{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=08BD1DCE-0D5E-4E04-925F-360427FE7C7B", "Senate Democrats Neglecting Critical Defense Legislation as Growing Threats Challenge America", "2021-11-02", "2021", "2021-11", "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. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding national security:\n\n\u201cEach year, the National Defense Authorization Act represents the Senate\u2019s most consequential opportunity to help steer the course of defense and security policy.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s our chance to lay out our priorities for keeping America safe. For the past 60 years, without exception, Senate majorities have done the job and passed this crucial bill on a bipartisan vote.\n\n\u201cBut this year, our Democratic majority is sleepwalking toward yet another preventable problem.\n\n\u201cThe process began with earnest deliberation among our colleagues on the Armed Services Committee.\n\n\u201cChairman Reed and Ranking Member Inhofe presided over extensive discussions. They adopted 143 bipartisan amendments. And the Committee reported out a final bill by a margin of 23-3.\n\n\u201cOur colleagues began a process that should be end with broad support for clear, bipartisan priorities \u2014 like equipping us to keep up with China\u2019s military modernization and combat a new generation of terrorist threats.\n\n\u201cBut the Democratic Leader has left the NDAA trapped in limbo while Democrats toy with another reckless taxing and spending spree.\n\n\u201cMr. President, neglecting the NDAA denies our Armed Forces the certainty they need, and it denies the Senate a debate about the most consequential national security issues.\n\n\u201cThis is especially misguided in light of the Biden Administration\u2019s erratic, rudderless approach to foreign policy.\n\n\u201cJust last week, Administration officials acknowledged that hundreds more Americans than they initially claimed remain trapped in Afghanistan\u2026 That terrorists in the country are just months away from being capable of conducting attacks on U.S. soil\u2026 And that no basing agreements to allow for \u201cover-the-horizon\u201d operations had yet been reached.\n\n\u201cEmboldened terrorists are already stepping up violence against Americans and our allies in the Middle East.\n\n\u201cThe Administration is failing to deter Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.\n\n\u201cThe Russian threat has grown since President Biden took office \u2014 though you wouldn\u2019t know it by how quiet Senate Democrats have been on the subject.\n\n\u201cPutin is committed to modernizing his military to threaten U.S. and NATO forces, weaponizing his country\u2019s energy resources to pressure Europe, and escalating Russia\u2019s military pressure on Ukraine.\n\n\u201cOf course, the American military, American industries, and our allies and partners are also facing a Communist China that\u2019s hell-bent on dominating trade and repressing dissent.\n\n\u201cThis is not a regional threat, but a global one. China\u2019s comprehensive military modernization is stunning in its scope. The PRC is building weapons and capabilities to target U.S. forces at greater and greater range.\n\n\u201cWe ignore this growing threat at our peril.\n\n\u201cSo there is never a good time for Congress to abdicate its role in guiding and overseeing national security policy.\n\n\u201cBut the Biden Administration\u2019s muddled mess of a foreign policy makes this an especially terrible time for the Senate Democratic majority to neglect these issues.\n\n\u201cChairman Reed and Ranking Member Inhofe have given us an opportunity to fulfill the Senate\u2019s role in a serious, consequential way.\n\n\u201cNow the majority needs to let the Senate work.\n\n\u201cWe need the kind of serious and rigorous floor process that the NDAA deserves.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:30:49Z"]], "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=08BD1DCE-0D5E-4E04-925F-360427FE7C7B"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8505471050739288, "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"}