Romney to push defense spending increase

Speech comes as candidate aims to expand foreign policy portfolio

Charlie Neibergall / AP	Republican presidential hopeful former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney speaks on national security Tuesday night at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas.

AP	Video: In his own words Former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., touches upon the primary themes of his campaign.
	Cartoons: Romney Msnbc.com's editorial cartoonists weigh in on Romney's candidacy.
Getty Images	Slide show: Born into politics Former Gov. Mitt Romney is a second-generation politician.

Interactive

Veepstakes!
Who did msnbc.com readers pick as No. 2 on the GOP and Democratic tickets?

NBC News

updated 9:52 a.m. ET April 10, 2007

BOSTON - Republican Mitt Romney believes the United States needs to increase its defense spending, refocus its alliances on terrorism and reduce bureaucracy so U.S. organizations can do good works across the globe.

In a speech prepared for delivery Tuesday night at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas, the GOP presidential candidate also was to call for spending 4 percent of the nation's gross domestic product on defense, up from 3.9 percent.

In addition, he proposes adding 100,000 troops to the armed forces, according to excerpts of his remarks supplied to The Associated Press.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

"Today we face a new generation of challenges globally and here at home," Romney's text says. "We will do as Americans have always done: We will rise to the occasion."

The former Massachusetts governor has served only one term in elective office, but he ran the 2002 Winter Olympic Games and has been traveling around the world during the past year in an effort to increase his understanding of international hotspots.

Click for related content

One of his rivals, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is planning a similar speech on Wednesday at the Virginia Military Institute. McCain is struggling to regain his footing after Romney outraised him last week, taking in $23 million in donations to McCain's $12.5 million. McCain also was criticized for insisting Baghdad was safe even as he toured the Iraqi capital under heavy military guard.

Military declines
In his remarks, Romney takes aim at former President Clinton, now an ally of his host, the former President Bush. The two work together on Hurricane Katrina relief projects.
Message board
What do you think of Romney's candidacy?

Slides from a PowerPoint presentation that will accompany Romney's remarks depict declines in military spending during Clinton's presidency from 1993 to 2001, and suggest such military might be restored.

Bush's son, the current President Bush, gained the White House in 2001, and Clinton's wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., now joins Romney among the candidates vying to succeed him.

In his text, Romney also suggests reorienting alliances such as NATO to focus them on global terrorism, while also reducing government red tape so non-governmental organizations can do more goodwill work on behalf of the nation.

  Picking the president — the candidates
Click a name below to visit that candidate’s MSNBC page
• Joe Biden                • Sam Brownback     • Hillary Clinton          • Chris Dodd
• John Edwards         • Rudy Giuliani           • Mike Gravel              • Duncan Hunter
• Mike Huckabee        • Dennis Kucinich     • John McCain           • Barack Obama
• Ron Paul                    • Bill Richardson      • Mitt Romney            • Tom Tancredo
• Fred Thompson
To subscribe to a candidate page RSS feed, click here.