Norman D. Dicks: “The Kucinich-Lee amendment has a laudable goal, to increase funding for counter terrorism. I agree with the priorities…”

“The Kucinich-Lee amendment has a laudable goal, to increase funding for counter terrorism. I agree with the priorities indicated by the amendment, counter terrorism is more important than missile defense. But, the amendment is fatally flawed in terms of policy and funding. It cuts a half billion dollars from the Defense bill without replacement. This cut to Defense is unacceptable, especially at this time. The amendment would cut the funding for a proposed test launch facility at Kodiak Island. This facility will allow DOD to perform tests which are more rigorous and realistic than those possible at current test sites at Kwajalein and Vandenberg. It also cuts funding to upgrade the sensors and launch capabilities at Kwajalein and Vandenberg which will hinder rigorous missile defense testing. Because of its cuts to Kodiak, Kwajalein and Vandenberg, the amendment reduces the level of testing of missile defense technology when the right thing to do is increase the level of testing of these technologies for the very reason that they are not yet mature.”