Military/Defense

Our national defense is one of the foremost responsibilities of the federal government. One of my most important responsibilities as a U.S. senator is to ensure that our men and women in uniform have everything they need to maintain the best fighting force the world has ever seen.  Their lives and our way of life depend on it.

Wyoming has National Guard, Reserve and Active Duty military members currently deployed overseas. I support their missions, along with the need to care for their families  back home.  We expect a lot from our troops and they deliver.  I will continue to deliver not only on the funding they need, but the flexibility they need to do their jobs and complete their missions.  Our troops and their families are making huge sacrifices.  I know.  I have been to Iraq and Afghanistan and visited with troops deployed and permanently stationed around the world. I have driven the long roads of Wyoming and met their parents, husbands, wives and children. It is hard to express how proud I am of them all. 
  
I rely on the knowledge and skills our troops on the ground possess.  Political micromanagement of any military operation is only going to handicap those we ask to execute it.   Our commanders on the front lines are the experts I trust to complete any mission given to them, and bring our men and women home safely. 

Having served in the Wyoming Air National Guard and as a member of the Senate Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Coalition, I support the mission of Wyoming’s F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, home to the most powerful force in our entire military.  The Airmen of the Mighty Ninety are entrusted with operating, maintaining and safeguarding the nation’s ICBM force and they perform that no-fail mission in alert status every hour of every day. 

I founded the Senate Air Force Caucus to support Air Force positions and needs on Capitol Hill. The caucus also brings leaders together to focus on the impact the Air Force has on states and the people in communities that support bases.