[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 22769]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                      NECESSITY OF STRONG MILITARY

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                           HON. BOB SCHAFFER

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 15, 2001

  Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, defense of the American way of life is no 
less than the defense of freedom. Our world changed forever on 
September 11th when our freedom was attacked and a long present 
terrorist threat was realized.
  Our government's most sacred responsibility is to provide for the 
common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings 
of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. This is an enormous 
undertaking. It will require not only a complete rethinking of military 
strategies and a very proactive and imaginative pursuit of new 
technology, but also a new American attitude towards the rest of the 
world.
  The necessity of a strong military is undeniable. Our soldiers must 
have the finest training, technology and support our country can offer. 
However, the branches of our military are completely overextended and 
exhausted. Eight years of abuse and downsizing have not only shrunk our 
active duty military by nearly half (from 900,000 active-duty soldiers 
in 1991, to 475,000 In 2000) but have also left the standing forces 
with the lowest moral since Viet Nam.
  There has been a resurgence of enlistment since the September 11th 
attacks, but we cannot rely on attacks to drive enlistment and it is 
unfair to rely on patriotism. Instead, patriotism should be rewarded 
with strong incentives to join the military. Men and women willing to 
make the ultimate sacrifice should be compensated accordingly. Neither 
active-duty nor reserve forces should have to worry about feeding their 
families or losing their jobs while they are defending our country. We 
cannot look at our military as a superfluous fiscal comer to be cut.
  These incentives must extend to our veterans as well. It is appalling 
that the men and women who sacrificed so dearly for our country cannot 
expect basic consideration when they return home, Never again can we 
allow our soldiers to be treated the way veterans returning from Viet 
Nam were treated. (Link to Veterans Page).
  Consideration of our soldiers is only one aspect of our national 
defense. Another area of great concern is our intelligence gathering 
capability. With out adequate knowledge of our enemies, we cannot 
create effective military responses, weapons or foreign policy. Cost 
cutting measures have left our intelligence gathering capability 
compromised and our intelligence incomplete.
  American men and women, sent to fight for us, should be armed and 
equipped to the best of our abilities. We must ensure their safety to 
the greatest possible degree. More resources must be dedicated to 
research and development of cutting edge technology. There is no reason 
our soldiers cannot be the best equipped on the planet.
  Our soldiers and intelligence agencies must have the best technology 
we can create in order to defend us. They must be able to detect and 
react to any threat to American sovereignty. An integral part of this 
is a missile defense program, which can destroy ballistic missiles 
launched at the United States. This system must be capable of 
destroying missiles in their launch phase, while they are most 
vulnerable (Link to MDI Page).
  With adequate intelligence, human and electronic, we will be able to 
detect threats early enough to mount an effective defense. The need for 
this capability is mandated by our Constitution and it has never been 
more of a concrete necessity than it is today. The existence of freedom 
is at stake and it must be defended.

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