{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cooper-slams-defense-contractor-s-dream-amendment", "Cooper Slams Defense Contractors Dream Amendment", "2017-07-14", "2017", "2017-07", "Democrat", "House", "TN", "Jim Cooper", "C000754", "cooper.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-5) spoke on the House floor this week to strongly oppose an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would reduce oversight and weaken requirements on weapon acquisitions related to the Missile Defense Agency.\n\u201cThis is not a vote on whether we are for or against missile defense,\u201d Rep. Cooper said on the House floor. \u201cI am strongly for missile defense. I just want to make sure that it works.\u201d\nDespite Cooper\u2019s opposition, the amendment, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn (CO-5), passed the House 235-189 on Friday. It would eliminate Congress\u2019 \u201cfly-before-you-buy\u201d rule, removing the Secretary of Defense from the process of vetting and approving billions of dollars\u2019 worth of missile defense weaponry. \nIn his floor remarks, Rep. Cooper called the amendment \u201ca defense contractor\u2019s dream.\u201d\n\u201c[This] is a vendor\u2019s dream, [this] is a defense contractor\u2019s dream, because it would enable them to sell stuff to us \u2013 the American taxpayer and to the citizens of this country \u2013 promising national defense, but not proving it,\u201d Rep. Cooper said.\nThe existing rule requires the Secretary of Defense to refrain from buying and deploying such weaponry until the Secretary believes there is enough data to know the weapons \u2013 missile defense interceptors among them \u2013 will work reliably and as intended.\nA member of the House Armed Services Committee and the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, Rep. Cooper noted that Rep. Lamborn\u2019s amendment was not voted on in committee or subcommittee votes on NDAA. The Pentagon and the Missile Defense Agency do not support Rep. Lamborn\u2019s amendment, Rep. Cooper added.\n\u201cWe need to fly it before we buy it. We need to test it before we invest in it,\u201d Rep. Cooper said. \u201cWe need to make sure that it works before we fork over the dough.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://cooper.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cooper-slams-defense-contractor-s-dream-amendment"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.840194221585989, "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"}