mesut/congress_speeches huggingface dataset:
TRANSITIONAL HOUSING FOR RECOVERY IN VIABLE ENVIRONMENTS DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM ACT
Gwen Moore (Democrat, WI) \u2014 2018-6-14

I have absolutely no doubt at all about the gentleman's commitment and his sincerity to solve the problem of housing challenges for those who are addicted. prgtoken I would just note that my own experience in my community is similar to the gentlewoman from California. We have seen people be on the waiting list for 10 years to get in housing. If we appear to be skeptical about there being enough housing resources, it is only because of that experience where we have seen people on the wait list for 10 years. prgtoken , again, I thank the gentleman for his consideration, and .
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019
Maria Cantwell (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2018-6-14

I come to the floor to honor Washington State's finest, Spokane native and Washington State University Cougar Steve Gleason. I know my Senate colleagues will be here later this afternoon to do the same. My colleagues from Louisiana and Washington have introduced legislation to award Steve the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress's highest honor. I look forward to seeing this legislation pass later today by unanimous consent. prgtoken Many Washingtonians remember Steve as a standout student athlete whose dedication in the classroom earned him repeated academic honors and whose dominance on the football field and baseball diamond set records and dazzled fans. Everybody back home is pulling for Steve. prgtoken Instead of Steve going to the Seahawks, he signed with the New Orleans Saints. He quickly became a fan favorite for his work ethic and the joy he brought to the game. prgtoken In his first game back under the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina, he blocked a punt that was returned for a touchdown. It is a play I know Saints' fans around the country still remember fondly. prgtoken It is not Steve's athletic feats at Washington State University or in the Superdome that make him worth recognition, it is his perseverance, determination, his unbreakable spirit in the face of ALS, and his dogged advocacy for people who have been impacted by this disease. prgtoken That is why Steve is such an inspiration to the people of Spokane, throughout the State of Washington, and across the United States. Through his public advocacy and collaboration with Congress, Steve helped pass the Steve Gleason Act, which ensures that people with ALS and other degenerative diseases can access speech-generating devices, whether at home or in a health facility. prgtoken His leadership with the Gleason Initiative Foundation brought together the largest ALS research project in the world, and his work has helped us improve the lives of countless individuals who have been impacted by this disease. prgtoken We could not be more proud of him, and that is why we are here today, to make sure this legislation gives that appropriate recognition. Steve Gleason said: ``Our potential is not contained in our physical bodies, but rather in our mind and in our spirit.'' prgtoken I so appreciate all he has done to help fight this disease. He has been such a leader in communicating the needs of those with ALS and showing the progress we all can make. I thank the Presiding Officer. prgtoken .
100TH ANNIVERSARY OF ST. JOHN'S UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST, SAN BRUNO
Jackie Speier (Democrat, CA) \u2014 2018-6-14

I rise to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of St. John's United Church of Christ in San Bruno, California. This church has been a rock of comfort and hope for an entire century, and the community joins with me in extending these good wishes. prgtoken San Bruno was incorporated as a city in 1914. St. John's was founded soon thereafter by German immigrants and first met in the homes of its congregants or, a few years later, in Carpenter's Hall. By 1920, the city of San Bruno had about 1,500 residents and by 1921 the congregation had outgrown its earlier locations and a church building was erected. The congregation thrived. prgtoken In the 1930's, multiple orders of churches merged and ultimately formed the United Church of Christ. The motto of the new denomination was ``That they may all be one.'' Today, the congregants come from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Families from throughout the world, and even those who originally worshipped in different denominations, have joined to form the community of St. John's United Church of Christ. prgtoken The church participates in multiple charitable activities, including providing disaster relief, offering contributions to St. Anthony's Dining Room and to the San Francisco Night Ministry. Its values of faith, love and inclusion lead the church to support all and to value each human being, no matter how little a person may have. prgtoken In addition to meeting its charitable objectives, the church serves as the site of worship for three other churches. In the past, it also opened its doors to the Filipino Congregational Church of San Bruno. During the day, squeals of laughter from children can be heard in its hallways as they enjoy their lessons offered onsite by the California Montessori School. prgtoken For the past 40 years, St. John's has been led by Pastor Champion Traylor and his late wife, Pat. During weddings and funerals, weekly services and rallies for hope, through peaceful times and when our nation was at war, this couple gave comfort to their fellow citizens and offered guidance to all who sought it. Sometimes we lose track of the importance of ministry in our daily lives. Pastor Traylor and his wife never lost track of anyone in their ministry. prgtoken So let us wish St. John's another 100 years of prosperity. We know that other churches may be larger, but few have been such stalwart members of San Bruno's community for 100 or more years. In the years since St. John's was founded, the first asphalt state highway was laid down just a few miles away in San Bruno, a racetrack was built and then demolished, San Francisco airport went from a mud field to an international destination, and tens of thousands of San Bruno children were raised and left their homes to participate in civic life and commerce. St. John's has remained. It has always served the next wave of Americans and immigrants, allowing all who enter to be encouraged in their spirit
ENERGY AND WATER, LEGISLATIVE BRANCH, AND MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019--MOTION TO PROCEED
Charles E. Schumer (Democrat, NY) \u2014 2018-6-14

it has now been 2 days since the Singapore summit between President and Chairman Kim concluded. America remains troubled by the lack of detail in the joint statement signed by both parties, as well as some of the remarkable concessions made by President , especially the freeze of joint military exercises with South Korea. prgtoken In the wake of this first meeting, it has become clearer and clearer that Chairman Kim secured far more concessions than President . Yet, despite all the evidence, President is acting like he just secured world peace. The President is conducting an alternative reality Presidency, and the recent summit with North Korea reveals it better than ever. President says we are no longer on the brink of war with North Korea, after President himself was the one who brought us there in the first place, through bellicose rhetoric and brinkmanship on Twitter. Now the President takes a victory lap for undoing a problem he created in the first place. He pats himself on the back, saying that we are now at peace. We were on the brink of war. He forgets that he brought us there. What kind of Presidency is this? prgtoken Again President tweeted yesterday: ``There is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea.'' Saying it, , does not make it so--once again, an alternative reality Presidency. prgtoken Despite what the President says, Chairman Kim has not agreed to dismantle North Korea's nuclear infrastructure. He has not agreed to stop enriching plutonium and uranium. He has not agreed to any sort of inspections regime. When Chairman Kim went home to North Korea, he did not even mention his vague commitment to completely denuclearize. To say there is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea after one meeting, after signing one sheet of paper, is living in an alternative reality, and that is where it seems President lives these days, more than ever before. prgtoken Finally, in place of serious, arduous negotiations, President preferred signing ceremonies and proclamations. It is a pattern in his Presidency: flash over substance, sign documents in front of cameras, but skip out on the hard work behind the scenes. prgtoken The idea is to make it look as if the President is getting stuff done, but not actually doing the hard work and getting it done. We can't have a President who is interested only in playing the role of President. He has to do the job of President. prgtoken On a matter as serious as negotiations with North Korea, there is no substitute for the hard work of real diplomacy. Only in President 's alternative reality Presidency do photo ops and handshakes suffice, especially when North Korea still presents such a great danger to us. If tomorrow morning Kim Jong Un did a 180-degree reversal, after having gotten what he wants--the handshake, the summit, the reduction of sanctions--we would be in real da
POOR PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN
Jamie Raskin (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2018-6-14

I thank Representative Jackson Lee for her eloquent words. prgtoken There is a distinction between misfortune and injustice. I know this because I am somebody who is a cancer survivor. If you wake up one day and a doctor tells you that you are suffering from stage III colon cancer, and you have not one but two jobs that you love, and constituents that you love, and work that you are engaged with, and a great family, and you are told that you have this terrible diagnosis, it can happen to anybody, and that is a misfortune in life. It happens to people in every State, in every city, and in every country all over the world every day. prgtoken But, if you get a diagnosis like that and you can't get healthcare because you are too poor, or because you lost your job, or because, as it used to be, you loved the wrong person, that is not just a misfortune in life, that is an injustice because we can do something about that. We know how to organize society in such a way that everybody gets healthcare, that everybody gets the attention they need in the event of a catastrophic diagnosis like that. prgtoken Life is hard enough with all of the sicknesses, the illnesses, the misfortunes, and the accidents that we don't need to compound the misfortunes of life with governmentally imposed injustice on people. The role of government has to be to liberate people from injustice and to alleviate the misfortunes of life. prgtoken But now we have, here in Washington, a whole new public philosophy, which is government is a moneymaking operation for the President, and the President's friends, and the President's business associates, and the people who surround him. That is the new royalist vision of government that we have in America. It is a betrayal of the original conception, which is that government would be an instrument of the common good of advancing the public interest of everybody in the country, not just the people who happen to use their wealth and their power to get into public office. prgtoken Now, if you are poor in America today, you have a lot of problems. You have problems with healthcare. We know that health crises remain the single dominant cause of personal bankruptcy, not business bankruptcy, the kind that the President of the United States filed for five different times. Business bankruptcy is not caused by a sickness or an illness. was perfectly covered in healthcare while his businesses went bankrupt and he got covered. But we have millions of Americans who have been forced into bankruptcy because someone got sick and we didn't have a national health insurance policy to take care of them and they didn't have the private health insurance that they needed. prgtoken As Congresswoman Jayapal told us, two-thirds of Americans don't have $1,000 to deal with a personal crisis, whether it is a healthcare crisis or something else. They don't have $1,000 to deal with it. And we know that for a serious ki
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019
Benjamin L. Cardin (Democrat, MD) \u2014 2018-6-14

I rise today to express my support for the amendment the senior Senator from Arkansas has offered to the H.R. 5515, the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, NDAA. Senator Boozman's amendment is a thoughtful one. It proposes to solicit information from the Department of Defense to help us carefully think through our response to the changed strategic situation in Europe. Russia's military aggression and Military incursions in Georgia, Ukraine, and elsewhere have made it abundantly clear that we are no longer in the security environment that provided the context for the commitments we made in the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act. prgtoken The United States and Poland have a long record of highly effective cooperation in military matters. Poland has made important contributions to operations in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, and an American-led NATO battle group in Poland is playing an important role in reinforcing NATO's eastern flank today. prgtoken Still, a decision to permanently deploy U.S. forces to the territory of even such a stalwart ally should not be taken lightly. This amendment wisely requests that the Department of Defense provide its assessment of a number of factors that we will need to weigh when deciding whether to take such a step, including the reactions we should anticipate from other allies, possible responses by Russia, and more practical considerations including cost and timing. prgtoken Poland needs no reminder about the external threats it faces. After all, it borders Ukraine. However, Poland faces an enemy within: democratic backsliding, which plays into Vladimir Putin's hands as he aims to undermine democratic values across Europe. prgtoken Since 2015, the Polish Government has challenged constitutionalism, eroded checks and balances, and indulged in historical revisionism. The breadth and depth of the government's actions led the European Commission to conclude in December that Poland's ``executive and legislative branches have been systematically enabled to politically interfere in the composition, powers, administration and functioning of the judicial branch.'' prgtoken I discussed these concerns in a meeting with Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marek Magierowski in February, including a controversial law, introduced on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which may actually impede research, scholarship, and journalism about the Holocaust. The Department of State rightly observed that this law might have repercussions for ``Poland's strategic interests and relationships--including with the United States and Israel. The resulting divisions that may arise among our allies benefit only our rivals.'' prgtoken Independence of the judiciary will take another hit on July 3, when a new law will go into effect forcing the early retirement of up to 40 percent of Poland's 120-member supreme court, the reintroduction of the Soviet-era feature of ``lay jud
STEPHEN MICHAEL GLEASON CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL ACT
Patty Murray (Democrat, WA) \u2014 2018-6-14

I join Senator Cassidy and many of our colleagues in recognizing one of Washington State's favorite sons-- Spokane's own Steve Gleason. prgtoken I have to say, as a fellow Cougar, sponsoring this legislation to recognize Steve's legacy of excellence--from prgtoken Martin Stadium in Pullman, to the NFL, to his avid work as an advocate in the health world--was a no-brainer for me. But our bill to award Steve the Congressional Gold Medal--the highest honor Congress can bestow on an American citizen--has been embraced and cosponsored by more than 70 Members of this Chamber from both sides of the aisle is a testament not just to the incredible respect Steve has garnered across our Nation as a standout athlete but to his inspiring leadership and tireless advocacy that has made an indelible impact on our Nation and our culture. prgtoken Of course, Steve's skills and talents on the football field are legendary. Many will not soon forget that iconic blocked punt at the Superdome in 2006--a play that helped lift up the spirits of an entire community that was still struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Yet it has been Steve's work off the gridiron that has had perhaps the most lasting impact on our country and on our future. prgtoken Since being diagnosed with ALS in 2011, Steve has become a passionate warrior for ALS survivors and their families. Through his Gleason Initiative Foundation, Steve actively supports critical research efforts to combat ALS and helps to raise much needed public awareness about the condition while also providing ALS patients with leading-edge technology, equipment, and services to help them not only live with their ALS diagnoses but to thrive. prgtoken In motivating others by his lived example, Steve, together with his wife, his mother, and everyone at Team Gleason, has inspired hope in individuals throughout Washington State and across the globe, and he has undoubtedly changed countless lives for the better. prgtoken Few people make Washington State as proud as Steve Gleason, and I am delighted to sponsor this legislation to award him the Congressional Gold Medal. I urge our colleagues to support our efforts. prgtoken Senator Cassidy for his leadership on this and for working with me on an important piece of legislation that will recognize an incredible human being. prgtoken .
REMEMBERING RED SCHOENDIENST
Claire McCaskill (Democrat, MO) \u2014 2018-6-14

I rise today in remembrance of one of St. Louis's, the State of Missouri's, and baseball's great treasures, Hall of Fame Cardinal Red Schoendienst. Red played 15 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, made 10 All-Star teams, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989. Red passed last week at his home in Town and Country, MO, just outside of St. Louis, at the age of 95. He had been the oldest living member of the Hall of Fame. prgtoken Born Albert Fred Schoendienst 40 miles east of St. Louis in Germantown, IL, Red would make a big impact on the city and the sport of baseball. Red's father, a coal miner who played sandlot ball, got him hooked on the game. prgtoken After leaving school, Red joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, where he nearly lost his eye in an accident. He also faced chronic shoulder pain, but stuck with the game. In 1942, he hitchhiked to St. Louis for Cardinals tryouts and made the team. After a standout minor league career and a period of Army service, Red played his first Big League game in 1945. prgtoken Red played second base for nearly his entire career, leading the National League in fielding percentage seven times. He was such a talented fielder that his teammate and longtime friend, Cardinal legend Stan Musial, once said, ``He had the greatest pair of hands I've ever seen.'' prgtoken Red wasn't too shabby at the plate either. He batted over .300 in five seasons as a switch-hitter. Unfortunately, Red's only World Series victory came in 1957 with Hank Aaron and the Milwaukee Braves, not the Cardinals, but we will not hold that against him. prgtoken While playing for Milwaukee, Red faced another health challenge. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis and had to have part of a lung removed. Still, Red was a fighter, and just as he overcame his eye and shoulder injuries, he came back to play with the Braves before finishing his career as a Cardinal in 1963. prgtoken After Red's retirement from playing, he wasn't done being a Cardinal. Red became the Cardinals' manager in 1965 and skippered the team until 1976. Under his leadership, the Cardinals won two pennants and beat the Boston Red Sox in the 1967 World Series. Red remained a part of the organization until his passing. prgtoken All counted, Red spent 70 years as a part of Major League Baseball, and left his mark on the game. Not only was Red a Hall of Fame player and manager, he was a fan favorite and a revered teammate. His teammates always spoke of how he loved the game, and how they loved playing with him. prgtoken I wish to offer my condolences to Red's family, including his brother, four children, eight grandchildren, and seven great- grandchildren. I know that they will remember Red fondly, as will Cardinals fans and baseball fans everywhere.
RECOGNIZING APRIL VASSELL AND NEVAEH PARKER
Donald M. Payne, Jr. (Democrat, NJ) \u2014 2018-6-14

I rise to recognize the wonderful accomplishments of two young women from my district. April Vassell and Nevaeh Parker were each selected to attend the United Nations Foundation's 2018 Women in Science, or WiSci, Girls STEAM Camp in Namibia. prgtoken The camp will bring together 100 high school girls from the African Continent and the United States for a 2-week intensive learning program. prgtoken This amazing camp is co-hosted by the U.S. Department of State and private partners. It brings girls together to help close the gender gap in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. prgtoken April and Nevaeh will have the opportunity to enhance their STEAM skills, grow as young leaders, and develop relationships with their sisters from Africa. These two young women and the other campers have a lot to be proud of. prgtoken I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing their achievements, their potential, and success.