Strong National Defense
As a Marine Corps infantryman who conducted operations in five countries on three continents, I have seen the necessity of a muscular defense.  However, American military power should only be deployed when a vital U.S. interest is at stake. 
Confronting terrorists on their turf is essential to thwarting attacks on ours.  Thus, a vital national security interest is at stake in Iraq and we must be victorious. 
Victory is achieved when:

1. Iraq is not a safe haven from which terrorists can plot attacks against America, our interests or our allies.
2. The Iraqi security forces can protect their citizens from terrorist thugs and Islamic radicals no longer threaten Iraq's democracy.

Divest Terror
We can help win the War On Terror by using our nation’s considerable financial clout.  If pension plans and other investment vehicles divested from those regimes designated by the State Department as state sponsors of terrorism, we could break the backs of pro-terror regimes without firing a shot.   

Border Security
Fighting them over there while letting them in over here is a deeply flawed policy.  Illegal immigration degrades our national security, public safety, schools and hospitals.  
The illegal immigration problem can efficiently be addressed by attrition. We can encourage illegals to return to their county with my simple but powerful 4 step approach:

1. Deport illegals whenever they are convicted of crimes or discovered by routine law enforcement activity.
2. Prosecute those who hire and enable illegals. 
3. End welfare, in-state tuition, and other benefits to illegals. 
4. Secure the border.

Honoring And Fulfilling Our Promise To Veterans
 Innovative Solutions To Help Veterans: The Department of Veterans Affairs is well meaning, but like all bureaucracies it is ineffective.  I am working on five initiatives that would immediately help veterans without further burdening the VA:

1. There are more than 400,000 veterans waiting in line for medical care because of an enormous backlog at the VA. To fix this, every eligible veteran should be able to use his identification and discharge papers (Form DD-214) and go to any hospital or doctor for treatment and the federal government will reimburse the facility at the same rate as they reimburse for Medicare. Providers that don’t want to participate can take the public relations hit and risk losing their federal funding.
2. Because military service involves a comprehensive education, attaining the rank of Non-Commissioned Officer should entitle veterans to 60 readily transferable credits equivalent to an associates degree.  This would allow them to save thousands of dollars on two years of tuition and dramatically decrease the time it takes to earn a bachelor’s degree.
3. I am assembling a pro bono panel of lawyers to fight for veterans who are discriminated against in employment. 
4. We must require state schools to freeze tuition rates for activated reservists and encourage private institutions to do likewise. 
5. I propose a $5,000 tax deduction for employers who hire a veteran within a year of leaving the military.  

Montrose and Castle Point VA Medical Centers:  Simultaneously sending American servicemen to war while closing VA hospitals is unconscionable.  Montrose and Castle Point are vital to the Veterans of the Hudson Valley.  Both facilities must be maintained and upgraded with the goal of providing state-of-the-art medical treatment for area veterans. 
Mandatory Funding For VA Healthcare: Recently I signed a pledge to support mandatory funding for veteran’s healthcare services as part of Operation Firing For Effect a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots veteran’s service organization.  The current discretionary funding mechanisms for veteran’s healthcare is beset by numerous flaws preventing many veterans from receiving the quality care they earned and deserve.  Mandatory funding would make sure that the bureaucracy and political wrangling over budgets does not keep veterans from getting the healthcare they earned.  That Congress failed to pass mandatory funding last year is a national disgrace.

Support For American Workers & Industry
We must remember that a strong industrial base is not only an economic necessity but a national security imperative. In WWII we armed and equipped a 16 million man army in a matter of months.  Today, it takes years to up-armor a few Humvees. 
I am a member of organized labor and I will fight against the outsourcing of jobs and work to stem the flood of cheap imports that enrich and embolden oppressive and hostile regimes like China while undermining our ability to provide for the common defense. 

China
Our reckless dependence on Chinese-made goods funds a hostile nation in a manner eerily similar to the way our Middle Eastern oil dependence subsidizes terrorist supporting mullahs.  The insatiable appetite for goods made in China has allowed the repressive Chinese government to gobble up stalwart American companies like IBM’s PC division.  The greenbacks we send to Beijing for DVD players, toys, baseballs, shoes, clothes and countless seemingly patriotic items are being used to buy American treasury bills ensuring China a steady stream of interest payments on our debt.  Worse, the Chinese have used our consumer dollars to buy weapons systems that may one day be used in a showdown with the U.S.  As we help fund China’s military, we degrade our ability to field effective weapons systems because our manufacturing base is being gutted by the trade imbalance. 
Some say confrontation with China is unlikely but history is littered with pundits who said it could never happen.  On September 10, 2001 I may have laughed if told that 19 fanatics with box cutters could knock down the Twin Towers, blow a hole in the Pentagon and kill three thousand Americans in a single morning.  Imagine what China could do with its 2.8 million man army - the world's largest - backed by 8,500 tanks, 4,000 fighter planes and a nuclear arsenal. 
For purchasing massive amounts of its goods, China has rewarded the U.S. by illegally devaluing its currency. This devaluation undercuts American production in markets around the world and has cost us approximately 1.8 million jobs nationwide.
In short, I will fight for trade policies that improve U.S. national security and not that of our enemies.  Moreover, I support the Hunter-Ryan Bill, (HR 2942) which would provide sanctions against China for illegal currency manipulations.