant way that we do just that. It is how we make sure that all of our American servicemembers are trained, equipped, and paid and that our alliances are strengthened and our military facilities are properly modernized and maintained. We have an All-Volunteer military, and it is important for us to do all of these things in terms of quality of life, in addition to the basics, to prepare our warriors for hopefully an avoidable fight, but when it is unavoidable, to prepare them for that conflict. prgtoken In Texas, there are roughly 200,000 military men and women stationed in places like Fort Hood, Joint Base San Antonio, the Red River Army Depot, and Ellington Field. These are the people I think about as we take up this Defense authorization bill. They rely on us to deliver what we have asked them to do, to give them the tools, the equipment, and the training to do what we have asked them to do. That goal is increasingly difficult because the world is a very complex and dangerous place. The array of national security threats facing the United States is more complex and diverse than at any time since World War II. Our leadership at the Pentagon says that the strategic environment has not been this competitive since the Cold War. Simply put, America no longer enjoys the competitive edge it once had over our competitors and adversaries. prgtoken Secretary Mattis and the Department of Defense have admirably crafted the national defense strategy that was delivered to Congress earlier this year laying out its strategic goal. This was a critical first step, but now the strategy must be implemented. The Defense authorization bill will align that strategy with the resources necessary to implement it--the investments, the policies, the authorizations--with the new orientation articulated in that strategy. prgtoken The Secretary of Defense will reevaluate the highest priority missions for the Department of Defense, the roles of the joint force, as well as the ca
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
Richard Burr (Republican, NC) \u2014 2018-6-4

today I wish to celebrate with the citizens of Madison, NC, the town's 200 years of rich history. Named for President James Madison, the town was acquired at auction in June 1818. prgtoken In Madison's infancy, tobacco was a high-demand commodity and employer in town due to its location on the Dan and Mayor Rivers, which offer fertile soil for cultivation. By the late 1800s, Madison was home to more than 40 tobacco factories, 1 reported to have been the largest grower of tobacco in the world at that time. In the early 1900s, Madison reaped the benefits of a growth in the textiles industry when Gem Dandy, Inc opened for business in town. It remains headquartered there today. Madison gained another employer in the mid-1990s when Remington Arms made Madison home to its headquarters. prgtoken Today Madison boasts two historic districts and several landmarks listed on the National Register of Historic Places. prgtoken I am proud to offer my congratulations to the citizens of Madison, NC on the occasion of their bicentennial.
NOMINATION OBJECTION
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2018-6-4

I intend to object to any unanimous consent request relating to the nomination of William R. Evanina, to be Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, PN1548. prgtoken During the course of the Judiciary Committee's inquiry into how the Justice Department and FBI handled the Clinton and Russia investigations, committee staff have reviewed text messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. In some of the text messages, an individual named ``Evanina'' is mentioned in the context of government officials having briefed then Vice President-Elect on national security related issues and planning to brief him a second time. The name was redacted from text messages initially provided to Congress. ``Evanina'' most likely refers to the nominee who is and was at that time Acting Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center. The committee needs to more fully understand the meaning of the apparent references to Mr. Evanina in the Strzok-Page texts and will need to obtain further context from him and the Justice Department in order to do so before I could consent to proceeding to consider his confirmation. prgtoken The committee has recently experienced increasing difficulty in obtaining relevant documents and briefings from the Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, ODNI. For example. Deputy Attorney General, DAG, Rod Rosenstein personally assured me that the Senate Judiciary Committee would receive equal access to information provided to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, HPSCI, with regard to any concessions in its negotiations regarding pending subpoenas from that committee. Two weeks ago, the ODNI and the DAG provided a briefing in connection with a pending HPSCI, subpoena to which no Senate Judiciary Committee member was invited. Thus far, the committee's attempts to schedule an equivalent briefing have been ignored. prgtoken Additionally, beginning November 29, 2017, I made requests for information from the inspector general of the Intelligence Community and ODNI regarding the diffusion of the IC whistleblower program and the highly unusual and problematic termination of the IC IG's former Executive Director for Whistleblowing and Source Protection. In March, having received none of the information I asked for, I formally and publicly objected to the confirmation of the ODNI general counsel nominee. To date, I still have received nothing. Therefore, I also object to Mr. Evanina's confirmation until and unless the ODNI provides a fulsome response to my letters. Additionally, I understand that Mr. Evanina was responsible for developing policies and procedures to address retaliatory security clearance actions pursuant to a statutory directive, but that it is not clear whether such policies and procedures have been implemented. I would like for Mr. Evanina to explain the status of those efforts. <|
REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN
Roger F. Wicker (Republican, MS) \u2014 2018-6-4

I rise today to pay tribute to the Republic of Azerbaijan, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of its declaration of independence on May 28. prgtoken The United States was one of the first countries to recognize Azerbaijan's independence. The country faced horrific challenges when it was invaded by the Bolsheviks in 1920 and later incorporated into the Soviet Union. With the end of the Cold War and the demise of the USSR, Azerbaijan once again achieved its independence on August 30, 1991. Our country recognized Azerbaijan's independence that same year and established diplomatic relations with the Republic of Azerbaijan on February 19, 1992. prgtoken Azerbaijan is a key security partner of the United States. For example, Azerbaijani troops have served in Afghanistan since 2002 to assist the United States and our partners in NATO. Additionally, the country supports the United States through the Northern Distribution Network, which allows for the transit of nonlethal supplies through Azerbaijan's territory to our forces in Afghanistan and permits the overflight through its airspace of U.S. military personnel heading to Afghanistan. prgtoken Azerbaijan also stands as an example of a secular, Muslim-majority country that has excellent relations with its own Jewish community and has maintained diplomatic relations with our strong ally, Israel, for over 25 years. prgtoken Through the Southern Gas Corridor, Azerbaijan will provide energy to our allies in Europe, thus lessening the continent's reliance on Russia for gas. prgtoken For this and many other reasons, I commend the Republic of Azerbaijan and its people on this significant anniversary.
NORTH COUNTRY NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL ROUTE ADJUSTMENT ACT
Rob Bishop (Republican, UT) \u2014 2018-6-5

such time as I may consume. prgtoken The North Country National Scenic Trail is about 4,000 miles and links scenic, national, historic, and cultural areas across seven States. It goes from basically North Dakota through New York and will eventually end up in Vermont. prgtoken The issue at hand here is a section in Minnesota which is about 93 miles that has not been built because it is a swamp. You can't build it there. prgtoken So what this would do--and it is strange we have to pass legislation to do it--is simply authorize to build a trail and go around the swamp which may add some additional miles to it, maybe around 400. It also authorizes at the other end about, maybe 66 miles of potential road from Vermont so that they can all connect to the Appalachian Trail which will create one of the most significant trails, the longest trail that we have to be able to use in this country. prgtoken I should say the National Park Service has studied this, they have approved it; and nonetheless, it is still a good idea. I urge its adoption, and .