| Eric's Position on National Security |
I spent 24 years in the Navy, often in hostile conditions, defending our country. Much of my military career was spent in the Middle East. When the Marine barracks in Beirut were bombed in 1983, my roommate from the Naval Academy died inside. In the 1990s, I worked for General Wesley Clark, NATO Commander, who helped settle the conflict in Bosnia. Today, we spend billions of dollars every week in Iraq, on their national security, while much of the work to make America safe is still not done. As we pass each new anniversary of September 11, for example, we should be asking our government, every day, "Whatever happened to Osama bin Laden?"
True national security depends upon far more than just the bombs on the wings of an airplane, or cowboy bluster in front of a TV camera. It comes from a combination of all our national strengths -- military, economic, cultural, and diplomatic. I see several urgent tasks undone -- along with extracting our forces from the unnecessary mess in Iraq -- that I will fight for in Congress.
- Fully implement the 9/11 Commission recommendations, ASAP. Failure to implement our country's best thinking here is simply unacceptable. Senator Max Cleland, a true American hero and patriot, resigned from the Commission in protest over the Administration's and Congress's foot-dragging and resistance.
- Fully fund and equip the military to deal with 21st century threats. We could start lowtech, with things like body armor. But modern threats demand cutting-edge military technology. Cold War era hardware is not suited to tracking down terrorists or countering urban insurgents.
- Launch an "Apollo Project" for U.S. energy independence. Our addiction to foreign oil is the source of some of the greatest problems we face today, and it's hard to see a way to real national security without addressing it. It regularly puts us in situations that require military action because there's oil at stake. See my 'Energy' platform.
- Repair our shredded relationships with other countries, and rebuild our vital international partnerships, for progress in the war on terror. In all of the great victories of the past century, we have been at the center of a broad coalition of international allies: World War II, the Cold War, or even the Persian Gulf War.
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| Blogs |
What a Real Debate about the Troop Escalation Would Look LikeSep 18 by Eric Massa
If one listened to the most interesting portion of the recent Fox News Republican debate, the part where they were debating whether the escalation, aka the "surge," in Iraq is achieving progress or not, there were two sides, both of which essentially failed to realistically present the options available to us. On one side was Ron Paul, who basically said we need to get out of Iraq for our own best interest and not worry much about what we leave behind. The other side was most forcefully represented by Mike Huckabee, who said that since we broke it, it is a matter of honor that we fix Iraq before we leave. Republican spinmeister Frank Luntz declared that Huckabee's comment won in the focus groups.
NY-29: The October Surprise - Democrats and National SecuritySep 27 by Eric Massa
As you can see at my website, MassaforCongress.com, this morning I am attending two breakfasts in Washington, one with Representative Jack Murtha and the other with the Veterans' Alliance for Security and Democracy. I look forward to discussing National Security issues with them. There are many non-Veterans in the Democratic Party, like President Clinton for example, who have made great contributions to discussion of National Security. But I can say with absolute certainty that with the tremendous activity of Veterans like Congressman Murtha, other Veterans, and Veterans-related groups, Democrats are stronger than ever on National Security. To win in November, we have to nationalize the election and make Bush's failures in Afghanistan and Iraq the central issue. We have to emphasize the need for a Democratic Congress to serve as a balance to the President and limit his ability to further endanger our National Security with his misguided agenda and unrelenting ineptitude.
Eric Massa on National Security: A Losing Congress and a Winning HandJuly 16 by Eric Massa
Last week I discussed attempts by the leadership in the Democratic Party to force an open and honest vote on raising the federal minimum wage. In the week that followed we saw several attempts by the leaders of the Democratic party to bring an amendment to the floor of the House to force an open and fair debate on the minimum wage increase. Every time, voting along Party lines, my opponent, Randy Kuhl, joined the Tom Delay legacy and struck the amendment from the potential of floor debate.
To make matters even more vile, my opponent claimed to support raising the minimum wage, then he took the "bold" step of voting for a non-binding motion to instruct (translation: recommend) to the conferees of the Senate and the House that they consider the possibility of raising the minimum wage for jobs covered under a federal jobs training program -- all this while the Congress voted themselves yet another pay increase.
Rumsfeld a National Security Risk:Fighting Dems Eric Massa (NY-29) and Terry Stulce (TN-03)April 30 by Eric Massa
Today Terry Stulce and I are blogging about National Security. We want to begin by mentioning a recent workshop hosted by Congresswoman Jane Harman which we both attended. Most of you are familiar with the Real Security Plan put out by Democratic leaders about a month ago. ( link) But very few of you are familiar with the excellent work Representative Harman has been doing behind the scenes. We want to publicly recognize that effort and offer her our thanks. Terry and I were both very impressed by the quality of the workshop and look forward to future interaction with Representative Harman. Most of you are probably aware of the petition that Jeff Latas and I announced last week calling for the resignation of Secretary Rumsfeld. ( link) Please go and sign the The Petition for Rumsfeld's Resignation. Note the large number of Fighting Dem Vet candidates who have signed the Petition calling for his resignation.
Fighting Dems Say Rumsfeld Must Go: A Call to ActionApril 23 by Eric Massa
Today Jeff Latas and I are announcing the call by the Fighting Dem Vets running for Congress in November demanding the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The Band of Brothers and Sisters is endorsing this document individually and now we are urging all Fighting Dems, vets and non-vets alike, to join us in signing this petition. This is also a call to all the netroots to join us in a call for Rumsfeld's resignation. We believe that it is our patriotic duty to speak out against Secretary Rumsfeld and we stand with and will defend the six generals who have called for Secretary Rumsfeld's resignation -- seven if you count the recent statements in an interview by General Wesley Clark (as did Reuters), former Supreme Commander of NATO and my friend and former boss. Please go and sign the petition here. In addition to asking you to sign the petition, we ask that you call and write your elected officials and write letters to the editor about Secretary Rumsfeld and the criticisms leveled against him. You are free to use any information provided in this diary to bolster your arguments in these vital endeavors.
Fighting Dems, National Security, Netroots and Party UnityApril 2 by Eric Massa
First, I want to say thank you to those responsible for making me a netroots endorsed candidate. It is a great honor and I am grateful to Markos, Matt Stoller, Chris Bowers, and DavidNYC and others who have worked behind the scenes on my behalf. I am also grateful for the boost during our recent end of the quarter fundraiser that helped us meet and surpass our goal. Without the help of our netroots friends that would not have been possible. The netroots have shown that the can step up to the plate and aid candidates where many national PACs and organizations have failed to do so. Thank you all very much.
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