August 20, 2007 – Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02) announced today that he has accepted an invitation to meet with leaders from Poland and the Czech Republic to discuss United States and European missile defense cooperation.  Congressman Franks, a Member of the House Committee on Armed Services and co-founder of the Bipartisan House Missile Defense Caucus, will be speaking at the Year 2007 Multinational Ballistic Missile Defense Conference in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

“Both the Czech Republic and Poland have been strong friends and allies to the United States," Franks stated.  “The current ongoing discussions about the U.S. proposal to place 10 interceptors in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic are essential to building and maintaining an effective defense strategy against our common enemies.  My meetings with key leaders in these countries present an invaluable opportunity to communicate U.S. Congressional perspectives on U.S. and European missile defenses. 

“As Congress has debated the deployment and funding of a European missile interceptor site, questions continue to arise regarding Russia's and NATO’s reactions, as well as the effectiveness of our current missile defense."  He continued, “I look forward to this opportunity to discuss these matters as well as our shared concern regarding growing ballistic missile threats, the urgency of fielding a robust missile defense capability, and the critical role of ally countries in maintaining the security of America, our warfighters, and our European allies."

Congressman Franks will be visiting the Czech Republic, Poland, Brussels, and the Netherlands.  Other speakers at the Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) conference in Maastricht include Lt Gen Obering, Assistant Secretary of State Rood, NATO Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer, The Netherlands Minister of Defence, Honorable Eimert van Middelkoop, and other key foreign missile defense officials.