Political Quotes

“I respect the chairman, but he is wrong. This ship does have capability against China. It is capability that is operable today. If you get rid of this ship, you have nothing. The replacement for this ship is 6 years out. You can't fight something with nothing. Getting rid of this ship is the wrong thing to do. It has its challenges--let's fix those challenges. Let's get this ship operational. Let's get it out there. We know that it can do the job in a variety of different ways. Even if it is not in the Indo-Pacific in a direct role, it can be in other ways that will free up ships to be in the Indo-Pacific to do their role. This is the wrong effort to retire these ships--all nine of these ships. Let's make sure we stand by the agreement that we came to in the committee and go to keeping the five ships. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1224, the previous question is ordered on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith). The question is on the amendment. The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that the ayes appeared to have it.”