Congress of the United States
Washington, DC 20515

December 14, 1999

The Honorable William S. Cohen
Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301

Dear Secretary Cohen,

We are extremely concerned of recent reports that Pentagon officials are considering plans to
transfer funding from the budget accounts of the U.S. Navy Theater Wide (NTW) anti-missile
program into other programs. While we support the full funding of other missile defense
programs, we also believe NTW funding should not be left on life support.

In addition to pursuing a national anti-missile deployment program, we believe you should
authorize the Navy’s Aegis fleet air-defense system to be modified to make it an effective,
world-wide ballistic missile defense system, not cut naval missile defense funding to microscopic
levels.

We believe the Navy Theater Wide missile defense program is crucial for two reasons. First,
it
has the ability to provide needed defense of the American homeland, borders, shores and
airspace. As you know, the Pentagon has already acknowledged publicly that, by taking
advantage of the roughly $50 billion investment in relevant naval infrastructure, the United
States could acquire a missile defense that is capable of defeating a larger number of incoming
missiles for $3 billion. Second, the NTW system also will prevent a major power or rogue nation
from launching a threat against allies or American troops in the Pacific, Persian Gulf, Europe and
East Asia, which a U.S. based or theater land based missile system cannot achieve. This is
crucial, considering that future wars demanding American involvement will more than likely be
sparked in hotspots around the world such as Korea and the Middle East rather than by a direct
attack on the continental United States.

The NTW, if developed in collaboration with allied navies — not only the Japanese, who
have
four of their own Aegis ships, but the NATO allies, South Korea, Taiwan, and Israel — will
dispel concerns about leaving their countries and our troops in the area undefended.

As you may recall, Mr. Secretary, Deputy Secretary of Defense John Hamre acknowledged
that
NTW was a missile defense program that has been constrained in the past as a result of funding
limitations. Please do not allow American Citizens, allies and soldiers overseas to remain
defenseless against a rogue nation’s ballistic missile attack. We urge you to fully fund the NTW
missile defense program and to submit a robust missile defense budget next year.

Sincerely,

David Vitter, Louisiana

Gene Taylor, Mississippi

James Rogan, California

Mac Thornberry, Texas

John Cooksey, Louisiana

Chip Pickering, Mississippi

Tom Coburn, Oklahoma

Richard Baker, Louisiana

Jim DeMint, South Carolina

Bob Barr, Georgia

Robert Underwood, Guam

Robert Andrews, New Jersey

Lamar Smith, Texas

Asa Hutchinson, Arkansas

John Doolittle, California

Chris Cannon, Utah

Bob Stump, Arizona

Tillie Fowler, Florida

Robin Hayes, North Carolina

Bill Jefferson, Louisiana

Jim Saxton, New Jersey

Todd Tiahrt, Kansas

John Shadegg, Arizona

Ronnie Shows, Mississippi

Saxby Chambliss, Georgia

Niel Abercrombie, Hawaii

Tom Bliley, Virginia

Joe Knollenberg, Minnesota

Jim McCrerey, Louisiana

Pete Sessions, Texas

Helen Chenoweth-Hage, Idaho