Republican Chris Christie says the U.S. needs to boost military spending and not back off on intelligence and surveillance programs.
Speaking in Portsmouth’s Prescott Park, Chris Christie said the army needs more soldiers, the navy more ships, the air force more planes --and the government more intelligence.
Christie called for an extension to the Patriot act, and said concerns over data collection and privacy are overblown.
“Let’s be clear, all these fears are exaggerated and ridiculous. When it comes to fighting terrorism, our government is not the enemy. And we should not be listening to people like Edward Snowden, who is a criminal.”
The GOP-led US house voted last week voted to end the NSA's bulk phone records collection program, in favor of a system that would allow the NSA to search the data on a case-by-case basis. Christie chided purists in both parties for pointing the US in the wrong direction on intelligence…….But it was the president who Christie mostly criticized. He called the administration’s efforts to strike a deal with Iran on its nuclear program “tragic.” He also criticized president's approach to fighting ISIS, said the US needs to use tougher sanctions to against Russia for its backing of separatists in Ukraine, and warned of China's growing sway in the South China Sea.
