{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=FA36A0EB-16A9-4EAC-9D70-F902E3D2A208", "Defense Legislation is Crucial First Step Toward American Global Strength", "2022-12-15", "2022", "2022-12", "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 defense:\n\n\u201cAll year, Senate Republicans have urged Democrats to prioritize two basic governing duties. Two tasks that are essential to keeping America safe, keeping us on track to remain the world\u2019s superpower, and doing right by our men and women in uniform.\n\n\u201cNumber one is the annual defense bill, where we authorize the investments, tools, and training that our commanders, leaders, and servicemembers need.\n\n\u201cAnd number two is passing government funding where we back up the NDAA\u2019s ambitions with the actual dollars and cents that turn plans into reality.\n\n\u201cBipartisan negotiators are still working on the second item. I hope they are able to produce text of a bipartisan government funding bill that can pass the Senate before our hard deadline next Thursday. Otherwise, I will support pivoting next week to a short-term continuing resolution into the new year.\n\n\u201cBut I\u2019m glad that, in the very near future, the Senate will finally fulfill the first key duty and pass a strong NDAA, named for our retiring Ranking Member Senator Inhofe.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve spent all week discussing ways this legislation will help our Armed Forces and national security professionals safeguard our homeland, bolster our partnerships, and keep adversaries like Russia on their back feet.\n\n\u201cToday I want to focus on what most Senators agree is the single greatest medium-term and long-term national security challenge that our nation faces: The Chinese Communist Party.\n\n\u201cThe legislation we\u2019ll pass today includes provisions to extend our security assistance to Taiwan.\n\n\u201cIt steps up our investments in capabilities that are especially crucial to operations in the Indo-Pacific, from space assets to naval mines.\n\n\u201cIt re-prioritizes countering China\u2019s nuclear breakout by curbing the Biden Administration\u2019s na\u00efve efforts to retire critical elements of our nuclear arsenal.\n\n\u201cIt tightens security on our cutting-edge research and bolsters sea-launch strategic deterrent capabilities.\n\n\u201cAnd that\u2019s not all. This strong bipartisan bill puts new weight behind our long-term commitments to stand with both vulnerable countries in China\u2019s orbit and vulnerable people within its own borders.\n\n\u201cIt will authorize a new Joint Force Headquarters right there in the region, and make sure that U.S. military installations are not commercial destinations for goods that have been produced with Uyghur slave labor in the Xinjiang province.\n\n\u201cThis bill will also help stiffen the spine of the liberal entertainment industry that apparently lacks the courage to cross Beijing without clearer incentives.\n\n\u201cThis year\u2019s NDAA will prohibit the use of U.S. military assets \u2014 like ships, or bases \u2014 in movies where the producers then turn around and allow Chinese censors to have final sign-off. If Hollywood wants to trample on American principles of free expression in order to please the CCP, they won\u2019t get to use our own Armed Forces as props in the process.\n\n\u201cOf course, stepping up our competition with China and limiting the risks to America from the CCP does not mean walking away from the world stage more broadly.\n\n\u201cQuite the contrary. Checking the CCP will take a coordinated effort with even stronger, deeper ties between the United States and our like-minded friends and partners.\n\n\u201cThat means everything from basing access; to joint exercises and operations; to strengthening our own defense-industrial base so that we can continue to score win-wins, in both security and economic terms, by selling our partners the defensive capabilities they need.\n\n\u201cProtecting America and winning the future does not entail pulling up our drawbridge, turning inward, and pretending the world will leave us alone.\n\n\u201cChina is actively trying to undercut American interests and partnerships everywhere from Asia itself, to the Middle East, to Africa, and beyond. This NDAA will strengthen our hand. It prioritizes crucial partnerships in the Indo-Pacific.\n\n\u201cIt adds New Zealand to the National Technological Industrial Base.\n\n\u201cIt expands our ability to share cyber capabilities with operational partners.\n\n\u201cAnd it preserves vital security cooperation efforts in the Middle East and invests in expanding partnerships in Africa, South America, and beyond.\n\n\u201cThe NDAA is only a first step toward the investments, modernization, and stronger strategies that we need to compete and win against rivals who don\u2019t wish us well. But it is a crucial first step.\n\n\u201cI encourage every Senator on both sides to support it.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:41:06Z"]], "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=FA36A0EB-16A9-4EAC-9D70-F902E3D2A208"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9175899904221296, "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"}