A nation must think before it acts.
The smashing Republican victory in the 1994 congressional elections has once again made defense a major focus of national debate. Virtually all of the newly elected Republican members of the House of Representatives subscribed to the “Contract with America,” which advocated a strong defense posture generally and a revitalized ballistic-missile defense program and increased personnel compensation in particular. With the administration admitting to a $40 billion shortfall in its own modest projected defense program, and with the actual level of that shortfall probably closer to $200 billion, however, the challenge for Republican lawmakers to make good on their promise is nothing less than daunting.