[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 58 (Wednesday, April 11, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H3102-H3103]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING THE SESQUICENTENNIAL OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONNECTICUT'S 
                           NAVY INSTALLATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, today, April 11, 2018, is a special day in 
southeastern Connecticut. It marks the 150th anniversary of when the 
State of Connecticut and the city of New London conveyed a deed of gift 
to the U.S. Navy that today still stands as the Naval Submarine Base 
New London, which has had a glorious, distinguished career in terms of 
our national defense.
  Again, on that date in 1867, when the deed was signed and given to 
Gideon Welles, who was the Secretary of the Navy at the time, himself a 
native of the State of Connecticut, Glastonbury, Connecticut, it was 
the result, again, of an effort by one of my predecessors, Congressman 
Augustus Brandegee, who got an authorization and an appropriation 
through the Naval Appropriations bill in 1867 that set up this 
conveyance.
  Congressman Brandegee was a distinguished Member of this body. He was 
a strong supporter of abolition. He voted in favor of the 13th 
Amendment, and he was somebody who was a frequent friend of President 
Lincoln at the time. They rode horseback together in the morning, and 
he was a very strong ally of the President.
  After that deed of gift was signed, the Navy base was a coaling 
station that provided a way station for Navy ships in New England 
waters to again get refueled. It also was a place that Civil War Navy 
ships were stored in the wake of that conflict.
  Again, fast-forward to 1915. That is when the Navy actually 
designated that base as a submarine base. It was a timely event 
because, very shortly thereafter, with the U.S. involvement in World 
War I where U-boat activity, obviously, was the driving force for why 
the U.S. got into that conflict, the submarine base in New London 
became a critical part of our effort in terms of that conflict.
  Moving forward, even from 1915 when the first G-boat subs arrived at 
the Navy base in World War II, as Admiral Nimitz, who headed up our 
efforts particularly in the South Pacific, stated frequently in the 
wake of Pearl Harbor: It was, in fact, the submarine force that really 
held the line against the Japanese onslaught that took place in that 
area.
  The Groton base was a site where a lot of the submarines that were 
part of that conflict actually took on that struggle; again, tragic and 
catastrophic losses. Nonetheless, I think most historians, particularly 
in the Pacific region, will affirm it was, in fact, the submarine force 
that was critical in terms of holding the line, particularly in 1942 
and early 1943.
  After World War II, the Groton base played another huge role in our 
national defense with the development of the nuclear Navy. Admiral 
Hyman Rickover developed the USS Nautilus, which was launched in the 
1950s. That all took place in Groton and New London, Connecticut. 
Electric Boat was the shipyard where the Nautilus was built.
  Today, our submarine force is completely nuclear powered. We have 15 
attack submarines at the Groton-New London base which are doing 
important work both in the European theater, in terms of Putin's much 
more

[[Page H3103]]

aggressive naval resurgent activities, as well as other combatant 
commands around the world.
  So the wisdom of my predecessor, and certainly the State of 
Connecticut, to site a Navy base--a submarine base--now, today, in a 
place that is very strategic in terms of critical regions of the world 
is still paying important dividends for our national defense.
  As I am standing here today, there is a ceremony that is taking place 
to commemorate Congressman Brandegee's vision, Secretary of the Navy 
Gideon Welles' participation, and all the great service that has taken 
place in the wake of that historic moment.
  So to all of you up in the State and to all of the 10,000 sailors 
that serve at the Groton Navy Base today, I thank you for keeping this 
incredible legacy and important future mission alive because our 
national defense depends on it.

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