Floyd Spence: “Article I, Section 8 of our Constitution says that the Congress shall have power to provide for the common defense of…”

“Article I, Section 8 of our Constitution says that the Congress shall have power to provide for the common defense of the United States, to raise and support armies, to provide and maintain a navy, to make rules for the government, and regulation of the land and able forces. My highest priority as an American, a Member of Congress, and as chairman of the Committee on Armed Services is to ensure that our Nation is properly defended. This world is a dangerous place. Most people are unaware of the serious threats we face in this world and how unprepared we are to properly defend against them. I wonder how many people, Mr. Speaker, remember Pearl Harbor. Looking back on it, all the warning signs we should have had that something big was going to happen, and we did not listen, we did not learn, and we see what happened. Remember Korea. No one expected that to happen, and it did. I am sure that people in those days felt as confident, if not more so, than we feel today that we are in a world that we can handle, we can deal with all these problems. All of a sudden, this world changes real fast. Imagine if, all of a sudden, all the lights went out in this place, not only here, but throughout the area, the automobiles would not start, the radios would not work, televisions would not work, no telephone communications, the computers were down. These things can happen just that fast. There is something called EMP, electromagnetic pulse effect.”