May 20, 2009 - Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02), a member of the House Armed Services Committee and Co-chairman of the House Missile Defense Caucus, today issued the following statement in response to Iran’s test of an advanced surface-to-air missile with the capability to strike Israel, southeastern Europe, and American military bases throughout the Middle East.

"Iran's test of an advanced missile— one with a range of 1,200 miles capable of reaching Israel, southeastern Europe, and U.S. bases in the Middle East— reinforces the fact that Iran is rapidly advancing its own agenda while holding peace-loving nations in absolute contempt.  Ahmadinejad has stated that a world without Israel and America is 'conceivable,' and he believes that it is a good thing to bring about an Armageddon-like "end of days" scenario.

"In light of such a reality, it is astonishing to me that the President's budget submission still reflects an 89% cut to the very missile defense program that was intended to protect Europe and the United States from an Iranian missile. President Obama’s budget also halts the emplacement of the additional interceptors to protect our homeland from an Iranian long range missile, and the budget fails to provide us with enough interceptors to even test our system until after 2014." 

"The President and Administration would do well to use this belligerent missile test as an opportunity to reevaluate their naive policy toward missile defense while they still can."

On Wednesday, May 6, Congressman Franks joined Congressman Todd Akin (MO-02) and other Members of the House Missile Defense Caucus on the Floor of the House of Representatives to discuss the Iranian and North Korean missile threats, and the ramifications of the cuts to the Missile Defense Budget in the President's FY2010 budget.  The transcript of the discussion can be viewed here.