On the recordMay 14, 2015
At multiple points over the last 5 years, the Navy has only had 10 carriers. They actually had to request a waiver from the current law. This is ridiculous to put the Navy through this political decisionmaking process rather than a military decision process about the number of carrier groups that exist. On a basic level, this idea of statutorily requiring weapons for future decades makes very little sense. Do we tell the Army, ``You need precisely X number of tanks for Desert Storm; therefore, you have to have `this many' tanks for the next 30 years''? Do we tell the Air Force, ``You need `this many' helicopters for Somalia; therefore, you have to have exactly `this many' regardless of changing threats or challenges or budgetary realities''? That is exactly what this amendment will help change in order to give the naval force the flexibility it needs to meet the changing dangers of the world. I reserve the balance of my time.
