{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://zeldin.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-zeldin-visiting-troops-middle-east-5th-straight-christmas", "Rep. Zeldin Visiting Troops in Middle East for 5th Straight Christmas", "2019-12-24", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "NY", "Lee Zeldin", "Z000017", "zeldin.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "MIDDLE EAST - For the fifth straight Christmas week, Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1) is spending Christmas in the Middle East visiting U.S. troops deployed in the CENTCOM Area of Operations and participating in several high level diplomatic and military meetings, discussing a wide range of topics including the fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, Iranian aggression, trade and more, in addition to several other troop engagements, including serving meals to the troops and delivering packages of Tate's Cookies to deployed troops from the New York area. Every Christmas since coming to Congress, Congressman Zeldin has led a Congressional Delegation (CODEL) of Members of Congress to the Middle East. This year, the CODEL is being co-led with Congressman David Cicilline (D, RI-1). Congressmen Zeldin and Cicilline are also joined by Representatives Max Rose (D, NY-11), Brian Fitzpatrick (R, PA-08), Susan Wild (D, PA-07), Dean Phillips (D, MN-03), Gil Cisneros (D, CA-39), and Aumua Amata Radewagen (R, AS-AL).\nYesterday, the CODEL made its first stop in Kuwait, where the Congressional delegation met with officials at the American Embassy in Kuwait City and visited Camp Arifjan, where Congressman Zeldin shared a holiday lunch with deployed New Yorkers and met with the leadership of the Combined Joint Task Force of Operation Inherent Resolve.\nSpending Christmas away from their families isn't easy, and for many of our servicemen and women this isn't their first holiday season away from home,said Congressman Zeldin.It is an honor to be able to personally thank them for their service, let them know how much they are appreciated and how many Americans are thinking of them, praying for them and immensely grateful for their service.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://zeldin.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-zeldin-visiting-troops-middle-east-5th-straight-christmas"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3808149378746748, "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"}