{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/news/press-releases/thune-democrats-must-come-to-their-senses-stop-obstructing-ndaa/", "Thune: Democrats Must Come to their Senses, Stop Obstructing NDAA", "2026-07-15", "2026", "2026-07", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/news/press-releases/", "scraper", "Click here to watch the video.\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke at a press conference with Senate Republican leadership:\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as delivered):\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s been a heavy week here in the United States Senate, with the tragic and unexpected passing of Senator Lindsey Graham.\n\n\u201cLindsey was a great American patriot.\n\n\u201cHe was a champion for the Republican Party.\n\n\u201cAnd for many of us, he was a trusted and loyal friend and adviser.\n\n\u201cAnd so, we mourn his loss, and we welcome his beloved sister Darline here to the United States Senate.\n\n\u201cShe will take up his duties and responsibilities as a senator for the state of South Carolina.\n\n\u201cAnd I say all this in the context of, I wish we had Lindsey here, because right now we are dealing with an important national security matter, the National Defense Authorization Act, something that Congress has done every year now for the last 65 years.\n\n\u201cAnd yesterday, we had what was simply a motion to proceed to get on the bill \u2013 actually, it was a cloture motion to proceed to get on the bill \u2013 and the Democrats blocked it, every single one.\n\n\u201cAnd that, my friends, I believe is really unfortunate.\n\n\u201cThis is an issue that ought to be bipartisan.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s about the national security interest of this country, and the Democrats seem to be dug in and willing to play politics with America\u2019s vital national security interests.\n\n\u201cThis is not about funding for Iran.\n\n\u201cThis is something we do on an annual basis, and we have for the last 65 years in a row.\n\n\u201cSo, I am hopeful that at some point the Democrats will come to their senses and realize that national security ought to be a priority for them.\n\n\u201cIt certainly is for us.\n\n\u201cAnd we will give them more opportunities in which to change that vote, and to express their support for even moving forward and having the debate.\n\n\u201cBy the way, I would add that there were 38 Democrat amendments that were included in the National Defense Authorization Act that we tried to get up on the floor yesterday.\n\n\u201cSo, national security is important to this country.\n\n\u201cBorder security is important to this country.\n\n\u201cThe Democrats have a pattern, going back now over a year, of, you know, not wanting to pay air traffic controllers, not wanting to pay border security personnel, and in this particular case, holding hostage the pay increases for our men and women in uniform.\n\n\u201cThat is really unfortunate and unprecedented, and I certainly hope that soon they\u2019ll come to their senses.\u201d", 1, "2026-07-16T07:21:44Z", "2026-07-16T07:23:13Z"]], "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.thune.senate.gov/news/press-releases/thune-democrats-must-come-to-their-senses-stop-obstructing-ndaa/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.929630059748888, "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"}