ABOUT

WHY WAS THE RSC ESTABLISHED?

The Republican Security Council (RSC) is often described as the national security wing of the Republican Party. We have no official connection to the Republican Party, and the RSC is an influential network of over 15,000 citizens, community leaders and policy experts in all 50 states. The internet is our battlefield and RSC is building an army of foot soldiers for the national security community.
We work in the nation’s capital and across the country to educate and inspire support for a strong defense policy and an American leadership role. The RSC brings together the country’s most influential GOP leaders in business, government, politics, religion, and academia to emphasize the importance of national security issues, to exchange ideas, and to learn from policy experts. We provide a forum to cultivate ideas and actions to help solve critical challenges confronting America and the national security community.
We have been called “the heart and soul” of the GOP. We believe the Republican Party has the vision and leadership to maintain a strong defense and protect America from a terrorist threat which transcends state borders and recognizes no law.
We define national security in broad terms to include defense, intelligence, drug interdiction, as well as economic, trade, energy, health and border security issues. Our goal is to unite the Republican Party and the national will of the American people regarding these challenges. We vigorously advocate the Republican Platform, as well as Speaker Boehner’s 2010 “Pledge to America.”
We were inspired to form RSC by former Vice President Dick Cheney. When he left office in January 2009, Cheney said he intended to retire. He soon discovered it was necessary to return to the public arena because few people were defending or explaining the policies and programs advocated by the national security community.
Cheney said “I found there wasn’t anybody else out there.” We want to help this cause, and it is essential the GOP maintains its traditional role as the party of national security.  Republican policy must continue to be in stark contrast to the Obama administration which is apologizing for America, appeasing our enemies, abandoning our allies and slashing our military. Economic security issues are now the nation’s top priority, but the defense budget and the war on terror must not be abandoned. America cannot return to isolationism, protectionism or unilateral disarmament in defense and trade policy.
Reducing the deficit is important to our security and we have endorsed the Ryan Plan which calls for $6.2 trillion in cuts. This can be done without ending all military modernization and readiness programs. The RSC is essential because America is at war and 20 million people are out of work or seriously underemployed. Our national debt is 100% of GDP, and 42 cents out of every federal dollar is borrowed. The Gross Public Debt has increased by over 50% in just four years. America must regain its prosperity to meet its security obligations.
The original RSC members are busy professionals who had no desire to form a new organization. They kept hoping some other group would take the lead and refute propaganda circulated by liberal Democrats and neo-liberal Republicans (primarily Ron Paul supporters). In the early primary states, Dr. Paul won half the youth vote and survey research on the national security views of many young Republicans is disturbing.
The liberal Democrats are a lost cause but the good news is that misinformed young Republicans will join the conservative crusade if they are given the facts. For too long their questions were ignored.  Too many senior GOP leaders thought the best way to handle these concerns was to ignore them. We cannot abandon the GOP’s future, and there is a real need to provide young people with accurate, reliable and mind-opening information. That needs to be done with older voters as well.
We are proud to be Republicans because the GOP is the party that ended slavery and continues to advance freedom and progress. It is a party of ideas, bold words and bold deeds. Since the election of 1860, the Republican Party has advanced the founding principles of freedom and limited government, while bolstering our national security.
President Obama has made many unwise decisions but he has unfortunately made great strides in the national security community. In 2008, he lost the veterans vote to Senator John McCain 55% to 45%. Four years later the demographics shifted. In a May 2012 Reuters/Ipsos poll, Obama lead Romney 44% to 37% among veterans. This is a major change from 2004 when defense and foreign policy issues were a focal point.
In a late September 2004 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, 62% of voters approved of Bush’s handling of terrorism while 36% disapproved. In the election day exit polls, 58% said they did not trust Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) to handle terrorism. Bush won 84% of security-minded voters, while Kerry received just 15%. The RSC wants to see the same level of support for future GOP candidates and causes.

DO WE REALLY REPRESENT THE GOP’s NATIONAL SECURITY WING?

We wish there was a lot of competition for this title, because we cannot handle this enormous task. Unfortunately, we do not know of any other organization dedicated to uniting the GOP’s national security wing.
There are several successful think tanks in our area, but their tax exempt status bars an advocacy role. They are not allowed to support candidates. Other excellent groups limit themselves to veterans benefits.
We have a broad focus and take positions on key issues, and we encourage grassroots action. We will enthusiastically back the GOP nominee, and we openly work for the adoption of a strong defense, foreign policy and trade plank in the Republican Platform.
In the past, many organizations emphasized the importance of national security issues within the Republican Party. They were highly successful at one time, and did an outstanding job in turning the GOP away from the isolationism and protectionism of the pre-World War II era.
These groups advocated military modernization, a strong national defense, helped win the Cold War, and provided crucial support for Reagan’s Freedom Agenda and Bush’s Global War on Terror.
The national security community counted on these organizations for crucial support, but now all of them have gone out of business. The groups which have disbanded include:
The American Defense Institute, the Coalition for Peace Through Strength, the National Defense Council Foundation, the Council on Inter-American Security, the American Freedom Coalition, Americans for Constitutional Action, the Republican Leadership Council, the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, the National Committee for a Free Europe, the U.S. Council for World Freedom, the Council for the Defense of Freedom, the Center for Peace and Freedom, Diplomatic and Military Professionals for National Security, the Institute for the Common Defense, High Frontier, the Committee for a Free Afghanistan, and the American Security Council (its Foundation survives).
Furthermore, in the U.S. Congress, the National Security Caucus, the Army Caucus and the Military Reform Caucus have all disbanded. Their good work should not be forgotten, the cause is still important, and the GOP national security community definitely needs leadership.
The RSC is working to fill this void. Once again, there use to be a lot of competition to represent the GOP’s national security wing, but as Dick Cheney noted above, not anymore.

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