U.S. in Hundred Years War?

By Karen Middleton
karen@athensnews-courier.com

January 19, 2008 09:46 pm

— Is there another Hundred Years War in the offing?
U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, said Saturday, “We will be in a struggle with the Islamic world for the next 100 years.”
Shelby delivered his remarks at the Athens Senior Center during his 22nd annual town hall meeting here.
“I will not say that Afghanistan or Iraq is stable, but they are more stable than last year,” Shelby said. “I will never vote to cut funding from troops in harm’s way, but when we get into a conflict it should be with a view to the end game. It would have been best if we would have gotten out six months later, but we didn’t. Now, we’re fighting back.”
Shelby, who serves as a member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations and the Subcommittee on Defense, said the U.S. must be strong both militarily and economically to stay the course. He displayed a graph showing that 18.5 percent of the $2.6 trillion budget goes to defense.
“We’re squeezed on our abilities, but of No. 1 importance is our security—to protect our people,” he said.
Shelby recently wrote on his Web site that, “…we must remember there are limits to what our military can do and remain deeply concerned about the Iraqis meeting their responsibility. I firmly believe the Iraqi government must do more to beef up its police force and military presence.”

Alabama economy
Shelby praised North Alabama’s economy, saying much of its fortunes are tied to Marshall Space Flight Center which has a $5.6 billion impact on the local economy.
“Right now, we’re putting up a building that is one-sixth the size of the Pentagon on Redstone,” said Shelby of new construction to accommodate the BRAC moves.
“We’re also building a big ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) presence on Redstone. It would be a $100 million facility in bomb analysis. We’re trying to bring that center here. It would mean lots of jobs both for the FBI and ATF.”

Immigration
“When they talk about immigration reform they’re talking about amnesty,” said Shelby, who voted last year against Senate Bill 1639 because it contained a four-year renewable “Z” non-immigrant visa in which any immigrant illegally in the U.S. before Jan. 1, 2007, would have been eligible to apply, which Shelby says is another way of saying amnesty. “I have voted for the toughest immigration bills to come before the Senate. There are 3 billion people trying to come to America, but we can’t handle that many people.”
A member of the audience asked the senator what was wrong with existing laws.
“There are laws on the books but they haven’t been enforced,” said Shelby. “Until 1965 we protected our borders, but Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society loosened all that up and we’ve been going down hill ever since.”
Silver-Haired Legislator Jerry Hill told the senator that he is for tougher federal laws, rather than leaving it to each state.
“There are a lot of western states that have tougher laws,” said Hill. “And it’s pushing illegal immigrants to the center of America. When will the federal government set laws and not the states?”
Shelby said on the matter of immigration the federal government has “abdicated responsibility to states.”
“That is sad,” said Shelby. “Both the Republicans and the Democrats say that if they vote for tough legislation it will make some of their constituents mad. They are afraid of losing the Hispanic vote, but they must vote for leadership and I am dubious we’re going to get that out of either party in this race, to be honest.

Local crime
District Attorney Kristi Valls thanked Shelby on behalf of the Alabama District Attorneys Association for his support of appropriations to fight methamphetamine production in the state.
“I didn’t do this just for Alabama,” said Shelby. “I would have gotten laughed out of the Senate if I’d only supported my home state. I did it nationwide because of the drug epidemic.”
Shelby asked Valls what percentage of the local court docket was devoted to prosecuting drug-related cases. Valls said that 80 percent of local crime was drug related.
“I’d also like to thank you for your help with fiscal year 2008,” said Valls. “We are about to have our ‘Zero Meth’ kickoff. It’s not as big a problem here as it is in Marshall and Etowah counties, but it’s the new crack cocaine and it is responsible for thefts and forgeries and other crimes. We need to stop meth by not even starting.”
Valls also thanked Shelby for his support of a state computer forensic lab, which will be the first of its kind in the nation.

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