Political Quotes

“You can imagine my surprise when I found out that for the last 7 years, Congress has been dictating the number of carriers that are in the Navy. For 230 years we were satisfied to let the Navy make that decision. I was just stunned to find that this was actually happening. I wish I had known. I could have offered an amendment to simply get rid of the requirement entirely, but I applaud my friend from Oregon for at least offering this small improvement. I would respectfully disagree with my friend from Virginia--this amendment has no impact at all on national security or national defense. Again, there's no impact on national security or national defense. If the amendment passes, the Navy could have 20 carriers next year if the Navy decided that that's what it wanted to do. All we're doing is taking the congressional mandate down from 11 to 10. I go back to the words of former Secretary Gates in 2010 to the Navy League. I thought it was interesting what he said. He said: Our current plan is to have 11 carrier strike groups through 2040 to be sure the need to project power across the seas will never go away, but consider the massive overmatch the U.S. already enjoys. Consider, too, the growing anti-ship capabilities of adversaries. Do we really need 11 carrier strike groups for another 30 years when no other country has more than one? Any future plans must address these realities. That's all we are doing, Mr.…”