06/21/2010
https://www.congress.gov...
"Admiral Blake, what would be the cost to keep these ships without retiring them?"
"I believe these proposed cuts to our naval capabilities without a plan to compensate for them will place our strategic interests in the Asia-Pacific region and Arabian Sea at greater risk."
"But I'm particularly concerned about the proposed construction of new ships that will lead to job reductions, that we're going to have to make up for later on."
"Admiral Burke, how does retiring seven Ticonderoga Aegis-class cruisers early and putting two LSD amphibious ships in reduced operating status square away with the Secretary of Defense's new strategic..."