Cole: Protecting All of Our Borders

By Congressman Tom Cole

Every day, our nation faces new threats from enemies at home and abroad, and we rely on our government to identify and deter these threats before they come to fruition. How strongly we respond to these threats is up to our nation’s leaders – particularly our Commander in Chief. The past fifteen years have seen some of the most unbelievable acts of terror, and some of the biggest changes to our country’s national defense and foreign policy in modern history. And in these dangerous times we cannot lead from behind, we cannot turn a blind eye to the realities of the world and we cannot ignore our unique role in securing the peace.

In order to protect our homeland it is necessary that we fight the enemy before they reach our shores. Today, we need to protect every border we have – from our physical borders to our technological borders. And in order to do so, we must be prepared. Our country and its leaders need to take significant steps to ensure that every tool and resource we have at our disposal is efficient, effective and strong. And one of the first steps we should take is to reassure our allies that our relations and mutual interests are solid. America has historically been the chief defender of democratic values and free enterprise. We should never concede this position because we have leaders who are afraid to confront our enemies or defend our friends.

Too often our current President has taken a different approach. From casting aside long-standing allies like Israel in favor of state sponsors of terrorism like Iran to allowing Russian expansion across Eastern Europe to go unchecked, and allowing ISIS, to commit unspeakable atrocities across the world, President Obama has caused many to question the United States’ historical commitment to global peace and stability.

The threat of terrorism looms over our world in many different forms. One of the latest battle fronts is technology. Through the internet, our enemies have the ability to infiltrate online systems and radicalize young and impressionable minds. This double edged sword provides us with the tools necessary to help identify and thwart acts of terror before they happen, but it also provides those who wish to do us harm the portal into our homes and minds of our youth. It is critical that we check this newest technology with one of the oldest in time, attentive and involved parents. Specifically parents who keep tabs on their children’s on line activities to make sure they are not involved with people or organizations, who wish them, or our nation, harm.

The United States of America has occupied a central role in the freedom of man since our revolution and Declaration of Independence in 1776. And we have shouldered the burden of ensuring that freedom since our central role in defeating the Nazis and Imperial Japan in WW II and the Communists in the Cold War. Without a doubt, it has been a heavy burden and Americans have paid disproportionately in lives and treasure to ensure peace and freedom, not only for ourselves, but for countless others of our fellow men around the world.

In troubling times like these, Americans need to be confident that their leaders will take up the historic mantle that has fallen upon our ancestors who fought tyranny and oppression in the decades and centuries that preceded us. While the foes and the technologies they employ have evolved and changed, the principles upon which our nation was founded and upon which it stands tall today, remain timeless. Let us remain vigilant in protecting all of the boundaries that make these great United States.