Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I thank the chairman and ranking member for including my amendments in these en bloc amendments. Mr. Chair, my amendment is simple. It requires the Secretary of the Navy to create a report regarding the feasibility of doing maintenance work on naval vessels at shipyards other than shipyards in the vessel's home port. Currently, the Navy has a tremendous maintenance backlog, but under current law, there are certain restrictions that limit where naval vessels can undertake maintenance repair. Unless these restrictions are lifted, the Navy's backlog will only increase exponentially. At the same time, there are fully qualified shipyards in the rest of the United States, including the Great Lakes region, Gulf Coast, and Alaska, that can perform repair work for certain types of naval vessels. Yards such as Fraser Shipyards in Superior, Wisconsin, have the capacity and skills to do this work. They just need the chance. I know Fraser Shipyards and others are dedicated to the national security mission of the United States and would be an efficient and competent service provider, and I am certain Fraser Shipyards and others within the Great Lakes do not stand alone in this process. Although these vessels may not be homeported in these regions of the country, it should be within the Secretary's discretion to decide what types of vessels could be sent to such shipyards to help with the Navy's maintenance backlog.…”