Hard Choices About Guaranteeing Our Security
By Sen. Joe Biden, The Hill
Source:
January 30, 2002
This op-ed originally appeared in THE HILL on January 30, 2002.
Hard Choices About Guaranteeing Our Security by Sen. Joseph Biden Jr.
As the shock of 9-11 begins to wear off, and the prosecution of our war against terrorism proceeds, one of the unanticipated consequences that is emerging is a new, fuller definition of foreign policy.
For the 29 years I have served in the United States Senate – from the Vietnam War to our adversarial relationship with the Soviet Union, from Americans taken hostage during the revolution in Iran to wars we fought in Kuwait and the Balkans – America has had a traditional view of foreign policy. We’ve been blessed as a continental nation, sometimes living in splendid isolation, oceans apart from civil and ethnic strife common in so many parts of the world.
Since September 11th our view of foreign policy has changed. No longer do we see it as an arcane abstraction, something that impacts on the lives of unfortunate souls overseas. We are coming to understand that America cannot insulate itself, and that foreign affairs is made up of a set of dynamic issues, not all of which are easily subject to our control, that can dramatically affect our economic as well as our personal, physical security. We now know the real threats we face come in a wide variety of forms, and we want the plain truth about what it will take to protect against them.
When our nation is challenged, when our people understand what is at stake, when our leaders act wisely in the common interest and speak plainly about the hard choices we must make to guarantee our security, America is at its best and prepared to make whatever choices are necessary.
Six months ago, when the Administration pushed the tax cut through, some of us argued that dissipating the budget surplus built over the last eight years would diminish our ability to address the real threats we face and to prepare ourselves for unforseen challenges. No one could have predicted the tragedy of September 11th or the associated financial costs we are still incurring, but surely many Members of Congress might have voted differently last spring had they known what we’ve learned since 9-11.
Today, the hard choices are at hand. The months ahead will require all elected leaders to come to terms with some harsh realities. Support for the President’s efforts in bringing terrorists to justice is unanimous, and our adversaries understand fully what American resolve can accomplish. But our resources are finite, and governing ably demands telling the American people what we honestly can and cannot do.
We are about to have a healthy and necessary debate about choices, about setting priorities as a nation. Do we want a solvent Social Security system? Are we prepared to spend the billions required to combat international terrorism and provide for our homeland defense? Do we want to spend a quarter of a trillion dollars on Star Wars, or defend ourselves against what the Joint Chiefs of Staff have identified as higher priority threats to our security? How will we define our responsibilities and commitments, at home and abroad?
We can only wish we still had in our Treasury the hundreds of billions of dollars of budget surplus we were assured was there as recently as last spring. Had we acted responsibly, we’d have the funds today to secure our ports and airports and railroads, and protect against biological threats, chemical threats, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
America needs more than an economic stimulus plan. We need an Economic Stimulus and Security Package which invigorates businesses, promotes recovery, and spurs growth with a coherent plan to help those who are hurting most.
We must invest in the long-term stability of Afghanistan and Central Asia to prevent its return as a safe haven for terrorists. We need to prioritize our goals and invest in programs that will put a lid on Russia’s chemical weapons stockpiles. And we must enhance our human intelligence capability and engage in public diplomacy to get our message across in the face of so much anti-American hatred around the globe.
Now that we know we must prepare for anthrax, smallpox, and other dangerous scenarios that threaten our national security, we must invest in a homeland defense that improves the capabilities of all our first responders -- firemen, police, nurses, pharmacists, and the entire health care system.
Making the nation more secure will not be cheap or easy. It will require plain talk about hard choices. The American people are bold and visionary. They understand the need to win this war and are willing to make sacrifices to do so. America’s leaders must rise to the challenge and work together to devise solutions as bold and visionary as the people of this great nation.
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Sen. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware, is Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
