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http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/releases/pr_2004_0129f.htmlFact Check on the RNC & Ed Gillespie’s Rhetoric Why Has the RNC All of a Sudden Begun Putting Out False Negative Attacks on John Kerry? Maybe the Truth is in the Numbers… John Kerry – 49% George Bush – 46%
This afternoon, Republican National Committee Chairman, Ed Gillespie, in a blatant attempt to involve himself in the Democratic Primary unleashed a false negative attack on John Kerry’s record on National Security. Below is a summary of Gillespie’s rhetoric along with the real record that the Republican lobbyist-turned-attack-dog, Gillespie selfishly left out:
Republican Rhetoric: In 1984 he called for a freeze on testing, production and deployment of nuclear warheads, missiles, and other delivery systems.
Reality: John Kerry campaigned on a strong support for a nuclear freeze, knowing that the Reagan-era Star Wars, Mutually Assured Destruction policies were not the right course for the country and which violated international agreements such as Nixon’s ABMK Treaty. Kerry believed there were better uses for Defense funds than the ridiculous build up of nuclear arms under the Reagan Administration. Kerry also voted for the international ban on the testing on nuclear weapons. The treaty was supported by former chairs of the Joint Chiefs of Staff including now-Secretary of State Colin Powell and has repeatedly called for an end to the Bush Administration’s desire to build new bunker busting nuclear weapons.
Republican Rhetoric: In 1985, he introduced a Comprehensive Nuclear Freeze Bill, and sponsored two amendments to freeze SDI-related nuclear development until the Soviet Union tested a nuclear weapon.
Reality: John Kerry has, was, in fact, a strong opponent of Reagan’s ill-advised, risky Star Wars defense scheme. Kerry rightly questioned the lack of science behind the laser-shooting satellites Reagan proposed and, instead, favored shifting those funds to the War on Drugs and care for our nation’s Veterans—two areas which were repeatedly overlooked in the Reagan Administration budgets.
Kerry Sought to Shift Funds from Star Wars to Drug War and Care for Vets – “…the Senate, amid dire warnings about turmoil in the Middle East, defeated efforts to make much deeper defense cutbacks and rejected an amendment by Sen. John Kerry to transfer $ 400 million from the Strategic Defense Initiative to the war on drugs and medical care for veterans.
Kerry: Star Wars Lacking in Hard Science and Sound Defense – “Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. and another SDI opponent, said the report marks "further evidence that the Reagan administration's more interested in rushing ahead with some kind of SDI deployments than it is in hard science or sound defenses. I suspect the report will be a significant factor in raising skepticism as Congress considers the SDI budget.”
Republican Rhetoric: In 1991, he acknowledged Saddam Hussein's possession of WMD, but voted against military action.
Reality: “I did indeed vote the way I voted in 1991. I thought we ought to kick Saddam Hussein out of Iraq. I said so on the floor of the Senate. But with the memories of Vietnam, I also thought we ought to take a couple of months more to build the support in the country.”
Kerry, Grassley, Nunn, Others Oppose 1991 Gulf War Resolution – Urge More Time for Sanctions – John Kerry joined Republican Senator Charles Grassley (IA), then Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sam Nunn (GA), Medal of Honor winners Bob Kerry (NE) and Daniel Inouye (HI), and Marine test pilot John Glenn in opposing the Senate’s Authorization of Use of Force against Iraq in 1991. <102nd Congress, Senate Roll Call Vote #2>
Kerry Says Bush in “Rush to War” – “Bush's Democratic opponents insisted they are not opposed to using force against Iraq but feel that Bush is too eager to abandon the sanctions policy. ‘There is a rush to war here,’ complained Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.). ‘There is a rush to get this thing over.’ ”
Republican Rhetoric: “In 1993, Sen. Kerry introduced a plan to: cut the number of Navy submarines and their crews; reduce the number of light infantry units in the Army down to one; reduce Air Force tactical fighter wings; terminate the Navy's coastal mine-hunting ship program; and force the retirement of no less than 60,000 members of the Armed Forces in one year”
Reality: Kerry Strongly Supported the Military, Introduced a Plan to Reduce the Deficit Without Sacrificing Military - John Kerry has always supported the US. Military—apart from his two tours in U.S. Navy in Vietnam, Kerry has repeatedly supported military budgets and military construction. In contrast to an Administration that has turned the largest surplus in history into a $455 billion deficit, John Kerry was also willing to take the tough steps to reduce budget deficits. Kerry’s legislation, the Deficit Reduction Act of 1993, sought to cut wasteful spending including “wasteful defense programs” as Kerry stated in the Congressional Record. Like many other broad-based deficit reduction packages, Kerry’s bill took funding away from wasteful spending on pork barrel items and expensive space programs which have little benefit to the nation and transfers those saving to the general treasury to produce a balanced budget and a better economy for the country. <103rd Congress S.1163>
Kerry’s Deficit Reduction Package Similar to Those Introduced by Republicans- Certainly the RNC Wouldn’t be Attacking Their Own Members? But House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said, "We are going to look at our own budgets and we're going to eliminate 1.4% of waste out of Congress, and we are asking all the other government to do the same." Representative John R. Kasich of Ohio, chairman of the House Budget Committee, said the departments and agencies would be subjected to the kind of budgetary discipline that every successful business applies. One item that will not be affected is the $4,600 Congressional pay increase that Congress approved in July, raising senators' and representatives' salaries by 3.4 percent, to $141,300 a year. In budget terminology, this falls into the category of mandatory and not discretionary spending. But House Republican Conference Chairman J.C. Watts Jr. (Okla.), House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (Tex.) and other Republicans argued yesterday that the government was awash in wasteful spending--from a $ 1 million outhouse at Glacier National Park in Montana to two misplaced Defense Department tugboats--and said the government easily could find savings equivalent to one penny on every dollar of spending.
Kerry is a Strong Supporter of America’s Military & Voted for “Largest Increase in Defense Spending Since the Early 1980’s” - John Kerry is a strong supporter of the U.S. Armed Services and has consistently worked to ensure the military has the best equipment and training possible. In 2002, John Kerry voted for a large increase in the defense budget. This increase provided more than $355 billion for the Defense Department for 2003, an increase of $21 billion over 2002. This measure includes $71.5 billion for procurement programs such as $279.3 million for an E-8C Joint Stars (JSTARS) aircraft. Kerry’s vote also funded a 4.1% pay increase for military personnel, $160 million for the B-1 Bomber Defense System Upgrade, $1.5 billion for a new attack submarine, more than $630 million for Army and Navy variants of the Blackhawk helicopter, $3.2 billion for additional C-17 transports and more than $800 million for Trident Submarine conversion. The current chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, John Warner (R-VA) stated:
Republican Rhetoric: In 1995, Sen. Kerry voted to freeze Defense spending for 7 years, cutting over $34 billion from Defense."
Reality: In the post-Cold War effort, it was necessary for the Department of Defense to eliminate waste and pork barrel projects. Kerry voted along with other strong on Defense Democrats such as Bob Kerrey and Carl Levin to eliminate waste and pork from the Defense budget and use the post Cold War defense savings (which started under then Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney and the first Bush Administration to invest in education. As the numbers break down, it equals $4.97 billion a year for seven years, or 1.9% of the annual Defense budget at the time.
Republican Rhetoric: His long Senate record belies his assertion that his approach to national security will make us safer as a nation.
Reality: John Kerry Has “Strong National Security Credentials” –
“McCain Gives Nod to Kerry Campaign” – “He's smart, he's tough and he's experienced. He has the capability.'' – U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
Kerry is Working to Ensure the U.S. America’s Military Remains the Best in the World– John Kerry is working to ensure the United States maintains the best equipped and best trained military in the world. Kerry has called for a strong national security plan base upon technological advancement to combat terror across the globe. John Kerry was a key part of the group which determined that, “A strong, technologically superior defense is the foundation for US global leadership. The US must speed up the ‘revolution in military affairs’ that uses our technological advantage to project force in many different contingencies involving uncertain and rapidly changing security threats -- including terrorism and information warfare.” Additionally, Kerry set the ambitious goal of creating a “modernized military equipped to deal with emerging threats to security, such as terrorism, information warfare, weapons of mass destruction, and destabilizing regional conflicts.” In order to maintain the U.S. military’s dominance into the 21st Century, Kerry would later say, “We must provide the training, equipment and technology that allow our Armed Forces to successfully meet the daunting security challenges of the 21st Century.”
Kerry’s “Military Record Gives Him Latitude to Criticize Bush's Stewardship of the War on Terrorism”
John Kerry: Working to Improve America’s Intelligence Capability and National Security
Kerry is an Experienced Leader in the Intelligence Field – John Kerry served on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is the former Vice Chairman of the Committee. Kerry joined the Committee in early 1995 and served until early 2001. Among the areas closely investigated by John Kerry and the Intelligence Committee include global terrorism, world wide threats to U.S. national security, international espionage, weapons of mass destruction, drug trafficking, arms trafficking and nuclear security. John Kerry is also the former Chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations and conducted several high profile Intelligence and International Security investigations. Additionally, Kerry is the author of the 1997 book ‘The New War’ which addressed the challenges of global terrorism and has served on the Foreign Relations Committee for more than eighteen years. One observer of Kerry wrote that, “Kerry plunged himself into the study of international crime and its implications for America.” In fact, the Kerry Commission uncovered the drug smuggling and arms trading in the Oliver North, Iran Contra scandal. “As chairman and then ranking Democrat on the Senate subcommittee on terrorism, narcotics, and international operations, John Kerry has been out front in pushing three presidential administrations to take seriously what is going on in the international underworld.”
Kerry Strongly Supports Increased Intelligence Funding – Including $200 Billion in the Previous 7 Years – A 50% Increase Since 1996 – John Kerry, a former member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has strongly supported recent increases in Intelligence funding, and, in the wake of 9/11, has supported the bipartisan call for an even larger increase in intelligence funding. According to a report issued by the Center for Defense Information entitled “Intelligence Funding and the War on Terror” John Kerry has supported approximately $200 billion in Intelligence funding over the past seven years alone. The report concludes that Kerry has supported a 50% increase in intelligence funding since 1996. Recently, Kerry stressed the need for greater intelligence in order to protect the country from terrorism: "The best single defense we have today, the most important weapon in the war against terrorism, is intelligence, good intelligence. We're way behind the curve in terms of human intelligence-gathering capacity as well as mutual legal-assistance efforts. You've got to know who they are, where they are what their plans are and hit them before they hit you. That's intelligence."
John Kerry is Holding the Bush-Cheney Administration Responsible for Using Flawed Intelligence – John Kerry is working to ensure the Bush-Cheney Administration is held responsible for their use of flawed intelligence leading up to the war in Iraq. Kerry, “was unusually blunt in saying of Bush that ‘he misled every one of us.’ ” Kerry went on to say that, “Bush had relied on at least two flawed pieces of intelligence in pressing for war, including a since-discredited report saying that Iraq had sought uranium from Niger.” John Kerry believes the Bush-Cheney Administration should take responsibility for their mistake and level with the people of the United States: "George W. Bush is responsible for his administration and needs to take responsibility for using flawed intelligence… George W Bush's credibility gap is growing. The president needs to be straight with the American people."
John Kerry Worked in the Senate to Support CIA-Trained; Vietnam War Veterans – Kerry worked in the Senate to include funding for CIA-trained commandos during the Vietnam War. Kerry’s bipartisan legislation was offered in order to “reimburse these commandos for their years of incarceration in North Vietnamese prisons…the United States, through the CIA and later the Defense Department, provided training and funding including salaries, allowances, bonuses and death benefits. Together, U.S. and South Vietnamese officials determined where and when the commandos, organized into teams, would be inserted into North Vietnam. Many were dropped by parachute but some were sent in by sea or over land. Some also conducted counterintelligence activities against North Vietnam from Laos.” <104th Congress, S.Amdt. 4055 & S.Amdt. 4451; Federal Document Clearing House – Kerry Testimony to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 6/19/96>
John Kerry’s Support for Increased Intelligence Funding:
FY03 Intel Authorization $39.3-$41.3 Billion* <2002, Unanimous Senate Voice Vote 9/25/02>
FY02 Intel Authorization $33 Billion* <2001, Unanimous Senate Voice Vote 12/13/01>
FY01 Intel Authorization $29.5-$31.5 Billion* <2000, Unanimous Senate Voice Vote 12/6/00>
FY00 Intel Authorization $29-$30 Billion* <1999, Unanimous Senate Voice Vote 11/19/1999>
FY99 Intel Authorization $29.0 Billion* <1998, Unanimous Senate Voice Vote 10/8/98>
FY98 Intel Authorization $26.7 Billion* <1997, Senate Roll Call Vote #109>
FY97 Intel Authorization $26.6 Billion* <1996, Unanimous Senate Voice Vote 9/25/96>
* http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/intel-funding.cfm>
John Kerry: On the Record for National Security and Intelligence
Kerry: “Most Important Weapon in War on Terror” is “Intelligence” - "The best single defense we have today, the most important weapon in the war against terrorism, is intelligence, good intelligence. We're way behind the curve in terms of human intelligence-gathering capacity as well as mutual legal-assistance efforts. You've got to know who they are, where they are what their plans are and hit them before they hit you. That's intelligence."
John Kerry Has “Strong National Security Credentials” –
John Kerry Wants the Bush Cheney Administration to “Be Straight with the American People” About Flawed Intelligence - "George W. Bush is responsible for his administration and needs to take responsibility for using flawed intelligence…George W Bush's credibility gap is growing. The president needs to be straight with the American people."
Kerry’s National Security Credentials “Give Him Credibility in Age of Terrorism” – “John Kerry is a Vietnam War hero with the national-security credentials that give him credibility in the age of terrorism.”
“Kerry Says Credibility of Bush, Agencies at Stake Over Weapons”
Kerry’s “Military Record Gives Him Latitude to Criticize Bush's Stewardship of the War on Terrorism”
John Kerry Calls for Greater Intelligence Effort Across the Globe – “Kerry believes the United States is sorely lacking in intelligence efforts in ‘many of the parts of the world where we're threatened.’ He traveled to several of these sites in the Mideast recently in a little-publicized fact-finding trip.”
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