Steven Holt: “while there are many things in the defense authorization bill that I support, national missile defense is not one of…”

“while there are many things in the defense authorization bill that I support, national missile defense is not one of them, and the gentleman from Massachusetts is seeking to eliminate one of the more senseless parts of the supposed national missile defense system. The proposed missile defense system would not work as designed, as wishing will not overcome the physics. It could be confused with the decoys, it could be bypassed for suitcase bombs, pickup trucks, sea-launched missiles. It would be billions of dollars down the drain. But it is not just a diversion of resources. It is worse than a waste. Simple strategic analysis tells us that provocative yet permeable defenses are destabilizing and would reduce our security. Americans have been awakened in recent months to threats to our national security and they understand that a space-based missile defense will not help. Americans have learned in recent months that we need anthrax defense, we need container ship defense, we need bridge and tunnel defense. We do not need space-based national missile defense.”