{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/news/press-releases/video-ricketts-committee-witness-speak-on-importance-of-nebraskas-sentinel-missile-program/", "VIDEO: Ricketts, Committee Witness Speak on Importance of Nebraska\u2019s Sentinel Missile Program", "2025-12-15", "2025", "2025-12", "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 Last week, during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) highlighted the need to modernize America\u2019s nuclear deterrent by supporting the new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)program. Sentinel, which will be based partially in Nebraska, will replace the aging Minuteman III ICBMs.\n\nRicketts questioned Marshall Billingslea, Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute and former Special Presidential Envoy for Arms Control at the State Department. They discussed the importance of deterring the strategic threat posed by Communist China and Russia.\n\n\u201cHow do you get the Russians and the Chinese, given that the Chinese want to get to [nuclear weapons] parity with us \u2026 to the table?\u201d asked Ricketts. \u201c[Would replacing] the Minuteman III with the Sentinel \u2014 which again is partially based in Nebraska \u2014 is that something we need to continue to pursue? And what\u2019s the dangers if we delay the recapitalization of our nuclear forces?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have deferred modernization of our nuclear weapons to the point where we are now at grave risk,\u201d responded Billingslea. \u201cWe have a just-in-time delivery approach to rapidly aging systems that we can\u2019t allow to slip further. So, the cost overruns with Sentinel are worrying, but we can\u2019t life extend the Minuteman III past a certain point. And it\u2019s vital now that we get on with this.\u201d\n\nClick here to watch more.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "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/video-ricketts-committee-witness-speak-on-importance-of-nebraskas-sentinel-missile-program/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.2887218985706568, "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"}