{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=415154", "Rep. Smith on Taiwan's special defense budget announcement", "2025-12-05", "2025", "2025-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher H. Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", "chrissmith", "https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), issued the following statement, welcoming President Lai Ching-te\u2019s announcement that Taiwan would be investing $40 billion to meet defense needs:\n\n\u201cPresident Lai understands that cutting edge deterrence capabilities are needed to protect Taiwan\u2014a democratic Chinese society free from tyranny, where the people are able to achieve both liberty and wealth.\n\n\u201cFree and prosperous Taiwan presents a stark contrast to mainland China, which, under Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party, enjoys neither; people struggle under a forced labor regime and a \u20189-9-6 economy\u2019 to simply make ends meet\u2014while propping up the dictatorship.\n\n\u201cI strongly encourage Taiwan\u2019s legislature\u2014and all political parties\u2014to approve President Lai\u2019s proposal and work with the President to advance other key measures to support Taiwan\u2019s military and the men and woman who serve to defend their nation.\n\n\u201cTaiwan is America\u2019s frontline in the Pacific, and Taiwan\u2019s security is America\u2019s security. I urge my fellow Americans to stand firmly with Taiwan.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "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"], "primary_key_values": ["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=415154"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0359929874539375, "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"}