Nation’s Top Security Experts Want to Know:

Why are we pulling apart instead of joining together?

Former officials from the Right and the Left call on policy makers to

end partisan rancor in the name of national security

Washington, D.C. – (Aug. 3) Former Sen. Warren Rudman (R-N.H.) and former Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.) today announced creation of the Partnership for a Secure America, a policy group dedicated to fostering greater bipartisanship on matters of national security.

The group released a statement of general principles which they believe elected officials and other policy makers in Washington should adhere to when discussing, debating and executing national security policy for the United States. They plan to release more issue-specific statements on a series of security issues in the months ahead.

“We believe that America must be strong to be secure,” Rudman said. “We must work together to make American interests, not partisan interests, our top priority.”

“We are creating this organization because the defense of America should rise above partisan political concerns,” said Hamilton.

The organization’s 24-member Advisory Board, evenly divided among Republicans and Democrats, includes six former Senators, four former National Security Advisors, two former Secretaries of State, four former UN Ambassadors, and two former governors.

Chip Andreae, former Chief of Staff to Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), and Jamie Metzl, former Deputy Staff Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for Senator Joseph Biden (D-Del) and member of President Clinton’s National Security Council serve as co-chairmen of the board of directors. Metzl also serves as President of the organization.

“Our country cannot afford the bitter partisan division that stifles the critical analysis and open debate these challenging times require,” Metzl said. “We look forward to working with any and all politicians committed to recreating the bipartisan center in American national security policy.’’