{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=CEDDD7C1-DC17-434F-87BE-186FEF4844BB", "NDAA Marks Step Toward Addressing National Security Challenges", "2023-12-13", "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\u201cToday, Senate Republicans are still working in good faith on border policy changes that will allow the Senate to pass a national security supplemental.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m hopeful that Democrats \u2013 both here and at the White House \u2013 are beginning to recognize how committed we are to addressing the crisis at our southern border.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m hopeful that we can reach an agreement and address top national security priorities.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, the challenges we\u2019re facing at home and abroad aren\u2019t solving themselves.\n\n\u201cAs of today, U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria have faced at least 92 attacks from Iran-backed terrorists since October, including just last week against the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, Iran\u2019s Houthi proxies are escalating their threats against shipping vessels in one of the busiest checkpoints of international maritime commerce.\n\n\u201cIran and its terrorist network are not deterred. They believe they can try to kill Americans with impunity.\n\n\u201cAnd yet, last week, leading Senate Democrats joined a failed effort to withdraw America\u2019s presence in Syria.\n\n\u201cThree members of Democratic Caucus leadership cast votes to retreat in the face of an emboldened terrorist threat. So did the Chair of the Foreign Relations subcommittee that deals with the Middle East!\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s time for our colleagues to get serious about the threats we face. Fortunately, the Senate is on track to pass the long-awaited National Defense Authorization Act.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m grateful to Ranking Member Wicker and Chairman Reed for the extensive work required to bring this must-pass legislation to the goal line.\n\n\u201cThis year, the Armed Services Committee considered 445 amendments, and another 121 were adopted here on the floor. And thanks to the dedicated efforts of many of our colleagues on this side of the aisle, the bill they produced asserts the Senate\u2019s priorities on a host of national security issues where the Biden Administration\u2019s approach continues to fall short.\n\n\u201cThis year\u2019s NDAA recognizes the need to strengthen America\u2019s position in strategic competition with China through targeted improvements to critical capabilities \u2013 from long-range fires and anti-ship weapons to modernizing our nuclear triad.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019ll authorize further investments in the defense industrial base and expand efficiency and accountability of the lethal assistance degrading Russia\u2019s military in Ukraine.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019ll turbo-charge cooperation with Israel on future missile defense technologies and ensure our closest ally in the Middle East can access the U.S. capabilities it needs, when it needs them.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019ll give America\u2019s men and women in uniform a pay raise.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019ll focus the Pentagon more squarely on tackling national security challenges instead of creating new ones with partisan social policies.\n\n\u201cAnd in my home state of Kentucky, it\u2019ll advance important initiatives to expand production at Blue Grass Army Depot and reduce U.S. reliance on competitors for materials critical to our defense.\n\n\u201cOf course, Congress can\u2019t fix the Biden Administration\u2019s weakness on the world stage by ourselves. We can equip a global superpower, but we still need a Commander-in-Chief who recognizes that he\u2019s leading one.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden should be focused on restoring real deterrence against Iran-backed terrorists, not interfering with the internal politics of the democratic ally they\u2019re attacking.\n\n\u201cIsrael is a modern, mature, and independent democracy. I imagine that neither Israel\u2019s leaders nor its citizens appreciate President Biden\u2019s punditry to Democratic donors about their wartime coalition government. In fact, foreign influence in our own politics used to be something Washington Democrats loved to condemn.\n\n\u201cSo I would recommend that the President focus on the task at hand: imposing meaningful consequences on Iran and giving Israel the time, space, and support it needs to defeat Hamas.\n\n\u201cThis week, the Senate will move the National Defense Authorization Act one step closer to becoming law. I hope that\u2019ll mark a first step toward giving the national security challenges America faces the urgent attention they require.\n\n\u201cBut it will still fall to Congress to pass supplemental national security appropriations and full-year defense funding to ensure the investments we authorize this week deliver real progress in making America stronger and more secure.\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=CEDDD7C1-DC17-434F-87BE-186FEF4844BB"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.506901044398546, "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"}