{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=3982E021-8430-462F-9257-6E3E81EF390F", "Terrorist Threats Demand American Leadership, Not Na\u00efvet\u00e9", "2023-10-26", "2023", "2023-10", "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 terrorist threats:\n\n\u201cMr. President, every day brings new harrowing details of the terrorist attacks of October 7th. And we continue to learn more about the role Iran plays in aiding and abetting terror.\n\n\u201cJust yesterday, new reports indicated that hundreds of terrorists from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad traveled to Iran last month for specialized combat training with Tehran\u2019s murderous Quds Force.\n\n\u201cOf course, waiting for specific evidence of tactical involvement really misses the point. Iran is the world\u2019s leading state sponsor of terror. It\u2019s spent decades supporting proxy terrorists who share their hatred for Israel and America precisely so Tehran can maintain plausible deniability.\n\n\u201cWe cannot lose sight of this savage charade.\n\n\u201cEvil will continue to target the United States and our allies, whether we pay attention to it or not.\n\n\u201cAnd the threats our adversaries pose are connected.\n\n\u201cIran doesn\u2019t just underwrite terrorist attacks on Israel \u2013 it outfits Russia with drones to help kill Ukrainians. China doesn\u2019t just menace Taiwan \u2013 it helps Iran circumvent international sanctions by trading consumer goods for oil. And Russia isn\u2019t just pummeling a sovereign neighbor \u2013 it has joined China for joint naval exercises in the Sea of Japan as well as off the coast of Alaska.\n\n\u201cOur adversaries\u2019 ambitions are not local. They\u2019ve been showing us for years that they\u2019re determined to challenge American leadership, undermine our interests, and weaken our alliances.\n\n\u201cBut on every front, the Biden Administration\u2019s response has fallen short.\n\n\u201cThe President was hesitant to deter Russian aggression in the first place and has dithered about helping equip Ukraine to defeat it.\n\n\u201cHe has prioritized engagement with China on climate policy over building resilient supply chains with trusted allies.\n\n\u201cAnd just listen to his Administration\u2019s jaw-dropping naivete after three years of squandering leverage on Iran. In early October, the President\u2019s national security advisor wrote a self-congratulatory article assessing the Administration\u2019s foreign policy.\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s some of what he said about the Middle East.\n\n\u201c\u2019In the face of serious frictions, we have de-escalated crises in Gaza and restored direct diplomacy.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe went on, \u2018U.S. troops were under regular attack in Iraq and Syria\u2026 Such attacks, at least for now, have largely stopped.\u2019\n\n\u201cFinally, he claimed that the President\u2019s approach, \u2018frees up resources for other global priorities\u2019 and \u2018reduces the risk of new Middle Eastern conflicts.\u2019\n\n\u201cWell, at least, that was the account that went to print before 1,400 Israelis were murdered on a Saturday morning. And before Iran-backed terrorists injured two dozen American servicemembers in numerous attacks in Iraq and Syria.\n\n\u201cThe incongruity between the Administration\u2019s spin and reality has since been scrubbed from the article online. But the Biden Administration\u2019s na\u00efve approach to terror remains woefully inadequate to meet the growing threat of radical Islamic terrorism \u2013 from Afghanistan to Yemen to Iraq and the Levant to the Sahel.\n\n\u201cAbandoning Afghanistan.\n\n\u201cObsessing about closing Guantanamo Bay.\n\n\u201cRemoving the Houthis\u2019 designation as a terrorist organization.\n\n\u201cTurning the other cheek when terrorists attack Americans and our allies.\n\n\u201cSquandering leverage over Iran.\n\n\u201cWeakness in one theater begets weakness in another.\n\n\u201cThe United States is a global superpower. And it\u2019s high time we started embracing \u2013 and properly resourcing \u2013 the responsibilities that come with that role.\n\n\u201cNow is the time to invest deeper in our alliances and partnerships. It\u2019s time to restore credible deterrence with hard power.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s why I will oppose Senator Paul\u2019s resolution to compel the withdrawal of American servicemembers from Niger later today.\n\n\u201cRadical Islamic terrorism in that part of the world is on the rise. And we should be working more closely with local partners, not abandoning them.\n\n\u201cWe should be conducting more surveillance flights, not blinding ourselves by abandoning strategic airfields in Niger.\n\n\u201cRussia and China are working overtime to displace American influence in Africa. We should not be making their job any easier.\n\n\u201cBeyond today\u2019s vote, the Senate should recognize the opportunity before us to shape a supplemental appropriations bill that equips our military, our defense industrial base, and our allies and partners to meet the growing threats we face \u2013 from our southern border to radical Islamic terrorism to authoritarian aggression.\n\n\u201cWe have a chance to demonstrate the American leadership our people, our allies, and our interests require. We should take it.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"]], "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=3982E021-8430-462F-9257-6E3E81EF390F"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9450418874621391, "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"}