{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cochran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=7850c063-7ced-45ce-b6f8-912eb1bd3f4e", "COCHRAN PRAISES WWII VETERANS\u2019 \u201cCALM, COOL & COLLECTED DEMEANOR\u201d IN SHUTDOWN CONFRONTATION", "2013-10-01", "2013", "2013-10", "Republican", "House", "MS", "Thad Cochran", "C000567", "www.cochran.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today paid tribute to World War II veterans from Mississippi who overcame obstacles erected in Washington as part of the partial government shutdown and cautioned policy makers not to make the shutdown \u201cmore difficult than it has to be.\u201d\r\nIn a speech to the Senate, Cochran saluted an Honor Flight contingent of more than 90 veterans and volunteers who flew to Washington Tuesday to visit the national World War II Memorial and other sites.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the open-air memorial had been barricaded to prevent visitors during the shutdown, which began at midnight.\u00a0 Reaching the Memorial, the Magnolia State group went through the shutdown barriers in order to visit the memorial and lay a wreath at the memorial\u2019s \u201cMississippi\u201d column.\r\n\u201cI take this opportunity to thank the veterans from our state for their calm, cool, and collected demeanor during what could have been a frustrating experience,\u201d Cochran said.\u00a0 \u201cI'm sure they will all receive a very warm welcome tonight when they return home to Gulfport.\"\r\n\u201cI\u2019m very pleased that the visit of these veterans to Washington was not ruined by the government shutdown, even though there were some obstacles.\u00a0 But I hope their experience reminds us\u2014federal agencies, members of Congress, others who live here in the nation\u2019s capital\u2014not to make this situation more difficult than it has to be,\u201d he said.\r\n\u201cI salute all veterans for their service to our nation and the access that they have achieved, even on a day where the agencies are \u2018closed.\u2019\u00a0 There are certain premises that should remain open and are available for visitation and visibility\u201d he said.\r\nPrior to the group\u2019s visit, Cochran\u2019s office reached out to the National Park Service to request that the Mississippi World War II veterans be given access to the memorial, and recommended that the agency revise its barricade policy to accommodate upcoming Honor Flight delegations from other states this week.\r\nAudio available below.\r\n###", 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://www.cochran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=7850c063-7ced-45ce-b6f8-912eb1bd3f4e"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6056247986853123, "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"}