National security town hall meeting - KTTC Rochester, Austin, Mason City News, Weather and Sports

ROCHESTER, MN (KTTC-TV) -- Our National Security is top of mind for many people and is one of the big issues in the presidential race.

Sunday state leaders came to Rochester to discuss Barack Obama and Joe Biden's national security plans.

State representatives Tim Walz and Betty McCollum were among the participants.

The event was free and open to the public.

The focus of the discussian was the country's situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, our diplomatic relations with countries around the world, as well as solutions for energy independence.

Former Major General Paul Eaton says, "Militarily, we are in a less adventages position today than we were eight years ago and as a retired soldier and father of soldiers, I have a real problem with that."

Representative Tim Walz says, "We've gotten ourselves in a situation where we don't have the allegiance and allies that were once there and I think Senator Obama's been talking about building those alliances for the 21st century, reconstituting this force and using all the tools of diplomacy of soft power, economic power as well as military to bring about true national security."

The panel made their last stop of the day in St. Paul.