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George W. Bush On The Issues 2000

George W. Bush 2000 On The Issues

Defense

Governor Bush believes that a strong, capable and modern military is the foundation of the peace we enjoy today and hope to extend for future generations.  The military of the present must be better supported and respected.  It must also be challenged and transformed to become the military of the future.  The right choices must be made to renew the bond of trust between the President and the military, protect America with an effective national missile defense, and create a military capable of meeting the challenges of the 21st Century.

Governor Bush’s Principles for a Strong National Defense


Governor Bush believes that America’s military is faced with a moment of opportunity – an opportunity to transform itself, and thus ensure peace for generations.  Seizing this opportunity will require spending more, but equally as important, spending more wisely.  Governor Bush knows the next President must:

  • Restore the morale of our armed forces.  Governor Bush will respect the military, and earn the respect of the men and women who wear our uniform.

  • Insist that deployments have well-defined objectives.  Our military requires the rallying point of a defining mission: to be able to fight and win our nation’s wars – and thereby deter war.  Sending our military on vague, aimless and endless deployments is a sure way to destroy morale.  Nothing would be better for morale than clarity and focus from the Commander-in-Chief.  

  • Focus on defending the American homeland.  Rogue nations are developing missiles capable of hitting American soil, as well as threatening our allies and forces overseas.  Defending America itself must now assume a high priority.

  • Prepare the military for the challenges of the information age.  Power is increasingly defined not by mass or size, but by mobility, swiftness and stealth.  Influence is increasingly measured in information.  Yet today’s military is still organized more for Cold War threats than for the challenges of a new century – for industrial age operations, rather than for information age battles.  

  • Begin to build the military of the future.  The choices made by the next President will affect American defense for decades to come.  We must ensure that our armed forces stay generations ahead of any potential opponent on the battlefield – by not merely improving existing systems, but by skipping ahead to new generations of technology: land forces that are lighter but more lethal, air power that can strike across long distances, and naval power that packs a bigger punch in smaller platforms.


    Governor Bush’s Proposals for a Strong National Defense

    Governor Bush will set three goals for our nation’s defense.

    1. To Renew the Bond of Trust Between the President and the Military, Governor Bush will:
  • Respect the tradition and culture of the military.  
  • Increase by $1 billion a year the recently enacted military pay raise to encourage the best and brightest to enlist and reenlist.  
  • Renovate substandard military housing and improve military training.  
  • Maintain longstanding U.S. commitments, but order an immediate review of overseas deployments in dozens of countries, with the aim of replacing uncertain missions with well-defined objectives.  

    2. To Defend the American Homeland, Governor Bush will:
  • Deter terrorist attacks by ensuring that every group or nation understands that if they sponsor such attacks, the U.S. response will be devastating.  
  • Deploy national and theater anti-ballistic missile defenses, as soon as possible.
  • Reduce the number of American nuclear weapons to the lowest possible number consistent with our national security.
  • Strengthen our intelligence community’s ability to detect terrorist threats, and develop long-range strike capabilities to eliminate threats before they arise.  
  • Promote cooperation with our allies, who should share the burden of defense.  

    3. To Begin to Create the Military of the Future, Governor Bush will:
  • Order a comprehensive military review to develop a new architecture for American defense to meet the challenges of the next century.  
  • Seize the opportunity to skip a generation of weapons, not merely improving existing systems, but replacing them with a new generation of technology: land forces that are lighter but more lethal, air power – manned or unmanned – that can strike across long distances, and naval power that packs a bigger punch in smaller platforms.  
  • Encourage a spirit of innovation and experimentation within the military.  
  • Earmark at least 20 percent of the procurement budget for acquisition programs that propel America generations ahead in military technology.  
  • Increase defense R&D spending by at least $20 billion from FY2002 to FY2006.  



    Position Proposal and Speeches

Source: George W. Bush for President 2000 Web Site

 

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