Political Quotes

“the Navy's ship maintenance problem is large--and growing larger. Scheduled heavy maintenance for fifteen ships has already been canceled this fiscal year. Without the funds provided by this amendment, the Navy will either cancel or drastically reduce work scheduled for eighteen more. The individual cases are striking: The amphibious assault ship Bataan should be undergoing $17 million of work at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Instead she is deployed to Puerto Rico. The amphibious transport dock ship Shreveport ran aground recently and was repaired overseas for $1.5 million just to get her home. Her subsequent $6 million shipyard availability has been canceled. The backlog of work for the fast combat support ship Detroit-- declared ``unsafe for underway operations'' by Navy inspectors last August--climbed to $68 million, nearly twice previous estimates. All of this unprogrammed funding must come out of this fiscal year's budget. The Pacific Fleet canceled $20.6 million of work on the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard and $13 million on the amphibious transport dock ship Denver. They may have to skip availabilities for three aircraft carriers--two of which, the Kitty Hawk and the Constellation, are nearly 40 years old. Mr. President, we should not be surprised.…”