"I am concerned that the KC-46A program continues to suffer delays..."
"I am reminded of the words of John F. Kennedy himself, a proud Navy officer, when he said that history has taught us that control of the seas means security."
"It is time to get serious and match our peer competitors with aggressive ship construction initiatives."
"Unfortunately, I do not see steady progress towards fulfilling the goal of attaining a 355-ship Navy."
"The future fleet must be timely--we need this more powerful fleet in the 2020s, not the 2040s."
"Both China and Russia are able to compete on a global scale, in all domains, and at competitive speed."
"Ship construction is a long game and requires steady funding to achieve steady progress."
"I think that is critical. And we would like to continue the discussion with you and see a concrete proposal for 2019."
"I appreciate the crucial investments in readiness, but the fact that we are actually taking a backwards step when it comes to shipbuilding is incredibly troubling."
"I just would hope that we talk about strategically what is necessary before we get into fiscally what we need to achieve."
"I believe we are going to be severely tested with the current element of our Ready Reserve Force."