Correspondence

...R-OK) Chairman, House Republican Conference Washington, DC...

...The Founding Fathers made it clear in the Constitution, and in what they said later, that they wanted Congress, not the president, to be the authority behind the use of our military...

...This kind of thinking is in direct opposition to the Constitution, and has led to the point where we now in essence have the president as a dictator running the military...

...J.C...

...As we look back at this moment—whatever happens—it will stand up as history-in-the-making journalism and political analysis...

...Currently, our military does not have a system to defend America from even one ballistic missile fired from a rogue nation...

...Bravo and thanks...

...A sound national security policy must address long-term priorities as well as immediate needs...

...The Heritage Foundation points out that "President Bill Clinton has dismantled the robust missile defense programs he inherited from the Bush administration...

...A major victory for all Americans was the passage of a bill to ensure that Americans are protected from ballistic missile attack...

...JONATHAN BURACK Stoughton, WI William Kristol and David Brooks write in "The McCain Insurrection" that, regarding Kosovo, Sen...

...Correspondence MCCAIN'S INSURRECTION Out here in the Midwest, the S0-called Republican "establishment" that William Kristol and David Brooks complain about seems a bit remote to me ("The McCain Insurrection," Feb...

...I am proud to say that the Republican-led Congress came through by providing needed funds for military equipment and enhancing the quality of life for our troops with increased benefits, higher pay, and better housing...

...Also like Kristol and Brooks, I am pleased to see McCain's candidacy igniting a latent but strong sense of patriotism and self-sacrifice in the electorate...

...President Clinton may come out and say that he is for missile defense, but his actions tell another story...

...Sen...

...To ease the strain on military members and their families created by this uncertainty, Republicans provided extra funds and benefits to make military service more rewarding...

...Before then, he was articulating solid views on many issues...

...In fact, from this perspective, Kristol and Brooks seem a good deal closer to that establishment themselves than they apparently feel...

...In recent years Republicans have succeeded—often over the vehement opposition of the Clinton administration—in ensuring that America's sons and daughters in the armed services have the resources they need to get the job done...

...BOB SCHWARTZ Moreland Hills, OH THE BEST DEFENSE While William Kristol is correct in detailing how the Clinton administration has eroded the readiness and capabilities of our military, I strongly disagree with his assessment that "congressional Republicans have been com-plicit in the neglect that is sapping American military strength" ("Silence of the Lambs," Feb...

...Clinton terminated and cut funding on numerous missile defense programs that would have had Americans under a protective shield today...

...At other times, he seems ready to join them...

...At times, McCain seems ready to take on the Democrats...

...ROBERT PREVIDI Manhasset, NY True phenomena move good journalists to do good work, and the McCain phenomenon has moved many commentators to do some of their best thinking and writing...

...I just have many more doubts about McCain than you seem to have...

...Do they really believe that the role of the legislative branch is to cheer for the president...

...Roger Sherman said this at the Constitutional Convention: "The Executive should be able to repel and not to commence war...

...WATTS JR...

...What makes these programs so important is that the innovations researchers make today will be used in the civilian world tomorrow...

...Here is what George Washington said: "The Constitution rests the power of declaring war with Congress...

...McCain believes that the president has the right to take whatever military action he wants anywhere in the world based only on his authority...

...I am amazed that a person running for president can be so ignorant of the Constitution...

...The only time the president can act without congressional authority is to repel a sudden attack...

...There have been numerous reports of troops not being able to train because of basic shortages of ammunition and night-vision devices, and of our planes not being able to fly because of a lack of spare parts...

...Should Sen...

...Additionally, we improved military health care by making it more cost-effective and more accessible, and we reformed service members' retirement system by increasing benefits...

...therefore no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they have deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a measure...

...With an administration that continually shortchanges the military's accounts, it has been difficult to provide our armed forces with the equipment and resources they need to operate at even minimal readiness levels...

...Republicans provided more funds than the administration requested for a nearly 5 percent pay raise, salary bonuses, child development and day-care centers, troop and family housing, and hospitals...

...After that, he fell back to the default mode: the Republican "flinch"—a defensive response to all attacks from the Democrats, the media, and just about anyone else...

...If this is what they want, why don't they at least call for the Constitution to be amended...

...In any case, like them I too have been troubled by George W Bush's lackluster campaign since Iowa...

...When the Republican leadership met before the start of the 106 th Congress, we agreed that bolstering America's national security was a pressing need demanding immediate action...

...Republicans in Congress will do everything in our power to ensure that America's national security is second to none...

...Just look at the Internet and all the benefits it has wrought since its origin as the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) in 1969...

...In fact, war-making authority belongs with Congress...

...As for insurgencies against establishments, I would be interested to know what Kristol, Brooks, and McCain plan to put in place of the current Republican establishment, such as it is...

...Despite his suspect commitment, congressional Republicans fought for and enacted a bill to deploy a missile defense system as soon as technologically possible...

...For if one thing is clear to me, the populist promise to do away with establishments is one of the oldest fantasies in human history...

...When push comes to shove, no Republican is going to get the party back on track without a strong and consistent attack on the Democratic party's racial demagoguery, its pandering to an entitlement mentality, and the anti-Americanism that all too many of its core supporters still carry in their hearts...

...We will get our troops needed resources for training, improved readiness levels, more quality family housing, and continued research and testing on a national missile defense system and other important priorities...

...If unconstitutional dominance of the military by the president is allowed to continue, it will threaten the very foundation of our republic...

...Civilian control of the military comes primarily from Congress representing the people, not from the president...

...But William Kris-tol and David Brooks's "The McCain Insurrection" is itself phenomenal, a brilliant and insightful piece, both intellectual and moving...

...James Madison put it this way: "In no part of the Constitution is more wisdom to be found, than in the clause which confides the question of war and peace to the legislature and not to the executive department...

...They never intended for the nation's military forces to be in the hands of any one person...

...Actually, this may have been there from the start, given the defensiveness implicit in the phrase "compassionate conservatism...

...In the coming year, Republicans are committed to continue testing, fund additional research, and enhance our ability to make a reliable national missile defense a reality...

...Additionally, Clinton cut funding for the deployment of missile defense programs in half, and left the negotiating table with Russia regarding cooperative efforts to address the missile threat both countries live with by shunning Yeltsin's Global Protection System proposal for cooperation on missile defense...

...In an effort to guarantee that our military will always be the most advanced in the world, we provided billions more than the president requested for research and development accounts...

...He terminated President Bush's Global Protection Against Limited Strikes (GPALS) missile defense deployment plan, and the space-based "Brilliant Pebbles" interceptor development program...

...But I am bothered by the programmatic emptiness or even incoherence in McCain's brand of stylistic populism...

...We appropriated more funds than the president requested for these accounts and will be back this session to get our troops the resources they need to ensure that our military has the best-trained personnel and most advanced equipment in the world...

...At this point, my money is still on George W. Bush, though I would fight for McCain equally hard...

...This money supports various programs like medical research, missile defense, safer vehicles, and advanced computer technologies...

...In the second session of the 106th Congress, the Republican leadership defense agenda will build on the successes of the first session...

...John McCain (and others) must be made to understand that the people, through Congress, are sovereign, not the president...

...The decision to deploy our military forces (except in an emergency) belongs to Congress alone...

...McCain be elected, he will need an institutional support system and the know-how to make it work for him...

...McCain "supported his commander in chief despite grave doubts about the conduct of the war...

...The Clinton administration's record number of deployments has strained America's armed forces to the breaking point...