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BG1054:  The House-Senate Conference Should Agree to RapidDeployment of Missile Defenses

The debate over missile defense has shifted from whether missile defense should be pursued as a matter of principle to whether deploying such a defense will be effective in practice. Victory inthe debate over the principle of fielding a missile defense must befollowed by victory in the debate over fielding a truly effectivedefense for the American people.

Members of Congress should not consider steps that would underminethe efforts of Secretary Rumsfeld to enable the MDA to proceed aggressively toward missile defense. They also should not try tosecond guess every decision the MDA makes during development.

America's space platforms are the strategic center of its defensearchitecture, and China wants them eliminated. China's newanti-satellite weapons programs are targeted exclusively on theUnited States: a capability that constitutes unmistakable evidenceof intent.