Tuesday, June 23, 2009

ACTION ALERT - the debate continues


















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LEGISLATIVE ACTION
ALERT!!


MISSILE DEFENSE FUNDING – PART III
CONGRESS
CONTINUES THE DEBATE

by Lisa Piraneo, Director of
Government Relations




Dear Solstice,

Last week, the buzz on
Capitol Hill was all about the tremendous impact that the ACT! for America
grassroots network had on the missile defense debate in the U.S. House of
Representatives, when the House Armed Services Committee debated the
Fiscal Year 2010 Defense Authorization Bill.

Again, many thanks for heeding our
request to make those critical phone calls. I assure you, it did make a
difference and our views are being heard by our federal elected
officials.


But our work is not over.


Missile Defense funding is still on the table as the U.S. Congress
continues its work on the Fiscal Year 2010 Defense Authorization bill THIS
WEEK. As many of you may already know, work on legislation is first done
at the Committee level, and then moves to consideration by the full
chambers of the House and Senate.

Specifically, today, Tuesday,
June 23rd
, the U.S. Senate will begin considering its
version of the FY2010 Defense Authorization bill, and funding for missile
defense is once again on the table.
On Thursday of this week, June
25th
, the full House of Representatives will vote on their
version of this bill.

In addition to cutting the Missile Defense
budget by $1.2 billion, the Administration is directing almost a billion
dollars from the remaining balance to theater missile defense.
In other words, they are shifting the
focus from national missile defense (homeland defense) to theater missile
defense (which protects US deployed forces and allies, but not
America).




THE FOLLOWING ACTION IS
NEEDED FROM YOU, OUR
ACT! FOR AMERICA GRASSROOTS ADVOCATE!



Today’s Action Alert is focused solely on the work
that will be done later today in the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Specifically, there are two missile-defense amendments which are expected
to be debated in the Committee today. They are as follows:




  1. An amendment to
    ensure that all 44 ground-based interceptors get deployed for the
    defense of the United States.
    The amendments are expected to be
    offered by Senators Mark Begich (D-AK) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL).


    The Administration’s budget, which cuts missile defense by
    $1.2 billion, also limits the number of interceptors we are deploying in
    Alaska and California to defend our country. This means fewer
    interceptors to defend the American people against the North Korean and
    Iranian threats as well as the possibility of an accidental or
    unauthorized launch by the Chinese or Russians.


    The Annual
    Report on the Military Power of the People’s Republic of China has
    warned again this year that the Chinese strategic missile force
    modernization poses a risk for an unauthorized or accidental ballistic
    missile launch. As I’ve noted in prior Alerts, it makes no sense
    whatsoever why the Obama administration and some in Congress want to
    reduce our country’s protection at a time of such instability in the
    world, in particular regarding recent actions by North Korea and
    Iran.



  2. An amendment is
    also expected to be offered to ensure that the proposed Third Site for
    Missile Defense in Europe be capable of defending the U.S. as well as
    our European allies.
    There is the possibility that the
    Administration may attempt to cancel the deployments to Poland and the
    Czech Republic (both allies of the U.S. who have deployed forces to
    Afghanistan and Iraq) in order to buy a “reset” with the Russians. We
    want to be sure that a system is built which is capable of defending
    both Europe and the U.S. According to the Congressional Budget Office,
    only the Polish and Czech deployments can do that.


Please take a moment
TODAY to CALL the following Senators who serve on the
SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE:









































SENATOR KAY
HAGAN (D-NC)

202-224-6342

SENATOR EVAN
BAYH (D-IN)

202-224-5623

SENATOR BEN
NELSON (D-NE)

202-224-6551

SENATOR
SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME)

202-224-2523

SENATOR
DANIEL AKAKA (D-HI)

202-224-6361

SENATOR MARK
UDALL (D-CO)
202-224-5941


POLITELY EXPRESS YOUR VIEWS THAT:



  • The Senator support the amendments expected to be introduced by
    Senators Begich and Sessions to ensure that all 44 ground-based
    interceptors get deployed for the defense of the United States.



  • The Senator support any amendments offered to ensure that the
    proposed Third Site for Missile Defense in Europe be capable of
    defending the U.S. as well as our European allies.



  • The Senator support any amendments to restore cuts to the missile
    defense and fully fund our nation’s missile defense
    program.



  • The threat from Iran and North Korea is real and
    imminent
    .



  • The need for America to defend her people hasn’t changed and it is
    our elected officials’ responsibility to keep us safe.



REMEMBER, YOUR VOICE
COUNTS!

IF EACH OF US DOES JUST A LITTLE,
TOGETHER WE CAN

ACCOMPLISH A LOT!




-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


ACT for
America

P.O. Box 12765
Pensacola, FL 32591

http://www.actforamerica.org/


ACT for America is an issues advocacy organization dedicated
to effectively organizing and mobilizing the most powerful grassroots
citizen action network in America, a grassroots network committed to
informed and coordinated civic action that will lead to public policies
that promote America’s national security and the defense of American
democratic values against the assault of radical Islam.
We are only as strong
as our supporters, and your volunteer and financial support is essential
to our success. Thank you for helping us make America safer and more
secure.









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