mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
REMEMBERING DIANNE FEINSTEIN
Amy Klobuchar (Democrat, MN) \u2014 2023-9-29

I first saw Dianne--and I see people like the Emerita and so many of her friends and family that knew her long before Senator Padilla--but 1992, the Year of the Woman, the national convention--my first national convention, a young lawyer-- and there she was on the stage with Senator Boxer in that groundbreaking year. prgtoken When I think of Dianne, as I have heard from my colleagues, I think about the dignity she brought to this place; about how she would dig into every single issue, the independent thought, the trailblazing. prgtoken She came into politics as a mayor and in the most tragic of circumstances. She was a city council member. There was an assassination, and there she is thrust on the national stage. As Senator Padilla talked about, she always put California first. prgtoken I remember, at one point when we were debating and speaking out on a national election and someone said something about another candidate having been the mayor of a tough town. I remember Dianne saying: You don't know what a tough town is until you are mayor of San Francisco. prgtoken The way she would dig into the issues was probably my most memorable moment. She invited me to stay overnight at her house after an event; and I got up early in the morning and she called me, summoned me into her room. She was sitting straight up with these big fuzzy slippers on, on a Saturday morning, reading a 200-page bill, the Patent Reform Act, and she started quizzing me--we were both on the Judiciary Committee at the time, the only women on the Judiciary Committee--on the details about the bill. That was Dianne. She did her homework. prgtoken She came into politics at a time when there weren't many women leaders. The way she achieved her goals prgtoken and passed bills and did what she wants was not because she was just-- they were just going to accept her as she was at that moment in time. It was the hard work. It was the relationships. It was the leaderships. prgtoken When I heard about the seersucker suit, I had the same experience. I am brandnew in the Senate. I don't have much resources. And Dianne calls to get my measurements. That actually happened. And she got me one of those suits as well. prgtoken When I talk to young women about them getting involved in politics these days, a lot of them shy away from it. We still aren't where we are supposed to be with the numbers. One of the reasons they give is the attacks; they can't handle the negativity. When I think of Dianne, she just kept her head high. I literally think of her posture. She kept her head high. She walked through every storm. Things would fall on the side, but she had a mission and her mission would be whatever was her responsibility of that day. Whether it was the Patent Reform Act, whether it was getting her groundbreaking report done on torture, whether it was the work she did in leading the historic legislation on the assault weapons ban, she kept her head
CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS AND BORDER SECURITY ENHANCEMENT ACT, 2024
Rosa L. DeLauro (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2023-9-29

I would take a second to tell the gentleman from Ohio that 232,000 people in Ohio will be without low-income energy assistance benefits. prgtoken Further, there will be 5,500 teachers who will be pulled out of classrooms, and the families in both instances will suffer while the gentleman talks about issues that are not truly affecting what is happening in the everyday lives of the people that he represents. prgtoken , I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
RECOGNIZING THE IMPACT OF THE IMPENDING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
Nydia M. Velázquez (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2023-9-29

I rise today to recognize the impact of the impending government shutdown on communities in my district that are experiencing the worst flash flooding since Hurricane Ida, which killed more than 40 people across the state. As we are in the middle of House infighting that is jeopardizing the ability to keep the government open, our federal government's ability to serve the American people is threatened. Essential services from government agencies and employees pay will be affected as many face furlough and uncertainty about retroactive pay. In New York State, the Governor and Mayor have declared a state of emergency, but they cannot look to the federal government at a time when funding is uncertain. prgtoken Right now, in New York City, highways are closed, vehicles are stranded, subway trains have stalled, utility infrastructure is flooded and damaged, and many New Yorkers on the way to work and school have had their daily routines severely impacted. At a time like this we look to the federal government for resources, but Congress has not passed legislation to replenish the FEMA disaster relief fund, which is the primary pot of money the agency uses to respond to storms. s refusing to work with and pass a clean Continuing Resolution are failing to support communities recovering from disasters during hurricane season. The Continuing Resolution s have proposed hurts FEMA's readiness by neglecting the pressing need for additional disaster relief funds to address existing shortfalls and prepare for unforeseen future disasters. Due to climate change, storms have intensified and become more frequent across the country resulting in a record number of billion-dollar disasters to date. The importance of the FEMA disaster relief fund cannot be understated and the ability to deploy resources and funds by keeping the federal government open is even more critical. prgtoken Constituents in my district in Brooklyn and Queens living in single family homes and public housing complexes will be dealing with the impact of intense flash flooding for days after the storm passes. My constituents deserve a functioning government, not a shutdown. As communities vulnerable to flooding continue to bear the brunt of climate change, a government shutdown will leave New Yorkers and state and local government without critical assistance. 's refusal to fund the government will wreak havoc on New York's ability to recover from these floods in the days and months to come.
DON'T SHUT DOWN
Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, TX) \u2014 2023-9-29

I, too, want to acknowledge our great President Jimmy Carter and thank him for his life and service. prgtoken It is becoming that we stand on the floor today to be able to speak in contrast to the generosity of the Carters to where we are today because we are supposed to be saving America. prgtoken Frankly, we now have a challenge where the leadership cannot even find a way to stop the government from shutting down. I think if the American people knew what their plan was, you might ask the question: Is it possible to lead in this way? prgtoken Attacking the National Institutes of Health, that is what they are doing. prgtoken They are cutting education and dollars for disabled children and taking money away from 150,000 teachers who prgtoken I will be engaging with in my hometown by phone. prgtoken Of course, they are not recognizing the needs of energy support for those low-income families and not helping those communities that are suffering every day from natural disasters. We know the West has suffered from fires. We in the southwest have suffered from floods. prgtoken Of course, they are disrespecting the needs of Israel and Ukraine. prgtoken This is not the American way, and now we are gone because the bill they put up could not even get the votes. prgtoken Let's do what is right for the American people. Don't shut down. Stand up for the American people.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Richard Blumenthal (Democrat, CT) \u2014 2023-9-29

I join my colleagues in mourning the passing of a great and good colleague, someone we knew not only as a fellow worker here and a colleague but also as a friend. prgtoken Every one of us had a personal connection to Dianne Feinstein. She had no enemies. She had adversaries, she differed, but she could differ and disagree without being disagreeable, as the saying goes. She established personal connections with all of us over her many years of service. prgtoken I have listened to my colleagues on the floor this morning, and coming through to me is not only a sense of pain in her passing but also joy in knowing her. prgtoken What strikes me is that she leaves a legacy--yes, a legacy--in legislation, in good works in California that impacted people's lives there, but her real legacy is people. Her legacy is the people who regard her as a role model, the people who were inspired to follow her into public service, the people who stood up and spoke out--and often it was truth to power as she did--because she was there. She blazed the trail. She showed how to do it. prgtoken I first became aware of Dianne Feinstein in the early 1990s as a newly elected State attorney general, advocating for an assault weapons ban in the State of Connecticut--the early 1990s, and she was doing it at the Federal level. Connecticut and the Congress did it together. prgtoken Then I defended our Connecticut law in the Connecticut courts with many of the same arguments that we used to challenge Federal law. prgtoken She stood alone in those days as an advocate and a champion of gun violence prevention, and she modeled the curve that has led to the modern movement of gun violence prevention. And it is a movement now because she knew it would require the American people to be as outraged as she was and saddened by the death that she personally witnessed in San Francisco. And she would often recall it in very personal terms. prgtoken For her, all of these causes were personal. Her service and her helping people were personal. And she understood that service and results, accomplishments, required that we be bipartisan, that we work across the aisle, that we work with people who disagreed with us and try to find common ground. That is what she did relentlessly and tirelessly. prgtoken So her service, her grace, her generosity, her sensitivity, her caring will continue in the people that are her legacy, in the people who will and should, always, preserve her memory as a motivation for continued service. prgtoken I am proud to have been her friend as well as her colleague, and I will always treasure the great and good model and mentorship that she provided for so many of us, as we go through these next days of grief and pain but also joy in knowing her. prgtoken .
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2023-9-29

I rise today to speak about the Senate's need to swiftly confirm any U.S. attorney nominees. prgtoken Two days ago, I came to the floor to request unanimous consent for the Senate to take up and confirm four pending U.S. attorney nominations that were being held up by one U.S. Senator, the junior Senator from Ohio, Senator Vance. prgtoken Two days ago, he said: My position is we should have a full Senate vote on each one of these . . . Justice Department nominations. prgtoken He also said: [I]f it's so important to confirm these folks, bring them to the floor for a vote. prgtoken But now that is exactly what he is attempting to prevent today. prgtoken For decades, the Senate confirmed U.S. attorney nominees of both political parties by voice vote or what is called unanimous consent in the Senate after they had been reported by the Judiciary Committee. Before the beginning of the administration, the Senate had not required a rollcall vote on the confirmation of a U.S. attorney since 1975--almost 50 years. In fact, during the administration, Senate allowed every one of 's U.S. attorney nominees--all 85-- to move through the committee and be confirmed by voice vote, unanimous consent. prgtoken Let me tell you, as a in those days, I knew what I was getting with these U.S. attorneys working for Jeff Sessions, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and William Barr. I knew what was going to happen, but I respected the tradition of the Senate. prgtoken Now Senate s have decided to change the rules and are blocking the confirmation of these critical law enforcement officers. prgtoken I have faced this before. s had said they were going to object to U.S. attorneys but fortunately had better thoughts on the subject as time progressed. prgtoken Now, this year, the Senator from Ohio has proudly announced that he will--I will quote him, in fact: ``I will hold all [DOJ] nominations. . . . We will grind [the Justice Department] to a halt.'' prgtoken Grind the Justice Department to a halt. prgtoken U.S. attorneys are too important to be used as political pawns in a national debate. They lead our Nation's effort to prosecute violent criminals. prgtoken Don't tell me that you are for law and order, but you want to stop criminal prosecutors from being appointed to the job. They lead our Nation's effort to protect our communities from drug trafficking. prgtoken I quoted some numbers the other day about drug trafficking and fentanyl deaths in the State of Ohio, the State where one of these U.S. attorneys would be going to work, in the Cleveland area. Ohio runs fourth in the Nation in narcotics deaths, and for the Senate to respond by having one Senator from Ohio stopping the appointment of a criminal prosecutor to go after these cartels or drug gangs is not explainable. prgtoken So I offered Senator Vance the opportunity to allow us to schedule co
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5525, CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS AND BORDER SECURITY ENHANCEMENT ACT, 2024
Teresa Leger Fernandez (Democrat, NM) \u2014 2023-9-29

. Madam , this extreme bill reveals their mean-spirited values more than any words they utter. Those values are to kick 275,000 young, 4-year-old children out of Head Start. prgtoken s hypocritically talk about fentanyl but then defund the law enforcement officers who seize this deadly drug. This bill deprives that brother, sister, daughter, a friend of yours that you might have who is battling mental health or addiction, of the funds they use. prgtoken Don't talk about fentanyl. Don't talk about addiction if you are not going to fund the law enforcement and the health resources we need to truly tackle that. prgtoken Madam , then they slash BAA funding by 30 percent, including slashing the Tribal law enforcement officers who are out there also interdicting and protecting us from criminal activity. prgtoken The CR really reveals who extreme s are--``sin verguenza,'' ``without shame'' about hurting those prgtoken most vulnerable, cutting programs for our world communities by 30 percent. prgtoken I stand for rural America--this bill does not, and it puts down our ranchers and farmers. prgtoken If they don't get their way, what will they do? They will shut the government down. prgtoken Let's remind everybody, every time we have a government shutdown of any note, it is because s did it under their leadership, and they hurt everybody in the process. And why? To protect the rich and the wealthy. prgtoken To protect the rich and the wealthy, the extreme s will cut Social Security. They have said it. We have the words. They will do it. They will slash public school funding horribly--horribly--for those schools that most need it. They will criminalize abortion. Over and over again they have told us what they intend to do in their appropriation bills. They are going to make it hard for women to get access to the healthcare they need and they deserve everywhere. prgtoken I say that this bill is ``sin verguenza,'' ``without shame.''
REMEMBERING DIANNE FEINSTEIN
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2023-9-29

. --the first woman President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate--earlier this morning, we lost a giant in the Senate. prgtoken Senator Dianne Feinstein was one of the most amazing people whoever graced the Senate, whoever graced the country. She had so many amazing, wonderful qualities wrapped up in one incredible human being. She was smart. She was strong. She was brave. She was compassionate. prgtoken But maybe the trait that stood out most of all was her amazing integrity. Her integrity was a diamond. Her integrity shone like a beacon across the Senate and across the country for all to see and, hopefully, emulate. prgtoken Dianne Feinstein would typically say, when you asked her how was she voting on something: Let me study this issue before taking a position. Let me go home and read on it. And when she came back, if she believed the cause or the vote was right and vital to any issue she cared about, she not only voted for it, there was no stopping her in getting it done. prgtoken She would take on any force, any special interest, any opponent with relentless integrity and would wear those opponents down until she succeeded. Again, her integrity just shown through them. And she won and she won and she won and each time made the country a better place. prgtoken I saw this up close when she passed the assault weapons ban, a passion of hers after what happened to her in California. The NRA was a relentless, often mean-spirited and chauvinistic foe. They oozed vitriol against her. But they didn't scare her. They didn't stop her. And they failed against her. Like most of her opponents, they failed against her. Her perseverance, her strength, and most of all her integrity shown through. prgtoken I was privileged to carry the bill in the House after she had passed it in the Senate. She guided me every step of the way, and her strength and her integrity strengthened all of us who were fighting that uphill fight. prgtoken As we went through that bill, it became clear to me, Dianne Feinstein is not like the others. She is in a class of her own. prgtoken Of course, it wasn't just the assault weapons ban she fought her. Her accomplishments also included championing the Violence Against Women Act, protecting oversight authority during the investigation into U.S. torture, fighting for climate justice, fighting for marriage equality, fighting for reproductive justice--the list goes on and on. prgtoken As chair of the Intelligence Committee, Dianne fought for what was right. Even if it was hard and difficult and took months and years to dig in and find out what actually went wrong, she never stopped. prgtoken She took on the CIA and inserted Congress's oversight authority during the investigation into the United States' use of torture. prgtoken Through all of her accomplishments--this one and all the others--she always displayed quintessential grace and strength. None of these ``sons of guns'' against her ever rattled he
REPUBLICANS MUST DO THE RIGHT THING
Deborah K. Ross (Democrat, NC) \u2014 2023-9-29

I rise today to condemn the impending government shutdown and House s' refusal to set politics aside for the good of the American people. prgtoken Rather than working across the aisle with to fund the government like the Senate, my colleagues are threatening a catastrophic shutdown unless their extreme demands are met. prgtoken Make no mistake, a government shutdown is entirely preventable. Extreme s in the House are choosing to put politics over the American people. prgtoken A government shutdown threatens the lives and livelihoods of our servicemembers, small business owners, children, and families who rely on Head Start and WIC, and so much more. prgtoken , with only 1 day left until the government funding runs out, House are willing to work across the aisle to keep government open. prgtoken It is time for s to do the same for the American people.
RECOGNIZING JACK WHITE'S INDUCTION TO THE RHODE ISLAND TELEVISION & RADIO HALL OF FAME
William R. Keating (Democrat, MA) \u2014 2023-9-29

I rise today to celebrate the posthumous induction of Jack White to the Rhode Island Television & Radio Hall of Fame. prgtoken Residents of Rhode Island and Massachusetts came to rely on Jack's reporting in the Newport Daily News, the Providence Journal, WBZ TV in Boston, the Cape Cod Times, and finally during his time as Chief Investigative Reporter at WPRI TV in Providence. prgtoken A native of Pawtucket, Jack was a hard-hitting investigative journalist who never wavered on his principles. During the Watergate scandal, it was Jack's story in the Providence Journal that brought President Nixon's underpayment of federal income tax into national focus and caused the President to respond to a question from Jack's editor with the now infamous five-word phrase: ''I am not a crook.'' That reporting won Jack White a Pulitzer Prize in 1974, cost President Nixon hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes, and spurred the practice of Presidents releasing their income tax returns for public inspection. True to his convictions as a journalist, Jack never divulged his source for the Nixon story and even delayed the story by twelve days to stand with striking reporters at the Providence Journal. prgtoken After leaving Providence for WBZ in Boston, it was a reporting job at the Cape Cod Times that brought the White family to West Barnstable, and Jack's commitment to his family that kept them on Cape Cod as he commuted back and forth to Providence during his decades at WPRI. His work at WPRI was marked by numerous major investigative stories, multiple Emmy Awards, and earned him the honorary title of ``Dean of Rhode Island Journalism.'' prgtoken Sadly, Jack left us suddenly on October 12. 2005, at age 63, leaving behind his wife Beth, daughter Elizabeth, sons John, Patrick, and Timothy, and their families. Jack's son, Tim, followed his father into journalism and can be seen on televisions across Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts each week hosting the same ``Newsmakers'' program that Jack hosted during his time at WPRI. prgtoken , I am proud to join the Rhode Island Television & Radio Hall of Fame in celebrating the journalistic accomplishments of Jack White, and I ask that my colleagues join me in recognizing Jack's posthumous induction into the Rhode Island Television & Radio Hall of Fame and the impact that his reporting has had on Southern New England and our nation.