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ANCHORAGE - U.S. Rep. Don Young said Congress is being shortsighted by proposing cuts to the Missile Defense Agency as North Korea tests a long-range missile that could strike Alaska.

He said that with North Korea on the offensive, it's the wrong time to scale back on missile defense.

Young spoke Tuesday, a day after U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates toured missile silos at Fort Greely and defended his decision not to add any more interceptor missiles there.

Gates said 30 interceptor missiles split between Fort Greely in Delta Junction and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California is enough.

Young wrote Gates asking him to reconsider.