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Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2019 Remarks On Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2019 Remarks on United States Missile Defense Policy at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia January 17, 2019 Vice President Michael R. Pence. Thank you, Acting Secretary Shanahan, Secretary Mark Esper, Secretary Wilson, distinguished Members of Congress, members of the Joint Chiefs, the leadership of the Armed Forces of the United States, and to all of you who wear the uniform of the United States of America: It is my honor to be with you here today at the Pentagon as our President unveils his vision for our renewed commitment to American missile defense. As Commander in Chief, President Trump has no higher priority than the safety and security of the American people. And it's, frankly, the greatest honor of my life to serve as Vice President to a President who cares so deeply about the men and women of our Armed Forces and their families. Today, along with all of you, our hearts and our prayers are with the families of the fallen American heroes who were lost in Syria yesterday, as well as those servicemembers who were wounded. We honor their service, and we will honor the memory of the fallen. And their families and our Armed Forces should know their sacrifice will only steel our resolve that as we begin to bring our troops home, we will do so in a way that ensures that the remnants of ISIS will never be able to reestablish their evil and murderous caliphate. It's in that same spirit of resolve that we gather here today. Since day one of this administration, President Trump has taken decisive action to make the strongest military in the history of the world stronger still. Working with Members of Congress in both parties, we're rebuilding our military, restoring the "arsenal of democracy." And last year, President Trump signed the largest investment in our national defense since the days of Ronald Reagan, including the largest military pay raise in nearly a decade. At the President's direction, we released a National Security Strategy that puts America first, pursued the modernization of our nuclear arsenal. And President Trump has taken decisive action to extend American dominance on land, at sea, in air, and in cyberspace and even called for the establishment of a sixth branch of our Armed Forces to ensure American dominance in space. In the last 2 years, our President has made great progress to provide for the common defense. And today, by unveiling our new strategy for missile defense, President Trump will take another critical step to ensure the safety and security of the American people and our very way of life. This President knows that the American people believe that "America first" begins with peace through strength. So now it is my high honor and distinct privilege to introduce your Commander in Chief, the 45th President of the United States of America, President Donald Trump. The President. Good job. [Applause] Wow. Well, that's really nice. Thank you. You're only doing that because I gave you the greatest and biggest budget in our history. [Laughter] And I've now done it two times. And I hate to tell the rest of the world, but I'm about to do it three times. So that's the only reason you gave me such a nice welcome. 1 Thank you very much. And thank you to Vice President Pence for that wonderful introduction. It's an honor to be at the Pentagon with so many distinguished military leaders, and I especially want to recognize our Acting Defense Secretary, Patrick Shanahan. He's been fantastic—wherever you may be, Patrick. Thank you. Thank you. We were talking just as I came on. I said, "Pat, I have to go now." We're talking defense, and we're also talking offense, you know? We can't forget offense either, can we? We have the finest weapons in the world, and we're ordering the finest weapons in the world. That you can be sure of. We're here to present the results of my administration's Missile Defense Review. Our goal is simple: to ensure that we can detect and destroy any missile launched against the United States anywhere, anytime, anyplace. As we all know, the best way to keep America safe is to keep America strong. And that's what we're doing. Stronger than ever. Joining us for today's presentation are great champions of missile defense in Congress: Senator Dan Sullivan, my friend. Thank you, Dan, very much. And Representative Mike Turner. Thank you, Mike. Thank you very much. Also joining us from the Department of Defense are Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist. David, thank you. Secretary Mark Esper. Secretary Heather Wilson. Thank you. Under Secretaries of Defense Michael Griffin, Ellen Lord, and John Rood. General Paul Selva. Thank you. Thank you, General. General Mark Milley. Thank you, Mark. Thank you. Thank you. And congratulations. Very importantly, congratulations. General Joseph Lengyel. And General James McConville. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Deaths of U.S. Servicemembers and Defense Contractors in Syria Before presenting the results of our Missile Defense Review, I want to take a moment to express my deepest condolences to the families of the brave American heroes who laid down their lives yesterday in selfless service to our Nation. These are great people. Great, great people. We will never forget their noble and immortal sacrifice. Border Security/Federal Government Shutdown This morning I also would like to briefly address another matter of critical national security: the humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border. Without a strong border, America is defenseless, vulnerable, and unprotected. I also want to thank the military for helping us out during the big caravan period. But now you have more caravans forming, and they're on their way up: thousands and thousands of people. We don't know where they're from, who they are, nothing. We need strong borders. We need strong barriers and walls. Nothing else is going to work. Everyone knows it. Everybody is saying it now. It's just a question of time. This should have been done many years ago. It should have been done by other—really, by other Presidents, and it wasn't, just like many of the other things we're doing that could have been done many years ago, whether it's our negotiations with North Korea, moving the Embassy to Jerusalem. So many things were supposed to have been done many years ago, and they weren't. But we're doing them. A wall has to be built. We need security at our southern border. Drugs flow in. Tremendous percentages of the drugs coming into our country come from the southern border. We're not going to allow it to happen. And that is why our Homeland Security professionals have asked Congress for a steel barrier between the ports of entry; to fund more agents, beds, medical supplies, and 2 technology; and to close the ridiculous and dangerous immigration loopholes that no country in the world has but us. The Federal Government remains shut down because congressional Democrats refuse to approve border security. We're going to have border security. It's going to be tight. It's going to be strong. We're going to let people into our country gladly, but they're going to come in legally. That includes for the farmers who need help and for others. But we are going to have powerful, strong border security. While many Democrats in the House and Senate would like to make a deal, Speaker Pelosi will not let them negotiate. The party has been hijacked by the open borders fringe within the party, the radical left becoming the radical Democrats. Hopefully, Democrat lawmakers will step forward to do what is right for our country. And what's right for our country is border security at the strongest level. Stop human hijacking. Stop drugs. Stop gangs. Stop criminals. That's what we're going to do. That was my pledge, and that's what we're going to do. Missile Defense Policy We're gathered together to outline the steps that we must take to upgrade and modernize America's missile defense. So important. In a time of rapidly evolving threats, we must be certain that our defensive capabilities are unrivaled and unmatched anywhere in the world. All over, foreign adversaries, competitors, and rogue regimes are steadily enhancing their missile arsenals. All over. Their arsenals are getting bigger and stronger. And we're getting bigger and stronger in every way. They're increasing their lethal strike capabilities, and they're focused on developing long-range missiles that could reach targets within the United States. As President, my first duty is the defense of our country. First duty: the defense of our country. And defense has many different definitions and covers a lot of territory. I will accept nothing less for our Nation than the most effective, cutting-edge missile defense systems. We have the best anywhere in the world. It's not even close. Our new strategy calls for six major changes in missile defense policy. First, we will prioritize the defense of the American people above all else. Our review calls for 20 new ground-based interceptors at Fort Greely, Alaska, and new radars and sensors to immediately detect foreign missiles launched against our great Nation. We are committed to establishing a missile defense program that can shield every city in the United States.
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