BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE POLICY.

SEC. 233. [10 U.S.C. 2431 note] BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE POLICY. It is the policy of the United States— (1) to deploy affordable and operationally effective theater missile defenses to protect forward-deployed and expeditionary elements of the Armed Forces of the United States and to complement the missile defense capabilities of forces of coalition partners and of allies of the United States; and (2) to seek a cooperative, negotiated transition to a regime that does not feature an offense-only form of deterrence as the basis for strategic stability.