National security is key to protecting the US

Protecting our nation from those who would do us harm is the first and most important responsibility of Congress. That means supporting our military with top notch state-of-the-art military equipment, weapons, and gear as well as treating them with the respect they deserve when they serve and when they return home. Protecting America and democracies also means both quickly and correctly assessing conflicts around the world and deciding how best to respond either diplomatically or militarily, or with a combination of appropriate and effective responses.

In an increasingly interconnected global economy with rapid advances in technology, America also faces new kinds of threats to our security—cyberattacks and disinformation operations, malign foreign influence campaigns, and coordinated efforts to damage our economy and harm our democracy.

As we vigilantly work to deter aggressive actions from hostile nations and prevent terrorist networks intent on harming our country, we must recognize that foreign adversaries seeking to sow distrust of our democratic process are also a threat to our national security.

In recent years, we have seen cybersecurity breaches affecting our government, our businesses, and our citizens, and we need to better defend our information systems against these assaults. We also need to better protect our critical infrastructure, intellectual property, and the integrity of our elections. Domestic-based strategic security efforts are especially crucial to preventing both foreign and domestic terrorist ideologies from developing and spreading here at home.

We also need to strengthen both our economic security—including critical domestic manufacturing—and our energy security. We need to increase our capacity to respond to domestic emergencies and disasters, including those caused by climate change, and limit vulnerabilities within our borders, ports, and transportation infrastructure.