Dear Members and Friends,.

North Korea has completed the stacking of its long-range ballistic missile, scheduled to launch as early as Thursday this week, and now awaits only the liquid fueling. Recent satellite images show North Korea is digging a new underground tunnel in preparation for its third nuclear test. The excavation is at North Korea’s northeast Punggye-ri nuclear site in Kilju, where nuclear tests were conducted in 2006 and 2009.

This is an unprecedented demonstration to the world of the will of a nuclear rogue country. North Korea’s resolve to obtain long range ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons has led to a disregard of United States diplomatic efforts, sanctions, threats, incentives and agreements as well as substantial international pressure by countries including China, Russia, Japan and South Korea.

With a successful long range ballistic missile, a nuclear North Korea means to expand their power beyond their immediate region of influence and seek to have a capability to directly threaten the United States. There is no doubt that Iran and others are closely watching this demonstration of a rouge country that is much poorer, less developed, less educated than Iran and is not being denied nuclear weapon development and long-range ballistic missile weaponry.

This North Korean demonstration of failed United States diplomacy and the global ramifications from their actions clearly defines the requirement of the United States of America to further increase development, deployment and evolution of a robust missile defense system to protect our country, our population and our way of life from rouge countries like North Korea and Iran that are seeking to defy the United States and the international community.

What our nation has in place today with missile defense is not sufficient and must improve.