EP is an ideologue
...so he likes rhetorical statements that go his way.
Just me, but I think NEOs should be our first priority because their resources are so much more accessible than the Moon or Mars. We should be heading down the track that Tony Zuppero has laid out with his NEO water-mining ideas. So if NEOs are valuable for all our space efforts, then we'd be willing to spend money to make sure they don't do inconvenient things like smacking into planets. More importantly water-extraction technology for use in space, and nuclear steam-rockets, will also provide the technical experience needed to deflect the suckers if need be. Planetary defence will be a spin-off and not an under-funded primary goal.