{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases/duckworth-votes-against-confirming-john-ratcliffe-as-cia-director", "Duckworth Votes Against Confirming John Ratcliffe as CIA Director", "2024-12-16", "2024", "2024-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "IL", "Tammy Duckworth", "D000622", "www.duckworth.senate.gov", "duckworth", "https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "[WASHINGTON, D.C.] \u2013 Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) released the following statement after the Senate confirmed John Ratcliffe by a vote of 74-25 to serve as CIA Director under President Trump:\n\n\u201cWhen questioned during his last confirmation hearing about his views on torture during the first Trump Administration, John Ratcliffe had weak responses even compared to his fellow nominees\u2014refusing to openly condemn torture as a tactic against captured adversaries. He has failed to prove he\u2019s changed his stance\u2014and for that reason and more, I voted against his nomination today. When you\u2019re stuck bleeding in a helicopter behind enemy lines like I was, you hope and pray that if the enemy finds you first, they treat you humanely. Anyone who can\u2019t categorically condemn torture\u2014which is illegal, immoral and has been proven time and again to be ineffective in extracting accurate intelligence\u2014cannot be trusted to lead the CIA.\u201d\n\n-30-", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:07:19Z"]], "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.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases/duckworth-votes-against-confirming-john-ratcliffe-as-cia-director"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4416798949241638, "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"}