National & Homeland Security

Hillary Rodham Clinton (Democrat)

In a speech Clinton emphasized U.S. financial support for infrastructure and education in unstable countries as a means for minimizing extremism. On the issue of nuclear weapons, Clinton has pointed to legislation that she introduced to convert reactors that utilize highly enriched uranium to low enriched uranium. The Senator has also emphasized building international alliances for addressing terrorism and other national security threats such as pandemics.

John Edwards (Democrat)

Edwards believes that in addition to a strong military, a comprehensive strategy requires strong and creative diplomacy, respect for human rights, and moral leadership.

Rudy Giuliani (Republican)

Giuliani would reform government agencies tasked with protecting the public, including instituting a plan to decentralize the Homeland Security Department and appoint regional directors to coordinate local responses to threats.

Mike Gravel (Democrat)

His platform focuses on the war in Iraq.

Mike Huckabee (Republican)

Huckabee considers his energy plan central to the war on terror. Another focus is curbing illegal immigration.

Duncan Hunter (Republican)

In Congress, Hunter has served as the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee since 2002. Hunter focuses his national security efforts on providing resources during military conflicts and developing modernization initiatives to move new effective technologies into the battlefield. Hunter has been made securing the California-Mexico border a top priority.

Dennis Kucinich (Democrat)

Kucinich frames energy independence as a mechanism for peace, arguing that it would remove Middle East oil interests as strategic and military targets. Kucinich argues that the greatest nuclear threat to Americans comes from "the nuclear industry, not terrorists."

John McCain (Republican)

McCain supports reform in our defense acquisition process to ensure that dollars spent actually contribute to U.S. security. McCain also believes that our nation's military spending, except in time of genuine emergency, must be funded by the regular appropriations process, not by "emergency" supplementals that allow defense to be funded outside the normal budget cycle.

Barack Obama (Democrat)

Obama has said that preventing an avian flu pandemic is one of his national security priorities. He refers to his work with other Senators that provided $4 billion to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to combat avian flu and build a stockpile of antiviral drugs that had been in short supply. Obama also refers to legislation he has introduced that would establish guidelines for tracking, controlling and accounting for spent fuel at nuclear power plants and requiring plants to report radioactive leakage.

Ron Paul (Republican)

Paul would seek to overturn the Patriot Act.

Bill Richardson (Democrat)

Richardson's foreign affairs strategy includes renewing our commitment to international law and multilateral cooperations that address environmental issues, such as leading global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce poverty.

Mitt Romney (Republican)

Romney argues that importing much of our oil from unstable regions of the world threatens our national security.

Fred Thompson (Republican)

Thompson has stated his commitment to a larger, more modern military and intelligence community. His platform includes a long-range ballistic missile defense system.