PROTECT OUR NATION

In the last seven years, the United States has experienced a deadly attack on its own soil and one of the most destructive natural disasters in the nation's history.

The first and most fundamental role of government is to provide for the national defense and the security of its citizens.  Our nation’s security is dependent upon maintaining the world’s strongest military.

We must be vigilant; we must be strong; and we must be prepared.

• Increase the Size of our Military - Our existing force is overstretched. We must increase the size of our military to meet the nation’s requirements for defense.
  
  
• Continue to Modernize our Military - We must keep improving weapons, equipment, training and tactics to meet the demands of a changing world security environment.
  
  
• Diplomacy - Determined diplomacy by a strong America should be used, where possible, to discourage threats to the homeland and to our friends.
  
  
• Update FISA - The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, enacted in 1978 to exclude eavesdropping on foreign communications from judicial oversight, must be modernized to encompass not just telephones, as the current law does, but also newer technologies, such as faxes and the Internet. Communications companies who cooperate with federal intelligence agencies must be indemnified form lawsuits arising from their assistance. Democrats in Congress have attempted to hamstring the governments efforts to use this anti-terror tool.
  
  
• Missile Defense - Because of the development of nuclear weapons and missile capabilities of nations hostile to our interests, America must complete development and deployment of an effective missile defense system at strategic places around the world, on land and on the seas.
  
  
• Eliminate Unnecessary Defense Spending - Too much of the defense budget is taken by earmarks of members of Congress for pet projects that have no bearing on defense and for questionable expenditures of time and treasure that benefit only special interests. This is true of the entire budget, but most dangerously so for the defense budget. Eliminating this practice is critical for the readiness and security of our service people.
  
  
• Provide Adequate Benefits for Our Service People and Their Families - We must improve military pay and benefits, and ensure that the benefits for deployed Reservists and National Guardsmen equal those of our active-duty military forces.
  
  
• Veterans and Military Retirees - Retired service personnel should enjoy full health care and benefits comparable to that received by retired federal employees. Veterans should have the freedom to carry their VA benefits to health service providers that give them quality and timely care in the best locations.