FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                             CONTACT: Kevin Lawlor, 202/225-1880

April 3, 2008                                                                                www.tauscher.house.gov

Rep. Ellen Tauscher Commends NATOs Commitment to an Alliance- Wide Missile Defense Capability

Washington, DC – Today the leaders of NATO assembled in Bucharest, Romania issued a statement regarding cooperation on missile defense.  In this statement they asserted their commitment to an alliance-wide missile defense system that will protect all member nations from the threat of short and long range ballistic missiles.

Rep. Tauscher, Chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of House Armed Services Committee, has been a long time proponent a comprehensive system that she believes will best protect the United States, our service men and women abroad, and our allies.

Rep. Tauscher addressed the German Marshall Fund conference earlier this week in Bucharest stressing the need for a comprehensive missile shield as part of any future NATO framework.  Rep. Tauscher issued the following statement today on NATOs commitment to the policies she has long advocated.

“I’m encouraged to hear NATO leaders, including President Bush, formally recognize the need for a comprehensive NATO effort to better protect the US, our service men and women abroad, and our allies against a growing missile threat.

My subcommittee has been examining the benefits of this strategic system becoming part of a larger Alliance concept of missile defense.  I will continue to be an advocate for this as an example of how we can provide indivisible security across all NATO member countries.

Anything less than this system would result in two tiered security in Europe; a proposition we can ill afford.  In Bucharest I urge the Parliaments of all NATO members to continue their work on this issue to educate their constituencies about the threats our alliance faces so that there is a united view of what is a common and shared danger.”

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