Don’t miss my op-ed that ran this week in the Richmond Times-Dispatch on the secrecy surrounding defense cuts and its potential impact on our national security. You can read the full article here: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2010/oct/24/ed-forbes24-ar-581163/

What are your thoughts on this issue? You can leave your comments below.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of filling in as a guest host for Jimmy Barrett on WRVA’s Richmond morning show.  I did everything from chatting with callers to reporting the traffic and weather.  If you didn’t get a chance to listen, you can hear the show here.  From there, you can listen to any of the 5 interview segments of the broadcast:

• Backing Arizona
• Obama Should Drop Biden
• Virginia's Lessons for America
• Fighting China
• Building Up Fort Lee

Wall Street Journal Editorial: Who Pays for ObamaCare?
An April analysis by Patrick Fleenor and Gerald Prante of the Tax Foundation reveals how right they are. ObamaCare's new "health-care funding plan" will shift some $104 billion in 2016 to Americans in the bottom half of the income distribution from those in the top half. The wealth transfer will be even larger in future years. While every income group sees a direct or indirect tax increase, everyone below the 50th income percentile comes out a net beneficiary.

AP: Judge permits US trial of 1st Guantanamo detainee
The first Guantanamo Bay detainee to be prosecuted in a civilian court was cleared for trial Tuesday by a judge who said a lengthy interrogation and detention were not grounds for dismissal because they served compelling national security interests. Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was interrogated for two years by the CIA for important intelligence information, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan wrote in a decision that rejected defense requests to toss out the indictment on the grounds that Ghailani was denied a speedy trial.

Washington Times: Salazar puts new ban on deep-water oil drilling
Saying oil companies still are at risk of another catastrophic spill, the Obama administration announced a new moratorium Monday on drilling in the outer continental shelf, three weeks after a judge rejected the first ban.

The Hill: President's recess appointment has reignited the debate over healthcare
President Barack Obama's recess appointment of Donald Berwick to lead Medicare was intended to avoid another high-profile congressional fight over healthcare reform. Instead, it’s renewed — at least temporarily — the well-worn partisan debate over the government's role in medicine.

American Chronicle: Navy Shipbuilding: Numbers Just Don't Add Up
If you looked at the U.S. Navy's recently released annual report for its longterm goals for ship construction and how its aligns with its fleet size requirements, you are probably scratching your head. Why? Well, put simply, the Report to Congress on Annual Long-Range Plan for Construction of Naval Vessels for FY 2011 outlines a larger required fleet size - 323 ships - as opposed to 313 in the three previous years annual reports, but reduces the number of ships that it will be purchasing over the next 30 years. The numbers just don't add up.

Washington Post: Federal Reserve weighs steps to offset slowdown in economic recovery
Federal Reserve officials, increasingly concerned over signs the economic recovery is faltering, are considering new steps to bolster growth.

This week, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said our national debt is one of the biggest security threats to our nation. Expected to reach $13.6 trillion this year, our national debt limit has already been increased five times in the past two years.

I have long said that our fiscal decisions have a direct impact on our national security. When we allow our budget to drive our national defense and security decisions, it hamstrings us from making decisions in the best interest of our nation. Furthermore, it leaves us increasingly vulnerable to countries like China, which is strategically buying up more of our national debt than any other country.

We need a paradigm shift in Washington. One of the solutions I've supported in addressing our national debt is the Cap the DEBT Act, which would mandate a two-thirds vote by the House and the Senate to raise the debt ceiling. You can read more about it in this post.

I’d like to hear your thoughts. Do you think our national security is being negatively impacted as a result of unsustainable debt? Leave a comment below.

This Saturday, I had the privilege to speak at the kick-off of the Honor and Remember Across America Tour. The tour will travel across 49 states to encourage support of the adoption of the Honor and Remember flag as an official symbol and tribute to those members of the Armed Forces who lost their lives while serving our nation. Virginia has already adopted the flag, and I have introduced a bill (H.R.1034) that would designate the Honor and Remember Flag as an official national symbol to recognize and honor members of the Armed Forces who have died in the line of duty.

Here are a few photos from Saturday’s event:







You can read the story behind the flag here.

This Memorial Day weekend, I had the privilege of riding at the head of the Rolling Thunder Ride for Freedom in Washington, DC on behalf of our POW/MIA veterans. Over half a million veterans and supporters came out to show their commitment to these men and women.

I hope you'll take a few minutes to watch the following video that shows some highlights of the ride and the ceremony that followed at the Lincoln Memorial.

The Administration released its National Security Strategy last week and it has been criticized as lacking important cybersecurity details. I have long said that this weakness leaves us vulnerable to threats emanating around the world, and it is something that our government must address. 

I recently joined with Dr. Larry Wortzel, commissioner and former chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, in writing an op-ed to discuss this very issue of bolstering our cyber defenses to make a comprehensive push against global threats. The op-ed ran in Defense News this week.  

Bolster U.S. Cyber Defenses

By LARRY WORTZEL and RANDY FORBES
Defense News 

Published: 31 May 2010 

With the recent confirmation of Army Gen. Keith Alexander as commander of U.S. Cyber Command, America now faces the daunting task of coordinating its military efforts to protect against and respond to cyberattacks. In February, former Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell warned that "the United States is fighting a cyberwar, and we are losing." 

To effectively face this challenge, we must identify the attackers and develop responses in terms of policy, legislation and military preparedness. 

During the first half of 2009, there were reported at least 43,785 incidents of malicious cyber activity directed against the U.S. Department of Defense. These incursions came from a variety of sources, ranging from criminal hackers to foreign governments, and remediation alone cost the Defense Department more than $100 million. That figure does not account for the significant cost of data lost to cyber espionage. 

The most egregious actions - and potentially the most dangerous to U.S. security - have come out of China. Chinese military thinkers believe the United States is far more vulnerable to cyberwar than Beijing, arguing that because U.S. forces rely heavily on computers, satellites and space sensors; operate over vast distances; and depend on supply networks and force projection designed to get supplies and parts where they are needed "just on time," they can be seriously weakened by computer network attacks. 

Efforts by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) to develop its cyberwarfare capabilities began by examining and replicating U.S. computer network operations in the two wars in Iraq and operations in the Balkans. Today, however, China's military is actively developing an indigenous doctrine adapted to the needs of its forces. 

We know from the cyberattacks on Google and users of its Internet services that some computer exploitations by the Chinese government are attempts to strengthen domestic control over the population and suppress human rights activists. In other cases, Chinese use cyber spying to complement traditional espionage, as has been the case with gathering information related to combat aircraft such as the B-1 and B-2 bombers, naval propulsion and electronics systems, a U.S. space shuttle and perhaps the F-35 Lightning II fighter. 

The most serious threat the United States faces from China's cyberwar efforts is the attempt to impede the flow of U.S. forces and supplies to a crisis area. According to Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, some of the computer penetrations of the Department of Defense were a reconnaissance effort to map out U.S. government networks in order to cripple America's military command-and-control systems in the event of a future attack.  

Indeed, some of the more sophisticated military analyses from China's armed forces propose to enhance the ability to attack an adversary's satellite communications and sensor systems, critical transportation and energy infrastructure, ports of air and sea embarkation, and military command systems. 

China is not the only cyber threat faced by American military forces, but it has the fastest-growing and most active approach to cyberwarfare. And while the political climate across the Taiwan Strait has improved recently, Beijing continues to threaten the use of force and has developed military strategies to counter any U.S. effort to employ forces to maintain peace in the case of China-Taiwan conflict. 

There are other potential flashpoints that drive Beijing to develop offensive cyber capabilities, as well, such as the disagreement over freedom of navigation in the Pacific outside China's territorial waters. 

From a policy standpoint, the United States must clarify how it views a cyberattack and explain that it reserves the right to respond by force.  

Furthermore, with the recent confirmation of Alexander, we must stand up U.S. Cyber Command and ensure that its service components have the manpower and equipment to wage effective cyber defenses and, if necessary, undertake offensive operations. We also should be working with Australia, Japan, NATO and South Korea to address cyber penetrations. 

We also must know the origin of the software and hardware in our computer systems and our satellites. It doesn't make much sense to have a computer system built with chips and run on software created in the country that is the most active cyber espionage adversary we face.  

Defense Department supply chains for computer systems and electronic components must come from trusted foundries and use trusted software. Our satellites should be remotely reprogrammable in the event of a cyberattack. 

With a concerted effort by the executive branch, Congress, our defense establishment, industry and allies, we can harden ourselves to cyberattack and ensure that our adversaries know they cannot act with impunity.  

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Larry Wortzel is a commissioner and former chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, and founder and co-chairman of the Congressional China Caucus.