Senator Blunt believes in President Ronald Reagan’s vision of “peace through strength.” He knows that the United States is an exceptional country and that the government’s number one responsibility is to protect the nation from enemies, foreign and domestic.

In early 2012 President Obama announced major reductions to the military budget.  While he believes that we need take real action to reduce our federal debt, Senator Blunt has deep concerns with policies that could weaken our national defense posture.

Missouri is home to critically important military installations and manufacturing, which create tens of thousands of jobs. Senator Blunt supports Missouri’s vital role in the defense of our country and will work to promote even more defense industry investment in our state.  As a member of the subcommittee that oversees funding for military bases, Senator Blunt is committed to ensuring that troops stationed in Missouri have adequate housing and training facilities.

Senator Blunt strongly supports our men and women in uniform. Those who serve or have served, most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan, deserve America’s deepest respect. He believes that the United States has important obligations in other parts of the world, especially those places where terrorist organizations have historically been provided with aid and comfort while planning attacks against our homeland.

In 2011 Senator Blunt successfully fought to pass a provision that will ensure our National Guard and Reservists are treated fairly when they return from active duty on disaster assistance missions.  Until his amendment passed, our citizen-soldiers had different re-employment privileges when they returned from overseas missions and domestic missions.

As a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the Senator understands that the world is a dangerous place. For years, Senator Blunt has called for more robust sanctions policies to stop Iran from gaining access to nuclear weapons capabilities.  And while al Qaeda is weakened due to the work of American troops, we need to understand that the challenge of fundamentalist Islamic terrorism remains real. 

Senator Blunt is for policies that support our allies in parts of the world that share our nation’s vision for freedom and human rights. He understands the important role that the United States plays in protecting and promoting global commerce, which creates jobs for American workers and strengthens our influence abroad. He opposes policies that amount to appeasement of dangerous regimes.

The United States has a bright future as the freest and most dynamic nation in the world. Senator Blunt believes we must live up to that obligation, protect freedom for ourselves and our allies, and remain an example to all nations that seek the liberties and opportunities that we in America enjoy every day.