Political Quotes

“Again, I thank the chairman who, it is true, over the last 3 years, we have worked together, as well as our predecessors going back to Gene Taylor and Roscoe Bartlett, who started this discussion about the challenge of funding the Ohio replacement program. Mr. Chairman, when President Obama signed the New START treaty on April 8, 2010, after ratification by the U.S. Senate, one thing became crystal clear: the U.S. Navy's nuclear strategic mission became even more critical than ever. Why? Because, as the chairman said, the implementation of a nuclear arsenal in the post-New START era will rest even more heavily on ballistic submarines--in fact, two-thirds of the triad in the post-New START era will be sea-based, and that is why every strategic review going back to Secretary Gates has identified construction of the Ohio replacement program as one of the top--if not the number one--defense priority of the country. Let's be clear, the Ohio program will be built. That is not in debate. The question for Congress is whether we will let this once in a multigenerational cost suffocate the rest of the Navy shipbuilding account. The Seapower report in the underlying bill provides a solution to this problem, which will provide help both for our fleet and the industrial base.…”