Jon Kyl, February 27, 2006

Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, raises some troubling questions in his new book Winning the Future. As is his style, Gingrich also proposes solutions -- ones that are worth considering.

He describes five great threats to America. They are (quoting verbatim):

• That Islamist terrorists and rogue dictatorships will acquire and launch nuclear or biological weapons.

• That God will be driven from American public life and reduce us to the civilizational ennui that now characterizes a declining Europe.

• That America will lose the patriotic sense of itself as a unique civilization.

• That America’s economic supremacy will yield to China and India because of failing schools and weakening scientific and technological leadership.

• That an aging America’s demands on Social Security, Medicare, and related government programs will collapse the systems.

Some judges and policymakers however, hold a different view. It’s their position that will prevail if the American people let it.

To answer the above-listed challenges, Gingrich proposes a 21st century "Contract with America," somewhat like the 1994 slate of proposals that helped Republicans capture the majority in Congress after more than a half century of control by the Democratic Party. Its basic points (again, quoting verbatim):

• We must commit to a long war to defeat the terrorists and tyrants who would destroy America.

• We must reestablish that our rights come from our Creator and that an America that has driven God out of the public arena is an America on the way to decay and defeat.

• We must insist on patriotic immigration and patriotic education based on classic American history and the wisdom of the Founding Fathers and Abraham Lincoln.

• We must transform our domestic institutions in order to harness modern science and technology to create jobs, wealth, and lead the world economy into the 21st century.

• We must establish the opportunities for a personal Social Security account, a portable personal pension account, and a personal health savings account, so the wealth we create during our working lives is wealth we control.

Gingrich believes the two primary battlefields in this struggle are the courts and the classrooms, and he proposes several reforms to reassert citizen influence over both. One such solution to which I subscribe is to appoint judges who will interpret the U.S. Constitution based upon our founding documents and law rather than the laws or rulings of other countries. Newly appointed Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito exemplify this approach.

Winning the Future minces no words in identifying the threat we face from the radicals who attack innocents in the name of Islam. Gingrich writes: "If anyone thinks terrorists don’t threaten us, the question is: What could it take to convince you? If nearly 3,000 people dying on American soil in one day does not frighten you, what would?" And he concludes: "the sobering reality is that terrorist leaders are determined to kill Americans and destroy our government and culture."

We cannot negotiate with the terrorists; our only alternative is to defeat them, and we can’t do that without engaging them -- precisely the same point President Bush made in a recent speech. In fact, the book quotes another comment by the President that, "Americans should expect not one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen."

I enjoyed serving in the House with New Gingrich and find even now, that whether you agree with him or not, he presents important ideas in a compelling way. I recommend his book to anyone looking not just for problems, but also for solutions.

Senator Jon Kyl, a Republican, represents Arizona in the U.S. Senate. He serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Finance Committee, and the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.