House Passes Sessions Missile Defense Amendment

Press Release

House Passes Sessions Missile Defense Amendment

U.S. Congressman Pete Sessions (R-Dallas) today lauded House passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008, H.R. 1585. The bill, which passed the House by a vote of 397-27, included an amendment by Sessions clarifying that the legislation would in no way prevent the United States' missile defense capabilities from being placed on operational alert in response to any immediate threat to our security posed by ballistic missiles.

Sessions introduced his amendment to clarify language contained in Section 222 of the bill, which would have prevented missile defense funds from being used for "operations and support activities." Sessions' amendment passed the House on May 16, 2007, by voice vote.

Between November 2006 and January 2007, Iran tested its long-range ballistic missile capabilities twice. In July 2006, North Korea also test-launched a number of its ballistic missiles, including one of its long-range Taepodong missiles that has a range of 9,000 miles and could hit the United States. The U.S. Northern Command made nearly a dozen U.S. missiles "operational" - or ready for use to defend the United States against an imminent danger posed by ballistic missiles.

North Korea's long-range missile's launch was detected by U.S. satellites within seconds, and it failed after 42 seconds and only a few hundred miles of flight. However, North Korea, Iran, and other strategic rivals and enemies of the U.S. continue to improve their missile capabilities.

"Now is not the time for America to advertise an unwillingness to put its missile defenses on operational alert in the face of an imminent threat," said Sessions. "Had this bill been adopted without my amendment, it would have tied our hands, telling countries like North Korea that they can take a free shot at the United States because we are unwilling to stand up our current missile defense capabilities - exactly the wrong message to send to our enemies."

Sessions' amendment passed as a part of the FY 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, legislation approving $504 billion in budget authority for the Department of Defense and national security initiatives of the Department of Energy. The funding authorized by H.R. 1585 will help the Department of Defense to improve personnel benefits such as health care for our men and women in uniform, better protect American forces by ensuring they have the state-of-the-art equipment necessary to counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other threats, and meet other immediate needs of soldiers on the battlefield. The legislation also authorizes $142 billion in supplemental funding to support the Global War on Terrorism.

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