Lynn C. Woolsey: “The National Security Strategy released by the White House late last month has plenty to recommend. This administration…”

“The National Security Strategy released by the White House late last month has plenty to recommend. This administration, on paper and in its rhetoric and proclamations, clearly has a broader view, beyond the use of military force, of how to keep Americans safe. The strategy puts a premium on diplomacy and multilateral cooperation as key tools of advancing our security interests. It discusses clean energy and a reduced dependence on foreign oil. It recognizes the threat, within a national security context, of global climate change. It expresses a commitment to nuclear nonproliferation and pledges support for fledgling democracies. It includes, under the rubric of national security, human rights, global health, and development aid. Madam Speaker, it even emphasizes the important national security implications of investing in education and human capital right here at home. Frankly, it sounds a lot like the smart security platform that I have been advocating for the last several years. I'm glad the folks at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue are getting there, also. And yet, Madam Speaker, I can't reconcile all of those promising ideas with the ongoing prosecution of two wars, which are bankrupting our country morally and fiscally, without reducing terrorism threats or contributing to our national security.”