[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6335]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    CONGRATULATIONS TO THE HARDWORKING SHIPYARD WORKERS IN GROTON, 
                CONNECTICUT, AND NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA

  (Mr. COURTNEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, last evening the U.S. Navy and two 
shipyards, the electric boat shipyard in Groton, Connecticut, and 
Huntington Ingalls shipyard in Newport News, Virginia, entered into an 
$18 billion contract to build 10 submarines over the next 5 years.
  This event did not happen by itself. It was the result of exhaustive 
national security reviews that started under Secretary Gates, continued 
with the Nuclear Posture Review, and continued with the Quadrennial 
Defense Review. In every instance, the findings were that we needed to 
bolster our undersea fleet, which has declined from 100 ships at the 
end of the cold war to 53 today.
  With rising maritime challenges in the Asia Pacific, with the 
decision by Vladimir Putin to recapitalize his military to the tune of 
$700 billion, we must bolster our undersea fleet, which is the one area 
where the United States still has undisputed domination of that domain.
  I want to congratulate the shipyard workers who have shown the 
Virginia class program is ahead of schedule and under budget, whether 
it was the USS California, the Hawaii, or, most recently, the North 
Dakota. Again, they have set, in my opinion, an example for Navy 
shipbuilding across the board and commercial shipbuilding, which the 
U.S. has got to step up its game and become part of.
  Again, congratulations to the hardworking shipyard workers in Groton 
and Newport News, Virginia.

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