[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 123 (Wednesday, September 16, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H7814]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      WE NEED ANTIMISSILE DEFENSE

  (Mr. CUNNINGHAM asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. The gentleman fails to remember that it was the 
Democrats that increased the tax on Social Security in 1993 and it was 
the Republicans that saved us from dipping out of the trust fund so it 
would not go bankrupt.
  But I am here to talk about the missile that North Korea fired and 
its importance. Most of the press reports that the missile can reach 
the United States, some 3,300 miles. That is true. But tactically the 
THAAD and the Upper Tier, the Upper Tier is the Navy antimissile 
defense program, THAAD with the Air Force, any time we have a ship, say 
if South Korea is invaded, we cannot bring our carriers north of Cheju 
which is on the southern tip. That means they can be hit. Our forces 
deploy out of Japan and Taiwan. They can be hit there as well. So it is 
not just the threat of a missile reaching the United States. It can 
reach all of the ports to where we deploy against any country. That is 
important. That is another reason why we need antimissile defense.

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