Sen. Cardin: Engagement, Not Military Spending Answer to U.S. Security

America should be more willing to engage other countries and less reliant on military spending, said U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin during a speech at CCBC Essex on Tuesday.

Cardin was the guest speaker at the community college as part of the school’s Constitution Week celebration. The Pikesville Democrat used the platform to speak on the evolution of the Constitution over the 224 years since it was adopted on Sept. 17, 1787.

Cardin’s speech also centered on how the have changed America during the last 10 years. He likened that attack to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 that led to America entering World War II.

“Americans understood [after Pearl Harbor] that if we were going to protect our people and our values, we had to get engaged globally. We’re not going to be safe unless we work to make the world a safer place to be,” Cardin said.

However, Cardin said, unlike Word War II when the U.S. had traditional enemies in Japan and Germany, the country faces a much different foe today in terrorists.

The senator added that he is concerned that the U.S. has allowed rights outlined in the Constitution to erode in the name of battling terrorism through such strategies as warrantless wiretapping and torture in interrogating of prisoners of war.

Cardin added that the U.S. has to find a way to balance the need for security, including stopping the threat of cyber terrorism, without eroding the rights of all citizens.

“It’s very easy for law enforcement with their power to knock down your door,” Cardin said. “But can you invade your cyber door without supervision. Under the Patriot Act there are ways they can do it. Now we have to figure out how we can protect your privacy and still give you security that’s important.”

Cardin also told those in attendance that he would prefer to see the U.S. spend less on military defense and more on helping unstable countries, which may be home to terrorists, achieve economic and governmental stability. He would also like to see the U.S. use diplomatic means to improve civil rights for women in other countries.

“Many of these third-world countries have mineral wealth such as copper, gold or oil, but that wealth never gets to the people,” Cardin said. “You can’t have a stable country if you can’t root out the corruption.

CCBC student Nick Wiley, 17, from Dundalk, said Cardin made several good points and hopes his speech inspired others his age to get involved in international affairs.

“There are people I graduated high school with that I’m pretty sure didn’t even know that the American flag had 50 stars on it,” said Wiley, a Patapsco High graduate. “People need to understand that what happens overseas in today’s world impacts us at home.”

Another CCBC student, Jackie Kearns, 22, of Essex, said she knows first-hand the importance of being more engaged internationally. Her father fled Afghanistan in 1979.

“Getting to understand a culture will help you know what their problems are and how to best solve them so that they can find some stability,” Kearns said.