We will soon have a Republican Senate and a Democratically controlled house, and we are going to have to join hands as Americans.

It would delay almost every single acquisition program that we have underway, ground and air, to try to not just modernize but to create future capabilities for the force that we think we need to be to defend the interests of this Nation.

We have to do better. We must do better, all of us, including the Congress.

It has been implemented, Senator.

It would put us back in sequestration, an unthinkable result, and an utterly irresponsible act that I feel sure this Republican Senate and this upcoming Democrat House will avoid.

Well, got advice from folks out there around the globe that know what they are doing. So that is good to hear.

Okay. And what is it going to show? Give us a sneak preview.

All right. It is hard to keep up with you guys.

I wish to recognize Alexander Hug, an exceptional international civil servant who has played a crucial role in ensuring that the world knows the truth about Russia's aggression against Ukraine. This Kremlin-directed war, now entering its…

I ask for the yeas and nays. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient second. The clerk will call the roll. The senior assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll. The result was…

The $450 million that you asked about earlier----

And you agree with that?

The challenges--I think his statement was that they are more dynamic, and you certainly agree with that.

The minimum Navy requirement for amphibious ships is 38. Combatant commanders need more than 50 amphibious ships on a day-to-day basis.

Tell us about that number.

Are we going to be glad we went with the EMALs and advanced arresting gear?

if you lack that capability, then your only option is to bring it from some other land, some other place

But the 355 is the minimum under a scenario where things were dangerous, but actually less dangerous than they are right now.

You guys are in the building business and hardware business, not so much in the personnel business, except that you really are.

I view that as unthinkable, and it would be irresponsible on the part of this Congress.

A 355-ship fleet is not some best-case ideal that we would like to achieve if everything goes well.

Mr. Secretary, you answered Senator Kaine's question about the troubling issue of the advanced weapons elevators.

What were the consequences to that supplier?

the ability to project power from a sea base, a sovereign ship, a platform from the sea, onto either an advanced naval base or to secure a commons area

The problem with the Arleigh Burke is she is full. We really do not have much room to expand or modernize her much beyond her current platform.