THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume V, Issue # 114, April 18, 2003
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
VIRGINIA LEGISLATORS RECOMMEND REVIVAL
OF THE STRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE (SDI)
Virginia House of Delegates Resolution HR40
February 1, 2003
On February 1, 2003, the Virginia House of Delegates, the lower chamber of the Gen- eral Assembly (State Legislature) of the Commonwealth of Virginia, passed by an over- whelming majority of its 100 members a resolution supporting and urging adoption and implementation of President George W. Bush's proposal for establishment of a compre- hensive and effective ballistic missile defense of the United States of America. Passing the resolution by a 76-12 vote, the House of Delegates endorsed the President's call for an ocean-to-ocean multi-layered defense of the entire country, including all 50 states, and, in particular, urged that testing be conducted in the Atlantic Test Range--like the testing already being carried on in the Pacific Test Range--so that the Eastern Seaboard Coast as well as the West Coast will begin to be protected by the year 2005. This im- portant resolution is reprinted below. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.
Commonwealth of Virginia – House of Delegates Resolution – HR40
(Passed February 1, 2003)
Whereas Virginia, the Old Dominion, is located in the upper South region of the United States and is populated by over 7,000,000 persons, and is noted for its contribu- tion to the founding of the United States through leadership and political thought, and maintains distinguished centers of higher education and research, and is the site of ad- vanced information and defense technology, and is the center of national naval force con- centration, and is the foremost shipbuilder on its coast while possessing natural endow- ments
of mountains and forests on its western limits and agriculture on its southern
tier; and
Whereas, the people of Virginia are conscious of these assets of the Old Dominion and a favorable future for their children and future generations; and
Whereas, Virginia provided leadership in the Revolutionary War and was the location of the surrender of Great Britain that ended it, and has contributed notably to national defense through its citizenry both in the military and industry ever since; and
Whereas, the people of Virginia are aware of the global proliferation of short-range, medium-range and long-range ballistic missiles as weapons of mass destruction and their threat to our nation, our allies, and our armed forces abroad; and
Whereas, the United States does not possess an effective defense against such mis- siles launched by hostile states or by terrorist organizations within the borders of such states or from ships anywhere on the world’s seas and oceans, including near to the coastal cities of America; and
Whereas, the President of the United States has withdrawn from the treaty with the now extinct Soviet Union that prohibited American effective self-defense against ballistic missile attack, and has announced the deployment of a ground-based and sea-based limited missile defense system by the year 2005 as a beginning towards a robust system that will be multi-layered, meaning land, sea, air, and space interception components; and
Whereas, short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles launched from ships off the East Coast of the United States will be outside the protective reach of the Pacific Ocean- Alaska-based system, and the population of Virginia’s tidewater as well as the prepon- derant national naval presence located therein are now vulnerable and will be still vul- nerable to such a missile attack with warheads of mass destruction after planned fielding in 2005 of missile defenses in Alaska and California; and
Whereas, missile defense interceptors based in Alaska and California may not be able to protect the population of Virginia’s tidewater and other East Coast areas from long- range ballistic missiles launched from threatening states in the Middle East and North Africa; and
Whereas, the United States Navy has demonstrated its capability to use ships that can be based in Virginia’s Tidewater area to intercept short-range and medium-range ballis- tic missiles while they are rising from their launchers, which could be on nearby ships, and this capability can be improved to intercept long-range ballistic missiles; now, there- fore, be
it
Resolved by the House of Delegates:
That the Virginia House of Delegates hereby supports the President of the United States to continue to take all actions necessary, directing the considerable scientific and technological capability of this great Union, to protect all 50 states and their people, our allies, and our armed forces abroad from the threat of missile attack; and
That the Virginia House of Delegates hereby conveys to the President of the United States and the Congress that an ocean-to-ocean, effective missile defense system will require the deployment of a robust, multi-layered architecture consisting of integrated land-based, sea-based, air-based, and space-based capabilities to deter evolving future threats
and to meet and destroy them when necessary; and
That the Virginia House of Delegates urges the President of the United States and Congress to plan and provide funding for a Tidewater Virginia and East Coast Testbed activity, similar to the West Coast test activities in Alaska, California, and the Pacific Ocean, leading by 2005 to an East Coast sea-based defense–initially against ship-based short- and medium-range ballistic missiles and, with improvements, against ballistic missiles of all ranges launched from anywhere; and
That copies of this resolution shall be sent by the House Clerk to the Virginia Con- gressional delegation, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate of the United States, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the President of the United States.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
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U.S. National Security Strategy
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity