{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=06083C1B-3A30-4D4D-B546-D86332EF7957", "McConnell Previews SAC-D Hearing on FY 26 Budget Request for the Intelligence Community", "2025-06-16", "2025", "2025-06", "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. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, issued the following statement in advance of the June 17th closed hearing with Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and Lieutenant General William J. Hartman, Acting Director of the National Security Agency:\n\n\u201cU.S. national security depends on the professionalism, objectivity, and integrity of a well-resourced intelligence community. As I\u2019ve observed before, fighting conflict is far costlier than deterring it. And the costs of strategic surprise \u2013 the failure of intelligence \u2013 can be catastrophic. That\u2019s why the defense subcommittee takes very seriously its responsibility to equip the IC for an array of sensitive and evolving missions.\n\n\u201cIn return, we expect the nation\u2019s seniormost intelligence officials to provide candid observations on the challenges facing both the IC and the decisionmakers their work informs. I look forward, in particular, to thorough assessments of U.S. interests in ongoing conflicts:\n\n\u201cI will expect Director Gabbard, Director Ratcliffe, and General Hartman to address the current state of Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, the potential consequences of an outcome that strengthens Vladimir Putin, and the potential damage to U.S. alliances and partnerships of withholding further support to Ukraine.\n\n\u201cLikewise, I will expect them to assess Israel\u2019s ongoing response to Iran\u2019s decades-long war against America, Israel, and our Arab partners, and the stakes of allowing Iran to continue its nuclear enrichment operations and support for terrorist proxies.\n\n\u201cEven more broadly, I will expect the leaders of the IC to demonstrate their grasp of the undeniable alignment and coordination of America\u2019s adversaries. I expect them to outline how Chinese economic support for Iran and Iranian material support for Russia\u2019s war informs the global assessments they offer to the Commander-in-Chief.\n\n\u201cAllies and partners from Europe to Japan are looking to the United States to meet this coordinated aggression with a coordinated response. Retreating from this mantle of leadership will not strengthen or advance American interests.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:34:38Z"]], "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.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=06083C1B-3A30-4D4D-B546-D86332EF7957"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8013560436666012, "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"}