{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=87DE0401-3929-473B-B3A4-FEA333782272", "U.S. Leadership Prompting Allies to \u2018Buy American\u2019", "2023-11-02", "2023", "2023-11", "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 the U.S. defense industrial base:\n\n\u201cAmerica\u2019s status as a global superpower comes with global interests and global responsibilities.\n\n\u201cWe have a direct interest in a stable and peaceful Middle East. And we have a responsibility to stand with Israel, our closest ally in the region, and to impose real costs on those who seek to harm U.S. personnel.\n\n\u201cWe have a direct interest in preserving free commerce and deterring aggression in the Indo-Pacific. And we have a responsibility \u2013 to future generations of Americans \u2013 to win this century\u2019s long-term strategic competition with communist China.\n\n\u201cAnd we have a direct interest in stability and security in Europe not only because we have treaty obligations to our NATO allies, but also because Europe is our largest trading partner, largest source of foreign direct investment, and a critical engine of our own economy.\n\n\u201cAs I\u2019ve explained repeatedly, the emergency funding we\u2019ve appropriated in response to Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine isn\u2019t charity.\n\n\u201cThese resources are helping a Western-oriented country degrade the military strength of a major U.S. adversary. Ukraine is blunting Putin\u2019s tools of aggression and disrupting his imperial ambitions in Europe, and all without involving American servicemembers in the fight.\n\n\u201cBut let\u2019s be honest. Aside from the funds we\u2019ve appropriated for U.S. military training and logistics support in Europe, the bulk of America\u2019s security assistance is being spent in factories right here at home.\n\n\u201cSome of it goes to purchase new weapons for Ukraine. But far more of it is going to replenish our own arsenal.\n\n\u201cOur investment is growing American military strength to meet the challenges that come with global leadership.\n\n\u201cSince Vladimir Putin\u2019s brutal escalation last year, the United States has invested $24 billion dollars in replenishing our arsenal with brand new capabilities.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve poured $692 million dollars into new munitions and tactical vehicles produced in Missouri. Almost a billion dollars in Alabama. And more than a billion dollars in Wisconsin.\n\n\u201cBut our investment is also expanding our production capacity. That means more factory floor space, new production lines, and new shifts of workers \u2013 all to help meet future threats.\n\n\u201cState by state, we\u2019re breathing new life into the arsenal of democracy. And, crucially, America\u2019s allies and partners are following suit.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019re investing historic sums in their own militaries. They\u2019re expanding their own defense industrial bases. And many are also choosing to Buy American.\n\n\u201cPoland has invested $3.75 billion dollars in new Abrams tanks from Michigan, Alabama, and Ohio. Estonia has spent half a billion dollars on HIMARs rocket systems from Texas. And Slovakia and Romania have spent a combined $350 million dollars on new tactical vehicles from Wisconsin.\n\n\u201cAnd it isn\u2019t just European allies who recognize the need to modernize.\n\n\u201cJapan has allocated $1.3 billion dollars for new E-2 command and control aircraft from Florida.\n\n\u201cAustralia has put $6.3 billion dollars toward new C-130 aircraft from Georgia. And Indonesia has invested $14 billion dollars on a new crop of F-15 fighter jets from Missouri.\n\n\u201cAll told, America\u2019s allies and partners have invested $120 billion and counting since February 2022 to rebuild their defense capabilities, right here in America.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019re buying American because they appreciate our cutting-edge technologies. Because they understand the importance of an interoperable combined force.\n\n\u201cBut most of all, they\u2019re buying American because of American leadership.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s been the United States\u2019 example that has helped our allies wake up from years of neglecting their commitments to defense. It\u2019s confidence in our leadership and military edge that\u2019s driving their historic efforts to start sharing more of the burden of collective security.\n\n\u201cAnd let\u2019s get something absolutely clear: This will not continue if America loses its resolve.\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t have the luxury of closing our gates and hoping for evil to leave us alone. America\u2019s allies are waking up to that fact. Now is not the time for the leader of the free world to go to sleep.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"]], "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=87DE0401-3929-473B-B3A4-FEA333782272"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.1924120374023914, "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"}