Ray Mabus

American leaders across the political spectrum have understood the vital significance of sea power.

When America is called, the Navy and Marine Corps have always been there.

As the ice melts in the Arctic, our responsibilities clearly are going up.

The commitment to the rebalance is real. It is absolute.

It is important because it makes us better warfighters. It is important because it takes fuel away as a weapon to be used against us.

We have always said America's success depends on an exceptional Navy and Marine Corps.

The civilian workforce writ large, we would not have a fleet to put to sea without those civilians.

It is clear that the Navy and Marine Corps team offer the best value to advance both our global security and our global economic interest.

a great Navy is not a provocation of war, it is the surest guarantee of peace.

the President said repeatedly that he would veto a budget that locked in sequestration level funding.

The effects of sequestration, should it continue past 2016, would be serious in the extreme to both the Navy and the Marine Corps.

The changes that we have made in terms of how you treat shipmates with respect, how an attack such as sexual assault is an attack.