mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
HONORING CHIEF DAVID DONZELLA
Theodore E. Deutch (Democrat, FL) \u2014 2017-10-31

I rise today to honor David Donzella on the occasion of his retirement as Fire Chief for the city of Lighthouse Point, Florida. prgtoken Chief Donzella was born in Tarrytown, NY as the grandson of Italian immigrants. He began his fire service career after graduating in 1976 from McArthur High School in Hollywood, Florida David was hired as a Firefighter Paramedic with the City of Pembroke Pines Fire Department and ascended through the Department to achieve the rank of Battalion Chief, later being promoted to Division Chief of Rescue Operations. prgtoken After Hurricane Andrew, David was instrumental in promoting changes to the fire service in the City of Pembroke Pines. One highlight of his career was securing the coveted ISO Class 1 rating for the Department, making it the first Department in Broward County and the 44th in the nation at the time to obtain that rating. prgtoken David retired from the Pembroke Pines Fire Department in 2004, but chose to join the Lighthouse Point Fire Rescue Department in 2006, where he has served as Chief since 2007. prgtoken Chief Donzella has also served as President of the Fire Chiefs Association of Broward County and Chair of the ``First There, First Care EMS Conference'' which over the years has grown to be the largest EMS conference in the State of Florida. He has secured numerous grants for both fire and EMS personnel to better serve their communities. prgtoken His community service also includes involvement with the Davie Kiwanis Club, Leadership Broward, and the Pompano Beach Exchange Club Most recently, David received the Shining Star Award from the Pompano Beach Chamber of Commerce in honor of his community involvement throughout the years. prgtoken I join Broward County in offering my sincere thanks and appreciation to Chief Donzella for his years of service and contributions to the South Florida community.
AUTHORIZING PURCHASE OF SMALL PARCEL OF NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE PROPERTY IN RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA
Marcia L. Fudge (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2017-10-31

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , I rise in support of H.R. 3567. prgtoken H.R. 3567 will allow California's Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation District to purchase at appraised value the parcel of property on which it is currently located, which is the former U.S. Salinity Laboratory. prgtoken The property is currently administered by the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service and is being comanaged under a cooperative agreement. The cooperative agreement dates back to 1996. Since that time, the Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation District has invested $2.8 million into the property with the understanding that NRCS would eventually transfer ownership. prgtoken The Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation District provides natural resource conservation through education, collaboration, and technical assistance in southern California. prgtoken , I support this legislation and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this measure. prgtoken .
CANDICE JACKSON: TESTIMONY BEFORE THE BIPARTISIAN TASK FORCE TO END SEXUAL VIOLENCE
Ann M. Kuster (Democrat, NH) \u2014 2017-10-31

I include in the Record the following: Thank you Co-Chairs Joyce, Kuster, Meehan, Speier and members of the Task Force for the opportunity to join you today. I'd like to thank this Task Force for your dedication to ending sexual violence in all aspects of our society. For the last six months, I've had the honor to serve as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education. We at the Department are dedicated to the mission of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation through vigorous enforcement of civil rights. Like too many of us, I bring with me to this work personal experiences surviving sexual violence. Being raped at age twenty jeopardized the trajectory of my life and nearly prevented me from graduating law school. It took years to try and shake the remnants of shame, humiliation, and pain that sexual assault inflicted. In my work at OCR, I've been deeply moved by talking and working with students and their advocates, hearing story after story of how their educations have been derailed and their lives imperiled by sexual violence. All students in our nation's schools have the right to feel safe and secure at school. All students should know that their school fosters an environment that decreases the risk that any student will suffer sexual harassment or assault. All students have a right to expect their school to respond promptly and fairly to incidents of sexual violence. At OCR we are charged by Congress, among other things, with the critical responsibility for enforcing Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination by any school receiving federal funds. It's our duty to enforce legal requirements concerning how a school must respond to incidents of sexual violence. OCR investigates and resolves complaints over how schools respond to sexual violence, resulting in changes to schools' policies and procedures to better ensure that schools provide the ``prompt and equitable'' response to sexual harassment and violence that federal regulations require. Our role as an enforcement agency is crucial. We can and will continue to fulfill that role. OCR currently has 353 sexual violence cases open with colleges and universities, and 149 cases open with K through 12 school districts. Twenty-five percent of the higher education sexual violence complaints, and twenty-eight percent of the K through 12 cases resulted from complaints filed during the current Administration. We believe this continued influx of complaints reflects an improving culture where survivors feel supported coming forward both to their schools and to OCR. At the same time
RECOGNIZING THE 275TH ANNIVERSARY OF FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA
Gerald E. Connolly (Democrat, VA) \u2014 2017-10-31

I rise today to recognize a momentous anniversary. This year marks the 275th anniversary of Fairfax County, which I am proud to represent in this Chamber and which I represented prior to my election to this body for 14 years on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, including five years as Chairman. In 1737, Lord Thomas Fairfax of Cameron took possession of a piece of land that included all of what is now Loudoun, Arlington and Fairfax Counties in addition to the cities of Falls Church, Fairfax and Alexandria. At the time, all of this land was part of Prince William County. Installing his cousin William as the managing agent for that land, Lord Fairfax departed back to England to cement his claim. In 1742, William arranged for that piece of land to be officially designated as Fairfax County. This new county was home to many Americans who would have an impact on our country, most notably future President George Washington. In addition, Fairfax was home to prgtoken the man who many credit with the creation of the Bill of Rights, George Mason. Working with a member of Virginia's congressional district (and future President himself) James Madison, Mason argued for the creation of amendments to the newly created U.S. Constitution to protect individual freedoms. Indeed, Mason was one of only three delegates to the Constitutional Convention to refuse to sign the new document because of his concerns that the federal government would be abusive of its authority absent a document like the Bill of Rights. Fairfax County also played a role in another pivotal time on our Nation's history, the Civil War. The courthouse in Fairfax City served as a headquarters for the U.S. Army and the remains of several forts can still be found throughout the county today. The founder of the Red Cross, Clara Barton, treated wounded soldiers at St. Mary's Church in Fairfax Station, an experience that would eventually lead her to found that organization. While the county was largely spared from major battles (with the exception of the Battle of Ox Hill in 1862), raids and skirmishes between Union and Confederate forces were frequent and portions of the county changed hands several times over the course of the war the history of Fairfax County is intimately intertwined with the history of the United States. Although the founders of this county could not have known the future that awaited their holdings, I suspect the evolution from a rural farming community to today's suburban community of over 1 million would please them greatly. Fairfax County has consistently been rated among the best places in the country in which to live, work, raise a family and start a business. Indeed, it stands as an example of a community that consistently sees beyond the years. I was proud to serve on the Board of Supervisors and have been proud to represent it in this body. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Fairfax County
Gun Violence (Executive Session)
Elizabeth Warren (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2017-10-31

just last week, the -controlled Congress rammed through a budget with the sole purpose of allowing s to enact a tax plan that would take money from working Americans and put it into the pockets of giant corporations and wealthy individuals. The following week they killed an important rule that would have made it easier for Americans to hold big banks and corporations accountable when they lie, cheat, and steal from working families. prgtoken There have been countless stories of the administration in disarray--juicy rumors of distrust and division between and among congressional s and the White House, reports of s' inability to advance key parts of their agenda, but that is only half the story. The other terrifying half is this. Since day one of this administration, President and congressional s have been working hard to make government work better and better for the rich and the powerful. While they have fumbled on their legislative agenda, they have been quietly working to help powerful interests capture our courts. prgtoken That shouldn't come as a surprise. For decades, those powerful interests have poured eye-popping amounts of cash into electing politicians who will promote their interests in Washington. They have hand-picked politicians who will enact laws that will make it easier for corporations to abuse their workers or cheat their customers or make an extra buck and make it harder for agencies to hold them accountable for wrongdoing. They have executed a well-funded campaign to rig the rules of the game so the powerful always come out on top and the people come out on the bottom, and they know the courts are the place where they can shape the law for decades to come. prgtoken Most Americans already know that while we have one set of laws on the books, we really have two different judicial systems. One justice system is for the rich and the powerful. In that system, government officials fret about being too tough on white-collar crime so wealthy individuals or giant corporations that break the law walk away with a small fine and a pinkie promise not to do it again, and when those executives break that promise, they get 2nd, 3rd, and 23rd chances. Every time they get caught, the cycle repeats. The corporation pays the fine, says some magic words, and everyone goes right back to breaking the law. prgtoken The second justice system is for everyone else. In that system, tough on crime is the name of the game. People are locked up long before they go to trial because they don't have the money for bail. Individuals who commit minor, nonviolent offenses are slapped with long prison sentences, and even after they serve those sentences and are released, they are branded with a scarlet letter that creates barriers to employment, to housing, and to opportunity. That second justice system even traps families, children, and elderly p
Building and Sustaining a Larger Navy (Executive Calendar)
Jeff Merkley (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2017-10-31

there are few things we do here in the Senate that matter more or have longer lasting impacts on our Nation than confirming individuals to lifetime appointments in district courts, circuit courts, and the Supreme Court. prgtoken It is the Senate's duty, as Alexander Hamilton laid out in the Federalist Papers, to ``prevent the appointment of unfit characters.'' Hamilton thought that this power would be used rarely because a President would seek to make sure that he or she sent qualified individuals to the Senate for confirmation, but we are seeing something quite different today. We are seeing the President engaged in a zeal to pack the court with extreme rightwing ideologues and to ram them through this confirmation process without due review. prgtoken Just yesterday, the American Bar Association sent a letter to the Judiciary Committee saying that Leonard Grasz, President 's nominee to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, is not qualified to serve as a Federal judge. Yet his confirmation hearing is scheduled for this week. prgtoken Putting extreme and unqualified people on the court is a disservice to America's judiciary. It will impact the protection of fundamental American rights for generations to come. It is critical for us, therefore, to have a conversation about what is going on at this moment. prgtoken Just this week, we have four nominees for the court of appeals coming to the floor. Amy Barrett was confirmed just hours ago. There is another vote scheduled for tomorrow. These individuals, as I will go through in a moment, don't come here with the types of qualifications that really should allow them to be considered for lifetime appointments. prgtoken Time and time again, we have heard from our leadership that are engaged in a massive, ``often-mindless partisan obstruction,'' in the words of the majority leader. From where comes this evaluation? Well, he wants to move judiciary nominees faster, without due consideration. And certainly he does know something about obstructing judicial nominations since he spent the entire 8 years of the administration leading the effort to obstruct consideration of nominees here in this Chamber. prgtoken Eighty percent of President 's nominees waited 181 days or longer. That is certainly far more than under President , President Clinton, the first President , or President Reagan-- obstruction taken to the maximum, 6 months or longer to work their way through the confirmation process. prgtoken Throughout President 's entire 8 years in office, just 55 circuit court judges were confirmed. That is the lowest number for any President. And by this point in the previous administration--in the administration--just one nominee had been confirmed for a spot on the circuit court. But here we are taking a look at how in this time period just one had been confirmed for , but we will have, at the end
HONORING JORGE L. BARON
Adam Smith (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2017-10-31

I rise to honor Jorge L. Baron for his exemplary work on behalf of immigrant communities and to congratulate him on receiving El Centro de la Raza's 7th Annual Roberto Felipe Maestas Legacy Award. prgtoken Jorge has served as the Executive Director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) since 2008. NWIRP provides free or low-cost legal representation to over 10,000 immigrant and refugee families in the Pacific Northwest. With Jorge at the helm, the organization has steadily increased its size and budget and is now the largest of its kind in the region. Serving thousands of immigrants each year, Jorge and his colleagues at NWIRP believe that having access to an attorney is a fundamental human right. They strive to represent as many immigrant families as possible. prgtoken Jorge immigrated from Bogota, Columbia when he was just thirteen years old. After graduating from Duke University, he worked in the film industry for several years until finding his passion for human rights law. He then attended Yale Law School. From his unique perspective on the immigration system, he not only understands the law, but also understands the hopes, fears, and needs that a new generation of immigrants face today. prgtoken Jorge's many accomplishments include helping to secure the return of two individuals who were turned away from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport due to President 's travel ban, and defending the rights of detained immigrants at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma. prgtoken The Roberto Felipe Maestas Legacy Award honors the legacy of Roberto Maestas by recognizing those who are dedicated to ``building the beloved community'' and eliminating poverty, racism, and social inequity. Jorge's work exemplifies these standards. prgtoken , it is with great pleasure that I recognize Jorge Baron for his vital advocacy efforts on behalf of the immigrant community. I have no doubt Jorge will continue to advance human rights in the Pacific Northwest for many years to come.
HONORING THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF GARY S. CHAHIL
Jim Costa (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2017-10-31

I rise today to recognize the dedicated service and achievements of Mr. Gary Singh Chahil; outgoing District Director for my Fresno and Merced District offices. In the nearly two years since Gary has assumed this role, he has served as an advocate for the people of the 16th Congressional District. My staff and I will greatly miss his presence, generosity and sense of humor. prgtoken Gurjinder ``Gary'' Singh Chahil was born in the great state of Michigan, son of Jaswant Singh Chahil and Bhagwant Kaur Chahil. He is a proud Detroit native. prgtoken Gary attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, completing his Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, a Masters of Business Administration and a PhD in Business Administration. He is a fiercely proud Wolverine and frequently enjoys watching Michigan football on Saturday afternoons. prgtoken Gary married the love of his life Kamaldeep ``Kim'' Kaur Deol, daughter of Sarbjit Singh Deol and Surinderpal Kaur Deol in 2004. They are blessed with two boys Kanvar ``Kamran'' and Bashan. prgtoken Gary started his career with Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan. He spent five years at Ford before job opportunities brought him and his family west to California. He initially settled in San Jose, before moving to the San Joaquin Valley. prgtoken I first met Gary in 2012 at an event I hosted for the Indian community. Throughout the next few years, I would frequently seek Gary's council on matters relating to the Indian, and specifically Sikh American, communities. An interest in politics and desire to serve the Valley led Gary to accept the District Director position in my office in February 2016. prgtoken Throughout his tenure as District Director, Gary has cultivated relationships in Fresno, Madera and Merced counties and worked hard to serve the people of the district. Gary has worked on a number of high profile policy issues, including immigration, international relations, water and agriculture. One project he is particularly proud of is the creation of the exchange partnership between California State University, Fresno and the Punjab Agriculture University in India. prgtoken , I would also like to note that Gary is the first Sikh District Director in the United States Congress, an achievement that speaks to the great diversity we have in the San Joaquin Valley. prgtoken , it is with great pleasure that I congratulate Mr. Gary Singh Chahil on his successful tenure as District Director for the 16th Congressional District. My staff and I are proud to have had the opportunity to work with him over the past two years. I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing his achievements and ask that you join me in wishing Gary, his wife Kim and their two boys continued success and happiness.
Tax Reform (Executive Calendar)
Mazie K. Hirono (Democrat, HI) \u2014 2017-10-31

the American people depend on the Federal judiciary to be fair and unbiased. A judge should decide a case based on the facts at hand and the law, not in service of a particular ideology. prgtoken Over the past 9 months, I have been deeply concerned that President is nominating judges to lifetime appointments on the Federal bench, people who share his ideology rather than judges who apply the law fairly and follow precedent. President has made his ideology very clear during his first months in office: He is anti-immigrant, anti-union, anti-worker, and anti-woman. He prioritizes the interests of corporations over the rights of individuals. I am not often given to hyperbole, but in this case I am so alarmed by 's nominees to the Federal bench that calling them extreme is not extreme. prgtoken Congress has a constitutional obligation, through advice and consent, to fight back against these types of appointments. This is particularly important for circuit court judges, but under leadership, the Senate is shirking its responsibilities. Too often, we are forced to consider too many judges at one hearing. prgtoken The Judiciary Committee has already had nearly as many hearings with two circuit court nominees on the hearing agenda in 9 months as the administration had in 8 years. Sometimes they even add district court and Department of Justice nominees to an already crammed hearing agenda. That is not right. Each circuit court nominee should be considered in a separate hearing. prgtoken There was a time when there was consensus that controversial nominees needed more scrutiny. Apparently, this President is sending us who he deems the best and the greatest nominees, and we are supposed to trust him that they will safeguard our rights and treat all Americans fairly. In short, this I cannot do. prgtoken The Senate Judiciary Committee has an obligation to vigorously vet and question these nominees, and we expect them to be honest, candid, and complete in their replies. We have had a number of very frustrating exchanges so far at these nomination hearings. prgtoken On several occasions, nominees have disavowed direct quotes of their past writings and comments, even when members of the committee repeat them word-for-word and follow up with specifics to the contrary. Sometimes the nominees will acknowledge their past statements, but they think we are naive enough to believe them when they say that, if confirmed, they will ``follow precedent.'' prgtoken Give me a break. As circuit court judges, they will be involved in setting or rewriting precedent if the judge goes in that direction-- which a judge could very well do. Some have even written that they think that is what lower court judges are permitted to do. I am talking about district court judges.