Political Quotes

“Last evening the U.S. Navy and two shipyards, the electric boat shipyard in Groton, Connecticut, and Huntington Ingalls shipyard in Newport News, Virginia, entered into an $18 billion contract to build 10 submarines over the next 5 years. This event did not happen by itself. It was the result of exhaustive national security reviews that started under Secretary Gates, continued with the Nuclear Posture Review, and continued with the Quadrennial Defense Review. In every instance, the findings were that we needed to bolster our undersea fleet, which has declined from 100 ships at the end of the cold war to 53 today. With rising maritime challenges in the Asia Pacific, with the decision by Vladimir Putin to recapitalize his military to the tune of $700 billion, we must bolster our undersea fleet, which is the one area where the United States still has undisputed domination of that domain. I want to congratulate the shipyard workers who have shown the Virginia class program is ahead of schedule and under budget, whether it was the USS California, the Hawaii, or, most recently, the North Dakota. Again, they have set, in my opinion, an example for Navy shipbuilding across the board and commercial shipbuilding, which the U.S. has got to step up its game and become part of. Again, congratulations to the hardworking shipyard workers in Groton and Newport News, Virginia. ____________________”