Defense
![Army tank and soldiers Army tank and soldiers](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20121108041319im_/http://pitts.house.gov/sites/pitts.house.gov/files/styles/section_front_boilerplate/public/defense.jpg)
The issue of Defense is important to our district and to my work in Congress.
Our government has no greater duty than to protect the American people. Americans are used to pluralism and democracy, but many parts of the world are still ruled by tyrants and driven by religious and racial hatred. Some of that hatred is directed toward us. September 11, 2001, showed us that we are vulnerable to attack at home in a way we haven’t experienced before.
Effective and sincere diplomacy must be coupled with a firm willingness to defend our interests and to fan the flames of freedom in even the darkest corners of the world. I am a combat veteran of the Vietnam War. I know the price our fighting men and women are paying to defend us and what we believe. Freedom is not free.