mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Richard J. Durbin (Democrat, IL) \u2014 2020-6-10

I would like to follow up on the speech just made on the floor by my colleague from South Dakota because his observations about shortages when it comes to healthcare across America affect not just his State, South Dakota, but certainly affect Illinois and many other States as well. prgtoken We are in desperate need of additional doctors and nurses and dentists and medical professionals. We are in need of more technology-- telehealth, of course, is one of those technologies--to make sure we expand the reach of Medicare in the United States. In the midst of this coronavirus pandemic, we understand that now more than ever. That is why I have introduced legislation called the Health Heroes 2020 Act with specific design to dramatically expand the number of healthcare professionals. prgtoken There is one way to reach that goal, I believe, and that is to incentivize medical students and dental students in America to make a commitment to serve in areas of greatest need in this country for at least 2 years and to remain in a reserve, if needed, for medical emergency. What would they receive in return? Forgiveness of the cost of their medical education. prgtoken Do you know that most doctors and dentists who graduate have a minimum of $240,000 in additional student debt over and above the undergraduate experience--$240,000 in debt when they become licensed doctors and dentists? Some have even more. Imagine if those young men and women with all this talent and all this determination want to serve in the areas of greatest need but throw up their hands and say: I have to pay off this loan. I have no choice but to go to a different place. prgtoken If we had the National Health Service Corps expanded to provide loans for the cost of medical education, with the incentive that those new medical professionals would serve in areas of great need, it would certainly help to solve a major problem in America. We feel it in the inner cities, but we feel it as intensely, if not more so, in the rural and prgtoken smalltown areas of the Senator from South Dakota's State and my State of Illinois. Could we work together to do this? Could we work to come up with the money to make sure these medical professionals are there? prgtoken When we talk about doctors and nurses, don't overlook the need for dentists. There are millions of people in my great State of Illinois who do not have ready access to dental care. The Illinois Dental Society once or twice each year has a free dental service weekend, and they--usually on a Saturday--will allow any patient to come in and have dental care given to them for nothing. People wait in a queue, in a line overnight for this opportunity. prgtoken Can you imagine having a problem with your teeth, some pain or discomfort or perhaps a disfigurement, and being unable to afford the care you need? For many of these people, this is their last chance, to wait in line all night to get in for free de
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, RI) \u2014 2020-6-10

this week we consider a measure for permanent funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund and for our national parks. prgtoken I would support this measure joyously if there were a similar program for America's coasts and bays and oceans. As it is, I support this measure but with a heavy and frustrated heart as, once again, the urgent needs of coastal communities go unaddressed. Put bluntly, the Land and Water Conservation Fund massively favors inland and upland States and projects, as indicated by the prevalence of advocates for it here on the floor from landlocked States. It fails to meet the needs of coastal communities. prgtoken Over the past decade, for every dollar the fund sent to inland States, per capita, coastal States just got 40 cents. The imbalance against coasts gets worse if you factor in that there is greater coastal than inland economic activity, and the imbalance against coasts worsens further when you factor in that much of the Land and Water Conservation Fund's spending in coastal States is for upland, inland projects. Coasts and saltwater are not treated fairly. The upland freshwater imbalance is not justified, and we ought to make it right. prgtoken Look at Rhode Island. People from around the Nation and around the globe visit our wonderful beaches and beautiful Narragansett Bay, and they drive a huge amount of our economic activity. In 2018, Rhode Island's Commerce Corporation reckons 25 million people visited our State, supporting $100 million in State and local tax revenue and over 86,000 jobs. In total, travelers to Rhode Island generated $6.8 billion in our economy. Our coast attracts that economic activity. It is a big deal for us. prgtoken Rhode Island isn't alone. Over half of Americans live in a coastal county. Nearly 60 percent of the Nation's gross domestic product derives from coastal counties. According to the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association, ``more than twice as many people visited America's coasts as visit State and national parks combined; consequently 85 percent of all tourism related revenue in the U.S. is generated in coastal States where beaches are the leading attraction. Beach tourism supports 2.5 million jobs, $285 billion in direct revenue and . . . $45 billion in taxes annually.'' prgtoken For all that, the Land and Water Conservation Fund gives 40 cents to coastal States for every dollar that it sends to inland States. That 40 cents is per capita, not adjusted for the great coastal economic activity and greater prgtoken coastal tax revenue, and it doesn't adjust for upland uses in coastal States. Coasts are overlooked. prgtoken I wish it were just the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Look at the inland-to-coastal disparity in the Army Corps' Flood and Coastal Storm Damage Reduction Fund. Over the past 10 years, the Corps has spent out of that fund, in various years, between 19 and 120 times more on inland work than it has spe
TRIBUTE TO DR. BRIAN MONAHAN
Patrick J. Leahy (Democrat, VT) \u2014 2020-6-10

under normal circumstances, thousands of visitors, staff, and members file through the United States Capitol and Senate and House offices every day. As we slowly begin to reopen our economy, businesses, and other public places, all eyes on Capitol Hill turn to the guidance and counsel of Dr. Brian Monahan, the attending physician of the U.S. Congress and Supreme Court. Since 2009, when he joined us in the Capitol, Dr. Monahan has been a trusted voice of reason and an exceptional healthcare provider to me and hundreds of other lawmakers. prgtoken Dr. Monahan is an accomplished physician and rear admiral of the U.S. Navy. He began his career as a public servant after college, when he joined the Navy as a member of the Health Professions Scholarship Program. In 1989, while working as a resident at the National Naval Medical Center, Dr. Monahan discovered a connection between cardiac arrhythmias and the antihistamine, Seldane, a discovery that lead to the removal of the drug from the market. Dr. Monahan has spent years working in the attending physician's office, as a staff physician and later as the assistant attending physician. Dr. Monahan has also served as the chairman of the Department of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of Health Services and has taught at the university as a professor of pathology and medicine focusing on cancer, oncology, and hematology. Dr. Monahan's many achievements, medical expertise, and decades of public service make him an asset to the Capitol and an invaluable colleague. prgtoken Dr. Monahan has played a particularly important role lately, as both the Senate and the House of Representatives work to strike a balance between limiting exposure to a pandemic and continuing to work for the American people. Dr. Monahan has provided remarkable guidance to House and Senate leaders on how to safely conduct business and operate in the Capitol. Moving forward, as we continue to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic's economic and public health consequences, I am grateful to have Dr. Monahan to guide us along the way. prgtoken Dr. Monahan is an accomplished photographer, and I have had the privilege of seeing many of his photographs and being with him in different parts of the world when he has taken some. All make one seeing them wish they were there. The reality but especially the artistry of his photographs are wonderful. Visits to his office are healthy and healing in so many ways. prgtoken Dr. Monahan was recently profiled in The New York Times, and I ask unanimous consent that the article, ``Doctor to Congress and Supreme Court Toils to Sidestep Politics amid Pandemic,'' be printed in the Record.
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Ron Wyden (Democrat, OR) \u2014 2020-6-10

the Senate has taken up and will be voting soon--I hope successfully--on watershed environmental legislation that will provide for municipal, county, State, and national parks and public spaces in America for generations to come. prgtoken This is legislation I have been working on for years--legislation that I pushed hard to advance as chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and legislation for which I am now a cosponsor. prgtoken The bill is going to repair public spaces, making them usable by all, while creating new public spaces that reflect the continuing story that is our great country. prgtoken In my view, when the Senate debates this kind of legislation, the debate also has to include a discussion about a particularly important topic, and that is jobs. prgtoken A major component of this bill is, of course, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which puts funding into natural wonders all over the country, in cities and in rural areas. Today, I want to speak for a moment specifically about those rural areas and rural economies. prgtoken The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has hit so many of our rural communities like a wrecking ball. These are communities that have been struggling going back a long time, and building back up after COVID-19 is going to be enormously challenging. So the Senate ought to be looking at every good idea that can help get these rural economies moving again. prgtoken The Land and Water Conservation Fund isn't just about opening up the country's treasured areas for everyone to enjoy and to help people get outdoors. It has a proven track record of boosting the economy in communities near those lands. The Land and Water Conservation Fund is the ultimate win-win approach because with this program you focus on recreation that involves protecting our natural wonders and jobs. That is a big step forward. So what I wanted to do was just spend a few minutes talking about how we could do even more. prgtoken For some time now, I have been working with my colleagues from the Pacific Northwest--Senator Crapo, Senator Merkley, and Senator Risch-- trying to help secure two economic lifelines for the rural communities of the Northwest and for much of our Nation. I am talking about Secure Rural Schools and Payments in Lieu of Taxes Programs. They are known as SRS and PILT. prgtoken In the West, there are a lot of areas that have long depended on resource extraction and a lot of areas made up of Federal lands. So we went through a lot of boom-and-bust cycles that defined those economies for generations, and nearly always those boom-and-bust cycles proved to be harmful and unsustainable. So some time ago--a number of years ago-- former Senator Larry Craig and I wrote the bill that created the Secure Rural Schools Program. It provided years and years of reliable revenue for rural counties so they could plan budgets and provide services for people who live in
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Benjamin L. Cardin (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2020-6-10

I rise today in strong support of the Justice in Policing Act, introduced yesterday by my colleagues Senator from California and Senator Booker from New Jersey. prgtoken I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this legislation. This legislation is urgently needed after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minnesota, which has sent shock waves through the Nation and the world. I am pleased that the protests have been largely peaceful, and that where the Senate sits in Washington, our local leaders have moved to deescalate tensions. prgtoken I was pleased on Monday to hold a Facebook Live session with Hillary Shelton, the director of the NAACP's Washington bureau and senior vice president for advocacy and policy, as well as Marc Morial, the president and chief executive officer of the National Urban League and the former mayor of New Orleans. We talked about this legislation in some detail. prgtoken I received feedback from several of my constituents at my Facebook Live event on how to improve relations between police and the communities they serve and how to rebuild trust between them. prgtoken Before they first put on a badge, a police officer takes an oath to uphold the law. Most do so with the best intentions and carry out their duties with a willingness to help communities. But in far too many communities around the country, the system in which they work has been failing. People are dying at the hands of police, predominantly people of color. Accountability has been tied to public videos rather than doing the right thing. Incremental reform is no longer an option when it comes to police reform. We have been patient, but we must do better to protect the civil rights, human rights, and lives of men, women, and children of this country. prgtoken Congress must finally pass a comprehensive plan to improve training and community relations, hold police prgtoken accountable, and rebuild trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. To that end, I have been proud to work with my colleagues Senator Booker and Senator in creating a package of reforms and accountability measures that shows where we need to be as a nation with a fair and just system of laws. prgtoken The package focuses on three major pillars: accountability, data collection, and training policies. I was proud that two major pieces included in the Justice in Policing Act are from bills that I have introduced for many Congresses: the End Racial and Religious Profiling Act and the Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act. prgtoken The End Racial and Religious Profiling Act is designed to enforce the constitutional right to equal protection under the law by eliminating racial- and religious-based discriminatory profiling at all levels of law enforcement by changing the policies and procedures. It allows police to focus their work more accurately rather than wasting resources on blanket stereotypes. It r
TAXPAYER FIRST ACT OF 2019--Continued
Sherrod Brown (Democrat, OH) \u2014 2020-6-10

I have been thinking about the last time I was in an airplane. It was mid-March. One of the many great things about my State is I can drive back and forth in the car for 6 hours. The last time I was in an airplane was mid-March. That day in mid- March, South Korea had 90 diagnosed cases of coronavirus. On the other side of the world, in the United States of America, we had 90 cases of coronavirus. prgtoken Since then, fewer than 300 South Koreans have died. Their unemployment rate is under 4 percent. More than 110,000 Americans have been killed by this virus, and our unemployment rate is the worst since the Great Depression. This isn't because South Korea has smarter scientists or because prgtoken South Korea has better doctors or because South Korea has harder workers. It is because of leadership. prgtoken Of course, , you know because you ran against him. You know the President is going to deny responsibility. He is going to point fingers. He is going to blame others. It is what he did as a failed businessman. It is what he did as a TV celebrity. It is what he did as a Presidential candidate running against you, and it is what he has done as President. It is his whole life. He has denied responsibility. He pointed fingers. He has blamed others. My colleagues all know that the buck never stops in this Oval Office. prgtoken But what is disappointing is the whisper-in-the-woods silence and feet-in-concrete inaction on the part of so many of my friends this side of the aisle. We know the President's playbook is to divide, to distract, to play to race, to divide the country and distract from his failed leadership. So far, it has marginally been ``like President, like Senator.'' prgtoken Yesterday, the President started attacking a private citizen whom he is supposed to serve, spreading conspiracy theories about a 75-year-old man peacefully protesting for change. What was my colleagues' reaction? It was the same whisper-in-the-woods silence, the same feet-in-concrete inaction, the hiding behind a column, behind a desk, hiding behind a post, hiding from the media. When the free press tried to ask them about it, when one journalist even printed out a copy of the President's statement, some of my colleagues physically refused to look at it. prgtoken You might be able to escape to your office in this building, but you can't ignore the people in cities and towns and neighborhoods in your State--in all of our States--who are demanding change. You can't ignore the people whom we serve. I implore my colleagues to listen to the calls for change. The President may ignore them. When he is not dividing, he is ignoring what citizens want to do, but we can do better in the Senate. We can step in to fill that leadership void. We can answer those calls for change. We can tackle the problems we face as a country. prgtoken We can start with the proposed solutions my colleagues and I have introduced to he
PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICING REDUCTION ACT
Chuck Grassley (Republican, IA) \u2014 2020-6-11

. The miracles of scientific innovation have cleared illnesses that a generation ago delivered a death sentence to many Americans. Dr. Jonas Salk's polio vaccine in 1953 eradicated the fatal effects of the virus that killed thousands of children in the first half of the 20th century. prgtoken I have every confidence that our scientific community will unlock a vaccine to stop the coronavirus pandemic. Testing, developing, and reviewing vaccines take time, but all of that is well underway. prgtoken However, there is no time to lose for Congress to pass my bipartisan Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act. We have the responsibility to ensure that pharmaceutical treatments, therapies, and vaccines are affordable for all Americans facing this pandemic or any of the future ones. prgtoken .
TRIBUTE TO LEE AXDAHL
Mike Rounds (Republican, SD) \u2014 2020-6-11

today I recognize Lee Axdahl for his years of leadership to the State of South Dakota and our Nation as a strong advocate for highway safety. prgtoken Lee has always been a leader. Before becoming involved in highway safety, he had a successful career in radio broadcasting where he won numerous broadcast journalism awards, owned several radio stations, and served as president of the South Dakota Broadcasters Association. prgtoken Lee got his start in highway safety in 2007 when he began working at the South Dakota Office of Accident Records as the statistical program manager. In 2010, when I was working as Governor of South Dakota, I appointed Lee to serve as director of the South Dakota Highway Safety Office. He was subsequently reappointed by Governors Dennis Daugaard and Kristi Noem. prgtoken Under Lee's leadership, South Dakota has experienced record-low traffic fatality levels, including a 22-percent decline in 2019. Under his leadership, the State of South Dakota has secured a record five highway safety programming commendations in its most recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Management Review. prgtoken Over the years, Lee has worked to implement the State's award-winning ``Grim Reaper'' public awareness campaign and advocated for expansion of South Dakota's innovative 24/7 sobriety program to reduce impaired driving. He also modernized South Dakota's crash reporting abilities by adopting an electronic system, which has improved data submission periods from more than 4 months to less than 7 days. prgtoken Lee's impact on highway safety has extended beyond South Dakota. He has served on the board of directors and executive committee of the Governors Highway Safety Association--GHSA--most recently having served as its treasurer. In this role, he has mentored new highway safety directors from other States by offering insight into the successes of South Dakota. Additionally, he has served as the Federal Reauthorization Subcommittee chair for the GHSA, where he improved the Nation's transportation policy in the FAST Act. prgtoken I commend Lee Axdahl for his service to South Dakota and our Nation. I wish him the best in his future endeavors.
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTION
Ted Cruz (Republican, TX) \u2014 2020-6-11

I rise at a time of crisis. For several months now, our Nation been dealing with two simultaneous crises--a global health pandemic that has claimed the lives of over 115,000 Americans and over 400,000 people across the globe--and an economic crisis that has cost over 40 million Americans their jobs. We are also now dealing with a crisis of racial division and anger over the killing of George Floyd on Memorial Day. prgtoken As our Nation reels from the difficulties of the past few months, it's time to focus on what we can do to recover. One challenge that we've faced this year is the closures of schools all across the Country. Suddenly, because of the coronavirus pandemic, over 76 million American students of all ages were faced with finishing the school year at home--including over five million students in my home State of Texas--away from many of the resources that school provides. prgtoken To say that has been a staggering shift for many students and families is an understatement. That is why today, I'm introducing a bill to temporarily expand 529 accounts so that parents of children who are now learning from home as a result of the coronavirus pandemic can cover educational expenses such as tuition, books and other instructional materials, online educational materials, tutoring, standardized test fees, and educational therapies for students with disabilities. prgtoken This bill, the Helping Parents Educate Children During the Coronavirus Pandemic Act, is a version of a bill I introduced last year, the Student Empowerment Act, which would allow 100 percent of American students to use 529 accounts to help pay for K-12 education. The Helping Parents Educate Children During the Coronavirus Pandemic Act has the benefits of the Student Empowerment Act, but is tailored to navigate the educational challenges the coronavirus pandemic poses to students nationwide. prgtoken These bills would extend 529 accounts to cover educational expenses of all sorts, allowing public school families (who do not pay tuition) to participate. Around 90 percent of America's students attend public school, so this change would help many Americans afford all the associated costs of an education. prgtoken These bills would also make 529 accounts more accessible to low- income and middle-income families, public school families, families who send their children to religious schools, and homeschool families who need help paying for their child's K-12 education. prgtoken We've come a long way in making a quality education attainable for American students, but we have more to do. That is why I'm working to help parents, guardians, and students across the country access the tools they need to continue school at home as long as we have a public health emergency because of the coronavirus pandemic. prgtoken In closing, I want to thank the educators and parents who over the past three months have made education a priority for millions