{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ricketts-supports-taiwans-defense-capabilities-energy-resilience/", "Ricketts Supports Taiwan\u2019s Defense Capabilities, Energy Resilience", "2025-11-21", "2025", "2025-11", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Pete Ricketts", "R000618", "www.ricketts.senate.gov", "ricketts", "https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/?jsf=jet-engine:press-list&pagenum=", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) highlighted his bipartisan Providing Our Regional Companions Upgraded Protection in Nefarious Environments (PORCUPINE) Act. The PORCUPINE Act would put Taiwan in the NATO-plus category, reducing obstacles for Taiwan to obtain necessary weapons and deter Communist China.\n\n\u201cOver the past several years, Taiwan has made real sacrifices to improve its self-defense,\u201d said Ricketts. \u201cBut even as Taiwan steps up, the United States is failing to deliver key capabilities on the timeline deterrence requires. Bureaucratic backlogs and sluggish notifications are creating vulnerabilities we cannot afford. These delays don\u2019t just hurt the timelines \u2014 they weaken Taiwan\u2019s political will and ultimately increase the risk to U.S. forces and what they would face if deterrence fails. That\u2019s exactly why I introduced the PORCUPINE Act with Senator Coons. It would put Taiwan in the NATO-plus category to cut notification times and raise thresholds.\u201d\n\nSenator Ricketts also discussed the Taiwan Energy and Anti-Embargo Act, which aims to resolve Taiwan\u2019s glaring energy insecurities in the face of Communist Chinese aggression.\n\n\u201cTaiwan\u2019s energy security is one of its biggest liabilities,\u201d said Ricketts. \u201cAn energy squeeze doesn\u2019t require a blockade or even a shot fired. Targeted coercion alone could trigger a crisis long before military action even happens. That\u2019s why strengthening Taiwan\u2019s resilience is central to deterrence. Senator Coons and I introduced the Taiwan Energy Security and Anti-Embargo Act to help counter this. This common-sense legislation would expand U.S. LNG exports to Taiwan to support its energy infrastructure and ensure adequate flows of energy shipments to Taiwan in a contingency.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "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.ricketts.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ricketts-supports-taiwans-defense-capabilities-energy-resilience/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.63409991748631, "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"}