Political Quotes

“Today, April 11, 2018, is a special day in southeastern Connecticut. It marks the 150th anniversary of when the State of Connecticut and the city of New London conveyed a deed of gift to the U.S. Navy that today still stands as the Naval Submarine Base New London, which has had a glorious, distinguished career in terms of our national defense. Again, on that date in 1867, when the deed was signed and given to Gideon Welles, who was the Secretary of the Navy at the time, himself a native of the State of Connecticut, Glastonbury, Connecticut, it was the result, again, of an effort by one of my predecessors, Congressman Augustus Brandegee, who got an authorization and an appropriation through the Naval Appropriations bill in 1867 that set up this conveyance. Congressman Brandegee was a distinguished Member of this body. He was a strong supporter of abolition. He voted in favor of the 13th Amendment, and he was somebody who was a frequent friend of President Lincoln at the time. They rode horseback together in the morning, and he was a very strong ally of the President. After that deed of gift was signed, the Navy base was a coaling station that provided a way station for Navy ships in New England waters to again get refueled. It also was a place that Civil War Navy ships were stored in the wake of that conflict. Again, fast-forward to 1915. That is when the Navy actually designated that base as a submarine base.…”