Chris Pappas: “I believe this country owes a great deal of gratitude to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon) for his leadership…”

“I believe this country owes a great deal of gratitude to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon) for his leadership on this issue. This Congress is faced with a situation of whether to stick our heads in the proverbial sand or open our eyes to see the threats that we have to our national security. This bill moves us from the hand-wringing stage into the stage of action. This bill will leverage existing systems to advance missile defense for our troops. Part of the ability to leverage existing technologies is to capitalize on what has worked elsewhere. For example, Israel has an ongoing missile defense system that has demonstrated favorable results. In this age of limited defense dollars, the Pentagon cannot afford to, quote-unquote, ``reinvent the wheel'' or be a slave to bureaucracy to develop technology and implement systems that will protect our troops now. Recently, 36 members of the Committee on National Security signed a letter to the President circulated by myself and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman) urging him to work with Israel and leverage existing technology to develop Arrow, THEL, and BPI. Many share my concern about a seeming lack of commitment by this administration to deal with missile defense and the very real risks our troops, interests, and allies face in the Middle East, Korea and throughout the world. Madam Speaker, this bill is a first step and I am hopeful that this Congress will seek to protect our troops.”