Will Democrats Provide for the Common Anti-Missile Defense?

“Our goal is simple: To be sure we can detect and destroy any missile launched against the United States, anywhere, any time, and any place.”

With those words, Donald Trump yesterday established a goal as ambitious, transformative and strategically important as any presidential declaration since John Kennedy sent men to the moon.

The imperative behind Mr. Trump’s initiative is compelling. Today, Russia and China are putting in place hypersonic, maneuvering and cruise missile threats against which we currently have no effective defense. Inevitably, in due course, other enemies will as well.

In recent years, bipartisan majorities in Congress have recognized the need to deploy the sorts of advanced and space-based anti-missile systems required to counter such threats. We all must pray that the new Democratic House majority will agree to continue in such ways to provide for the common defense.