Contact: Josh Holly; 202.226.3988
Opening Statement of Congressman Todd Akin
Subcommittee Hearing on New U.S. Grand National Security Strategy
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), the ranking Republican on the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, released the following opening statement for the subcommittee’s hearing on the need for a new grand strategy for United States national security:
“Today this subcommittee will hold its second public meeting to discuss the topic of U.S. grand strategy. Whether a national security strategy is grand-or-not seems to be a matter for historians and scholars to debate. Determining what the national security priorities should be for the United States for the next four years is vitally important to this Congress and to the people we represent, however.
“Crafting a grand strategy requires a clear understanding of the fundamental values of this country. My own view is that unless a strategy is guided by the principles enshrined in our declaration of independence it will not—and cannot—promote our interests. Our national security strategy needs to be anchored in our values of liberty and freedom. To the extent we stray from those core values, we do so at our own peril.
“Finally, I would like our witnesses to address the war on terrorism. The attacks on 9/11 and our government’s response have been at the center of the Bush Administration’s national security strategy for almost eight years. I’m curious where our witnesses believe the global war on terrorism belongs in a future grand strategy? How should the threat posed by radical Islam and al Qaeda be managed in concert with other challenges like nuclear proliferation and China military modernization?”
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