Rebecca Hagelin and 33 Minutes at Values Voter Summit

Rebecca Hagelin, Heritage Foundation

Heritage Foundation Senior Communications Fellow and producer of the film 33 Minutes, introduced the documentary.

The documentary gets it’s name because an intercontinental ballistic missile launched from anywhere in the world could hit us in 33 minutes or less.

I wrote about this film back in June, and you can watch a trailer for it below.

Back in the final years of the Cold War, President Ronald Reagan wanted to make nuclear weapons obsolete.  So he came up with the Strategic Defense Initiate (SDI), or “Star Wars” as the media peanut gallery called it.

But Reagan was so committed to it, he would not compromise on ditching it during negotiations with the Soviets (in fact, SDI was most of the reason the Soviets came to the arms reduction table in a serious mood in the first place).

Significant progress was made on SDI during the Reagan and Bush years, but President Bill Clinton mothballed it (he had other things to waste the taxpayer’s money on than keeping us safe).  Then President George W. Bush brought the program back, and we now have a basic but operational missile defense system, with parts of it based in Alaska, California, Nebraska, D.C. and elsewhere.

The film talks about not only the threat of a direct nuclear blast on our cities, but the threat of Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP).  A nuclear weapon of the right size detonated at the right height over the United States could fry almost every electronic circuit board in the country–computers, televisions, phone switchboards, automobile computers…everything.  The United States would, in an instant, be hurled back to the 19th Century in terms of technology.

Can you imagine how difficult…no, how impossible it would be to maintain our modern way of life under these circumstances?  Can you imagine the millions who would starve to death in the big cities where no food could be delivered (because transportation would be knocked out) and no land to live off?

This system has been tested many times with great success. We have shot down several missiles during tests.  In fact, we used it last year to shoot down a satellite that was falling out of orbit and might have presented a danger to people on the ground.

"33 Minutes" discussion panel

The cost of the system was discussed in the film by talking to both experts and average Americans.  Some mentioned what the system might be worth if it could stop another 911 (or worse) from happening from some sort of missile threat.

Yes, the system is expensive.  But when you consider the trillions we spend on social programs that aren’t even authorized by the U.S. Constitution, the system would cost peanuts.  Are not the lives of millions of Americans worth it?

A panel discussion followed the film with Hagelin FRC President Tony Perkins, Heritage Foundation President Dr. Ed. Feulner, and Dr. Kim Holmes (Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation).

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