{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.slotkin.senate.gov/2026/09/23/slotkin-tillis-push-trump-to-move-forward-with-taiwan-arms-sale-ahead-of-xi-visit/", "Slotkin, Tillis Push Trump to Move Forward with Taiwan Arms Sale Ahead of Xi Visit", "2026-09-23", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "MI", "Elissa Slotkin", "S001208", "www.slotkin.senate.gov", "slotkin", "https://www.slotkin.senate.gov/newsroom/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Ahead of President Xi Jinping\u2019s visit to Washington this week, U.S. Senators Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), co-chairs of the Senate Bipartisan Taiwan Caucus, sent a letter to President Trump urging him to immediately notify Congress and move forward with the pre-approved $14 billion arms sale package to Taiwan.\n\nSlotkin and Tillis note that Taiwan has already approved a record $25 billion defense supplemental to support the purchase, and that the sale would benefit the U.S. domestically by supporting American jobs and the U.S. defense industrial base.\n\n\u201cAs we approach President Xi\u2019s visit to Washington, we urge you to stand up for American interests and against Chinese aggression through actions and not just rhetoric,\u201d wrote the Senators. \u201cAs President Reagan made clear, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan should never be subject to negotiation with China\u2014especially not at a time when Chinese aggression against Taiwan has evolved from aircraft incursions into a persistent, multidomain campaign that looks more like preparation for war.\u201d\n\nThe package, pre-approved by Congress in January 2025 and funded entirely by Taiwan, has reportedly been placed on hold following the President\u2019s last meeting with President Xi. The continued delay creates the impression that Taiwan\u2019s security is being negotiated with Beijing.\n\n\u201cOn a bipartisan basis, we agree that the United States must never allow China to use arms sales to Taiwan as a bargaining chip,\u201d continued the Senators. \u201cOn the eve of President Xi\u2019s visit to Washington, this is why we urge you to immediately approve this arms sale package for Taiwan.\u201d\n\nThe full text of the letter is available here.\n\nRead more about the letter in Politico\u2019s National Security Daily.\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-24T09:44:48Z", "2026-09-24T09:45:52Z"]], "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.slotkin.senate.gov/2026/09/23/slotkin-tillis-push-trump-to-move-forward-with-taiwan-arms-sale-ahead-of-xi-visit/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0395348072052002, "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"}