The Republican Convention at Madison Square Garden, New York City

MDAA advocated on behalf of the American people at the Republican National Convention. MDAA continues to be the voice of the American public as we communicated our nation’s position on missile defense to delegates, opinion leaders, and engaged the Republican leadership on public safety.

The Republican national and homeland security platform for the 2004 presidential campaign as stated by the President of the United States in New York is as follows:

Determination to protect the homeland by:

increasing funding & training
transformation of the military and intelligence services
taking the offensive against terrorism

Vice President Cheney’s acceptance speech in New York also made it clear that nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists is the biggest threat this country faces today and that we must do everything we can to prevent it.

Missile defense was and will be integrated in President Bush’s and Vice President Cheney’s vision for our country in the future. These major missile defense initiatives occurred in their first term:

– decision to withdraw from the ABM treaty to defend against the proliferation of nuclear weapons with the ballistic capability to strike the United States
– decision to deploy a missile defense system and offer initial protection to the homeland
– decision to annually authorize and appropriate significant funds towards missile defense consistently throughout the past four years