Request a FREE Bumper Sticker or Lawn SignIssues
National Security
National defense is the federal government’s most important responsibility. While eight years have passed since the attacks of September 11, 2001, we still live in a dangerous world. Islamic extremists are still plotting to inflict catastrophic damage on our nation, and rogue regimes in Iran and North Korea are still working to build nuclear weapon arsenals.
War Against Terrorism – When it comes to homeland security, I believe that the best defense is a good offense. This means that we must continue to work to deny terrorists safe havens where they can organize and plot attacks against the United States. For example, we must not allow Afghanistan to once again become a base of operations for al Qaeda, and we must press Pakistan to take action against al Qaeda in its Northwest Territories.
We must also continue to be proactive in our efforts to disrupt terrorist plots and prevent terrorist attacks. Following the attacks of September 11, the Bush Administration and Congress took necessary action to provide our intelligence and law enforcement agencies with the tools they needed to discover terrorist plots and prosecute terrorists before they launched their attacks. They made it easier for intelligence agents and law enforcement agents to share information and work together cooperatively. They gave anti-terrorism investigators surveillance tools that were already being used to investigate organized crime and drug traffickers. They updated the law to reflect the new technologies of the 21st Century. And they increased the penalties for terrorism crimes.
If elected, I will oppose any effort by the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats to weaken these counter-terrorism efforts. The fact that there has not been a major terrorist attack for eight years does not mean that the threat has passed. Rather, it means that the policies that we adopted after September 11 have been working and should be continued.
With respect to homeland security, it is also important that we distribute all federal funding, including funding for first responders, based on risk. Money must be focused on those areas of the country, such as the Washington, DC area, that are in greatest danger of being attacked.
Terrorist Detainees – Unlike Jim Moran, I oppose bringing terrorist detainees currently housed at Guantanamo Bay to Northern Virginia. As shown by the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui in Alexandria, the tight security that would inevitably accompany such detainees would significantly disrupt life in the some of our neighborhoods. If Guantanamo Bay detainees must be brought into the United States, then they should be housed in a rural and isolated area, not a densely populated region such as Northern Virginia.
Peace Through Strength – I believe in Ronald Reagan’s policy of peace through strength. History teaches that while weakness encourages aggression by our adversaries, strength deters such aggression. We therefore must do all that is necessary to ensure that America’s military remains the strongest, best-trained, and best-equipped in the world.
Missile Defense – With rogue regimes in North Korea and Iran actively pursuing nuclear weapons and ballistic missile technology, it is vital that the United States aggressively pursue missile defense. The United States should not stand defenseless if a nuclear missile is ever launched against us. I therefore oppose efforts by the Obama Administration, Jim Moran, and the Democratic leadership in Congress to cut $1.2 billion in funding for missile defense and halt the deployment of ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California (the only operational system capable of destroying a long-range North Korean missile approaching the U.S. mainland). I also believe that it was a mistake for the Obama Administration to abandon our allies in Poland and the Czech Republic and cave in to pressure from Russia by scrapping plans to base a missile defense system in Eastern Europe.
