Political Quotes

“I would like to ask for the attention of my colleagues on two amendments that I have filed to S. 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012. Each of these amendments relates to the Navy's proposal to build a new nuclear pier facility to support East Coast aircraft carriers. With annual recurring costs, this new project would likely cost just shy of a billion dollars. At a time when our Nation is in a severe fiscal crisis the Navy cannot pay to maintain the infrastructure it currently owns. As Admiral Mullen has said, the greatest challenge to our national security is our mounting debt. Together, these amendments would save nearly $30 million for an unnecessary Navy military construction project at Naval Station Mayport, Florida. We are awaiting completion of an independent GAO assessment of the strategic risks to our carrier fleet which include manmade and natural disasters. The study would also consider the cost and benefits of what other measures we can take to mitigate risk. This is not a small project. The Navy estimates its homeporting plan will cost nearly $600 million, but those costs could rise to up to $1 billion over the next eight years. Tack on to that more than $25 million in annual maintenance costs currently estimated for an additional homeport and we are signing the taxpayer up for a big bill, much of which is not funded. It's in the ``out years'' as they say.…”