Political Quotes

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, in a snapshot, this is the background to this bill and the inclusion of Turkey. I'd like to explain this. These are DOD requests for our U.S. national security interests. Turkey is a NATO ally that DOD needs to continue participating in joint anti-piracy operations for which they would use these frigates. In light of the deteriorating situation regarding Syria and Turkey's critical role, DOD insisted that it was timely to do this transfer. Now, just a few years ago, in 2010, Congress authorized the grant transfer of three Osprey class minehunter coastal ships to Greece-- Osprey MHC-51, Blackhawk MHC-58, and Shrike MHC-62. So today's bill, Mr. Speaker, maintains the Turkey-Greece balance. This lowers costs to our U.S. Navy, as they won't have to deal with decommissioned frigates. This bill creates U.S. jobs, as the mammoth portion of maintenance work is done here in the United States. On the issue of granting to Thailand, to Mexico, to Turkey versus the selling of the ships to Taiwan, this is what our U.S. Navy says: The determining factor on the grant or sale of extra defense articles is always what is in the best interest of the United States. Granting the hull does not make it free to the receiving nation. Among the types of extra defense articles that are granted to partner nations, ships are unique in that there is always a significant refurbishment cost paid by the receiving nation.…”