Kerry's Record On Defense (From the Official Blog)

Bush Distorts and Misleads in New Jersey

In his speech in New Jersey Monday, George Bush continued his smearing of John Kerry by distoring Kerry's record and statements.

Bush is WRONG About Kerry’s support for weapons systems – Kerry Supported Systems, Cheney Opposed Them

· Kerry Has Supported More than $4.4 Trillion in Defense Spending Including Voting for 16 of the Last 19 Defense Authorization Bills & He Voted for “Largest Increase in Defense Spending Since the Early 1980’s”

· John Kerry voted for every Defense Authorization Bill while Ronald Reagan was President. Kerry had his disagreements with President Reagan. However, Kerry voted for all four Defense Authorization Bills signed by President Reagan. This amounted to authorization of nearly a trillion in defense funding over 4 years. More recently Kerry even voted for more than $800 million to build CVN-76, the aircraft carrier named after Ronald Reagan. [FY 1993 Defense Authorization Conference Report, passed 9/19/1992]

Against the Patriot Missile?

· Kerry supported at least $10 billion in defense authorizations for the Patriot program, including over $5 billion since Cheney zero-funded the program. There has never been a specific vote on the Patriot Missile that Kerry has opposed

The B-1 bomber?

· In 1986 Kerry voted FOR the B-1 because he supported tabling an amendment that prohibiting assembly of more than 100 B-1b bomber. [S2638, 8/9/1996, #205]

· In 1989 Kerry voted FOR the B-1 because he opposed an amendment that would reallocate funds, increasing money for SDI and cutting money for the B-1b R&D. He later voted for the underlying Defense Appropriation bill, which passed 96-2 and was signed by President Bush. [HR3072, 9/28/1989, #217]

The B-2 bomber?

· Kerry has supported over $16.7 billion in defense authorizations for the B-2 program, including over $11 billion since Cheney recommended slashing spending.

The Apache helicopter?

· Kerry has supported $13 billion in defense authorizations for the Apache, and over $6 billion since Cheney recommended ending the program in 1990. In 1989 Kerry voted FOR the Apache helicopter because he opposed an amendment that would reallocate funds, increasing money for SDI and cutting money for the Apache helicopter. He later voted for the underlying Defense Appropriation bill, which passed 96-2 and was signed by President Bush. [HR3072, 9/28/1989, #217] Kerry also voted not only to continue, but to increase funding for the Apache helicopter. [S1352, 8/1/1989, #152]

Cheney Tried to Cut Same Programs

Cheney Launched Massive Post Cold War Military Cuts
“I’ve always liked to remind everybody at the outset that we are already embarked upon a massive reduction in U.S. military capability, a 25-percent cut in force structure. We've got the lowest active force today that we've had since before Korea. I've eliminated 70,000 civilian jobs in the last 18 months out of the Pentagon. I've closed or terminated 81 programs. We're shutting down 300 military bases worldwide. It's a massive reduction already underway.” [ABC, “This Week,” 9/29/91]

Cheney Cut F-14 Tomcats
In 1991, Cheney was successful in scrapping plans for new F-14 Tomcat fighters. In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, Cheney said, “What I recommended to the Committee was that we shut down the new F-14D production line, which will save almost $2.5 billion…” [Newday, 2/5/91; Cheney testimony, House Armed Services Committee, 7/13/89]

Cheney Proposed Cuts to B-2 Program
According to the Boston Globe, in 1990, “Defense Secretary Richard Cheney announced a cutback… of nearly 45 percent in the administration's B-2 Stealth bomber program, from 132 airplanes to 75…” [Boston Globe, 4/27/90]

Cheney Proposed Cutting AH-64 Apaches
In testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Defense Subcommittee, Cheney said, “This is just a list of some of the programs that I've recommended termination: the V-22 Osprey, the F-14D, the Army Helicopter Improvement Program, Phoenix missile, F-15E, the Apache helicopter, the M1 tank, et cetera.” In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, Cheney said, “The Army, as I indicated in my earlier testimony, recommended to me that we keep a robust Apache helicopter program going forward, AH-64…I forced the Army to make choices…So I recommended that we cancel the AH-64 program two years out.” [Cheney testimony, Senate Appropriations Committee, Defense Subcommittee, 6/12/90; Cheney Testimony, House Armed Services Committee, 7/13/89]

Bush is Wrong on Intelligence Cuts – Specter, Goss Supported Same Thing As Kerry

Porter Goss, Hand-Picked By Bush to Head CIA, Wanted to Cut Intel More Than Kerry. “The Bush reelection campaign has been blasting Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry as deeply irresponsible for proposing intelligence cuts at the same time. A Bush campaign ad released on Aug. 13 carried a headline: ‘John Kerry...proposed slashing Intelligence Budget 6 Billion Dollars.’ But the cuts Goss supported are larger than those proposed by Kerry and specifically targeted the ‘human intelligence’ that has recently been found lacking. The recent report by the commission probing the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks called for more spending on human intelligence.” [Washington Post, 8/24/04]

In 1995, a Secret Billion Dollar Slush Fund was Found in the Intelligence Budget Which Served as a Opportunity To Cut Waste And Abuse. “The White House said yesterday it was "inexcusable" that the top secret agency that manages U.S. spy satellites had reportedly hoarded $ 1 billion in unspent funds…The unspent funds were discovered after the Senate intelligence committee questioned a luxurious $ 300 million headquarters the NRO was building in a Washington suburb.” Kerry was part of bipartisan effort to cut waste & abuse in the NRO. The $1.5 billion cut Kerry proposed represented about the same amount Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), then chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told the Senate that same day he wanted to cut from the intelligence spending bill based on unspent, secret funds that had been accumulated ‘without informing the Pentagon, CIA or Congress.’ [Washington Post, 3/12/04; Washington Post, 9/25/95]

Washington Post: Republican Criticism on Kerry Intel Record is Wrong. “President Bush, in his first major assault on Sen. John F. Kerry's legislative record, said this week that his Democratic opponent proposed a $1.5 billion cut in the intelligence budget, a proposal that would ‘gut the intelligence services,’ and one that had no co-sponsors because it was ‘deeply irresponsible’….In fact, the Republican-led Congress that year approved legislation that resulted in $3.8 billion being cut over five years from the budget of the National Reconnaissance Office -- the same program Kerry said he was targeting.” [Washington Post, 3/12/04]

Kerry Strongly Supports Increased Intelligence Funding – Including $250 Billion in the Previous 8 Years – A 50% Increase Since 1996 – John Kerry has strongly supported recent increases in Intelligence funding, and, in the wake of 9/11, has supported the bipartisan call for an even larger increase in intelligence funding. According to a report issued by the Center for Defense Information entitled “Intelligence Funding and the War on Terror” John Kerry has supported approximately $250 billion in Intelligence funding over the past eight years alone. The report concludes that Kerry has supported a 50% increase in intelligence funding since 1996. [Senate Intelligence Authorization Funding voice votes 9/25/02, 12/13/01, 12/6/00, 11/19/1999, 10/8/98 & 9/25/96; 1997, Senate Roll Call vote # 109; Jewish News Bulletin of Northern California, 4/5/02]

Bush is wrong on Kerry’s view of preemptive action – Kerry Made Clear He Will Go After Terrorists

Kerry Will Never Hesitate To Use Military Force To Preempt Any Imminent Threat to America’s Security—But Will Follow Through With Steady Command. "As president, I will never hesitate to use military force to pre-empt any imminent threat to our nations security. I will never give any country or any international institution a veto over our national security. I will use all of America's power to defeat terrorists before they strike us." [Associated Press, 9/16/04]

What Kerry really said about how 9-11 changed him – He Had Already Been On The Issue of Terrorism:

“When I asked Kerry how Sept. 11 had changed him, either personally or politically, he seemed to freeze for a moment. ''It accelerated -- '' He paused. ''I mean, it didn't change me much at all. It just sort of accelerated, confirmed in me, the urgency of doing the things I thought we needed to be doing. I mean, to me, it wasn't as transformational as it was a kind of anger, a frustration and an urgency that we weren't doing the kinds of things necessary to prevent it and to deal with it.'' [New York Times, 10/10/2004]

Bush is misleading about a “Global Test”

Bush Attack “Pushed the Limits”
The Associated Press wrote that “Cheney took Kerry out of context in quoting him as saying that he favored a global test before he would deploy U.S. troops to pre-empt an attack on the United States. Kerry said in his debate that he would not cede to anyone the right to move pre-emptively against a threat but that he would do so in a way that proved to Americans and the world that he had taken the action for a legitimate reason.” Cox News also reported that “Cheney's comments, though, excluded the gist of Kerry's remarks.” And the New York Times wrote that “Mr. Bush pushed the limits of subjective interpretation … Mr. Kerry has repeatedly said that he would not give up the right to act pre-emptively ‘in any way necessary to protect the United States,’ but has suggested that any president would need to demonstrate legitimate reasons for such an action.” [Associated Press, 10/6/04; Cox News, 10/6/04; New York Times, 10/8/04]

Bush is WRONG that Kerry says pursuing terrorists is a diversion:

Kerry says Bush’s invasion of Iraq was a diversion from the pursuit of terrorists like Osama bin Laden and Zarqawi: “The President claims it is the centerpiece of his war on terror. In fact, Iraq was a profound diversion from that war and the battle against our greatest enemy, Osama bin Laden and the terrorists. Invading Iraq has created a crisis of historic proportions and, if we do not change course, there is the prospect of a war with no end in sight.” [John Kerry, 9/20/04]

Bush is misleading Americans on the Patriot Act

Kerry and Republican Senators Are Calling For Modifications of Sneak And Peek Provisions Of Patriot Act. Kerry and Republican Senators Larry Craig, Arlen Specter and others have recognized the need to fix the Patriot Act to improve its effectiveness as an anti-terrorism tool and prevent abuses that violate civil liberties. They have co-sponsored legislation to achieve this goal. This legislation would revise a handful of Patriot Act provisions to prevent abuses of the act. Specifically, the SAFE Act would allow only a seven-day delay in notification of a sneak and peek search. Any additional delay would require a renewed authorization from the courts. [S.1709, Introduced 10/2/2003; Copley News Service, 9/27/04]

Kerry Supports Retaining More Than 95% of Patriot Act and Strengthening Key Provisions. John Kerry has said that he supports retaining more than 95% of the Patriot Act and would make some of the current provisions even stronger. For example, John Kerry helped to write the provisions of the Patriot Act governing money laundering. He would add new measures to crack down on money laundering, such as provisions to freeze the funds of terrorists and to stop the use of unregulated financial institutions such as hedge to hide terrorist funds. Kerry also supports improvements in information-sharing under the Act. [The National Journal, 1/31/04; www.johnkerry.com]

Key GOP Leaders and Lawmakers Have Called For Reform Of The Patriot Act To Prevent Violations Of Our Civil Liberties. Sen. Specter voted for the Patriot Act, then called for reforms, saying “I don’t think what people read is subject to inquiry. What difference does that make? It has a chilling effect on fundamental freedom of activity.” Former GOP House Majority Leader Dick Armey has also criticized the Patriot Act, saying “I told the President I thought his Justice Department was out of control… Are we going to save ourselves from international terrorism in order to deny the fundamental liberties we protect to ourselves?…It doesn’t make sense to me.” [USA Today, 10/16/02; H.R. 3162, Roll Call #398, 10/24/01], [AP, 8/1/03; H.R. 3162, Vote #313, 10/25/01]