{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=771A3D51-6B44-48E2-BB2B-8D3A007E3787", "Thune: America Must Strengthen Its National Security Posture", "2023-10-18", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "Click here to watch the video.\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke on the Senate floor about the importance of passing the final version of this year\u2019s National Defense Authorization Act and additional supplemental funding in order to bolster national security, enhance shortfalls in military readiness, and support our allies.\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as prepared for delivery):\n\n\u201cMr. President, Israel and the world are still reeling from the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7 that left somewhere around 1,400 Israelis \u2013 and at least 31 Americans \u2013 dead.\n\n\u201cIn scale and scope, the attack carried echoes of our own 9/11.\n\n\u201cAnd, as on 9/11, life changed in an instant.\n\n\u201cI came down to the floor yesterday to talk about these attacks and the United States\u2019 commitment to standing with the Israeli people against terrorism.\n\n\u201cAnd today I\u2019d like to talk about another important point these attacks raise \u2013 the importance of our national defense and military readiness.\n\n\u201cMr. President, it has been said that \u2018only the dead have seen the end of war.\u2019\n\n\u201cWe live in a fallen world, and as long as we live in a fallen world, there will be evil men bent on aggression.\n\n\u201cAnd if we wish to continue living in peace and freedom, we must be always ready to defend against such men.\n\n\u201cMilitary preparedness is an essential and constant need.\n\n\u201cThere is never a time where we can guarantee our peace and safety, and so there is never a time when we can afford to be ill-prepared to defend our peace and safety.\n\n\u201cAs citizens of the United States \u2013 an immense country with a reputation for military strength \u2013 it can be easy to become complacent and assume that we will always be able to deter or defeat attacks.\n\n\u201cBut that is a dangerous assumption.\n\n\u201cAs strong as we are, we are not invulnerable, and we are not the only great power out there.\n\n\u201cAnd if we don\u2019t make the necessary investments in our military to back up our reputation of strength, we may find our ability to deter hostile countries quickly waning.\n\n\u201cAnd the fact of the matter is, Mr. President, our military preparedness is not where it should be.\n\n\u201cThanks to budgetary impasses and increased operational demands, by 2018 our readiness had eroded to the point that the bipartisan National Defense Strategy Commission released a report warning that we might struggle to win a war against a major power like Russia or China.\n\n\u201cAnd while we have made progress since then, we are still a long way from where we need to be.\n\n\u201cWe have military services that are struggling to meet recruiting targets.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a persistent pilot shortage, and in a number of cases we have too few mission-capable aircraft.\n\n\u201cAnd we are not doing an adequate job of maintaining the kind of supply we need of munitions.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s not an acceptable situation for us to be in.\n\n\u201cAnd it could have very serious consequences.\n\n\u201cTo give just one example, recent U.S. war games envisioning a U.S.-China conflict following an attack on Taiwan have had grim results, showing enormous military and economic costs on both sides.\n\n\u201cOne story on these war games noted, and I quote, \u201cAnd while the ultimate outcome in these exercises is not always clear \u2014 the U.S. does better in some than others \u2014 the cost is [clear]. In every exercise the U.S. uses up all its long-range air-to-surface missiles in a few days, with a substantial portion of its planes destroyed on the ground.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet me just repeat that last line.\n\n\u201c\u2018In every exercise the U.S. uses up all its long-range air-to-surface missiles in a few days, with a substantial portion of its planes destroyed on the ground.\u2019\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s not a promising scenario, Mr. President.\n\n\u201cAnd it highlights our serious readiness shortages \u2013 shortages that other countries may not share.\n\n\u201cChina, which is investing heavily in its military, is outpacing our military in modern capabilities like hypersonic missiles, and has amassed a larger navy.\n\n\u201cAnd while Russia is currently expending its military resources in its war of aggression against Ukraine, it too does not hesitate when it comes to military investment.\n\n\u201cMr. President, we have serious work to do on the readiness front.\n\n\u201cAs I said, we have made progress since 2018.\n\n\u201cBut we still have a long way to go to ensure that our military is fully prepared to meet and deter 21st century threats.\n\n\u201cAnd this is a priority we need to address now.\n\n\u201cNot when we\u2019re waking up one morning reeling from an attack on our country or Americans abroad.\n\n\u201cBut right now.\n\n\u201cInvesting in our military after we\u2019re threatened or attacked is too late, Mr. President.\n\n\u201cWe can\u2019t scale up defense capabilities in an instant or suddenly produce an adequate supply of munitions out of thin air.\n\n\u201cWe need to get \u2013 and keep \u2013 our military where it needs to be on the readiness front so that we can deter threats and meet them if needed with overwhelming force.\n\n\u201cAnd boosting our strength is important for our friends and allies as well.\n\n\u201cWe can\u2019t and shouldn\u2019t send troops into every conflict, and we can\u2019t solve all the world\u2019s problems.\n\n\u201cBut sooner or later, world events do affect us.\n\n\u201cAnd we can\u2019t retreat from the world stage and allow malign powers to fill the resulting vacuum.\n\n\u201cNor can we afford to concentrate on one threat or area of the world to the exclusion of others.\n\n\u201cPutin\u2019s war in Ukraine and Hamas\u2019 attack on Israel should be ample reminders that threats can come from both great powers and non-state actors alike.\n\n\u201cSo, Mr. President, we need to get to work.\n\n\u201cAnd that should start with passing a final version of this year\u2019s National Defense Authorization Act and making progress on our annual appropriations bills, including the defense appropriations bill.\n\n\u201cAnd we should also take up a supplemental to provide the necessary support to our allies and ensure that we provide any additional funding needed for our own military.\n\n\u201cOctober 7 was the latest reminder that we live in a fallen and dangerous world.\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s ensure that we are always prepared to preserve the peace and defend our nation.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I yield the floor.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"]], "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/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=771A3D51-6B44-48E2-BB2B-8D3A007E3787"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7670449558645487, "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"}