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On the Issues
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Security
For the latest developments on Senator Lieberman's work on security issues, click here.
To learn about Senator Lieberman's commitment to success in Iraq and the global war on terror, click here. Military Construction. In 2005, Senator Lieberman was successful in leading the Connecticut delegation's efforts to oppose the closure of Submarine Base New London as part of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. Since then, Senator Lieberman has worked to extend the base's mission to make it the nation's undersea warfare center of excellence, which he believes will protect the base from future closure attempts. In the 2009 Defense Authorization bill, he secured key funding to continue development of this important base, including $46 million for the replacement of Pier 31 and $11 million for an indoor small arms range. Senator Lieberman was also able to secure other Connecticut military construction projects, including $28 million for the Camp Rell Regional Training Institute and $13.8 million for a known distance range at East Haven. Submarine Support. Senator Lieberman has fought aggressively for submarine funding as a member of the Senate Armed Services committee. Most recently, in the Senate's version of the 2009 Defense Authorization bill, Senator Lieberman secured $79 million in additional funding for multiyear procurement authority to permit advance construction of Virginia-class submarines. This funding will smooth Electric Boat's workload until production of Virginia-class submarines increases to two per year in 2011. He was also able to secure an addition of $15 million to start the design of the Navy's next-generation ballistic missile submarine, which will replace the current fleet of Ohio-class submarines. This funding, along with $10 million that the Navy plans to invest, is a significant step in protecting the critical submarine design capabilities until full design activities commence. The inclusion of these two provisions will protect workers' jobs on the waterfront until current submarine production increases, and will protect the designers by accelerating work to replace the Ohio-class submarine. Senator Lieberman believes that submarine production in the United States must be increased to at least two boats a year and the advanced procurement funding will assist greatly in this effort. He continues to work with the other members of the Connecticut Congressional delegation to secure the advance funding necessary for the acceleration of submarine production. Connecticut defense industry. Senator Lieberman is a persistent advocate for the continued success of the Connecticut defense industry. In the Senate version of the 2009 Defense Authorization bill, Senator Lieberman secured $98 million for next-generation, high-altitude, precision surveillance and targeting radar (MP-RTIP) for the Joint STARS aircraft. This radar, which is produced in Norwalk, directly addresses a primary concern of intelligence and surveillance requirements being reported in Iraq and Afghanistan. Senator Lieberman also helped secure funding for the production of 112 helicopters by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. Senator Lieberman also encouraged the innovative advances by smaller Connecticut defense firms, and has provided funding authorization for important technological advances at companies such as Ensign Bickford (Simsbury) and Timken (Manchester). Connecticut remains the national leader in developing important fuel cell technologies that have both defense and commercial applications that will help the United States reduce its dependency on foreign oil. Click here to read the Connecticut defense projects that Senator Lieberman is working to secure funding for in 2009. Military Healthcare. Senator Lieberman has continued to introduce legislation to improve the mental health care of service members. He was pleased to see the success of the Wounded Warriors Act of 2007, which established Centers of Excellence within the DoD to research and guide the development and implementation of comprehensive strategies to prevent, identify, and treat combat-related mental health conditions, emphasizing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries. These centers are being developed with the intent to develop, identify, and disseminate best practices for treatment of combat-related mental health conditions and brain injuries and develop measures to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health illnesses. Senator Lieberman also introduced the Armed Forces Mental Health Professional Recruitment and Retention Enhancement Act of 2008. Many of the provisions of this bill were included in the 2009 Defense Authorization bill, including a multi-year retention bonus for uniformed psychologists and an accession bonus for psychologists. These provisions will assist the military in recruiting the uniformed mental health care providers that are direly needed. Anti-Torture Policy. Senator Lieberman has consistently opposed the cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment of those in the custody or under the physical control of the United States . He strongly supported Senator McCain's amendment, which prohibited the "cruel, inhuman, or degrading" punishment of anyone-including detainees-held in custody by the U.S. government. Senator Lieberman was deeply disturbed by the events that took place at Abu Ghraib, and participated in several Senate Armed Services committee hearings where testimony was taken from a variety of Defense Department officials regarding the Abu Ghraib prison and actions taken there. Military Modernization. Senator Lieberman has been a principal architect in Congress of the ongoing military transformation movement, to make sure that America's armed forces are properly sized, structured, and equipped to effectively respond to the new threats of the new century. As Chairman of the Airland subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee, he has held numerous hearings to receive testimony on military modernization. He has been a key supporter of the Army's Future Combat Systems, the Army's most important modernization program. He also was a primary supporter in convincing the Army to place more funding in the Land Warrior program. This system combines computers, navigation modules, radios and other advanced equipment to increase the lethality, connectivity and most importantly the survivability of dismounted troops. Senator Lieberman continues to support the end strength increase for both the Army and the Marine Corps. He recognizes that previous cuts in troop numbers went too far and that this increase in necessary to reduce the current strain on our service members. He believes that more funding for military education, including foreign language and cultural training, will insure that the United States maintains the strongest and most advanced analytical fighting force in the world.
Taking a Stand to Prevent Genocide. In Darfur . Senator Lieberman believes that stopping the genocide in Darfur is a crucial test for the United States and other like-minded nations, stating, "If we fail to do more to prevent the death and suffering of millions of vulnerable and isolated people, we are turning our backs on the fundamental humanitarian values of our societies, and forgetting the lessons of our history." On December 31, 2007, the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) jointly assumed control of the peacekeeping mission in Darfur. This hybrid mission is a critical step that Senator Lieberman has fought for in the Senate for some time. Unfortunately, to date, it has brought little relief. While the UN Security Council authorized over 26,000 peacekeepers to Darfur, only several hundred peacekeepers have been deployed to the region to augment the 7,000 AU peacekeepers already in place. The international community has also failed to contribute key tactical elements of the force, including 24 helicopters that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has termed indispensable to the peacekeeping mission. Without these helicopters, the mission lacks the necessary mobility to patrol large areas of land, especially over terrain where roads are the exception. That is why Senator Lieberman cosponsored S. Res. 432, which was introduced by Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) in January 2008. This resolution calls on members of the international community, including the United States, to fill this critical gap in equipping the peacekeeping mission by providing the necessary utility and tactical aerial vehicles. This resolution also urges the President to personally contact other heads of state to ensure that this commitment is met. Unfortunately, the conflict in Darfur has also spilled beyond its borders, with the Sudanese government sponsoring internal rebellions against the neighboring governments of Chad and the Central African Republic. It has also resulted in the displacement of more than two million Sudanese civilians, generating a humanitarian refugee crisis throughout the region. Because of this regional dimension of the Darfur crisis, Senator Lieberman recently joined with his colleagues in the Senate to cosponsor S.Res. 470, which calls on the relevant governments and responsible international stakeholders in Chad, the Central African Republic, and Sudan, to adopt a negotiated solution to these cross-border conflicts. With Senator Lieberman's support, Congress included emergency supplemental funding in the omnibus fiscal year 2008 appropriations bill, which was signed into law by President Bush on December 26, 2007 (P.L. 110-161). Approximately $1 billion will be appropriated to Sudan in total, of which $209 million is for critical humanitarian and peacekeeping programs in Darfur and $550 million is to support the UN mission to Darfur. The Bush Administration also reported its intention to allocate $390 million in Contributions to International Peacekeeping (CIPA) funds for Darfur. Senator Lieberman was pleased to see on May 29, 2007 that the Bush Administration announced implementation of its long awaited "Plan B" sanctions on Sudan. Those new sanctions are summarized in a May 29th, 2007 fact sheet. Senator Lieberman signed on as an original cosponsor on the Sudan Divestment Authorization Act (S. 831), which was introduced by Senator Durbin and a bipartisan group of senators on March 8, 2007. This important legislation would authorize States and local governments to prohibit the investment of State assets in any company that has a qualifying business relationship with Sudan. Senator Lieberman and many other Senators interested in exercising the strongest possible U.S. leadership to improve the humanitarian situation for civilians in Darfur attended a bipartisan closed briefing on Sudan with Special Envoy Natsios on February 8, 2007, which was hosted by Senator Feingold. Earlier on February 8, Ambassador Natsios testified at a public hearing in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, convened by HFAC Chairman Tom Lantos, on the subject of "The Escalating Crisis in Darfur: Are There Any Prospects for Peace?" Read Chairman Lantos' remarks or view a full web cast of the hearing. On April 11th, 2007, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing entitled "Darfur; A 'Plan B' to Stop Genocide." Click here to learn more about the hearing and its findings. Senator Lieberman also signed on as a cosponsor to S. Res. 76, introduced on February 8, 2007 by Senators Feingold, Sununu, Levin and others. The resolution calls on the U.S. government and the international community to develop, fund, and implement a regional strategy to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian operations in Chad, the Central African Republic and Darfur, Sudan. That measure was adopted by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in March, and awaits consideration by the full Senate. Senator Lieberman has long urged President Bush and Secretary of State Rice to accelerate and intensify the U.S. administration's efforts to stop the genocide in Darfur. In July 2006, he initiated Senate Resolution 531 to urge the President to appoint a Special Presidential Envoy for Sudan and take other steps to increase U.S. engagement. That resolution gained support from 26 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle in the Senate. Thanks in large measure to significant public and congressional pressure behind the initiative, the President named a Special Presidential Envoy on September 19, 2006. In 2004, the Senator co-sponsored bipartisan legislation that first identified the brutal actions of the Janjaweed militia in Darfur as genocide, and he was pleased to see the Bush Administration follow the lead of the Congress in that designation shortly thereafter. At the February 2006 Munich Security Conference, attended by influential leaders throughout the world, Senator Lieberman called for a stepped up NATO role in bolstering the existing African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS). In addition, he co-sponsored, with Senators Brownback (R-KS), Durbin (D-IL) and others, an early version of the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act (DPAA), which would block the assets of and deny visas to those who committed the genocide in Darfur; deny the Government of Sudan access to oil revenues should it fail to live up to past agreements; and enhance U.S. and NATO assistance to the African Union peacekeeping force, which should now be succeeded by a robust United Nations force. The Senator is pleased that an updated version of the DPAA passed both houses of Congress in September 2006 and was signed into law in October 2006 as Public Law 109-344. Senator Lieberman, in collaboration with a broad bi-partisan coalition of his colleagues, has long championed legislation encouraging an equitable peace in Sudan. For example, he helped pass the Sudan Peace Act of 1999 with Senators Bill Frist (R-TN), Brownback and Russ Feingold (D-WI) and other legislation to hold accountable those perpetrating violence and impeding the peace process. Bosnia and Kosovo. Senator Lieberman was at the forefront of U.S. efforts in the 1990s to stop genocide in the Balkans. In 1995, as the slaughter of Muslims in Bosnia expanded, Senator Bob Dole (R-KS) and Senator Lieberman moved legislation that helped spur the Clinton Administration to conduct intensive peace negotiations, which culminated in the Dayton Accords. In 1998, Senator Lieberman was a vocal advocate of U.S. military intervention to stop the slaughter of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. He joined Senator John McCain (R-AZ) in sponsoring a resolution authorizing the use of force against Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosovic, which was undertaken successfully by U.S. and NATO militaries. NATO Enlargement and Transformation. Senator Lieberman was the Democratic co-leader in February 2002 of the large, bipartisan, Senate-House delegation to the prestigious 38th annual Munich Conference on Security Policy (Wehrkunde). He urged European partners to close the growing gap between American and European expenditures on defense and readiness. He was also the principal cosponsor of legislation urging the expansion of NATO to include several former Soviet satellites and republics. In November 2002, this vision was partially actualized when seven former Communist states were officially invited to join the Alliance : Bulgaria, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia, and Slovakia. Democracy, Religious Freedom and Human Rights. Advance Democracy. Senator Lieberman believes that the world must know that the United States stands with those who struggle for freedom and democracy. In August 2007, President Bush signed into law the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act (P.L. 110-53) which included provisions of Senator Lieberman's ADVANCE Democracy Act. The ADVANCE Democracy Act requires the U.S. State Department to develop new strategies for the promotion of democracy in all countries that are currently non-democratic or transitioning to democracy. The Act also creates a new State Department Office for Multilateral Democracy Promotion and a Democracy Fellowship Program that will enable State Department officers to gain democracy promotion expertise. These strategies will help ensure that America's democracy promotion efforts are carefully tailored to the unique, long-term challenges presented by each country, and that they are focused on more than just holding elections, but on building democratic institutions and fostering democratic values. Senator Lieberman has sponsored numerous resolutions calling for democratic reform throughout the world. In 2007, he introduced a resolution calling for U.S. support for an independent Kosovo (S. Res. 135). He also supported a resolution expressing support for democratic forces in Serbia and encouraging the people of Serbia to remain committed to a democratic path (S. Res. 31), which the Senate unanimously agreed to. In May 2006, he cosponsored a resolution encouraging democracy and development in Haiti (S. Res. 476) agreed to by the Senate. Senator Lieberman has frequently teamed up with Senator McCain to advocate against the erosion of freedom in Russia and for the expansion of freedom in other nations that comprised the former Soviet Union. The team has criticized the Russian Duma's legislation to severely restrict non-governmental organizations in S.Res. 339, which passed the Senate on December 12, 2005. Senators Lieberman and McCain also urged G-7 leaders to vigorously protest President Putin's stifling of democracy in Russia and neighboring states at the July 2006 G-8 Summit in St. Petersburg. The senators called for free and fair elections in Kazakhstan in October 2005 (S.Res. 293). Religious Freedom and Human Rights. Senator Lieberman is a vocal supporter of human rights around the world. Senator Lieberman has cosponsored many measures on Burma, including the Saffron Revolution Support Act (S. 2172) in 2007. To read the Senator's op-ed on how American power can help bring peace to Burma, please click here. Senator Lieberman cosponsored S.Res. 320 in early 2006, highlighting the need for U.S. foreign policy to promote understanding of and sensitivity to the Armenian Genocide. Also in 2006, the Senator sponsored S.Res. 469, condemning the beating and intimidation of Cuban dissident Martha Beatriz Roque. In 1998, Senator Lieberman was the lead Democratic sponsor of legislation (International Religious Freedom Act; P.L. 105-292) passed by Congress to establish a commission that is charged with examining the state of religious freedom, and reporting on countries that are violators. He has also filed legislation regarding human rights practices in Central Asia. Refugees. Senator Lieberman seeks to protect the most vulnerable, and therefore has supported many legislative efforts to aid refugees. In this 110th Congress, he is an original cosponsor of S. 1651, a bill that would assist Iraqis who have worked directly with, or are threatened by their association with, the United States government. This bill would expand on another measure he cosponsored (S. 1104), which was passed unanimously by the Senate and signed into law by President Bush in 2007 (P.L. 110-36), which increased the number of Iraqi and Afghan translators and interpreters who may be admitted to the United States as special immigrants. During the U.S. Senate's debate on comprehensive immigration reform (S. 1348) in June of 2007, the Senator introduced an amendment (S.Amdt. 1191) to improve our nation's treatment of asylum seekers - those who come to this country seeking refuge from persecution based on their race, religion, or political convictions. In June 2005, Senator Lieberman cosponsored Senator Kennedy's S.Res. 177, a resolution encouraging protection of the rights of refugees. International human trafficking. Human trafficking for the purposes of forced labor, prostitution, or other forms of exploitation is a criminal activity and a severe human rights violation that is of great concern to Senator Lieberman. Human trafficking is also one of the leading criminal enterprises of the early 21st century, affecting every country around the globe. Official U.S. estimates are that some 2 to 4 million people are trafficked across borders and within countries each year. However, there are even higher estimates, ranging from 4 to 27 million, for the total number of forced laborers around the world. No human being should be victimized in this way; and human trafficking should be condemned, prohibited, and combated with the full force of American foreign policy. In the 110th Congress, as Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Senator Lieberman cosponsored and strongly supported the Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act, which was signed into law by President Bush on August 3, 2007 (P.L. 110-53). This law directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to provide specified funding and administrative support to strengthen the U.S. Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center. Furthermore, he is pleased that the Bush Administration has requested $30.7 million for trafficking and migrant smuggling programs to be carried out by the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in fiscal year 2008. In 2006, Senator Lieberman cosponsored the Violence Against Women Act (S. 1197), which President Bush signed into law on January 5, 2006 (P.L. 109-162). This law increases protections for victims of sex trafficking and provides access to legal services for certain aliens who are victims of sexual assault or trafficking in the United States. In 2004, he cosponsored the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (S. 2845) which was signed into law by President Bush on December 17, 2004 (P.L. 108-458). This law established a Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center to be jointly operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. Department of Justice. It also requires that the center serve as a clearinghouse for federal agency information in support of American efforts to combat terrorist travel, migrant smuggling, and human trafficking. Fighting Global Poverty. Senator Lieberman has long supported sensible debt cancellation measures that enable impoverished nations to redirect savings to important poverty-fighting measures. He believes debt cancellation is an essential component of the US development assistance strategy and a required component to facilitate achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. To that end, he is a sponsor of the Jubilee Act of 2007 (S. 2166), which would make up to 25 additional impoverished countries eligible for debt cancellation by the US, World Bank, and IMF, beyond those are already eligible for the World Bank/IMF's Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. To prevent a continual and wasteful debt/forgiveness cycle, the Act would establish a framework for responsible lending in the future. Iran. The United States faces many challenges in its relations with the Government of Iran, arising from Tehran's support for extremists and insurgents across the Middle East, including Iraq, as well at its global sponsorship of terrorism and its continuing efforts to develop nuclear weapons. However, there is no single, simple answer to the threat posed by Iran. Rather, Senator Lieberman believes U.S. policy toward Iran needs to pursue several tracks simultaneously. First, Senator Lieberman believes that the United States must continue to work with its friends and allies in the world to isolate Iran diplomatically and economically. This should include consideration of new targeted sanctions by the UN Security Council, as well as nongovernmental efforts to convince major multinational companies to divest from Iran - in particular, its energy sector. We should also take action to ensure that Iran cannot use the international financial system to fund terrorism or develop weapons of mass destruction. Second, the Senator believes that the U.S. government has an obligation to engage in a more vigorous, sustained, and effective outreach to the Iranian people, who are ultimately our most important allies in the struggle against the fanatical and repressive regime in Tehran. The Iranian government is deeply unpopular with the Iranian people because of its human rights abuses, endemic corruption, and restriction of political and cultural freedoms. Consequently, the Senator strongly believes the United States should provide both moral and financial support to peaceful, pro-democracy dissidents inside Iran, much as we did for dissidents behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. Third, Senator Lieberman believes that the United States must use all instruments at our disposal to deter Iran from supporting proxies who are killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq, including holding open the possibility of limited air strikes against the Iranian bases that are being used as staging areas for insurgents. Military action of any kind should be a choice of last resort, undertaken reluctantly, and after diplomatic approaches have been fully exhausted. Nonetheless, the Senator believes that diplomacy is more likely to succeed when it is backed with a credible threat of force. Congress has an important role to play in developing U.S. policy toward Iran. In September 2007, the Senate adopted an amendment authored by Senator Lieberman and Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) that calls on the U.S. government to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. This measure was proposed in response to growing evidence of the IRGC's role in sponsoring terrorist attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq. By designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization, the U.S. government will be able to put new economic pressures on European and Asian companies that do business with the IRGC, which - in addition to its terrorist activities - also has a sprawling, shadow financial empire. The Kyl-Lieberman amendment was adopted as an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill (S. Amdt. 3017 to H.R. 1585) by a vote of 76 to 22, thus sending a clear message to Iran that the United States will not tolerate any interference to progress in Iraq. In early September 2007, the Senate unanimously passed an amendment offered by Senator Lieberman with Senators Brownback (R-KS), Kyl (R-AZ), Graham (R-SC), Coleman (R-MN), and Collins (R-ME), to provide critical support for dissidents and democrats inside Iran (S.Amdt. 2691 to H.R. 2764). This amendment restores the Bush administration's original request in the fiscal year 2008 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill for $75 million, which had been cut to $25 million by the Senate Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs earlier this year. At a time when the Iranian regime is doing everything in its power to roll back dissidents and democrats, this restoration of funds allows Congress to send a powerful signal that we stand with the Iranian people in their struggle for freedom. In July 2007, the Senate voted 97-0 to adopt an amendment (S.Amdt. 2073) that Senator Lieberman offered to the Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1585), which will require a regular report to Congress on Iran's proxy attacks against American troops in Iraq. This unanimous vote shows the Iranian government that whatever differences divide us politically here in Washington, we stand united against the attacks they have sponsored on our soldiers. To read more about Senator Lieberman's positions on Iran, click here. Middle East Peace.Senator Lieberman supports a negotiated two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians. However, he recognizes that a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority precludes such an outcome without a clear recognition of Israel , renunciation of violence, and adherence to prior international agreements. Thus, Senator Lieberman is an original cosponsor of the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006 (S.2370) that will carefully restrict U.S. funding to the Palestinian Authority. The bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent on June 23.
Homeland Security. As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Senator Lieberman has worked assiduously to oversee the Department of Homeland Security and ensure that first responders and preventers are provided with the resources they need to do their jobs. For more information on Senator Lieberman's work on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee click here or to visit the committee's web site, click here.
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Senator Lieberman is recognized as one of the nation's leading statesmen and military experts, providing strong, principled and far-sighted leadership in defending our national security at home and abroad. He led efforts in the Senate to protect our homeland from terrorist attack, to reform the intelligence community so that 15 different agencies work in concert with one another, to support our armed forces and modernize our military, to confront dictators, and to fight for human rights and democracy worldwide.