{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=D0C913DF-4FD8-4F8F-83A1-AF173E8FA4F4", "McConnell On Supporting Israel, Countering Iran", "2023-11-28", "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 national security priorities:\n\n\u201cIn the coming weeks, Congress has a responsibility to equip America and our allies to face an historic array of national security challenges.\n\n\u201cTo understand the urgency of this moment, just look at the impossible choices facing our ally, Israel, as it works to bring innocent people home from terrorist captivity.\n\n\u201cThese brutal terrorists bankroll their existence with the blood of innocent people. They know that their hostages can be cashed in for a brief reprieve from justice\u2026 or in exchange for terrorists incarcerated in Israel. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is one of Hamas\u2019 own design.\n\n\u201cJust as there is no moral equivalence between terrorism and self-defense, there is no moral equivalence between innocent hostages and convicted terrorists and criminals.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, this is not just a reminder for the activists on elite campuses and in national newsrooms who have uncritically lapped up and regurgitated activist propaganda.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s also for some of our colleagues here in Congress.\n\n\u201cAccording to some reports, Senate Democrats will use their caucus lunch today to discuss placing restrictions on U.S. military assistance to Israel.\n\n\u201cOne of our colleagues is already on the record demanding that President Biden, \u2018be more aggressive with the Israelis.\u2019\n\n\u201cAnother has declared that, \u2018not one penny will be coming to Israel\u2019 unless our ally bends to his view \u2013 offered from the comfort of a Senate office \u2013 on how Israel should conduct self-defense operations.\n\n\u201cIf Senate Democrats want to vote to tie the hands of Israeli soldiers as they defend their country against vicious terrorists, I welcome such a debate.\n\n\u201cFor anyone who needs to hear it again: the conflict unfolding today is between a sovereign democracy that takes great pains to avoid civilian casualties and terrorist butchers who go out of their way to inflict civilian casualties and put their own civilians in harm\u2019s way. Israel deserves the time, space, and resources to restore its security. And I will stand by our ally 100%.\n\n\u201cFor that matter, our own people \u2013 American men and women in uniform \u2013 deserve the same unwavering commitment to restoring credible deterrence against Iran.\n\n\u201cSince October 17th, Iran-backed terrorists have launched at least 73 attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria. Clearly, President Biden\u2019s strikes against desert warehouses have not given our adversaries pause.\n\n\u201cThe world\u2019s leading state sponsor of terrorism remains demonstrably undeterred.\n\n\u201cRight now, we have a responsibility to equip Israel to destroy Hamas, deter violence against American servicemembers, and invest seriously in American hard power \u2013 a language our adversaries in Tehran, Moscow, and Beijing actually understand.\n\n\u201cSupplemental national security legislation is our chance to uphold this responsibility.\u201d", 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=D0C913DF-4FD8-4F8F-83A1-AF173E8FA4F4"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4507421292364597, "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"}