July 27, 2006 :: Analysis
Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, today delivered the keynote address at a Heritage Foundation panel discussion on the current threat of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, and the recently released report by the Independent Working Group. “Americans already believe that this country has a missile defense system set up that will defend them against weapons from North Korea, Iran, or even perhaps Russia or China. They are sorely mistaken,” Franks said. “Our enemies already have the will to use nuclear weapons to cause death and destruction of catastrophic proportions to the United States. All they need is the means to do it.”
Congressman Franks strongly endorsed the newly released report by the Independent Working Group (IWG), entitled Missile Defense, the Space Relationship and the Twenty-First Century, which provides a roadmap for the development and deployment of a robust, layered, and effective U.S. missile defense shield. “With the genius of America’s scientific community, there is no doubt in my mind that we have the means to defend ourselves,” Franks noted. “All we need now is the political will to carry out what the American people demand of us: to protect and defend this nation and her sovereignty.”
Other members of the panel included IWG members Baker Spring of the Heritage Foundation, Jeff Kueter of the George Marshall Institute, and Dr. Robert Pfaltzgraff of the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis and co-chair of the Independent Working Group. (Article)
» Read the 2007 report: The Independent Working Group on Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century (8 MB)
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