mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
IN RECOGNITION OF MS. SHARON ``NYOTA'' TUCKER, J.D.
Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (Democrat, GA) \u2014 2019-4-30

. Madam , I rise today to honor a distinguished scholar, dedicated attorney, and true visionary, Ms. Sharon ``Nyota'' Tucker. Nyota was honored for her contributions to academia and her community on Saturday, April 13, 2019, at the University of Georgia School of Law. prgtoken A native of Dublin, Georgia, Sharon ``Nyota'' Tucker was born to the union of Mr. Willis Tucker and Mrs. Cornelia Tucker. During her junior year of high school, she joined six of her fellow classmates from Oconee High School in the integration of the previously all-white Dublin High School. This first-hand experience with desegregation convinced her that becoming a lawyer was the most effective means of combating racism, upholding the constitutional rights outlined in the Declaration of Independence, and forcing a system to correct itself. Nyota went on to earn her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Howard University, before becoming the first African-American woman to receive a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Georgia in 1974. prgtoken Upon becoming a member of the State Bar of Georgia in 1974, she served in a number of legal and academic positions, including staff attorney in the Albany office of the Georgia Legal Services Program; legal intern with the Earl Warren Fellowship Program in the San Francisco office, NAACP Legal Defense Fund; and associate with the Albany, Georgia Law Firm of Mary Young & Associates. During Nyota's impressive tenure at Albany State University (ASU), she served as a faculty member and pre-law advisor, as well as a dual role as ASU's University Counsel (for eight years) and ASU's Chief of Staff (for five years). Her time at ASU allowed her to work with some of the brightest, most creative, and determined students in higher education. prgtoken Nyota has been recognized numerous times for her professional and community work. She has received several Teacher of the Year Awards in addition to the 2015 Trailblazer Award by the UGA Black Law Student Association; the Justice Leah Ward Sears Award for Distinction in the Profession by the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys in 2016; the USG Chancellor's Recognition for Distinguished Service to the University System of Georgia in 2016; and both the 2018 and 2019 Beverly Burton New Board Member of the Year Award for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Georgia and the Southeast Region. Moreover, on April 13, 2019, the University of Georgia School of Law unveiled a portrait of Nyota honoring her impeccable legacy and influential leadership. prgtoken Former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm once said that ``Service is the rent that we pay for the space that we occupy here on this earth.'' Nyota has paid her rent many times over and still continues to give a prodigious amount of love and service back to her community. She has served on the Board of Trustees for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, the Board of Directors for Liberty House, a
CLIMATE ACTION NOW ACT
Harley Rouda (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2019-5-1

. Mr. Chair, I stand today as a cosponsor of this important amendment offered by my colleague and fellow Californian, Representative Torres. prgtoken Our State and many others across the country are showing the world how to take meaningful steps to meet our Paris climate agreement commitments. prgtoken While the current administration continues to do everything in its power to prioritize industry conflicts of interest over the sustainability and future of our planet, I am proud of the forward- thinking work being done in our cities, like the ones in my district, in Orange County, and States like the one I call home, California. These important efforts must not be prohibited. prgtoken Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
Staff Sergeant Christopher A. Slutman (Executive Calendar)
Thomas R. Carper (Democrat, DE) \u2014 2019-5-1

I want to thank my friend and colleague from Ohio for his kindness in yielding to me today. prgtoken I rise this afternoon to pay tribute to an American hero--this man right here--an American hero and patriot who was taken away from us far too soon. prgtoken Earlier last month, I was standing on the flight line at Dover Air Force Base alongside Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester; our colleague in the Senate, Chris Coons; and our Governor, John Carney. We were there to join the members of three families who had come to receive the remains of their loved ones, all marines who had been killed in action on April 8--a couple weeks earlier--when a roadside bomb went off in Afghanistan near Kabul as their convey was passing through. prgtoken Two of the servicemembers killed were Active Duty: Cpl Robert A. Hendriks of Long Island, NY, and SSgt Benjamin S. Hines of York County, PA, which is not too far from my State of Delaware. prgtoken There was a third marine, SSgt Christopher Slutman. Christopher was a reservist, a 15-year member of the New York City Fire Department, and a Delawarean. The 43-year-old U.S. marine was also a loving husband to his wife, Shannon, and the father of three girls: McKenna, age 10; Kenley, age 8; and Weslynn, age 4. prgtoken In life and in death, Staff Sergeant Slutman epitomized the best of this country. He selflessly put his life on the line to protect and serve his country and his community. prgtoken We read in the New Testament these words, and I will paraphrase them: No greater love hath a man than his willingness to lay down his life for a friend. prgtoken These three marines laid down their lives for our country, and they also laid down their lives for a nation we are allied with, the government and the people of Afghanistan. prgtoken Winston Churchill said a lot of memorable things, but one of the most memorable to me, a retired Navy captain, is that a reservist is twice a citizen. A reservist is twice a citizen. prgtoken By that measure, Christopher Slutman was three times a citizen. He wore two uniforms in service to our Nation. One of them was this uniform, the fire department--a 15-year, decorated veteran of the New York City Fire Department--and also that of a staff sergeant of the U.S. Marines, serving in the 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division in the Marine Forces Reserve, which is based in burg, PA. prgtoken Christopher's family calls him Chris. Chris had always dreamed of being a firefighter. He grew up in Maryland. He graduated from Frederick Douglass High School, where he played football, basketball, wrestled, and achieved Eagle Scout status. As a father of two Eagle Scouts, that is quite an achievement. Eventually, he volunteered with fire departments in Maryland and in Washington, DC. Most recently, he spent his time between the Bronx and Wilmington, DE, where his wife and three daughters lived full time. prgtoken As my colleagues know, I live in Dela
CLIMATE ACTION NOW ACT
Ann M. Kuster (Democrat, NH) \u2014 2019-5-1

I thank Ms. Castor for her tireless leadership on this landmark legislation. prgtoken Nearly 2 years ago, the United States ceded global leadership when President announced plans to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, a sweeping accord amongst the overwhelming majority of nation-states to curb carbon pollution and mitigate the damaging effects of climate change. prgtoken The Climate Action Now Act reverses this misguided decision by ensuring that America honors its commitments to the Paris Agreement and prevents any taxpayer dollars from being used to take any action to advance the United States' withdrawal from the agreement. prgtoken I am proud to support this legislation and to offer an amendment that would require the President to produce a report examining how rejoining the Paris Agreement will bolster clean energy job creation in rural communities. prgtoken Contrary to the claims that have been made here today by my colleagues across the aisle, we have seen the positive impacts across my district and across New Hampshire that the deployment of clean energy can have on our communities, both for our economy and our environment. prgtoken Our rural communities are home to some of the hardest working Americans who are committed to securing good-paying jobs to support themselves and their families. Clean energy jobs are good-paying jobs. prgtoken In New Hampshire, a clean energy job pays 50 percent more than the State's median wage. prgtoken Rejoining the Paris climate agreement will spur a new clean energy economy that weans America off fossil fuels from countries that do not share our values, protects our environment by reducing carbon pollution, and creates good paying jobs. prgtoken My amendment is straightforward. If we are going to rejoin the Paris Agreement, we must ensure that rural communities benefit from the subsequent job creation and manufacturing. My amendment would create a framework for how rural America can thrive and combat climate change. prgtoken We know that rural communities face unique economic challenges, and it is imperative that they are not left behind as we move toward the 21st century clean energy economy. prgtoken We also know that rural communities can lead the clean energy revolution, and I am very proud to represent five communities that have made a commitment to use 100 percent renewable energy by 2030: Concord, Keene, Plainfield, Hanover, and Cornish. prgtoken I am proud and pleased to offer this amendment with my colleague, Congressman Chris Pappas, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote ``yes'' on the amendment and the underlying bill.
MUELLER REPORT
Ted Lieu (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2019-5-1

in the last 24 hours, we have discovered that Special Counsel Robert Mueller wrote a letter to Attorney General Bill Barr saying that the Attorney General mischaracterized the Mueller report. That is an extraordinary letter. prgtoken I am now going to read into the House Congressional Record the relevant portions of that letter, which is dated March 27, 2019, from Robert Mueller to Bill Barr. prgtoken He writes: ``The summary letter the Department sent to Congress and released to the public late in the afternoon of March 24 did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this Office's work and conclusions. We communicated that concern to the Department on the morning of March 25. There is now public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation. This threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the Department appointed the Special Counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations.'' prgtoken Bill Barr is supposed to be the attorney for all Americans. He is supposed to be the people's attorney, not 's personal attorney. He does not understand that. He needs to resign.
PAWNS
Tim Ryan (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2019-5-1

the workers of the United States of America are tired of being pawns in this big corporate game. prgtoken President came to my community and said: Don't sell your house. Don't sell your house. We are going to get these house prices back up. prgtoken And, since that time, we lost the second shift at our General Motors plant; and General Motors, on that same day that the workers were walking out, announced they are building a new factory in Mexico. prgtoken President said: Don't sell your house. prgtoken A few months later, General Motors lays off the first shift. They tell the workers 2 days after Thanksgiving. prgtoken And, just a couple of days ago, a trucking company, Falcon Transport, just outside of Youngstown, Ohio, their workers get a text message--600 workers get a text message at 8:00 on a Saturday night: You lost your job. prgtoken We got bailout money for every bank that wants one. Every savings and loan, every corporation gets a tax cut to the tune of $2.3 trillion, and no one gives a damn about the workers. prgtoken If we can bail out the corporations that have done everything wrong, we can start helping the workers who have done everything right.
Nomination of Stephen Moore (Executive Session)
Tina Smith (Democrat, MN) \u2014 2019-5-1

. Thank you, . prgtoken I think it is fair to say that most Americans didn't wake up this morning thinking about the role the Federal Reserve plays in their lives. The people we represent are focused on putting in an honest day's work, taking care of their families, and gradually climbing the economic ladder. The Fed is focused on making sure our economy is giving them every opportunity to do just that--or at least it is supposed to be. prgtoken The Fed's mission is to keep employment high, prices stable, and our financial system in good working order. When it succeeds, we see the full potential of the American economy, the greatest force for prosperity the world has ever known. When it fails, ordinary people can wind up losing their jobs, their homes, and their savings. prgtoken Even though most Americans don't know their names or think about their work, the seven members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, nominated by the President and confirmed by Congress, have an important job to do. prgtoken The Fed is not supposed to be a place for politics. It is not a job for politicians. It is a job for the most accomplished and thoughtful economists and financial experts we have--men and women who truly understand not just what makes an economy work on paper, but what makes our economy truly work for working Americans. prgtoken Through his choice of nominees for this position, a President demonstrates whether he understands the importance of a functioning financial system and respects the American people, who rely on the Fed to keep our economy on solid footing. Through our consideration of those nominees, we here in the Senate do the same--which brings me to the President's latest choice for this position: Stephen Moore. prgtoken Let's be clear about who Mr. Moore is. He is not a professor of economics at a prestigious university. He has won no prizes for his intellectual scholarship. In fact, he has never authored or coauthored a single peer-reviewed article or journal ever. prgtoken While some have suggested it might not be a bad thing to have a range of experience on the Federal Reserve Board, it is unclear what experience Mr. Moore has that would contribute a useful perspective. He has never run a bank or a business of any size. In fact, he has barely any experience in the private sector at all. No, Stephen Moore is a political operative and a pundit. There is nothing wrong with that, per se, but the fact is that President picked him not because of anything he has accomplished in business or in the study of economics but rather because of what Mr. Moore believes--or at least what he goes on TV and says he believes. prgtoken As we try to decide who Mr. Moore is and whether he is, in fact, suitable for a job that has never before been held by someone with his total lack of qualifications, we might start by taking a look at the opinions he has shared over the decades he spent doing little els
CLIMATE ACTION NOW ACT
Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (Democrat, MP) \u2014 2019-5-1

. Mr. Chair, the people of the Northern Mariana Islands, whom I represent, are on the front line of climate change. In the past year, back-to-back typhoons struck our islands. Lives were lost. We suffered hundreds of millions in damage. prgtoken No single weather event can be attributed to climate change. But science tells us that global warming means more frequent and more intense storms of the kind that hit the Marianas. prgtoken And we know the sudden increase in intensity of one of those storms, Super Typhoon Yutu, just before landfall in the Marianas, is characteristic of a new normal caused by higher atmospheric temperatures and warmer ocean waters. We saw the same acceleration of force as Hurricane Michael came ashore in the Gulf last year. prgtoken Today, Congress has an opportunity to act to slow climate change and reduce the disasters being caused. We can vote to return the United States to the company of nations that is working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the Paris Agreement of 2015. I support H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act. prgtoken There are those who argue it is too expensive to lower carbon pollution of our planet's atmosphere. I point to the disaster supplemental appropriation bills this House will take up shortly and previously passed in January. If we are willing to spend billions to repair the impact of climate change on communities around our nation, should we not be willing to spend to prevent that damage in the first place? Would that not be wise? prgtoken I make this plea especially for people in the Marianas and other Pacific islands. We are increasingly battered by storms. As sea levels rise, our islands are disappearing. And the coral reefs that protect our coasts and give us nourishment are dying before our eyes. prgtoken We are the front line of the consequences, yet had little to do with the decades of carbon pollution that are causing this destruction. Nevertheless, we in the islands are willing to transform, just as our nation as a whole must transform to reduce carbon emissions and protect our safety in the decades ahead. prgtoken A yes vote on H.R. 9 is an important first step.
Tribute to Mark Powden (Executive Calendar)
Sherrod Brown (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2019-5-1

I rise today to honor the career of my longtime chief of staff, staff director of the ic staff on the Senate Banking Committee, former staff director for s on the HELP Committee, and my good friend Mark Powden. prgtoken Mark is the model of a public servant and of a Senate staffer. He spent decades serving in these Halls, first for Senator Jeffords, and then, in 2007, he joined my office, becoming my chief of staff less than 2 years later. prgtoken I was a brandnew Senator. I still had a lot to learn. There were few better teachers in this institution and this city than Mark Powden. He helped steer our office in its early days, setting up a well-oiled machine, I would like to think, that would serve Ohioans at home and advocate for them in Washington. Under Mark's leadership, we delivered results for the 12 million people in Ohio. prgtoken When the country wanted to write off the American auto industry, we said no. We weren't going to abandon this industry and millions of American workers--literally hundreds of thousands in Ohio. Mark was passionate about making sure we got the best deal possible for Ohio workers. It wasn't just auto workers. prgtoken Mark took over the job as chief of staff in my office during the depths of the recession around the time President took office, after the economy was tanking with a loss of 800,000 jobs a month at the end of the administration. Ohio had lost 423,000 jobs over a 2-year period--nearly 8 percent of the jobs in the State. Under Mark's leadership, we worked to create the Hardest Hit Fund, which targeted resources to communities in places like Ohio that had been devastated by the financial crisis. Mark and so many others have heard me say that the ZIP Code where my wife Connie and I live in Cleveland, OH--ZIP Code 44105--at that point, in the first half of 2007, there were more foreclosures in that ZIP Code than in any other ZIP Code in the United States of America. prgtoken Mark always made sure that investing in Ohio was a priority. We helped secure $100 million to expand cancer research and treatment at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and James Cancer Hospital. prgtoken Through all of these accomplishments, Mark remained true to his Vermont roots. It is where he grew up. His first major job in Washington was with a in those days, a Senator from Vermont. He tried his hardest always to bring Vermont's bucolic vales to the Nation's Capital, and he maintained the utmost respect for the institution of the Senate. prgtoken He had an incredible wealth of knowledge on the history of this place and on legislative procedure and tradition, and he passed it on to other staffers--from my new chief of staff, when Mark moved over to lead the Senate Banking Committee, to the LCs new to the Senate, hoping to learn. We will miss all that about Mark Powden. prgtoken I will miss Mark's counsel. I will miss his hard wo
FORCED RELIGIOUS CONVERSIONS IN SINDH, PAKISTAN
Brad Sherman (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2019-5-1

. Madam , as Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Sindh and Chairman of the Asia Subcommittee in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I have repeatedly drawn attention to the issue of forced conversions and other human rights abuses in the Sindh province of Pakistan. Today, I reiterate my concerns about the forced conversions of young Sindhi Hindu girls. prgtoken On April 29, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom released its annual report on the world's most egregious violators of religious freedom. The report noted that religious freedom in Pakistan continued to decline in 2018. The Commission also reported that ``Forced conversions of non-Muslims continued despite the passage of the Hindu Marriage Act, which recognizes Hindu family law.'' prgtoken While the numbers are unclear, estimates suggest that each year, several hundred or more girls and young women are abducted, forcibly married, and converted to Islam. There were at least 1,000 cases of forced conversions of Hindu and Christian girls just in Sindh Province in 2018, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. The actual number is estimated to be much larger as most cases go unreported. prgtoken Pakistan's Human Rights Commission also notes that the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act of 2013, intended to address the issue, has not been enforced effectively. The state's response to forced marriages has been mixed, especially because the police are insensitive and indifferent in most cases. When families report their daughters as missing, this is ignored by the police. Therefore, the abducted girls remain with their abductors, where they are often coerced into silence. prgtoken The role of some religious leaders adds to the problem. Mian Mitho, a religious leader and politician, has participated in numerous conversions of young Sindhi girls. He has close connections with the army and the Prime Minister, and this has allowed him to continue his activities. prgtoken I urge Pakistan's government to more effectively address the issue of forced abductions, forced marriages, and forced religious conversions in the Sindh province.