Joe Pitts: “one of the marks of a good leader is the ability to make those he leads feel secure from harm. It has now been 2 decades…”

“one of the marks of a good leader is the ability to make those he leads feel secure from harm. It has now been 2 decades since President Reagan pointed out that we have no defense from a missile attack. The American people want to be safe from any missile attack, but we still have not deployed a defense system. President Bush brought implementation of a national missile defense system one giant step closer this week. He met with Russian President Putin to talk about it. President Putin is now more open-minded about that issue, and both leaders will be working hard to reduce the number of nuclear missiles in our national arsenals. Mr. Speaker, this is a major step forward for our national security. America and the world are a little safer today than we were yesterday. And when Bush and Putin have come to a final agreement on missile arsenals and when we finally have a national missile defense system, every American will sleep more soundly each night with the knowledge that their President is doing everything possible to keep them safe.”