Strong Defense and a Secure Homeland

Since September 11, 2001, all Americans have come to realize just how vulnerable we are. And watching the performance of our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, superb though it was, has reminded us that freedom is not free.

That is why I am proud to be part of a Congress that has given such strong support to our troops and first responders, both at home and abroad. Of course, you know about President Bush's plan to take the fight to the terrorists. Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom have done just that. One by one, the swamps are being drained and the safe harbors are being denied.

But taking the fight to the terrorists is only half the goal: the other half is bringing democracy to a part of the world that has known only tyranny. Afghanistan will soon have a democratic constitution, and Iraq's first free elections are on track for next year. Part of fighting terrorism is eliminating the conditions - despotism and oppression - that allow terrorism to flourish.

To equip our troops to do this job, we have increased the defense budget by over 20% since President Bush took office, and raised military salaries by 25%.

However, the fight abroad is only half the job. Protecting the homeland means safeguarding the everyday security of each American. And I believe that the record speaks for itself: there has not been one successful act of domestic terrorism since 9/11.

All the credit for this goes to our law enforcement officers, on the federal level as well as the state and local levels. The FBI and CIA have been working around the clock to identify and neutralize terrorist plotters. The National Guard has been called up to protect our vital military and infrastructure assets here at home, as well as to fight abroad. And our local law enforcement officers have logged countless hours of overtime as they have increased their level of vigilance.

To help them in this task, Congress has allocated billions of dollars in grants for first responders, homeland security training, and increased research (like Project BioShield, which is studying ways to protect us from biological weapons attacks).

To make this process more efficient, we created the Department of Homeland Security - the biggest realignment of the federal government since World War II - streamlining and bringing together all the various agencies that work together to keep us safe.