Brownback Sends Letter in Support of General Pace

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Commends Pace's leadership, personal commitment to moral principles

Contact: Brian Hart, Becky Ogilvie, Sam Brownback United States Senator - Kansas, 202-224-6521

WASHINGTON, Mar 14 /Christian Newswire/ -- U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today circulated a letter among his Senate colleagues for signature that will be sent to President Bush in support of General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The letter will be sent to the White House tomorrow. The full text of the letter is below:

Dear Mr. President:

We write in support of General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who has recently received criticism for expressing his personal moral views.

During an interview on Sunday, while offering support for existing U.S. policies, General Pace discussed some of his personal moral convictions. These statements led to criticism from various groups and the media. Such criticism is both unfair and unfortunate.

As the highest ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces, he is duty-bound to support the policies of the United States – support which he reiterated in a statement yesterday. But we should not expect someone as qualified, accomplished and articulate as General Pace to lack personal views on important moral issues. In fact, we should expect that anyone entrusted with such great responsibility will have strong moral views. We should be concerned if they do not have strong convictions on key issues.

The moral behavior of members of the Armed Forces is of the highest importance, particularly during this time of war. The question is whether personal moral beliefs should disqualify an individual from positions of leadership in the U.S. military? We think not. General Pace's recent remarks do not deserve the criticism they have received. In fact, we applaud General Pace for maintaining a personal commitment to moral principles. He has demonstrated great leadership during a very difficult time and he continues to do so today. We look forward to his continued service as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.