The first priority of the federal government is national
security, and that requires a strong military defense. Senator
Kent Conrad has consistently voted in favor of an American fighting
force that is the world's greatest. In order to keep an effective
fighting force, Senator Conrad has supported giving our soldiers
the training, equipment and rest between deployments they need
to be fully prepared for war. Senator Conrad believes that it
is a testament to the courage and skill of our fighting men
and women that they continue to perform so well and keep the
nation safe. Senator Conrad's defense policy priorities include:
A Stronger, Smarter and Modern Military
The War on Terrorism
Iraq
North Dakota's Bases
Minot
Air Force Base
Grand Forks Air
Force Base
North Dakota National
Guard
The Future of North Dakota's Bases
A Stronger, Smarter and Modern
Military
The military needs to be in top shape to meet 21st century challenges.
The men and women who wear our nation's uniform should be equipped
not only with cutting-edge weapons, but also with basic gear
like body armor.
Senator Conrad supports Defense Department initiatives to research,
develop and test new weapons systems and equipment. He also
supports keeping equipment that is proven to work - like the
B-52 bomber, known by many in the Air Force as the "best bomb
truck for the buck." Until the Defense Department has acquired
the next generation of bombers, Senator Conrad opposes retiring
the nation's B-52 bomber fleet - planes which proved their value
many times in the air wars over Iraq and Afghanistan.
Along with the right equipment and weapons, Senator Conrad
believes a modern American military must include a larger number
of Special Operations Forces. Special Forces are critical for
countering terrorism and insurgent forces. Specially-trained
units with expertise in civil affairs and foreign languages
are crucial to help stabilize otherwise hostile areas in conjunction
with combat forces.
The War on Terrorism
In his capacity as Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee,
Senator Conrad made sure the Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year
2009 included every dollar requested by the Defense Department
to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. When the terrorists
first struck our nation, it was Senator Conrad who led Congressional
passage of emergency legislation to provide $40 billion for
an immediate military counterattack, to improve homeland security
and to rebuild Ground Zero in New York City and the Pentagon.
But Senator Conrad has been critical of a defense policy that
he believes has taken the focus off Osama bin Laden, the mastermind
of the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001, that killed thousands
of Americans. In the years following 9/11, Osama bin Laden and
his accomplices have remained at large, recruiting more radicals
and building their capacity to attack our nation again.
When press reports indicated that the Central Intelligence
Agency had disbanded a unit devoted to the capture of bin Laden
and that the war in Iraq had drawn scarce resources away from
the hunt for bin Laden in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Senator
Conrad introduced legislation that would dedicate an additional
$200 million to the intelligence budget specifically for the
purpose of bringing bin Laden to justice. The Senate approved
his amendment unanimously.
Iraq
The final report of the bipartisan, blue-ribbon
9/11 Commission confirmed that there was no significant link
between al Qaeda and the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein,
and that Iraq had no involvement in the 9/11 attacks.
Even before that conclusive report, Senator Conrad was one
of 23 senators who voted against the October 2002 resolution
that authorized the President to go to war against Iraq while
al Qaeda remained active in Afghanistan.
He has consistently supported a practical change of course
in Iraq that would require the Iraqi government to meet concrete
standards for political reconciliation between factions as U.S.
forces train Iraqi military and police units. While U.S. troops
can temporarily stabilize the situation in Iraq, permanent stabilization
depends on the Iraqis settling their differences and taking
responsibility for their own security.
North Dakota's Bases
Senator Conrad has played a key role in shepherding North Dakota's
Air Force and National Guard military bases through four rounds
of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. From the
beginning of his time in the Senate, Senator Conrad has believed
that North Dakota's bases could be preserved by ensuring the
quality of the infrastructure of the bases - better housing,
new runways, squad operations centers and special units. Senator
Conrad also believed, rightly, that investing in weapons upgrades
would sustain the mission of North Dakota's military bases.
That strategy paid off in 2005, when all three of North Dakota's
bases were considered for closure. With the combination of Senator
Conrad's deep ties to the military community, and a team effort
that garnered the strong support of state and local leadership,
Senator Conrad successfully argued that North Dakota's bases
were too important to the nation's long-term military strategy
to close.
Minot Air Force Base
Since 1995, Senator Conrad has helped secure more than $530
million in military construction, infrastructure improvements
and new family housing at Minot AFB. In 2007, Minot AFB received
more housing construction than any other Air Force base in the
country. As home to a wing of the nation's Minuteman III ICBM
force, the fate of the base lay with the future of the missiles
- leading Senator Conrad to form a bipartisan Congressional
ICBM Coalition, which succeeded in its efforts to upgrade this
vital portion of our nation's nuclear deterrent force.
Grand Forks Air Force Base
Although the 2005 BRAC round designated Grand Forks AFB for
realignment, the base will be getting one of the fastest-growing
and most important missions in the military - Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles, or UAVs. These UAVs will replace the aging KC-135
tankers currently assigned to Grand Forks. Even as the Pentagon
builds more UAVs, the Air Force is also currently designing
a new generation of tankers, and Senator Conrad has won promises
from top Air Force officers that Grand Forks will become home
to that future tanker. Because of these efforts, Grand Forks
AFB is poised to become a multi-mission base.
North Dakota Air National
Guard
The Guard base at Hector Field in Fargo has long been the home
of one of the nation's top Guard units - the Happy Hooligans
of the 119th Air Wing. As the Air Force has decided to retire
the fighter jets flown by the Hooligans, Senator Conrad worked
with the Congressional delegation and state leadership to find
a new mission for the pilots of the 119th. Today, North Dakota
National Guard pilots based in Fargo are using satellite links
to fly Predator UAVs in combat zones overseas. The Air Force
has also assigned a fleet of jet transports to the Hooligans
and has announced that they will fly the next generation Joint
Cargo Aircraft, which is currently entering production.
The Future of North Dakota's Bases
Senator Conrad believes that North Dakota has emerged from
the 2005 BRAC round in a vastly stronger position. Before the
BRAC, North Dakota's bases hosted three flying wings equipped
with older aircraft and one wing of ICBMs. After the BRAC moves
are completed in the next few years, North Dakota will be home
to four of the newest aircraft types in the Air Force inventory
- the Predator and Global Hawk UAVs, the Joint Cargo Aircraft,
and the KC-45 next generation tanker - as well as the B-52 bomber.
Minot's Minuteman III ICBMs will also have been fully modernized
to sustain that force through 2030.
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