Haley Stevens: “this amendment says the money will come out of this bill. Now, it is true that for 2005 we did appropriate money to the…”

“this amendment says the money will come out of this bill. Now, it is true that for 2005 we did appropriate money to the Navy for the CV-67, the John F. Kennedy. But I have in my hand the cancellation of the complex overhaul. We know exactly where the money has been reallocated. It has been reallocated to a series of functions. Some of those functions are already prepared. I say to my colleagues, no matter what we do, the money will come out of this bill because the money that was allocated in the 2005 bill has been used for the Stennis, for the George Washington, support travel for the CVN-73 and 74, for the USS Truman, CVN-75, for additional work at Hampton Roads, for the USS Charlotte, which is the SSN-766, a submarine, and for work inactivation of the carrier at Mayport. As a practical matter, they have already spent the $288 million in the 2005 bill--at least obligated it. The Senator from Virginia, I understand, disputes that. But that is the information we have received. What I am saying, for our committee I oppose this amendment of Senator Warner because it, No. 1, will preserve 12 carriers; No. 2, it will take money from this bill or somewhere to go back and reinstate the basic complex overhaul which, as I said to the Senate, the Navy now believes is unwarranted because of the age of this vessel. This vessel is so old and it did not have a midlife service program.…”