June 28, 2007 :: News
On June 28, Republican and Democratic Members of Congress held a press conference to launch the Congressional Missile Defense Caucus. Membership in the Caucus entails committing to a mission statement, which is included below. The purpose of the Caucus is to stress the urgency of funding, building, and modernizing a robust missile defense and to address the threats posed by terrorists and rogue nations developing greater ballistic missile capabilities. Co-chairs include Republican Trent Franks (AZ-02), Democrat Jim Marshall (GA-08), Republican Pete Sessions (TX-32), and Republican Doug Lamborn (CO-05). Present at the press conference were Congressmen Franks, Marshall, Lamborn, Todd Akin (MO-02), Louis Gohmert (TX-01), and Stevan Pearce (NM-02).
At the press conference, Congressman Franks said, "Two things must be recognized since Ronald Reagan introduced the concept of missile defense. First, in a post 9-11 world terrorists have the will to devastate the United States and they are not deterred by the threat of overwhelming retaliation, which is the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction. Second, the great American minds in the scientific community have proven that this is no longer a mere theory; our systems work and all we need is the collective will to fund, develop, and operate this technology. Sixteen of the last 17 flight tests have been successful, there have been Aegis intercepts, THAAD intercepts, successful in-flight tests of the Airborne Laser Targeting System, and a successful intercept of a target with a long-range interceptor. These are incredible demonstrations of what the tenacity and ingenuity of our American scientific and military minds can create.
"We do not know when or if our enemies will launch short or long-range missiles or perhaps even an electromagnetic pulse attack aimed at harming our friends, warfighters or those living in the continental United States. Accordingly, we must continue to modernize our systems, stay ahead of the threat, and develop a robust and layered missile defense that will be capable of interdicting missiles in their boost, midcourse, and terminal phases of flight."
Members who have committed to the Mission Statement are: Republicans Trent Franks (AZ-02) (Chair), Pete Sessions (TX-32) (Co-Chair), Doug Lamborn (CO-05) (Co-Chair), Duncan Hunter (CA-52), Peter King (NY-03), Eric Cantor (VA-07), Dana Rohbacher (CA-46), Kenny Marchant (TX-24), Thaddeas McCotter (MI-11), Mike Rogers (AL-03), Robin Hayes (NC-08), Zach Wamp (TN-03), Lee Terry (NE-02), Adam Putnam (FL-12), John Kline (MN-02), Marilyn Musgrave ( CO-04), Cathy McMorris Rogers (WA-05), Ray Lahood (IL-18), Stevan Pearce (NM-02), Todd Akin (MO-02), Wally Herger (CA-02), Roger Wicker (MS-01), Dave Weldon (FL-15), Louis Gohmert (TX-01), Tom Price (GA-06), Howard "Buck" McKeon (CA-25), Phil English (PA-03), Jim Jordan (OH-04), Rick Renzi (AZ-01), John Barrett (SC-03), Virginia Foxx (NC-05), Ric Keller (FL-08), John Culberson (TX-07), Roscoe Bartlett (MD-06), Randy Forbes (VA-04), and Democrats Jim Marshall (GA-08) (Co-Chair), Robert E. "Bud" Cramer (AL-05), and Henry Cuellar (TX-28).
Text of the House Mission Statement:
While America prevailed in the Cold War, the principal military threat from this struggle unfortunately did not vanish along with the Soviet Union - ballistic missiles capable of delivering extraordinary damage to the United States.
As members of this Caucus, we:
1) Realize that rogue states and America's strategic military rivals continue to build faster, longer, and more sophisticated ballistic missiles capable of striking the United States;
2) Understand that a ballistic missile threat may also be posed by non-state terrorists;
3) Recognize that our enemies and rivals are exploring space-based technologies to gain a strategic military advantage over the United States;
4) Refuse to allow American foreign policy to be constrained by the ballistic missile capabilities of our enemies, and;
5) Remain committed to providing for the defense of the American people, our warfighters and our national interests by supporting a layered and robust missile defense that utilizes land, air, sea, and space.
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