Steve Chabot: “there now appears to be bipartisan support for perhaps the most important defense position that the Republican party has…”

“there now appears to be bipartisan support for perhaps the most important defense position that the Republican party has had for the last 10 years. America is vulnerable to a ballistic missile attack. If North Korea or Communist China or Iraq were to fire a missile at the United States, we would have no ability right now to shoot it down. It is going to land and a lot of people are going to die. We do not have a national missile defense system now, and the reason is because of the existence of a treaty with a country that no longer exists. The ABM treaty, signed with the Soviet Union, a country that began violating the treaty even before the ink on the paper is dry, is standing in the way of a rational policy to protect America from a missile attack. Our current policy of relying on the ABM treaty to keep America safe from the Osama bin Ladens and the Saddam Husseins of the world is dangerous, foolish, and naive. Does anyone really think that Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein is going to refrain from developing these types of weapons because we have a treaty with the Soviet Union? It is time to get to work and at long last have a policy to protect this country from missile attack.”