"On national security, the Senator has shown at least one measure of consistency.
Over the years, he has repeatedly voted against weapons systems for the military. He voted against the Apache helicopter, against the Tomahawk cruise missile, against even the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. He has also been a reliable vote against military pay increases - opposing them no fewer than 12 times.
Many of these very weapons systems have been used by our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and are proving to be valuable assets in the war on terror. In his defense, of course, Senator Kerry has questioned whether the war on terror is really a war at all. Recently he said, and I quote, "I don't want to use that terminology." In his view, opposing terrorism is far less of a military operation and far more of an intelligence-gathering, law enforcement operation. As we have seen, however, that approach was tried before, and proved entirely inadequate to protecting the American people from the terrorists who are quite certain they are at war with us - and are comfortable using that terminology."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/03/20040317-3.htmlTerry McAulliffe's response, 4/26/04"You remember Dick Cheney. When John Kerry was risking his life for his country in Vietnam, Dick Cheney was getting deferments because, in his words, he had "other priorities than military service." And he feels qualified to tell us that John Kerry won't do whatever it takes to defend America?
"Finally, with the latest set of misleading attack ads beginning today, I hope you'll remember this about Vice President Dick Cheney:
"When he was Secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney consistently proposed massive cuts to weapons programs that our troops are using right now in Iraq.
"In fact, Dick Cheney tried to kill over 81 weapons programs, and tried to gut the Army's M-1 tank, the B-2 bomber program, the AH-64 Apache Helicopters, and the F-16 aircrafts."He called for the closure of 72 domestic military installations, and the reduction of 500,000 active-duty military personnel and 200,000 reservists. Time and time again, he has voted to cut funding for the Veterans Administration, forcing our Veterans to fight for the health care and benefits they earned and were promised by this Administration.
"Our friends at the Republican National Committee have not been shy about telling us that the weapons systems I just mentioned were crucial to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Yet, as Secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney wanted them cut. John Kerry stood tall against no-bid contracts for Halliburton - Dick Cheney cut funding for weapons programs CRUCIAL to our troops' success in Iraq today.
http://www.democrats.org/news/200404260001.html
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