Donnelly, Sessions Call for Missile Defense Investments in Letter to President Obama

Indianapolis, Ind. — Today, U.S. Senators Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, sent a letter to President Obama highlighting the importance of investments in U.S. missile defense capabilities and the need to strengthen our partnerships with allies around the world, particularly Israel, as Iran continues to exhibit dangerous missile program activities.

Donnelly and Sessions wrote in the letter, in part:

“In light of Iran’s escalating pattern of ballistic missile tests, we write to express our growing concern about Iran’s destabilizing activities. These events highlight the importance of investments in U.S. missile defense capabilities, as well as our missile defense partnership with Israel.

“In a time of limited resources, we must prioritize investments in U.S. missile defense systems, maintain our long-standing and critical missile defense partnership with Israel, and leverage new partnerships to support our shared security interests.”

Donnelly and Sessions noted specific missile defense programs they see as priorities as the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (NDAA) is debated in the Armed Services Committee and in the full Senate.

Read the full text of the Donnelly-Sessions letter here.