mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
PERSECUTION OF THE BAHA'I
Eliot L. Engel (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-12-19

I rise to condemn Iran's state-sponsored persecution of its Baha'i minority. prgtoken While the global community is rightfully concerned about Iran's ties to international terrorism and its destabilizing activities in the region, we must not forget those who struggle for religious freedom and basic civil liberties in Iran. prgtoken As the largest non-Muslim religious minority community in Iran, the Baha'i people have long been subjected to severe religious persecution by the Iranian regime. Several of its leaders have been arrested, and members have been executed. According to the 2018 International Religious Freedom Report, Iranian authorities have arbitrarily detained over 1,000 Baha'is over the past decade. prgtoken The Baha'i people are routinely and systematically discriminated against on the basis of religion. Since 2014, officials have infringed on the economic pursuits of the Baha'i by closing over 600 of their shops. prgtoken In addition, Baha'i children are regularly denied access to schools and higher education. Even if they are permitted to attend school, they are not free to learn about their religion or participate in religious practice. If they do, they face harassment and potentially expulsion. prgtoken The discrimination and persecution of this community is shameful and inexcusable. The social teachings of the Baha'i Faith--including the equality of all humans, regardless of gender, race, or class, and the principle of each individual's responsibility to investigate the truth--are universal values that should be guaranteed. These are human rights we must protect. prgtoken The United States and the international community must not ignore this egregious abuse and blatant discrimination against the Iranian Baha'i community. We must stand up to the Iranian regime and hold it accountable for its actions. prgtoken By passing H. Res. 274, we shine a light on the persecution of the Baha'i, and hopefully move us one step closer to true religious freedom in Iran.
BUILDING OUR LARGEST DEMENTIA INFRASTRUCTURE FOR ALZHEIMER'S ACT
Paul Tonko (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-12-19

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , I rise in strong support of the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Act, legislation that I have introduced with my good friend and fellow Energy and Commerce Committee member, Congressman Brett Guthrie. prgtoken I thank both Chairman Walden and incoming Chair Pallone for their support of this particular legislation, and I greatly appreciate the partnership with Congressman Guthrie and his staff for helping to get this important legislation over the finish line today. prgtoken Alzheimer's is a brutal, devastating disease. Anyone whose life has been touched by Alzheimer's or related dementias knows the heart- wrenching toll that these diseases can and most often do take on an individual, on a family, and on a community. prgtoken Since first coming to Congress, I have been laser-focused on how we can reduce the devastating burden that Alzheimer's disease has on our families and our Nation. We have had great success, many successes in recent years with legislation such as the National Alzheimer's Project Act and the Alzheimer's Accountability Act helping to coordinate our medical research agenda and strengthen our case for the unprecedented investments that Congress has appropriated to effectively treat and find a cure for Alzheimer's. prgtoken With the HOPE for Alzheimer's Act, we were able to get CMS to provide coverage for comprehensive care planning services to Medicare beneficiaries and their caregivers following a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. These care planning visits are a critical tool for families struggling for answers and help to lessen the burden of this disease. prgtoken Now we are taking another huge step forward with the passage of the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Act, legislation that will invest in public health-oriented strategies for tackling Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. prgtoken We know that in 2018, Alzheimer's and related dementias will cost our country $277 billion. By smartly investing in a public health infrastructure for this disease, we can reduce this cost burden on the local, State, and Federal Government, and improve care for those who have received an Alzheimer's diagnosis. prgtoken The BOLD Act will enhance our public health infrastructure in three main ways: prgtoken First, it will create Alzheimer's disease and related dementias public health centers of excellence. They will be dedicated to promoting effective Alzheimer's disease and caregiving interventions, as well as educating the public on Alzheimer's disease, cognitive decline, and brain health. These centers will implement the CDC's healthy aging public health road map and will take key steps to support health and social services professionals, as well as families and communities. prgtoken Second, the legislation will allow for State and local cooperative agreements with HHS that will be awarded to State health departments, subdivisions of States
HONORING PROFESSOR YUMIKO OGAWA
Donald M. Payne, Jr. (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2018-12-19

I rise today to honor New Jersey City University Professor Yumiko Ogawa. prgtoken Professor Ogawa is a registered play therapist. Along with current and former NJCU students, she is providing play therapy for immigrant children who are in the process of applying for asylum. Their play therapy program is currently being implemented at the Newark office of a nonprofit called Kids in Need of Defense. prgtoken Since 2014, the United States has welcomed more than 240,000 unaccompanied minors who are seeking protection. Many of them have suffered from violence and child abuse. Some of them are escaping persistent trauma, including human trafficking and gang violence. prgtoken Professor Ogawa's play therapy has already helped some of these children cope with their trauma. I am proud of Professor Ogawa's thoughtful leadership and the amazing research supported at New Jersey City University. prgtoken It only takes an idea to change the world. I am proud to represent NJCU in Congress, and I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring this wonderful initiative.
NATIONAL QUANTUM INITIATIVE ACT
Eddie Bernice Johnson (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2018-12-19

such time as I may consume. prgtoken , I rise in support of H.R. 6227, the National Quantum Initiative Act, and I thank Chairman Smith and our colleagues in the Senate, Senators Thune, Nelson, Murkowski, and Cantwell, for their leadership on this bill. prgtoken This is a good, bipartisan bill, and I am happy that we will be voting today to enact this bill into law before the Congress expires. H.R. 6227 is the product of extensive formal and informal engagement with key stakeholders in industry, academia, and the Federal Government. prgtoken The Science, Space, and Technology Committee held a hearing late in 2017 in which we heard from Federal agency, university, and industry representatives about ongoing research and future opportunities in quantum sensing, quantum communication, and quantum computing. We also heard about investments in quantum research across our agencies and the need for a strategic and coordinated approach going forward. In addition to the hearing, committee staff held numerous bipartisan meetings and roundtables to inform the development of this committee. prgtoken Quantum sensors are already beginning to enter the marketplace, with potential applications across all sectors--from environmental sensing, to biomedical imaging, to the military battlefield. The race is on to lead the world on long-range quantum communications, which, in theory, at least, would be unhackable. prgtoken Quantum communications is the area of quantum technology development where the U.S. is most at risk in ceding its leadership. Our R&D investments pale in comparison to the scale of investments being made in China and elsewhere. prgtoken Many believe quantum computing technology has the potential to accelerate progress on some of our most pressing challenges, including how to address climate change and understand complex diseases like cancer. prgtoken It is truly an exciting time for this field and for the broad spectrum of innovators that are planning to take advantage of these breakthrough capabilities. It is also a time of increasing international competition, and the stakes are high. prgtoken Global leadership in quantum computing brings with it a military and intelligence edge, as well as a competitive advantage in what many expect to be a massive industry for decades to come. We must invest more in research. We must also ensure that we are educating and training the next generation of top quantum scientists and engineers. prgtoken Our Nation's progress in advancing research in quantum science and capitalizing on these investments to develop real-world technologies will depend on partnerships among our Federal agencies, universities, and the private sector. The National Quantum Initiative Act will set us on the right path prgtoken H.R. 6227 directs the President to establish a 10-year National Quantum Initiative Program, with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Scien
FUNDING THE GOVERNMENT
Patrick J. Leahy (Democrat, VT) \u2014 2018-12-19

today we will pass a third continuing resolution, CR, to keep the government operating through February 8. I support this CR because a government shutdown is never good for our country--in fact, it is a terrible idea--but this whole process has been a missed opportunity. prgtoken For six of the seven appropriations bills covered under today's CR, we have a clear path forward. These bills--Agriculture, Commerce- Justice-Science, Interior, Financial Services, Transportation-Housing and Urban Development, and the State-Foreign Operations bill--could be done by close of business today if there was the will. They are largely finished, are the product of bipartisan compromise, and provide the funds necessary to address critical needs of the American people and to protect U.S. national security. Unfortunately, the President held them hostage for $5 billion to try to wall off our southern border, a wall he promised American taxpayers that Mexico would pay for. prgtoken What will be lost because of the President's intransigence? prgtoken These six bills provide much-needed funding to help combat our Nation's opioid epidemic and critical investments in infrastructure to help rebuild our Nation's crumbling roads, bridges, and highways. They provide resources to protect the environment and help ensure that the water we drink and the air we breathe is safe and clean for this generation and the next. prgtoken They provide important assistance for our Nation's farmers and rural communities who have been particularly hurt this year by the President's trade policies, and they support key allies and national security programs that are what enable the United States to be a global leader, a role that is being increasingly challenged by China and Russia. prgtoken Unfortunately, this much-needed assistance is put on hold because the President held out for $5 billion for his wall, at the exorbitant cost of $31 million per mile, straight from the American taxpayer's pocket. prgtoken We also should be passing a disaster package to help families and communities devastated by Hurricanes Maria, Florence, and Michael, the Hawaii volcanoes, California wildfires, and Alaska earthquakes. We should remember that no one in this Chamber is immune from disaster. Seven years ago, Tropical Storm Irene devastated my home State of Vermont. Marcelle and I observed the wreckage from that storm in Vermont--large parts of communities washed away, homes and farms demolished, local landmarks and bridges destroyed. s and in the Senate, from across the country, stood by Vermont's side then to help us rebuild because that is who we are as Americans. prgtoken This year, the images of flattened homes, buckled pavement, and raging flames have been matched in horror only by the devastated lives they have left in their wake. Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, California, Hawaii, and Alaska, they all need our
STIGLER ACT AMENDMENTS OF 2018
James P. McGovern (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2018-12-19

I want to thank the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva), my good friend, for yielding time and for his leadership on this and so many other important issues. prgtoken , I have no concerns with the underlying bill before us today, and I thank the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), whom I have the great honor to serve with on the House Rules Committee, for his efforts on this bill. prgtoken However, I am very concerned--and I can't stress that enough, very concerned and disappointed--that this majority has refused to allow an important bipartisan bill affecting a Tribe in my home State of Massachusetts from coming to the floor today. prgtoken , I want to express my appreciation for all the hard work my fellow Massachusetts delegation members Joe Kennedy and Bill Keating have done to advance that bill. prgtoken The Federal Government formally recognized the Mashpee Wampanoag in 2010. In 2015, the previous administration agreed to hold several hundred acres of land in trust. Yet, despite these actions, the status of the Native American Tribe that greeted the Pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock nearly 400 years ago is in question. prgtoken In September, the Department of the Interior unjustly reversed its prior decision to hold the Mashpee land in trust. prgtoken The review of the Department's prior decision came due to a quirk in a 1934 Federal law, but that minor quirk could have major implications for this Tribal community. Schools could be shuttered, healthcare access could be restricted, and its economic sovereignty could be limited. prgtoken H.R. 5244, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act, was introduced by my good friend Bill Keating. This bill would reaffirm the Mashpee land as being held in trust in Massachusetts, effectively overturning this unjust decision by the Department of the Interior. prgtoken , Congress has acted time and again to correct unjust actions taken by our government with respect to Native American Tribes across the country. We must do so again to protect the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, and I urge my colleagues to bring this legislation that will do just that to the House floor for a vote as soon as possible. prgtoken Now, if that doesn't happen in the remaining hours of this Congress, I will look forward to working with the distinguished incoming chair of the Natural Resources Committee to make this bill a reality. This is the right thing to do, and, quite frankly, it is just inexcusable that this House hasn't moved this issue forward. prgtoken , I thank the gentleman for yielding the time.
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--H.R. 299
Tammy Duckworth (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2018-12-19

from Connecticut. prgtoken Right now, tens of thousands of American heroes are suffering and even dying while some folks in government are looking the other way, refusing to heed their calls for help. Our blue water veterans answered the call when their Nation needed them in the thick of the Vietnam war. They left their loved ones, boarded ships, fought the Viet Cong, and risked their lives hour after hour, day after day, in service to the country they love. prgtoken We made a promise to them: Fight for us overseas, and we will fight for you when you get back home. When you step back on U.S. soil, we will bandage the wounds you earned in combat, making sure you never feel you sacrificed in vain. prgtoken I am ashamed to say that promise has been broken. For decades now, our government has refused to give them the healthcare and disability benefits needed to treat diseases linked to Agent Orange exposure despite the fact that they serviced the very aircraft that sprayed and spread the chemical. Despite that they breathed in the air and brushed their teeth with water that was likely laced with the poison, they have not been given the healthcare they need. prgtoken Those same healthcare benefits have been extended to other troops who fought in the same war during the same years, but because these blue water veterans fought the enemy on the water rather than on Vietnam soil itself, our government won't lift a finger to stop their suffering. Tell me that is fair. Tell me that makes a shred of sense. Tell me that our Nation should abandon the heroes who risked their lives for the rest of us, that we should leave them to die from cancer or heart disease or the litany of other diseases we know this chemical causes. prgtoken Look, I have also gone to war, and just as those Americans lost their health, I was wounded for this country. But from the moment I woke up in Walter Reed, I knew that the VA would give me the care I needed to recover. These nearly 90 thousand veterans deserve the same. It is long past time we pass legislation ensuring that these heroes are not left in pain. prgtoken Unfortunately, legislation that would recognize their sacrifice suffered a setback last week, but with the time remaining in this Congress, we still have the chance to make those veterans whole, to do the right thing, the obvious thing, the American thing. prgtoken To every one of my fellow Senators, please, if we actually want to honor their service, we can't just give them an ovation on Veterans Day; we need to take action to help them lead full, healthy lives every other day of the year too. Right now, that means joining me in working to pass the Blue Water Navy Veterans Act before even one more hero dies a preventable death on our watch. It is the right thing to do. prgtoken .
JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF LYNCHING ACT OF 2018
Cory A. Booker (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2018-12-19

. Thank you, . prgtoken I want to thank Senator for her incredible partnership and leadership on this bill, and I want to thank Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina for his leadership and for the consistent examples of character and integrity they both have shown as my partners on this legislation in this body. prgtoken As my colleague has said, it has been a very long time coming. For over a century, Members of Congress have attempted to pass some version of a bill that would recognize lynching for what it is--a biased, motivated act of terror. prgtoken Today, Senator and I have requested that after a century-- after 100 years and over 200 bills introduced in this body--we finally make lynching a Federal crime in the United States of America. prgtoken Thanks to the work of incredible people around this country--truth tellers such as Brian Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative-- today, we have a more comprehensive understanding of just how widespread and purposefully lynching was used as a tool of racial terror and oppression in our history. prgtoken We know that the Equal Justice Initiative was able to document thousands of cases--over 4,000 documented cases of racially motivated lynchings between 1877 and 1950. During that time, lynchings were used to terrorize communities. They weren't only vicious acts of murder against individuals, but in many cases bodies were hung trying to drive fear into communities to make them submit to second-class citizenship and inconsistent justice. prgtoken The use of lynching as a larger part of terrorism is disturbing. It is a dark chapter of our past and part of our history. Its legacy doesn't just live in our history books. Despite activists and organizations that have dedicated themselves to studying and addressing the racial terror in our history, we have failed to correct for many of those past sins. prgtoken We know that the passage of this bill will not undo the damage, the terror, and the violence that have been done and the lives that were brutally taken in our past. We do know that the passage of this bill, even though it cannot reverse the irrevocable harm caused by lynching used as terrorist oppression, is a recognition of that dark past. We know that when wrongs are ignored they fester underneath the skin of the body politic, and we know that justice delayed is justice denied. Today, this is a moment of potential justice in this body, a reckoning to the victims of lynching that for too long have been denied. prgtoken I want to go back to a point in history in this body. The very first bill introduced by Congress to address the terror of lynching was by a man on the other side of the Capitol, Congressman George Henry White, in 1900. The year after it was introduced, in 1901, was the last year he would serve in Congress. That is because Congressman White was the very last Black Congressman of the group who had been elected to Congress dur
CLIMATE CHANGE
Robert Menendez (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2018-12-19

I am going to be shortly joined by my distinguished colleague from Rhode Island, Senator Whitehouse, for an exchange we will have, but in order to preserve the time on the floor, I will start. prgtoken I come to the floor today to once again join the Senator from Rhode Island in calling attention to the crisis that is climate change. I want to thank my friend Senator Whitehouse for his passion, his persistence, and his refusal to let the Senate be silent in the face of one of the greatest threats to ever confront our Nation and the world. prgtoken Some say we can't afford to invest in clean, renewable, American-made energy. I say we cannot afford not to. The fact is, every year that goes by without a comprehensive strategy to reduce the prgtoken carbon pollution responsible for warming our planet is another year in which the Federal Government of the United States fails to protect future generations from the immense environmental, economic, and human costs inflicted by climate change. prgtoken I yearn for the day that this body summons the courage to stand up to the special interests and boldly confront this challenge, for the longer we wait, the more expensive and the less effective we will be. And if you don't believe me, just look at our National Flood Insurance Program, which is already in dire need of comprehensive, forward- thinking reform. prgtoken I have spent the better part of the past 2 years bringing and s together in support of such a plan. Yet the majority has stubbornly refused to debate our legislation, forcing us to pass short-term reauthorizations that preserve a broken status quo. Like the totality of the climate threat, when it comes to flood insurance, every time we kick the can down the road, the can only gets heavier. prgtoken For our coastal and inlet communities, climate change isn't some far- out problem; it is here. We are already feeling the effects and bearing the costs in the form of rising sea levels and increasingly powerful storms. Even if the President of the United States suddenly reversed course and put America on a path to slow our changing climate, we would still need to address how we manage a heightened risk for flooding. From fishing, to tourism, to trade and so much more, the fact is, America's coastal communities are vital to our long-term economic competitiveness, and to give up on them in the face of rising sea levels would be to give up on our country. prgtoken According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, sea level rise will put an estimated 325,000 homes and businesses, worth more than $135 billion, at risk of chronic flooding in the next 30 years. With increased risks for flooding comes a whole host of challenges. Falling property values will further strain local budgets, leading to downgraded government credit ratings. As communities lose out on approximately $1.5 billion in property taxes per year, hard-working taxpayers will