October 10, 2006 :: U.S. House of Representatives :: News
Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, yesterday called for robust missile defenses in light of North Korea’s recent nuclear test. “We must learn from Kim Jong Il’s defiance and realize the imminent threat that we face,” the Congressman stated. “We are still without a robust missile defense, our enemies continue searching for ways to destroy our country, and I’m afraid that if a country like Iran acquires these weapons their use would change the face of freedom forever.” Franks pointed out “the fact that much of this could have been handled years ago before North Korea acquired nuclear weapons.” When former President Bill Clinton was faced by the potential of a nuclear North Korea, his administration chose to appease Kim Jong Il with light water reactors and fuel oil shipments. Simultaneously, Clinton vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996, which would have required the deployment of a missile defense system capable of defending all 50 states. Clinton at the time had argued that, “by forcing such an unwarranted deployment decision now, the bill would waste tens of billions of dollars and force [the U.S.] to commit prematurely to a specific technological option.” In his remarks yesterday, Franks reminded Americans that “history is a guide for the wise in order to protect our children and our children’s children. Let us learn from the mistakes of the past. We must strive to understand the mission of our enemy and realize the ominous threat they pose to freedom-loving nations.”
Full text of Trent Franks press release:
October 9, 2006—-Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02) this afternoon made the following remarks in response to North Korea’s proclamation that it had conducted a nuclear test.
“North Korea’s testing of nuclear weapons is of grave concern to the U.S. and the rest of the international community. North Korea is known to have proliferated missile technology to Iran and Syria, two nations who sponsor non-state terrorist gangs such as Hezbollah.
“We must learn from Kim Jong Il’s defiance and realize the imminent threat that we face. We are still without a robust missile defense, our enemies continue searching for ways to destroy our country, and I’m afraid that if a country like Iran acquires these weapons their use would change the face of freedom forever.
“What makes this even more frustrating is the fact that much of this could have been handled years ago before North Korea acquired nuclear weapons. We are still suffering from the blunder of the democrats’ Clinton era when Bill Clinton faced the potential of North Korea acquiring nuclear weapons. Clinton paid the ransom, but he did not secure the hostage. Clinton appeased and negotiated and appeased some more with a country unable to comprehend the meaning of a contract and unwilling to honor a promise.
“Moreover, in 1995 Bill Clinton vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 because he said, ‘the bill requires deployment by 2003 of a costly missile defense system able to defend all 50 States from a long-range missile threat that our Intelligence Community does not foresee in the coming decade. By forcing such an unwarranted deployment decision now, the bill would waste tens of billions of dollars and force us to commit prematurely to a specific technological option.’
“History is a guide for the wise in order to protect our children and our children’s children. Let us learn from the mistakes of the past. We must strive to understand the mission of our enemy and realize the ominous threat they pose to freedom-loving nations. We will ultimately overcome this threat because Americans refuse to be tyrannized by child-like bullies such as Kim Jong Il and Iran’s Ahmadinejhad.”
(Article)
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