Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, this coming Saturday, September 14, the USS New Jersey, the 23rd Virginia-class submarine, is going to be commissioned in northern New Jersey. It was delivered to the Navy earlier this year. Next to me is a photo of USS Iowa which is going to be the 24th Virginia-class submarine which is going to be delivered next month. This is a shot from the drydock in Groton, Connecticut. Early next year, the 25th submarine, the USS Massachusetts is going to be delivered to the Navy. Later in the year, the 26th submarine, USS Idaho is going to be delivered to the Navy. In the following year in 2026, USS Arkansas and USS Utah are also going to be delivered. Again, these are really the most critical maritime vessels, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. We are here on China week. What is happening in these shipyards is the best rebalancing of deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region. It is happening at the same time that we are building the Columbia- class submarines which are the ballistic submarines. Those submarines are actually 2\1/2\ times the size of the Virginia-class submarines. They are just massive vessels which, again, are critical because the hull life of the submarines they are replacing, the Ohio-class submarines, are over 40 years old. All this work, again, is something that is really driving a lot of economic activities certainly in southern New England but, frankly, all across the State. Again, Congress has had a big part to play in terms of funding.…”