These are not easy times to focus the nation's attention on defense and military readiness issues. The economy is prosperous.
Peace appears to be at hand.
Unfortunately, the conventional wisdom is wrong. Making this case may not be easy or convenient under current circumstances, but it is necessary. As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, I am among those who accept this challenge as one of the highest responsibilities of public service and citizenship. Despite appearances that seem to warrant complacency, it is time to help awaken the American people to the serious threats that exist in the modern world and what is needed to insure our national defense well into the foreseeable future. As a father and grandfather, the weight of that responsibility is heightened by a profound desire see the peace, prosperity and freedom we have enjoyed, passed on securely to the next generation.