Defense
On her first trip overseas, Palin visited Alaskan troops deployed to Iraq; told how much they missed hunting and fishing, she signed a law in June 2008 that grants free hunting, trapping and fishing licenses to members of the Alaska National Guard and reserve.
As Governor of Alaska, Palin criticized proposed Obama administration cuts to missile defense programs, in response to North Korea's April 5, 2009 rocket test. In May 2009, North Korea conducted a series of short-range missile tests. Military experts believe a long-range missile could reach Alaska, where part of the United States' missile defense system is located. Palin called for the full restoration of Missile Defense Agency funding "to guarantee our protective measures remain the best in the world." The Defense Department had recommended not moving forward with a planned expansion of the missile defense system at Fort Greely in that year's budget. Palin disagreed: "Fort Greely plays a crucial role in the nation's security."
In a September 23, 2009, speech in Hong Kong, Palin said that "we need to maintain a strong defense" even in our current economic difficulties. She expressed her opposition to ending production of the F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft and C-17 cargo aircraft.
Read more about this topic: Political Positions Of Sarah Palin
Famous quotes containing the word defense:
“Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in our bosoms. Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, every where.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“He said, truly, that the reason why such greatly superior numbers quailed before him was, as one of his prisoners confessed, because they lacked a cause,—a kind of armor which he and his party never lacked. When the time came, few men were found willing to lay down their lives in defense of what they knew to be wrong; they did not like that this should be their last act in this world.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Though a censure lies against those who are poor and proud, yet is Pride sooner to be forgiven in a poor person than in a rich one; since in the latter it is insult and arrogance; in the former, it may be a defense against temptations to dishonesty; and, if manifested on proper occasions, may indicate a natural bravery of mind, which the frowns of fortune cannot depress.”
—Samuel Richardson (1689–1761)