On the recordJune 27, 2018
The chairwoman, the ranking member, and I wholly support the U.S. Navy and, also, the Navy's plan to get to the 355-ship number. This bill already supports the purchase of 12 new ships, including two new Virginia-class attack submarines. However, this amendment for an additional two more Virginia-class subs will wind up cutting, as you heard, much-needed money from other vital programs. The Department of Defense estimates that it would cut $7 billion from other programs over the next 5 years, by the way, impacting military readiness and other vital equipment procurement. So, again, while we must obviously pursue an aggressive shipbuilding program, it must be balanced. The Virginia-class sub is absolutely a critical national security capability, but we do not want to sacrifice other equally critical capabilities while we do that. Mr. Chair, I would respectfully urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment.
