“Thirty years following President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) speech, the United States still does not have a comprehensive ballistic missile defense system. While the geopolitical landscape has changed in the interim, the threat from ballistic missiles has continued to grow. Now more than ever, the United States needs a comprehensive ballistic missile defense system.
Join us as our distinguished guests discuss the importance of SDI then, its relevance for today’s missile defense programs, and the importance of missile defenses for U.S. national security in the light of today’s diverse challenges.
Agenda
10:00 a.m. – Panel Discussion
Ambassador Henry Cooper, Former Director, Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, George H.W. Bush Administration
Sven Kraemer, Ph.D., Former Director of Arms Control, National Security Council
Lee Edwards, Ph.D., Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought, The Heritage Foundation
Kim R. Holmes, Ph.D., Distinguished Fellow, The Heritage Foundation (Host/Moderator)
11:00 a.m. – Keynote Address
The Honorable Mike Rogers (AL-3), Chairman, Strategic Forces Subcommittee, House Armed Services Committee
12:00 p.m. – Panel Discussion
Baker Spring, F.M. Kirby Research Fellow in National Security Policy, The Heritage Foundation
General Henry A. “Trey” Obering, Former Director, Missile Defense Agency Ambassador
Robert Joseph, Senior Scholar, National Institute for Public Policy, and former Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security
Jeff Kueter, President, The George C. Marshall Institute (Moderator)”
Reagan
Actual Speech:
Address to the Nation on National Security By President Ronald Reagan, March 23, 1983