Obama Releases Historic Statement of Support for Missile Defense

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Riki Ellison, Chairman and Founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA), www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org, has analyzed the recent statement by President Obama regarding his support of missile defense to the leadership of the United States Senate. Ellison is one of the top lay experts in the field of missile defense in the world. His comments are outlined below:

On Saturday, December 18th, President Barack Obama wrote a letter focused on his support of missile defense to the leadership of the United States Senate, Senator Harry Reid and Senator Mitch McConnell. The letter by the President of the United States of America is the strongest statement in support of missile defense during his time in office and maybe one of the strongest ever by a President of the United States.

The President's concluding paragraph, highlighted below, sends a strong positive message to our nation, our allies and to the world in his commitment to developing and deploying missile defense.

"...As long as I am President, and as long as the Congress provides the necessary funding, the United States will continue to develop and deploy effective missile defenses to protect the United States, our deployed forces, and our allies and partners. My Administration plans to deploy all four phases of the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA). While advances of technology or future changes in the threat could modify the details or timing of the latter phase of the EPAA- one reason this approach is called 'adaptive' – I will take every action available to me to support the deployment of all four phases."

Ellison and his organization strongly support the President's statement on missile defense. With the President's commitment, we look forward to seeing more priority and gaining more confidence on our missile defense systems, making our nation, our troops and our world safer.

SOURCE Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance