mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
REMEMBERING HARRIS HINES
David Perdue (Republican, GA) \u2014 2018-12-18

in November, Georgia tragically lost a true public servant. prgtoken Former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Hines leaves behind a lasting legacy of service and bipartisan respect. prgtoken Chief Justice Hines was born in 1943 and grew up in Atlanta. He attended Grady High School, lettering in multiple sports. After graduation, he attended Emory University, where he attained both a bachelor's degree and his juris doctorate. prgtoken Justice Hines went on to serve on the bench in Georgia for over four decades. In 1974, then-Governor Jimmy Carter chose him to fill a slot on the State court of Cobb County. He served there for 8 years until becoming a judge on the Superior Court of Cobb County. prgtoken Thirteen years later, in 1995, Governor Zell Miller appointed Justice Hines to an open seat on the Georgia Supreme Court, a capacity in which he served for another 13 years. prgtoken In 2016, Justice Hines was voted by his colleagues to be Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. He was the first resident of Cobb County, GA, to become chief justice. prgtoken Justice Hines retired from the bench earlier this year. He was known as an intellectual powerhouse, with a deep appreciation and understanding of the rule of law. However, Justice Hines was better known as a dedicated husband, father, and grandfather. He is survived by his wife Helen, two adult children, and four grandchildren. prgtoken Bonnie and I join all Georgians in continuing to lift up the Hines family in our prayers during this very difficult time. was a dear personal friend, and I will miss him greatly.
SAVE OUR SEAS ACT OF 2017--Continued
Johnny Isakson (Republican, GA) \u2014 2018-12-18

knowing that we are in morning business, I would like the recording folks to divide my remarks in two separate places at the appropriate time in the Record. prgtoken I am here to do something every Senator does at one time or another in their career, and that is pay tribute to another politician, one back in my home State of Georgia who is retiring at the end of this year after serving two terms as Governor of the State of Georgia. prgtoken I am going to say great things about him because he is a great guy, he is a personal friend, and he has done a wonderful job, but I will tell you what else I am going to do. I am going to do something a little different. prgtoken When we elected Nathan Deal in Georgia, we had no idea at the time that it was a three-for-one. When Nathan, his wife, Sandra, and his chief of staff, Chris Riley, came, the three of them were a new A-Team in Georgia. Do you remember the A-Team on television? When you had a real disaster coming and you needed real help, you would call these guys, and they would come in from nowhere and solve your problem. They were tough. They were smart. Well, Nathan is that way too. He is tough, and he is smart. He is also crafty enough to realize that your wife always knows better, and he gave her a role in education in Georgia, and she has improved it a lot. prgtoken Chris Riley, his chief of staff and his pilot and a good friend, did a tremendous job and was a great liaison to all of government, whether it was other States or Congress, the Senate and the House. prgtoken Nathan has been a great Governor of our State. Georgia is now the No. 1 place in the country to do business. We have been elected I think 6 consecutive years or 6 out of the last 7 years as the best place in America to do business. prgtoken Georgia is thought of--by many people who think about it--as ``Gone With the Wind'' and the Old South, but Georgia is now the 8th largest State in the United States of America, having moved under his administration from 10th to 8th. Our votes in the electoral college are now prized, our role in politics is rising, and our influence in the country is rising--all because of that. prgtoken He has also brought new jobs to Georgia--not just repeat jobs or old jobs where we have added on but new jobs. Nathan was smart enough to realize that--when America started investing in cyber technology and when we found out that Fort Gordon, which is in Augusta, GA, was going to be the Cyber Command of the United States of America, our Governor didn't sit there and say ``Isn't that great?'' and go brag about what we were doing in the Federal Government; he established a cyber center in Augusta, GA, and invested $50 million initially to get it started. prgtoken Today, there are young people who are starting careers in Georgia in cyber technology, which is going to be a proving ground for jobs in the future, all because of Nathan's realization that if you build it,
SAVE OUR SEAS ACT OF 2017--Continued
Marco Rubio (Republican, FL) \u2014 2018-12-18

we are talking about the subject of justice, and I thought it would be appropriate to take a couple of minutes here, before we get ready to vote, to signify a unique injustice that occurred in the State of Florida 70 years ago. prgtoken In July of 1949, a White couple was driving their truck when it broke down on a rural road near Groveland, FL. Two Black men, Walter Irvin and Samuel Shepherd, stopped to help the couple. What would follow would be a horrifying injustice that haunts Florida and truly the Nation to this day. prgtoken Norma Padgett was the White woman in that truck. She was 17 years old. She told police she was abducted and raped by four Black men. Many locals at the time doubted her story. Her estranged husband was known to be a drinker and to become violent with her. Many suspected she made up these accusations to cover up for his abuse. The sheriff's office, nevertheless, detained three men for this alleged crime. prgtoken Walter Irvin and Samuel Shepherd, the two men who stopped to help the couple, were both World War II veterans. They both denied abducting or raping the woman. Nevertheless, they were detained, and they were brutally beaten in the basement of the sheriff's office, in the jail, until they confessed to a crime they did not commit. A few days later, Mr. Shepherd's family home was burned to the ground. prgtoken At the time that truck broke down, a third man, 16-year-old Charles Greenlee--so, really, a boy--was 20 miles away, which was a fact that was testified to by a store watchman. He didn't even know Mr. Irvin or Mr. Shepherd. The woman's own husband testified he was not one of the four men whom he alleged had brutally beaten him and abducted and raped his wife. Yet he too was taken to the basement of that jail and was brutally beaten. prgtoken A fourth man, Earnest Thomas, was never arrested because he was hunted down for over 30 hours by an armed posse of over 1,000 men, including the county sheriff. They found him sleeping under a tree in Madison County, FL, and they shot him to death. prgtoken Greenlee, Irvin, and Shepherd were tried. The judge who presided over that case denied their attorney access to exculpatory evidence. The judge in that case barred testimony about how they had been beaten until they had confessed. Then an all-White jury convicted them. It sentenced Irvin and Shepherd to death and sentenced 16-year-old Greenlee to life in prison. prgtoken A young attorney named Thurgood Marshall took up their case. He appealed it to the Supreme Court of the United States, which found they did not receive a fair trial. In fact, Justice Robert Jackson said the trial was ``one of the best examples of one of the worst menaces to American justice.'' The Supreme Court ordered a retrial. prgtoken A few months later, the same sheriff who was part of that posse picked up Mr. Irvin and Mr. Shepherd from jail in order to transport them from prison to a hearing before
SAVE OUR SEAS ACT OF 2017--Continued
Ted Cruz (Republican, TX) \u2014 2018-12-18

I want to thank the bill's sponsors for working with me on this amendment. I think this bill that the Senate is getting ready to pass is a major bill that moves in the direction of justice. It lowers mandatory minimums for nonviolent drug offenders. prgtoken This amendment excludes a series of specific violent offenses, including carjacking, destruction of aircraft and motor vehicles, and drive-by shootings. Another component of it is an amendment that Senator Lankford has introduced that protects religious liberty. prgtoken The sponsors on both sides, ic and , have agreed to this amendment. I want to thank them for their cooperation in that. prgtoken to Senator Lankford.
TRIBUTE TO MAJOR STEVEN FOWLER
Mike Rounds (Republican, SD) \u2014 2018-12-18

today I recognize Maj. Steven Fowler for all of his hard work on behalf of myself, my staff, and the State of South Dakota while working in my Washington, DC, office. prgtoken Steven entered military service in 2004 and has devoted his career to the U.S. Air Force. Before his time in my office, Steven served as a full-time National Guard officer in the National Guard Bureau. He also received a master's degree in public administration from the JFK School of Government at Harvard University. Steven's experience and expertise have been a true asset to my office. prgtoken I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Steven for his service to our country. I wish Steven, his wife Cara, and their daughters MaKenna, Alexandra, and Abigail all the best in the years to come. As he continues his career of service, he bears the esteem of a grateful State and my utmost gratitude for a job well done.
SAVE OUR SEAS ACT OF 2017--Continued
Rob Portman (Republican, OH) \u2014 2018-12-18

I want to talk today about the criminal justice reform legislation before the Senate. This is legislation that deals with two huge issues in our criminal justice system. One is important to sentencing reform. prgtoken A lot of this is to level the playing field--for instance, between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, what kind of sentencing ought to be used, something that has been talked about for many years. There is, in our view--many of us--an injustice with the levels of sentencing. That is important. prgtoken Second, this legislation deals with an issue that many States are finally figuring out, which is that we need to do something to keep people who are leaving our jails and prisons from coming right back into the criminal justice system again. prgtoken These numbers are just amazing. Ninety-five percent of those who are incarcerated will be released someday. We all know that. When people are released from prison or jail, over a 3-year period about two-thirds of them are rearrested. Some call it a revolving door. There is a fancier word for it. It is called recidivism, and it is a huge issue. prgtoken Think about it. If two-thirds of the people are back in the prison system or the criminal justice system, that means they have committed another crime. That means our communities are less safe. It also means that the taxpayer ends up picking up the tab--both the cost of prosecution again and, also, the cost of incarceration, which can go from $25,000 to $40,000 a year, depending on which system prisoners are in. It is a huge cost. Frankly, this is what has driven the push toward doing something about it in many of our States. State budgets have been overwhelmed with the cost of criminal justice. prgtoken We have committed ourselves here in Congress to deal with that, to try to reduce crimes, bring families back together, and help people be able to live out their purpose in life. God's purpose in life for all of us may be a little different, but it is certainly not to be someone in the revolving door of the criminal justice system. prgtoken One thing we have focused on is this: How do you give people the tools to be able to be more successful when they have left prison and reentered society? I have worked on this for the past 15 years. One thing we came up with was legislation called the Second Chance Act. The Second Chance Act was put into law about 11 years ago. It is an idea that talked about in his speech to a joint session of Congress about 14, 15 years ago. What he said was: Let's give people a second chance. We believe in redemption in this country. Many of us believe in it, as it is from its Biblical roots, but it is something that believed in. prgtoken He also said that it makes no sense because people are costing their communities more and more in crime, costing taxpayers more in prosecution and incarceration. prgtoken Let's do something about it. Let's n
TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2018
John Cornyn (Republican, TX) \u2014 2018-12-18

the Senate has before it a bill called the FIRST STEP Act. The name is significant because it shows that this is not a comprehensive fix for the problems of our criminal justice system but, rather, a first, critical step in the right direction. prgtoken A study by the U.S. Sentencing Commission found that nearly half of the people released from Federal prison in 2005 were arrested again in the next 8 years--half of the people released from Federal prison since 2005 were rearrested within 8 years. prgtoken Considering that 95 percent of State and Federal prisoners at some point will be released, those odds are pretty bleak, but here is the reality: Almost everybody in prison will serve their time and get out of prison. The question for us is, Will they be better prepared to live life on the outside in a productive way or will they simply reengage in a turnstile--or as one gentleman referred to himself in Houston, TX, a few years ago when we were talking about this issue--he called himself a frequent flyer in the criminal justice system. prgtoken Unfortunately, we see that in the Federal system, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, half of the people repeat their mistakes within 8 years. This is bleak but not hopeless because we know there are reforms that will work that help improve the chances that more people will be able to live a lawful life productively outside a prison system and will not reoffend. prgtoken We have seen these changes implemented across the country at the State level, including my home State of Texas, which has yielded incredible results. This might cause some people a little bit of a shock because Texas, of course, has a reputation for being tough on crime. People don't run for public office saying: I am going to be soft on crime in Texas and get elected. But what we have seen is that people have said: I think we can be smarter about crime and produce better results at a lower cost. That message and those things that have followed have been enormously successful. So let me talk about that a little bit. prgtoken In Texas, the initial interest in criminal justice reform was first cost-driven. In other words, people were wondering: How are we going to continue to pay for 17,000 more prison beds that we think we are going to need because of our growing population? The growing prison population was simply outpacing the corrections budget, so State legislators were faced with a very difficult financial choice. But as it turned out, the reforms that we adopted did a lot more than alleviate the budget strain on the criminal justice system. prgtoken Using recidivism reduction programs, including job training and vocational education, we reduced our incarceration rate and our crime rate by double digits at the same time. prgtoken So using the sorts of recidivism reduction programs that are included in the FIRST STEP Act at the State level, we were able to reduce our incarcerat
SAVE OUR SEAS ACT OF 2017--Continued
John Kennedy (Republican, LA) \u2014 2018-12-18

this amendment is very, very simple. This is what it does. It requires the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to do four things: No. 1, notify each victim--or if the victim of a crime is deceased, the victim's next of kin--that the Bureau of Prisons expects to release the inmate who committed the crime to the victim. So step 1, the Bureau of Prisons has to notify the victim that the person who committed the crime is about to be released. prgtoken No. 2, the Bureau of Prisons has to tell the victim--that word is used enough in this bill--the date that the inmate will be released. prgtoken No. 3, the Director of the Bureau of Prisons has to allow the victim or the victim's next of kin to make a statement about the inmate's release. It doesn't give the victim veto power, but the victim is allowed to make a statement. Finally, it requires the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to review that statement. prgtoken Now, this bill spends billions of dollars on our criminal justice system and on criminals--certainly hundreds of millions of dollars--but it doesn't do much for victims. All this bill would do is say that victims have some rights, too, and the victims' rights are very simple. prgtoken Let me give an example. If a rapist is about to be released from prison early, the Bureau of Prisons has to tell the rape victim that we are letting him out early and the date we are letting him out. The victim is entitled to make a statement, and the Bureau of Prisons has to read it. That is the least we can do for victims under this bill.
SAVE OUR SEAS ACT OF 2017--Continued
John Thune (Republican, SD) \u2014 2018-12-18

before I begin, I would like to say a couple of words about Senator Alexander. prgtoken I was very sad, as many of us here were, to hear that he will be leaving the Senate in 2 years--in other words, not running for reelection when he comes up in 2020. prgtoken While I am sure he will enjoy having more time to relax at home in his beloved Tennessee, his gain is our loss. Over the course of his 16- year career in the Senate, he has been a leader and a model for many of us, including me. prgtoken As a former Secretary of Education, he has, unsurprisingly, been a leader on education issues. He has also been a tremendous leader on healthcare. He combines an impressive knowledge of the issues with an ability to bring together Members of both parties to get things done. prgtoken He and I share the unusual distinction of having both been congressional staffers before becoming Members of Congress. We also both served as chairmen of the Senate conference. I have to say that Lamar was definitely a tough act to follow. prgtoken I will miss his presence in the Senate, but I am glad we have 2 more years to work together to improve the lives of the American people. I expect that in his last couple of years, he will get a lot done around here because there isn't anybody in the Senate who is a more effective or a more results-oriented legislator. prgtoken I look forward to the things we can get done together in the course of the next 2 years. But like many in this Chamber, I am going to be very sorry to see Senator Alexander leave. Tribute to Jon Kyl prgtoken , I also want to mention Senator Kyl, who announced he is retiring from the Senate for the second time. prgtoken Senator Kyl initially retired at the end of the 112th Congress after a distinguished Senate career but stepped up to fill in after we lost Senator McCain earlier this year. prgtoken Senator Kyl is rightly renowned in this body for his statesmanship and his deep knowledge, and it has been a pleasure having him back in the Senate, even if that was just for this brief time. Government Funding prgtoken , the 115th Congress is drawing to a close, and it is time to finish up our work. More importantly, of course, we need to fund the government. prgtoken While this year's Senate was the most efficient in two decades in terms of passing appropriations bills, we still have a significant amount of funding left to pass this week. prgtoken A critical part of this funding is border security. As all of us know, protecting our border is protecting our Nation. When we can't control the flow of goods and people across our borders, dangerous individuals and products enter our Nation without our knowledge. prgtoken The fact is, our borders are not sufficiently secure. As we have recently seen with the migrant caravans, they are a target for illegal entry. prgtoken Over the past year,
SAVE OUR SEAS ACT OF 2017--Continued
James Lankford (Republican, OK) \u2014 2018-12-18

there is an error in the way this bill is drafted. There are a lot of entities that want to be able to engage in the process of working against recidivism and make sure we can actually help those individuals who are in our prisons go through the process. Some of those are faith-based groups. The definition that is in this bill would preclude a lot of faith-based groups from being engaged. We want to open this up to everyone. prgtoken The Trinity Lutheran case in the Supreme Court said that the government should be neutral to any entity, whether they are secular or sacred, that the government treats them all the same. This is not about proselytizing; this is about allowing groups that want to engage and serve those in the prison populations and work against recidivism in the future to do that. This technical correction allows that, and I think it is a wise thing to do. prgtoken I thank the sponsors for allowing this to go forward and for this correction to be made. prgtoken I am glad to yield back.
TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2018
James M. Inhofe (Republican, OK) \u2014 2018-12-18

. I think that has been something we have talked about for a long period of time. prgtoken I think we have to recognize the problem we had been in during the years, during the last 5 years, which is a shocker. It kind of gives people an idea of how we got into this mess to start with. If you take and use the years 2010 to 2015--that would have been the last 5 years of the administration--and use constant 2018 dollars, in 2010, the budget would have been $794 billion. In 2015, it would have been $586 billion dollars. That is a reduction of $210 billion over a 5-year period. Nowhere else in government did we have any kind of a reduction in any program, but that is where it really got into trouble. I believe we will have to face this and recognize what the problem really is and tell everyone what the problem is. prgtoken Now, I say to my friend from Arizona that he has been active in nuclear deterrence, and we have not been so much. I can remember--and he can remember--back in the sixties when this was recognized as a problem. I think the last time we actually did any nuclear modernization was in the eighties. We had the triad system for a long period of time when China didn't have it and when Russia didn't have it, but they have it today, and they have actually done more. prgtoken We have a chart for this that shows what we have not done and what they have been doing. prgtoken So, in the area of a nuclear deterrent or of nuclear modernization, it might be a good idea to see what the folks on this Commission were looking at it in terms of that threat we are facing.