Congressman Mike Turner, Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, released the following statement after reports have emerged that the Obama Administration will reverse course and place ground-based interceptors at missile silos in Alaska and California. Turner for years has been advocating for the placement of missiles in those silos to counter the threat of a missile attack on the homeland. Turner had offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act which would have accomplished this. It was opposed by the Obama Administration and the Senate.
“After wasting years and millions of taxpayer dollars, the Obama Administration apparently has begun to realize the shortcomings of its missile defense strategy. Simply slashing funding of a key part of the defense of our homeland doesn’t actually make us safer. Our missile defenses need to be expanded now to counter the long-apparent threats from around the globe. Nations like North Korea and Iran are committed to building long-range ballistic missiles and are undertaking robust nuclear weapons programs. No longer can the Administration ignore these threats. The building of a missile defense site on the East Coast is the next logical and prudent step to ensure we can counter the rising threat to the homeland.”
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