{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=13A244BF-34CE-483B-8937-9CF42499AF2F", "McConnell on Ukraine\u2019s Progress and Needed Next Steps", "2022-09-14", "2022", "2022-09", "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 Ukraine:\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s been encouraging to see good news regarding the Ukrainian people\u2019s fight to defend and reclaim their sovereignty.\n\n\u201cLatest reports indicate that Ukraine has recently liberated 2,400 square miles of their own territory from Russian hands.\n\n\u201cThe sight of a democratic nation beating back totalitarian aggression continues to inspire the free world.\n\n\u201cIt should make other thugs think twice about following in Putin\u2019s footsteps. But obviously, it is not nearly time to ease up.\n\n\u201cAn axis of authoritarians is still pulling hard for Ukraine to fail.\n\n\u201cIran is equipping the Russian military with armed drones like the ones they and their proxies have used against American forces in Syria and Iraq, and against our Israeli, Emirati, and Saudi partners.\n\n\u201cNorth Korea is reportedly refilling Russia\u2019s artillery stockpiles.\n\n\u201cAnd the PRC have publicly supported Moscow\u2019s narrative through every Russian atrocity.\n\n\u201cSo our Ukrainian friends may still face a long hard struggle to achieve victory as they define it. But western countries can help by stepping up the pace of our collective assistance.\n\n\u201cUkraine\u2019s hard-won successes on the battlefield could have come even earlier if the Biden Administration \u2014 and European allies that take their cues from Washington \u2014 had been quicker and more proactive to deliver the capabilities Ukraine needed.\n\n\u201cUkrainian forces are working wonders with Western equipment. They\u2019ve quickly integrated cutting-edge systems like HIMARS and Javelin and Stinger missiles.\n\n\u201cThe West\u2019s hesitance to put these capabilities in the right hands has cost lives. Horrors could have been avoided if the Biden Administration and our European partners hadn\u2019t been self-deterred from providing these tools sooner.\n\n\u201cThe Ukrainians need more of the weapons we\u2019ve been giving them, they need to start getting them faster, and they also need new capabilities like longer-range ATACMS, larger drones, and tanks.\n\n\u201cNot all of these weapons need to come from America. But make no mistake: our allies are looking to us for signals.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden should be clear with western Europe about the need for them to make meaningful, specific contributions to Ukraine \u2014 and fast.\n\n\u201cHe should also be clear with our allies that our defense holiday is over. It is time for all of us to rebuild our militaries and defense industrial bases.\n\n\u201cThis will take urgent investments, regulatory reform, and prioritization to expand our capacity to produce critical munitions and systems.\n\n\u201cThese short- and long-term steps alike are in Europe\u2019s vital interests, America\u2019s vital interests, and the entire free world\u2019s.\n\n\u201cBeijing, Tehran, and other authoritarian regimes cannot think for one minute that trampling free peoples\u2019 sovereignty will go unpunished.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:29:59Z"]], "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=13A244BF-34CE-483B-8937-9CF42499AF2F"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0428240057080984, "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"}