Haley Stevens: “we have had a series of visits with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I particularly recall the discussion I had with Secretary…”

“we have had a series of visits with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I particularly recall the discussion I had with Secretary of the Navy John Dalton and with Admiral Johnson. There is no question that the Navy representatives have informed our committee that full F/A-18E/F funding is the administration's top appropriations priority for defense and the Navy. This amendment would take these funds from that priority, the F/A-18E/F, and move it to the National Guard. We have added, as I stated this morning, $95 million to augment the Guard and Reserve personnel accounts. We have added for the Guard and Reserve operation and maintenance funds an additional $225 million. Finally, we added $450 million to the Guard and Reserve procurement account. I have to tell the Senator we have exceeded the requests in many instances. We added almost $1 billion in the zero sum budget for the Guard and Reserve priorities. Furthermore, the F/A/-18E/F is just entering production. The Senator's amendment will seriously disrupt the production program, and substantially increase the unit cost, if the Senate approves this amendment. To me it does not make common sense to increase the cost of the F-18, the Navy's top priority planes which we must buy to meet the Navy's previously approved program requirements. We have helped the Guard and Reserve. I do not think we should punish the Navy in order to help them any more.”