June 28, 2007— Today Republican and Democrat Members of Congress held a press conference to launch the Congressional Missile Defense Caucus.  Membership to the Caucus entails committing to a mission statement that is attached.  The purpose of the Caucus is to stress the urgency of funding, building, and modernizing a robust missile defense and to address the threats posed by terrorists and rogue nations developing greater ballistic missile capabilities. Co-chairs include Republican Trent Franks (AZ-02), Democrat Jim Marshall (GA-08), Republican Pete Sessions (TX-32), and Republican Doug Lamborn (CO-05). Present at the press conference were Congressmen Franks, Marshall, Lamborn, Todd Akin (MO-02), Louis Gohmert (TX-01), and Stevan Pearce (NM-02).

Franks said, “Two things must be recognized since Ronald Reagan introduced the concept of missile defense. First, in a post 9-11 world terrorists have the will to devastate the United States and they are not deterred by the threat of overwhelming retaliation, which is the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction. Second, the great American minds in the scientific community have proven that this is no longer a mere theory; our systems work and all we need is the collective will to fund, develop, and operate this technology. Sixteen of the last 17 flight tests have been successful, there have been Aegis intercepts, THAAD intercepts, successful in-flight tests of the Airborne Laser Targeting System, and a successful intercept of a target with a long-range interceptor. These are incredible demonstrations of what the tenacity and ingenuity of our American scientific and military minds can create.

“We do not know when or if our enemies will launch short or long-range missiles or perhaps even an electromagnetic pulse attack aimed at harming our friends, warfighters or those living in the continental United States. Accordingly, we must continue to modernize our systems, stay ahead of the threat, and develop a robust and layered missile defense that will be capable of interdicting missiles in their boost, midcourse, and terminal phases of flight.”

Members who have committed to the Mission Statement are: Republicans Trent Franks (AZ-02) (Chair), Pete Sessions (TX-32) (Co-Chair), Doug Lamborn (CO-05) (Co-Chair), Duncan Hunter (CA-52), Peter King (NY-03), Eric Cantor (VA-07), Dana Rohbacher (CA-46), Kenny Marchant (TX-24), Thaddeas McCotter (MI-11), Mike Rogers (AL-03), Robin Hayes (NC-08), Zach Wamp (TN-03), Lee Terry (NE-02), Adam Putnam (FL-12), John Kline (MN-02), Marilyn Musgrave ( CO-04), Cathy McMorris Rogers (WA-05), Ray Lahood (IL-18), Stevan Pearce (NM-02), Gingrey (GA-11), Todd Akin (MO-02), Wally Herger (CA-02), Roger Wicker (MS-01), Dave Weldon (FL-15), Louis Gohmert (TX-01), Tom Price (GA-06), Howard “Buck” McKeon (CA-25), Randy Forbes (VA-04), Phil English (PA-03), Jim Jordan (OH-04), Rick Renzi (AZ-01), John Barrett (SC-03), Virginia Foxx (NC-05), Ric Keller (FL-08), John Culberson (TX-07), Roscoe Bartlett (MD-06), and Democrats Jim Marshall (GA-08) (Co-Chair), Robert E. “Bud” Cramer (AL-05), and Henry Cuellar (TX-28).