{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=BC5E6B0C-EB97-417E-AB88-7EE4CB3C8EE4", "Time To Deliver On National Security Priorities At Home And Abroad", "2023-12-07", "2023", "2023-12", "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 priorities:\n\n\u201cYesterday, every single Senate Republican rejected the Democratic Leader\u2019s attempt to separate border security from national security. As we\u2019ve said for weeks, that was a futile effort that was doomed to fail from the very beginning.\n\n\u201cHopefully, the Senate can now seize a new opportunity to make real progress on legislation that addresses urgent national security priorities \u2013 both at home and abroad.\n\n\u201cSo let\u2019s establish a few things going forward:\n\n\u201cIt is profoundly unserious to pretend that national security priorities don\u2019t include securing our nation\u2019s borders\u2026\n\n\u201cTo warn about borders in jeopardy and not start with the one that\u2019s being overrun here at home\u2026\n\n\u201cTo invoke threats facing sovereign nations without a clear plan to uphold America\u2019s own sovereignty.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I\u2019m not in need of any lectures about on the gravity of the challenges facing national security today.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t need any admonishments about what\u2019s at stake for America and our allies in Ukraine\u2019s fight against Russian aggression.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m well aware that the world\u2019s largest state sponsor of terrorism remains undeterred from trying to kill Americans in the Middle East.\n\n\u201cAnd I certainly have not forgotten that China \u2013 our top strategic adversary \u2013 is watching what we do very closely.\n\n\u201cInstead, unfortunately, it\u2019s been the Biden Administration \u2013 including our Commander-in-Chief \u2013 who have all too often needed reminders about the responsibilities of a global superpower. From Europe to the Middle East, the Administration has reached new heights of self-deterrence.\n\n\u201cWith Putin\u2019s forces massing on the borders of Ukraine, the Administration slow-walked lethal assistance. As the Russian offensive unfolded, they held back the most decisive capabilities Ukraine needed out of an unfounded fear of escalation.\n\n\u201cAnd even with further security assistance hanging in the balance, the Biden Administration has been very slow to sell this urgent measure \u2013 and its massive domestic benefits \u2013 to the American people.\n\n\u201cFrom the outset, the Biden Administration resumed the Obama-era efforts to reset relations with Tehran and removed the Iran-backed Houthis from the terrorism list.\n\n\u201cIt is no surprise that Iran has thumbed its nose at these displays of weakness. It\u2019s no surprise that U.S. personnel are facing a spike in terrorist attacks, from Iraq and Syria to the Red Sea. But the Administration continues to pull its punches.\n\n\u201cAnd meanwhile, Republicans have spent years urging the Administration to start performing even the bare minimum of its fundamental responsibility to secure our southern border and enforce our nation\u2019s laws.\n\n\u201cRight now, the crisis created by the Biden Administration\u2019s neglect is bringing illegal aliens to the United States at a rate of 300,000 a month.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s roughly the population of Lexington, Kentucky, arriving every month. And thanks to an asylum and parole system that desperately needs fixing, many of them are just brought straight in.\n\n\u201cI know many of our Democratic colleagues recognize the urgency of this crisis. I know many of them are ready to help restore sanity at our southern border.\n\n\u201cWell, Senator Lankford, Senator Graham, and other Republican colleagues are still working hard to do exactly that. And there\u2019s no time like the present to join them in those efforts.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"]], "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=BC5E6B0C-EB97-417E-AB88-7EE4CB3C8EE4"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0990051086992025, "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"}