Ronald Dellums: “I would suggest that, Mr. Chairman, when one argues that our national defense is the most important or the only…”

“I would suggest that, Mr. Chairman, when one argues that our national defense is the most important or the only responsibility of the Federal Government, I would challenge that assertion. My reading of the Preamble to the Constitution is as follows: We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. My read of that is that the founding persons of this country establishing this Constitution did not say national defense was the No. 1 or most important. It gave equal weight to all of these functions, which is precisely why I argue that in the context of this post cold war environment, we must now begin to shape the parameters of the debate to move us to a new national security agenda that brings equal weight to what the founding persons envisioned and established in the Constitution.”