Richard Douglas on Homeland Security

Senate weakness leaves us vulnerable to threats

Instead, independent-minded Senators with the courage to question party orthodoxy--including their own--are urgently needed to help lead our nation out of crisis, not to deepen it. As a veteran of the Iraq campaign and the submarine force, I understand clearly that our nation must protect itself.

Marylander Alan Gross has unjustly languished in a Cuban prison for more than two years, while Maryland's Senators do nothing. As the Gross case amply demonstrates, White House and Senate weakness have left our nation and its most reliable allies vulnerable to threats from a broad spectrum of adversaries.