Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. I have the honor of representing the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, the heart of our Nation's shipbuilding industrial base. I want to underscore my support for the shipbuilding and ship maintenance provisions in the bill, including the language urging the Secretary of the Navy to speed up the procurement schedule for aircraft carriers to ensure that our carrier fleet is not again reduced to just 10 carriers. These provisions will not only significantly benefit my region, but will be critical to our Nation's security. I want to particularly commend my colleague from Virginia, the chair of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, Mr. Forbes, and the ranking member of that subcommittee, Mr. Courtney, for their hard work on the shipbuilding aspects of the bill. As ranking member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, I am pleased to see that the final conference report eliminated three matters of grave concern that would have adversely affected working conditions for shipyard workers and employees of government contractors. The first provision eliminated from the bill would have severely undermined the workers' compensation benefits that many shipyard workers now receive. A second problematic provision would have authorized taxpayer-funded employment discrimination.…”