Political Quotes

“This is the fourth year in a row this amendment or something similar to it has been offered. Once again, I am going to ask that this be rejected. The DOD has asked for the authority to transfer funds to NNSA's nuclear weapons activities and Naval Reactors. It has not asked to move limited resources to pay for NNSA nonproliferation activities. The Navy may need to utilize authority in FY 2015 to support Naval Reactors, which has taken major funding cuts in recent years, including 23 percent in FY 2014. As Admiral Richardson, director of Naval Nuclear Propulsion Programs at NNSA said at our hearing on April 8: A 23 percent shortfall in my operations and infrastructure requirements resulted in insufficient funds to do required maintenance on one of my land-based prototypes, and without relief, I will have no choice but to shut down that reactor, resulting in 450 nuclear-trained operators not reporting to the fleet, putting a greater burden on sailors and families that are already sustaining 9- to 10-month deployments. Keeping the underlying language sends a clear message to NNSA that nuclear weapons activities and Naval Reactors are the NNSA's primary mission and that it must prioritize those missions and deliver what the military needs. Any defense funds transferred out of DOD should only be used for activities in line with DOD priorities, so I urge opposition to the gentlelady's amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.”