The Honorable Ken Blackwell. We dont know if itll be successful.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an example of providing for the common defense today. I had the wonderful privilege of leading Rolling Thunder into Washington here on Sunday. I think the whole issue of human capital and the breakdown of the family is very, very important, because if you look at the tremendous expenditures we have in terms of educating our population with diminishing returns on that investment, if we dont begin to look at the root of our problemand that is the breakdown of the American familythen were going to find ourselves in a situation that is untenable as we go forth in our third century. Its possible that only one such weapon, properly designed and delivered, could destroy or disable Americas electric grid and effectively return our society to the horse-and-buggy days without the horse and buggy. Many people use the general welfare clause as their the federal government can do anything and everything clause.. In fact, one official said this is one of the few threats that can defeat us. Serious conservative economists looking at defense see it in that context as well. We have to understand the intent of our enemy. We frequently need to be reminded of this. Today, the Iranian program includes over 9,000 centrifuges. Provide for the common defense The Framers were acutely aware that the new nation remained extremely vulnerable to attacks by foreign nations and that no individual state had the power to repel such attacks. WebThe Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; ArtI.S8.C1.1 Taxing Power. That works for certain ideological people who dont want to do those kinds of interventions, but what happens if you really have to do something? Question: Listening to the discussion about defense spending, like some of you guys old enough to remember the 72 campaign, where McGoverns people were arguing that if you have too much defense capability, it gets used, it seemed like thats where the debate has to be. WebReview the Preamble to the Constitution. I think this ideological impulse is almost more dangerous than we faced with the Nazis. I know its going to be very difficult to walk back to those 19 activities, but at least it should jump-start the discussion. To make common defense a national priority without giving too much power to one branch of government, they divided defense duties between Congress and the president. Im reminded that sometimes, when we have faced challenges in the past, we didnt respond soon enough. The final report of the National Defense Strategy Commission is a compilation of the assessments of the National Defense Strategy and recommendations based on its analysis related not just to defense strategy, but also to the larger geopolitical environment in which that strategy must be executed. Let me underscore something: The most important contributor to economic growth is human capital. Thats why Heritage, for all the time that Ive been here, has focused, for example, on defense procurement: How can we set up the best procedures to enable us to reach our defense needs in the most effective, efficient way, just like we would want to do in any other area of the federal government? WebWe the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. These are seen as two separate things, and theyre almost two worldviews separate answers to whatever the problem is. Its growing, but we dont want China to be spending as much as we are and be off the coast of the U.S. What are examples of provide for the common defense? We will have 2 percent growth per year from here out, and that is because of a demographic weakness, and thats even if you assume that we will continue an immigration rate that we experienced in the 1990s and the first 10 years of the 2000s. Your presentations sparked a number of thoughts. Despite the ruling, some public schools practiced racial discrimination. Are we willing to invade Syria? Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, to name just a few of his many noteworthy positions. Also during my tenure here, Ive been involved in debating budget control and how we look at budget cuts around the country. Since then, hes had a distinguished career serving as the Mayor of Cincinnati, Treasurer and Secretary of State for the great state of Ohio, Undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and a U.S. the government pays the army and gives them weapons and that the govt has the powers to finance wars or not to pay for them and they make the rules for the army.
Thats what wed all prefer to do, and thats how Heritage looks at the defense area in the context that I outlined. I know the economy is losing its ability to compete internationally as we spend 17% of our wealth on our health care while our competitors in Europe and Asia spend no more than 11%. As evil as they were, the fact that they cared about no human life of any kind except their own at least gave us leverage to threaten their lives, but the jihadists will blow their children to pieces to blow you to pieces. If Iran gains nuclear capability, they will give it to terrorists the world over, and the entire human family will step into the shadow of nuclear terrorism. There is a tendency to see that providing for the common defence, as the phrase is used in the Constitution, is no different from any other responsibility of the federal government, since it is basically a budget item for the Pentagon. We have only one issue now, and that is if Mr. Upton[6] will allow it to come to the floor; the leadership is ready to do it. Back in 2005, I happened to be the first Member of Congress to call on the floor of the House for Iran to be referred to the U.N. Security Council. "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United Stuart Butler, 23 argued for a central government with the full power to levy troops; to build and equip fleets; . What are examples of provide for the common defense? [5]See H.R. How much force we need is a critical question. And when this day of battle is ended, we meet again, in heaven or on the field of victory. Its not about what we want them to do, but what they do regardless of what we do. Thus, the need for a unified, coordinated effort to defend the nation would always be a vital function of the U.S. federal In some countries, it has been used as a basis for legislation promoting You think about it as protection in the way that we think of other forms of insurance, and when economists look at insurance, there are some very important things to understand about levels of insurance and why insurance is important. I know the economy is losing its ability to compete internationally as we spend 17% of our wealth on our health care while our competitors in Europe and Asia spend no more than 11%. Its very difficult for me to tell you how bewildering it is to me to hear our own President expressing more outrage toward Israel for building homes in its own capital city than he has expressed toward a madman like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for building nuclear weapons with which to threaten the peace of the entire human family. 3378, September 29, 2011, http://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/2011/pdf/wm3378.pdf; Heritage Fiscal Plan Saves American Dream for Americas Veterans, Heritage Foundation WebMemo No. Ken Blackwell received the U.S. Department of State Superior Honor Award for his work on human rights for Presidents George Herbert Walker Bush and Bill Clinton. There is the issue of sequestration, which, if it goes through in January, will have a disproportionately negative effect on our ability to defend ourselves as it drastically cuts the budget of the Department of Defense. Number one, for most people, on a day-to-day basis insurance is a waste of money. WebThe Common Defense refers to the authority granted to the federal government by the states to raise and fund armed forces to defend the territory of all of the states. WebA general welfare clause is a section that appears in many constitutions and in some charters and statutes that allows that the governing body empowered by the document to enact laws to promote the general welfare of the people, which is sometimes worded as the public welfare. They think, how much money do we have, and therefore how much security can we purchase? I was telling Kim that in 1996, Walter Williams, Steve Forbes, John Fund, and I were on a panel right here at Heritage, and when I was asked to make comments today, I was reminded of what Walter Williams said back then, and I went and pulled up his lecture. Certainly in World War II, as Churchills comments so profoundly came true, we saw the devastating result of not responding soon enough, because we could have. Despite the ruling, some public schools practiced racial discrimination. Despite the ruling, some public schools practiced racial discrimination. . We also saw that we had demobilized our forces. He is currently a contributing editor and columnist for TownHall.com and a public affairs commentator for the Salem radio network. Its fine to have all of the processes in place, but its very important that we harden our grid for two very specific reasons. Let the government provide the guns for the national defense, and Americans own enterprise will provide the butter in abundance. The intent was to create a military that could protect the American public, but that would not be so powerful that it encroached on governmental affairs. Were a world power. WebReview the Preamble to the Constitution. The main reason we find ourselves in this hole is because of unwarranted and very possibly unconstitutional spending on social programs that do not work. And it is a national security crisis because 47 percent of our debt is held by foreign interests, the lions share of that by China. [1] If you dont have security of contract, then you dont have high growth. I think thats part of how we really need to look at the defense area.

WebLatest Search American Contractor Killed in Drone Attack on Base in Syria Five service members and another U.S. contractor were wounded. Maybe its 2 or 3 percent that something will go wrong. I know countless individuals who have lost their health and their wealth because they did not have health insurance. But she gave a speech that inspired them to one of Englands greatest victories in history. This Senate-passed NDAA does just that, which makes us and the rest of the world safer. WebThe Senates Fiscal Year 2021 NDAA does this by strengthening American deterrence through investing in greater capabilities in support of priorities listed in the National Defense Strategy, and ensuring Americas service members are ready so, when challenged, they prevail in any conflict. It should suggest to us that we need to look at what has caused us to venture into these perhaps unconstitutional expenditures that divert the federal governments attention from those powers and activities enumerated for it. The Iranian nation now possesses enough low-enriched uranium that, if enriched further, could in a very short period of time produce enough weapons-grade fissile material to create several nuclear warheads.

Thats a different intent. Wed rather spend the money on iPads and going to the movies and taking vacations in Cincinnati. I am concerned that from a national security standpoint, we have moved into unconstitutional waters with the way we disperse and expend our resources. Therefore, the phrase you hear so often today is, defense has to be on the table.. We used to joke that the only difference between taking on the Pentagon about defense and AARP about Medicare is that AARP shoots back. As a serious economist, and like a lot of serious economists who look at the defense issue within the context of economic policy and fiscal policy, I know thats not the way to think about defense. Its already said that without that, their whole mission is threatened. Taxing power refers to the ability of a government to impose and collect taxes. Let the government provide the guns for the national defense, and Americans own enterprise will provide the butter in abundance. It always seems to bring more danger than any of the diplomacy elements seem to prevent. You dont get anything from your car insurance until you have an accident. Stuart has been pivotal in forming and guiding Heritage domestic policy research for more than 30 years. Not only does the bill provide a three percent pay raise for our troops and re-emphasize a focus on training to ensure service members can conduct missions safely, it also serves the interests of our military families and supports Arkansas's national defense personnel, installations and industry. For example, we get very upset about asbestos; we make sure that people who are riding bikes and motorcycles wear helmets; and we want to make sure our toys dont harm our children. Now, that said, just like when I start looking at my umbrella insurance, I want to get the best way of reaching those security objectives and these defense objectives at the least cost. They believe that our interventions are useless and shouldnt have been done. Constitution 101: To Provide for the Common Defense. By providing for the common defense, the Constitution secures the inalienable rights recognized in the Declaration of Independence: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. After meeting with leaders from the 188th Air Wing at Fort Smith, it was clear to me that our service members need more support when it comes to options for child care and assistance. When safety was assured, then grades mattered and so on. The Senate and the House of Representatives each recently passed versions of the legislation, marking the 60thconsecutive year this has occurred. One, the terrorist world knows that this is a way to turn America off. The Nazis were one time just a bunch of idiots in brown shirts riding across France in bicycles. Stuart is absolutely right. ailud18. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an example of providing for the common defense today. Theres no more favorable arena for Sharia law advocates or lawfare than the U.S. and international court system. You build in capabilities to deal with what happens if that one person gets the flu or leaves the business.

I know of no group out there that has the comprehensive inside impact on Congress as does Heritage, and I appreciate you very, very much. I dont doubt that these threats are very real and are a real security threat to the U.S. We also know that when we look at our long-term interests in the United States, just like when we look at the climate for business over time and we think about investments of a commercial nature for the long term, we have to make sure that we can have a world where there is protection and securityAmerican securityto ensure that our longer-term interests are protected for commercial economic reasons as well as political and pure security reasons. My colleagues and I at Heritage believe in Ronald Reagans idea of fusionismthat there are basically three pillars to the conservative movement: social conservatives who advance conservative values, fiscal conservatives, and national security conservatives who promote a strong national defense. . What we do this year will set the format for the future of my three-year-old twins and a lot of people that you love. Article I of the constitution establish how the government of the US can provide that defense in the second half of section 8: With the Iranians, hes discovered thats not the case. Thats one side of it. Its so easy to put off necessary investments where you dont see the tangible product for many years when theres a lot of pressure.

There is, as we look around the country, some confusion about how much we actually spend on defense. Its hard for me to wrap my mind around that figure, but I have three-year-old twins, so Im forced to try. Im going to leave you with a quote that they cited in a recent film in America that depicted an event in 1588 when Queen Elizabeth rode out to her army when they were facing a holy war from King Philips massive ocean-borne armada that came in superior force, and it looked like it was the end of England. Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld said weakness is provocative. Thats the prevailing view among a lot of people. Youve probably seen the photographs when we were preparing for World War II, when some of the soldiers were preparing with sticks to be mobilized into Asia and to Europe. With the SHIELD Act, well prevent that, and Im just hoping as much as possible that Heritage and other groups will make that issue known. In a time of intense partisanship and national division, passage of the NDAA is a true testament to the significance of this responsibility.

Therefore, the deficit is about 10 percent of GDP. But when we add the dimension of asymmetric electromagnetic pulse attacks to the equation, we face a menace that may represent the gravest short-term threat to peace and security of the entire human family perhaps in the world today. To make common defense a national priority without giving too much power to one branch of government, they divided defense duties between Congress and the president. Ive paid this for years, and Ive never collected a dime from that insurance. It would have been a lot more cost-effective to keep the capability online not only to deter war in the first place, but in order not to pay more for it when somebody attacks you and you need to get your forces up more quickly. The liberal media think the only time you want to use force is for humanitarian purposes. I know most of you are familiar with what Jewish author Primo Levi said. Security and protection of people and institutions and buildings and so on is equally important and critical to growth. The North Koreans understand it. Let me just say that I think the Obama Administration simply doesnt understand some of the threats that we face in that regard. The head of the household used to be the driver and the provider of the care for the family. These jihadists talk like they know something that at least they think the rest of us dont, and history reminds us to take such madmen seriously. They certainly are skeptical about the use of American power. We have it in writings of Irans own military journals already. Second question: Why are there entitlements? For that reason, Ive introduced whats known as the SHIELD Act. Yes, any effort on our part to interdict that on the part of Iran is steeped with great dangers, but it will pale in insignificance compared to dealing with Iran after they gain nuclear weapons. When people often look at the Defense Department, they say, Well, we have all these capabilities; do we really need them? The rational approach, in order to avoid a high downside risk, is to have margins of safety and redundancy, and thats true even in the commercial world. Remember: Once Iran has a nuclear weapons capability, the equation changes as profoundly as I know how to articulate. If youre a politician, it really is the feeling that you have. [3]See Stuart M. Butler, Alison Acosta Fraser, and William W. Beach, eds., Saving the American Dream: The Heritage Plan to Fix the Debt, Cut Spending,, and Restore Prosperity (Washington: The Heritage Foundation, 2011), http://savingthedream.org/. According to Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, Death to America is a policy, a strategy, and a vision. Im reminded of Winston Churchills words in a situation like this. Many people use the general welfare clause as their the federal government can do anything and everything clause.. Constitution 101: To Provide for the Common Defense. The lesson is that it takes decades to build up the personnel and the trained soldiers and sailors to be as good as they are. We have asked him to address what providing for the common defence means to social conservatives, and we are very pleased to have him here today. Question: Congressman, because a lot of people dont understand what EMP stands for or how it works or why its such a great danger, could you unpack that? There is strong reason to conclude that Iran is pursuing what could be their ultimate asymmetric weapon, a nuclear high-altitude electromagnetic pulse weapon, or an EMP capability. "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United If we cant do it, even the military will have to say, We cant do it, Mr. President, because we dont have the capability.. Additionally, this NDAA supports the deployment of the Iron Dome protection system a portion of which is produced in Camden, Arkansas to U.S. Central Command theater. Basically, what youre getting at is this ongoing debate about military intervention, which is a stand-in for a debate over what our national interests are. We are rapidly becoming a culture where earning money doesnt entitle you to it, but wanting money does. He is also a former member of the Arizona House of Representatives. We dont have that today, and heads of households are replaced by the government. We have to remember two points. Its time for all of us to directly confront the ideology of global jihadism itself and expose it for what it is: It is the utter, continual, and heartless disregard for innocent human life in the name of a distorted religious perspective that denies the God of life of Himself, and its evil. Entitlements compete with defense spending. Its also why, when we look at getting efficient, effective defense, we have focused a lot on how to look at the structure of compensation within the military. Let them come with the armies of Hell; they will not pass. Some people say Americans spend 14 times what the rest of the world combined spends for defense, which is a completely meaningless point. Had that battle gone the other way, you and I would not be sitting here discussing the issue at all. 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It seems like we skip over the strategic arguments of how much defense or how much capability we want. It does not define government powers or individual rights. WebThe preamble sets the stage for the Constitution (Archives.gov). A President or a Congress can come in and cut that budget overnight, and all that investment weve made is lost. America is facing a budget crisis and a crisis of confidence. They said there were 500,000 motorcycles. For Republicans or Democrats to look at defense as an expendable item because its easy to get through a town hall meeting if you dont talk about Medicare but you talk about getting out of Afghanistan or cutting defense, that is not only the wrong way to look at it, but really is not the way to present to the American people the real choices and the tough decisions that we have to make to get our budget back under control and our federal government back under control. But I think that true diplomacy and effective diplomacy has the ability to back up with capability anything that it expresses. Thats why I submitted an amendment, adopted by the Senate, directing the DoD to research, report and provide recommendations to Congress on how to provide 24-hour child care to military families assigned to around-the-clock, rotational units here at home. Its not a question of across-the-board-similar reductions when you look at downside risk associated with things going wrong. Its not an either/or; its not that you can have high growth and low security; they must go together. That is precisely the same when we talk about defense. The Senates Fiscal Year 2021 NDAA does this by strengthening American deterrence through investing in greater capabilities in support of priorities listed in the National Defense Strategy, and ensuring Americas service members are ready so, when challenged, they prevail in any conflict. The other point that I wanted to underscore is that at the end of the day, this fight is cultural. We are not ready for a nuclear Iran. Its hard for me to understand that. WebFor example, calling the Confederations efforts to provide for the common defense and general welfare an ill-founded and illusory experiment, Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist No. That is the creed of the redistributionists. The preamble is an introduction to the highest law of the land; it is not the law. Its all about Bosnia, Somalia. That is generally true of how people look at things, and its quite logical. The issue is not the percentage probability of something happening, but the downside risk if it does happen. Holland doesnt. And there are people who believe that if you cut defense spending, you can somehow resolve the debt crisis. Budget cutters in Washington look to economize by stripping U.S. defenses. So we had a lot of interaction with ordinary Americans about where we need to make savings. When we look at the long-term fiscal problem that Ken talked about, the long-term debt and long-term deficit, we have, like a lot of other competing organizations, laid out our long-term plan to do it.

WebWe the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. I dont know of anything thats more vital to our countrys future on a host of different levels, but certainly with respect to national security, than that. As everyone in this room is very likely already aware, the Iranian regime is moving closer than ever before to developing nuclear weapons. WebReview the Preamble to the Constitution. The Administration announced that it would resume contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood now that the Arab Spring is in full bloom. Its an innovative way of thinking about this issue, but it reminded me of something else. An EMP attack on America would consist of a nuclear blast detonated at exo-atmospheric altitude, which would instantly generate an electromagnetic pulse over the homeland with what could be potentially devastating effect. They are closer than ever before. Social Security and Medicare were born, and Medicaid and welfare. I really do. Taxing power refers to the ability of a government to impose and collect taxes. I would submit to you that we have failed to bankrupt jihadist terrorism at its most insidious point, and thats its narrative of a global religious war. I also secured a provision to authorize a new Arkansas National Guard Readiness Training Center at Fort Chaffee to provide greater support for training exercises and help ensure Arkansas guardsmen continue to be some of the best trained in the country. It seems like we dont ever want to attack the hard issue, which is strategic: How much force do we want to be able to project in the world? I say all this because I think, when you look at how particularly economic conservatives look at defense and the environment of the debate, theres enormous pressure, even among those who have no argument about the need for defense, to say its easier if we just squeeze that area: We can afford to do it, we can do it without risk, and so on. [3] You will see that what we do in that is to say, what are the capabilities that we must have to meet the threats to our national security and to our economic base in the U.S.? All the academic and social data support this. I want sufficient superiority in terms of our human resources, our human capital, and our technology that even the most idiotic of the despots out there would not think about attacking our country or moving on our interests. We demobilized our armed forces; we pulled back; we went into a period of quasi-isolationism. I believe, in a sense, thats our situation today.

You dont get anything from your life insurance until you die and your kids could be destitute.