Political Quotes

“Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution states: ``Congress shall have the power . . . to provide and maintain a Navy.'' The Seapower and Projection Force's Subcommittee mark in this year's 2021 NDAA rises to that constitutional duty with a coherent, workable shipbuilding plan and a Projection Force mark that ensures air and sealift forces are capable of fulfilling their mission. It became abundantly clear when the administration sent over its 2021 budget that we were facing daunting challenges in our subcommittee's jurisdiction. Airlift and sealift were underresourced; the Navy shipbuilding budget was cut by 17 percent from last year; the request for new ships as verified by the Congressional Research Service was seven, the lowest since 2009; and the statutory requirement for the Department of Defense to submit a 30-year shipbuilding plan was, and continues to be, brazenly ignored. Our mark corrects these hits to our shipbuilding industrial base and is aligned to the Navy's actual requested priorities that were not included in February's budget. This includes nine ships, including the first Columbia-class ballistic submarine, two Arleigh Burke destroyers, and two Virginia-class submarines, to name a few.…”