Ed Markey: “President Donald Trump's so-called Golden Dome for America is the latest reincarnation of President Ronald Reagan's…”

“President Donald Trump's so-called Golden Dome for America is the latest reincarnation of President Ronald Reagan's ``Star Wars'' fantasy: thousands of space-based missile interceptors supposedly capable of stopping a missile strike from any adversary anywhere in the world. President Trump suggests it could protect the United States from a nuclear attack. But in reality, the Golden Dome is fool's gold. It will make us poor, less secure, and more isolated. It is a gold-plated boondoggle that will enrich defense contractors and ignite a new nuclear arms race. The Golden Dome is a trillion-dollar mistake in the making. It will be much more effective at wasting taxpayer dollars than wasting any missiles. It is a defense contractor's dream and a taxpayer's nightmare. The potential costs are astronomical. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that even a limited system against just two-- two--incoming missiles, let's just say from the Soviet Union--would require 2,000 space-based interceptors and can cost as much as $542 billion. The American Physical Society estimated that to counter a larger attack of 10 missiles, we would need a system of 40,000 interceptors, costing about $1 trillion. And a system to defend against hundreds of incoming missiles from Russia or China would cost trillions more.”