mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
Filibuster (Executive Calendar)
Shelley Moore Capito (Republican, WV) \u2014 2022-1-11

I rise today to deliver I think one of my more important speeches that I will give as a Member of this body, and that is to defend the longstanding rules of the U.S. Senate. prgtoken We are at a critical moment, make no mistake. With the slimmest of majorities, the haven't been able to pass their wildly unpopular agenda, so they are considering using the nuclear option-- just think of the term ``nuclear option'' to show you how draconian it is--to eliminate the Senate's 60-vote threshold for legislation. They are doing it under the guise of protecting voting rights, but make no mistake--this power grab is not about voting rights. Instead, it is about advancing one party's agenda. prgtoken So I would like to take a look back at what , including President , have said on the issue and why they are changing their tune. We can also debunk the argument that, if given the chance, s would change the rules and eliminate the filibuster as the wish to do now. prgtoken Finally and most important to me, I am going to talk about how this shortsighted move would impact West Virginians, those whom I represent here in the Senate. They are the ones who will ultimately be hurt by this reckless and irresponsible change, and it is my responsibility to do what I can to stop it. prgtoken So President is in Atlanta today, taking the bully pulpit to protest a State's law that he does not like as a reason to end the filibuster. He even says this is one of those defining moments. It really is. People are going to be judged as to where they were before and where they are after the vote. prgtoken It is interesting that he would say that because I would like to remind President where he was when he was Senator and what he had to say about eliminating the filibuster on this very floor in 2005. prgtoken He said: It is not only a bad idea; it upsets the constitutional design, and it disservices the country. prgtoken Well, Senator , I couldn't agree more. But he is not the only one who has done a complete 180 when it comes to the filibuster. prgtoken Majority Leader Schumer once said it would be ``doomsday for democracy''--that sounds pretty bad, ``doomsday for democracy''--if the filibuster were to be eliminated, and he was right. More recently, he has called the filibuster the most important distinction between the House and the Senate. Again, I couldn't agree more. prgtoken Then, from my home State of West Virginia, the late Senator Robert Byrd, a longtime , was unequivocal in his defense of preserving Senate rules. prgtoken He wrote in 2010: The Senate has been the last fortress of minority rights and freedom of speech in this Republic for more than two centuries. I pray that Senators will pause and reflect before ignoring that history and that tradition in favor of the political priority of the moment. prgtoken Wha
RECOGNIZING IDAHO OPERATION LIFESAVER
Mike Crapo (Republican, ID) \u2014 2022-1-11

I congratulate Idaho Operation Lifesaver on its 50-year anniversary of working to keep people safe around railroad tracks and railway crossings. Thank you to all those involved with this highway/rail safety effort for advancing rail safety across Idaho and our country. prgtoken Idaho Operation Lifesaver was started in Post Falls, ID, in 1972 and was adopted in other States and nationally. According to Idaho Operation Lifesaver, the average number of highway/rail incidents was 12,000 annually when Idaho Operation Lifesaver was created. Idaho Operation Lifesaver is credited with a 43-percent decrease in incidents in its first year following a 6-week public awareness campaign started through cooperative work between then-Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus, the Idaho State Police, and Union Pacific railroad. prgtoken This effort is currently supported by 78 volunteers across our great State of Idaho who assist with providing safety presentations to school groups, driver education classes, community members, professional drivers, law enforcement officers, and emergency responders. The group's focus on education, engineering, and enforcement is also part of its Officer on a Train Program, employed for the past nearly 30 years to decrease car-train collisions. Through the program, Idaho State Police Troopers and Officers from local police departments work together to stop drivers committing track safety violations to prevent collisions, prevent trespassing on railroad property, and save lives. prgtoken Idaho is filled with problem-solvers and doers. So it is no surprise this railway safety effort got its start in our great State. I congratulate Idaho Operation Lifesaver on this significant milestone. I wish all those involved with Idaho Operation Lifesaver well, as you continue to work to keep people safe from rail accidents across our State and Nation.
PAYING TRIBUTE TO JOHN MADDEN
Rodney Davis (Republican, IL) \u2014 2022-1-11

. Madam , I thank my friend and colleague from California. It was 10 years ago when we all came in as brand-new freshmen. One of the first questions I asked any of my colleagues from the State of California when I got here was: Are you a Raiders fan? prgtoken Today, we are all Raiders fans, but just so everybody knows, he is a 49ers fan. That is okay. prgtoken As my friend says, there is a lot of disagreement in this place. He and I don't agree on a lot of issues that are coming in front of this institution during this week or the upcoming weeks or, frankly, the past few years. But we are here all together to celebrate the life of a man who had an impact on all of us in this great Nation, especially on a young Raiders fan who became that Raiders fan when I lived in the State of Iowa. prgtoken Anyone who knew me as I was growing up knows that there is only one football team that I root for, and that is the Oakland Raiders, then the Los Angeles Raiders, then the Oakland Raiders, and now the Las Vegas Raiders. prgtoken Most people in this country know John Madden as that broadcaster. This is the guy who actually broadcast professional football games on every single television network. What a feat that is. People knew him for being afraid to fly and driving a bus, talking about food, and writing with the little scribbler pen on the screen. What they don't know about John Madden is that his life was football before he became that broadcaster. prgtoken He helped make my life about football because, one day on January 9, 1977, my family, as I was 7 years old, sat down to watch the Super Bowl. It was the first football game I had ever watched in my life. prgtoken Now, many people who know me are not going to be surprised by this. Everybody else in my house was rooting for the Vikings, so I had to be obstinate and say: I guess I am going to root for the Raiders. prgtoken What I saw in that game was something that I still have never forgotten. I didn't know who John Madden was, but I learned about what he meant to that team. All I knew was there was a great team led by a great quarterback, Ken Stabler, whom John Madden allowed to call his own plays. prgtoken Madam , can you imagine that in today's day and age, allowing the quarterback to call their own plays? prgtoken Bill Belichick probably is having a seizure right now thinking about that. There is no way they are going to let people call their own plays. But John Madden believed in his players, and those players believed in him. They went out there, and they did their job that day. prgtoken I was hooked, watching Jack Tatum knock Sammy White's helmet off in an incomplete pass. I knew when I got to play football, I had to play defensive back. That was the coolest thing I had ever seen in my life. Ever since that day, there were Raider shirts, Raider pajamas, and Raider helmets. I actually still have my first one that I used to use in grade school, and it still has No. 30
Voting Rights Act (Executive Session)
Lindsey Graham (Republican, SC) \u2014 2022-1-11

I will speak today on two topics--No. 1, the substance of the bill, which is, I guess, yet to be known, regarding voting rights, which I consider to be a Federal takeover of State elections, and the constant threat of changing the rules of the Senate to do away with the legislative filibuster as we know it. prgtoken I would say to my ic colleagues, this has been going on for quite a while, the constant threat by Senator Schumer to change the rules to pass whatever legislation you-all can come up with. prgtoken All I can say is, things were different when we were in charge. We had the House, the Senate, and the White House. President constantly urged Senator McConnell and all of us on the side to change the rules of the Senate so he could pass his agenda unimpeded; that anything that came out of the House, which was under control, could sail right through the Senate with votes only. prgtoken It was pretty clear to my ic colleagues that was not a good outcome, I thought for the country, but I guess for them. prgtoken We signed a letter on April 7, 2017--61 signatures: 28 s, 32 , and 1 Independent. The letter was sent to Senator McConnell, who was the majority leader, and the minority leader was Senator Schumer at the time, urging both leaders that, no matter what differences we have had regarding Executive nominations and judges, we should preserve the minority's rights under the so-called legislative filibuster. prgtoken Apparently, it made perfect sense to my ic colleagues that the Senate not change to accommodate and his wishes. I was assuming that the statement by my ic colleagues was about the institution, not just about the Presidency and the times in which we lived in 2017. prgtoken Apparently, I was wrong--except for a handful. And to Senators Sinema and Manchin, you have led from the front, not from the rear. You have taken your fair share of criticism as you have opposed changing the Senate rules to accommodate the voting rights bill, and it has been-- the argument goes that this is so fundamental to democracy, voting, that the Senate has to give way in this instance. prgtoken All I can say is that when many of us were in your shoes, we didn't make an exception for a piece of legislation that we thought was critical to the future of the country. And it would be easy to find an exception here and there and everywhere, to the point that the rule bends with the exception. Now, I appreciate your steadfastness in that regard, and, apparently, as you read the news, a few more are becoming publicly unnerved by the thought of changing the legislative filibuster--just a handful. And we are supposed to be in over the weekend, I think, maybe even into Monday, to have the change--rules change--but that may be in flux now because it appears a handful of are showing some dis
Filibuster (Executive Calendar)
Mitt Romney (Republican, UT) \u2014 2022-1-11

I prepared some remarks to give this evening, but I had the occasion to watch President as he spoke in Georgia just a few minutes ago, and he said quite a number of things that simply weren't true. He also accused a number of my good and principled colleagues in the Senate of having sinister, even racist inclinations. He charged that voting against his bill allies us with Bull Connor, George Wallace, and Jefferson Davis--so much for unifying the country and working across the aisle. prgtoken More troubling, however, he said that the goal of some s is to ``turn the will of the voters into a mere suggestion.'' And so President goes down the same tragic road taken by President : casting doubt on the reliability of American elections. prgtoken This is a sad, sad day. I expected more of President , who came into office with a stated goal of bringing the country together. prgtoken Now, our country has defied the odds for a democratic republic. It has survived and thrived for over 200 years. The character of the American people deserves most of the credit for that, but close behind are our vital institutions. Over the last several years, many of us recoiled as foundational American institutions have been repeatedly demeaned: The judiciary was charged with racial bias. The press was called the enemy of the people. Justice and intelligence agencies were belittled. Public health agencies were dismissed. Even our election system was accused of being rigged. prgtoken The U.S. Senate is one of our vital democratic institutions, and the power given to the minority in the Senate and the resulting requirement for political consensus are among the Senate's defining features. Note that in the Federal Government empowerment of the minority is established through only one institution: the Senate. prgtoken The majority decides in the House. The majority decides in the Supreme Court. The President, of course, is a majority of one. Only in the Senate does the minority restrain the power of the majority. That a minority should be afforded such political power is a critical element of this institution. prgtoken For a law to pass in the Senate, it must appeal to Senators in both parties. This virtually assures that the bill did not originate from the extreme wing of either one and, thus, best represents the interests of the broadest swath of Americans. The Senate's minority empowerment has meant that America's policies inevitably tack towards the center. As Senator previously affirmed: ``At its core, the filibuster is not about stopping a nominee or a bill, it is about compromise and moderation.'' prgtoken Consider how different the Senate would be without the filibuster. Whenever one party replaced the other as majority, tax and spending priorities would change, safety net programs would change, national security policy could change, cultural issues would careen from one extreme to
Voting Rights Act (Executive Session)
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2022-1-11

considering the way our ic friends talk about the state of voting rights in America, it is easy to see why some people have expressed concerns because if you took them at face value, you might be very worried about the state of voting rights in our country, but there is more to the story than that, which I will hope to explain here in the next few minutes. prgtoken For example, when it comes to the alarmism about voting rights, look no further than the ic majority whip, Senator Durbin from Illinois, who said there is an ``insidious effort to suppress the rights of voters of color.'' prgtoken Senator Schumer, the majority leader, Senator from New York, has said the right to vote is ``under attack in ways we have not seen in generations.'' prgtoken President himself has said there is a ``21st century Jim Crow assault'' on the right to vote. prgtoken If you were to take these at face value and accept them, obviously, you would be very concerned about the state of voting rights. prgtoken But there is more to the story, as I said. If you just listen to these statements, you would think that the States--the 50 States--had just imposed literacy tests on voting. You would think the disgusting and subjective determinations of ``good moral character'' that existed before the civil rights movement had somehow sprung back to life. You might even wonder if the Supreme Court of the United States has struck down the Voting Rights Act itself. (Mr. KELLY assumed the Chair.) prgtoken Obviously, none of these things are true. There is simply no concerted effort to attempt to prevent voters of color or any eligible voters from casting their ballots. prgtoken The Voting Rights Act--one of the most important pieces of legislation in our Nation's history--is alive and well. I think the Voting Rights Act has done more to change our country for the better than any other piece of legislation that I can think of. prgtoken So, to be frank, the facts simply don't support our ic colleagues' alarming rhetoric about the state of voting in America. This narrative of widespread voter suppression is nothing more than a scare tactic to achieve a political outcome. prgtoken Our colleagues across the aisle have introduced many different versions of their Federal takeover of State elections bill, but the justification seems to always change. First they said it was a matter of election security; then of voter confidence; and then and now, a way to remove obstacles that prevented people from voting. Today, our colleagues on the other side of the aisle claim that this legislation is necessary because the States have passed new laws that restrict voting access. So let's just take a look at what some of those laws entail. prgtoken One of those laws in my State of Texas, where the goal is pretty simple, which is to make voting easier and to make it harder to cheat-- Texas already offers 2 weeks of early voting in p
Filibuster (Executive Calendar)
Todd Young (Republican, IN) \u2014 2022-1-11

in a letter written in 1789, Thomas Jefferson declared that the ``earth belongs to the living, not the dead.'' Relationships between generations, he explained, are but that of a distant set of independent nations. prgtoken , I don't know how many of my ic colleagues still admire Mr. Jefferson, but they are certainly taking his words to heart. There is little concern on one side of this Chamber about the impact of our actions beyond our own time here. There is a belief that the importance of this hour's partisan ambitions outweighs the value of centuries-old institutions. prgtoken Abandoning the 60-vote threshold in order to seize control of America's elections isn't simply shortsighted, it is clueless. It is the exact opposite of what the people who sent us here want. prgtoken Back home in Indiana, I hear from anxious Hoosiers because these are anxious times. I know what is on their minds--rising inflation, the cost of putting food on their table and gas in their tanks. I hear from them about paying to heat their homes. Many are struggling to pay next month's rent. prgtoken They are tired of and still worried about a pandemic that President promised to shut down, and they are angry. Many are angry about a southern border that this President has left wide open. prgtoken In the middle of all this--an affordability crisis, an ongoing pandemic, a broken border--changing the Senate rules to nationalize Indiana's elections, to repeal popular voter ID laws, to use tax dollars to fund political campaigns are not high among Hoosier priorities or the priorities of the American people. prgtoken Do you know what is, though? Congress coming together, finding compromise, actually addressing, in a collective way, our shared national challenges. It is one of the most widely ignored messages of the last election. Every one of my colleagues should take note. If America wanted a radical, extreme, partisan set of changes put forward, they wouldn't have evenly divided the U.S. Senate. Believe it or not, they want us to collaborate, and we have shown them we are capable of doing that. prgtoken Let me remind my colleagues, we formed a united front against China when it comes to competitiveness and trade policy. We helped American workers and small businesses hurt by the pandemic. We gave our troops a pay raise. Now, these and so many other achievements are really important. They are achievements that will benefit Americans now and in the years to come. We need to do more working together. prgtoken Now, look, I have been around here long enough. I understand that my ic colleagues are frustrated. I say to my colleagues, you have had less success with your reckless multitrillion-dollar social spending bill than you would like. I understand that. Your proposal to federalize and politicize American elections has been a tough sell. I understand that. prgtoken As a result, America's democracy,
Filibuster (Executive Session)
Tommy Tuberville (Republican, AL) \u2014 2022-1-11

last year ended with the best Christmas present that this Congress could have given to the American people--the ' failing to pass President 's reckless tax- and-spending spree. But, sadly, the ' failure doesn't seem to have made them realize the reality they are operating in: a 50-50 Senate, where they have to actually work with both sides of the aisle to deliver bipartisan wins for the American people. prgtoken They have now pivoted from a reckless tax-and-spend spree that would break the piggy banks of Americans to wanting to break the longstanding rules of the U.S. Senate. They have set their sights on changing the very core of this institution by eliminating the legislative filibuster. prgtoken Some Americans may not even know what the filibuster is. The Senate follows many rules and procedures to pass legislation, and the filibuster is an important tool that gives the minority party the ability to voice concerns and help shape any bill the majority party may bring up. prgtoken The filibuster serves as a check against the majority party wishing to act without input from the minority. Basically, with the filibuster, the majority has to work with the minority. That is the bottom line. prgtoken Voting to end debate on a bill is commonly referred to as ``ending a filibuster.'' It simply means that the Senate agrees that there has been enough debate, including amendments, and it is now time to take a vote. And as one of the Senate rules, it requires 60 votes to end debate and move to passing the bill. prgtoken Even if you aren't familiar with complicated Senate procedures, just know that the filibuster is important because it protects the deliberative nature of the Senate. prgtoken It ensures we function as an institution rooted in compromise, common prgtoken ground, and a sense of unity. We represent all Americans, not just a few. prgtoken Looking back on the history, you will see it has been utilized as a standard Senate practice by s, , and Independents alike. prgtoken It is so important that in 2005, Senator Schumer, whom you just heard speak, said: ``The ideologues in the Senate want to turn what the Founding Fathers called `the cooling saucer of Democracy' into the rubber stamp of dictatorship.'' prgtoken Yes, he said that doing away with the filibuster would effectively create a dictatorship. prgtoken More recently, in 2017, Senator Schumer doubled down on the need to keep the filibuster in a letter to Leader McConnell. In his letter, Senator Schumer argued for the protection of ``existing rules, practices and traditions as they pertain to the right of members to engage in extended debate on legislation before the United States Senate.'' prgtoken To sum that up, he said no way should we cancel the filibuster. prgtoken That letter was signed by 33 , many of whom are still serving in this Senate as we speak. One of the signers who served at that time