{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "is_view": false, "human_description_en": "where chamber = \"Senate\", state = \"KY\" and year = 2023 sorted by date descending", "rows": [["https://www.paul.senate.gov/dr-rand-paul-releases-2023-festivus-report-on-government-waste/", "Dr. Rand Paul Releases 2023 \u2018Festivus\u2019 Report on Government Waste", "2023-12-22", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 22, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nDr. Rand Paul Releases 2023 \u2018Festivus\u2019 Report on Government Waste\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, released his 2023 \u201cFestivus\u201d Report, totaling ~$900,000,000,000 in government waste.\n\nThis marks Dr. Paul\u2019s ninth edition of the Festivus Report as he continues working to alert the American people to how their federal government uses their hard-earned money.\n\nSome of the highlights include the National Institutes of Health spending a portion of a $2.7 million grant to study Russian cats walking on a treadmill and Barbies used as proof of ID for receiving COVID Paycheck Protection Program funds. The Department of Defense ruined over $169 million worth of military equipment by leaving it outside, the United States Agency for International Development spent $6 million to promote tourism in Egypt, and the Small Business Administration gave \u2018struggling\u2019 music artists like Post Malone, Chris Brown, and Lil Wayne over $200 million.\n\nYou can find Dr. Paul\u2019s 2023 Festivus Report HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=D0265091-BC21-4772-82C5-1B94F4C05E02", "McConnell: America Needs To Show We Haven\u2019t Forgotten How To Lead", "2023-12-20", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding national security priorities:\n\n\u201cNegotiations on border security continue to make headway. I\u2019m grateful to Senator Lankford for his uninterrupted focus on the task at hand: meaningful policy changes.\n\n\u201cOur colleagues at the negotiating table are under no illusions about how difficult it is to fix our nation\u2019s broken asylum and parole system.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019re working on what would be the first serious repair in more than 30 years.\n\n\u201cBut there\u2019s no longer any disagreement that the situation at the southern border is unsustainable and requires the Senate to act.\n\n\u201cThis is the core of America\u2019s national security. It will be an essential part of supplemental legislation to address pressing security challenges. And negotiations will continue in earnest until we get there.\n\n\u201cThe Senate cannot afford to get this wrong. From south Texas to southeast Asia, and from the Black Sea to the Red Sea, it\u2019s an historically challenging and consequential time to protect America\u2019s interests, our allies, and our own people.\n\n\u201cThe world is witnessing the first land war in Europe since 1945. Ukraine\u2019s citizen soldiers are in the trenches right now, resisting Russian aggression with Western assistance.\n\n\u201cAmerican leadership has strengthened the NATO alliance, prompted our closest allies and trading partners to share more of the burden of collective defense, and driven historic investments in the military strength and industrial capacity we need here at home to compete with our biggest adversaries.\n\n\u201cFinishing the job will require more of that leadership.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, Israel is responding to the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.\n\n\u201cOur ally needs the time, space, and support required to eliminate the terrorist savages responsible for the horrors of October 7th.\n\n\u201cAnd the entire region needs American leadership to restore deterrence against Iran and its terrorist proxies who attack U.S. personnel with impunity.\n\n\u201cFrom the other side of the world, our friends in the Indo-Pacific are watching closely what goes on in Europe and the Middle East and investing seriously in their own military strength\u2026 because they know that China is doing the same.\n\n\u201cOur single greatest strategic adversary is growing increasingly aggressive, increasingly advanced, and increasingly keen to seize an edge over a global superpower that fails to act like one.\n\n\u201cMr. President, the stakes are high this holiday season for our allies and partners on the front lines of authoritarian aggression. The challenges are real for brave American servicemembers who are spending this time of year far from home and loved ones to keep us safe.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a dangerous world \u2013 one that doesn\u2019t reward weakness.\n\n\u201cAmerica needs to show that we haven\u2019t forgotten how to lead, and that we\u2019re committed to restoring the hard power that leadership requires.\n\n\u201cSo I\u2019m encouraged by our colleagues\u2019 commitment to keep working toward an agreement on national security, beginning with security here at home.\n\n\u201cThe Senate will not let the challenges we face go unanswered.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=06A61E17-770D-42FF-ACB7-DAFE340717ED", "McConnell: America Cannot Ignore Rising Anti-Semitism", "2023-12-19", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding anti-Semitism:\n\n\u201cOn Sunday, Jewish residents of our nation\u2019s capital were subjected to a disturbing episode of anti-Semitic hate.\n\n:As a Torah class at a Washington synagogue concluded and attendees began to leave, they were met on the sidewalk by a man who sprayed them with a foul-smelling substance and yelled, \u2018gas the Jews\u2019 \u2013 all while filming on his cell phone.\n\n\u201cThis is just one example of the reality facing millions of American Jews.\n\n\u201cIn the same weekend, hundreds of synagogues across the country received false bomb threats.\n\n\u201cAnd thousands of incidents of anti-Jewish hatred have cropped up on American soil in the months since October 7th \u2013 a rise that leading watchdogs say is the worst in more than forty years.\n\n\u201cThe brazenness of this hateful deluge is horrifying, by itself.\n\n\u201cBut an even more alarming trend is just how dramatically the moral cancer of identity politics is laying the groundwork for a continued wave of anti-Semitism.\n\n\u201cAccording to one recent poll, a full two-thirds of Americans aged 18-24 agreed with the following statement, \u2018Jews as a class are oppressors and should be treated as oppressors.\u2019 That\u2019s the view of two-thirds of Americans between 18-24.\n\n\u201cThis is the scorched-earth, Marxist nonsense that has quite publicly seized America\u2019s most elite universities.\n\n\u201cAs our former colleague, the President of the University of Florida, put it in a recent column, \u2018In this upside-down system, an oppressor\u2019s speech is violence. Sometimes an oppressor\u2019s silence is violence. But for the oppressed, even violence is just speech.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo Mr. President, I\u2019d like to request unanimous consent to submit President Sasse\u2019s full comments for the record.\n\n\u201cThis is the ideology that is poisoning a new generation. This is the world\u2019s oldest form of hatred.\n\n\u201cAnd we cannot ignore it.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=0F65010A-2DB6-4CB3-87C7-0BA29B6C80F5", "McConnell On Responsibility To Stand With Israel", "2023-12-19", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding national security priorities:\n\n\u201cAs the Senate convened this week, our colleagues negotiating on border security were still at the table, making slow and steady progress.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019re chipping away at years of failure to enact basic, commonsense border security policy. Reaching an agreement that can pass Congress and become law is easier said than done.\n\n\u201cBut I\u2019m very grateful to Senator Lankford for sticking with it.\n\n\u201cOur colleagues\u2019 effort to address the glaring national security challenge here at home is the foundation of our broader responsibility to meet the linked threats we\u2019re facing around the world \u2013 from the Indo-Pacific to Europe to the Middle East.\n\n\u201cNeedless to say, it\u2019s a particularly dangerous time for nations that care about protecting their sovereignty from totalitarian thugs and savage terrorists. The headlines are filled with evidence that America\u2019s most dangerous adversaries are demonstrably not deterred.\n\n\u201cAnd it might have something to do with the Biden Administration\u2019s penchant for deterring itself instead.\n\n\u201cAmerica is a global superpower. But far too often, our commander-in-chief has conducted our foreign affairs with hesitation and weakness.\n\n\u201cRemember his Administration\u2019s overwrought fears of \u2018escalation\u2019 that kept essential capabilities out of Ukrainian hands. Or the feeble half-measures in response to an ongoing surge in attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria.\n\n\u201cReports that the Biden Administration now wants to constrain Israel\u2019s efforts to destroy Hamas are disappointing. But not surprising.\n\n\u201cTwo months ago, the Administration was encouraging Israel to slow down its response before entering Gaza. Now, it\u2019s telling Israel to hasten its operations and wind them down to a close.\n\n\u201cAmerica cannot afford to lose sight of reality. We must not blur the bold-face line between a sovereign democracy that takes great pains to avoid civilian casualties and a terrorist organization that steals humanitarian aid from vulnerable Gazans to fuel its war of hate.\n\n\u201cIsrael did not choose this conflict. It ended the occupation of Gaza nearly two decades ago. But its policy of seeking to lower tensions was rewarded on October 7th, when Hamas unilaterally shattered the cease-fire with rape, torture, terror, and murder.\n\n\u201cHamas \u2013 the terrorists who diverted mountains of foreign assistance intended for civilian infrastructure to build miles of elaborate terror tunnels, instead.\n\n\u201cHamas \u2013 the cowards who intentionally hide their fighters and weapons in schools and hospitals.\n\n\u201cHamas has repeatedly faced a choice between improving the lives of Palestinians and killing Israelis.\n\n\u201cEvery time to date, it has chosen violence. And if Hamas survives with its military capabilities and leadership intact, it will make that choice again and again.\n\n\u201cThis is the reality Israel faces. Its war cabinet knows they must see this fight through.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s the same reality that recent American Presidents have confronted in the fight against al-Qaeda and ISIS.\n\n\u201cBut for Israel, the determined terrorist threat is on its very borders, and its own citizen-soldiers are on the line.\n\n\u201cSo I\u2019ll repeat what I\u2019ve said so many times before:\n\n\u201cOur responsibility as an ally is to provide the time, space, and support Israel needs to finish the job\u2026\n\n\u201cTo condemn shameful attempts at moral equivalence to excuse the genocidal violence of Hamas terrorists and apply double standards to Israel\u2026\n\n\u201cAnd to offer counsel to our ally in private, not in front-page genuflections to the President\u2019s left-wing base.\n\n\u201cAdministration officials and world leaders who care about the Palestinians would do well to focus less on constraining Israel in the short-term and more on the challenge of ensuring Palestinian leaders and organizations in Gaza and the West Bank actually care about improving the lives of their fellow citizens in the long-term.\n\n\u201cPalestinians deserve better than Hamas\u2019 cult of death in Gaza. They deserve better than the corrupt and sclerotic Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=45285B95-D9A1-48CE-9C3D-9F152E7836CD", "Attacks On Freedom Of Navigation Are Direct Challenge To American Leadership", "2023-12-18", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Iran-backed terrorism:\n\n\u201cThe weekend brought even more glaring evidence that Iran and its terrorist proxies feel emboldened to escalate their attacks in the Middle East. In the past two months, the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have repeatedly used lethal force in brazen attacks against both military and commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea.\n\n\u201cJust two days ago, the destroyer U.S.S. Carney engaged and destroyed at least 14 terrorist drones. U.S. Navy vessels have thus far succeeded in defending against these attacks.\n\n\u201cBut the risk of American casualties is growing. Air defense is not perfect. And it doesn\u2019t come cheap \u2013 the Navy is having to use expensive interceptors to bring down low-cost suicide drones.\n\n\u201cCommercial vessels have been less fortunate. Several ships have been hijacked or struck by drones and anti-ship missiles in recent weeks \u2013 including two strikes just today.\n\n\u201cThis violence represents a grave and immediate economic threat. Iran\u2019s network of terrorists is making an artery that carries nearly 12 percent of global trade essentially inoperable.\n\n\u201cIn recent days, four of the world\u2019s five largest shipping companies have suspended operations in the Red Sea. The carriers who account for more than half of maritime container traffic are opting to add weeks to transit times and untold extra fuel costs to avoid terrorist attack. And supply chains everywhere are bracing for the effects.\n\n\u201cMake no mistake: An undeterred adversary is laying down a direct challenge to American leadership. And the world is watching to see if we rise to meet it the way we\u2019ve met it before in countless times.\n\n\u201cProtecting the freedom of navigation is an essential American interest because maritime commerce has been central to our nation\u2019s economy from the very beginning.\n\n\u201cThe U.S. Navy and Marine Corps waged their first successful expeditionary campaign against the Barbary pirates in order to protect American shipping. The \u2018shores of Tripoli\u2019 are immortalized in the Marine Corps hymn. And freedom of navigation operations have been an essential part of U.S. power projection ever since.\n\n\u201cIn recent years, these operations have been especially important in the Indo-Pacific, where China increasingly threatens sea lanes.\n\n\u201cBut let\u2019s be clear: If America conducts freedom of navigation operations as peace-time exercises but fails to actually protect this freedom from immediate, real-time threats, then we\u2019re just play-acting as a global superpower.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s happening right now in the Red Sea isn\u2019t an exercise. It\u2019s a blaring siren that deterrence has failed.\n\n\u201cThe United States and our allies and partners have a stake in defending the freedom of navigation. If we fail to take more serious action against Iran-backed Houthi terrorists, we\u2019ll embolden other aggressors to challenge this freedom everywhere, and risk major consequences.\n\n\u201cNeedless to say, our greatest strategic adversary and systemic rival is watching especially closely how we respond to this brazen challenge.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=A4235AD2-19F3-4777-98E2-17B7D7855DAB", "McConnell Comments On Border Security Negotiations", "2023-12-18", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding border security negotiations:\n\n\u201cOver the weekend, our colleagues continued to make progress toward an agreement on border security.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m especially grateful to Senator Lankford for stewarding Senate Republicans\u2019 efforts to produce meaningful policy changes, fix our broken asylum system, and secure the southern border.\n\n\u201cAddressing the border crisis at home is a fundamental part of legislation that will help America meet each of the most glaring national security challenges we face around the world. And there are a number of significant issues our colleagues are still working to resolve.\n\n\u201cThe effects of years of failed border enforcement are compounded. Border security policy is complex. And our colleagues at the negotiating table are clear-eyed about the fact that getting this agreement right \u2013 and producing legislative text \u2013 is going to require some time.\n\n\u201cSenate Republicans will not make up for others showing up late to the table by waiving our responsibility to carefully negotiate and review any agreement before voting on it.\n\n\u201cAnd I am encouraged by our colleagues\u2019 commitment to keep making steady progress in their negotiations over the coming week and beyond.\n\n\u201cAmerica is facing a never-before-seen border crisis. An imperialist thug is trying to redraw the map of Europe. A repressive authoritarian state is preparing to put more of the Indo-Pacific under its control. And the world\u2019s largest state sponsor of terror is showing us it\u2019s as determined as ever to kill American servicemembers and disrupt global commerce.\n\n\u201cThere is simply no room for falling short, here. We cannot afford to get this wrong.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=3BB510FC-0F7E-4CF1-9147-9F8264A784FA", "Senate Cannot Claim To Address National Security Without Restoring Border Security", "2023-12-14", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding national security:\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s been nearly eight weeks since President Biden submitted his supplemental funding request and identified four key national security priorities.\n\n\u201cFor eight weeks, Senate Republicans have been working hard to produce legislation that takes appropriate action on all four fronts \u2013 helping Ukraine defeat Putin in Europe, helping Israel fight Iranian terror in the Middle East, helping Asian partners deter Chinese aggression, and helping the men and women of Border Patrol get the crisis at our southern border under control.\n\n\u201cAt the same time, we\u2019ve had to spend several weeks now trying to convince some of our Democratic colleagues not to tank the entire effort just because they wish a Democratic President had not put border security in his request.\n\n\u201cA number of Senate Republicans have been working in good faith to make sure that supplemental legislation makes substantive policy changes at the border, instead of just throwing money at the problem.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, we\u2019ve had to explain to members of President Biden\u2019s own party why the border security issue he included in his proposal was not extraneous to America\u2019s national security.\n\n\u201cSo, here we are. Some very important conversations are ongoing.\n\n\u201cAnd here\u2019s the bottom line: The Senate cannot claim to address major national security challenges without a solution to the one we\u2019re facing on the southern border. We can\u2019t pretend to be serious about threats facing America and our allies without fixing the broken system that lets 10,000 illegal aliens cross our border in a single day.\n\n\u201cNow, Mr. President, I\u2019m serious. Senate Republicans are serious. And I hope our colleagues are as well.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=F61CA1B8-7C49-4CC4-ACB0-572069B10BA5", "Harvard Is \u2018Glaring Example\u2019 Of Rampant Anti-Semitism Permeating Higher Education", "2023-12-14", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding anti-Semitism on college campuses:\n\n\u201cThe events of the past two months have underscored that something is rotten in the state of America\u2019s most elite universities. And there aren\u2019t many more glaring examples than Harvard.\n\n\u201cLast week, of course, Harvard\u2019s president refused to say whether calls for Jewish genocide would constitute harassment on her campus.\n\n\u201cTwo months ago, in the immediate aftermath of the October 7th terrorist attacks, she declined to condemn the Harvard student groups who openly declared that the murder of innocent Jews that day was Israel\u2019s own fault.\n\n\u201cUnder her leadership, radical \u2018Students for Justice in Palestine\u2019 have organized to spout terrorist propaganda and mostly succeeded in getting Harvard graduates blackballed by major corporations and federal judges.\n\n\u201cOne Jewish student at Harvard Business School was even assaulted on his way to study.\n\n\u201cAnd yet despite her abysmal record of combatting anti-Semitism and mounting allegations of plagiarism in her own scholarship, the cadre of left-wing financiers and university administrators who make up the governing Harvard Corporation has affirmed their \u2018confidence that President Gay is the right leader to help our community heal.\u2019\n\n\u201cWell, when you look at Harvard\u2019s history, this embarrassing lack of moral clarity is hardly a surprise. A century ago, Harvard President Abbott Lowell proposed a numerical quota on Jewish students.\n\n\u201cHis reasoning? \u2018The anti-Semitic feeling among the students is increasing, and it grows in proportion to the increase in the number of Jews.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo one Harvard President says that the presence of Jews causes anti-Semitism. A hundred years later, another says that calls for Jewish genocide really depend on the context in which they\u2019re made.\n\n\u201cFrankly, you\u2019d be forgiven for wondering whether anti-Semitism isn\u2019t just business as usual at Harvard!\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=FB19AE0B-02AA-4F2A-A83E-7FBDA903E0AC", "Biden Admin. Strangles American Energy While China Surges Forward", "2023-12-14", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding left-wing climate policy:\n\n\u201cThis week, the United Nations wrapped up its latest conference on climate change. World leaders took private jets to Dubai, and the Biden Administration\u2019s Special Climate Envoy, John Kerry, returned triumphant with\u2026 a joint statement condemning the evils of coal power.\n\n\u201cElite liberals sure are obsessed with killing jobs in places like Kentucky. But that\u2019s only the half of it.\n\n\u201cYet again, the maximum hardships the Biden Administration is happy to heap on American workers and consumers are producing no meaningful benefits on the world stage.\n\n\u201cThe past three years have been an endless parade of canceled permits and new regulations that make it harder than ever to produce affordable and reliable American energy.\n\n\u201cBy cancelling the Keystone XL pipeline on Day One, President Biden also cancelled as many as 59,000 jobs needed to build it.\n\n\u201cAnd now, the President\u2019s envoy has returned with another meaningless pledge that doesn\u2019t even compel the world\u2019s biggest emitters of carbon.\n\n\u201cJust look at the numbers. U.S. emissions are projected to fall by 4% this year. Meanwhile, China\u2019s are projected to increase by twice as much!\n\n\u201cLast year, Beijing green-lit four times as much new coal power as they did the year before. But the Biden Administration apparently wants us to believe its American producers and job creators and workers who aren\u2019t pulling their weight.\n\n\u201cSo, the UN climate conference is a good reminder that the elite left-wing obsession with self-inflicted climate penance is not just an American problem.\n\n\u201cCanada\u2019s liberal government, for its part, has a bold new plan: paying farmers to make sure their cattle don\u2019t burp so much.\n\n\u201cApparently, Canada\u2019s plan is built around a carbon credit \u2013 the nebulous commodity that supposedly negates carbon emissions from activities like flying private jets.\n\n\u201cExcept in this case, the subjects aren\u2019t elites looking to ease their conscience on the way to a conference in Dubai. They\u2019re the workers who put food on the table!\n\n\u201cCanada\u2019s so-called \u2018Reducing Methane Emissions from Beef Cattle\u2019 proposal would grant carbon credits to farmers who feed their cows special diets to reduce burping.\n\n\u201cWell, it sounds an awful lot like the way Washington bureaucrats try to tell middle-class Americans what kind of car to drive and what kind of stove to use.\n\n\u201cIt sounds entirely ridiculous.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=FF040F39-9EA7-48CD-9B4F-0BF8C0E4F77B", "McConnell Secures Priorities for Kentucky Military Installations, Blue Grass Army Depot in National Defense Bill", "2023-12-14", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) secured several important priorities for Kentucky in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This critical defense policy bill includes provisions for Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD), Fort Campbell, Fort Knox, and the Kentucky Army National Guard. The legislation passed the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives and now goes to the President to be signed into law.\n\nBLUE GRASS ARMY DEPOT\n\nAt the request of Senator McConnell, the NDAA requires the Army to develop proposals to execute the \u201cmost promising\u201d opportunities identified in the BGAD feasibility study released in September 2023. He also secured a provision requiring the Department of Defense to onshore production of critical chemicals by 2028, addressing a supply-chain vulnerability in 15 chemicals essential for explosive materials and currently produced overseas in countries like China. The provision requires consideration of BGAD\u2019s suitability to meet this vital need.\n\n\u201cOur Nation faces growing threats from Russia, China, and Iran, whose shared interest in global chaos threatens our way of life. This moment demands American strength and real-dollar investments into establishing effective deterrence against our adversaries. This starts here at home with ramping up production of defense materials at installations like Blue Grass Army Depot. This year, the Depot safely destroyed the last of our country\u2019s chemical weapons, which Kentucky has been home to for decades. Even as these efforts approach their end, the Depot\u2019s facilities and workforce remain critical assets to the Army,\u201d said Senator Mitch McConnell. \u201cI\u2019m glad to see this year\u2019s National Defense Authorization Act advance the Depot\u2019s important role in defense production. This legislation lays the groundwork for Blue Grass Army Depot to take on new missions and deliver the resources our Armed Forces need to confront these threats.\u201d\n\n\u201cMadison County has much to celebrate this year. First and foremost, we can finally mark the end of chemical weapons sitting in our backyard at Blue Grass Army Depot. This achievement was a major milestone, and we couldn\u2019t have done it without the staunch support of Senator McConnell for many years. As we work to identify plans for the Depot and its workforce in the future, I\u2019m grateful to see this year\u2019s national defense bill push forward this local and national imperative at record speed. I\u2019m grateful for Senator McConnell\u2019s advocacy on this matter, and I look forward to partnering with him to continue to deliver for Kentuckians in the region,\u201d said Madison County Judge/Executive Reagan Taylor.\n\nThe bill also includes the following provisions that specifically benefit Kentucky and bolster the Commonwealth\u2019s central role in America\u2019s defense:\n\n$39 million for a Multipurpose Training Range at Fort Campbell.\n\n$16.4 million for a modern maintenance facility at Kentucky Army National Guard.\n\n$3.3 million to plan and design a state-of-the-art munitions supply facility at the Blue Grass Army Depot.\n\n$2.5 million to plan and design a new Air Traffic Control Tower at Fort Campbell.\n\n$2.0 million to complete construction of a Kentucky National Guard Headquarters Building in Frankfort\n\nStudy requirement to support the Army Human Resources Command\u2019s 2030 Transformation Plan at Ft. Knox.\n\nContinued support for the University of Louisville\u2019s cybersecurity workforce development partnership with the National Security Agency.\n\nVital investments in Kentucky\u2019s defense manufacturing and innovation industry.\n\nThe NDAA also authorizes the following provisions to support our Nation\u2019s service members and their families:\n\nSecures a well-deserved 5.2% pay raise for servicemembers, the highest pay raise in 22 years to offset inflation.\n\nProvides scholarship opportunities for recruits enrolled in community and junior colleges and increases scholarship opportunities for those pursuing military health careers.\n\nAuthorizes quality improvements for military enlisted barracks, including the replacement of barracks that do not meet basic standards.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/icymi-dr-rand-paul-continues-fight-against-covid-19-mandates-for-senate-pages/", "ICYMI: Dr. Rand Paul Continues Fight Against COVID-19 Mandates for Senate Pages", "2023-12-14", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 14, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nICYMI: Dr. Rand Paul Continues Fight Against COVID-19 Mandates for Senate Pages\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, as a continuation of his efforts to protect individual freedoms and put an end to unscientific mandates, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced a resolution that would have protected Senate Pages from the imposition of COVID-19 vaccination requirements. Multiple scientific studies have shown a heightened risk of myocarditis for children and teenagers after taking an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine and that, for young and healthy people, the risks posed by the vaccine are greater than the risks posed by COVID-19. Furthermore, there is consensus that the vaccines do not stop the transmission of COVID-19.\n\nFor the fourth time, Senate Democrats refused to follow the science and objected to Dr. Paul\u2019s resolution passing by unanimous consent.\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s remarks HERE, and can read the full resolution HERE.\n\nBackground:\n\nIn September, Dr. Paul introduced two resolutions that would have protected Senate Pages from the imposition of COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Also in September, Dr. Paul introduced a resolution that would have safeguarded Senate Pages from imposing vaccination, testing, and masking requirements related to COVID-19.\n\nOver the last several years, Dr. Paul has taken numerous actions to defend Americans from those who fail to follow the science on COVID-19. Not only did he introduce a similar resolution last year that would have lifted vaccine and mask mandates for pages, he also introduced the Vaccination Non-Discrimination Act to ensure that federal taxpayer dollars are not used to support healthcare facilities that deny care to patients based on their COVID-19 vaccination status.\n\nAdditionally, Dr. Paul offered the Support the Reinstatement of Trained and Effective Firefighters amendment to the Fire Grants and Safety Act that would have made funding available to fire departments that terminated firefighters for refusing vaccination or voicing opposition to COVID-19 mandates only if they offered full reinstatement and backpay to those who lost their jobs. He also previously introduced the Travel Mask Mandate Repeal Act of 2021 and continues to be outspoken against COVID-19 mandates without a scientific basis.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=38D22CDD-18CD-455A-B9A8-5B5EA174126A", "Biden Admin. Pushes Judicial Nom. With Anti-Semitic Affiliations", "2023-12-13", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding judicial nominations:\n\n\u201cThis morning, the Judiciary Committee is examining another slate of President Biden\u2019s nominees to join the federal bench.\n\n\u201cOver the past three years, our colleagues on the committee have met and considered an alarming parade of nominees whose conduct or lack of legal qualifications made them so wildly unfit for confirmation that they had to be withdrawn.\n\n\u201cFrom the First Circuit nominee known best for helping defend an elite prep school against a victim of sexual assault\u2026 to the Kansas District nominee who the American Bar Association was expected to find \u2018not qualified\u2019 for judicial service.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, today\u2019s nominees include yet another head-spinning example of the Biden Administration\u2019s radical approach to filling the federal bench.\n\n\u201cAdeel Mangi is the President\u2019s nominee to serve as Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Since graduating from Harvard Law, he\u2019s spent his career in private practice.\n\n\u201cBut for years, he\u2019s also served on the board of a Rutgers student organization that facilitates and amplifies grotesque, anti-Semitic activism.\n\n\u201cFor example, on the 20th anniversary of September 11th, the Center for Security, Race and Rights at Rutgers Law School hosted speaking engagements for a ringleader of recent calls for an intifada in the United States and a convicted supporter of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.\n\n\u201cFor those who need reminding, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas are holding hostages \u2013 including Americans \u2013 in Gaza as we speak.\n\n\u201cAmerican Jews are facing an historic wave of anti-Semitic hate. And this wave is emanating from campus organizations across the country like the one Mr. Mangi guided and supported at Rutgers.\n\n\u201cIs the Biden Administration really asking the Senate to give life tenure on the court of appeals to a nominee with an extensive record of condoning terrorist propaganda?\n\nI would urge our colleagues on the Judiciary Committee to take a very close look at Mr. Mangi\u2019s nomination, and reject it.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=CEDDD7C1-DC17-434F-87BE-186FEF4844BB", "NDAA Marks Step Toward Addressing National Security Challenges", "2023-12-13", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding national security priorities:\n\n\u201cToday, Senate Republicans are still working in good faith on border policy changes that will allow the Senate to pass a national security supplemental.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m hopeful that Democrats \u2013 both here and at the White House \u2013 are beginning to recognize how committed we are to addressing the crisis at our southern border.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m hopeful that we can reach an agreement and address top national security priorities.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, the challenges we\u2019re facing at home and abroad aren\u2019t solving themselves.\n\n\u201cAs of today, U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria have faced at least 92 attacks from Iran-backed terrorists since October, including just last week against the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, Iran\u2019s Houthi proxies are escalating their threats against shipping vessels in one of the busiest checkpoints of international maritime commerce.\n\n\u201cIran and its terrorist network are not deterred. They believe they can try to kill Americans with impunity.\n\n\u201cAnd yet, last week, leading Senate Democrats joined a failed effort to withdraw America\u2019s presence in Syria.\n\n\u201cThree members of Democratic Caucus leadership cast votes to retreat in the face of an emboldened terrorist threat. So did the Chair of the Foreign Relations subcommittee that deals with the Middle East!\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s time for our colleagues to get serious about the threats we face. Fortunately, the Senate is on track to pass the long-awaited National Defense Authorization Act.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m grateful to Ranking Member Wicker and Chairman Reed for the extensive work required to bring this must-pass legislation to the goal line.\n\n\u201cThis year, the Armed Services Committee considered 445 amendments, and another 121 were adopted here on the floor. And thanks to the dedicated efforts of many of our colleagues on this side of the aisle, the bill they produced asserts the Senate\u2019s priorities on a host of national security issues where the Biden Administration\u2019s approach continues to fall short.\n\n\u201cThis year\u2019s NDAA recognizes the need to strengthen America\u2019s position in strategic competition with China through targeted improvements to critical capabilities \u2013 from long-range fires and anti-ship weapons to modernizing our nuclear triad.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019ll authorize further investments in the defense industrial base and expand efficiency and accountability of the lethal assistance degrading Russia\u2019s military in Ukraine.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019ll turbo-charge cooperation with Israel on future missile defense technologies and ensure our closest ally in the Middle East can access the U.S. capabilities it needs, when it needs them.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019ll give America\u2019s men and women in uniform a pay raise.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019ll focus the Pentagon more squarely on tackling national security challenges instead of creating new ones with partisan social policies.\n\n\u201cAnd in my home state of Kentucky, it\u2019ll advance important initiatives to expand production at Blue Grass Army Depot and reduce U.S. reliance on competitors for materials critical to our defense.\n\n\u201cOf course, Congress can\u2019t fix the Biden Administration\u2019s weakness on the world stage by ourselves. We can equip a global superpower, but we still need a Commander-in-Chief who recognizes that he\u2019s leading one.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden should be focused on restoring real deterrence against Iran-backed terrorists, not interfering with the internal politics of the democratic ally they\u2019re attacking.\n\n\u201cIsrael is a modern, mature, and independent democracy. I imagine that neither Israel\u2019s leaders nor its citizens appreciate President Biden\u2019s punditry to Democratic donors about their wartime coalition government. In fact, foreign influence in our own politics used to be something Washington Democrats loved to condemn.\n\n\u201cSo I would recommend that the President focus on the task at hand: imposing meaningful consequences on Iran and giving Israel the time, space, and support it needs to defeat Hamas.\n\n\u201cThis week, the Senate will move the National Defense Authorization Act one step closer to becoming law. I hope that\u2019ll mark a first step toward giving the national security challenges America faces the urgent attention they require.\n\n\u201cBut it will still fall to Congress to pass supplemental national security appropriations and full-year defense funding to ensure the investments we authorize this week deliver real progress in making America stronger and more secure.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/dr-rand-paul-fights-to-protect-civil-liberties-calls-on-senate-to-remove-domestic-spying-authority-in-ndaa/", "Dr. Rand Paul Fights to Protect Civil Liberties, Calls on Senate to Remove Domestic Spying Authority in NDAA", "2023-12-13", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 13, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nDr. Rand Paul Fights to Protect Civil Liberties, Calls on Senate to Remove Domestic Spying Authority in NDAA\n\nIncluding FISA in the NDAA, without necessary reform to Section 702, would continue to allow the U.S. government to spy on U.S. citizens without a warrant\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Today, in a continuation of his efforts to protect Americans\u2019 civil liberties and push for reform to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) forced a Senate vote to remove reauthorization of FISA from the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).\n\nA bipartisan group of 34 senators joined Dr. Paul in voting to remove the reauthorization of FISA from the annual NDAA. The final vote tally was 35-65, six votes short of ending domestic spying authority.\n\nBelow are excerpts from Dr. Paul\u2019s prepared remarks he delivered ahead of the vote:\n\n\u201cSo far as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allows our government to spy on U.S. citizens without a warrant, it is unconstitutional.\u201d\n\n\u2026\n\n\u201cSection 702 expires at the end of this year. Members of Congress anticipated using this deadline as an opportunity to not just make meaningful changes to 702, but to reform FISA generally to better protect Americans\u2019 civil liberties.\n\n\u201cBut it appears not to be so. Though we have known when 702 would expire for years, the uniparty never seriously considered or prioritized reforms. And now we are told that we simply have no choice but to extend Section 702 into 2024.\n\n\u201cWell, extending Section 702 robs Congress of the ability to make reforms now, and likely robs Congress of the opportunity to make reforms any time in the next year.\n\n\u201cThat means, once again, the intelligence agencies that ignore the constraints on their power will go unaddressed and unpunished. And the warrantless surveillance of Americans, in violation of the Bill of Rights, will continue.\n\n\u201cUsing 702, Americans\u2019 communications content and metadata is inevitably swept up and kept in government databases without a warrant. Law enforcement agencies then access Americans\u2019 communications without a warrant.\n\n\u201cIn other words, your texts, emails, and phone calls are collected and stored in a government database without a warrant and then searched by government law enforcement without a warrant.\u201d\n\n\u2026\n\n\u201cThose who make the lazy and predictable argument that government is your only shield from threats always fail to mention that government itself often is the threat.\n\n\u201cI think it is high time we quit letting fear overrun our constitutional duty. The Members of this body should do themselves the honor of standing by their oath to the Constitution.\n\n\u201cTo protect our civil liberties and the integrity of the congressional conference committee process, we must strip this extension of domestic spying authority out of the defense bill.\u201d\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s full floor remarks HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/senators-paul-manchin-budd-send-letter-to-fda-urging-ctp-reform-for-harm-reduced-products/", "Senators Paul, Manchin, Budd Send Letter to FDA Urging CTP Reform for Harm-Reduced Products", "2023-12-13", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 13, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nSenators Paul, Manchin, Budd Send Letter to FDA Urging CTP Reform for Harm-Reduced Products\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Ted Budd (R-NC) sent a letter to Dr. Robert Califf, Commissioner of Food and Drugs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging the FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) to reform its application review process for harm-reduced products. The Senators also requested information about CTP\u2019s policies and actions to ensure it is acting efficiently and in a way that is based on science and evidence.\n\nYou can read the full letter HERE or below.\n\nDear Dr. Califf:\n\nWe write to urge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) to reform the application review process for harm-reduced products. Given the public health function the CTP is meant to serve, we also write to request information about its policies and actions to ensure it is acting efficiently in a way that is based on science and evidence.\n\nAccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, where nearly 31 million Americans smoke cigarettes. Less than eight percent of smokers will successfully quit smoking each year, while thousands will start smoking every day. Combustible cigarette smoking is on the decline due in part to the availability of harm reduction alternatives. Congress recognized the importance of harm reduction when it passed the bipartisan Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 (the \u201cAct\u201d), which charged the FDA with establishing one of the most comprehensive approaches to tobacco harm reduction in the world. The Act requires the CTP to make application determinations within 180 days, yet the agency routinely fails to meet this requirement.\n\nFor the FDA to meet its harm reduction goals, it must have a functioning authorization process. Since 2009, more than 26 million premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) have been submitted for new tobacco products in the U.S. Of those 26 million applications, the CTP has authorized fewer than 50. Remarkably, it has also authorized a total of only 16 Modified Risk Tobacco Products (MRTPs) for only four unique products and their accessories. This miniscule authorization rate is not in keeping with the CTP policy acknowledging that tobacco products fall on a continuum of risk. The availability of scientifically substantiated, authorized-PMT As or MRTPs could potentially improve health outcomes for smokers currently using riskier products.\n\nThe CTP has previously attributed its backlog to staffing shortages, but CTP\u2019s staff has more than doubled over the past decade, from 426 employees in 2013 to more than 1,100 today. Since 2009, the FDA has also had the authority to assess and collect user fees from tobacco manufacturers and importers, with those fees being $712 million annually since 2019. Given these significant resources, there is no reason why the CTP should be so drastically out of step with the Act\u2019s requirements.\n\nThe independent Reagan Udall Foundation (RUF) published a December 2022 review of the CTP, finding it has been struggling as a regulator. Specifically, the RUF recommended that \u201cCTP should develop a more clear and predictable framework for high-quality PMTA and MRTP application submission and reviews.\u201d In light of the RUF\u2019s recommendations that the CTP clarify its policy goals and act more quickly on PMTA and MRTP applications, we request the following information:\n\nDoes the agency prioritize its review of PMTAs or MRTPAs, and if so, what criteria does the CTP apply in that prioritization process?\n\nIf the FDA does not prioritize its review of PMTAs or MRTPAs, do you agree there should be a prioritization strategy?\n\nThere are FDA programs in place in other Centers that enable accelerated review of certain products that have the potential to benefit public health (e.g., breakthrough designation). Has the CTP considered whether and how such a concept could be integrated into its review program for tobacco products?\n\nDoes the CTP support a supplemental PMTA process, and if so, what is the agency doing to (1) encourage use of the supplemental PMTA pathway and (2) implement ways to expedite decision-making on supplemental applications?\n\nGiven the FDA\u2019 s acknowledgment of a continuum of risk in nicotine-containing products, what is the agency doing to raise public awareness of the difference in risk between product categories and to encourage smokers to switch to less harmful products?\n\nThe CTP\u2019 s assessment of whether a PMT A product is \u201cappropriate for the protection of public health\u201d includes an evaluation of the extent or likelihood that a product promotes complete switching or a significant reduction in combustible cigarette use in adult smokers. What specific scientific criteria does the CTP consider in this assessment, and how does it weigh or balance each of them in its final determination?\n\nDoes the CTP apply any criteria to determine whether to provide applicants an opportunity to address application deficiencies before issuing a Refuse to Accept (RTA) decision? If so, what are those criteria?\n\nAn article from the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco recently called on the FDA to set a definition for premium cigars, saying that the failure to do so had prevented the agency from directing appropriate resources to riskier categories of tobacco products. Does the FDA agree with this approach and with establishing a separate category for premium cigars to promote risk-appropriate research and regulation?\n\nPlease respond within 30 days of the date of this letter. We look forward to your responses to these important questions.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=50053602-C64B-420F-884F-03BFA860F37F", "Admin. Takes Another Step Toward Prescription Drug Socialism", "2023-12-12", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding prescription drug socialism:\n\n\u201cLast week, the Biden Administration announced the latest front in its push for prescription drug socialism: march-in rights.\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s what it means: Washington bureaucrats are claiming the authority to determine price ranges for drugs funded through public-private partnerships. And if these unelected regulators decide that a company has set its price too high, they will steal the company\u2019s intellectual property rights.\n\n\u201cIn President Biden\u2019s own words, \u2018the government reserves the right to \u2018march in\u2019 and license that drug to another manufacturer who could sell it for less.\u2019\n\n\u201cTo make matters worse, the Biden Administration claims that the authority for this power grab comes from a 1980 law designed to promote the exact opposite outcome. The purpose of the Bayh-Dole Act was to encourage private-public cooperation to drive innovation in medicine \u2013 not the other way around.\n\n\u201cThe truth is, incentives matter. If Washington bureaucrats get the final say on how American producers market lifesaving cures\u2026 then America will cease to be the world-leading hub of medical innovation.\n\n\u201cWhy would any entrepreneur invest the time and resources to create a new treatment if the government can simply steal their intellectual property and redistribute it?\n\n\u201cUnsurprisingly, the Biden Administration is still working out the kinks of prescription drug socialism. But the medical innovation sector can\u2019t afford to wait before reconsidering its investments.\n\n\u201cNeither, for that matter, can a whole host of other industries that rely on public-private partnerships.\n\n\u201cJust think about what it could mean in fast-evolving areas of technology.\n\n\u201cUnder the model of prescription drug socialism, the Biden Administration is laying the groundwork for government patent seizure on other cutting-edge technologies \u2013 from semiconductors to nuclear energy.\n\n\u201cSo Mr. President, America\u2019s pipeline of lifesaving cures is the envy of the world. American entrepreneurs and researchers save millions of lives.\n\n\u201cIf President Biden wants to march in on this innovation sector, the bright minds behind it just might decide to take their intellectual property and march on out of the American market.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=F0963B20-E11B-4A57-91E0-F60F78E840A6", "Republicans Recognize Scope of National Security Threats", "2023-12-12", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding national security priorities:\n\n\u201cThis morning, the Senate welcomed Ukraine\u2019s inspirational and determined President Zelensky to the Capitol.\n\n\u201cFor nearly two years, the people of Ukraine have defied the world\u2019s expectations. They\u2019ve ground down the world\u2019s second most powerful military. And they\u2019ve confounded Putin\u2019s aggressive imperialist aspirations.\n\n\u201cAt every step of the way, America\u2019s commitment and support has provided critical fuel for Ukraine\u2019s resistance and helped European allies wake up from a holiday from history.\n\n\u201cNow, our allies are awake. They\u2019re investing in collective defense.\n\n\u201cAnd clear majorities of Americans understand the importance of America continuing to lead as the arsenal of democracy.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve been a staunch supporter of Ukraine\u2019s fight to take back its land, liberate its people, and restore its sovereignty since the beginning of Russia\u2019s invasion way back in 2014.\n\n\u201cOur Ukrainian friends\u2019 cause is just. And if the West continues to stand with them, they can win.\n\n\u201cBut let\u2019s be absolutely clear: Ukraine\u2019s cause hasn\u2019t always been popular here in Washington.\n\n\u201cIn 2021, Republicans recommended that the Biden Administration step up assistance to help Ukraine deter renewed Russian threats.\n\n\u201cAnd the Administration seemed to think Ukraine was a frozen conflict, and a distraction from other priorities.\n\n\u201cIn early 2022, as the gravity of Putin\u2019s plans came into focus, Republicans urged the President to expedite shipments of critical weapons systems to stop Russia\u2019s advance.\n\n\u201cBut his Administration\u2019s unfounded fear of escalating the conflict repeatedly kept decisive capabilities out of Ukrainian hands at critical moments.\n\n\u201cWhen Russia\u2019s troops crossed the border and the Administration first came to Congress for assistance, it was Republicans who demanded we use emergency funds to pay for the cost of deploying U.S. forces to Europe rather than forcing our military to take these costs out of hide.\n\n\u201cAnd it was Republicans who demanded that our supplemental appropriations bills include funding to replenish and modernize the stockpiles we were drawing down to support Ukraine.\n\n\u201cPerhaps they expected the war to be over quickly, but the Biden Administration requested neither of these things.\n\n\u201cIn fact, when the Senate received the President\u2019s first supplemental request, I called the Democratic Leader and said, \u2018Double it.\u2019 He agreed with my suggestion, and that\u2019s precisely what we did.\n\n\u201cRepublicans on the Armed Services, Foreign Relations, and Appropriations Committees have worked overtime to help equip Ukraine for victory.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve pushed relentlessly for investments that strengthen our armed forces, degrade our adversaries, and stand firmly with a sovereign democracy against authoritarian aggression \u2013 all while expanding our defense industrial capacity and creating American jobs at the very same time.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve done it because we know that American leadership has ripple effects. Just look at how our European allies are now contributing more to Ukraine than we are\u2026 How allies around the world are investing in hard power, and in our collective defense.\n\n\u201cWe know that the threats we face are intertwined... That Russia, Iran, China, and North Korea work together to undermine America and the West.\n\n\u201cWe know that our border \u2013 just like Ukraine\u2019s borders, and Israel\u2019s, and Taiwan\u2019s \u2013 must be inviolable.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s why \u2013 for months now \u2013 we\u2019ve supported supplemental action on all four of the most pressing national security challenges we face.\n\n\u201cMy support for Ukraine and Israel is rock-solid. I\u2019m committed to preparing the U.S. military to deter and defend against Chinese aggression. I\u2019m determined to get the national security crisis at our southern border under control.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019m going to work to get it done, as long as it takes.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/senators-paul-markey-celebrate-bipartisan-committee-passage-of-lifesaving-methadone-expansion-legislation/", "Senators Paul, Markey Celebrate Bipartisan Committee Passage of Lifesaving Methadone Expansion Legislation", "2023-12-12", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 12, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nSenators Paul, Markey Celebrate Bipartisan Committee Passage of Lifesaving Methadone Expansion Legislation\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA), chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, issued the following statement after the Senate HELP Committee passed the Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act (MOTAA), legislation to allow board certified addiction medicine and addiction psychiatry doctors registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to prescribe methadone that patients could pick up at a pharmacy. The bipartisan legislation would represent the first major reform to methadone in half a century and is supported by hundreds of clinicians and medical organizations.\n\n\u201cMethadone for opioid use disorder is locked behind arcane laws that criminalize and stigmatize people in recovery. The experts and evidence are clear: this outdated system is costing lives, and we should no longer stand by as outdated federal law keeps people from treatment they need no matter where they live. We are pleased that our colleagues are joining with us in passing the Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act. Together, we took an essential step toward reducing stigma, expanding access, and saving lives in communities all across the country. We will keep fighting until theModernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act is signed into law.\u201d\n\nIn March, Senators Paul and Markey, along with Representatives Donald Norcross (NJ-01) and Don Bacon (NE-02) introduced their bipartisan and bicameral MOTAA.\n\nThe Senate bill is cosponsored by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mike Braun (R-IN), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Peter Welch (D-VT), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).\n\nYou can read the Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=16E732D3-B7BC-4A13-92A3-1198A0617015", "McConnell Helps Secure Nearly $22 Million for Road Safety Improvements in Lexington, Kentucky", "2023-12-11", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced today the Department of Transportation (DOT) will award Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government $21,720,000 in federal funding to reconstruct a critical roadway in Lexington, Kentucky.\n\nToday\u2019s funding will make several significant upgrades to New Circle Road, the highest fatal and serious injury corridor identified in Lexington\u2019s safety action plan. This three-part project will overhaul the infrastructure of this heavily trafficked artery and implement several changes to improve motorist and pedestrian safety and reduce traffic fatalities.\n\nThis federal funding is made possible through DOT\u2019s Safe Streets and Roads for All Funding Opportunity, established in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Senator McConnell led the IIJA to Senate passage two years ago, and the President signed the bill into law. The IIJA gives Kentucky billions of federal dollars over five years to improve the Commonwealth\u2019s roads, bridges, railroads, riverports, airports, broadband, and more.\n\nSenator McConnell, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, contacted the Secretary of Transportation in support of Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government\u2019s competitive federal application.\n\n\u201cTraffic fatalities continue to take a tragic toll on communities across the Commonwealth, especially on New Circle Road in Lexington. Fortunately, we are taking important strides to reduce this deadly trend, and I\u2019m grateful to see today\u2019s significant investment help deploy commonsense safety improvements in the community,\u201d said Senator McConnell. \u201cI supported the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act because of programs like this, which will help improve traffic safety in one of our Commonwealth\u2019s largest cities.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=A6FAF340-E9A7-458C-AC9B-B57E82111E61", "McConnell Helps Secure Over $7 Million for Road Improvements in Downtown Louisville", "2023-12-11", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced today the Department of Transportation (DOT) will award Louisville Metro Government $7,500,000 in federal funding to improve critical roadways in downtown Louisville.\n\nToday\u2019s funding will help convert several important arteries in downtown Louisville from one-way to two-way streets, increasing access to businesses and residences along these corridors while making other improvements to reduce traffic conflicts and enhance safety.\n\nThis federal funding is made possible through DOT\u2019s Safe Streets and Roads Program, which was established in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Senator McConnell led the IIJA to Senate passage two years ago, and the President signed the bill into law. The IIJA gives Kentucky billions of federal dollars over five years to improve the Commonwealth\u2019s roads, bridges, railroads, riverports, airports, broadband, and more.\n\nSenator McConnell, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, contacted the Secretary of Transportation in support of Louisville Metro Government\u2019s competitive federal application.\n\n\u201cLike many growing American cities, Louisville is familiar with the cost that inefficient, backed-up roads can have on residents, commuters, families, and businesses alike. Unfortunately, busy roads can also lead to dangerous and sometimes deadly situations. While Kentuckians still experience far too many traffic fatalities, I\u2019m grateful to see today\u2019s significant investment go toward reducing this deadly trend,\u201d said Senator McConnell. \u201cI supported the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act because of grants like this, which will help improve the safety of our roads in Kentucky\u2019s largest city.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/icymi-dr-rand-paul-forces-u-s-senate-vote-on-war-powers-resolution-concerning-u-s-troops-in-syria/", "ICYMI: Dr. Rand Paul Forces U.S. Senate Vote on War Powers Resolution Concerning U.S. Troops in Syria", "2023-12-08", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 8, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nICYMI: Dr. Rand Paul Forces U.S. Senate Vote on War Powers Resolution Concerning U.S. Troops in Syria\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Yesterday, as a continuation of his efforts to return war powers to Congress and end the American military presence in Syria, which needlessly puts our troops\u2019 lives in danger and risks further escalation of conflict in the Middle East, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) forced the U.S. Senate to vote on his War Powers Resolution (S.J. Res. 51). His resolution directed the president to remove all U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities in and affecting Syria within 30 days of its enactment. Dr. Paul\u2019s resolution was co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and JD Vance (R-OH).\n\n\u201cKeeping 900 U.S. troops in Syria does nothing to advance American security. Rather, our intervention puts those servicemembers at grave risk by providing an enticing target for Iranian-backed militias,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cOur continued presence risks the United States getting dragged into yet another regional war in the Middle East without debate or a vote by the people\u2019s representatives in Congress. Congress must cease abdicating its constitutional war powers to the executive branch.\u201d\n\nA bipartisan group of 13 Senators voted for Dr. Paul\u2019s resolution.\n\nYou can read the full text of Dr. Paul\u2019s Syria War Powers Resolution HERE, and watch Dr. Paul\u2019s floor speech ahead of the vote HERE.\n\nAlthough Congress never authorized the use of military force in Syria, the Biden Administration maintains 900 troops there. These troops are vulnerable to attacks by state and non-state actors as is tragically evident by recent weeks. Since Hamas\u2019 reprehensible October 7th attack on Israel, our troops in Syria and Iraq have been attacked at least 76 times. According to the Pentagon, a total of 59 U.S. military personnel were injured in these attacks. Of those injured, 32 were at al-Tanf garrison in southeastern Syria, where our soldiers suffered various injuries, including traumatic brain injuries.\n\nIn September 2014, the Obama administration initiated U.S. military operations in Syria without congressional authorization. By 2017, the Pentagon revealed that 2,000 U.S. troops were deployed to Syria. The mission outlined in Operation Inherent Resolve to degrade and destroy ISIS was achieved in 2019 when the ISIS caliphate was eradicated. Four years later, 900 U.S. troops remain in Syria, with no clear objective, no definition of victory, no exit strategy, and no authorization from Congress to engage in hostilities there.\n\nThere is wide support for Dr. Paul\u2019s Syria War Powers Resolution:\n\n\u201cWe owe our soldiers serving there in harm\u2019s way a serious debate about whether their mission is, in fact, achievable. Absent a debate and authorization of such a mission, our troops should be removed. Consideration of S.J. Res. 51 is an important opportunity for the Senate to take a step towards that necessary outcome,\u201dsaidRobert S. Ford, Former U.S. Ambassador to Syria and Political Counselor and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.\n\n\u201cWe should only risk the well-being of our troops in conflicts overseas that our nation deemed worthy of such an enormous sacrifice. Under our Constitution, that decision should only be made by Congress. Unfortunately, none of this has happened with regards to the endless war and occupation of Syria. We are grateful that Senator Paul is once again requiring his colleagues to do their duty and cast a vote on these life and-death matters for our troops. While this is the first vote on Syria in the Senate, it is the fourth vote in Congress in just over two years, and pressure will only continue to grow until this endless war is brought to a close,\u201d said Erik Sperling, Executive Director of Pro-Diplomacy Advocacy Group at Just Foreign Policy.\n\n\u201cThe United States has been fighting the same undeclared war in Iraq and Syria for decades. This is a flagrant abuse of the Constitutional separation of powers and we wholeheartedly support Sen. Paul\u2019s effort to return us to the proper order,\u201d said Jim Hanson, Executive Director of America Matters.\n\n\u201cIt is a national disgrace that the Biden Administration has left our troops in Syria to serve as soft targets for those looking to punish the United States in service of an ill-defined mission that has no connection to our safety or national interest. Five years after the destruction of ISIS\u2019s territorial caliphate and with the Department of Defense admitting that the scattered remnants of ISIS are in \u201csurvival mode,\u201d it is past time for our troops to come home from Syria. Citizens for Renewing America is proud to support Senator Rand Paul\u2019s War Powers Resolution mandating the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria and we urge the Senate to pass this critical piece of legislation,\u201d said Wade Miller, Executive Director of Citizens for Renewing America.\n\n\u201cThe Biden Administration\u2019s deployment of nearly 900 US troops in Syria, facing 76 attacks since October 7, 2023, without specific congressional authorization or clear objectives raises concerns about constitutional checks and balances. While the President holds the role of Commander-in-Chief, Congress\u2019s authority to declare war or sanction troop placement is vital. Senator Rand Paul\u2019s Syria War Powers Resolution (S.J. Res. 51) aims to restore this balance, preventing an unchecked concentration of power in the Executive branch. Supporting the resolution is crucial for upholding constitutional principles amid complex geopolitical challenges,\u201d said George Landrith, President of Frontiers of Freedom Institute.\n\n\u201cA debate really needs to happen about \u2018why are we in Syria?\u2019 and \u2018what threat to the U.S. homeland do the groups we are fighting pose?\u2019 The U.S. has been engaged in these wars for two decades and Congress has been derelict in its duties while the executive branch has vastly expanded these wars. So Sen. Paul\u2019s War Powers Resolution is one of the few vehicles that serves to force Congress to take a vote,\u201dsaid Heather Brandon-Smith, Legislative Director for Militarism and Human Rights for the Friends Committee on National Legislation.\n\n\u201cThe Greater Middle East is a region beset with ancient ethnic rivalries and societal challenges that Washington D.C. has tried to fix, with both unlimited money and unlimited force, and have failed repeatedly, simply because it cannot be fixed top-down with big external and governmental interventions. It is also a region where at times the concepts of order and democracy are opposed to each other, and is a region of declining geo-political importance for the U.S. Whatever local threats from terrorism that remain in the region, are not existential to the U.S., compared to, say, the unsustainable trillions of dollars of American debt. Nothing warrants an American forward presence, in Syria or beyond. Washington should therefore narrow its priorities, and focus very narrowly on free shipping and trade routes and limited over-the-horizon counter-terrorism missions, as and when necessary, and otherwise leave the region to find its natural equilibrium. There are far greater future concerns, both strategic and social, elsewhere,\u201d said Dr. Sumantra Maitra, Senior Fellow at the Center for Renewing America and Senior Editor of the American Conservative.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=598C49E7-0C7D-41EE-9328-A13A9C57A8EF", "Senate Must Not Allow Retreat In Face Of Terror", "2023-12-07", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Syria war powers resolution vote:\n\n\u201cThis morning, the Senate will vote on a resolution calling for the withdrawal of American military forces from Syria.\n\n\u201cPassage of such a resolution would be a gift to Iran and its terrorist network. Driving American forces from the Middle East is exactly what they would like to see.\n\n\u201cAdopting this short-sighted measure would wreck America\u2019s credibility in the region.\n\n\u201cIt would encourage Iran\u2019s proxies to open a northern front in the territorial war against Israel. And it would invite America\u2019s adversaries to challenge our military presence throughout the world.\n\n\u201cBack in 2019, as our colleagues may recall, the Senate went on the record about the wisdom of withdrawing prematurely from Syria and Afghanistan.\n\n\u201cAt that time, the vast majority of us rejected such a retreat. And those who didn\u2019t have since watched President Biden\u2019s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, Putin\u2019s escalation against Ukraine, China\u2019s growing challenge to international peace and stability, and Iran\u2019s glaring threat to America and Israel.\n\n\u201cToday is the 82nd anniversary of Pearl Harbor. It\u2019s a day to remember the cost of being caught on our heels.\n\n\u201cA vote in favor of this resolution is a vote for retreat in the face of terror.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=A62B7B25-5787-4A7C-91F9-9A5DE9DD2A61", "White House\u2019s \u2018Word Of The Year\u2019 Is Crushing Working Americans", "2023-12-07", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Bidenomics:\n\n\u201cWorking Americans can\u2019t seem to catch a break from Bidenomics.\n\n\u201cWashington Democrats\u2019 spending sprees on President Biden\u2019s watch have driven inflation up 17.6%. And the effects are becoming inescapable.\n\n\u201cIn my home state, many small business owners have been forced to raise their prices to keep up with rising costs.\n\n\u201cAs one shop owner in Lexington put it, \u2018I make food and chocolates and all the ingredients have gone up.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2019I\u2019ve been battling with increasing my prices,\u2019 he said, \u2018which I don\u2019t want to do.\u2019\n\n\u201cJust like in cities and towns across the country, small businesses in Lexington are facing declining foot traffic\u2026\n\n\u201cWhich might have something to do with consumers\u2019 shrinking paychecks. Inflation is eating away at people\u2019s savings.\n\n\u201cBy one estimate, the average American family would need an extra $11,400 a year just to maintain the standard of living they had when President Biden took office. And needless to say, folks on fixed incomes are among the hardest hit.\n\n\u201cOne sixty-eight-year-old retiree in western Massachusetts summed up his struggle to make ends meet in the Biden economy:\n\n\u201c\u2018You get your check and then you have to sit there \u2026 like \u2018What am I going to pay out? Am I going to get food or lose my electricity? \u2026 I can\u2019t spend nothing anymore. I have to pay rent, utilities, food, medicine.\u2019\n\n\u201cThis is what the American people are up against. This is everyday life under Bidenomics.\n\n\u201cBizarrely, the Biden Administration still seems to hold its favorite phrase in high esteem. The White House Press Secretary called Bidenomics, \u2018the word of the year\u2019.\n\n\u201cWell, working Americans feel quite differently. And the President\u2019s hometown is no exception. As one resident of Scranton, Pennsylvania reported recently, \u2018everything\u2019s going up except paychecks.\u2019\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=BC5E6B0C-EB97-417E-AB88-7EE4CB3C8EE4", "Time To Deliver On National Security Priorities At Home And Abroad", "2023-12-07", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding national security priorities:\n\n\u201cYesterday, every single Senate Republican rejected the Democratic Leader\u2019s attempt to separate border security from national security. As we\u2019ve said for weeks, that was a futile effort that was doomed to fail from the very beginning.\n\n\u201cHopefully, the Senate can now seize a new opportunity to make real progress on legislation that addresses urgent national security priorities \u2013 both at home and abroad.\n\n\u201cSo let\u2019s establish a few things going forward:\n\n\u201cIt is profoundly unserious to pretend that national security priorities don\u2019t include securing our nation\u2019s borders\u2026\n\n\u201cTo warn about borders in jeopardy and not start with the one that\u2019s being overrun here at home\u2026\n\n\u201cTo invoke threats facing sovereign nations without a clear plan to uphold America\u2019s own sovereignty.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I\u2019m not in need of any lectures about on the gravity of the challenges facing national security today.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t need any admonishments about what\u2019s at stake for America and our allies in Ukraine\u2019s fight against Russian aggression.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m well aware that the world\u2019s largest state sponsor of terrorism remains undeterred from trying to kill Americans in the Middle East.\n\n\u201cAnd I certainly have not forgotten that China \u2013 our top strategic adversary \u2013 is watching what we do very closely.\n\n\u201cInstead, unfortunately, it\u2019s been the Biden Administration \u2013 including our Commander-in-Chief \u2013 who have all too often needed reminders about the responsibilities of a global superpower. From Europe to the Middle East, the Administration has reached new heights of self-deterrence.\n\n\u201cWith Putin\u2019s forces massing on the borders of Ukraine, the Administration slow-walked lethal assistance. As the Russian offensive unfolded, they held back the most decisive capabilities Ukraine needed out of an unfounded fear of escalation.\n\n\u201cAnd even with further security assistance hanging in the balance, the Biden Administration has been very slow to sell this urgent measure \u2013 and its massive domestic benefits \u2013 to the American people.\n\n\u201cFrom the outset, the Biden Administration resumed the Obama-era efforts to reset relations with Tehran and removed the Iran-backed Houthis from the terrorism list.\n\n\u201cIt is no surprise that Iran has thumbed its nose at these displays of weakness. It\u2019s no surprise that U.S. personnel are facing a spike in terrorist attacks, from Iraq and Syria to the Red Sea. But the Administration continues to pull its punches.\n\n\u201cAnd meanwhile, Republicans have spent years urging the Administration to start performing even the bare minimum of its fundamental responsibility to secure our southern border and enforce our nation\u2019s laws.\n\n\u201cRight now, the crisis created by the Biden Administration\u2019s neglect is bringing illegal aliens to the United States at a rate of 300,000 a month.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s roughly the population of Lexington, Kentucky, arriving every month. And thanks to an asylum and parole system that desperately needs fixing, many of them are just brought straight in.\n\n\u201cI know many of our Democratic colleagues recognize the urgency of this crisis. I know many of them are ready to help restore sanity at our southern border.\n\n\u201cWell, Senator Lankford, Senator Graham, and other Republican colleagues are still working hard to do exactly that. And there\u2019s no time like the present to join them in those efforts.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/dr-rand-paul-to-force-u-s-senate-vote-on-war-powers-resolution-concerning-u-s-troops-in-syria/", "Dr. Rand Paul to Force U.S. Senate Vote on War Powers Resolution Concerning U.S. Troops in Syria", "2023-12-07", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 7, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nDr. Rand Paul to Force U.S. Senate Vote on War Powers Resolution Concerning U.S. Troops in Syria\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Today, as a continuation of his efforts to return war powers to Congress and end the American military presence in Syria, which needlessly puts our troops\u2019 lives in danger and risks further escalation of conflict in the Middle East, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) will force the U.S. Senate to vote on his War Powers Resolution (S.J. Res. 51). His resolution directs the president to remove all U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities in and affecting Syria within 30 days of its enactment. Dr. Paul\u2019s resolution is currently co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and JD Vance (R-OH).\n\n\u201cKeeping 900 U.S. troops in Syria does nothing to advance American security. Rather, our intervention puts those servicemembers at grave risk by providing an enticing target for Iranian-backed militias,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cOur continued presence risks the United States getting dragged into yet another regional war in the Middle East without debate or a vote by the people\u2019s representatives in Congress. Congress must cease abdicating its constitutional war powers to the executive branch.\u201d\n\nDr. Paul is expected to speak on the Senate floor at around 11:00 a.m. ET, you can watch his remarks HERE.\n\nYou can read the full text of Dr. Paul\u2019s Syria War Powers Resolution HERE.\n\nAlthough Congress never authorized the use of military force in Syria, the Biden Administration maintains 900 troops there. These troops are vulnerable to attacks by state and non-state actors as is tragically evident by recent weeks. Since Hamas\u2019 reprehensible October 7th attack on Israel, our troops in Syria and Iraq have been attacked at least 76 times. According to the Pentagon, a total of 59 U.S. military personnel were injured in these attacks. Of those injured, 32 were at al-Tanf garrison in southeastern Syria, where our soldiers suffered various injuries, including traumatic brain injuries.\n\nIn September 2014, the Obama administration initiated U.S. military operations in Syria without congressional authorization. By 2017, the Pentagon revealed that 2,000 U.S. troops were deployed to Syria. The mission outlined in Operation Inherent Resolve to degrade and destroy ISIS was achieved in 2019 when the ISIS caliphate was eradicated. Four years later, 900 U.S. troops remain in Syria, with no clear objective, no definition of victory, no exit strategy, and no authorization from Congress to engage in hostilities there.\n\nThere is wide support for Dr. Paul\u2019s Syria War Powers Resolution:\n\n\u201cWe owe our soldiers serving there in harm\u2019s way a serious debate about whether their mission is, in fact, achievable. Absent a debate and authorization of such a mission, our troops should be removed. Consideration of S.J. Res. 51 is an important opportunity for the Senate to take a step towards that necessary outcome,\u201dsaidRobert S. Ford, Former U.S. Ambassador to Syria and Political Counselor and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.\n\n\u201cWe should only risk the well-being of our troops in conflicts overseas that our nation deemed worthy of such an enormous sacrifice. Under our Constitution, that decision should only be made by Congress. Unfortunately, none of this has happened with regards to the endless war and occupation of Syria. We are grateful that Senator Paul is once again requiring his colleagues to do their duty and cast a vote on these life and-death matters for our troops. While this is the first vote on Syria in the Senate, it is the fourth vote in Congress in just over two years, and pressure will only continue to grow until this endless war is brought to a close,\u201d said Erik Sperling, Executive Director of Pro-Diplomacy Advocacy Group at Just Foreign Policy.\n\n\u201cThe United States has been fighting the same undeclared war in Iraq and Syria for decades. This is a flagrant abuse of the Constitutional separation of powers and we wholeheartedly support Sen. Paul\u2019s effort to return us to the proper order,\u201d said Jim Hanson, Executive Director of America Matters.\n\n\u201cIt is a national disgrace that the Biden Administration has left our troops in Syria to serve as soft targets for those looking to punish the United States in service of an ill-defined mission that has no connection to our safety or national interest. Five years after the destruction of ISIS\u2019s territorial caliphate and with the Department of Defense admitting that the scattered remnants of ISIS are in \u201csurvival mode,\u201d it is past time for our troops to come home from Syria. Citizens for Renewing America is proud to support Senator Rand Paul\u2019s War Powers Resolution mandating the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria and we urge the Senate to pass this critical piece of legislation,\u201d said Wade Miller, Executive Director of Citizens for Renewing America.\n\n\u201cThe Biden Administration\u2019s deployment of nearly 900 US troops in Syria, facing 76 attacks since October 7, 2023, without specific congressional authorization or clear objectives raises concerns about constitutional checks and balances. While the President holds the role of Commander-in-Chief, Congress\u2019s authority to declare war or sanction troop placement is vital. Senator Rand Paul\u2019s Syria War Powers Resolution (S.J. Res. 51) aims to restore this balance, preventing an unchecked concentration of power in the Executive branch. Supporting the resolution is crucial for upholding constitutional principles amid complex geopolitical challenges,\u201d said George Landrith, President of Frontiers of Freedom Institute.\n\n\u201cA debate really needs to happen about \u2018why are we in Syria?\u2019 and \u2018what threat to the U.S. homeland do the groups we are fighting pose?\u2019 The U.S. has been engaged in these wars for two decades and Congress has been derelict in its duties while the executive branch has vastly expanded these wars. So Sen. Paul\u2019s War Powers Resolution is one of the few vehicles that serves to force Congress to take a vote,\u201dsaid Heather Brandon-Smith, Legislative Director for Militarism and Human Rights for the Friends Committee on National Legislation.\n\n\u201cThe Greater Middle East is a region beset with ancient ethnic rivalries and societal challenges that Washington D.C. has tried to fix, with both unlimited money and unlimited force, and have failed repeatedly, simply because it cannot be fixed top-down with big external and governmental interventions. It is also a region where at times the concepts of order and democracy are opposed to each other, and is a region of declining geo-political importance for the U.S. Whatever local threats from terrorism that remain in the region, are not existential to the U.S., compared to, say, the unsustainable trillions of dollars of American debt. Nothing warrants an American forward presence, in Syria or beyond. Washington should therefore narrow its priorities, and focus very narrowly on free shipping and trade routes and limited over-the-horizon counter-terrorism missions, as and when necessary, and otherwise leave the region to find its natural equilibrium. There are far greater future concerns, both strategic and social, elsewhere,\u201d said Dr. Sumantra Maitra, Senior Fellow at the Center for Renewing America and Senior Editor of the American Conservative.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=10957014-0498-45EB-B34D-17DA7E248538", "McConnell Statement On Speaker Kevin McCarthy", "2023-12-06", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued the following statement today regarding Speaker Kevin McCarthy:\n\n\u201cLong before he became the 55th Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy was already living the American Dream. He was already a small business owner, the grandson of immigrants, and a proud son of Bakersfield, California. And his patriotic ideals and fighting spirit had already made him a natural leader among his colleagues in Congress.\n\n\u201cI am grateful for the boundless optimism that Speaker McCarthy brought to our shared work on behalf of our party and the American people. Each of these qualities proved invaluable as we took on the most pressing challenges facing our nation with a united front.\n\n\u201cAfter 17 years of service, Speaker McCarthy can depart Congress with pride in what he and his conference have achieved for the nation. I am confident that his next chapter will be every bit as impressive as the last one.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=331C9323-752D-47A4-AB3D-A622FBC96294", "Biden Admin. Radical Climate Agenda Still Hammering Kentucky", "2023-12-06", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Democrats\u2019 \u2018War on Coal\u2019:\n\n\u201cFor millions of Americans, expensive heating bills and rolling blackouts are quickly becoming the hallmark of the holiday season under President Biden.\n\n\u201cSo, it came as no small surprise when the Biden Administration\u2019s climate czar, John Kerry, proclaimed this week that no coal plants should be \u2018permitted anywhere in the world.\u2019\n\n\u201cOur former colleague may have bought himself applause from the jet-set crowd assembled at the conference. But his ban on coal would make energy even less reliable and affordable here at home.\n\n\u201cAs my colleague from West Virginia, Senator Capito, pointed out yesterday, many states in Middle America still rely on coal to keep the lights on. Kentucky, West Virginia, Wyoming, Missouri, Utah, North Dakota, Indiana, and Nebraska all use coal to generate over 50 percent of their electricity.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden\u2019s handling of the economy is turning in dismal marks from working Americans. But the climate activists in this Administration continue to wage war on the most affordable forms of American energy they rely on.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, Middle America is used to footing the bill for Washington\u2019s radical climate agenda. For eight years under President Obama, Kentucky watched the \u2018War on Coal\u2019 kill jobs and cripple communities across Appalachia.\n\n\u201cThese same communities continue to pay dearly under President Biden. Kentucky coal miner employment has never recovered from the Obama-era coal purge.\n\n\u201cHasty plans to phase out fossil fuels only force more miners into early retirement in Kentucky and threaten the livelihood of Middle America.\n\n\u201cAnd the sort of power grid failures we\u2019ve seen in California, Texas, and Kentucky, will become even more common if Democrats\u2019 full-speed-ahead climate strategy continues.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, our top strategic adversary is scaling up coal production. Despite the Biden Administration\u2019s pleading, China continues to forge ahead with new coal projects and resurrect retired plants. Time and again, the President\u2019s climate czar has happily accepted empty climate pledges from our adversaries at the expense of American jobs and job creators.\n\n\u201cSo, Democrats can repeat their tired green energy talking points until the cows come home. But the reality for Americans is all the same: less reliable and more expensive energy this winter.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=2EE9EC61-AC8C-4086-BA06-54132746B8DF", "National Security Threats Not Waiting For Democrats To Get Serious", "2023-12-05", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding national security priorities:\n\n\u201cThe Senate has spent months considering supplemental action to meet serious, connected threats to America\u2019s national security.\n\n\u201cAs I\u2019ve said from the outset, our work needs to address four urgent challenges: Putin\u2019s war on a sovereign democracy in Europe, the terror campaign against Israel and U.S. forces in the Middle East, China\u2019s aggressive escalation against Taiwan and peaceful nations in the Indo-Pacific, and the Biden Administration\u2019s continuing failure to contend with the crisis at our southern border.\n\n\u201cSenate Republicans\u2019 focus on securing the border didn\u2019t just begin this fall. We\u2019ve watched for three years as the border descended into chaos on President Biden\u2019s watch. And for three years, we\u2019ve urged his Administration to fulfill even its most basic responsibility to enforce our immigration laws.\n\n\u201cAnyone who suggests that Senate Republicans are injecting the issue of border security into this discussion at the last minute either isn\u2019t serious or isn\u2019t paying attention.\n\n\u201cContinuing to pretend that upholding American sovereignty is any less urgent than helping our allies and partners defend theirs is reckless.\n\n\u201cBorders in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona are every bit as inviolable as those in Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific.\n\n\u201cAnd the sooner our Democratic colleagues realize it, the sooner we can deliver on urgent national security priorities.\n\n\u201cNeedless to say, America\u2019s adversaries aren\u2019t waiting for us to get serious about our own security. In the South China Sea, for example, the PRC is increasingly using aggressive posturing and outright force to disrupt peace, stability, and lawful maritime commerce.\n\n\u201cBeijing now greets lawful passage in international waters with threatening, unsafe conduct and hyperventilating bluster and continues to undermine the long-established territorial claims of sovereign nations throughout southeast Asia.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, China is not the only adversary stepping up its aggression in the maritime domain.\n\n\u201cIran and its network of terrorists continue to illustrate the failures of the Biden Administration\u2019s deterrence in dangerous detail. On Sunday, a U.S. Navy destroyer and Israeli-flagged commercial vessels came under fire from the same Houthi rebels this Administration had inexplicably taken off its list of terror organizations when it took office as a concession to Iran.\n\n\u201cOf course, terrorist violence at sea is only the latest in a laundry list of Iran-backed attempts to kill Americans in region since October 7th. At least 77 times now, Tehran\u2019s proxies have used lethal force against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria.\n\n\u201cBy any objective standard, the Biden Administration\u2019s response has been woefully inadequate. Tehran remains demonstrably undeterred. As President Obama\u2019s former Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, put it last week, \u2018I would be much more aggressive\u2019.\n\n\u201cSo, effective deterrence requires both capabilities and credibility. And America can\u2019t hope to deter our adversaries if we signal hesitation and fear of escalation.\n\n\u201cConsider the enemy we\u2019re up against. One of Hamas\u2019 top terrorists in Gaza told the media recently: the slaughter of Israelis on October 7th was, \u2018just a rehearsal\u2019. A bloody rehearsal that left 1,200 innocent people dead and hundreds more in terrorist captivity.\n\n\u201cThese savages mean what they say about erasing Israel from the map. But this is not just Israel\u2019s fight.\n\n\u201cToday, at least eight Americans are still being held hostage in Gaza. And if Iran and its proxies get their way, there will be more Americans killed and captured.\n\n\u201cThis is not a time to go soft on terror. This is not a time to put constraints on Israel. This is a time to support your friends and stand up to your adversaries.\n\n\u201cAs the Senate considers urgent national security priorities, our adversaries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East are watching closely what we do.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=A88FD6D8-02E7-42AE-BC89-FAB6DE7F5378", "McConnell: Israel Has Right To Exist, American Jews Deserve Freedom From Fear", "2023-12-05", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding anti-Semitism:\n\n\u201cIn the 59 days since October 7th, an alarming surge in anti-Semitic hate has swept the world. And the United States unfortunately has not been exempt.\n\n\u201cOn Sunday, an angry mob descended upon a Philadelphia restaurant co-owned by an Israeli-born Jew. Protesters demanded that customers boycott it, and \u2013 outrageously \u2013 charged the business and its proprietors with genocide.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, this is hardly an isolated incident. Across social media, left-wing activists have whipped followers into a frenzy by proclaiming the urgent need to boycott hundreds of American businesses for the alleged crime of supporting Israel\u2019s right to exist.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019ve committed acts of violence and vandalism, including against the homes of members of Congress.\n\n\u201cAnti-Semitic online mobs are insisting that organizations that do business in Israel are complicit in ethnic cleansing.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, these situations seem most often to flare-up on the campuses of elite universities.\n\n\u201cThis week, a prominent Harvard alumnus penned an open letter to Harvard\u2019s president cataloguing that institution\u2019s continued insanity when it comes to Israel\u2019s right to self-defense.\n\n\u201cAt Princeton, a faculty group recently signed a letter invoking academic freedom as a shield for students around the country who have parroted terrorist propaganda. Of course, in the same document, the professors found room to hurl their own accusation of \u2018apartheid\u2019 at Israel.\n\n\u201cAmerican higher education has become the epicenter of an alarming wave of hatred toward Jews.\n\n\u201cLuckily, there are glimmers of hope. At Franciscan University in Ohio, administrators created an expedited transfer process to welcome students facing anti-Semitic threats at other schools.\n\n\u201cCatholic friars in rural Appalachia are eager to accept Jewish students that the Ivy League is failing to protect.\n\n\u201cBut unfortunately, stories like these are few and far between. It\u2019s especially alarming to see anti-Semitic hatred bleeding into secondary education, as well.\n\n\u201cLast month, an organization known as \u2018The People\u2019s Forum\u2019 helped organize a massive anti-Israel protest and walk-out at schools in New York City.\n\n\u201cThe group, which has direct ties to both domestic radical activists and state propagandists in Beijing, is creating toolkits and posters to facilitate such events at other schools.\n\n\u201cAs I\u2019ve said before, I am a staunch supporter of freedom of speech.\n\n\u201cOur nation gives hateful people the right to say appalling things.\n\n\u201cBut it also gives people with a moral compass the right to condemn them in the strongest possible terms.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=C7274ABC-9FF6-4550-A673-F6DA0D907359", "Sens. McConnell, Paul Urge Biden Administration to Protect American Jobs, Remove Retaliatory Tariffs on Bourbon and Spirits", "2023-12-05", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) wrote a letter to the Biden Administration urging quick action to protect the millions of U.S. jobs that rely on American bourbon and spirits producers. Without urgent action, the European Union (EU) will implement a 50% tariff on American whiskey imports on January 1, 2024, and American wine and other distilled spirits imports could see sharp tariff increases by 2026.\n\nRetaliatory tariffs by the EU have cost domestic spirits distillers and winemakers billions of dollars since 2018, and the U.S. needs a permanent solution to safeguard over 1.7 million production, distribution, and hospitality jobs that rely on the industry. The bourbon and spirits industries support over 35,000 Kentucky jobs and over $14 million in state economic activity alone.\n\nThe senators\u2019 letter urges U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to negotiate a deal to permanently remove retaliatory tariffs on all American-made spirits and wines.\n\n\u201cWe write today to request an expedited agreement with the European Union (EU) to secure the permanent removal of retaliatory tariffs on spirits and wines,\u201d the senators wrote. \u201cWe are deeply concerned that a lack of a permanent solution risks the re-imposition of tariffs.\u201d\n\n\u201cSpirits have had a significant cultural impact in our country, and currently have a profound impact on the U.S. economy. In 2022 alone, U.S. distilled spirit exports reached $2.06 billion. But the impact of the retaliatory tariffs was devastating\u2026Our belief is that the imposition of additional tariffs on this industry is detrimental,\u201d the senators concluded. \u201cThere are mutual benefits in finding a path forward, and our belief is that spirits and wines are a point where there can be consensus to limit the damage for all parties.\u201d\n\nThe bipartisan letter was also signed by Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Todd Young (R-IN), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Mark Warner (D-VA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Katie Britt (R-AL), Mike Braun (R-IN), and Gary Peters (D-MI).", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/dr-rand-paul-urges-fda-to-rescind-overburdensome-proposed-rule-on-laboratory-developed-tests/", "Dr. Rand Paul Urges FDA to Rescind Overburdensome Proposed Rule on Laboratory Developed Tests", "2023-12-05", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 5, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nDr. Rand Paul Urges FDA to Rescind Overburdensome Proposed Rule on Laboratory Developed Tests\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Yesterday, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) sent a letter to Dr. Robert Califf, Commissioner of Food and Drugs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about the FDA\u2019s recent proposed rule on Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs). The proposed rule would inappropriately impose the FDA\u2019s medical device regulatory framework on health care providers developing and performing LDTs as part of their professional practice. It would also cause unnecessary disruptions to patient care.\n\nYou can read the full letter HERE or below.\n\nDear Dr. Califf:\n\nI write to convey my grave concerns about the FDA\u2019s recent proposed rule on Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs; Docket No. FDA-2023-N-2177), which would inappropriately impose the FDA\u2019s medical device regulatory framework on health care providers developing and performing LDTs as part of their professional practice.\n\nThe proposed rule clearly exceeds the FDA\u2019s statutory authority under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) and conflicts with implementation of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA), which have successfully governed LDT regulation for decades. As observed in a white paper co-authored by Paul Clement, the former Solicitor General of the United States, and Professor Laurence Tribe of Harvard Law School, \u201cFDA\u2019s novel effort to expand its jurisdiction is foreclosed by the plain text of the FDCA. Congress gave FDA the authority to regulate medical devices, and laboratory-developed testing services are not devices.\u201d This legal interpretation was reaffirmed in a June 2020 memorandum by the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.\n\nPrecisely because it has long been the mainstream view of legal experts that the FDA lacks authority to regulate LDTs in the absence of legislation to grant them such authority, both chambers of the 117th Congress twice considered-and twice rejected-a proposal to do exactly that. The VALID Act of 2021 would have amended federal law to shift regulation of all in vitro clinical tests to the FDA, thus creating a statutory basis for a rule like the one recently published. This policy was extensively debated in the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions during the 2022 consideration of legislation to reauthorize FDA user fee programs related to drugs, medical devices, and biosimilar products. When Congress reauthorized these user fee programs later that year, it chose to omit the VALID Act policies from the reauthorization. At the end of 2022, the VALID Act was again considered by both chambers of Congress during negotiation of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. Again, Congress chose to omit the VALID Act policies when it passed that legislation to fund the government. Yet congressional debate about how to modernize the federal government\u2019s approach to regulating laboratory testing services remains ongoing. Coming as it does in the midst of those discussions, the proposed rule threatens to usurp the lawmaking role assigned to Congress by the U.S. Constitution.\n\nThe proposed rule also risks repeating the disruptions to patient care we saw during the crucial first months of the CO VID-19 pandemic, when the FD A was empowered to enforce emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for all LDTs for SARS-CoV-2 due to the public health emergency. The FDA initially restricted clinical laboratories from testing and only issued an EUA for the CDC\u2019s test kit, which was later recalled, leaving the U.S. without any authorized tests as COVID-19 spread undetected through our communities. As the Deputy Director of the newly formed White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy recently acknowledged, \u201cDuring the pandemic, diagnostics were clearly the elephant in the room of what went wrong \u2026 we will never actually know how much it delayed us, or how much mortality it caused.\u201d\n\nRemarkably, the consequences of the FDA having authority over LDTs during the pandemic are not even mentioned in the proposed rule. Likewise, the agency\u2019s legally mandated impact analysis does not address the policy\u2019s potential societal costs, economic costs, or the new burden it would place on the agency to regulate a vast portion of the health care sector it does not regulate currently. Under current law, CUA governs some 320,000 certified laboratory entities, many of which are housed at our nation\u2019s most prestigious academic institutions and staffed by the leading researchers in the world. The proposed rule would effectively transfer the LDT market from these world-class, federally certified labs to large medical device manufacturers and other large companies whose business model equips them to navigate the FDA\u2019s medical device pathway. These unexamined impacts would likely have dire and far-reaching consequences by consolidating our nation\u2019s clinical laboratory market and preventing providers from offering testing services. The fact that these potential effects on our nation\u2019s health care sector were overlooked in the proposed rule suggest that the impact analysis is incomplete at best.\n\nPerhaps most troubling, the proposed rule could have adverse consequences for patients. In 2011, the melanoma drug vemurafenib was FDA-approved along with a companion test. The drug sold well but physicians noticed that the FDA-approved companion test was failing to identify patients with melanoma who would respond to the drug. That experience should remind the agency that its expertise, though valuable in assessing drugs and devices, may not be readily transferred to LDTs. Subjecting all LDTs to FDA approval will inevitably lead them to become outdated and begin missing more patients as time goes on, because unlike LDTs in CLIA certified labs today, they will have to undergo lengthy product reviews for each new update or improvement. Many patients will not have the time to wait.\n\nFor all the reasons above, I strongly urge the FDA to rescind its proposed rule so that Congress can continue its work to establish a modem oversight framework for laboratory testing services.\n\nBackground:\n\nSince 2019, Dr. Paul has fought to protect doctors, health care workers, and patients from unnecessary federal regulations by the FDA on laboratory testing services. In the 116th and 117th Congress, Dr. Paul introduced the VITAL Act as an alternative to the overburdensome VALID Act. Dr. Paul\u2019s VITAL Act would help make tests quickly and widely available in health emergencies by removing unnecessary government barriers that drastically slowed the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/sens-paul-mcconnell-urge-biden-administration-to-protect-american-jobs-remove-retaliatory-tariffs-on-bourbon-and-spirits/", "Sens. Paul, McConnell Urge Biden Administration to Protect American Jobs, Remove Retaliatory Tariffs on Bourbon and Spirits", "2023-12-05", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nDecember 5, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nSens. Paul, McConnell Urge Biden Administration to Protect American Jobs, Remove Retaliatory Tariffs on Bourbon and Spirits\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) wrote a letter to the Biden Administration urging quick action to protect the millions of U.S. jobs that rely on American bourbon and spirits producers. Without urgent action, the European Union (EU) will implement a 50% tariff on American whiskey imports on January 1, 2024, and American wine and other distilled spirits imports could see sharp tariff increases by 2026.\n\nRetaliatory tariffs by the EU have cost domestic spirits distillers and winemakers billions of dollars since 2018, and the U.S. needs a permanent solution to safeguard over 1.7 million production, distribution, and hospitality jobs that rely on the industry. The bourbon and spirits industries support over 35,000 Kentucky jobs and over $14 million in state economic activity alone.\n\nThe senators\u2019 letter urges U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to negotiate a deal to permanently remove retaliatory tariffs on all American-made spirits and wines.\n\n\u201cWe write today to request an expedited agreement with the European Union (EU) to secure the permanent removal of retaliatory tariffs on spirits and wines,\u201d the senators wrote. \u201cWe are deeply concerned that a lack of a permanent solution risks the re-imposition of tariffs.\u201d\n\n\u201cSpirits have had a significant cultural impact in our country, and currently have a profound impact on the U.S. economy. In 2022 alone, U.S. distilled spirit exports reached $2.06 billion. But the impact of the retaliatory tariffs was devastating\u2026Our belief is that the imposition of additional tariffs on this industry is detrimental,\u201d the senators concluded. \u201cThere are mutual benefits in finding a path forward, and our belief is that spirits and wines are a point where there can be consensus to limit the damage for all parties.\u201d\n\nThe bipartisan letter was also signed by Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Todd Young (R-IN), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Mark Warner (D-VA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Katie Britt (R-AL), Mike Braun (R-IN), and Gary Peters (D-MI).\n\nThe full text of the letter can be found HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=3F2227EF-044A-4A53-A448-2B721A6DCE4E", "McConnell Announces Nearly $2 Million for Water Infrastructure in Clinton, KY", "2023-12-04", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced today the City of Clinton will receive $1,826,783 in federal funding to overhaul aging wastewater infrastructure. Today\u2019s award will fund relocating and upgrading the city\u2019s sole sewer lift station, which provides service to residences, nursing homes, local schools, and businesses in Clinton, Kentucky.\n\nThis federal grant is made possible through a Delta Regional Authority (DRA) assistance program, funded by annual appropriations and the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Senator McConnell led the IIJA to Senate passage two years ago, and the President signed the bill into law. The IIJA gives Kentucky billions of federal dollars over five years to improve the Commonwealth\u2019s roads, bridges, railroads, riverports, airports, broadband, and more.\n\nSenator McConnell, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, contacted the DRA to support the City of Clinton\u2019s competitive federal application and advocated for DRA funding in the FY2023 federal government appropriations bill and the bipartisan Infrastructure Law.\n\n\u201cFor years, communities across my home state have dealt with aging water infrastructure, which can complicate life for thousands of Kentuckians and disrupt the many schools and businesses that rely on these structures. That\u2019s why I was proud to join leaders in West Kentucky and advocate for this critical funding on behalf of the Clinton community, said Senator McConnell. \u201cI\u2019m pleased to see the bipartisan Infrastructure Law deliver wins for communities like Clinton, and I\u2019ll continue to champion the infrastructure priorities of Kentuckians that need them most.\u201d\n\n\u201cWithout question, the City of Clinton is heavily dependent upon this lift station, which serves numerous residents, businesses, nursing homes, and schools,\u201d said Clinton Mayor John Kelly. \u201cThe entire Clinton community is incredibly pleased to see these federal funds go toward this critical component of our city\u2019s infrastructure, and we\u2019re grateful for Senator McConnell\u2019s support in securing this much-needed grant.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=9D77CB9B-46A4-4438-968A-77AB3280277D", "McConnell on Former UofL President Donald Swain", "2023-12-04", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the following statement today regarding the passing of former University of Louisville President Donald Swain:\n\n\u201cElaine and I join Kentuckians in mourning former University of Louisville President Donald Swain. For nearly 15 years, my alma mater was fortunate to count Don among its top ranks. To Louisville, he brought with him a lifetime of service in academia, transforming the university into a magnet for higher education and leading research. He ushered in a golden era of unprecedented growth \u2013 from establishing a nationally recognized athletics program to steering the university hospital toward success to jump-starting the McConnell Center on campus together. Those of us fortunate to work with Don remember his knack for getting things done and his honorable stewardship of our beloved university. We extend our condolences to his children, Alan and Cynthia, family members, and friends during this difficult time.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=A9E1434F-10A1-4592-A7A2-6346B42A5957", "National Security, Step One: Secure The Border", "2023-12-04", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding national security priorities:\n\n\u201cThe Senate has less than two weeks to pass supplemental legislation on urgent national security priorities.\n\n\u201cAs I\u2019ve said for months, that means addressing both grave threats to America\u2019s interests overseas and a glaring border security crisis here at home.\n\n\u201cSenate Republicans know that national security begins with border security.\n\n\u201cAnd we\u2019ve made it crystal clear that in order to pass the Senate, any measure we take up in the coming days must include serious policy changes designed to get the Biden Administration\u2019s border crisis under control.\n\n\u201cApparently, some of our colleagues aren\u2019t ready to take that reality seriously.\n\n\u201cSenator Lankford, Senator Graham, and their fellow Republican negotiators are still at the table, working diligently on solutions. But from the White House to the Capitol, Washington Democrats are wasting time with bizarre public scoldings.\n\n\u201cInstead of engaging actively in the border security discussions required to complete a viable national security supplemental, the Biden Administration has chosen to lecture Congress with a brag reel of its supposed leadership in countering Putin in Europe.\n\n\u201cThe Administration\u2019s account glossed over its record of self-deterrence toward Russia, insisting that, \u2018the time to help a democratic Ukraine fight against Russian aggression is right now.\u2019\n\n\u201cIf only President Biden felt that sort of urgency in late 2021 and early 2022, as I and other Republicans urged his Administration to give Ukraine the lethal assistance it needed to resist Putin\u2019s escalation. If only this lethal assistance \u2013 and critical investments in cutting-edge capabilities for U.S. forces \u2013 hadn\u2019t required so much prodding.\n\n\u201cLast week, at the Reagan National Defense Forum, the previous Administration\u2019s former National Security Advisor, Robert O\u2019Brien, made the case for supporting Ukraine.\n\n\u201cHe pointed out, rightly, that helping degrade the military power of a major U.S. adversary is in America\u2019s national security interests, and that we shouldn\u2019t hesitate to give Ukraine the weapons it needs to do the job.\n\n\u201cAnd he observed that the Biden Administration\u2019s \u2018self-congratulatory talk\u2019 doesn\u2019t square with its \u2018parsimonious\u2019 approach to actually getting decisive weapons to the battlefield. As he put it, President Biden\u2019s team ought to \u2018stop patting [itself] on the back\u2019.\n\n\u201cFor their part, it\u2019s time for Senate Democrats to start demonstrating they\u2019re more interested in reaching a productive outcome in border security discussions than in wringing their hands in the press.\n\n\u201cThe junior Senator for Connecticut has concluded that beginning to stem the humanitarian and national security crisis on our southern border amounts to, \u2018closing the border indiscriminately.\u2019\n\n\u201cApparently, restoring a functional asylum and parole system, orderly points of entry, and meaningful enforcement of our immigration laws is a bridge too far for Senate Democrats.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s be absolutely clear what we\u2019re dealing with here. Let\u2019s establish exactly what it is that the Democratic Leader has called \u2018extraneous\u2019 to America\u2019s national security:\n\n\u201cOn President Biden\u2019s watch, CBP has recorded 6.5 million encounters at the southern border and 1.7 million known gotaways. And last fiscal year\u2019s all-time record apprehensions at the southern border included 169 individuals on the terrorist watch list \u2013 a massive increase.\n\n\u201cThe Biden Administration tried to convince the American people that they were serious about this historic crisis by having asylum seekers download a smartphone app. Instead, week after week, all we see are numbers that somehow keep getting worse.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, liberal state and local officials told us that the increasing chaos of their \u2018sanctuary cities\u2019 could be mitigated if only we raced to give work permits to their ever-growing populations of illegal aliens.\n\n\u201cNow, setting aside the fact that this creates the exact wrong incentives, the Biden Administration has already tried this approach and failed. In New York City alone, just 2% of recent arrivals have even applied.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden\u2019s officials have even admitted that they expected this unserious approach to produce a further surge in arrivals.\n\n\u201cAs recently as two weeks ago, the White House was trying to sell its flawed, insufficient supplemental proposal as a solution to the crisis.\n\n\u201cAs the junior Senator for Tennessee has pointed out, the President\u2019s answer to the border crisis wasn\u2019t to enforce immigration law \u2013 it was to turn ICE into a concierge service for illegal aliens.\n\n\u201cWashington Democrats appear to be hell-bent on exhausting every half-baked idea before they get serious about actually fixing our broken enforcement system and securing our southern border.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s the job the American people expect them to do. That\u2019s the foundation of America\u2019s national security. And time is running out.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=BA96C390-C8B5-4DF5-8BA9-E87DE3C77234", "McConnell Statement on the Passing of Justice Sandra Day O\u2019Connor", "2023-12-01", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "LOUISVILLE, KY \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell issued the following statement on the passing of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O\u2019Connor:\n\n\u201cToday, our nation mourns the passing of a towering figure in the history of American law.\n\n\u201cRaised on an Arizona cattle ranch miles from the nearest paved road, Sandra Day O\u2019Connor seemed destined for blazing new trails, and wasted no time getting down to work. She arrived at Stanford at 16 and left six years later having met the love of her life, John, with an honors law degree in tow.\n\n\u201cFrom her election as the first female Majority Leader in the history of American legislatures to her confirmation as the first female Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Sandra Day O\u2019Connor led with a brilliance and conviction that disarmed resistance. Her vote on the court frequently determined the majority in landmark cases, and the legacy of her role in landmark decisions reviving federalism during her first several terms on the Court continues to resound in Constitutional jurisprudence.\n\n\u201cElaine and I send our deepest condolences to Justice O\u2019Connor\u2019s sons, Scott, Brian, and Jay, to her grandchildren, and to the entire O\u2019Connor family at this difficult time.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=0235428C-39C8-462C-B5A4-5726113AE8C5", "McConnell Honors Henry Kissinger", "2023-11-30", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Henry Kissinger:\n\n\u201cThe past hundred years have seen few, if any, strategic thinkers shape world events as profoundly as Henry Kissinger.\n\n\u201cFew academics have had such deep experience in the practice of foreign policy.\n\n\u201cFew political appointees have had such bureaucratic savvy.\n\n\u201cFew senior government officials have carried such intellectual heft.\n\n\u201cWho else could claim to have advised more than one-fourth of all U.S. Presidents? To have taken a seat across from every Chinese head of state since Chairman Mao?\n\n\u201cYesterday marked the end of the extraordinary Kissinger century.\n\n\u201cIf you considered just the early chapters of this remarkable life, you might expect Henry Kissinger to be the quintessential idealist.\n\n\u201cBy the age of 30, he had escaped Nazi brutality for America, returned home a decorated veteran of the campaign to defeat Hitler, and launched a successful career as an Ivy League academic.\n\n\u201cOf course, instead of an idealist, this made-for-Hollywood origin story produced one of the world\u2019s staunchest realists. The Kissinger calculus was grounded in pragmatic assessments of national interests, the use of military force, and diplomatic compromise. And by extension, so were decades of American foreign policy.\n\n\u201cSeveral years ago, one particularly apt assessment of Henry Kissinger\u2019s legacy pointed out that he didn\u2019t believe \u2018the arc of history makes house calls\u2019. In other words, if the free world waits passively for its noble convictions to be vindicated, we\u2019ll be waiting quite a while.\n\n\u201cInstead, Henry Kissinger knew that the organizing principle for American strategy must be American interests.\n\n\u201cAnd he left no room for wondering what this approach looked like in practice.\n\n\u201cHis careful negotiations ushered in a period of d\u00e9tente with America\u2019s greatest 20th century rival, and his bold diplomacy opened the door to a relationship with China that rebalanced Cold War dynamics in America\u2019s favor.\n\n\u201cOf course, the enduring relevance of Dr. Kissinger\u2019s work is due in no small part to his prolific participation in public discourse on foreign policy and grand strategy up until the very end.\n\n\u201cThe author of 21 books confounded scholars half his age with the pace and volume of his brilliant scholarship on topics ranging from the history of diplomacy to artificial intelligence.\n\n\u201cIn perhaps the truest expression of both his intellectual horsepower and understanding of power, he remains the only American statesman to have served as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor at the very same time!\n\n\u201cToday, the world Henry Kissinger leaves behind bears his indelible mark. The nation he served \u2013 the global superpower he helped create \u2013 owes him our gratitude.\n\n\u201cElaine and I, along with so many of Dr. Kissinger\u2019s friends in the Senate, send our condolences to his wife, Nancy, his children David and Elizabeth, and to the entire Kissinger family as they mourn a great American.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=5635F6DF-02C4-4C4F-ADDE-C84E88023B43", "McConnell Celebrates Robley Rex VAMC Construction Milestone", "2023-11-30", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) today celebrated a construction milestone at the Robley Rex Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in Louisville, Kentucky. Senator McConnell, who has been a long-time advocate of the project and worked to secure the funding for construction of the facility, released the following statement which was shared during the Louisville VAMC\u2019s \u201cTopping Off Ceremony\u201d:\n\n\u201cThe debt we owe our servicemembers extends far beyond any program the government can provide. Today, however, we move one important step toward honoring this sacred obligation to our nation\u2019s heroes.\n\n\u201cAs the son of a World War II veteran, I always appreciate any chance I get to meet with our nation\u2019s servicemembers and, as Senate Republican Leader, to repay these brave men and women who, like my dad, answered the call to serve their country.\n\n\u201cFor nearly two decades, I\u2019ve been proud to secure over $1 billion in federal funding to construct this new medical center that will soon serve Kentucky and the greater region\u2019s many veterans.\n\n\u201cTo all the VA employees, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, contract partners, local leaders, and veterans involved in this effort, thank you for your countless hours of hard work that made today possible, and for your noble commitment to our Commonwealth\u2019s veterans.\n\n\u201cThis unique facility represents a rare opportunity for Louisville \u2013 and one we proudly welcome. I look forward to seeing the new Robley Rex VA Medical Center come to life and soon provide vital care to our Nation\u2019s servicemembers who have sacrificed so much to keep us safe at home.\n\n\u201cThank you, and God Bless.\u201d\n\nNOTE: Senator McConnell has proudly stood alongside this project\u2019s supporters and our veterans since day one. As Senate Republican Leader and a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, he has worked with four different administrations to ensure this new hospital remained a priority at the highest levels of government, steadily providing funding to make this facility a reality.\n\nIn 2008, Senator McConnell secured the project\u2019s first appropriation of $75 million in the Fiscal Year 2009 government-funding bill, which was used for the development of the new Louisville VAMC. Since then, he has brought home more than $1 billion for construction of the health-care facility. On Veterans Day 2021, Senator McConnell proudly joined Kentucky veterans at the groundbreaking ceremony for the hospital that will provide revolutionary, 21st century care to our nation\u2019s heroes.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=ED744814-EB0F-42CE-B8C5-1029A546D64B", "Sovereign Borders Matter At Home And Abroad", "2023-11-30", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding national security priorities:\n\n\u201cA good way to size up leaders \u2013 at home and abroad \u2013 is to look at how they treat borders.\n\n\u201cGood leaders recognize sovereignty as the bedrock of national security. As a result, peaceful nations both respect the inviolability of other nations\u2019 borders as well as vigorously defend their own.\n\n\u201cThe world is awash in examples of this fundamental reality.\n\n\u201cVladimir Putin has spent years trampling the sovereignty of his European neighbors. But the people of Ukraine are enduring occupation and torture, and giving their lives to restore their homeland\u2019s lawful borders.\n\n\u201cIran\u2019s network of proxies violates the sovereignty of Israel and its Arab neighbors with horrific terrorist bloodlust.\n\n\u201cBut the people of Israel respond with unwavering resolve to restore security.\n\n\u201cPresident Xi is pouring unprecedented investments into Chinese military power with the express purpose of shattering a sovereign democracy and undermining regional order. But Taiwan and America\u2019s other Asian partners are steeling themselves to deter aggression.\n\n\u201cThe United States has a direct interest in helping our friends maintain their sovereignty \u2013 from Europe to the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific. According to a survey published just today by the Reagan Institute, that\u2019s exactly how overwhelming majorities in this country see it.\n\n\u201cBy this latest account, 65% of Americans support U.S. assistance to Taiwan. 67% support assistance to Ukraine. And 71% support assistance to Israel.\n\n\u201cIn other words, a full two-thirds of the country recognizes the scope of America\u2019s interests and responsibilities as a global superpower.\n\n\u201cAt the same time, vast majorities continue to affirm that national security begins at home. Recent polling shows that even a majority of Democrats say they are at least \u2018very\u2019 concerned about the state of American border security on President Biden\u2019s watch.\n\n\u201cOver 9,000 illegal aliens arrive at our nation\u2019s southern border every day. And thanks to a profoundly broken system of asylum and parole, they know that the vast majority will be waived on through to settle in the interior.\n\n\u201cThe consequences of this crisis touch every corner of our country.\n\n\u201cThe overwhelming task facing border patrol personnel is drawing federal law enforcement personnel off of other important missions to help contend with surging arrivals at ports of entry.\n\n\u201cAs the senior Senator for Missouri revealed yesterday, some officers charged with protecting federal buildings are being sent instead to ferry illegal aliens to and from the hospital.\n\n\u201cThe vast stretches of border in between are seeing massive flows of lethal drugs like fentanyl on their way to poisoning Americans in states across the interior.\n\n\u201cAcross the country, even progressive mayors of self-described \u2018sanctuary cities\u2019 are at wit\u2019s end contending with the human wave heading north.\n\n\u201cThe Biden Administration\u2019s failure to secure our southern border is an embarrassing and dangerous policy failure. Here in the Senate, Democrats are making an embarrassing misjudgment of their own.\n\n\u201cThe Democratic Leader would like us to believe that the defense of sovereign borders is an urgent and noble cause when it takes place overseas\u2026 but an \u2018extraneous\u2019 distraction here at home.\n\n\u201cSome of our colleagues apparently think America can profess to stand for the rule of law without enforcing it on our own soil.\n\n\u201cThe Senate has two weeks to pass supplemental legislation to meet urgent national security priorities.\n\n\u201cThat means time is running out for our Democratic colleagues to recognize that national security begins here at home.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/dr-rand-paul-introduces-legislation-to-restore-and-protect-americans-fourth-amendment-rights/", "Dr. Rand Paul Introduces Legislation to Restore and Protect Americans\u2019 Fourth Amendment Rights", "2023-11-30", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 30, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nDr. Rand Paul Introduces Legislation to Restore and Protect Americans\u2019 Fourth Amendment Rights\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the Fourth Amendment Restoration and Protection Act. The bill would ensure Americans cannot be subjected to government surveillance upon the order of the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) or Executive Order 12333. While national security requires the ability to gather intelligence on foreign threats, using those authorities to conduct warrantless spying on Americans is an impermissible violation of the rights guaranteed to us by the Fourth Amendment.\n\nThe Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was enacted to protect the rights of Americans against the surveillance abuses documented by the Church and Pike Committees. Yet, events over the course of the last several years demonstrate that FISA has failed to prevent a recurrence of abuses that violate constitutionally protected rights. In fact, FISA\u2019s secretive and one-sided process invites the kind of abuse the law was intended to combat. This abuse is almost never remedied because, unlike the open and adversarial process afforded by Article III courts, FISA denies defendants the ability to effectively challenge the validity of surveillance warrants. Dr. Paul\u2019s legislation is a necessary remedy to this dangerously flawed process.\n\n\u201cNo secret, unaccountable court should be allowed to authorize spying on American citizens,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cMy Fourth Amendment Restoration and Protection Act would exempt Americans from the FISA process and ensure both constitutional rights and national security are protected.\u201d\n\nSpecifically, the Fourth Amendment Restoration and Protection Act would:\n\nPreserve the ability of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to order surveillance of foreigners and terrorists;\n\nRequire the government to obtain an order from traditional Article III federal courts to surveil U.S. persons by prohibiting the government from requesting an order from the FISC for surveillance, searches, and seizures relating to U.S. persons;\n\nProhibit the government from conducting information queries of a U.S. person pursuant to section 702 of FISA or Executive Order 12333;\n\nProhibit the government from introducing in evidence any information concerning a United States person acquired or derived from an acquisition under FISA or Executive Order 12333 but preserve the right of the defense to introduce such information as exculpatory evidence; and\n\nEnsure that the executive branch cannot violate constitutional rights through executive orders by mandating that statutory authorities and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure are the exclusive means by which searches or acquisitions shall take place if the target is a U.S. person.\n\nYou can read the Fourth Amendment Restoration and Protection Act HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=8E61F2BF-7C5A-46AC-8E71-F18F0DFD221F", "Border Security Essential, Not Extraneous, To National Security", "2023-11-29", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding national security priorities:\n\n\u201cBorder security is national security. That\u2019s not just a statement of legislative priorities or partisan politics. It\u2019s a fact of human history.\n\n\u201cThe Senate has little more than two weeks to deliver supplemental legislation on four urgent national security priorities. And each one of them deals directly with questions of borders and sovereignty.\n\n\u201cFor over a decade, Putin has been trying to redraw the borders of Europe. He\u2019s invaded and occupied Georgia and Ukraine.\n\n\u201cHe\u2019s attempted assassinations and influence operations on foreign soil. And he\u2019s exploited humanitarian crises to weaponize migrant flows in Europe, including most recently at the border of Finland.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, the Hamas terrorists who rule Gaza violated sovereign borders on their way to slaughtering 1,200 Israelis and taking hundreds more hostage.\n\n\u201cThese savages\u2019 stated objective is to erase the borders of the state of Israel, \u2018from the river to the sea\u2019.\n\n\u201cChina, for its part, is also keenly focused on challenging borders. The PRC has used force in an attempt to gain the upper hand along its border with India.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s expanded its military footprint in the South China Sea and threatened to resolve long-standing territorial disputes with multiple neighbors by force.\n\n\u201cAnd China\u2019s historic investments in military modernization are aimed at threatening Taiwan\u2019s sovereignty and bringing the island to heel.\n\n\u201cBorders matter. Sovereignty matters. The United States is a global superpower with global interests. And we have an interest in preventing autocrats and terrorists from trampling the borders of Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific.\n\n\u201cBecause if we leave them unchecked, these aggressors will keep challenging borders and keep starting wars.\n\n\u201cBorders are intrinsically and universally about a nation\u2019s security. Controlling and defending them is the essential predicate of sovereignty. So it\u2019s not by accident that, in addressing urgent national security priorities, Senate Republicans are working so hard on policy changes to restore security to America\u2019s own borders.\n\n\u201cTrying to clean up the Biden Administration\u2019s border crisis isn\u2019t some arbitrary interest. That is, unless you ask the Democratic Leader.\n\n\u201cAccording to the senior Senator for New York, the national security crisis his party has abetted at the southern border is \u2018extraneous\u2019 to the national security supplemental before the Senate.\n\n\u201cThe way our colleague sees it, securing our own borders as we help our allies and partners defend their sovereignty would be dangerous.\n\n\u201cDangerous.\n\n\u201cHere in the real world, what\u2019s dangerous is denying the humanitarian and national security crisis festering at America\u2019s southern border on President Biden\u2019s watch.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s dangerous is accepting the record numbers of illegal aliens surging across our borders as the new normal.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s dangerous is defending open borders and a broken asylum and parole system even at the risk of urgent assistance to our partners in Ukraine, Israel, and Asia.\n\n\u201cThe Biden Administration\u2019s open borders will rank among its biggest national security failures. Plain and simple.\n\n\u201cBut if Senate Democrats refuse to take border security policy changes seriously, they\u2019ll also be wrapping American weakness up as a Christmas gift to Russia, China, and Iran.\n\n\u201cBorders are an essential element of national security. They are not extraneous.\n\n\u201cWe must secure and defend sovereign borders, beginning right here at home.\n\n\u201cIf we fail to uphold this basic, fundamental responsibility, America and our friends around the world will pay dearly.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=A8DAFB36-377F-47F6-9612-AD07F64C87D3", "Working Americans Aren\u2019t Buying \u2018Bidenomics\u2019", "2023-11-29", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the economy:\n\n\u201cPresident Biden is on the road today, and he\u2019s facing an uphill battle to convince the American people that \u2018Bidenomics\u2019 is somehow working.\n\n\u201cFor months, the President has been touring the country with a rosy assessment of the economy on his watch. He\u2019s been telling working Americans about what his Administration\u2019s obsession with radical climate policy is doing for them.\n\n\u201cBut by overwhelming margins, the American people haven\u2019t been buying what the President is selling. Polls continue to show that for millions of families, \u2018Bidenomics\u2019 is just code for higher prices, shrinking paychecks, and lower quality of life.\n\n\u201cThe entire nation watched in real-time as the Biden Administration\u2019s war on domestic energy drove the price of gas and home heating through the roof.\n\n\u201cTaxpayers watched Washington Democrats turn their hard-earned dollars into subsidies for blue-state liberal favorites electric cars and home appliances.\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s how one analysis put it, \u2018The typical American household must spend an additional $11,434 annually just to maintain the same standard of living they enjoyed in January of 2021.\u2019\n\n\u201cAn extra $11,000 a year just to stay afloat!\n\n\u201cBut the Biden Administration\u2019s latest tactic appears to be publicly congratulating itself that prices on some everyday staples were rising slower than the record paces that were set during their time in office!\n\n\u201cThe President himself has even wagged his finger at American growers, manufacturers, and retailers to, \u2018stop the price gouging\u2019 now that \u2018inflation has come down.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe Bidenomics strategy apparently depends on working Americans ignoring the reality they live in every day.\n\n\u201cThe White House seems to be counting on middle class families to forget about the 40-year-high inflation their spending binge helped create.\n\n\u201cThey want the country to set aside that average food prices have risen 20% since President Biden took office.\n\n\u201cWell, it doesn\u2019t look like the American people have any intention of suspending their disbelief about Bidenomics. And who on Earth could blame them?\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=A506FEF6-8168-4FEA-B099-B0677F2020D6", "McConnell: Time To Get Serious On Border Security Policy", "2023-11-28", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the southern border crisis:\n\n\u201cAs my colleagues and I on this side of the aisle have made abundantly clear, national security begins with border security. And any serious supplemental legislation with a shot of passing the Senate in the coming weeks will have to take meaningful steps toward fixing the Biden Administration\u2019s border crisis.\n\n\u201cOn President Biden\u2019s watch, record-setting illegal migration has strained border protection facilities and personnel to their breaking point.\n\n\u201cOn this President\u2019s watch, \u2018catch-and-release\u2019 has gone from a short-sighted policy option to a dangerous first resort for a profoundly broken asylum and parole system.\n\n\u201cRight now, immigration courts are facing over 2 million pending asylum cases. That backlog has grown by 50% just since President Biden took office.\n\n\u201cThe average asylum case waits more than four years for judgment. Talk about sending the wrong signals \u2013 to legitimate asylum-seekers and to bad actors, alike.\n\n\u201cA wide, bipartisan consensus continues to acknowledge that this broken system is the central problem driving the border crisis.\n\n\u201cEven the Administration\u2019s border czar, Secretary Mayorkas, has acknowledged the way the United States handles asylum claims needs to be, \u2018reformed from top to bottom.\u2019\n\n\u201cWell Mr. President, that\u2019s exactly what Senate Republicans have been working on for weeks. Senators Lankford, Graham, Cotton, and Cornyn are trying in good faith to help DHS solve its problem by identifying policy changes that restore a measure of common sense to the way we process asylum claims and grant parole.\n\n\u201cBut at the same time, the Democratic Leader has called border security measures \u2018the biggest holdup\u2019 for passing a national security supplemental.\n\n\u201cWell, he\u2019s right about one thing. The single largest obstacle in the way of urgent resources to help Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan is Democrats\u2019 refusal to address the crisis at the southern border.\n\n\u201cNational security begins here at home. And the sooner our colleagues admit it, the sooner the Senate can move forward on the urgent business before us.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=D0C913DF-4FD8-4F8F-83A1-AF173E8FA4F4", "McConnell On Supporting Israel, Countering Iran", "2023-11-28", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding national security priorities:\n\n\u201cIn the coming weeks, Congress has a responsibility to equip America and our allies to face an historic array of national security challenges.\n\n\u201cTo understand the urgency of this moment, just look at the impossible choices facing our ally, Israel, as it works to bring innocent people home from terrorist captivity.\n\n\u201cThese brutal terrorists bankroll their existence with the blood of innocent people. They know that their hostages can be cashed in for a brief reprieve from justice\u2026 or in exchange for terrorists incarcerated in Israel. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is one of Hamas\u2019 own design.\n\n\u201cJust as there is no moral equivalence between terrorism and self-defense, there is no moral equivalence between innocent hostages and convicted terrorists and criminals.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, this is not just a reminder for the activists on elite campuses and in national newsrooms who have uncritically lapped up and regurgitated activist propaganda.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s also for some of our colleagues here in Congress.\n\n\u201cAccording to some reports, Senate Democrats will use their caucus lunch today to discuss placing restrictions on U.S. military assistance to Israel.\n\n\u201cOne of our colleagues is already on the record demanding that President Biden, \u2018be more aggressive with the Israelis.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnother has declared that, \u2018not one penny will be coming to Israel\u2019 unless our ally bends to his view \u2013 offered from the comfort of a Senate office \u2013 on how Israel should conduct self-defense operations.\n\n\u201cIf Senate Democrats want to vote to tie the hands of Israeli soldiers as they defend their country against vicious terrorists, I welcome such a debate.\n\n\u201cFor anyone who needs to hear it again: the conflict unfolding today is between a sovereign democracy that takes great pains to avoid civilian casualties and terrorist butchers who go out of their way to inflict civilian casualties and put their own civilians in harm\u2019s way. Israel deserves the time, space, and resources to restore its security. And I will stand by our ally 100%.\n\n\u201cFor that matter, our own people \u2013 American men and women in uniform \u2013 deserve the same unwavering commitment to restoring credible deterrence against Iran.\n\n\u201cSince October 17th, Iran-backed terrorists have launched at least 73 attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria. Clearly, President Biden\u2019s strikes against desert warehouses have not given our adversaries pause.\n\n\u201cThe world\u2019s leading state sponsor of terrorism remains demonstrably undeterred.\n\n\u201cRight now, we have a responsibility to equip Israel to destroy Hamas, deter violence against American servicemembers, and invest seriously in American hard power \u2013 a language our adversaries in Tehran, Moscow, and Beijing actually understand.\n\n\u201cSupplemental national security legislation is our chance to uphold this responsibility.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=3F6F54EC-DE8D-45CF-A37E-18C8C674E862", "McConnell: Time To Address Critical National Security Priorities", "2023-11-27", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding legislative priorities:\n\n\u201cBefore the Senate adjourned for Thanksgiving, we voted to extend federal government funding into the new year.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m glad there was no appetite in the Capitol for saddling the nation with a harmful and unnecessary government shutdown.\n\n\u201cThe short-term funding legislation produced by the Speaker of the House was an important step toward fulfilling Congress\u2019 responsibility to pass full-year appropriations. And work continues toward restoring the sort of regular order appropriations process that Senators on both sides of the aisle have set as our goal.\n\n\u201cBut the Senate convenes today with some extremely important outstanding business that we need to address this year. In a few short weeks, we need to deliver on several urgent national security priorities.\n\n\u201cFor starters, a number of our colleagues are hard at work on the conference report of the National Defense Authorization Act. This is Congress\u2019 primary opportunity to shape America\u2019s national security priorities and set the course of strategic competition with major adversaries.\n\n\u201cWe need to empower our armed forces with a clear directive for the many challenges they face.\n\n\u201cWe need to prepare them to deter and fight future wars, not drag them into political culture wars.\n\n\u201cWe need to focus our military on geopolitics, not climate politics.\n\n\u201cBut at this especially dangerous moment, we also need to deliver supplemental resources to help both America and our partners defend against linked threats from our biggest adversaries \u2013 Russia, Iran, and China.\n\n\u201cMake no mistake: the PRC is not deterred. Beijing didn\u2019t take a Thanksgiving break from its historic military buildup, its threats to the freedom of navigation in international waters, or its efforts to meddle in Taiwan\u2019s domestic politics.\n\n\u201cRussia is not deterred. Vladimir Putin hasn\u2019t eased off his brutal conquest of Ukraine.\n\n\u201cIran is not deterred. The world\u2019s top state sponsor of terrorism has continued to underwrite an alarming surge in attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria since the barbaric attacks of October 7th.\n\n\u201cHamas is not deterred. Even during a temporary pause in fighting, terrorists are clearly determined, with Iran\u2019s help, to wipe Israel off the map, \u2018from the river to the sea.\u2019\n\n\u201cAmerica needs to stand with our friends and stand up to aggressors. And Senate Republicans have been working for weeks to ensure that supplemental legislation includes robust investments in the hard power and defense industrial capacity we need to confront them head-on.\n\n\u201cBut on this side of the aisle, we also recognize that national security begins here at home.\n\n\u201cLast month\u2019s total southern border encounters marked the busiest October in decades of CBP records. And the harsh reality of the Biden Administration\u2019s border crisis continues to impact millions of Americans in cities across the country.\n\n\u201cSo I\u2019m thankful that Senator Lankford, Senator Graham, and Senator Cotton have been working diligently to produce legislation to address this crisis head-on.\n\n\u201cSenate Republicans have been laser-focused on actually fixing our broken asylum process, not just pouring more money into a system that\u2019s simply not working. And our Democratic colleagues would do well to take these efforts seriously.\n\n\u201cThe bottom line is simple: We don\u2019t have the luxury of addressing glaring threats to our national security one at a time. Crises don\u2019t solve themselves just because Washington can\u2019t muster the political will to address them.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, Senate Democrats have already suggested they want to condition urgent resources for one of our top security priorities on not addressing another one.\n\n\u201cApparently, our colleagues are considering putting support for Israel on the chopping block unless we promise not to fix the border crisis they helped create.\n\n\u201cSo Madam President, this sort of cynical, short-sighted politics has denied the American people real border security too many times.\n\n\u201cThe challenges facing America are connected. And the time to address them \u2013 each of them \u2013 is now.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/dr-rand-paul-joins-effort-to-demand-answers-over-biden-administrations-unprecedented-pause-of-firearms-export-licenses/", "Dr. Rand Paul Joins Effort to Demand Answers Over Biden Administration\u2019s Unprecedented Pause of Firearms Export Licenses", "2023-11-21", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 21, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nDr. Rand Paul Joins Effort to Demand Answers Over Biden Administration\u2019s Unprecedented Pause of Firearms Export Licenses\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014Recently, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) joined Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) and 44 other U.S. Senators in a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo raising questions over the decision announced last month by the Bureau of Industry and Security to pause for 90 days the issuance of export licenses for firearms, ammunition, and certain accessories to most overseas markets. This unprecedented move is the latest chapter in the Biden administration\u2019s hostility towards America\u2019s firearms industry.\n\nThe Biden Administration\u2019s policy could cripple the firearms industry and, by extension, Second Amendment rights. As the Senators write in the letter, \u201caccording to a survey conducted by NSSF, the firearm and ammunition industry trade association, this decision would have a severe negative economic impact. As of today, the industry estimates a direct cost of at least $89 million associated with the 90 day pause and at least $238 million annually should the pause become permanent.\u201d\n\nThe Senators are concerned that the Biden Administration is using unfounded national security concerns to advance its anti-gun agenda. The letter asks that the Department thoroughly explain the reasoning behind the pause, including any national security and foreign policy interests. The Senators are demanding a response to their inquiry by no later than November 30.\n\nYou can read the full letter HERE or below:\n\nDear Secretary Raimondo:\n\nWe write regarding the October 27 announcement from the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the Department of Commerce (the Department) that \u201c[e]ffective immediately\u201d, the Department \u201cis pausing for approximately 90 days the issuance of new export licenses involving certain firearms, related components, and ammunition\u201d as well as \u201cthe provision of new export assistance activities for such products to all non-governmental end users worldwide\u201d with the exception of \u201cthose located in Ukraine, Israel, or a country in Country Group A:1 (Wassenaar Arrangement Participating States).\u201d Further, this announcement stated that the Department will, during this \u201c\u2018pause\u2019 period\u201d, conduct an urgent review of \u201ccurrent firearm export control review policies\u201d in light of \u201cU.S. national security and foreign policy interests\u201d to \u201cenable the Department to more effectively assess and mitigate risk of firearms being diverted to entities or activities that promote regional instability, violate human rights, or fuel criminal activities.\u201d\n\nWe recognize the crucial need for firearms for civilian self-defense in Ukraine and Israel, which are exempted from this pause, and note the actions by the Ukrainian and Israeli governments to fulfill those needs. For example, in response to the Hamas attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that part of the war against Hamas involves \u201cencouraging civilians and helping civilians to arm themselves for their self-defence.\u201d The Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, promised to distribute 10,000 free weapons, including 4,000 rifles to settlers in the West Bank, and has relaxed rules for permits to allow 400,000 new people to qualify to carry a firearm. Similarly, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on February 24, 2022, that the Ukrainian government \u201cwill give weapons to anyone who wants to defend the country.\u201d By June 2022, Ukraine had distributed \u201ctens of thousands\u201d of firearms to civilians \u201cfor national defense\u201d, according to Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky.\n\nHowever, we also recognize the significance of exports that are now put on pause by the Department\u2019s announcement. As you know, firearms exports to non-government users in countries not covered by the exception constitute a significant percentage of overall U.S. firearm exports. This pause puts at stake U.S. commercial and economic interests, as well as those business interests of firearm exporters whose pending exports are now subject to pause, in addition to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. According to a survey conducted by NSSF, the firearm and ammunition industry trade association, this decision would have a severe negative economic impact. As of today, the industry estimates a direct cost of at least $89 million associated with the 90 day pause and at least $238 million annually should the pause become permanent. Furthermore, it is our understanding that the Department has never before imposed such a 90 day pause on such a wide range of firearms exports. We have significant concerns about the justifications for and ramifications of this pause. Finally, we are concerned the unmet demand created by this action will promote opportunities for less scrupulous, professional, or conscientious sources of supply to fill the void, thereby strengthening illicit arms markets.\n\nThus, for the purpose of congressional oversight regarding the Department\u2019s announcement we ask that you respond to the following questions and requests by November 30, 2023:\n\nPlease explain the reasoning for this pause and identify the specific U.S. national security and foreign policy interests that are part of this reasoning.\n\nWhat specific situations has the Department identified where the current export policies affected U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, and contributed to regional instability, violated human rights, or fueled criminal activities?\n\nDid BIS engage with firearm and ammunition industry stakeholders prior to the October 27 announcement to understand the impact this unprecedented decision would have on their industry?\n\nDid BIS engage with advocacy organizations prior to the October 27 announcement to provide advance knowledge of this announcement?\n\nIf yes, then please provide a list of these organizations.\n\nHas BIS held a meeting with firearm and ammunition industry stakeholders since making the October 27 announcement?\n\nPlease provide data on the number of export license applications covered by the Department\u2019s October 27 announcement for all countries (disregarding any exceptions) that were pending on October 27, and the number submitted over the previous six months.\n\nPlease provide data on export license applications submitted for non-governmental users in Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022 that are of the same type covered by the Department\u2019s October 27 announcement.\n\nPlease provide data on export license applications submitted for non-governmental users in Israel since Hamas\u2019 attacks began in October 2023 that are of the same type covered by the Department\u2019s October 27 announcement.\n\nPlease provide data on the number of Department employees reviewing export license applications related to the October 27 announcement.\n\nPlease provide data on the average number of export license applications related to the October 27 announcement reviewed per day.\n\nPlease provide data on the average time to review export license applications related to the October 27 announcement to non-governmental users in Ukraine.\n\nPlease provide data on the average time to review export license applications related to the October 27 announcement to non-governmental users in Israel.\n\nAre supplemental funds needed to add more Department employees to review applications so that reviews can be completed in a timely manner?\n\nIf so, what is the needed level of supplemental funding and how many additional employees should the Department add?\n\nWhat is your estimate of potential economic loss, measured in dollars, to U.S. firearms industry as a result of this pause\n\nWhat is your estimate of potential economic loss, measured in job losses, to U.S. firearms industry as a result of this pause?\n\nDr. Paul, Sen. Budd were joined in sending the letter by Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY), John Thune (R-SD), John Barrasso, M.D. (R-WY), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Tim Scott (R-SC), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Jim Risch (R-ID), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Rick Scott (R-FL), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Steve Daines (R-MT), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Hoeven (R-ND), J.D. Vance (R-OH), John Kennedy (R-LA), Josh Hawley (R-MO), John Cornyn (R-TX), Katie Britt (R-AL), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Lee (R-UT), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Mike Braun (R-IN), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), Tom Cotton (R-AR), John Boozman (R-AR), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), James Lankford (R-OK), and Todd Young (R-IN).\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/dr-rand-paul-urges-fda-to-update-animal-testing-guidance-in-accordance-with-the-fda-modernization-act-2-0/", "Dr. Rand Paul Urges FDA to Update Animal Testing Guidance in Accordance with the FDA Modernization Act 2.0", "2023-11-20", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 20, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nDr. Rand Paul Urges FDA to Update Animal Testing Guidance in Accordance with the FDA Modernization Act 2.0\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Recently, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), led a bipartisan group of nine senators in sending a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure the FDA is updating its animal testing regulations following the enactment of the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 last year. The legislation ended an outdated FDA mandate that required investigational new drugs to be tested on animals in pre-clinical trials. The legislation did not ban animal testing, but it allowed drug sponsors to use modern alternative methods to demonstrate a drug\u2019s safety and effectiveness where they were suitable.\n\nDr. Paul was joined in sending the letter by Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Mike Braun (R-IN), Angus King (I-ME), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Tim Kaine (D-VA), John Kennedy (R-LA), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), and Eric Schmitt (R-MO).\n\nYou can read the full letter HERE or below and can read more about the Senators\u2019 efforts published in Reason HERE.\n\nDear Dr. Califf:\n\nWe write to you about the investigational new drug development work of the FDA in the wake of the enactment of the FDA Modernization Act 2.0.\n\nThat legislation, which Congress passed and the President signed into law at the end of 2022 with uncommon unanimity, removes FDA\u2019s mandate for animal testing of all new drug candidates and allows an applicant for new drug market approval to use methods other than animal testing to establish a drug\u2019s safety and effectiveness. During one of your appearances before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, you spoke favorably about the shift toward human-based biology, noting that alternative methods may include cell-based assays, organ chips and micro-physiological systems, computer modeling, bioprinting, and a growing variety of other New Approach Methodologies (NAMs).\n\nAs you are aware, agency regulations are promulgated in accordance and conformity with Congress\u2019s statutory language and intent. Yet in the aftermath of the enactment of the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, the FDA\u2019s regulations related to animal testing no longer fully conform with applicable law. For example, federal regulations governing submission of Investigational New Drug (IND) applications require that amendments to an IND \u201cshould be supported by additional information, including the results of animal toxicology studies or other human studies as appropriate.\u201d Further, regulations governing the IND Investigator\u2019s Brochure call for a summary of \u201cpharmacological and toxicological effects of the drug in animals and, to the extent known, in humans.\u201d These and other regulatory provisions no longer reflect the full scope of the governing statute and should therefore be updated as expeditiously as possible.\n\nThe above examples are just a sampling of a larger set of inconsistencies between the amended statute and FDA regulations. We therefore write to ask what specific steps the FDA is taking to update its animal testing regulations, and what its timeline is for implementation of a revised regulatory framework. Please respond with this information within 30 days of the date of this letter.\n\nThank you for your attention to this important matter.\n\nBackground:\n\nThe FDA Modernization Act 2.0 was introduced by Dr. Paul and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) last year and was unanimously passed by the Senate and signed into law in 2022.\n\nIn 1938, Congress passed the U.S. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, mandating animal toxicity testing. Since then, science and data has shown that in some products, animal testing is a highly inconsistent predictor of toxic responses in humans, all while animal testing on any single pharmaceutical product often requires killing hundreds of animal test subjects.\n\nDr. Paul and Sen. Cory Booker also previously introduced the first FDA Modernization Act in October 2021, and in the spirit of the bill, Dr. Paul hosted a Puppy Press Conference with Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) and Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA). You can read more about the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=C40A697D-8BE4-450E-BB44-9BF267AA2BC1", "McConnell Statement On The Passing Of Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter", "2023-11-19", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "LOUISVILLE, KY \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued the following statement regarding the death of former First Lady of the United States, Rosalynn Carter:\n\n\u201cElaine and I join the Senate and the entire nation in mourning the passing of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter.\n\n\u201cThe daughter of a small-town auto mechanic and a dressmaker will be remembered for her instrumental role in the most enduring partnership in the history of the American presidency. Today, that partnership ended where it began \u2013 in Plains, Georgia.\n\n\u201cRosalynn Smith met Jimmy Carter before she could walk, moved frequently as a young Navy spouse, and embraced the even more dizzying pace of life in the political limelight with grace and resolve. From the White House, she reshaped the nation\u2019s image of a modern First Lady, taking on policy and diplomatic missions as an equal partner.\n\n\u201cRosalynn Carter used her role to help build \u2018a more caring society\u2019 \u2013 from advocating refugee relief to combating age discrimination. But like her husband, the former First Lady\u2019s humble public service continued in earnest for decades after leaving the White House. Her tireless effort to promote mental health research and expand treatments for those on the margins of society leaves an especially enduring legacy of care.\n\n\u201cToday, as our nation gives thanks for the life of Rosalynn Carter, our thoughts and prayers are with her husband President Carter, their children Jack, Chip, Jeff, and Amy, their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and the millions of Americans whose lives were touched by her service.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/icymi-dr-rand-paul-forces-senate-vote-on-conservative-amendment-saving-taxpayers-billions/", "ICYMI: Dr. Rand Paul Forces Senate Vote on Conservative Amendment Saving Taxpayers Billions", "2023-11-16", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 16, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nICYMI: Dr. Rand Paul Forces Senate Vote on Conservative Amendment Saving Taxpayers Billions\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Last night, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) forced the U.S. Senate to vote on his conservative amendment to the U.S. House of Representatives\u2019 short-term spending bill that would have saved American taxpayers $50 billion over ten weeks.\n\nDr. Paul\u2019s $50 billion cut, one percent of total federal spending, would exclude Social Security, Medicare, the Department of Defense, Military Construction, and the Department of Veterans Affairs and would rescind $30 billion from funds originally appropriated to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).\n\n32 Senate Republicans voted for Dr. Paul\u2019s amendment. You can view the full vote tally HERE.\n\nBelow are excerpts from Dr. Paul\u2019s floor remarks ahead of the vote:\n\n\u201cTo continue spending money at the current levels will inevitably lead to the bankruptcy of our great nation. My amendment, in order to stave off such a terrible fiscal outcome, would cut approximately 1% of our budgetary spending and help to put us on the path towards fiscal responsibility. In June of this year, the national debt surpassed $32 trillion. Then, in September, the national debt surpassed $33 trillion. You heard that right. It took Congress 90 short days to add a trillion dollars in debt.\n\n\u201cUnless we change course, the debt will consume us. America\u2019s future as a nation is not threatened from without but from within. Our mounting debt will ultimately force a day of reckoning. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that we will add an average of $2 trillion in debt every year for the next decade. Using Congressional Budget Office projections, the U.S. government will add over $5 billion to its debt pile every single day for the next ten years. We borrow over $176 million every hour, we borrow $3 million every minute, and we borrow $50,000 every second.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s only a matter of time before the world wakes up and refuses to buy our debt. This reckless level of borrowing and spending is patently unsustainable. The ever-increasing heights of our debt mean a weak economy, high inflation, and confiscatory tax rates. In other words, today\u2019s spending threatens tomorrow\u2019s prosperity.\u201d\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s full floor remarks HERE, and read the full text of his amendment HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=3ED948E3-5F1C-43F5-B96F-369ECC2953D9", "Biden Admin. China Approach Fails To Keep Pace With \u2018Pacing Threat\u2019", "2023-11-15", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding competition with China:\n\n\u201cOne year ago, President Biden met for the first time as President with Chairman Xi, the head of the Chinese Communist Party. And he pledged that the United States would compete \u2018vigorously\u2019 with the PRC.\n\n\u201cWell, one year later, the President and the Chairman will meet again today. So let\u2019s take stock of whether the Biden Administration is living up to its pledge of \u2018vigorous\u2019 competition.\n\n\u201cThe stakes of this competition simply cannot be overstated.\n\n\u201cThe Chinese military is outpacing us in pivotal military capabilities like hypersonics, precise long-range fires, and even naval vessels. Beijing has secured a commanding share of the rare minerals necessary to create critical supply chains.\n\n\u201cChinese agents are engaged in an aggressive effort to steal sensitive Western technologies and government secrets. And the PRC consistently signals its disdain for national sovereignty, human rights, and the free flow of commerce.\n\n\u201cIn other words, strategic competition with China is going to determine the course of the next century of American history. And yet, the Biden Administration has too often met this historic moment with weakness and naivete. Time and time again, it has sacrificed competition on the altar of green climate policy.\n\n\u201cIn the Administration\u2019s quest to turn the American automobile industry electric, it has apparently made peace with sending American tax dollars to the Chinese industries that dominate battery-making inputs.\n\n\u201cIn pursuit of grand climate diplomacy, the Administration\u2019s envoys have been laughed out of Beijing by a state that keeps on increasing its carbon emissions and has no plan to start cutting them literally for years.\n\n\u201cAnd meanwhile, the consequences of the Biden Administration\u2019s neglect for American hard power are only getting more dangerous.\n\n\u201cThe PRC is acquiring new weapons as much as 6 times faster than the United States. And for each of the past two years, it announced a 7% increase in military spending.\n\n\u201cBut even as the President\u2019s national defense strategy identifies China as \u2018the pacing threat\u2019, his defense budget requests haven\u2019t even kept up with inflation.\n\n\u201cChairman Xi has gone out of his way to align closely with fellow adversaries of the West, stepping up joint military exercises with Putin\u2019s forces and helping both Moscow and Tehran endure Western sanctions.\n\n\u201cChina has made military competition with the West a top priority. We can\u2019t afford to ignore this challenge.\n\n\u201cOur allies certainly aren\u2019t. Japan, South Korea, Australia, and other Indo-Pacific partners are investing heavily in their own defense.\n\n\u201cTaiwan is seeking to make itself a harder target for Chinese aggression. But America must continue to do its part.\n\n\u201cWe have to keep investing in the sort of defense industrial base that can sustain this armament and strengthen our own military for effective deterrence.\n\n\u201cThe Senate has multiple opportunities before us \u2013 in both supplemental measures and full-year defense appropriations \u2013 to do exactly that. And we can\u2019t afford not to seize these opportunities.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=97FE49E8-FBB7-461C-979A-D8CFF6BD483B", "McConnell: Democrats Must Get Serious About Fixing Biden Admin. Border Crisis", "2023-11-15", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the southern border crisis:\n\n\u201cIt is impossible to ignore the crisis at our southern border that\u2019s erupted on Washington Democrats\u2019 watch:\n\n\u201cBack-to-back record-setting years that saw millions upon millions of illegal arrivals at the border. And historic quantities of fentanyl and other lethal drugs pouring across to decimate American communities.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s remember where this crisis came from.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden campaigned on open-borders policies. His message was so compelling that crowds literally showed up at the southern border with his campaign logo on their shirts. As one put it back then, the President had, \u2018promised us that everything was going to change.\u2019\n\n\u201cVice President Harris hit the campaign trail with a refrain of her own. She said \u2018Say it loud, say it clear, everyone is welcome here.\u2019 And she called the previous administration\u2019s common-sense border security measures, \u2018criminalizing innocent people.\u2019\n\n\u201cWell Mr. President, this is the Administration that canceled commonsense policies like \u2018Remain in Mexico,\u2019 shelved DHS resources meant for border wall construction, and abandoned overstretched border enforcement personnel to contend with a tidal wave of mass migration.\n\n\u201cToday, cleaning up this Administration\u2019s mess at the southern border is matter of urgent national security.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019m grateful to the group of Senate Republicans including Senator Lankford, Senator Graham, and Senator Cotton who have been working in good faith on substantive policy reforms to bring the crisis under control.\n\n\u201cThe goal here is simple: Slow the flow; and stop the catch-and-release asylum system that\u2019s overrunning border communities and blue cities, alike.\n\n\u201cThis crisis isn\u2019t crying out for boatloads of new taxpayer dollars. Just commonsense policy reform.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, Senate Democrats do not appear ready to admit this reality. They\u2019re apparently not ready to seriously address asylum abuse. And that\u2019s a stance that puts them out of step with even left-leaning governments across the Western world.\n\n\u201cFor example, Germany, which is struggling with an asylum case load costing roughly $53 billion dollars, is exploring trusted third country policies to keep asylum seekers outside its borders while their cases are adjudicated.\n\n\u201cFinland is considering closing some crossing points along its borders as Russia weaponizes migrant flows against the West.\n\n\u201cResponsible people everywhere recognize that enforcing sovereign borders isn\u2019t some hand-wringing moral outrage. In fact, what\u2019s outrageous is refusing to do so!\n\n\u201cThe American people deserve safe streets, stable prices, and secure borders. These are the fundamental responsibilities of any government. But on all counts, the Biden Administration is failing to deliver.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=E15389D5-46B7-4E5E-9469-846CF385BB76", "Biden Admin. Takes Another Run At Student Loan Socialism", "2023-11-15", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding student loan socialism:\n\n\u201cToday, the Senate will vote on yet another bipartisan resolution to overturn a harmful Biden Administration regulation.\n\n\u201cIn its latest iteration, the Administration\u2019s bid for student loan socialism \u2013 its so-called \u2018Income Driven Repayment\u2019 scheme \u2013 would likely go down as the most expensive federal regulation in our history.\n\n\u201cLeading estimates predict this policy would heap a $559 billion-dollar bill onto the taxpayers over the next decade. In exchange, a majority of the high-earning borrowers who choose to take on student debt would avoid even paying back the principal they borrowed.\n\n\u201cThe Administration\u2019s plan would actually remove the guardrails that ensure federal loan relief goes to low-income households. Apparently, loyal blue-state doctors and lawyers are the most important beneficiaries of student loan socialism.\n\n\u201cWhichever way you slice it, the President\u2019s policy is a raw deal for working Americans who have made the sacrifices to pay off their student loans, or avoided debt altogether. But with taxpayers footing the bill, it\u2019s also a powerful incentive for schools to raise the cost of college even higher!\n\n\u201cA bipartisan majority of our colleagues has already rejected this socialist fever dream. And President Biden\u2019s first attempt at massive loan cancellation was struck down by the Supreme Court.\n\n\u201cBut today, thanks to the leadership of Chairman Cassidy and Senators Thune and Cornyn, the Senate has another chance to kick student loan socialism to the curb.\n\n\u201cI urge my colleagues to support their resolution later today.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=2DC84DB9-3F7F-4FDA-B981-9F302CDB6D04", "McConnell Opening Remarks At Rules Committee Markup", "2023-11-14", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks at today\u2019s Senate Rules Committee markup:\n\n\u201cThank you, Madam Chair and Ranking Member Fischer.\n\n\u201cI\u2019d like to begin with the prime mover in this situation: an Administration policy I strongly oppose, which is designed to force American taxpayers to violate their rights of conscience.\n\n\u201cThe Department of Defense is in the business of raising, equipping, training, and maintaining the strongest fighting forces in the world. Inserting our military into the center of a politically divisive subject isn\u2019t just an ill-advised policy choice \u2013 it\u2019s actually dangerous.\n\n\u201cBut as I\u2019ve said for months now, our colleague from Alabama\u2019s response is not the way to reach the desired outcome he and I share. In fact, it\u2019s created a nearly unprecedented situation for the Senate to address.\n\n\u201cAs a general rule, when a President takes an executive action that a minority in Congress thinks is unlawful, you challenge it in the courts. And then, when the time comes, you elect a different President.\n\n\u201cThe Senate, for our part, also has the power to hold the nomination of a civilian Biden Administration official to a role with actual responsibility for the objectionable policy. Unfortunately, our colleague has chosen instead to exert his leverage on career military officers with no influence over this Administration\u2019s policy priorities.\n\n\u201cRight now, these holds affect 370 active duty positions. By the end of the year, if this situation is left unaddressed, it will impact 90% of our senior-most military commanders.\n\n\u201cMadam Chair, any one of us can talk for days about the growing challenges we\u2019re facing around the world. But none of it is worth a dime if we can\u2019t put experienced commanders in command in a timely manner.\n\n\u201cSo I\u2019m grateful to a number of our colleagues on both sides who have proposed plausible solutions to this situation.\n\n\u201cUltimately, the best path forward for everyone involved will be one that allows us to clear the nominations backlog and preserve our substantive opposition to the Biden Administration\u2019s atrocious policy.\n\n\u201cProductive discussions on that front are ongoing. And I\u2019m of the mind that we ought to allow them to continue.\n\n\u201cSo I appreciate the work put into the standing order proposal the Committee is considering. But I\u2019m going to oppose taking that route at this particular moment.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=3A3AE750-9813-40D0-BC93-67F5DF147C6C", "McConnell: Support For Israel Means Moral Clarity And American Strength", "2023-11-14", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding support for Israel:\n\n\u201cToday, our nation\u2019s capital will welcome a rally of Jewish Americans and friends of Israel.\n\n\u201cThe participants in today\u2019s events are gathering in mourning, in worry, in fear, and in shared resolve.\n\n\u201cIn the dark days since the terrorist massacre of October 7th, their message has been crystal clear:\n\n\u201cThere is no moral equivalence between terrorism and self-defense. Israel has a right to exist. And Jews everywhere have a right to live without fear.\n\n\u201cThese basic truths should be obvious and unimpeachable. But if anyone failed to see the creeping advance of anti-Semitism across the West in recent years\u2026\n\n\u201cIf any corner of our society let itself believe that this unique hatred of Jews had been confined to history\u2026\n\n\u201cThat na\u00efve fiction was shattered on October 7th, and swept away by the hate that has poured across college campuses and city streets throughout America and the West over the past month.\n\n\u201cIn just the first week after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad murdered 1,200 Israelis, harassment, vandalism, and assault against American Jews rose 400%.\n\n\u201cBut the peaceful people gathering in Washington today aren\u2019t here to ask for pity for themselves. They\u2019re here on behalf of the more than 240 hostages \u2013 including a three-year-old American boy and at least eight other Americans \u2013 who cannot speak for themselves. They\u2019re here with a clear message for their leaders: Stand with Israel.\n\n\u201cSince October 7th, I\u2019ve spoken repeatedly about the challenges Israel faces as it works to protect its people, bring the hostages home, and destroy Hamas\u2019 capability to wage war.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve talked about the terrorists\u2019 reprehensible record of systematically violating the customary laws of war. Their expropriation of humanitarian aid.\n\n\u201cTheir cold-blooded practice of putting command centers and weapons caches in hospitals, schools, and even mosques.\n\n\u201cTheir grotesque penchant for using innocent Gazans as human shields. And of course, the threat of further violence from Iran-backed terrorists on a second front.\n\n\u201cThis is why I\u2019ve urged the Biden Administration to give Israel the time, space, and support it needs to bring these savages to justice.\n\n\u201cHow quickly some in the West have become confused about the crystal-clear distinction between terrorism and self-defense.\n\n\u201cHamas sought this conflict. Hamas perpetuates it by holding hostages and continuing its terrorism. And those of us who live out of range of terrorist rockets should pause before second-guessing Israel\u2019s response.\n\n\u201cThis is a time that demands moral clarity \u2013 on campuses, in newsrooms, in Congress, and at the sharp end of American military strength.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s also time to restore credible deterrence against Iran, the chief underwriter and architect of violence against Israel and against American forces in the Middle East.\n\n\u201cIn less than one month, Iran-backed terrorists have targeted U.S. servicemembers in Iraq and Syria 52 times.\n\n\u201cFrom the abandonment of Afghanistan to the de-listing of the Houthis to our failure to respond to proxy attacks on our friends in the region, the Biden Administration has made Iran\u2019s job actually easier.\n\n\u201cAnd now, as America dithers over support for our friends in Ukraine, Tehran is throwing itself firmly behind Putin\u2019s Russia.\n\n\u201cIt will take more than demolishing a couple warehouses to show our adversaries we\u2019re credible. Iran and its terrorist networks must know that violence against America or our allies will meet swift and overwhelming lethal force.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=708D11A0-C398-44FA-8704-1F3BCEB3C10D", "McConnell Welcomes Supreme Court Code Of Ethics", "2023-11-14", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Supreme Court\u2019s code of ethics:\n\n\u201cYesterday, the Supreme Court announced its adoption of a code of ethics. The Court produced the code internally, and adopted it unanimously.\n\n\u201cIn other words, as I expected, a coequal branch of government conducted its business independently. Which sounds an awful lot like the separation of powers envisioned in the Constitution.\n\n\u201cCertainly, that hasn\u2019t deterred Senate Democrats from their obsessive effort to bend the Court to their will. In fact, their months-long smear campaign \u2013 disguised as an effort to make the senior-most jurists in the country, duly confirmed by the Senate, more \u2018accountable\u2019 to the American people \u2013 unfortunately continues apace.\n\n\u201cWe know what our colleagues really mean by \u2018accountability\u2019. It\u2019s code for \u2018intimidation\u2019.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m sure that this sort of \u2018accountability\u2019 is exactly what the Justices and their families felt as the Biden Administration declined to enforce federal law and protect them in their homes from angry mobs.\n\n\u201cOr when Senate Democrats threatened to slash the Court\u2019s security budget in the face of death threats.\n\n\u201cOr on any number of occasions when our colleagues have issued ominous, veiled warnings about \u2018restructuring\u2019 or outright threats that Justices would \u2018pay the price\u2019.\n\n\u201cWell, this week, Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are at it again.\n\n\u201cOur colleagues planned last week to threaten legal action against private citizens who declined to indulge their sham trial of the Justices. The only problem? Republicans on the Committee submitted too many commonsense amendments, and the Majority worried some of them might pass with bipartisan support!\n\n\u201cBut regardless of how Senate Democrats choose to spend their time, I\u2019ll repeat what I\u2019ve said before: I have the utmost confidence in each of the Justices of our nation\u2019s highest court, and they should continue to pay this intimidation campaign no mind.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=A98D89FE-E517-43C9-A15D-27810128F96D", "Bidenomics Is A Stubbornly Expensive Reality", "2023-11-14", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the economy:\n\n\u201cThis morning\u2019s October inflation report tells a story that has become familiar on President Biden\u2019s watch. Prices remain stubbornly high, and well above the Federal Reserve\u2019s 2 percent target. Prices are up 3.2 percent year over year. And cumulative inflation since the President took office now clocks in at 17.6 percent.\n\n\u201cEven as the rate prices are growing, working Americans are growing more frustrated with an expensive new normal. The price of a gallon of milk has risen 15.8 percent since January 2021. Meanwhile, a gallon of gas is going for 54.8 percent more.\n\n\u201cAs one small business owner in Texas put it to reporters recently, \u2018I\u2019m trying to think of one area where prices have eased and I can\u2019t think of anything.\u2019\n\n\u201cEarlier this month, President Biden told a gathering in rural Minnesota that, \u2018Bidenomics is just another way of saying \u2018the American Dream.\u2019 The American people just aren\u2019t buying it.\n\n\u201cAccording to one recent survey, only 14 percent of US voters have said President Biden has made them better off. And 65 per cent of voters said they had cut back on non-essential spending.\n\n\u201cSo, if the President thinks that Bidenomics is the American Dream, he might want to pay closer to how many Americans are desperate to wake up,\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/dr-paul-sen-budd-send-letter-to-sec-austin-demanding-that-dod-rescind-abortion-travel-policy/", "Dr. Paul, Sen. Budd Send Letter to Sec. Austin Demanding that DoD Rescind Abortion Travel Policy", "2023-11-14", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 14, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nDr. Paul, Sen. Budd Send Letter to Sec. Austin Demanding that DoD Rescind Abortion Travel Policy\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ted Budd (R-NC), along with 25 other GOP Senators, sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin denouncing the department\u2019s policy of paying the travel expenses of those servicemembers and dependents seeking abortions.\n\nThe letter also stresses that, \u201cour men and women in uniform deserve Senate-confirmed leadership but the current situation began with your original sin of promulgating the Policy.\u201d\n\nThe letter concludes by calling on Secretary Austin to, \u201cDo the right thing. Rescind the Policy now.\u201d\n\nDr. Paul and Sen. Budd were joined by Senators Katie Britt (R-AL), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Tom Cotton (R-AR), John Boozman (R-AR), Rick Scott (R-FL), Mike Braun (R-IN), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Joni Ernst (R-IA) Roger Wicker (R-MS), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John Thune (R-SD), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and John Barrasso (R-WY).\n\nYou can read the full letter to Secretary Austin HERE or below:\n\nSecretary Austin:\n\nYou have broken your promise to the American people not to politicize the military, and your actions have harmed and threaten to further harm institutional norms within our democracy. On June 28, 2022, four days after the Supreme Court\u2019s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization, you issued a memorandum to senior leaders in the Department of Defense (\u201cDepartment\u201d) stating that the Department is authorized to pay for government funded, official travel for active duty personnel to receive abortions outside of the state in which they are stationed.\n\nOn October 20, 2022, you issued the memorandum Travel for Non-Covered Reproductive Health Care Services, properly referred to as the Department\u2019s abortion travel policy (\u201cPolicy\u201d), which directed the Department to pay travel expenses not only for active duty personnel to receive abortions, but for their dependents to receive abortions as well. Importantly, on July 19, 2023, at a hearing on the Department\u2019s abortion travel policy, the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness confirmed that this policy extends to late term abortions.\n\nAll legislative power is vested in Congress, and the Executive branch is responsible for implementing and enforcing the law. While the Department may issue regulations, it can only do so under the laws authorized and enacted by Congress. But, Congress never authorized the Department to expend funds to facilitate abortions and, until the Policy was issued, the military never facilitated abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or where the life of the mother would be endangered if the unborn child were carried to term. Now taxpayers\u2014many of whom have deeply-held religious and moral objections to abortions\u2014are on the hook to facilitate the very abortions they fundamentally oppose. Indeed, a Marist poll in January 2023 found that 60% of Americans strongly oppose the use of taxpayer dollars to pay for an abortion, consistent with polls taken throughout recent years.\n\nRather than respect the Supreme Court\u2019s decision, you decided to engage the Department, and our men and women in uniform, in a policy debate properly reserved for the legislature. You did so by claiming that Dobbs had \u201creadiness, recruiting, and retention implications for the Force.\u201d By your own officials\u2019 admissions, however, the Department has no data to support that claim, and few servicemembers or dependents have utilized the Policy.\n\nAfter multiple inquiries from Congress on this question, the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness finally confirmed that \u201cThe Department does not have any data on women being deterred from joining the military for fear of being stationed at an installation or base in a state or nation that has restrictive abortion laws.\u201d Finally, a recent letter from the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee revealed that only 12 women have taken advantage of the Policy since its inception, which undercuts your argument that Dobbs has significant recruiting and retention implications.\n\nOur men and women in uniform deserve Senate-confirmed leadership but the current situation began with your original sin of promulgating the Policy. Much has been made in the press about one Senator\u2019s decision to try and stop your egregious wrongs, without acknowledging the Senate Majority Leader\u2019s refusal to bring general and flag officer nominations to the floor until forced to by Republicans. Seeking to circumvent the Senate prerogative of the informal \u201chold\u201d practice without addressing the underlying causes\u2014the novel Policy and the subsequent refusal of the Majority to bring these nominees to the floor\u2014will not ultimately reconcile this matter. It could create a toxic precedent with lasting negative effects on future military nominations.\n\nYour decision to issue the Policy politicized the military and placed the wants of a few over the needs of the entire nation.\n\nDo the right thing. Rescind the Policy now.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/dr-rand-paul-joins-bipartisan-letter-urging-the-u-s-to-end-prosecution-of-julian-assange/", "Dr. Rand Paul Joins Bipartisan Letter Urging the U.S. to End Prosecution of Julian Assange", "2023-11-14", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 14, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nDr. Rand Paul Joins Bipartisan Letter Urging the U.S. to End Prosecution of Julian Assange\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Recently, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and 15 other bipartisan Members of Congress sent a letter encouraging President Biden to end the extradition request currently pending against Australian publisher Julian Assange and halt all prosecutorial proceedings against him in an effort to preserve free speech and freedom of the press.\n\nAs the Members write in the letter, \u201cIt is the duty of journalists to seek out sources, including documentary evidence, in order to report to the public on the activities of government. The United States must not pursue an unnecessary prosecution that risks criminalizing common journalistic practices and thus chilling the work of the free press. We urge you to ensure that this case be brought to a close in as timely a manner as possible.\u201d\n\nDr. Paul was joined in sending the letter by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA-02), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY-04), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-12), Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO-07), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05), Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ-09), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-07), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07), Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT-02), Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX-35), Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO-01), Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY-16), Rep. Jes\u00fas \u201cChuy\u201d Garc\u00eda (D-IL-04), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14).\n\nYou can read the full letter HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=84367E5C-4D12-4AE0-9DD1-41045904F739", "America\u2019s Allies And Adversaries Both Understand Global Stakes In Ukraine", "2023-11-13", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding aid to Ukraine:\n\n\u201cAs I\u2019ve said for months, Congress also has a responsibility to help our nation meet a growing network of serious threats from adversaries like Russia, China, and Iran.\n\n\u201cAs one recent analysis put it, \u2018Each of these revisionist states aids the others in their goals to\u2026 subvert or destroy democratic nations.\u2019\n\n\u201cJust consider the lengths that authoritarians in Beijing and terror sponsors in Tehran are going to prop up Vladimir Putin\u2019s brutal war in Ukraine.\n\n\u201cThe PRC has massively ramped up its purchases of Russian energy to help Moscow subvert Western sanctions. And Chinese materials are helping produce 80 million rounds of ammunition for Russian invaders.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, Iran is providing maintenance for Russian aircraft that are subject to U.S. sanctions. And Iranian personnel are on Russian soil training Putin\u2019s forces to use their lethal kamikaze drones.\n\n\u201cSo Madam President, our adversaries are showing us by their actions that they\u2019re heavily invested in Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine. They clearly understand that their own ability to threaten America and the West is tied directly to what\u2019s happening in Eastern Europe.\n\n\u201cOur allies understand this reality, as well. It\u2019s why allies from Japan to Poland are making massive new commitments to modernizing their own defenses and expanding their defense industrial bases. This is good news for burden-sharing and for collective security.\n\n\u201cIn some cases, like Germany, our allies\u2019 investments since Russia\u2019s escalation in Ukraine mark a long-overdue departure from years of neglect for hard power.\n\n\u201cToday, as Berlin continues to pour new resources into its own military strength, our German allies have also announced a plan to double their direct military aid to Ukraine in the coming year.\n\n\u201cOf course, some of our European allies have never had the luxury of taking a holiday from history. For example, since the beginning of Russia\u2019s escalation, our NATO ally Estonia has allocated a nearly unparalleled share of its GDP in direct assistance. Estonians know that Vladimir Putin does not intend to stop at Kyiv.\n\n\u201cAmerica\u2019s friends understand that failing to check Vladimir Putin\u2019s aggression in Europe would have far-reaching consequences. So do our biggest adversaries.\n\n\u201cWe cannot afford to neglect this reality, ourselves. And we cannot deny the clear ways that America\u2019s support for Ukraine is driving our growing readiness to face other threats.\n\n\u201cThe emergency investments we\u2019ve made in the U.S. defense industrial base as a result of Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine are doubling production capacity of 155mm artillery rounds. They\u2019re driving a 40% increase in production of long-range precision fires. And nearly doubling capacity for air-to-air missiles.\n\n\u201cDenying the obvious connections between the threats we face can\u2019t obscure the fact that the benefits of investments in Western strength are also connected. Expanding our defense industrial bases means making America and our allies stronger \u2013 from Europe to the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific.\n\n\u201cThe most important thing anyone who is truly concerned about growing threats from China or Iran can do is support investments in American military capabilities and our defense industrial base. That includes both supplemental resources and full-year defense appropriations.\n\n\u201cIf we fail to take these steps, we won\u2019t just be starving our friends and allies, but our own military.\n\n\u201cThe threats we face are not divisible. But neither is the progress we\u2019re making toward restoring American strength.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=EAA57678-9CDA-42E2-B7AF-99A77B1BC7A0", "McConnell Honors Fallen Members of Elite Ft. Campbell Unit", "2023-11-13", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor Senate floor regarding the deaths of five soldiers of the 160th SOAR:\n\n\u201cI need to begin today with some tragic news.\n\n\u201cThis weekend, as Americans joined together to salute our heroes, five soldiers deployed out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, were killed while operating in dangerous conditions in the Mediterranean Sea:\n\n\u201cChief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen Dwyer.\n\n\u201cChief Warrant Officer 2 Shane Barnes.\n\n\u201cStaff Sergeant Tanner Grone.\n\n\u201cSergeant Andrew Southard.\n\n\u201cAnd Sergeant Cade Wolfe.\n\n\u201cThese fallen warriors were members of Fort Campbell\u2019s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known by their brothers- and sisters-in-arms as Night Stalkers.\n\n\u201cThe Night Stalkers are elite, highly-trained fighters who take on the most sensitive missions. They\u2019re ready to respond at any time to serious threats anywhere in the world. And they ground their service in two principles \u2013 never quit and never surrender.\n\n\u201cNight Stalkers live, breathe, and \u2013 tragically \u2013 often die by a creed which reads: \u2018I serve with the memory and pride of those who have gone before me, for they loved to fight, fought to win, and would rather die than quit.\u2019\n\n\u201cThis weekend, five brave men honored their creed. Their memory will live on, carried by Night Stalkers who continue to profess it, and by every American who mourns their loss.\n\n\u201cThis tragedy is a stark reminder of the incredible dangers our men and women in uniform face, and of the debt we owe them.\n\n\u201cToday, I join our nation in grieving these fallen warriors, and I extend my prayers to their families, children, and comrades.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=FB93A3EF-3776-4677-AD01-A4BC5DF5BEE0", "McConnell on House CR: Responsible Measure Allows Important Work To Continue", "2023-11-13", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding funding the government:\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve been encouraged this year by the progress our Appropriations Committee has made toward restoring regular order to the way we fund the federal government. As I\u2019ve said before, shutting down the government does nothing to advance that work.\n\n\u201cRegular order requires that Congress provide itself the time for careful consideration and thorough amendment. I\u2019m glad to see that Speaker Johnson has produced a continuing resolution that would do exactly that.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of work left to do. Aside from the remaining full-year appropriations bills, glaring national security priorities continue to demand our attention: from Israel to Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific, and \u2013 of course \u2013 to our southern border.\n\n\u201cHouse Republicans have produced a responsible measure that will keep the lights on, avoid a harmful lapse in government funding, and provide the time and space to finish that important work.\n\n\u201cI will support their continuing resolution and encourage my colleagues to do the same.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=46C8BA11-EC38-43DD-B978-76F599265238", "McConnell Honors KFB President Mark Haney", "2023-11-09", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor honoring Mark Haney, who announced he will conclude his tenure next month as the President of the Kentucky Farm Bureau (KFB):\n\n\u201cHardworking men and women in Kentucky have been in the business of growing the food that feeds our nation for centuries. When it comes to supporting these farmers, there's no organization that has had a greater impact on the agricultural community than the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation.\n\n\u201cMark Haney, the Farm Bureau\u2019s longest-serving president and a proud farmer himself, has played an important role in preserving our Commonwealth\u2019s agricultural heritage and recruiting the next generation of young producers.\n\n\u201cThis year, the Farm Bureau bids Mark a warm farewell as he prepares to step down, closing out 15 successful years as president and over three decades on the Board.\n\n\u201cNearly 75,000 farms back home help keep dinner plates full across the country. And for the better part of this century, they\u2019ve trusted Mark to lead them through the good times and the bad: From adapting to ever-evolving red tape from Washington\u2026 to helping farm families recover and rebuild after devastating storms\u2026 to navigating a once-in-a-century pandemic.\n\n\u201cPersonally, I\u2019ve leaned on Mark for his counsel on the challenges that face rural America, and having worked with him for decades, I am confident this is not our final goodbye. Mark is sure to be an invaluable asset to Kentucky\u2019s agricultural community and the organization he loves well into the future.\n\n\u201cElaine and I extend our warm wishes to our good friend Mark and his wife, Marlene, on his well-deserved retirement.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=AAF8584C-CD99-482F-9B48-7D6D284DEC77", "McConnell on Honoring America\u2019s Veterans, Investing In American Strength", "2023-11-09", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Veteran\u2019s Day:\n\n\u201cThis weekend \u2013 with parades and gatherings, solemn ceremonies and phone calls to loved ones \u2013 America will mark Veterans Day by expressing our gratitude to the men and women who have served our nation in the armed forces.\n\n\u201cBut Veterans Day is much more than a once-a-year observation.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a reminder of our daily obligation to honor their service, uphold our promises to care for them when they come home, and do everything we can to equip those defending our nation today and tomorrow for success.\n\n\u201cToday, I\u2019m reminded of some letters I\u2019ve saved in my archives. They\u2019re letters my father sent home to my mother from his own service in Patton\u2019s Army in 1945.\n\n\u201cWith Nazi Germany on the ropes; with peace within reach, my dad was already seeing firsthand the sorts of threats that would define the next half century of American history. In the parts of his letters that made it past Army censors, he told us how the Russians were going to be a big problem.\n\n\u201cToday, America faces threats every bit as grave. Like those of the 1940s, our adversaries today aren\u2019t being shy about their efforts to win the next half century of competition with America and the West.\n\n\u201cAs one recent analysis summed it up, Russia, China, and Iran are, \u2018working to end the world order that has prevailed for three generations under American leadership.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Under American leadership.\u2019\n\n\u201cThis didn\u2019t happen by accident. The Western order of peace and freedom was delivered by the sacrifices of American servicemembers like my father, and preserved by generations of brave men and women in uniform ever since.\n\n\u201cRight now, we have an obligation to these servicemembers\u2026 to our allies\u2026 and to the American people to behave like the world-leading power we actually are. We have a duty to invest seriously in American strength.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s time to offer a clear strategy for victory against Russia, and then deliver the resources Ukraine needs to achieve it, right now.\n\n\u201cPutin is not deterred. And his imperial ambitions do not end at Ukraine\u2019s border with the NATO alliance.\n\n\u201cIf the United States abandons our support for Ukraine\u2019s resistance, we would risk yet another generation of American forces becoming veterans of war in Europe.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s time to get serious about deterring Iran \u2013 the world\u2019s leading sponsor of terrorism, and the leading sponsor of violence against American servicemembers in Iraq and Syria. I welcome yesterday\u2019s strike on an Iranian facility in Syria. But it will probably take more than striking ammunition warehouses to restore the deterrence the Biden Administration\u2019s policies have actually squandered.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s time to redouble our efforts to equip allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific to raise the costs of further aggression from communist China.\n\n\u201cAnd as I\u2019ve said repeatedly, it\u2019s long past time to make commonsense policy changes to address a southern border crisis that has required U.S. servicemembers to help border patrol to maintain order.\n\n\u201cThese are the tasks before us. And they will not get any easier to address the longer we wait.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=BD81436F-7E03-44CF-ACD4-84665EF2F697", "China Wins Big With Biden Admin. Climate Agenda", "2023-11-09", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding left-wing climate policy:\n\n\u201cFor three years, the Biden Administration\u2019s radical climate agenda has laid siege to affordable American energy and American consumer choice.\n\n\u201cSlashed development of abundant domestic energy reserves. Soaring prices for gas and heating oil. And a thicket of new regulations from unelected bureaucrats \u2013 from construction permitting to home appliances.\n\n\u201cAnd as the President\u2019s policies made life harder for working Americans, prominent Democrats took the Administration\u2019s green obsession on the road.\n\n\u201cSpecial Climate Envoy John Kerry went to China hoping to treat climate goals as a \u2018free standing\u2019 issue from our major strategic competition. Unsurprisingly, the PRC saw things differently, and Chairman Xi stated publicly that China had no plans to stop increasing its carbon emissions for at least another seven years.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, the Governor of California took his own trip to Beijing and pledged to PRC officials that, \u2018regardless of what happens nationally, sub-nationally, you have a partner in California.\u2019\n\n\u201cWell, Mr. President, they sure do. In fact, the supply chains for some of coastal liberals\u2019 favorite green fashions like electric vehicles run directly through China.\n\n\u201cClose to 75% of lithium batteries \u2013 as well as 70% of the cathodes and anodes required to produce these batteries \u2013 come from China. The PRC holds more than 50% of the processing and refining capacity for critical minerals like cobalt.\n\n\u201cBy all relevant measures, the United States lags dangerously behind. But earlier this year, the Biden Administration decided to make bringing these critical supply chains home even more difficult by waiving \u2018Buy American\u2019 requirements materials used to make electric vehicle chargers.\n\n\u201cApparently, the Administration is so desperate to force its radical climate agenda, it\u2019s willing to enrich America\u2019s single biggest strategic adversary to get there!\n\n\u201cWashington Democrats so badly want to force working Americans to drive blue state millionaires\u2019 favorite electric cars that they\u2019re willing to cut communist China in on the profits.\n\n\u201cFortunately, the Senate had an opportunity yesterday to set things straight. Thanks to the leadership of Senator Rubio, a bipartisan majority voted to block the Biden Administration\u2019s waiver policy using the Congressional Review Act.\n\n\u201cApparently, the President\u2019s radical climate agenda is too radical for several members of his own party. Hopefully, he\u2019ll listen to them soon.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/dr-rand-paul-and-senator-richard-blumenthal-reintroduce-the-temporary-family-visitation-act/", "Dr. Rand Paul and Senator Richard Blumenthal\u00a0Reintroduce\u00a0the Temporary Family Visitation Act", "2023-11-09", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 9, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nDr. Rand Paul and Senator Richard Blumenthal Reintroduce the Temporary Family Visitation Act\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) reintroduced the Temporary Family Visitation Act (TFVA) that would establish a new B-3 nonimmigrant category allowing U.S. citizens and permanent residents to petition for their family members for temporary visas.\n\nUnder the current system, family members of U.S. citizens and permanent residents may only apply to visit their relatives through B2 visas. While facilitating family reunions is one of the main pillars of the U.S. immigration policy, the current immigration law lacks a direct path for families to temporarily reunite for family purposes such as weddings, birthdays, graduations, funerals, and holidays.\n\nIf enacted, the Temporary Family Visitation Act would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act and will establish a separate nonimmigrant classification under B visa category for family members of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who are residents of countries not included in the Visa Waiver Program for a duration of 90 days.\n\nAdditionally, TFVA promotes U.S. national interests by supporting the principle of family reunion while strengthening the economy and reducing unintended immigrant visa applications.\n\n\u201cThe Temporary Family Visitation Act is a great step forward in allowing family members of U.S. citizens/permanent residents to responsibly visit the United States for memorable occasions such as weddings, births and graduations,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cThe legislation will strengthen our economy through indirect spending and has the support of a large coalition of groups who agree that it is time to allow family members to visit the United States under responsible enforcement mechanisms to ensure that applicants do not overstay their visa.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis bill is pretty simple: we want to make it easier for close family members to see their grandchildren baptized, their children married or their nieces and nephews graduate from college,\u201d said Senator Blumenthal. \u201cAs we\u2019ve learned, it\u2019s possible to celebrate these kinds of special occasions from afar, but it just isn\u2019t the same as being there in person. I\u2019m glad to join bipartisan legislation to make it a little easier for families to mark life\u2019s big moments together.\u201d\n\nTFVA requires that:\n\nEach petitioner signs an affidavit of financial support.\n\nEach applicant must purchase travel medical insurance for the duration of their stay.\n\nThese requirements dissuade visa overstays by prohibiting the petitioner from using the TFVA if they had previously sponsored a relative who overstayed the 90-day period of authorized admission, it will also provide financial assurance to the U.S. Government.\n\nYou can read the Temporary Family Visitation Act, HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=6D4195C4-60BF-4720-A153-1487828B3250", "McConnell: Growing Nat\u2019l Security Challenges Require Comprehensive Response", "2023-11-08", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding supplemental national security priorities:\n\n\u201cThe challenges facing America and our allies today are not an a la carte menu of projects we can address at our leisure.\n\n\u201cNo \u2013 the most dangerous threats we face are linked together.\n\n\u201cTake it from the author of the last administration\u2019s National Security Strategy.\n\n\u201cRussia, Iran, and China, \u2018see the U.S. as weak and in decline,\u2019 and are willing, \u2018to put aside their differences to collude against American interests.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo, Mr. President, they\u2019re extraordinarily willing.\n\n\u201cFinland is investigating a case of suspected sabotage by a Chinese ship against an undersea communications cable and gas line connecting the newest member of NATO to Estonia, one of the alliance\u2019s most stalwart backers of Ukraine.\n\n\u201cPutin\u2019s Russia is reportedly helping Iran develop a space launch vehicle \u2013 a critical step toward building intercontinental ballistic missiles.\n\n\u201cIn return, Iran isn\u2019t just sending Russia kamikaze drones to kill Ukrainians. It\u2019s helping build an entire drone factory on Russian soil.\n\n\u201cA Russia state energy company is reportedly providing China with highly enriched uranium.\n\n\u201cChina is swarming social media platforms with pro-Hamas propaganda and protecting both Iran and Russia in the UN Security Council.\n\n\u201cAmerica doesn\u2019t have the luxury of facing these threats individually. Our ability to contend with complex, simultaneous threats is exactly what our adversaries are testing.\n\n\u201cRussian war in Europe, Chinese aggression in Asia, Iran-backed terror in the Middle East, and a southern border that\u2019s dangerously lacking in credible enforcement. This is the reality we face. Right now.\n\n\u201cThe Biden Administration\u2019s supplemental request falls short of adequately addressing these linked threats. So let me explain again what this moment actually requires:\n\n\u201cIn Europe, the Administration needs to provide a clear strategy for Ukrainian victory.\n\n\u201cThat means prioritizing the lethal military capabilities Ukraine needs right now. No more half-measures. No more hesitation.\n\n\u201cAs former Secretary of State Pompeo put it last week, America should be, \u2018accelerating the flow of weapons and ammunition to Kyiv,\u2019 because abandoning Ukraine would bolster our adversaries.\n\n\u201cWe should be empowering agency inspectors general to continue the unprecedented oversight and accountability work we\u2019ve built into U.S. assistance since the beginning of Putin\u2019s escalation last year.\n\n\u201cAnd we should continue to invest in expanding America\u2019s defense industrial base \u2013 both to replace capabilities Ukraine is using with newer for our own use, and to ramp up production of the ones Israel, Taiwan, and our Indo-Pacific allies and partners need.\n\n\u201cIn Israel\u2019s case, it\u2019s especially important that we take stringent measures to ensure no humanitarian assistance bound for to the people of Gaza can be intercepted by Hamas terrorists.\n\n\u201cAnd as I\u2019ve said before, for any of this supplemental security funding to pass the Senate, we will also need to implement serious policy changes at the southern border. Senate Republicans will not rubber-stamp the Biden Administration\u2019s bailout for a problem it created. We\u2019re focused on policies to slow the flow of illegal migration and secure the border.\n\n\u201cAmerica\u2019s strategic goals are crystal clear:\n\n\u201cDegrade Russian military strength and prevent major war in Europe. Re-establish credible deterrence against Iran and its terrorist networks. Grow our defense industrial base to equip our military and our allies in the Indo-Pacific to raise the costs of Chinese aggression. And restore real border security right here at home.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s exactly what the Senate should be focused on.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=ECCB1D54-9A0C-435B-953D-2EC592DB87DF", "Higher Ed. Faces Consequences Of Weak Response To Anti-Semitism On Campus", "2023-11-08", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding anti-Semitism on college campuses:\n\n\u201cSince October 7, a nationwide reckoning with the ancient scourge of anti-Semitism has centered on America\u2019s most elite academic institutions. And the eye of this storm has been a cadre of the country\u2019s most radical leftist faculty.\n\n\u201cRecently, the University of California\u2019s Ethnic Studies Faculty Council released a letter condemning Israel as a \u2018globally acknowledged apartheid.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe council called the UC System\u2019s official response \u2013 which correctly identified the butchery committed by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad \u2013 irresponsible.\n\n\u201cAnd it claimed for itself the mantle of \u2018moral authority.\u2019\n\n\u201cOf course, tenured Marxists do not have to worry much about real-world consequences.\n\n\u201cBut university administrators, recruiters, fundraisers, and students? They do.\n\n\u201cSo in response to this faculty group\u2019s terrorist propaganda, one member of the University of California Board of Regents published a strongly-worded letter of his own.\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s what he said. \u2018Let me be crystal clear with no ifs, ands, or buts \u2013 I\u2026will do everything in my power to protect our Jewish students, and for that matter, everyone\u2026from your inflammatory and out of touch rhetoric.\u2019\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, too many other administrators have been unable or unwilling to speak with such moral clarity. And the consequences for their institutions are piling up.\n\n\u201cThe billionaire philanthropist who just a few years ago made the biggest donation in the history of Penn\u2019s Wharton School is now leading a revolt among influential donors that stretches across the Ivy League. He\u2019s pledged to close his checkbook, and by one account, he\u2019s talking to \u2018half of Wall Street\u2019 urging them to do likewise.\n\n\u201cOne prominent national law firm has gone as far as setting up a legal assistance hotline for students experiencing anti-Semitism on campus.\n\n\u201cApparently, the most successful alumni of the most elite schools in America want nothing to do with institutions that aid or abet anti-Semitism. Good on them!\n\n\u201cAnd it\u2019s not just private funding on the line. This week, the Secretary of Education called a play from his Republican predecessor\u2019s playbook and told major universities that he was willing to use Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to withhold federal funds if they permit anti-Semitic discrimination on their campuses.\n\n\u201cOf course, the Secretary couldn\u2019t help but couch his warning in \u2018both sides\u2019 rhetoric about Islamophobia, as has been the Biden Administration\u2019s practice this past month.\n\n\u201cWell, tomorrow, our colleagues on the HELP committee will convene a roundtable discussion addressing the topic at hand: a glaring rise in anti-Semitic hate on campus. I\u2019m very grateful to Ranking Member Cassidy for leading this effort to highlight the legal responsibilities universities have to protect Jewish students.\n\n\u201cAs our former colleague, the President of the University of Florida, put it without hesitation after October 7th, \u2018Our Constitution protects the rights of people to make abject idiots of themselves.\u2019\n\n\u201cFortunately, the Constitution also protects our right to condemn these people in the strongest possible terms.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=E65C2AF4-3541-463F-B9BD-63CDB4180602", "Effective Deterrence Against Iran-Backed Terror Requires Both Capabilities and Credibility", "2023-11-07", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Iran:\n\n\u201cForty-four years ago last week, shock troops chanting \u2018Death to America\u2019 and \u2018Death to Israel\u2019 led Iranian revolutionaries across Tehran, overran the U.S. embassy, and took 66 Americans hostage for 444 days.\n\n\u201cIran\u2019s war against America, the Great Satan, and Israel, the Little Satan, has continued ever since.\n\n\u201cThe regime has supported Shi\u2019a terrorists, Sunni terrorists, and secular terrorists. It\u2019s underwritten violence across the world:\n\n\u201cFrom the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut\u2026 to the 1992 Israeli embassy bombing in Buenos Aires\u2026 to the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia\u2026 to the hundreds of attacks, masterminded by Qassem Soleimani, on U.S. forces in Iraq.\n\n\u201cTehran has invested its time and resources into cultivating the terrorists of Hizballah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.\n\n\u201cThe Iranian regime bears responsibility for their savagery. And it\u2019s also responsible for more than a hundred attacks on U.S. personnel and interests in Iraq and Syria just since President Biden took office.\n\n\u201cThese attacks have spiked since October 7th. Two weeks ago, an Iranian-made suicide drone hit a U.S. military barracks in Iraq. Thankfully, the drone\u2019s explosive payload failed to detonate.\n\n\u201cBut the message it sent about the state of President Biden\u2019s deterrence of the world\u2019s largest state sponsor of terrorism was as clear as day.\n\n\u201cIn recent weeks, U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria have been targeted at least another 38 times with lethal force. And more than 40 servicemembers have been injured.\n\n\u201cLet me say that again: Iran-backed terrorists have attacked U.S. forces at least 38 times since October 7th.\n\n\u201cU.S. personnel are, of course, not the only targets of the Iranian war on Western influence in the Middle East. America\u2019s Arab allies have endured repeated attacks, as well.\n\n\u201cThis ongoing siege is not the behavior of an adversary that is being effectively deterred. And how we got here is no mystery.\n\n\u201cWhen the Biden Administration took office, it rushed to restore a failed nuclear agreement with an Iranian regime that had long since proven it wasn\u2019t to be trusted.\n\n\u201cWhen Iran-backed Houthi rebels killed three people at an airport in the United Arab Emirates and aimed two ballistic missiles at its capital last year, the Administration responded with silence.\n\n\u201cAnd in response to the latest wave of attacks on U.S. forces, the President authorized a strike on an ammunition facility. His Secretary of State felt compelled to reiterate that, \u2018We are not looking for conflict with Iran.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo clearly, Iran is looking for conflict with us. The Iranian regime is working hard to kill Americans, undermine our influence, and sow chaos among our allies. And so far, you would have to say they\u2019re succeeding.\n\n\u201cHamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad perpetrated the deadliest day of violence against Jews since the Holocaust. Hizballah stands ready \u2013 at Iran\u2019s behest \u2013 to escalate this conflict into a two-front war. And years of careful progress toward normalized relations between Israel and more of its Arab neighbors has been stalled.\n\n\u201cDemanding that Israel cease fire against Hamas would lock in these gains for Iran. It would grant amnesty for both the terrorists and their sponsors.\n\n\u201cWe have a responsibility to reject these demands. Not just on behalf of our ally, Israel, but because amnesty for terrorists would embolden the Iran-backed threats to U.S. interests in the region.\n\n\u201cAs I\u2019ve said before, effective deterrence requires both capabilities and credibility. It requires that a global superpower actually act like one.\n\n\u201cIn practical terms, deterring Iran and its web of terrorists means meeting attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria with swift, lethal, and overwhelming military force. It means working with allies to deploy crippling economic sanctions and inhibit Iran\u2019s support for terror.\n\n\u201cAnd it means finally taking the advice I offered President Biden when he took office: Set aside the failed nuclear deal, work with Republicans, and build an Iran policy that can endure long after he leaves office.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=FEB390F2-60EB-4F4D-98AC-7A8D0FBE27E5", "Republicans Work On Border Policy Solutions While Democrats Pitch Blue-State Bailouts", "2023-11-07", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the southern border crisis:\n\n\u201cAt a hearing last week, the Secretary of Homeland Security told our colleagues that, quote, \u2018ensuring the safety of the American people is a national imperative and a government obligation.\u2019\n\n\u201cSecretary Mayorkas is absolutely right about that. But for someone who understands so clearly the duty of his office, the Biden Administration\u2019s border czar is utterly failing to execute it.\n\n\u201cAfter three straight years of record-shattering overall border apprehensions, the alarming details of the national security crisis unfolding at the southern border on this Administration\u2019s watch are coming into clearer focus.\n\n\u201cLast fiscal year didn\u2019t just set a new all-time record for border apprehensions of individuals on the terror watch list. It saw arrivals from countries beyond Latin America triple.\n\n\u201cCBP personnel are now facing a human wave at the border that \u2013 according to Mexican officials \u2013 hails from 120 different countries and speaks 60 different languages.\n\n\u201cFor three years \u2013 policy choice by policy choice \u2013 the Biden Administration has welcomed this historic flood of illegal immigration\u2026 And set the brave men and women of Customs and Border Protection up for failure.\n\n\u201cAnd it\u2019s abundantly clear that the solution to the Administration\u2019s border crisis is by replacing bad policies with sensible ones. Even Secretary Mayorkas admitted last week that, \u2018policy changes are needed.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut in reality, the supplemental request he\u2019s selling on behalf of the President is much less focused on fixing policy than on throwing money at the problem.\n\n\u201cInstead of shutting off the broken asylum incentives that are driving record arrivals, the Administration wants to pay for faster asylum claim processing, a shower of grant funding for overwhelmed liberal cities that once proudly declared themselves \u2018sanctuary cities\u2019, and as Secretary Mayorkas put it, accelerated \u2018work authorization for eligible non-citizens.\u2019\n\n\u201cWell the Biden Administration\u2019s border crisis has created a fork in the road.\n\n\u201cIn the face of record illegal migration, Democrats are focused on getting more people into our country faster, no matter the cost.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, Senate Republicans are focused on securing the border and putting the American people back at the forefront of our border policy. I\u2019m grateful to a group of our colleagues \u2013 led by Senator Lankford, Senator Graham, Senator Thune, and Senator Cotton \u2013 who are working hard on proposals to do exactly that.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=65D82117-7A97-4234-875E-7113AF624B8B", "Moral Equivalency In America Makes Israel\u2019s Job Harder", "2023-11-06", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Israel\u2019s fight against Hamas terrorists:\n\n\u201cAs Israel continues to root out the Hamas terrorists who savaged innocent civilians on October 7th, the political left here in America appears to be engaged in a loud, public debate with itself over how exactly to differentiate indiscriminate slaughter and lawful self-defense.\n\n\u201cLast week, an especially radical House Democrat repeated to her followers a call to eliminate the Jewish state, \u2018from the river to the sea\u2019.\n\n\u201cThen, she attempted to explain away the undeniably genocidal connotation of this long-standing anti-Israel slogan as a call for, \u2018peaceful coexistence\u2019.\n\n\u201cApparently, Jews can live in peace with Palestinians\u2026 as long as they vacate Israel.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, the shameful moral equivalence that has been creeping across elite and influential corners of the left has now been embraced by a former Commander-in-Chief.\n\n\u201cJust a few days ago, President Obama used the same breath to express his horror at both Hamas violence and a supposed Israeli \u2018occupation\u2019 of Gaza. In reality, the only force that has occupied Gaza since 2007 is Hamas. Not Israel.\n\n\u201cThe former President also said, \u2018all of us are complicit to some degree.\u2019 That is simply false. Responsibility lies with the terrorists.\n\n\u201cSo, Madam President, perhaps President Obama has forgotten the bloody campaign to defeat ISIS over which he presided. Or the destruction of cities like Mosul and Raqqa in pursuit of medieval Islamic tyrants who terrorized innocent civilians.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t recall President Obama doubting the righteousness of American efforts to support local partners in rooting out terrorists in Iraq and Syria. Where is that moral clarity in the face of Hamas?\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, that brings me to the growing number of our Senate colleagues who have called for a ceasefire in today\u2019s terrorist war.\n\n\u201cI would remind our colleagues that Israel had negotiated a ceasefire with Hamas over the summer. And we all saw where that led on October 7th. Returning to any such arrangement right now would be amnesty for the butchers of innocent Israelis and Gazans, alike.\n\n\u201cOnce again, let\u2019s remember who the aggressor is.\n\n\u201cHamas is blocking citizens from leaving Gaza city. Hamas has intentionally put its weapons caches inside schools, hospitals, and mosques, and its firing positions in the middle of civilian populations. Hamas has poured countless billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance into its terror tunnels.\n\n\u201cThese people are not freedom fighters. They do not want \u2018peaceful coexistence\u2019. They are savages, cut from the same cloth as ISIS and al-Qaeda.\n\n\u201cThere is no room for moral equivalency. The distinction between good and evil here is blindingly obvious.\n\n\u201cFortunately, some do recognize this. The Vice Chancellor of Germany, a member of his country\u2019s Green Party, didn\u2019t have any trouble finding the moral clarity this moment requires. In an address to the nation last week, he said, \u2018Hamas does not want reconciliation with Israel, but the extermination of Israel. And this is why it is pivotal to make it clear that Israel\u2019s right to exist must not be relativized. Israel\u2019s security is our obligation.\u2019\n\n\u201cAmerican politicians who cannot bring themselves to acknowledge the same should be ashamed.\n\n\u201cThis weekend marked 44 years since Iranian revolutionaries overran the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took 66 Americans hostage. Today, Americans are once again being held hostage by forces aligned with Iranian tyranny.\n\n\u201cMany more Israelis are being held alongside them. And Israel deserves the time, space, and support it needs to bring their terrorist captors to justice.\n\n\u201cIn the days immediately following October 7th, I warned that President Biden would be pressured to withhold this support, and that familiar and morally bankrupt calls for ceasefire would threaten Israel\u2019s ability to see its defensive operations through.\n\n\u201cBut here we are, nearly a month later, watching the movement to grant Hamas amnesty reach the highest levels of our government.\n\n\u201cWar is a bloody business. That is the reality Israel faces. We should be careful before second-guessing their efforts to get innocent Israelis \u2013 and Americans \u2013 home safely, and to destroy Hamas\u2019 ability to wage war.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=AD484473-11FA-47ED-BDE4-20CAA2D8B24F", "Rising Violent Crime Includes Spike In Anti-Semitic Hate", "2023-11-06", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding anti-Semitic violence:\n\n\u201cWhile the United States and our allies face terrorist and authoritarian violence abroad, the American people continue to face waves of unchecked violence here at home.\n\n\u201cJust last month, a member of our colleague Senator Britt\u2019s staff was robbed at gunpoint right outside of her apartment building. Thankfully, this young woman was not injured. But stories like hers have become all too common in our nation\u2019s capital.\n\n\u201cAccording to Washington Metropolitan Police, robbery in the city has increased by 70% this year, and motor vehicle theft is up 101%.\n\n\u201cAnd in the midst of rising violent crime, a particularly alarming spate of anti-Semitic violence has come to a head in the wake of October 7th. In New York City, authorities have recorded 66 antisemitic hate crimes in just the last month.\n\n\u201cOn October 14, exactly one week after Hamas\u2019 deadly attack, a 29-year-old woman was beaten on the subway in Manhattan. The attacker reportedly told the victim that the reason for his attack was because, \u2018you are Jewish.\u2019\n\n\u201cA Jewish deli in the city was vandalized with multiple images of the swastika symbol.\n\n\u201cAnd of course, murderous threats against Jewish students at Cornell University have prompted an FBI investigation.\n\n\u201cIn just the first two weeks after October 7th, the rate of anti-Semitic violence against American Jews nearly quadrupled. The American left has gone out of its way to downplay the threats they face with everything from \u2018both-sides\u2019 statements to outright incitement.\n\n\u201cMadam President, all Americans deserve to feel safe in their homes and in their communities. It\u2019s long past time for Democrats to take the historic waves of violence in America seriously.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=87DE0401-3929-473B-B3A4-FEA333782272", "U.S. Leadership Prompting Allies to \u2018Buy American\u2019", "2023-11-02", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the U.S. defense industrial base:\n\n\u201cAmerica\u2019s status as a global superpower comes with global interests and global responsibilities.\n\n\u201cWe have a direct interest in a stable and peaceful Middle East. And we have a responsibility to stand with Israel, our closest ally in the region, and to impose real costs on those who seek to harm U.S. personnel.\n\n\u201cWe have a direct interest in preserving free commerce and deterring aggression in the Indo-Pacific. And we have a responsibility \u2013 to future generations of Americans \u2013 to win this century\u2019s long-term strategic competition with communist China.\n\n\u201cAnd we have a direct interest in stability and security in Europe not only because we have treaty obligations to our NATO allies, but also because Europe is our largest trading partner, largest source of foreign direct investment, and a critical engine of our own economy.\n\n\u201cAs I\u2019ve explained repeatedly, the emergency funding we\u2019ve appropriated in response to Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine isn\u2019t charity.\n\n\u201cThese resources are helping a Western-oriented country degrade the military strength of a major U.S. adversary. Ukraine is blunting Putin\u2019s tools of aggression and disrupting his imperial ambitions in Europe, and all without involving American servicemembers in the fight.\n\n\u201cBut let\u2019s be honest. Aside from the funds we\u2019ve appropriated for U.S. military training and logistics support in Europe, the bulk of America\u2019s security assistance is being spent in factories right here at home.\n\n\u201cSome of it goes to purchase new weapons for Ukraine. But far more of it is going to replenish our own arsenal.\n\n\u201cOur investment is growing American military strength to meet the challenges that come with global leadership.\n\n\u201cSince Vladimir Putin\u2019s brutal escalation last year, the United States has invested $24 billion dollars in replenishing our arsenal with brand new capabilities.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve poured $692 million dollars into new munitions and tactical vehicles produced in Missouri. Almost a billion dollars in Alabama. And more than a billion dollars in Wisconsin.\n\n\u201cBut our investment is also expanding our production capacity. That means more factory floor space, new production lines, and new shifts of workers \u2013 all to help meet future threats.\n\n\u201cState by state, we\u2019re breathing new life into the arsenal of democracy. And, crucially, America\u2019s allies and partners are following suit.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019re investing historic sums in their own militaries. They\u2019re expanding their own defense industrial bases. And many are also choosing to Buy American.\n\n\u201cPoland has invested $3.75 billion dollars in new Abrams tanks from Michigan, Alabama, and Ohio. Estonia has spent half a billion dollars on HIMARs rocket systems from Texas. And Slovakia and Romania have spent a combined $350 million dollars on new tactical vehicles from Wisconsin.\n\n\u201cAnd it isn\u2019t just European allies who recognize the need to modernize.\n\n\u201cJapan has allocated $1.3 billion dollars for new E-2 command and control aircraft from Florida.\n\n\u201cAustralia has put $6.3 billion dollars toward new C-130 aircraft from Georgia. And Indonesia has invested $14 billion dollars on a new crop of F-15 fighter jets from Missouri.\n\n\u201cAll told, America\u2019s allies and partners have invested $120 billion and counting since February 2022 to rebuild their defense capabilities, right here in America.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019re buying American because they appreciate our cutting-edge technologies. Because they understand the importance of an interoperable combined force.\n\n\u201cBut most of all, they\u2019re buying American because of American leadership.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s been the United States\u2019 example that has helped our allies wake up from years of neglecting their commitments to defense. It\u2019s confidence in our leadership and military edge that\u2019s driving their historic efforts to start sharing more of the burden of collective security.\n\n\u201cAnd let\u2019s get something absolutely clear: This will not continue if America loses its resolve.\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t have the luxury of closing our gates and hoping for evil to leave us alone. America\u2019s allies are waking up to that fact. Now is not the time for the leader of the free world to go to sleep.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=BB45B545-A76F-44CE-9B86-D7ADBCA8F45E", "Biden Admin. Overregulation Creating Headaches For Small Businesses, Working Families", "2023-11-02", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the regulatory state:\n\n\u201cLast week, the National Labor Relations Board released a particularly unsavory new installment in the Biden Administration\u2019s mess of over-regulation. The NLRB\u2019s new rule dramatically expands the legal definition of an employer-employee relationship, turning small business owners in a franchise setting into middle managers.\n\n\u201cBy one outside estimate, the rule will increase costs for small businesses, national franchisors, and consumers, all while decreasing the availability of jobs and business ownership possibilities.\n\n\u201cIt would subject more of the American economy to the whims of the Left\u2019s Big Labor allies. And it would force national companies to choose between offering less support for small business-owning franchisees and accepting greater liability for the policies of individual branches.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s bad policy whichever way you slice it. Apparently, that\u2019s the self-described \u2018most pro-union president in American history\u2019 in action.\n\n\u201cOf course, the NLRB is just one example of how President Biden\u2019s radical nominees have led a campaign to drown the American economy in red tape. Since the day he took office, the President\u2019s war on affordable and reliable domestic energy has been driving up costs for working families.\n\n\u201cLast year, President Biden cancelled three offshore oil and gas lease sales. This year, total U.S. oil production has fallen below the Department of Energy\u2019s predictions by 1.4 million barrels per day.\n\n\u201cAnd the Administration\u2019s short-sightedness has left the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at its lowest level in 40 years.\n\n\u201cBlanket bans on developing America\u2019s abundant energy reserves have already taken their toll on everything from grocery prices to home heating costs. But Washington bureaucrats continue to dream up new ways to micromanage families\u2019 choices on everything from home appliances to light bulbs.\n\n\u201cBy one estimate, the Biden Administration\u2019s energy regulations will drive up gas furnace costs by nearly $500, and water heater costs by $2,800. New efficiency standards could cost households an extra $140 on lighting, and another $200 on washing machines.\n\n\u201cAnd while working families contend with this Administration\u2019s maze of red tape, the President is giving the architects behind it promotions!\n\n\u201cRecently, President Biden designated Laura Daniel-Davis as Acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior.\n\n\u201cAs several of my colleagues have noted, Ms. Daniel-Davis brings such an extreme record to the job that even a Democrat majority here in the Senate couldn\u2019t confirm her. For example, she\u2019s been a key player in the Administration\u2019s efforts to curtail leasing on our nation\u2019s abundant reserves of oil and natural gas.\n\n\u201cAlmost three years ago, President Biden handed the keys to his energy policy to the Far Left. And it shows.\n\n\u201cWorking Americans are already struggling to contend with historic inflation and rising crime on the President\u2019s watch. The last thing they need is more of Washington Democrats\u2019 red tape.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=3C078854-9CCC-4FA4-9A31-5E5E737CBC4C", "Democrats Throw Money At Border Crisis, While Republicans Focus On Policy Solutions", "2023-11-01", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the southern border crisis:\n\n\u201cAs I mentioned last week, illegal crossings at our southern border are setting all-time records.\n\n\u201cIn just three years under the Biden Administration, CBP has recorded six million border encounters. Six million.\n\n\u201cAnd yet, in the face of these astounding statistics, the Secretary of Homeland Security continues to say that, \u2018our approach to managing the border... is working.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe White House Press Secretary has reiterated this insanity, saying, \u2018it\u2019s not like someone walks over [the border]\u2026 That\u2019s not how it works.\u2019\n\n\u201cOf course, we know that\u2019s exactly how it works. The border patrol has been tracking 1,000 known gotaways per day!\n\n\u201cThe facts on the ground send a clear message: the Biden Administration\u2019s handling of the border crisis is a complete and utter failure.\n\n\u201cYesterday, Senator Cruz and Senator Barrasso both shared an encounter they witnessed on the border over the weekend of a 10-year-old girl and a man claiming to be her father. They described the terror on the girl\u2019s face as a man attempted to use the Biden Administration\u2019s family-unit loophole to cut the line at the border.\n\n\u201cAs Senator Cruz put it, \u2018the cartels are renting children to grown men.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe crisis that\u2019s unfolded on President Biden\u2019s watch is inhumane and dangerous. Fiscal Year 2022 was the deadliest year on record at the southern border, and FY 2023 set an all-time record for terror watch list encounters.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re watching a humanitarian crisis that\u2019s become a glaring national security vulnerability.\n\n\u201cAnd the solution here is pretty clear.\n\n\u201cThe solution isn\u2019t billions of dollars to make it easier and faster to process illegal migrants, or \u2018money for a welcome wagon\u2019 as Senator Barrasso put it yesterday.\n\n\u201cThe solution is a clear and commonsense policy that forces the Biden Administration to enforce the law and treat the border with the legal consequences it demands.\n\n\u201cSo I\u2019m grateful to my Republican colleagues who are working hard on a policy proposal to deliver actual border security, and drawing on ideas put forward by Senator Lankford, Senator Cruz, Senator Grassley, and others.\n\n\u201cWashington Democrats have proved that their border security approach is not working. President Biden\u2019s Border Supplemental request is more of the same.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s time to wake up and embrace policy changes that will keep Americans safe.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=8931B727-F054-4451-ACB5-AEBCE1824455", "U.S. Defense Production Pays Dividends Far Beyond Ukraine", "2023-11-01", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding our defense industrial base:\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve spoken frequently about the clear links between the biggest national security challenges facing our country, and about what we need to do to address them. But let\u2019s not lose sight of a few overarching points.\n\n\u201cAmerica\u2019s adversaries don\u2019t ease up when we lose our resolve. In fact, they press their advantage.\n\n\u201cHow many of our colleagues would disagree that withdrawing from Afghanistan caused America\u2019s friends and foes to question the credibility of our commitments?\n\n\u201cHow many would disagree that failing to respond decisively to hundreds of terrorist attacks against U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq has weakened our deterrence against Iran?\n\n\u201cHow many Senators would disagree that the Biden Administration shouldn\u2019t have withheld lethal assistance to Ukraine in the summer of 2021? Or that they should have shipped lethal weapons more quickly as Russia\u2019s preparations became glaringly obvious that fall and winter?\n\n\u201cHow many would disagree that the President\u2019s caution and hesitation to provide critical weapons \u2013 like HIMARS, Patriots, tanks, and ATACMs \u2013 has prolonged the conflict in Ukraine?\n\n\u201cOver and over again, history has taught us that the costs of disengaging from the world are far higher than the costs of engaging. And just as the threats we face aren\u2019t isolated, neither are the benefits of investing in American leadership.\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s the plain truth: The overwhelming majority of the resources approved by the Senate as security assistance for Ukraine has in fact gone directly to American manufacturers, supporting American jobs, expanding the American industrial base, and producing new weapons for America\u2019s military.\n\n\u201cAlmost $70 billion dollars in investments, spread across at least 38 different states. Production of artillery rounds, alone, has distributed multiple billions into facilities from Arkansas to Virginia and Texas to Ohio.\n\n\u201cAll to improve our ability to equip the United States and our allies for the growing challenges we face.\n\n\u201cMr. President, these investments are not just replacing what\u2019s being used to destroy Russia\u2019s military strength. They\u2019re expanding production capacity to meet soaring demand from allies \u2013 NATO countries have invested $90 billion in capabilities produced here in America since last February.\n\n\u201cAnd they\u2019re helping equip U.S. forces for our own long-term competition with China.\n\n\u201cTake the Patriot interceptor. This air-defense system is arguably the most in-demand weapon in the U.S. arsenal. It\u2019s saved thousands of American and allied lives. It\u2019s deployed across Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific. It\u2019s produced in Tucson, Arizona, with components coming from all over the country. And the supplemental resources we\u2019re working on could expand production capacity by nearly 20%.\n\n\u201cOr take the 155mm round. It\u2019s relevant in nearly every conflict imaginable. More than 75% of our investments marked for this munition has gone toward capacity expansion. Today, U.S. manufacturers are able to produce double what they could before our response to Russian aggression last year. With further investment of so-called \u2018Ukraine spending,\u2019 American production would reach 1 million rounds per year.\n\n\u201cThe notion that this money is detracting from America\u2019s other security priorities is nonsense. Anyone making this claim doesn\u2019t understand how critical production lines work.\n\n\u201cThe truth is the investments we\u2019ve made in expanding production capacity to respond to Putin\u2019s escalation are helping American manufacturers produce more of the weapons Israel and Taiwan need.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve spoken at length about America\u2019s clear national security interest in helping Ukraine demolish Russian military strength, and in a secure and peaceful Europe.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve spelled out the glaring and immediate threats we face from Iran-backed terror, and the importance of supporting our closest ally in the Middle East.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve emphasized the gravity of strategic competition with China, and the urgency of the threat facing our friends in the Indo-Pacific.\n\n\u201cBut as foolish as it is to deny the clear link between America\u2019s adversaries and the threats we face\u2026 It\u2019s every bit as dangerous to pretend that as a global superpower, our nation cannot or should not face each of them down.\n\n\u201cWe have the means to lead the free world and ensure our own security. In the face of coordinated aggression from our adversaries, we have the clearest possible objective: \u2018We win, they lose.\u2019\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=CF4DF79A-14B0-4794-9D3F-CA62BAC50366", "McConnell Helps Secure Over $3 Million in Federal Funding to Overhaul Hickman-Fulton County Riverport", "2023-11-01", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced today the Hickman-Fulton County Riverport Authority (HFCRA) will receive $3,295,879 in federal funding to replace aging port infrastructure and upgrade critical docking capabilities.\n\nThis federal funding is made possible through the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Maritime Administration\u2019s Port Infrastructure Development Program. This program is funded by annual appropriations and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the bipartisan infrastructure law Senator McConnell led to Senate passage two years ago. The IIJA gives Kentucky billions of federal dollars over five years to improve the Commonwealth\u2019s roads, bridges, railroads, riverports, airports, broadband, and more.\n\nSenator McConnell, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, contacted DOT in support of HFCRA\u2019s competitive federal application and advocated for DOT funding in both the FY2023 federal government funding bill and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.\n\nThis federal funding will overhaul existing port infrastructure at the Hickman-Fulton County Riverport, Kentucky\u2019s only public port along the Mississippi River, increasing its throughput capacity, enhancing operational safety, and enabling future commercial and industrial development in the region.\n\n\u201cKentucky\u2019s waterways support thousands of good-paying jobs and billions in economic development each year. As our Commonwealth\u2019s only public port along the Mississippi River, HFCRA connects Kentucky\u2019s many businesses to this vital waterway, which has been the backdrop of U.S. industrial growth for generations,\u201d said Senator McConnell. \u201cI was proud to leverage my role in the Senate to help HFCRA receive this federal grant, and I look forward to seeing this investment pay dividends for Kentucky\u2019s communities along this great American waterway.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/dr-rand-paul-forces-senate-vote-on-audit-the-fed/", "Dr. Rand Paul Forces Senate Vote on \u201cAudit the Fed\u201d", "2023-11-01", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 1, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nDr. Rand Paul Forces Senate Vote on \u201cAudit the Fed\u201d\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, the U.S. Senate voted on U.S. Senator Rand Paul\u2019s (R-KY) \u201cAudit the Fed\u201d legislation, which was introduced as an amendment to the pending spending bill in the Senate (Paul 1217). This legislation, also known as the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, would have prevented the Federal Reserve from concealing vital information on its operations from Congress.\n\nDr. Paul\u2019s amendment was supported by a bipartisan group of 46 senators, including Dr. Paul. Meanwhile, 51 Senate Republicans and Democrats voted against auditing the Fed. You can view the full vote tally HERE.\n\nYou can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s floor remarks HERE, and learn more about Audit the Fed HERE.\n\nBelow are Dr. Paul\u2019s floor remarks:\n\n\u201cThe Federal Reserve effectively controls the economy, but without scrutiny. No other institution has so much unchecked power. The Fed demonstrated its unlimited authority during the pandemic. The Fed printed money, purchased government-backed securities, and doled out massive amounts of money to favored industries. The result added almost $5 trillion to the Fed\u2019s balance sheet, the largest in our history.\n\n\u201cWhen Dodd-Frank ordered a limited one-time audit of Fed actions, the Government Accountability Office uncovered that during the financial crisis, the Fed doled out over $16 trillion to domestic and foreign banks. This kind of inflationary bailout should not be kept secret from the public. While the Fed\u2019s easy money policies make the rich richer, the side effect is high inflation.\n\n\u201cAs Milton Friedman famously explained, inflation is taxation without legislation. Congress cannot control the Fed\u2019s actions, but Fed actions can cost Americans dearly. Just ask any parent who has to feed his or her family during historically high inflation rates. My amendment would require a full audit of the Fed within one year. It is time for the Federal Reserve to operate in a manner that is transparent and accountable to the taxpayers.\n\n\u201cI ask for a yes vote.\u201d\n\nBackground:\n\nSince his election to the Senate in 2010, Dr. Paul has been a leading voice for transparency and accountability, particularly with the Federal Reserve. Dr. Paul first introduced his legislation to Audit the Fed in 2011, and throughout his time in the Senate he has reintroduced his legislation as both standalone versions and amendments. Audit the Fed has also received bipartisan support in the Senate. In 2016, a majority of the Senate voted 53-44 in support of Dr. Paul\u2019s legislation to hold the Fed accountable.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/senate-to-vote-on-dr-rand-pauls-audit-the-fed/", "Senate to Vote on Dr. Rand Paul\u2019s \u201cAudit the Fed\u201d", "2023-11-01", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nNovember 1, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nSenate to Vote on Dr. Rand Paul\u2019s \u201cAudit the Fed\u201d\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, the Senate will vote on U.S. Senator Rand Paul\u2019s (R-KY) \u201cAudit the Fed\u201d legislation, which has been introduced as an amendment to the pending spending bill in the Senate (Paul 1217). This legislation, also known as the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, would prevent the Federal Reserve from concealing vital information on its operations from Congress.\n\nDespite wielding significant control over the American economy, the Federal Reserve operates in secret. The protective cloak from accountability is supposedly justified by the necessity of the Fed\u2019s independence from political influence. Though Congress delegated its authority to regulate the value of money to the Fed, Congress still sets the Fed\u2019s objectives and Congress still has the responsibility to oversee the Fed.\n\nWhen Dodd-Frank ordered a limited, one-time audit of Fed actions, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) uncovered that, during the financial crisis, the Fed lent out over $16 trillion to domestic and foreign banks. This amount of lending or bailouts, which could lead to high levels of inflation, should not be kept secret from the public.\n\n\u201cNo institution holds more power over the future of the American economy and the value of our savings than the Federal Reserve,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cIt\u2019s long past time for Congress to stop shirking its duty and hold the Federal Reserve accountable.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhenever the U.S. government demands secrecy, our reaction should be, \u2018what are they hiding?\u2019 For too long the Federal Reserve has operated in the shadows,\u201d said Dr. Ron Paul, Chairman of the Ron Paul Institute. \u201cWe cannot live in liberty without government transparency. I strongly endorse Sen. Paul\u2019s Federal Reserve Transparency Act. Audit the Fed!\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Federal Reserve operations, motivations, and accountancy has been clouded in mystery for more than a century,\u201d said Jeffrey Tucker, President of the Brownstone Institute. \u201cThe central bank in a free society should be transparent to the people. Dr. Paul\u2019s Federal Reserve Transparency Act begins this, and it is the least we can demand.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe U.S. Senate will vote this week on SA 1217 \u2014 Dr. Paul\u2019s \u201cFederal Reserve Transparency Act\u201d legislation. This legislation is extremely important because government works best when it is accountable, its operations transparent, and checks and balances are in place. While the Fed ought not be a politically motivated entity, it must be subject to oversight and its actions must not be hidden in the dark,\u201d said George Landrith, President of Frontiers of Freedom Institute. \u201cDr. Paul\u2019s \u201cFederal Reserve Transparency Act\u201d is an important step in achieving accountability and transparency and making sure that there are checks and balances in place. The Fed is in desperate need of this reform. The Fed\u2019s mismanagement of our national economy couldn\u2019t be more obvious given the national economic troubles that it has played a role in making and exacerbating. Dr. Paul\u2019s bill couldn\u2019t be more timely or more needed.\u201d\n\n\u201cAfter printing trillions of dollars, the groupthink at the Fed led them to spread absurd claims that inflation would be \u2018transitory.\u2019 Loose monetary policy has plagued our country for too long, engineering hardships for the American people that only got worse with each increase in interest rates to fight inflation. Sen. Paul\u2019s amendment will provide much-needed oversight for this unaccountable entity,\u201d said Adam Brandon, President of FreedomWorks.\n\n\u201cThe Fed has an enormous impact on our economy, so it is important to have as much transparency and accountability as possible. NTU is pleased to support Senator Paul\u2019s efforts to audit the Fed,\u201d said Brandon Arnold, Executive Vice President of National Taxpayers Union.\n\n\u201cTPA is excited to support Dr. Rand Paul\u2019s Federal Reserve Transparency Act. This legislation will enhance transparency at America\u2019s central bank and most prominent economic institution. This legislation will usher in heightened Congressional oversight abilities, including reviewing foreign transactions and assessing monetary policy decisions. The Fed\u2019s role in the U.S. economic system is substantial and its powers, which impact taxpayers and consumers on a daily basis, cannot go unchecked,\u201d said David Williams, President of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.\n\nDr. Paul\u2019s amendment would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a thorough audit of the Federal Reserve\u2019s Board of Governors and reserve banks within one year of enactment. The amendment would allow GAO to fully audit:\n\nTransactions for or with a foreign central bank, government of a foreign country, or non-private international financing organization;\n\nDeliberations, decisions, or actions on monetary policy matters, including discount window operations, reserves of member banks, securities credit, interest on deposits, and open market operations;\n\nTransactions made under the direction of the Federal Open Market Committee; and\n\nDiscussions or communications among Federal Reserve officers, board members, and employees regarding any of these matters.\n\nAmericans deserve to be made aware of the practices of the Federal Reserve, whose decisions can devalue our currency and slow economic growth. It is time the Federal Reserve operates in a manner that is transparent and accountable to the taxpayers.\n\nFull text of the Audit the Fed amendment can be found HERE.\n\nBackground:\n\nSince his election to the Senate in 2010, Dr. Paul has been a leading voice for transparency and accountability, particularly with the Federal Reserve. Dr. Paul first introduced his legislation to Audit the Fed in 2011, and throughout his time in the Senate he has reintroduced his legislation as both standalone versions and amendments. Audit the Fed has also received bipartisan support in the Senate. In 2016, a majority of the Senate voted 53-44 in support of Dr. Paul\u2019s legislation to hold the Fed accountable.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=4F5B26D6-A354-43A8-96F1-D7A44D7108F3", "McConnell: College Radicals Entitled To Opinions, Not Donors", "2023-10-31", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding anti-Semitism on college campuses:\n\n\u201cI spoke recently about alarming reactions to the October 7th attacks coming from America\u2019s top universities.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve seen student radicals spew outright hate, and campus leaders respond with agonizing, equivocating statements.\n\n\u201cBut it appears that neither thickheaded young activists nor mealy-mouthed administrators can hold a candle to university faculties when it comes to moral obtuseness. So here are a few examples.\n\n\u201cAfter a student group at Columbia University published a letter describing Hamas\u2019 savage attacks as the, \u2018struggle for freedom\u2019 of \u2018occupied peoples [who] have the right to resist occupation,\u2019 over 100 faculty members signed a letter of their own, expressing a desire to, quote, \u2018preserve Columbia University as a beacon for \u2018fostering critical thinking and opening minds to different points of view.\u2019\n\n\u201cNeedless to say, I\u2019m a staunch supporter of the First Amendment. People are entitled to different points of view. But they aren\u2019t entitled to different facts. And the only group that\u2019s occupied Gaza since 2007 is Hamas.\n\n\u201cBesides, America\u2019s higher education system has a long way to go when it comes to protecting free speech and fostering diverse viewpoints. Just ask any right-of-center academic!\n\n\u201cBut of all places to start on their journey toward freedom of expression, they chose to celebrate terrorism.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, the University of Pennsylvania is facing a donor revolt over campus protests and an anti-Semitic literary festival that predated October 7th. But that didn\u2019t stop the local chapter of, essentially, its professors\u2019 union from issuing a six-page letter denouncing the University administration\u2019s pro-Israel views.\n\n\u201cThe school\u2019s painfully nuanced attempts at moral equivalency are, apparently, an \u2018erasure\u2019 of Palestinian voices. Donors\u2019 outrage at radical calls for a pogrom are \u2018coercive threats\u2019 that demand their removal from all university boards.\n\n\u201cMr. President, let\u2019s remember who\u2019s doing the aggressing here. There\u2019s an open FBI investigation into online threats encouraging the murder of Jewish students at Cornell University.\n\n\u201cThe University has had to bring in police to help protect the Kosher dining hall on campus. And many Jewish students are opting to stay in their rooms for safety.\n\n\u201cUntil recently, the tenured left-wing apparatchiks of America\u2019s elite universities might have expected donors to keep on writing checks, no matter which sort of unhinged, post-modern hate they ginned up.\n\n\u201cWell, not anymore.\n\n\u201cAt Penn, one alumnus\u2019s call to boycott the school has spread like wildfire, precipitating a crisis that by one account could put a billion-dollar hole in the University\u2019s books.\n\n\u201cAt least a dozen CEOs have pledged not to hire any members of the Harvard student groups who blamed Israel for the murder of its children.\n\n\u201cAnd elite law firms have started rescinding job offers from law students who regurgitate terrorist talking points. Some are even competing with each other to fund relief efforts in Israel.\n\n\u201cSo activist professors are entitled to their own opinions. But money is also protected speech, and they aren\u2019t entitled to donors\u2019 pocketbooks.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s not how the real world works.\n\n\u201cAmerica and our allies have woken up from a \u2018holiday from history.\u2019 American business and philanthropists are starting to do the very same thing.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s hope it continues.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=CD44994B-233B-485C-B7A1-E69C8F5D573E", "Congress Has Opportunity To Address Growing Nat\u2019l Security Threats At Home And Abroad", "2023-10-31", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding President Biden\u2019s supplemental:\n\n\u201cThe brutal terrorist attacks of October 7th poured gasoline on the flames of anti-Semitic hatred around the world.\n\n\u201cTake the alarming reports this weekend out of Russia, a country with a long, troubled history of anti-Semitism. After weeks of pro-Hamas propaganda spewed from the Kremlin, an angry mob overran a provincial airport and surrounded a plane that had just arrived from Israel.\n\n\u201cChillingly, the mob went person by person, checking passports and asking if they were Muslim or Jew. A modern-day pogrom in southern Russia.\n\n\u201cVladimir Putin is usually quick to accuse other countries of imagined atrocities. But he\u2019s issued no such condemnation of Hamas for the very real savagery it inflicted on innocent Israelis.\n\n\u201cIn fact, as this latest despicable episode of anti-Semitism unfolded on Russian soil, Putin\u2019s regime welcomed a delegation of Hamas terrorists to the Kremlin.\n\n\u201cThe Russian government\u2019s policy is to demand that Israel agree to a ceasefire \u2013 a de facto amnesty for the terrorist aggressors who slaughtered children in their homes a few weeks ago. In that regard, street protesters across the West have found common cause with a Russian dictator.\n\n\u201cNo major power has done more to turbocharge Iran\u2019s terrorist network in the Middle East than Putin\u2019s Russia. The Kremlin\u2019s intervention in Syria allowed Tehran to establish a massive corridor of resources to terrorist proxies like Hizballah and Hamas.\n\n\u201cSo it should surprise no one that Iran has happily provided Russia with kamikaze drones to fire at Ukrainian cities.\n\n\u201cRussia, Iran, and China do not share an ideology. But they do share interests. They see themselves in conflict with the West, and especially with America.\n\n\u201cRussia would love to see Iranian-backed terrorists in the Middle East weaken America and our allies.\n\n\u201cIran would love to see a Russian victory against Ukraine that divides the West and deepens its own defense cooperation with Moscow.\n\n\u201cAnd China, for its part, would love to see America\u2019s resolve \u2013 to stand with European and Israeli allies and re-establish actual deterrence against Russia and Iran \u2013 crumble.\n\n\u201cSo at the risk of repeating myself: the threats facing America and our allies are serious, and they\u2019re intertwined.\n\n\u201cIf we ignore that fact, we do so at our own peril.\n\n\u201cThe Biden Administration\u2019s defense budget requests have systematically ignored these growing threats. The President\u2019s supplemental request to address multiple crises that have unfolded on his watch is a recognition of this failure.\n\n\u201cSo our colleagues on the Appropriations Committee now have a chance to provide critical resources that our military and defense industrial base need to keep pace with growing threats and support our partners.\n\n\u201cCongress also has an opportunity to force the Administration to start treating our southern border like the sovereign, legal boundary that it is.\n\n\u201cThe southern border crisis is not a problem of insufficient resources. It is not the zero-sum alternative to deterring our adversaries overseas. It is the direct result of misguided policies that have incentivized record illegal migration.\n\n\u201cIt doesn\u2019t take tens of billions of dollars to fix this problem. It takes common sense.\n\n\u201cAnd I would urge our Democratic colleagues to show some common sense by working with Republicans to stop the border crisis, rebuild American military strength, and stand with our friends in Ukraine, Israel, and Asia.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=83E7E7DE-3133-45A7-AB37-0C56E2D0298E", "ICYMI: McConnell Welcomes Ukrainian Amb. Markarova to University of Louisville", "2023-10-30", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "LOUISVILLE, KY \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following introduction today at the University of Louisville for the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova. The following are the Senator\u2019s remarks prepared for delivery:\n\n\u201cToday\u2019s distinguished guest joins us at an especially critical moment in the history of our two countries.\n\n\u201cSince last February, the people of Ukraine have mounted an inspiring resistance to Vladimir Putin\u2019s brutal escalation. Right now, brave Ukrainians are giving their lives to beat back the invasion and restore their country\u2019s sovereignty.\n\n\u201cThey are fighting for the basic right to live in peace in their homes. As the barbaric terrorist attacks of October 7th against Israel remind us, this threat is not unique to Ukraine. Israel has faced this threat for decades. And as President Zelensky has made clear, Israel\u2019s cause resonates in the hearts of Ukrainians.\n\n\u201cRussian aggression and Iran-backed terrorism are clear examples of the evil in the world that seeks to do us harm. Our special guest today, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova, knows this firsthand.\n\n\u201cOver the past twenty months, the Ambassador and I have worked closely together. And for even longer, I\u2019ve been proud to stand with her country. Not out of altruism, but because it\u2019s clear to me that the threats facing America\u2019s friends today are facing us, too. And because the freedoms we hold dearly must be constantly defended.\n\n\u201cRight now, loud voices on both sides of the aisle are suggesting that American leadership isn\u2019t worth the cost. Some say our support for Ukraine comes at the expense of more important priorities. But as I\u2019ve said every time I get the chance, this is a false choice.\n\n\u201cAmerica is a global superpower with global interests. And enemies of democracy around the world would like nothing more than to outlast our resolve to resist Russian aggression.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s remember what\u2019s at stake here: Russian victory in Ukraine would imperil the security and economy of Europe, our largest trading partner and strategic ally since World War II, and endanger the engine of our own economic growth at home.\n\n\u201cIf Russia prevails, there\u2019s no question that Putin\u2019s appetite for empire will extend to NATO, raising the threat to the U.S. transatlantic alliance and the risk of war for America. Such an outcome would demand greater permanent deployment of our military force in Europe, a much greater cost than the support we have provided to Ukraine.\n\n\u201cAnd of course, Russian victory would embolden Putin\u2019s growing alliance with fellow authoritarian regimes in Iran and China.\n\n\u201cSo this is not just a test for Ukraine. It\u2019s a test for the United States and the free world.\n\n\u201cAnd the path toward greater security for all of us is simple: Help Ukraine win the war.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s exactly what I\u2019ve been trying to do since before Russian troops surged toward Kyiv last February.\n\n\u201cBack in 2021, I repeatedly urged President Biden to give Ukraine more tools to deter Putin\u2019s escalation in the first place. As the Russian army gathered at the border and invasion looked imminent, I pushed the Administration to speed up shipments of essential weapons like Javelin, Stinger, and Harpoon missiles. And at every step of the conflict, I\u2019ve advocated for putting critical capabilities like HIMARS, cluster munitions, tanks, F-16s, and ATACMs in Ukrainian hands in time to make a difference on the battlefield.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019ve spelled out how investments in Ukraine\u2019s defense are really also investments in replenishing and modernizing America\u2019s defense arsenal\u2026 creating thousands of good-paying American jobs in defense manufacturing\u2026 and driving historic investments in communities across the country.\n\n\u201cRight now, our efforts are making a difference \u2013 both in Ukraine and here at home. But the Biden Administration\u2019s hesitation along the way has only prolonged the bloodshed in Ukraine.\n\n\u201cThis is a moment for swift and decisive action \u2013 to prevent further loss of life, and to impose real consequences on the tyrants who have terrorized the people of Ukraine and Israel. And right now, the Senate has a chance to produce supplemental assistance that will help us do exactly that.\n\n\u201cEnemies abroad will be watching closely and waiting for America to falter. Only our concrete and credible support can deter our adversaries in the future and restore security.\n\n\u201cNow, for those of us who are committed to this effort and to American leadership, there\u2019s been no greater partner than Ambassador Oksana Markarova. Early on in our work together, I learned what today\u2019s audience will soon discover: that she is whip-smart, a gifted communicator, and a true patriot.\n\n\u201cAfter receiving her formal education in Ukraine, she earned a Masters in Public Finance at Indiana University. Following 17 years of success in investment banking, she answered what she described as her \u2018call to action\u2019 and entered public service.\n\n\u201cAs Finance Minister, she helped author Ukraine\u2019s macroeconomic revival program, and worked to privatize state-owned banks, reduce the budget deficit, and bring greater transparency to public finances. She knows first-hand Ukraine\u2019s struggles to combat corruption, a problem that is more prevalent than we often care to admit in many countries, including our own.\n\n\u201cIn 2021, she was tapped as Ambassador to the United States in Washington, D.C., and in short order became a wartime diplomat.\n\n\u201cWith thousands of Ukrainians killed on the front line and millions forced to flee their homes, Ambassador Markarova can\u2019t afford to stay under the radar.\n\n\u201cSince the onset of the war, she has been a visible and vocal advocate for her country\u2019s needs and has effectively countered skepticism about what\u2019s at stake in Ukraine\u2019s fight.\n\n\u201cThe Ambassador has made a point to extend her visits beyond the Beltway and across the political spectrum. Like today\u2019s visit to Louisville, or her recent visit to Ohio, where she toured a facility that manufactures Strykers and Abrams tanks to support Ukraine\u2019s counteroffensive.\n\n\u201cShe certainly has a lot on her plate, and I am very grateful that she has taken the time to speak with us today.\n\n\u201cLadies and gentlemen, it is my distinct pleasure to present the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Oksana Markarova.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=08BD45B0-5B9D-44FA-8062-DA9ED4830B62", "McConnell On Lewiston Shooting", "2023-10-26", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding last night\u2019s shooting in Lewiston, ME:\n\n\u201cI was devastated to hear the news last night of a deadly shooting in Lewiston, Maine. I know the entire Senate stands behind our colleagues, Senator Collins and Senator King, as they help their state marshal its response.\n\n\u201cWe pray especially for the victims of this senseless violence, for their families, and for the law enforcement personnel working tirelessly to save lives and bring the suspect to justice.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=3982E021-8430-462F-9257-6E3E81EF390F", "Terrorist Threats Demand American Leadership, Not Na\u00efvet\u00e9", "2023-10-26", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding terrorist threats:\n\n\u201cMr. President, every day brings new harrowing details of the terrorist attacks of October 7th. And we continue to learn more about the role Iran plays in aiding and abetting terror.\n\n\u201cJust yesterday, new reports indicated that hundreds of terrorists from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad traveled to Iran last month for specialized combat training with Tehran\u2019s murderous Quds Force.\n\n\u201cOf course, waiting for specific evidence of tactical involvement really misses the point. Iran is the world\u2019s leading state sponsor of terror. It\u2019s spent decades supporting proxy terrorists who share their hatred for Israel and America precisely so Tehran can maintain plausible deniability.\n\n\u201cWe cannot lose sight of this savage charade.\n\n\u201cEvil will continue to target the United States and our allies, whether we pay attention to it or not.\n\n\u201cAnd the threats our adversaries pose are connected.\n\n\u201cIran doesn\u2019t just underwrite terrorist attacks on Israel \u2013 it outfits Russia with drones to help kill Ukrainians. China doesn\u2019t just menace Taiwan \u2013 it helps Iran circumvent international sanctions by trading consumer goods for oil. And Russia isn\u2019t just pummeling a sovereign neighbor \u2013 it has joined China for joint naval exercises in the Sea of Japan as well as off the coast of Alaska.\n\n\u201cOur adversaries\u2019 ambitions are not local. They\u2019ve been showing us for years that they\u2019re determined to challenge American leadership, undermine our interests, and weaken our alliances.\n\n\u201cBut on every front, the Biden Administration\u2019s response has fallen short.\n\n\u201cThe President was hesitant to deter Russian aggression in the first place and has dithered about helping equip Ukraine to defeat it.\n\n\u201cHe has prioritized engagement with China on climate policy over building resilient supply chains with trusted allies.\n\n\u201cAnd just listen to his Administration\u2019s jaw-dropping naivete after three years of squandering leverage on Iran. In early October, the President\u2019s national security advisor wrote a self-congratulatory article assessing the Administration\u2019s foreign policy.\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s some of what he said about the Middle East.\n\n\u201c\u2019In the face of serious frictions, we have de-escalated crises in Gaza and restored direct diplomacy.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe went on, \u2018U.S. troops were under regular attack in Iraq and Syria\u2026 Such attacks, at least for now, have largely stopped.\u2019\n\n\u201cFinally, he claimed that the President\u2019s approach, \u2018frees up resources for other global priorities\u2019 and \u2018reduces the risk of new Middle Eastern conflicts.\u2019\n\n\u201cWell, at least, that was the account that went to print before 1,400 Israelis were murdered on a Saturday morning. And before Iran-backed terrorists injured two dozen American servicemembers in numerous attacks in Iraq and Syria.\n\n\u201cThe incongruity between the Administration\u2019s spin and reality has since been scrubbed from the article online. But the Biden Administration\u2019s na\u00efve approach to terror remains woefully inadequate to meet the growing threat of radical Islamic terrorism \u2013 from Afghanistan to Yemen to Iraq and the Levant to the Sahel.\n\n\u201cAbandoning Afghanistan.\n\n\u201cObsessing about closing Guantanamo Bay.\n\n\u201cRemoving the Houthis\u2019 designation as a terrorist organization.\n\n\u201cTurning the other cheek when terrorists attack Americans and our allies.\n\n\u201cSquandering leverage over Iran.\n\n\u201cWeakness in one theater begets weakness in another.\n\n\u201cThe United States is a global superpower. And it\u2019s high time we started embracing \u2013 and properly resourcing \u2013 the responsibilities that come with that role.\n\n\u201cNow is the time to invest deeper in our alliances and partnerships. It\u2019s time to restore credible deterrence with hard power.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s why I will oppose Senator Paul\u2019s resolution to compel the withdrawal of American servicemembers from Niger later today.\n\n\u201cRadical Islamic terrorism in that part of the world is on the rise. And we should be working more closely with local partners, not abandoning them.\n\n\u201cWe should be conducting more surveillance flights, not blinding ourselves by abandoning strategic airfields in Niger.\n\n\u201cRussia and China are working overtime to displace American influence in Africa. We should not be making their job any easier.\n\n\u201cBeyond today\u2019s vote, the Senate should recognize the opportunity before us to shape a supplemental appropriations bill that equips our military, our defense industrial base, and our allies and partners to meet the growing threats we face \u2013 from our southern border to radical Islamic terrorism to authoritarian aggression.\n\n\u201cWe have a chance to demonstrate the American leadership our people, our allies, and our interests require. We should take it.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/dr-rand-paul-forces-senate-vote-on-niger-war-powers-resolution/", "Dr. Rand Paul Forces Senate Vote on Niger War Powers Resolution", "2023-10-26", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nOctober 26, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nDr. Rand Paul Forces Senate Vote on Niger War Powers Resolution\n\nRepublicans and Democrats Vote to Keep U.S. Troops in Niger Amidst Military Coup, Further Involving America in Another Foreign Conflict\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, as a continuation of his efforts to restore Congress\u2019s Constitutional war powers and to address the deteriorating political situation that poses increased risk to U.S. troops in Niger, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) forced the U.S. Senate to vote on his resolution (S.J.Res.44) directing the President to remove all U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities in Niger within 30 days of its enactment.\n\nDr. Paul\u2019s resolution was supported by a bipartisan group of 11 Senators, including Dr. Paul. Meanwhile, 86 Senate Republicans and Democrats voted against the removal of U.S. troops in Niger amidst a military coup, further involving America in another foreign conflict. You can see the full vote tally HERE.\n\nBelow are excerpts from Dr. Paul\u2019s prepared floor remarks:\n\n\u201cIt should not go unnoticed that Congress never voted to send troops to Niger in the first place.\n\n\u201cPresidents of both parties have used the September 11th, 2001, authorization to justify wars in dozens of countries, from Afghanistan, to Libya, to Syria, to Somalia, to Yemen.\n\n\u201cNiger is but one of the over 20 countries that the United States conducts military operations in, supposedly justified by the 9/11 authorization of military force.\n\n\u201cThe impetus for this war powers resolution is the July 26th coup in which members of Niger\u2019s presidential guard, including some officers who were trained by the United States, removed the democratically-elected President, Mohamed Bazoum, from power.\n\n\u201cThe Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, an organization of 15 countries, declared its intention to intervene militarily if President Bazoum is not restored to power.\n\n\u201cIn September, Mali and Burkina Faso, two countries that experienced their own armed-coups in recent years, signed a mutual defense pact with Niger and stated they will fight on behalf of the new military junta if the Economic Community of West African States invades.\n\n\u201cNiger\u2019s new leaders have put its military on maximum alert citing an increased threat of attack. For its part, the Economic Community of West African States imposed sanctions, instituted a no-fly zone, and closed border crossings. Recent reports indicate that Nigerien troops have been deployed along the border with Benin.\n\n\u201cThe Sahel is a powder keg and we have over 1,000 U.S. military personnel sitting in the middle of it.\n\n\u201cAmerican forces face a very real risk of being caught in the crossfire of a regional African war.\n\n\u201cWhat are we doing in Niger? As I mentioned earlier, Congress never voted to send troops there. Congress certainly never authorized the use of military force there. Yet, on multiple occasions, U.S. forces in Niger have engaged in firefights with hostile groups. And sadly, American lives have been lost.\u201d\n\n\u2026\n\n\u201cTo commit America\u2019s military to fight wars on behalf of the nation is the most consequential and humbling responsibility that Congress is entrusted with.\n\n\u201cCan we not, at the very least, muster the courage to debate? If America\u2019s interest in Niger is of such vital importance that we ask our young men and women to fight and potentially pay the ultimate sacrifice to defend it, we at least owe our servicemembers a debate in Congress.\n\n\u201cA yes vote on this resolution gives each of us an opportunity to go on the record and tell our constituents that we will no longer stand idly by as the President sends their sons and daughters into harm\u2019s way, to fight wars with no clear objective, with no definition of victory, with no exit strategy, and with no constitutional authorization.\u201d\n\nYou can learn more about the Niger War Powers Resolution HERE, and can watch Dr. Paul\u2019s full floor remarks HERE.\n\nBackground:\n\nDr. Paul\u2019s War Powers Resolution received support from the Friends Committee on National Legislation, Heritage Action for America, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, Just Foreign Policy, Defense Priorities Initiative, Frontiers of Freedom, Center for Renewing America, The American Conservative, Concerned Veterans for America, and Demand Progress Action. The resolution was also cosponsored by Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Roger Marshall (R-KS).\n\nRecently, Dr. Paul sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin demanding answers regarding U.S. troops deployed in Niger. The U.S. military has been present in Niger for about a decade, with the aim of providing training, guidance, and assistance to Nigerian forces. However, Moussa Salaou Barmou, who had received training from the U.S., was part of the group that carried out a coup that overthrew the democratically elected government on July 26, 2023.\n\nDr. Paul has consistently fought to return and keep war powers in Congress as our Founding Fathers intended. In March, the Senate took a step in the right direction and repealed the 1991 and 2002 AUMFs. Dr. Paul introduced an amendment to the effort that would have additionally repealed the 2001 AUMF \u2013 the final vote tally of his amendment was 9-86.\n\nYou can learn more about Dr. Paul\u2019s efforts HERE and HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/dr-rand-paul-to-force-senate-vote-on-war-powers-resolution-concerning-u-s-troops-stationed-in-niger-amidst-military-coup/", "Dr. Rand Paul to Force Senate Vote on War Powers Resolution Concerning U.S. Troops Stationed in Niger Amidst Military Coup", "2023-10-26", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nOctober 26, 2023\n\nContact: Press_Paul@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nDr. Rand Paul to Force Senate Vote on War Powers Resolution Concerning U.S. Troops Stationed in Niger Amidst Military Coup\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, as a continuation of his efforts to return war powers to Congress, and to address the deteriorating political situation and increased risk to U.S. troops in Niger, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) will force the U.S. Senate to vote on his War Powers Resolution (S.J.Res.44). His resolution directs the President to remove all U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities in Niger within 30 days of its enactment.\n\n\u201cCongress must cease abdicating its constitutional war powers to the executive branch,\u201d said Dr. Paul. \u201cWe must be courageous enough to debate if America\u2019s national interest in Niger is of such vital importance that we ask our young men and women to fight and potentially pay the ultimate sacrifice for it.\u201d\n\nSince at least 2013, U.S. troops have been deployed to Niger and have engaged in direct combat with hostile forces without proper congressional authorization. Tragically, four U.S. servicemembers, Staff Sergeant Bryan Black, Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Johnson, Sergeant La David Johnson, and Staff Sergeant Dustin Wright, lost their lives in 2017 when they were ambushed while on a mission near the village of Tongo Tongo, Niger.\n\nThe Biden Administration continues to cite the 9/11 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which was narrowly tailored to bring justice to those who played a role in the 2001 terrorist attacks, to justify the presence of approximately 1,016 U.S. troops in Niger.\n\nDr. Paul is expected to speak on the Senate floor at around 10:55 a.m. ET, you can watch his remarks HERE.\n\nYou can read the full text of the Niger War Powers Resolution HERE.\n\n\u201cCongress has never authorized war in Niger. And yet, the United States has over 1,000 troops there, who continue to be put in harm\u2019s way \u2013 a situation made all the more perilous with the recent coup. The Friends Committee on National Legislation applauds Senator Paul\u2019s War Powers Resolution to require the removal of U.S. forces from hostilities in Niger. As a Quaker organization, we seek a world free of war and the threat of war. After more than 20 years of fighting and the deaths of over 432,000 civilians and 7,052 U.S. servicemembers, we must change course from this failed militarized response and towards a more sustainable, rights-respecting approach to counterterrorism and national security. Senator Paul\u2019s resolution is a critical step to help set the United States on this long-overdue path,\u201d said Heather Brandon-Smith, Deputy Director for Foreign Policy at Friends Committee on National Legislation.\n\n\u201cAs I wrote earlier, the borderlands of West-Central Africa are in the grey zones between the already volatile North Africa, which has been destabilized mostly by Western interventions, especially the toppling of Gaddafi and the wrecking of a stable order, and subsequently by the Arab Spring fueled jihadism, and the poor southern sub-Saharan Africa. Francafrique is a French sphere of influence; the clue is in the name,\u201d said Dr. Sumantra Maitra, Senior Fellow at the Center for Renewing America and Senior Editor of the American Conservative. \u201cWhile France\u2019s and Europe\u2019s considerations in Africa are different, there is no warrant for an American adventure in Niger. The core American interest for a direct intervention or troop presence is, therefore, nil. To that cause, Senator Paul\u2019s resolution is key in removing American troops from the region.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe best time for Congress to specifically debate and decide whether to commit U.S. forces to potentially die in Niger would have been before they were deployed there. Since that did not happen, it is now especially urgent amidst the deepening conflict and chaos in the region. Sen. Paul\u2019s leadership in calling the question is critical at this moment,\u201d said Elizabeth Beavers, Vice President for Public Affairs at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.\n\n\u201cNone of the Members of Congress who voted to authorize military action in response to the September 11th attacks could have fathomed that it would be cited as justification for U.S. bases and hostilities in unrelated countries like Niger more than 22 years later,\u201d said Erik Sperling, Executive Director of Just Foreign Policy. \u201cSenator Paul is right to lead his colleagues in a debate and vote on this blatant violation of Congress\u2019s war powers. Scrutiny of the unauthorized U.S. involvement in Niger is particularly warranted, as administration officials including Victoria Nuland seek to sidestep existing U.S. pro-democracy laws that prohibit U.S. cooperation with coup regimes like the military junta in Niger.\u201d\n\n\u201cU.S. military actions in Niger lack proper rationales, oversight, and authorizations, and Defense Priorities Initiative supports any efforts by Congress to reclaim its constitutional prerogatives over the use of force in Niger and elsewhere,\u201d said Tucker Kass, Outreach Manager and Non-Resident Fellow Program Manager at Defense Priorities Initiative.\n\n\u201cSenator Rand Paul\u2019s S.J. Res. 44 Directing the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in the Republic of Niger that have not been authorized by Congress is at its core an attempt to get us back to a constitutional government. Our Constitution clearly provides that while the President is the Commander in Chief, the power to declare war and commit U.S. troops to a foreign conflict is reserved to the U.S. Congress. Since Congress has made no declaration of war or any specific authorization for the involvement of U.S. Armed Forces in an armed conflict in Niger, it is time for the troops to be recalled and return home. Alternatively, Congress can authorize troops, but the Biden Administration hasn\u2019t even requested such an authorization. The decision to go to war is Congress\u2019s sole responsibility, as mandated by the Constitution. Using the 2001 AUMF for action in Niger, two decades later, circumvents Congress\u2019s vital role, undermining the separation of powers and proper oversight. We either need to authorize the military action in the U.S. Congress or we need to bring those troops home. Senator Paul is correct to bring this issue to our attention,\u201d said George Landrith, President of Frontiers of Freedom. \u201cIf the conflict in Niger isn\u2019t important enough to the Administration to even seek a Congressional authorization, it is clear that our troops don\u2019t need to be there and their decade-long deployment violates our Constitution and our law.\u201d\n\nHeritage Action for America also supports Dr. Paul\u2019s War Powers Resolution.\n\nBackground:\n\nRecently, Dr. Paul sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin demanding answers regarding U.S. troops deployed in Niger. The U.S. military has been present in Niger for about a decade, with the aim of providing training, guidance, and assistance to Nigerian forces. However, Moussa Salaou Barmou, who had received training from the U.S., was part of the group that carried out a coup that overthrew the democratically elected government on July 26, 2023.\n\nSince its passage, administrations of both parties have used the 2001 AUMF to justify acts of war in over 20 countries, from Afghanistan to Libya, to Somalia, to Yemen and now Niger. By not repealing the 2001 AUMF, any President alone has the ability to decide where and when to engage in hostilities without congressional approval.\n\nDr. Paul has consistently fought to return and keep war powers in Congress as our Founding Fathers intended. In March, the Senate took a step in the right direction and repealed the 1991 and 2002 AUMFs. Dr. Paul introduced an amendment to the effort that would have additionally repealed the 2001 AUMF \u2013 the final vote tally of his amendment was 9-86.\n\nYou can learn more about Dr. Paul\u2019s efforts HERE, and can read more HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=49F2E5A8-9C37-49F1-A20F-C3B58881A54C", "McConnell: \u2018Terror And Self-Defense Are Not The Same Thing\u2019", "2023-10-25", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding anti-Semitism and the war on Israel:\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s been eighteen days since the brutal terrorist attacks of October 7th.\n\n\u201cEighteen days since savages confronted the world with the depths of human depravity\u2026\n\n\u201cSince one of the oldest forms of hatred in human history reared its ugly head\u2026\n\n\u201cSince radical Islamic terrorists reminded us they pose a persistent threat to the civilized world.\n\n\u201cIn our shock, the West vowed solidarity. We pledged not to look away from the horrors Israel was grieving. We reaffirmed Israel\u2019s right to defend itself. And we promised to stand with our ally as it fought back against pure evil.\n\n\u201cBut in the last eighteen days, silence, amnesia, cowardice, and outright hate have begun to take their toll. All too quickly, the West\u2019s resolve has shown signs of weakness.\n\n\u201cFirst, we saw the most elite corners of higher education rush to blame Israel for the deaths of its own children. We saw college administrators tie themselves in grotesque moral knots to avoid acknowledging reality, even in the face of alumni revolts\n\n\u201cLast night, at George Washington University here in the nation\u2019s capital, student activists projected anti-Semitic messages on the side of a campus building named for a pair of Jewish benefactors.\n\n\u201cThey issued a call to, \u2018free Palestine from the river to the sea.\u2019\n\n\u201cFor anyone unfamiliar with Israel\u2019s geography, that is a call for the destruction of the Jewish state.\n\n\u201cBut just a few blocks away, the Biden Administration is in denial.\n\n\u201cAfter protesters in Times Square displayed the Nazi swastika and an Israeli student at Columbia University was beaten with a stick, the White House Press Secretary replied to a question about rising concerns of anti-Semitism that, quote, \u2018we have not seen any credible threats.\u2019 That\u2019s the White House Press Secretary.\n\n\u201cEven more absurd was how \u2013 in the very next breath, without even uttering the word \u2018Jew\u2019 \u2013 she pivoted abruptly to condemning Islamophobia.\n\n\u201cSeriously, Mr. President \u2013 after thousands of Jews have been tortured and murdered\u2026\n\n\u201cAfter hundreds have been taken hostage\u2026\n\n\u201cAfter the sight of Jewish bodies paraded through Gaza was met with rejoicing from Arab capitals to London\u2026\n\n\u201cAfter all of this, President Biden\u2019s press secretary reverted to disgraceful \u2018both-sides\u2019 talking points.\n\n\u201cOf course, as I\u2019ve discussed before, the media organizations who engage with her deserve their own share of shame.\n\n\u201cSome in the press are already indulging the same tired language designed to sap the free world\u2019s sense of moral clarity.\n\n\u201cHeadlines are already warning about the indiscernible \u2018cycle of violence\u2019 and amplifying morally bankrupt calls for a ceasefire.\n\n\u201cFor anyone who needs a reminder, a ceasefire is what Israel thought it had with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad earlier this summer.\n\n\u201cA ceasefire today is an amnesty for Hamas. A free pass for terrorists from the same savage tribe as ISIS and al Qaeda.\n\n\u201cSo, less than three weeks after the deadliest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, too many prominent corners of our society already need a reminder of the terrorist horrors that actually started the war.\n\n\u201cYesterday, I welcomed a group of important visitors to my office. Among them were family members of Israelis being held hostage by Hamas. Two had survived the attacks and witnessed the terror firsthand. I\u2019d like to share with our colleagues two of their stories.\n\n\u201cFirst was Netta, a 20-year-old student who lived in a kibbutz in southern Israel. Netta told me that he woke up on October 7th to the sound of sirens.\n\n\u201cHe talked about how he armed himself with a kitchen knife, barricaded himself in an interior room, and leaned against the door as terrorists ransacked his apartment.\n\n\u201cNetta told me about how he realized hours later, when his mother stopped replying to his texts, that his parents had been taken hostage by Hamas.\n\n\u201cI also heard from a young woman named Maya, who was at the musical festival that morning with her friends.\n\n\u201cMaya described to me yesterday the sounds of rockets interrupting the party at sunrise. She described how she cried the first time she saw a victim lying in the road as she fled, not knowing if he was alive or dead.\n\n\u201cShe recalled how she turned left on a road in search of safe haven, while many of her friends \u2013 two of whom would be murdered \u2013 turned right.\n\n\u201cShe told me how she called her father to say \u2018I love you, and I don\u2019t know if I will make it out\u2019, and how she waited hours in a kibbutz shelter assuming that her \u2018time was coming.\u2019\n\n\u201cShe remembers how news spread in message groups about which of her friends had made it out alive. And how friends witnessed bodies blown apart by grenades.\n\n\u201cMaya told me she is haunted by the images her friends shared of Hamas desecrating bodies and by \u2018how they enjoyed it.\u2019\n\n\u201cShe said she feels guilty for encouraging her friends to join her at the music festival that Saturday.\n\n\u201cMr. President, this is why Israel fights.\n\n\u201cThe attacks of October 7th confronted the world with the sort of horrors Jewish communities have no choice but to remember for generations. From European villages caught in pogroms\u2026 To the horrors of Nazi Germany\u2026 To Israeli kibbutzes burned and bloodied by Hamas terrorists.\n\n\u201cFor decades, the free world\u2019s refrain has been \u2018Never forget. Never again.\u2019\n\n\u201cGod help us if we do not mean what we say.\n\n\u201cThere is no room for false moral equivalency.\n\n\u201cLet me repeat that: there is no room for false moral equivalency.\n\n\u201cWe must not forget who is responsible and we must hold them accountable.\n\n\u201cTerror and self-defense are not the same thing. One side started the war, but another side will finish it.\n\n\u201cAnd the United States must give Israel the time, space, and support to bring innocent people home and bring murderous terrorists to justice.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=5907338C-7984-4814-9D35-AD9314BFE045", "Senate Taking Important Step Toward Full-Year Appropriations", "2023-10-25", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding appropriations:\n\n\u201cGovernment funding is set to run out in 23 days.\n\n\u201cWe have a responsibility to keep the lights on and avoid the disastrous effects of a shutdown. We also need to make serious headway toward the full-year funding process that the nation actually deserves.\n\n\u201cThis week, thanks to a lot of hard work from Senator Collins, Senator Murray, and our colleagues on the Appropriations Committee, the Senate will finally take an important step in the right direction.\n\n\u201cAs we continue to review the President\u2019s request for urgent supplemental appropriations \u2013 and make necessary changes \u2013 Senate Republicans stand ready to vote on a robust package of amendments to this full-year appropriations measure and pass it quickly out here on the floor.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=3F739758-3A72-40C6-A369-AE97E356CBF7", "McConnell Urges Support For Israel, Cautions Against Terrorist Claims", "2023-10-24", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Israel:\n\n\u201cIn the coming days and weeks, the Senate will work urgently to address several major, related threats to the American people, our allies, and our interests at home and abroad.\n\n\u201cAfter Russia\u2019s escalation against Ukraine last year, the savage Iran-backed terrorist attacks on Israel once again reminded the civilized world of the persistent evil that demands our attention and our action.\n\n\u201cThe United States must stand with our ally, Israel, for as long as it takes to restore its security.\n\n\u201cAnd we have a responsibility not to look away from the brutality and inhumanity that terrorists inflicted on innocent Israeli men, women, and children.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, our own Western media haven\u2019t made that task any easier.\n\n\u201cSome of the most disturbing firsthand accounts reported the savages responsible for the October 7 attacks had beheaded Israeli infants and committed other unspeakable atrocities.\n\n\u201cSome in the press leapt to express skepticism and even discredit the reports of eyewitnesses.\n\n\u201cBut these sickening accounts were proven to be true.\n\n\u201cIn an especially reckless example, America\u2019s \u2018paper of record\u2019 took the word of Gaza\u2019s terrorist overlords and actually announced to the world that an apparent explosion at a hospital had been an Israeli strike that killed hundreds of people.\n\n\u201cWe now know it was the terrorists themselves whose rockets struck a Palestinian civilian target. But as the saying goes, this dangerous lie had traveled around the world before truth had literally laced up its shoes.\n\n\u201cPerhaps, the corporate media organizations that have spent years warning about disinformation should exercise a bit more caution with the claims of a terrorist organization that uses civilians as human shields.\n\n\u201cSo let\u2019s get a few things straight:\n\n\u201cThere is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. People are suffering.\n\n\u201cBut the blame for their suffering belongs solely to the terrorists who divert humanitarian and economic assistance and build terror tunnels and rocket launchers instead.\n\n\u201cAnd the solution is not to use the same corrupted mechanisms to allow Hamas to further exploit this crisis of its own making.\n\n\u201cThe Israeli government\u2019s stated intention is to destroy Hamas\u2019 capacity to wage war and end its stranglehold on Gaza. And the West has every reason to expect that Israel will hold itself, as it always does, to the highest standards of human conduct.\n\n\u201cBut make no mistake: war is Hell. This will be a difficult, bloody, and costly fight. And we know Hamas\u2019 propaganda machine will do everything possible to exploit every inadvertent civilian casualty.\n\n\u201cThere can be no moral equivalence between terrorism and self-defense.\n\n\u201cThe President must give Israel the time and space it needs to achieve its military objectives in Gaza. America should assist Israel with any intelligence, planning, and resources their military requires.\n\n\u201cThis includes coordinating closely with Israel to ensure new channels for international humanitarian assistance prevent Hamas from again expropriating it.\n\n\u201cHamas is Israel\u2019s primary focus, but it is clear Iran\u2019s Hizballah proxies in Syria and Lebanon are toeing up to the line. Israel has responded quickly and decisively for repeated attacks from Lebanon in recent weeks, and the United States and other Israeli partners should make clear that Hizballah and Iran will face devastating consequences if they escalate the situation.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, terrorists have also escalated their attacks on American forces in the region.\n\n\u201cReports indicate multiple attacks in recent days in Iraq and Syria. As one U.S. official put it, there are, \u2018red lights flashing everywhere\u2019.\n\n\u201cDeterrence has failed and the United States must restore it before Iran-backed terrorists kill Americans. We must strike back hard at anyone who targets U.S. personnel.\n\n\u201cMore broadly, it\u2019s time for President Biden to close the book on his failed Iran policy. It is past time to work with Republicans to craft a bipartisan Iran strategy that will actually outlive this Administration, unite America\u2019s allies, and counter the full range of threats Iran poses to the region and to the world.\n\n\u201cThis has to include confronting Iran\u2019s role as the world\u2019s most active state sponsor of terror. We ignore this growing threat at our peril.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=B3D820ED-B05D-481E-BF3E-4CB0F778338C", "Admin. Response To Border Crisis Failing To \u2018Historic And Catastrophic Degree\u2019", "2023-10-24", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the southern border crisis:\n\n\u201cOver the weekend, the southern border crisis set a sobering new record. In the past year, CBP conducted more border apprehensions than in any year on record.\n\n\u201cOfficials reported more than 2.4 million apprehensions since last October. And this number doesn\u2019t even count the illegal entries that actually evaded authorities.\n\n\u201cMost alarmingly, this news isn\u2019t actually new. Last year was the third straight year to set an all-time record for border apprehensions.\n\n\u201cIn other words, every year that President Biden has been in charge of border security, his Administration hasn\u2019t simply failed.\n\n\u201cIt has failed to an historic and catastrophic degree.\n\n\u201cAmerica has had functionally open borders for years.\n\n\u201cAlong with millions of illegal aliens, we\u2019ve allowed Chinese fentanyl and other lethal drugs to literally pour into our country and kill tens of thousands of Americans every year.\n\n\u201cSo, Democrats\u2019 border crisis isn\u2019t new. What is new is their supposed desire to finally do something about it. Now that blue state mayors and governors are starting to feel the consequences of this catastrophic policy, the Biden Administration says it wants to take action.\n\n\u201cOf course, the Administration mostly just wants to throw money at the problem\u2026 and at its friends in local government. Apparently, the preferred response to a border crisis is a blue-state bailout.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, a particularly dangerous consequence of the President\u2019s border crisis is making history of its own. In the past year, southern border apprehensions of individuals on the terror watch list broke an all-time record \u2013 a record that was just set just the year before.\n\n\u201cEven President Biden\u2019s Department of Homeland Security has admitted in its 2024 Homeland Threat Assessment that, \u2018record encounters of migrants arriving from a growing number of countries have complicated border and immigration security.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe American people have watched the Biden Administration spend their way into plenty of problems. But they haven\u2019t managed to spend their way out of a single one yet.\n\n\u201cOur country deserves real law enforcement and real borders. Border Security is national security.\n\n\u201cAnd on that front, the Senate has a lot of work to do.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=D8670542-B333-422D-AC98-E1214B33630E", "McConnell Recognizes Kentuckian as \u2018Angel in Adoption\u2019", "2023-10-24", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) welcomed Tasha and Will Uland of Bowling Green, Kentucky, to his office in the U.S. Capitol and congratulated Tasha on being recognized as an Angel in Adoption for 2023. Senator McConnell nominated Tasha for the honor.\n\nNearly two decades ago, Tasha and her husband, Will, embarked on their journey to grow their family through adoption. While navigating their adoption journey, Tasha\u2019s deep desire to help children in need only grew. In 2010, she and her husband traveled to China for three weeks. Seeing the desperation of overrun orphanages deepened Tasha\u2019s dedication to helping children find safe and nurturing homes. After thorough research, counsel, and prayer, they felt a deep calling to provide a loving home for two daughters from China.\n\nTasha's passion for adoption led her to become an Adoption Specialist for Adoption Assistance. Initially, her primary focus was preparing families for the adoption process. Nowadays, Tasha dedicates herself to supporting birthmothers facing one of the hardest decisions of their lives. She feels very strongly about providing the opportunity for birthmother counseling and devotes her time to speak with visitors to pregnancy centers across the Commonwealth.\n\n\u201cIt was an honor to welcome Tasha and Will Uland to Washington and hear their incredible story. Tasha\u2019s commitment to building loving homes for children in need is inspiring, and I\u2019m grateful to have such passionate adoption advocates, like her, in the Commonwealth,\u201d said Senator McConnell. \u201cOne of my greatest privileges as a Senator is meeting with Kentuckians like the Ulands and helping them receive the recognition they deserve. I wish Tasha, Will, and their children my best as they continue to grow together as a family.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is no greater job than finding loving families for children in need. Thank you, Senator McConnell, for helping raise adoption awareness and supporting Kentucky families like ours. The bond our adopted daughters share, along with our biological children, is indescribable,\u201d said Tasha Uland. \u201cOur work continues to support expectant mothers and help provide life-saving opportunities to vulnerable women and their children, as well as support women who are able to preserve a relationship with their children while maintaining healthy boundaries.\u201d\n\nAngels in Adoption is a public awareness campaign by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. Each year, Members of Congress can nominate constituents who are helping to improve the lives of children in need of a loving family.\n\nFor Kentucky families who may also need assistance with adoption, please contact the Senator\u2019s office in Louisville at (502) 582-6304 or online: https://sen.gov/R4W4\n\nR-L: Tasha Uland, Senator McConnell, Will Uland in the U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=8EBEB4FD-CB9A-4457-B4D4-98F2D7E974E3", "ICYMI: McConnell on Fox News Sunday and Face The Nation", "2023-10-22", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) joined Shannon Bream on Fox\u2019s \u2018Fox News Sunday\u2019 and Margaret Brennan on CBS\u2019 \u2018Face The Nation\u2019. See below for highlights or click here and here for the full interviews.\n\nOn President Biden\u2019s supplemental request:\n\n\u201cWe're going to take a good hard look at it and I and most of my members believe we need something credible on the border, as well. I mean, if we're going to challenge accepting financial responsibility to helping our allies, we certainly want to do something to help ourselves. And so we'll get this supplemental request a serious look and probably recommend some changes as well.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have big power competition from China, and Russia and we still have terrorism problems, as the Israelis have certainly experienced in a brutal way in the last week. So I think that requires a worldwide approach rather than trying to take parts of it out. It's all connected. The Chinese and the Russians said they're now friends forever. Iranian drones are being used in Ukraine and against the Israelis.\u201d\n\nOn freezing funds to Iran:\n\n\u201c[W]e'd like to make it law so that [the freeze] can\u2019t be undone. I think we need to get tougher with Iran and I do think the weakness in both the Obama and the Biden administration is the thought that somehow, we can do business with Iran on something and I think it's pretty clear we can\u2019t. I mean, they're funding Hezbollah and Hamas, creating problems, all over the Middle East. We shouldn't be doing any business with them.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think number one, quit talking to the Iranians about any kind of nuclear deal. Number two, don't give them the $6 billion. Number three, back-up the Israelis in every conceivable way after this attack by Iran sponsored Hamas.\u201d\n\nOn aid to Ukraine:\n\n\u201c[O]ne of the best things about this from the U.S. point of view is when we give older equipment to the Ukrainians, for example, we are rebuilding our industrial base in this country. There are jobs being created by the help that we\u2019re providing Ukraine, in 38 different states. And [we\u2019re] rebuilding our industrial complex for the more serious big power threat in Asia. So the notion that our assistance to Ukraine is not helpful to us is simply not factual.\u201d\n\n\u201c[N]o Americans are getting killed in Ukraine. We're rebuilding our industrial base. The Ukrainians are destroying the army of one of our biggest rivals. I have a hard time finding anything wrong with that. I think it's wonderful that they're defending themselves. And also the notion that the Europeans are not doing enough. They've done almost $90 billion. They\u2019re housing a bunch of refugees who\u2019ve escaped. I think that our NATO allies in Europe have done quite a lot.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=03B6F834-2804-45FC-942E-C824E77D9E1C", "McConnell: Senate Must Work Quickly To Address Threats At Home And Abroad", "2023-10-20", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued the following statement on the President\u2019s supplemental request:\n\n\u201cAbove and beyond the demands of our work on full-year appropriations, a number of serious challenges to U.S. national security require the Senate\u2019s urgent attention.\n\n\u201cThe United States and our allies face an increasingly coordinated challenge from powerful adversaries who seek to weaken us by destroying Israel, rewriting the map of Europe, and putting more of Asia under coercive, authoritarian influence. Meanwhile, on the Biden Administration\u2019s watch, an historic crisis at our southern border has confronted the entire country with the effects of unchecked flows of illegal aliens and lethal drugs.\n\n\u201cThis moment demands American leadership, which will require the Senate\u2019s decisive action. In the coming days, after reviewing the President\u2019s request, we must produce our own supplemental legislation that meets the demonstrated needs of our national security. The Senate will work its will to invest in America\u2019s own defense, help Israel defend itself against Iran-backed terrorism, equip Ukraine for victory over Russia, shore up Taiwan on the leading edge of our crucial competition with communist China, and restore sanity to southern border enforcement.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=2F51799A-4E07-42DF-A46F-DE770F79D14E", "The United States Can\u2019t Afford To Take A \u2018Holiday From History\u2019", "2023-10-19", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding support for our allies:\n\n\u201cThere is evil in the world. And for the better part of the last century, America and our allies were squarely in its crosshairs. Unfortunately, we tend to forget that.\n\n\u201cOn September 12, 2001, George Will coined the phrase, saying that the free world\u2019s \u2018holiday from history\u2019 was over. When Russia escalated its lawless invasion of Ukraine last year, many observers, including former Secretary of Defense Bob Gates, invoked the same idea.\n\n\u201cThe West is at a crossroads. Increasingly, fringe voices on the left and right are insisting that it\u2019s not America\u2019s business to lead. They seem willing to accept American decline and to assume that their lack of interest in history means history won\u2019t be interested in them.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, many of our allies are waking up to their own commitments to collective defense.\n\n\u201cAnd as the world was reminded last February in Ukraine, and again on October 7th in Israel, some of our friends and fellow democracies have never had the option of taking a holiday from history.\n\n\u201cIsrael has no choice but vigilant self-defense because murderous theocrats and terrorists have vowed to wipe it off the map.\n\n\u201cUkraine has no choice but all-out resistance because an authoritarian thug with delusions of Soviet glory has spent years butchering its people and carving up its sovereign territory.\n\n\u201cHalf a world away, the free people of Taiwan have no choice but to stare down the threat from a communist superpower intent on bringing their island to heel.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s hard to ignore the growing strategic alignment between these authoritarian forces.\n\n\u201cThey share an interest in one another\u2019s violent pursuits and in undermining the West, especially America.\n\n\u201cTake the growing strategic partnership between Russia and Iran.\n\n\u201cThe Obama Administration foolishly welcomed Putin\u2019s intervention in Syria. And it gave Russia influence in the Middle East it hadn\u2019t had since the 1970s \u2013 mostly at America\u2019s expense.\n\n\u201cIran and its terror proxies were glad to see Putin prop up Bashar Assad. Under Russian protection, Syria became a training ground and logistics superhighway from Tehran\u2019s terror network. And as terrorists challenge America and Israel in the region, Russia is the beneficiary.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a symbiotic relationship for the bad guys. And it\u2019s only continued to grow.\n\n\u201cRussia defends Iran at the UN, and Iran is now providing the same lethal drones its terrorist proxies use to attack American forces in Syria and Iraq directly to Russia for use against Ukraine.\n\n\u201cThe world\u2019s largest state sponsor of terror \u2013 with American, Israeli, and Arab blood on its hands \u2013 is also sponsoring Russia\u2019s war against our friends in Europe.\n\n\u201cAs one good analysis put it recently, \u2018When Hamas terrorists, Hizballah mercenaries, and Iranian theocrats chant \u2018Death to America\u2019 after murdering Israelis, they\u2019re not confused.\u2019 And it\u2019s hardly surprising that Putin has aligned his regime with this terror, given the devastation his forces inflict on civilians in Ukraine.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, China isn\u2019t just keeping a close eye on the World\u2019s resolve to resist Russian aggression and Iran-backed terrorism. They\u2019re getting more directly involved.\n\n\u201cJust yesterday, a summit of the PRC\u2019s so-called \u2018Belt and Road Initiative\u2019 \u2013 a massive influence operation aimed at bringing more parts of the world under Beijing\u2019s thumb \u2013 featured Vladimir Putin as a guest of honor. Yet another sign that Russia and China are serious about their \u2018friendship without limits\u2019.\n\n\u201cBeijing has released a flurry of statements, responding to terrorist savagery by condemning Israel\u2019s self-defense operations and conspicuously avoiding any mention of Hamas.\n\n\u201cThe PRC is stepping up its coordination with, and support for, Iran. It is no surprise that the regime that wants to break the will of a free Taiwan is eager to see its fellow travelers in Tehran and Moscow do the same to Israel and Ukraine.\n\n\u201cOur adversaries know the challenges they pose to us are linked. The belief that we can abandon allies in one part of the world and not hurt allies elsewhere simply doesn\u2019t hold water. In fact, it is na\u00efve and dangerous.\n\n\u201cThe people of Israel have a right to defend themselves. And the United States has an interest in our closest ally in the Middle East rooting out terrorists like Hamas.\n\n\u201cUkraine has a right to sovereignty. And the United States has an interest in Europe \u2013 our largest trading partner and strongest ally \u2013 not facing an emboldened thug at its gates.\n\n\u201cTaiwan and other Asian democracies have a right to self-determination. And the United States has an interest in helping Asian partners stand up to Chinese aggression.\n\n\u201cWe need to remember America is a superpower. Our interests are global. And with global interests come global responsibilities.\n\n\u201cOur alliances matter. Our credibility matters.\n\n\u201cOur friends on the front lines of authoritarian aggression and terrorist savagery don\u2019t have the opportunity to take a holiday from history. And America can\u2019t afford to, either.\n\n\u201cIn the coming days, it will be the Senate\u2019s responsibility to take strong and decisive action \u2013 to put maximum support behind Israel\u2019s self-defense, equip Ukraine for victory as it defines it, and help Taiwan deter growing threats.\n\n\u201cThe prosperity America has known for the better part of a century is the product of our leadership. Preserving it means standing with our friends and investing in our own strength.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=7D2D7B5F-6E17-4477-AE7B-742BD1E73075", "McConnell Urges Senate To Shield Small Businesses From Biden Admin. Red Tape", "2023-10-18", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding regulatory overreach:\n\n\u201cToday, the Senate will vote on a Republican resolution to chip away at yet another example of the Biden Administration\u2019s runaway regulatory state using the Congressional Review Act.\n\n\u201cThe junior Senator from Louisiana, Senator Kennedy, has put forward a measure that would block a proposed rule at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that would require financial institutions to collect and report personal information on small business loan applications, including data on race and sex.\n\n\u201cApparently, as if the radical progressivism on campuses wasn\u2019t enough, Washington Democrats want to tie small business loans to diversity quotas.\n\n\u201cSmall businesses are the lifeblood of the American Dream. And I\u2019m grateful to my colleague from Louisiana for giving the Senate an opportunity to stick up for them.\n\n\u201cI would urge each of our colleagues to join me in supporting his resolution later today.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=F5AA3F8C-4B95-4AC3-B09B-FEA448B211BA", "McConnell to Corporate Media, Academia: No Time For False Moral Equivalence", "2023-10-18", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding support for Israel:\n\n\u201cThe barbaric terrorist attacks of October 7th have elicited two distinct sorts of reactions in the West.\n\n\u201cMost reasonable people have responded to the slaughter of innocent Israelis with utter horror, fervent prayer, and strong support for Israel\u2019s right to defend itself.\n\n\u201cThe overwhelming majority of Americans think the United States should publicly support our closest ally in the Middle East. They recognize this moment as a time for choosing, and they see the choice between a democracy\u2019s right to self-defense and a terrorist group\u2019s obsession with destroying it as an easy choice.\n\n\u201cThe United States must have Israel\u2019s back as it roots out the terrorists who threaten it. For as long as it takes. I\u2019m proud to stand with this overwhelming majority.\n\n\u201cBut alas, in recent days, we\u2019ve also seen just how the default position in some highly influential corners of our society \u2013 from national newsrooms to elite college campuses \u2013 how quickly they\u2019ve been to blindly amplify terrorists\u2019 version of events.\n\n\u201cThis was especially true of the reporting of a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital yesterday. Hamas immediately blamed Israel for the blast, and major news organizations took their word for it, running headlines about an \u2018Israeli strike\u2019.\n\n\u201cIn the hours since this tragedy, credible evidence has emerged suggesting that the same terrorists who use innocent civilians as human shields were themselves responsible.\n\n\u201cWell, the media can revise its headlines. But the shameful, anti-Semitic fringe of our society has already heard what it wants to hear.\n\n\u201cUnsurprisingly, the woke incubators of the Ivy League have been at the epicenter of this anti-Israel outbreak. One coalition of 30 student groups at Harvard declared that they, \u2018hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible\u2019 for Hamas\u2019 terrorism.\n\n\u201cNow, student radicals taking extremist stands is par for the course. The more important question was how university administrators \u2013 the supposed grown-ups on campus \u2013 would respond.\n\n\u201cAnd the answer, Mr. President, is not good.\n\n\u201cAs former Harvard President Larry Summers rightly noted, his institution\u2019s initial silence ceded the field to campus extremists in defining Harvard\u2019s response.\n\n\u201cAnd when Harvard\u2019s leaders did respond, they failed the most basic test \u2013 distinguishing the victim from the aggressor.\n\n\u201cThe university\u2019s response professed heartbreak at \u2018the war in Israel and Gaza now under way,\u2019 as if there were even a shred of moral equivalence between terrorism and self-defense.\n\n\u201cThe presidents of Columbia and Dartmouth expressed regret at, \u2018the ensuing violence,\u2019 and, \u2018the escalating violence,\u2019 respectively.\n\n\u201cNot to be outdone, Notre Dame didn\u2019t even assign perfunctory blame to the terrorists.\n\n\u201cInstead, they bemoaned, \u2018the outbreak of war in the Holy Land\u2019 and calling \u2018for an end to the cycle of violence.\u2019\n\n\u201cI\u2019m reminded of a retort the late, great Bill Buckley deployed in a debate when his opponent tried to have \u2018both-sides\u2019 of the Cold War.\n\n\u201cHe said, \u2018that is like saying that the man who pushes a little old lady into the path of a bus is morally equivalent to the man who pushes her out of its path, because they both push little old ladies around.\u2019\n\n\u201cIf you want to know where this leads, take the American Bar Association, the organization that accredits our nation\u2019s law schools. At first, the ABA\u2019s president called \u2018on both sides to show restraint\u2019 and urged Israel and Hamas to, \u2018settle their disputes in a peaceful and legal fashion.\u2019\n\n\u201cBut yesterday, the ABA denounced Israel\u2019s self-defense efforts as, \u2018collective punishment, forced displacement, [and] ethnic cleansing.\u2019\n\n\u201cMr. President, terrorism and self-defense are not morally equivalent. And you\u2019d think the leaders of America\u2019s higher education would understand it.\n\n\u201cSome leaders in higher education have argued in recent days that schools should not wade into political disputes.\n\n\u201cStanford\u2019s President said doing so means picking winners and losers on campus. And Northwestern\u2019s president observed of his students and faculty that, \u2018for me to speak for them displaces their own freedom to speak.\u2019\n\n\u201cThis may actually be a wise policy. But it\u2019s certainly not one elite academia has been known to practice.\n\n\u201cIt doesn\u2019t take long to find the impassioned stances universities took following the murder of George Floyd or the ending of DACA. So why the new policy?\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s be clear \u2013 some university leaders have displayed admirable conviction. Our former colleague, Ben Sasse, at the University of Florida described support for the terrorists who murdered Israeli children as \u2018sickening\u2019 and \u2018dehumanizing.\u2019\n\n\u201cEmory\u2019s President said the attacks \u2018must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.\u2019 Princeton\u2019s President called it \u2018among the most atrocious of terrorist acts\u2019 and, importantly, placed the blame for the coming war entirely where it belonged, on Hamas\u2019s shoulders.\n\n\u201cSo Mr. President, I request unanimous consent to submit all of these statements \u2013 the good, the bad, and the ugly \u2013 for the Record.\n\n\u201cAnd I can only hope that the leaders of America\u2019s universities recognize what time it is in America. This is a time for moral clarity, not a time for anti-Semitic hate dressed in faculty-lounge jargon.\n\n\u201cLeaders cannot afford to be silent. Terrorism is evil. Anti-Semitism is despicable. And Israel has a right to exist.\n\n\u201cIt shouldn\u2019t take a PhD to understand that, but it also shouldn\u2019t be so hard for a PhD to acknowledge it.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=680548CF-470B-49F8-9B92-5DEFCBCD4723", "Senate Must Make Headway on Full-Year Appropriations", "2023-10-17", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding government funding:\n\n\u201cOne month from now, Congress will face another deadline to avoid a lapse in federal government funding. Between now and then, the Senate needs to do our part to pass as many full-year appropriations bills as we possibly can.\n\n\u201cFirst in line is the minibus legislation that would send critical resources toward supporting America\u2019s farmers, keeping promises to our veterans, and rebuilding crumbling infrastructure.\n\n\u201cBefore the state work period, Senate Republicans agreed on a list of amendments that would allow this package to move quickly here on the floor. And I\u2019m hopeful that the Democratic Leader will call it up this week and give the full Senate the chance to take an important step toward funding the government.\n\n\u201cOf course, passing the minibus is just an early step. We have a great deal of work still ahead of us to finish the job that Senator Collins, Senator Murray, and our colleagues on the Appropriations Committee have been focused on literally for months.\n\n\u201cAnd as I\u2019ve said before, we\u2019ll also need to consider additional, time-sensitive resources for a number of supplemental priorities.\n\n\u201cBut we cannot get on with this work unless we clear an important hurdle this week.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=AD0ED61E-7654-4EB0-BF0B-9805A074DEB5", "President Must Convey Support To Israel, Credible Deterrence To Iran", "2023-10-17", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding President Biden\u2019s trip to Israel:\n\n\u201cI was encouraged to hear that President Biden will visit Israel tomorrow.\n\n\u201cAs the Jewish State mourns the victims of the barbaric October 7th attacks, and as Israeli forces continue their work to root out the terrorists responsible, it is important for the President to represent Israel\u2019s closest ally and bear witness to the destruction wrought by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and their patrons in Tehran.\n\n\u201cThe President will have a number of responsibilities on this consequential trip.\n\n\u201cFirst, he needs to console a grieving nation while demonstrating America\u2019s firm resolve to back Israel in its time of need.\n\n\u201cThe American people feel the pain of our friends in Israel. And we mourn our own citizens who were slaughtered alongside Israelis by these savages.\n\n\u201cIn our grief and in our anger, America\u2019s interests and Israel\u2019s interests are intertwined. And our policies must be as well.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden needs to demonstrate our support for the difficult but necessary steps Israel must take to destroy the terrorists\u2019 capacity to wage war.\n\n\u201cHe needs to reject the false moral equivalence that Israel\u2019s perennial critics are using to mask anti-Semitic hatred.\n\n\u201cHe needs to resist the already mounting pressure in the media and in diplomatic channels to constrain Israel\u2019s efforts to defend itself.\n\n\u201cHe needs to make it clear that his Administration will do everything possible to give Israel the time and space to conduct the required military operations, for as long as it takes.\n\n\u201cIn his words and actions, President Biden must also deter Iran and Hezbollah from further additional involvement in this terrorist war. The deployment of carrier battle groups, a Marine Expeditionary Unit, and additional fighter squadrons to the region are a good first step.\n\n\u201cBut deterrence requires both capabilities and credibility. The President needs to show that he means business.\n\n\u201cHis tone, his statements, and his actions need to send an unambiguous message to Iran about America\u2019s resolve.\n\n\u201cNo more splitting hairs about whether intelligence demonstrates Iran\u2019s direct involvement in the October 7th attacks.\n\n\u201cThe Supreme Leader has rejoiced at the images of dead Israelis.\n\n\u201cA senior Iranian official called it \u2018a proud operation.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnd Hamas has a history of thanking Iran for its support in public!\n\n\u201cNo more absurd suggestions that seeking to free up $6 billion in Iranian assets doesn\u2019t embolden Tehran. We have reams of evidence that the regime that chants \u2018Death to America\u2019 and \u2018Death to Israel\u2019 puts its money where its mouth is.\n\n\u201cUltimately, President Biden must also accept that the fundamental assumptions of his Administration\u2019s Iran policy were morally and practically bankrupt.\n\n\u201cThe President\u2019s team begged Iran to re-enter the Obama Administration\u2019s flawed nuclear deal. Iran sensed their desperation and played hard to get.\n\n\u201cThen, the Administration sought to de-escalate tensions by overlooking Iranian plots against American citizens and former officials and ignoring Tehran\u2019s growing repression at home and aggression abroad.\n\n\u201cWell, Iran had other ideas. They like killing Americans as much as they like killing Israelis.\n\n\u201cAfter all, the way Tehran sees it, America is the Great Satan to Israel\u2019s Little Satan. And we should expect that until Iran\u2019s rulers are afraid of us, they will continue to undermine America\u2019s influence, to test our boundaries, to kill our citizens.\n\n\u201cThe Biden Administration\u2019s previous Iran policy is now history. The President must go back to the drawing board.\n\n\u201cHe should start by doing what I\u2019ve recommended to him since he took office: Work with Republicans to craft a bipartisan Iran policy that will survive his Administration. A plan that addresses all aspects of the threat Iran poses.\n\n\u201cAnd more immediately, the President needs to show Iran and its terrorist proxies like Hizballah that further involvement in this conflict will risk crippling economic sanctions and the decisive use of American military strength.\n\n\u201cThe terrorists and their sponsors with Israeli and American blood on their hands represent a clear and present danger to the United States, our allies, and our interests.\n\n\u201cIt is long past time for America meet this threat with serious and credible deterrence.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=BA67C11C-ABED-4110-AED7-2F997D9A4332", "McConnell: \u2018Israel\u2019s fight is the fight of the entire civilized world.\u2019", "2023-10-17", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today to a gathering of American Jewish leaders regarding support for Israel:\n\n\u201cThank you very much. And thank you for coming to Washington. Like everyone here, I am deeply saddened by the circumstances surrounding this gathering.\n\n\u201cI stand with the people of Israel, in their grief and their pain, as they face down existential evil. And I stand with you, and with Jewish communities around the world, as you face alarming new varieties of the insidious, age-old scourge of anti-Semitism.\n\n\u201cMy message to you today is about how the United States, and the entire civilized world, needs to respond.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re facing a moment that demands moral clarity. This is a time for choosing. And the choice is crystal clear.\n\n\u201cWe must stand with America\u2019s closest ally in the Middle East. With the people of Israel. With those held hostage by terrorists, and with their families.\n\n\u201cAnd we must condemn barbaric terrorists, their evil sponsors, and the legacy of hatred toward Jews that has stained world history for millennia.\n\n\u201cToday\u2019s gathering, and our mission in the coming days, is a powerful reminder that the burden of standing against terror, defending sovereignty, deterring authoritarian aggression, and condemning hate is not Israel\u2019s alone to bear.\n\n\u201cIsrael\u2019s fight is the fight of the entire civilized world.\n\n\u201cThis is America\u2019s cause, too. And it demands leadership.\n\n\u201cPeople with a platform need to start by establishing loud and clear who are the victims and who are the aggressors.\n\n\u201cWe need to push back on false \u2018both-sides\u2019 narratives you\u2019re hearing in the media.\n\n\u201cWe need to denounce anti-Semitic hate wherever it occurs.\n\n\u201cAnd we need to show the rest of the world by our words and our actions that there simply is no moral equivalence between terrorism and self-defense.\n\n\u201cOur country needs to lead by calling on countries with relations with Hamas to push immediately and forcefully to release the hostages.\n\n\u201cWe need to lead countries with influence in the region to deny safe haven to those who aid and abet terrorist violence.\n\n\u201cAnd we need to make it clear that America, Israel, and our allies will be watching closely how they answer this call.\n\n\u201cAmerica needs to re-establish credible deterrence against Iran. We need to show the regime that stakes its existence on pursuing the extinction of Israel and the United States that our resolve is rock-solid.\n\n\u201cThat means giving maximum support for Israel\u2019s counter-terrorism operations, as long as it takes. It also means getting back to investing in the sort of American strength that can protect our people, equip our allies, and lead the coalition to destroy the terrorists who threaten the entire civilized world.\n\n\u201cThis is what I\u2019ll be fighting for in the coming weeks as the Senate considers the resources we put into our own defense, and the additional assistance we need for Israel and other democracies facing authoritarian aggression \u2013 from Europe to the Pacific.\n\n\u201cSo as you embark on an essential mission, I want to thank you all for your leadership.\n\n\u201cMay God bless you and keep you safe. And may God bless Israel and the United States of America.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=50293251-164D-47F6-B5DE-E206EDB5667F", "McConnell: America Must Reaffirm Commitment to Israel\u2019s Security In Face Of Terrorist War", "2023-10-16", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding support for Israel:\n\n\u201cSince the Senate last convened, terrorists have sent shockwaves through the civilized world with savage, cold-blooded violence.\n\n\u201cOn October 7, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad desecrated Israeli soil and tore apart Israeli families with utterly medieval brutality.\n\n\u201cLike ISIS, terrorists from Gaza turned peaceful homes and neighborhoods in Israel into blood-soaked warzones.\n\n\u201cIt was the deadliest attack on Israelis \u2013 and on American citizens overseas \u2013 in decades.\n\n\u201cBy now, reports and images of these horrific scenes have spread widely.\n\n\u201cAccounts of Israeli women tortured and raped, of elders kidnapped, of charred corpses and beheadings, and of children shot dead in their homes have shaken peaceful people to their cores.\n\n\u201cIn one kibbutz, a paramedic named Amit was working to save the lives of victims pouring into a local clinic when she documented what would be the last moments of her own life in messages to her sister.\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s what she said, \u2018They\u2019re here. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll get out of here alive. Be strong, if something happens to me.\u2019\n\n\u201cA few minutes later, in a call from Amit\u2019s phone, all her sister could hear were gunshots and screams. One in ten residents of her community were slaughtered by the terrorists.\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s how one retired senior IDF commander put it after he ran to rejoin Israel\u2019s defense efforts.\n\n\u201c\u2018I have heard during my childhood about the pogroms in Europe, the Holocaust, of course. All my family came from Europe, they are survivors. But I never thought I would see\u2026things like that.\u2019\n\n\u201cMadam President, the people of Israel are grieving unimaginable horrors. And we have a responsibility not to look away.\n\n\u201cNot least because the same news that has shaken the civilized world to its core has emboldened anti-Semites and terrorist sympathizers across the globe.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve seen thousands of demonstrators cheer on terrorist violence from the streets of Western cities.\n\n\u201cIn London, many Jewish children were kept home from school on Friday out of fears for their safety.\n\n\u201cIn Chicago, a bomb threat forced a local synagogue to evacuate.\n\n\u201cIn Sydney, Australia, a supposedly pro-Palestinian gathering devolved into a sickening flashback to the worst stain on the last century of human history as demonstrators chanted \u2018gas the Jews\u2019.\n\n\u201cAnd on college campuses across America, leftist student groups cloaked vile anti-Semitism in a thin veneer of performative woke jargon.\n\n\u201cSo Madam President, friends of Israel simply cannot afford to be silent. And as Israel\u2019s closest ally, the United States must lead by our example in supporting its efforts to defend itself for as long as it takes.\n\n\u201cAs I outlined over the state work period, this means loudly and clearly distinguishing between the aggressor and the victim in this war. No matter how many voices in the media attempt to \u2018both-sides\u2019 a terrorist attack, there is simply no moral equivalence here.\n\n\u201cResponsibility for the murder of Israelis lies with the terrorists who pulled the trigger and the regime that arms and trains them.\n\n\u201cAnd responsibility for the suffering of the Palestinian people lies with the Hamas terrorists who consolidated power by flinging rival civilian officials off of rooftops, who use scarce building supplies to dig terror tunnels, who turn drinking water pipes into rocket launchers, and who use residents of Gaza as human shields.\n\n\u201cMake no mistake: the surest way to stop violence against Israelis and oppression of Palestinians is to wipe terrorists like Hamas from the face of the Earth.\n\n\u201cTo that end, the United States must continue to provide maximum support to Israel\u2019s counter-terrorist operation, as long as it takes. And just as importantly, we have to re-establish deterrence against the Iranian regime that not only directly threatens America\u2019s interest in a peaceful and stable Middle East, but also bears the blood of hundreds of Americans and plots to kill even more.\n\n\u201cAmerica\u2019s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the desperate pursuit of a new nuclear deal, and the failure to respond decisively to attacks on U.S. forces in Syria have weakened our deterrence against the world\u2019s largest state sponsor of terror.\n\n\u201cAmerica\u2019s weakness has left our allies and partners with serious questions about the credibility of our commitments.\n\n\u201cAnd if we fail to present clear and devastating consequences of further violence against America as well as our friends in Israel, we will make deterring an even bigger strategic adversary in Asia even more difficult.\n\n\u201cRe-establishing effective deterrence means investing in American military strength. It means investing in an industrial base that\u2019s capable of equipping both U.S. forces and our allies and partners to meet authoritarian aggression \u2013 in Europe, in Asia, and in the Middle East. And it means responding to challenges with credible and unflinching resolve.\n\n\u201cThis is a fundamental responsibility of governing. Full stop.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll have more to say in the coming days. But for right now, this is not merely a terrorist war against Israel.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s part of a clear and present danger to the United States and the entire civilized world.\n\n\u201cThis, Madam President, is a time for choosing.\n\n\u201cAs Israel works to eliminate the terrorists who threaten its existence, the United States must reaffirm our commitment to Israel\u2019s security.\n\n\u201cAnd we must continue to demonstrate by our leadership that no country should offer safe haven to those who aid and abet terror.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T00:49:26Z"], ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=886DC462-7DB1-48A2-9875-6BB8C79EBC11", "McConnell Helps Secure Over $418,000 in Federal Funding to Revitalize the Paducah Riverport", "2023-10-16", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced today the Paducah-McCracken County Riverport Authority (PMCRA) will receive $418,566 in federal funding to revitalize critical infrastructure at their riverport in Paducah, Kentucky.\n\nThis federal funding is made possible through a Delta Regional Authority (DRA) assistance program, which is funded by annual appropriations and the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Senator McConnell led the IIJA to Senate passage two years ago, and the President signed the bill into law. The IIJA will give Kentucky billions of federal dollars over five years to improve the Commonwealth\u2019s roads, bridges, railroads, riverports, airports, broadband, and more.\n\nSenator McConnell, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, contacted the DRA in support of PMCRA\u2019s competitive federal application and advocated for DRA funding in both the FY2023 federal government appropriations bill and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.\n\nThis federal funding will go toward restoring a major warehouse at the Riverport, increasing shipping volume on the marine highway system and enhancing the port\u2019s ability to accommodate regional needs for manufacturers and agricultural producers.\n\n\u201cPaducah has taken full advantage of its geography as the inland waterway capital of the country, and the Riverport is a prime example of this region\u2019s impressive growth and potential. This federal investment will facilitate greater interstate commerce throughout the region and pay dividends to the many businesses and families that call Western Kentucky home,\u201d said Senator McConnell. \u201cThe Bipartisan Infrastructure Law continues to deliver wins for the people of Kentucky, and I\u2019m pleased to see these federal resources benefit this critical economic hub in the Commonwealth.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"]], "truncated": false, "filtered_table_rows_count": 419, "expanded_columns": [], "expandable_columns": [], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "units": {}, "query": {"sql": "select url, title, date, year, month, party, chamber, state, member_name, bioguide_id, domain, scraper, source, date_source, text, has_text, collected_at, updated_at from releases where \"chamber\" = :p0 and \"state\" = :p1 and \"year\" = :p2 order by date desc limit 101", "params": {"p0": "Senate", "p1": "KY", "p2": "2023"}}, "facet_results": {"party": {"name": "party", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY&year=2023", "results": [{"value": "Republican", "label": "Republican", "count": 419, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY&year=2023&party=Republican", "selected": false}], "truncated": false}, "chamber": {"name": "chamber", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY&year=2023", "results": [{"value": "Senate", "label": "Senate", "count": 419, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?state=KY&year=2023", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "state": {"name": "state", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY&year=2023", "results": [{"value": "KY", "label": "KY", "count": 419, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&year=2023", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "year": {"name": "year", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY&year=2023", "results": [{"value": "2023", "label": "2023", "count": 419, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}}, "suggested_facets": [], "next": "2023-10-16,https~3A~2F~2Fwww~2Emcconnell~2Esenate~2Egov~2Fpublic~2Findex~2Ecfm~2Fpressreleases~3FID~3D886DC462-7DB1-48A2-9875-6BB8C79EBC11", "next_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=Senate&state=KY&year=2023&_next=2023-10-16%2Chttps~3A~2F~2Fwww~2Emcconnell~2Esenate~2Egov~2Fpublic~2Findex~2Ecfm~2Fpressreleases~3FID~3D886DC462-7DB1-48A2-9875-6BB8C79EBC11&_sort_desc=date", "private": false, "allow_execute_sql": true, "query_ms": 204.18232306838036, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}