Bill Nelson: “because Senator Leahy is waiting to speak, I will make very brief comments. The comments to which the distinguished…”

“because Senator Leahy is waiting to speak, I will make very brief comments. The comments to which the distinguished chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee has referred is the Chief of Naval Operations saying it is absolutely essential that he have a carrier home ported in Japan. The fact is, as he projects his forces in the defense of our country in the Pacific area of operations, he needs a carrier in that region so if it has to respond to an emergency, say, off of the coast of Taiwan, it is within a day and a half of sailing to respond to the emergency instead of a week's sailing from a port on the west coast of the United States. Now, how all this ties in to the John F. Kennedy is that we do not know at this point that the Government of Japan--since so much of this decision is influenced by the municipal government in the region of the port--is going to receive a nuclear carrier. Therefore, when the present, conventionally powered carrier, the Kitty Hawk, in Japan, is ready to go out of service in 2008, if Japan's posture is they will not accept a nuclear carrier, then we do not have another one that could replace it. So what the distinguished chairman of the Armed Services Committee is suggesting in this amendment that many of us are sponsoring with him is to keep alive the John F.…”