President Bush is committed to keeping the nation strong and secure through strengthening our military, deploying a missile defense system, strengthening the NATO alliance and supporting military families and veterans.

Strengthening Our Military

• President Bush has increased defense spending by more than one-third – the most in a generation.
• President Bush signed into law landmark legislation that better prepares our defense establishment to meet the challenges of the 21st century. A military that was designed for the challenges of the mid-to-late 20th century is being transformed into a lighter, more flexible, more agile, and more lethal force - one better able to deal with new threats to our national security.

Deploying A Missile Defense

• The United States will soon deploy a functioning missile defense system to protect Americans from nuclear threats posed by rogue regimes - and will deploy the first land and sea-based system.
• The United States is acting with the support and cooperation of Australia, Britain, Japan, and other nations to establish a missile defense capability with support sites on multiple continents.

Strengthening NATO

• President Bush has been a leader in transforming NATO to make it effective in the 21st century and the global War on Terror.
• The Alliance commands the International Security Assistance Force (consisting of more than 6,000 troops) that is helping secure and rebuild a free Afghanistan. Afghanistan is NATO's first mission outside of Europe.
• NATO allies are contributing troops to the coalition in Iraq and NATO leaders have agreed to help train Iraq's new security forces.

Supporting Military Families And Veterans

• Since President Bush took office, basic pay for service members has increased by more than 20 percent - and the increase in payments for food and housing combined has reached 50 percent.
• The President's budgets have allowed 2.5 million more veterans to enroll for health care; outpatient visits to increase from 44 million to 54 million; the number of prescriptions filled to increase from 98 million to 116 million; and 194 new community-based clinics to open.

Homeland Security

• President Bush has nearly tripled homeland security discretionary funding.
• More than $18 billion has been awarded to state and local governments to protect the homeland.
• The Bush Administration developed a comprehensive National Strategy for Homeland Security, focused on six key areas: intelligence and warning; border and transportation security; domestic counterterrorism; protecting critical infrastructure; defending against catastrophic threats; and emergency preparedness and response.
• For the first time, the President has made countering and investigating terrorist activity the number one priority for both law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The Bush Administration has transformed the FBI into an agency whose primary mission is to prevent terrorist attacks and increased its budget by 60 percent.