David Thomas: “I want to begin some conversation and discussion about the topic of the week, which the President has been working on…”

“I want to begin some conversation and discussion about the topic of the week, which the President has been working on certainly, and that is strengthening our national security. I suspect most people would agree that the responsibility for defense is perhaps the No. 1 responsibility of the Federal Government. It is the activity that no other government at any other level can handle. It is the thing that, of course, all of us are very aware of. We are constantly grateful for the kinds of things that have been done to preserve our freedom by the military over the years. For more than 200 years, the military has been that arm of Government that has preserved our freedom. Many people have sacrificed, including the soldiers, sailors, and the marines, over the years. So as we face the question of defense and the military, that is one of the things with which we are obviously most concerned. The President has put this as one of his high priorities, and I think properly so.”