Mike Levin: “We ought to rely on the uniformed military in terms of what is needed to produce a national missile defense in a…”

“We ought to rely on the uniformed military in terms of what is needed to produce a national missile defense in a sensible time period so that we can make a decision to deploy at a time a decision to deploy is needed. What do the uniformed military say about funding levels? We have heard a lot of political rhetoric about national missile defense. The proposed budget in front of us would add $300 million to the $500 million the administration requested. These are not just numbers hopefully pulled out of the air. The $500 million that the administration asked for is what our uniformed military say is needed to produce and develop a national missile defense in a timely way. Now, that is not President Clinton saying it, that is not Secretary Perry saying it; that is the uniformed military saying it. It is called the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, the JROC. The JROC, in January of this year, wrote to their chiefs--these are the Vice Chiefs of the four Departments--saying that they wanted and needed no more than $500 million per year for national missile defense.”