Schatz co-introduces missile defense bill

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz is joining U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, an Alaska Republican, in introducing a bipartisan bill that would strengthen the United States’ missile defenses against North Korea.

The Integrated Missile Defense Act of 2018, which builds upon the bipartisan Advancing America’s Missile Defense Act of 2017, is intended to further strengthen and integrate our nation’s missile defenses, according to the sponsors.

Thursday’s announcement came less than a week before the historic scheduled meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore.

“When it comes to North Korea, we can hope for the best while still planning for the worst,” said Schatz in a statement released Thursday. “I strongly support diplomacy, but in the meantime, this bill beefs up our missile defense system and protects Hawaii, Alaska, and the U.S. mainland from rogue missile threats. It also speeds up our efforts to protect U.S. forces and allies in the region by improving our ability to detect, track, discriminate, and intercept increasingly sophisticated future missile threats.”

Sullivan said the bill “finally authorizes the full development and deployment of a space-based sensor layer.”

In addition, Sullivan said, the bill would better align missile defenses with the 2018 National Defense Strategy, allow quicker actions against future threats, better integrate missile defense systems and promote improved collaboration with allies and partners on missile defense strategies.