Where Bob Dole Stands on Missile Defense

The United States Cannot Protect Itself From Missile Attacks
If a terrorist group or rogue state launched a missile with a nuclear, chemical or biological warhead at the United States, most Americans think that our military could destroy it. That is not true.

We currently do not have the ability to shoot down even a single ballistic missile before it reaches the United States.

Bob Dole Will Build a National Missile Defense Shield
That is why Bob Dole introduced the Defend America Act in Congress this year. The Act would require a national missile defense system by the year 2003 to protect Americans from foreign missiles. The technology to create the system is available and affordable.

As President, Bob Dole will deploy an effective national missile defense system which will keep Americans free from nuclear intimidation and reduce the incentive of rogue regimes to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

Bill Clinton Stands in the Way Defending America
Unfortunately, President Clinton has thwarted all efforts to use our technological ability to shoot down incoming missiles:

• He vetoed the 1996 Defense Authorization Bill, which made it U.S. policy to create a national missile defense system.
• His Administration signaled that it will veto a measure to create an effective national missile defense system by 2003.
  
  He claims that no rogue nation can develop a ballistic missile within the next ten to fifteen years that could reach the continental United States. The threat to Alaska and Hawaii are ignored.
  
  Bill Clinton's own former CIA director, James Woolsey, has harshly criticized the Clinton Administration's opposition to missile defense: "Ballistic missiles can, and in the future they increasingly will, be used by hostile states for blackmail, terror and to drive wedges between us and our friends and allies. It is my judgment that the Administration is not currently giving this vital problem the proper weight it deserves." (Testimony to House Committee on National Security, March 14, 1996)
  
  At least 20 countries already have or are building nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. Many of these nations are hostile to the United States:
• North Korea, Libya and Iran have biological weapons programs.
• North Korea has sold and is negotiating to sell its missiles to countries hostile to the U.S.
• When China felt threatened over U.S. support for Taiwan, it threatened Los Angeles with nuclear attack.
• China is developing three new intercontinental range missiles.
• Libya is building a huge underground chemical factory.
• North Korea is developing two long-range missile systems, one of which could be able to strike Alaska or Hawaii in three to five years.
• Iran is aggressively building nuclear weapons that may be ready in just a few years.
  
  A Better America
  As President, Bob Dole's ballistic missile shield will keep America safe from missile attacks.

Source: Bob Dole 1996 Official Campaign Web Site